Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Featured Saints
Santos em destaque
St. Crispin of Viterbo, religioso (†1750). Capuchin lay brother, who taught peasants the Catholic Faith while visiting villages asking for alms.
St. Urban I, Pope (†230). Faithfully governed the Church for eight years, after the martyrdom of St. Callixtus.
St. Dunstan of Canterbury, bishop (†988). Benedictine abbot elected Bishop of Worcester and later Archbishop of Canterbury. He rekindled the flame of monastic life in Great Britain.
St. Ives, priest (†1303). He dedicated his life to the practice of the virtue of justice, as a lawyer and later as a priest and ecclesiastical judge. He died at fifty years of age in a castle close to Treguier, in French Brittany.
St.Teophilus of Corte, priest (†1740). A great propagator of the “Sacred Retreats” in the Franciscan Order, evangelizing throughout Corsica and Italy. An ardent devotee of the Lord’s Passion and to the Virgin Mary.
Blessed Mary Bernard Bütler, virgin (†1924). Religious from the Monastery of Mary, Help of Christians in Altstätten, Switzerland, she departed with six companions for Ecuador, where she founded the Congregation of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary, Help of Christians.
Blessed Agostino Novello, priest (†1310). Religious from the Order of the Hermits of St. Augustine, appointed papal confessor and apostolic penitentiary. After being elected Superior General, he organized the Augustinian provinces and sought to establish greater observance of the rule.
Blessed Juan of Cetina, priest, and Pedro of Dueñas, religious, martyrs (†1397). Both from the Franciscan Order, they undertook a mission to evangelize the Muslims of Granada (Spain), where they were killed by the sultan himself.
Blessed John Baptist Loir, priest and martyr (†1794). Capuchin priest who died while imprisoned during the French Revolution for refusing to take the oath of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
Blessed Raphael Louis Rafiringa, religious (†1919). Christian Brother and convert from paganism; he maintained the presence and vitality of the Church in Madagascar when all priests had been expelled.
Blessed Umiliana de’ Cerchi, widow (†1246). After the death of her husband, she became a Franciscan tertiary, leading an exemplary life of prayer, penance and charity.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Acts 20:28-38
At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus: “Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the Church of God that he acquired with his own Blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day, I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears. And now I commend you to God and to that gracious word of his that can build you up and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated. I have never wanted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You know well that these very hands have served my needs and my companions. In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” When he had finished speaking he knelt down and prayed with them all. They were all weeping loudly as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him, for they were deeply distressed that he had said that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 68:29-30, 33-35a, 35bc-36ab (R.33a)
R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Show forth, O God, your power,
the power, O God, with which you took our part;
For your temple in Jerusalem
let the kings bring you gifts. R.
You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God,
chant praise to the Lord
who rides on the heights of the ancient heavens.
Behold, his voice resounds, the voice of power:
“Confess the power of God!” R.
Over Israel is his majesty;
his power is in the skies.
Awesome in his sanctuary is God, the God of Israel;
He gives power and strength to his people. R.
Gospel – Jn 17:11b-19
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying:
“Holy Father, keep them in your name
that you have given Me,
so that they may be one just as we are one.
When I was with them I protected them in your name that You gave me,
and I guarded them, and none of them was lost
except the son of destruction,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
But now I am coming to You.
I speak this in the world
so that they may share my joy completely.
I gave them your word, and the world hated them,
because they do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world
but that you keep them from the Evil One.
They do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth.
Your word is truth.
As You sent Me into the world,
so I sent them into the world.
And I consecrate myself for them,
so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”
