Memorial of St. Boniface, bishop and martyr
St. Boniface, bishop and martyr(†754). An Anglo-Saxon monk who was sent by Gregory II to evangelize the Germanic peoples. He founded numerous monasteries and dioceses, conquering vast regions for Christ. While Archbishop of Mainz, he undertook a mission to Frisia, in what is today Holland, and was killed by the sword by a band of pagan Frisians in the city of Dokkum.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Tb 1:3; 2:1a-8
I, Tobit, have walked all the days of my life on the paths of truth and righteousness. I performed many charitable works for my kinsmen and my people who had been deported with me to Nineveh, in Assyria. On our festival of Pentecost, the feast of Weeks, a fine dinner was prepared for me, and I reclined to eat. The table was set for me, and when many different dishes were placed before me, I said to my son Tobiah: “My son, go out and try to find a poor man from among our kinsmen exiled here in Nineveh. If he is a sincere worshiper of God, bring him back with you, so that he can share this meal with me. Indeed, son, I shall wait for you to come back.” Tobiah went out to look for some poor kinsman of ours. When he returned he exclaimed, “Father!” I said to him, “What is it, son?” He answered, “Father, one of our people has been murdered! His body lies in the market place where he was just strangled!” I sprang to my feet, leaving the dinner untouched; and I carried the dead man from the street and put him in one of the rooms, so that I might bury him after sunset. Returning to my own quarters, I washed myself and ate my food in sorrow. I was reminded of the oracle pronounced by the prophet Amos against Bethel: “All your festivals shall be turned into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation.” And I wept. Then at sunset I went out, dug a grave, and buried him. The neighbors mocked me, saying to one another: “He is still not afraid! Once before he was hunted down for execution because of this very thing; yet now that he has scarcely escaped, here he is again burying the dead!”
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 112:1b-2, 3b-4, 5-6 (R. 1b)
R.Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in His commands.
His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;
the upright generation shall be blessed. R.
His generosity shall endure forever.
Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
He is gracious and merciful and just. R.
Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts His affairs with justice;
He shall never be moved;
the just man shall be in everlasting remembrance. R.
Gospel – Mk 12:1-12
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this Scripture passage: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?” They were seeking to arrest Him, but they feared the crowd, for they realized that He had addressed the parable to them. So they left Him and went away.
Featured Saints
St. Eoban, bishop, martyr (†754). Eoban was monk-missionary who accompanied St. Boniface to Germania and was appointed Bishop of Utrecht, present-day Holland. He received the palm of martyrdom at the hands of pagans in the city of Dokkum together with St. Boniface.
St. Ilidius of Auvergne, bishop (†384). Bishop of Clermont, France, he was called to Trier, Germany, by Emperor Maximus to liberate his daughter from an unclean spirit. He died on the return trip.
St. Dorotheus of Tyre, bishop (†fourth century). Bishop of Tyre, Lebanon. After suffering persecution during the reign of Diocletian,
he was martyred by Julian, in Varna, present day Bulgaria, at the age
of 107.
St. Luke Vu Ba Loan, priest and martyr (†1840). Beheaded in Hanoi, Vietnam, during the persecution of the Emperor Minh Mang.
St. Franco, hermit († twelfth century). Led a life of penance and contemplation in a grotto near Assergi, Italy.
Sts. Marcianus, Nicandrus and Apollonius, martyrs (†third century). For their faith they were tortured and confined in a prison in Egypt, and died of heat, hunger and thirst.
Blessed Sancho, martyr (†851). Adolescent martyred by the Saracens in Cordova, Spain, for declaring himself a Christian.
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