Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbott
St. Anthony of Egypt, abbot. Great patriarch and master of monastic life. He began to live as an anchorite at the age of 20, in the regions outlying his native village and later took up his abode in increasingly remote locations in the desert. The fame of his extraordinary life spread, influencing many other souls to follow a similar path. He was a victorious against the attacks of the devil until his death in 356, at the age of 105. His most eminent biographer was St. Athanasius.
See also:
Mass Readings
First Reading – Heb 6:10-20
Brothers and sisters: God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for His name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones. We earnestly desire each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of hope until the end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises. When God made the promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, He swore by Himself, and said, I will indeed bless you and multiply you. And so, after patient waiting, Abraham obtained the promise. Now, men swear by someone greater than themselves; for them an oath serves as a guarantee and puts an end to all argument. So when God wanted to give the heirs of His promise an even clearer demonstration of the immutability of His purpose, He intervened with an oath, so that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to hold fast to the hope that lies before us. This we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm, which reaches into the interior behind the veil, where Jesus has entered on our behalf as forerunner, becoming high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 111:1-2, 4-5, 9 and 10c (R. 5)
R.The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights. R.
He has won renown for His wondrous deeds;
gracious and merciful is the LORD.
He has given food to those who fear Him;
He will forever be mindful of His covenant. R.
He has sent deliverance to His people;
He has ratified His covenant forever;
holy and awesome is His name.
His praise endures forever. R.
Gospel – Mk 2:23-28
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, His disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then He said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
Featured Saints
St. Marcellus, bishop (†510). Of the Dioceses of Die, France. He was exiled by the Arian king, Eurico.
St. Sulpicius the Pious, bishop (†647). Bishop of Bourges, France, admirable for his generosity, especially with the poor and the sick, and the austerity of his private life. He is known to have converted all the inhabitants of his diocese with his inspiring example of holiness.
Blessed Gamelbert, priest (†circa 802). A wealthy young man, he was ordained priest and successfully combined pastoral ministry with hermetic life. He gave all his possessions to found the monastery of Metten, Germany.
St. Januarius Sánchez Delgadillo, priest and martyr (†1927). Promoted religious instruction of children; killed during the anti-Christian persecution in Mexico.
St. Rosalina, virgin (†1329). From a French noble family, she renounced a favourable marriage and became a Carthusian nun and eventually the prioress of the Chartreuse of CelleRoubaud, in Provence, France, excelling in abnegation and austerity.
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