Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest
St. Vincent de Paul, priest (†1660). Becoming established in Paris, he dedicated himself entirely to the apostolate with the poor. He founded the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists) and, together with St. Louise de Marillac, the Daughters of Charity.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Jb 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23
Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. Job spoke out and said: Perish the day on which I was born, the night when they said, “The child is a boy!” Why did I not perish at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? Or why was I not buried away like an untimely birth, like babes that have never seen the light? Wherefore did the knees receive me? Or why did I suck at the breasts? For then I should have lain down and been tranquil; had I slept, I should then have been at rest with kings and counselors of the earth who built where now there are ruins or with princes who had gold and filled their houses with silver. There the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest. Why is light given to the toilers, and life to the bitter in spirit? They wait for death and it comes not; they search for it rather than for hidden treasures, Rejoice in it exultingly, and are glad when they reach the grave: Those whose path is hidden from them, and whom God has hemmed in!
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 88:2-3, 4-5, 6, 7-8 (R. 3)
R. Let my prayer come before You, Lord.
O LORD, my God, by day I cry out;
at night I clamor in Your presence.
Let my prayer come before You;
incline Your ear to my call for help. R.
For my soul is surfeited with troubles
and my life draws near to the nether world.
I am numbered with those who go down into the pit;
I am a man without strength. R.
My couch is among the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no longer
and who are cut off from Your care. R.
You have plunged me into the bottom of the pit,
into the dark abyss.
Upon me Your wrath lies heavy,
and with all Your billows You overwhelm me. R.
Gospel – Lk 9:51-56
When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, He resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and He sent messengers ahead of Him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for His reception there, but they would not welcome Him because the destination of His journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.
Featured Saints
St. Bonfilius, bishop (†c.1115). After having governed the see of Foligno, Italy, he spent ten years in the Holy Land; upon his return he retired to the monastery of Storaco, where he died.
St. Elzear of Sabran (†1323). Baron of Ansouis, commander of troops, defender of the Pope, he, together with Blessed Delphie, his spouse, preserved his virginity and practised all the virtues, following the rule of the Franciscan Third Order.
Sts. Adolphus and John, martrys (+824). They were the sons of a Muslim and a Christian. For refusing to renounce their Faith, the were martyred in Cordoba during the reign of Abd al-Rahman II.
St. Hiltrude, virgin (†c.800). She consecrated herself to God and spent seventeen years in recollection near the Benedictine abbey of Liesseis, France, of which her brother was abbot.
Blessed Lawrence of Ripafratta, priest (†1456). Dominican religious of the monastery of Pistoia, Italy, who observed religious discipline for sixty years and dedicated himself to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Blessed Jean-Baptiste Laborier du Vivier, deacon and martyr (†1794). During the French Revolution, he was condemned to cruel captivity on a ship in the harbour of Rochefort, where he died from illness resulting from the deplorable conditions.
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