Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
St. Bonaventure. bishop and Doctor of the Church (†1274 Lyon – France). He entered the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) at the age of twenty-two. While studying for his doctorate in Paris, he formed friendships with St. Thomas Aquinas and with King St. Louis IX. Chosen as Superior General of his Order during a time of internal upheaval, he restored the spirit of the founder, St. Francis of Assisi. He is known as “the Seraphic Doctor”.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Is 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8
When Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: “Thus says the LORD: Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover.” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord: “O LORD, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly I conducted myself in your presence, doing what was pleasing to you!” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: “Go, tell Hezekiah: Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the Lord’s temple; I will add fifteen years to your life. I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; I will be a shield to this city.” Isaiah then ordered a poultice of figs to be taken and applied to the boil, that he might recover. Then Hezekiah asked, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the temple of the LORD?” Isaiah answered: “This will be the sign for you from the LORD that he will do what he has promised: See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz go back the ten steps it has advanced.” So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced.
Responsorial Psalm – IS 38:10, 11, 12abcd, 16 (R.see 17b)
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
Once I said,
“In the noontime of life I must depart!
To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned
for the rest of my years.” R.
I said, “I shall see the LORD no more
in the land of the living.
No longer shall I behold my fellow men
among those who dwell in the world.” R.
My dwelling, like a shepherd’s tent,
is struck down and borne away from me;
You have folded up my life, like a weaver
who severs the last thread. R.
Those live whom the LORD protects;
yours is the life of my spirit.
You have given me health and life. R.
Gospel – Mt 12:1-8
Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to the them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”
Featured Saints
St. Joseph of Thessalonica, bishop (†832). He was a monk elected bishop of this Greek city; he endured suffering for his defence of ecclesiastical discipline and the cult to sacred images.
St. David, bishop (+1082). English Cluniac religious, sent as a missionary to evangelize the Swedes. He died in old age in Västerås, Sweden.
St. Pompilius Mary Pirrotti, priest (†1766). Priest of the Order of Regular Clerics of the Pious Schools, he carried out apostolate in various regions of Italy.
St. Peter Nguyen Ba Tuan, priest and martyr (†1838). Imprisoned during the time of Emperor Minh Mang, he died of starvation in the prison of Nam Dinh, Vietnam.
St. Vladimir, king (†1015). Grand Prince of Kiev, grandson of St. Olga; he converted to Christianity and summoned missionaries to evangelize his people.
Blessed Ceslaus of Poland, priest (†1242). Received the Dominican habit from St. Dominic. Stood out for his ardent preaching. Founded the convents of Prague and Breslau.
Blessed Michel-Bernard Marchand, priest and martyr (†1794). Imprisoned during the French Revolution for being a priest; he died from illness contracted in the prison-ship anchored in Rochefort, France.
Blessed Anne-Marie Javouhey, virgin (†1851). During the French Revolution, she dedicated herself to protecting religious, and assisting the sick with her own means. She later founded the Sisters of St. Joseph for the education of needy children.
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