Saturday in the 5th Week of Easter
Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima.Day of the first apparition of the Virgin Mary to the three shepherd children, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, in 1917 in Fatima, Portugal, asking that the Holy Rosary be prayed every day for the conversion of sinners and for peace in the world.
See also:
Mass Readings
First Reading – Acts 16:1-10
Paul reached also Derbe and Lystra where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him, and Paul wanted him to come along with him. On account of the Jews of that region, Paul had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from city to city, they handed on to the people for observance the decisions reached by the Apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem. Day after day the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number. They traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian territory because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia. When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them, so they crossed through Mysia and came down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we sought passage to Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 100:1b-2, 3, 5 (R. 2a)
R.Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before Him with joyful song. R.
Know that the LORD is God;
He made us, His we are;
His people, the flock He tends. R.
The LORD is good:
His kindness endures forever,
and His faithfulness, to all generations. R.
Gospel – Jn 15:18-21
Jesus said to His disciples: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of My name, because they do not know the one who sent Me.”
Featured Saints
St. Servatius, bishop (†circa 384). Bishop of Tongeren (Belgium) and Maastricht (Holland), he fought alongside St. Athanasius against the Arian heresy.
St. Andrew Hubert Fournet, priest (†1834). Parish priest from Puy-en-Vélay, France, he took refuge in Spain during the French Revolution. He later returned to France and founded, together with Blessed Elizabeth Bichier des Âges, the Congregation of the Daughters of the Holy Cross.
St. Agnes of Poitiers, abbess (†588). Consecrated by St. Germain of Paris, she governed the Monastery of the Holy Cross of Poitiers with a true spirit of charity.
Blessed Magdalene Albrici, abbess (†1465). Augustinian religious from the Monastery of Brunate, Italy. As abbes, she inspired the desire for perfection in her sisters.
Blessed Gemma of Goriano, virgin († 1465 ). Young shepherdess who confined herself to a small cell beside the Church of Goriano Sicoli, Italy, in order to lead a life of prayer and penance.
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