Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church
St. Jerome, priest and Doctor of the Church (†420, Bethlehem). After a dissolute youth, he received Baptism in 366, abandoned pagan culture and led an ascetic life in a desert of Antioch. Ordained a priest at the age of 38, he participated in the Council of Rome in 382 and became the secretary of Pope St. Damasus, who commissioned him to revise the Latin translations of the Bible, a work which became known throughout the world as the Latin Vulgate. He vigorously fought the errors of his age, and stood out, together with his contemporary, St. Ambrose, for his exhortations in defence of virginity.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Jb 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5
The LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said: Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place for taking hold of the ends of the earth, till the wicked are shaken from its surface? The earth is changed as is clay by the seal, and dyed as though it were a garment; but from the wicked the light is withheld, and the arm of pride is shattered. Have you entered into the sources of the sea, or walked about in the depths of the abyss? Have the gates of death been shown to you, or have you seen the gates of darkness? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell me, if you know all: Which is the way to the dwelling place of light, and where is the abode of darkness, that you may take them to their boundaries and set them on their homeward paths? You know, because you were born before them, and the number of your years is great! Then Job answered the LORD and said: Behold, I am of little account; what can I answer You? I put my hand over my mouth. Though I have spoken once, I will not do so again; though twice, I will do so no more.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 139:1-3, 7-8, 9-10, 13-14ab (R. 24b)
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
O LORD, You have probed me and You know me;
You know when I sit and when I stand;
You understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest You scrutinize,
with all my ways You are familiar. R.
Where can I go from Your spirit?
From Your presence where can I flee?
If I go up to the heavens, You are there;
if I sink to the nether world, You are present there. R.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall guide me,
and Your right hand hold me fast. R.
Truly You have formed my inmost being;
You knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give You thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are Your works. R.
Gospel – Lk 10:13-16
Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ Whoever listens to you listens to Me. Whoever rejects you rejects Me. And whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
Featured Saints
St. Francis Borgia, priest (†1572). Duke of Gandia and viceroy of Catalonia, he renounced the world after the death of his wife and entered the Company of Jesus, of which he became the third Superior General
St. Gregory, the Illuminator, bishop (†c.326). Apostle of Armenia; near the end of his life he retired to a grotto beside the Euphrates River.
St. Honorius of Canterbury, bishop (†653). One of the original group appointed as missionaries to England by Pope St. Gregory the Great, where he worked for the spreading of the Faith and the strengthening of the local churches. He succeeded St. Justus as head of the Archdiocese of Canterbury.
St. Simon, monk (†1082). While Count of Crépy, France, he renounced his homeland, marriage and wealth to lead a hermetic life in the Jura Massif.
Blessed Frederick Albert,priest (†1876). Founded the Congregation of the Vincentian Sisters of Mary Immaculate in the city of Lanzo, Italy, to care for indigents.
Blessed Felicia Meda, abbess (†1444). Clarist nun, superior of the monastery of St. Ursula, in Milan, and of the monastery Corpus Domini, of Pesaro, Italy.
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