Free Republic

Dark Night of the Soul DARK NIGHT OF THE SOULbySaint John of the CrossDOCTOR OF THE CHURCHTHIRD REVISED EDITION Translated and edited, with an Introduction,by E. ALLISON PEERSfrom the critical edition ofP. SILVERIO DE SANTA TERESA, C.D.NIHIL OBSTAT: GEORGIUS SMITH, S.T.D, PH.D.CENSOR DEPUTATUSIMPRIMATUR: E. MORROGH BERNARDVICARIVS GENERALISWESTMONASTER II: DIE XXIV SEPTEMBRIS MCMLIITO THE DISCALCED CARMELITES OF CASTILE, WITH ABIDING MEMORIES OF THEIR HOSPITALITY AND KINDNESSIN MADRID, AVILA AND BURGOS, BUT ABOVE ALL OF THEIR DEVOTION TO SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS CONTENTS PRINCIPAL ABBREVIATIONSINTRODUCTIONPROLOGUE BOOK THE FIRST CHAPTER I.—Sets down the first line and begins to treat of the imperfections of...

December 14, 2009                                     Memorial of Saint John of the Cross,                                      priest and doctor of the Church       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Nm 24:2-7, 15-17a When Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel encamped, tribe by tribe,the spirit of God came upon him,and he gave voice to his oracle: The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor,the utterance of a man whose eye is true,The utterance of one who hears what God says,and knows what the Most High knows,Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,enraptured, and with eyes unveiled:How...

December 12, 2009                                     Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Zec 2:14-17 or Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,and they shall be his people,and he will dwell among you,and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,and he will again choose Jerusalem.Silence, all mankind,...

December 11, 2009                                     Friday of the Second Week of Advent   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 48:17-19 Thus says the LORD, your redeemer,the Holy One of Israel:I, the LORD, your God,teach you what is for your good,and lead you on the way you should go.If you would hearken to my commandments,your prosperity would be like a river,and your vindication like the waves of the sea;Your descendants would be like the sand,and those born of your stock like its grains,Their name never cut offor blotted out from my presence. Responsorial PsalmPs 1:1-2,...

December 9, 2009                                    Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 40:25-31 To whom can you liken me as an equal?says the Holy One.Lift up your eyes on highand see who has created these things:He leads out their army and numbers them,calling them all by name.By his great might and the strength of his powernot one of them is missing!Why, O Jacob, do you say,and declare, O Israel,“My way is hidden from the LORD,and my right is disregarded by my God”? Do you not knowor have you...

Preserved Sinless from the Moment of Humanity December 8th, 2009 by Robert J. Gieb Just after the beginning of the season of Advent, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Church gives us a front row seat both to the tragic story of the pride and disobedience that led to the fall of man and to the story of faith and humble obedience that culminated in our redemption. The readings selected by the Church for this feast set before us the story of man’s sin, and God’s plan to save man from his sin. A plan that includes “the...

December 8, 2009                                 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception                                 of the Blessed Virgin Mary   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Gn 3:9-15, 20 After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree,the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”He answered, “I heard you in the garden;but I was afraid, because I was naked,so I hid myself.”Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked?You have eaten, then,from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!”The man replied,...

December 7, 2009                                 Monday of the Second Week of Advent   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 35:1-10 The desert and the parched land will exult;the steppe will rejoice and bloom.They will bloom with abundant flowers,and rejoice with joyful song.The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;They will see the glory of the LORD,the splendor of our God.Strengthen the hands that are feeble,make firm the knees that are weak,Say to those whose hearts are frightened:Be strong, fear not!Here is your God,he comes with vindication;With divine recompensehe comes...

Saint Ambrose Pardoning TheodosiusPIERRE SUBLEYRAS1699-1749 St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church December 7 c. 340-97 Born in Trier, Germany, son of Ambrose, the praetorian prefect of Gaul, he was taken back to Rome when a child on the death of his father, he became a lawyer there noted for his oratory and learning. His success led Ancius Probus, praetorian prefect of Italy, to name him his assessor, and Emperor Valentinian appointed him governor of Liguria and Aemilia with his capital at Milan about 372, a position he filled with great ability and justice. In 374 the death of Auxentius, bishop...

December 4, 2009                                  Friday of the First Week of Advent   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 29:17-24 Thus says the Lord GOD:But a very little while,and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard,and the orchard be regarded as a forest!On that day the deaf shall hearthe words of a book;And out of gloom and darkness,the eyes of the blind shall see.The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD,and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.For the tyrant will be no moreand the arrogant will have gone;All who are alert to do evil will be cut off,those whose...

December 3, 2009                                    Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, priest   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 26:1-6 On that day they will sing this song in the land of Judah: “A strong city have we;he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us.Open up the gatesto let in a nation that is just,one that keeps faith.A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace;in peace, for its trust in you.”Trust in the LORD forever!For the LORD is an eternal Rock.He humbles those in high places,and the lofty city he brings down;He tumbles it to the ground,levels it with the dust.It is...

November 30, 2009                                    Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 10:9-18 Brothers and sisters:If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lordand believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,you will be saved.For one believes with the heart and so is justified,and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.The Scripture says,No one who believes in him will be put to shame.There is no distinction between Jew and Greek;the same Lord is Lord of all,enriching all who call upon him.For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will...

November 25, 2009                                     Wednesday of the Thirty-fourth Week                             in Ordinary Time   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Dn 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his lords,with whom he drank.Under the influence of the wine,he ordered the gold and silver vesselswhich Nebuchadnezzar, his father,had taken from the temple in Jerusalem,to be brought in so that the king, his lords,his wives and his entertainers might drink from them.When the gold and silver vesselstaken from the house of God in...

November 24, 2009                                         Memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac,                                     priest and martyr,                             and his companions, martyrs       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Dn 2:31-45 Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar:“In your vision, O king, you saw a statue,very large and exceedingly bright,terrifying in appearance as it stood before you.The head of the statue was pure gold,its chest and arms were silver,its belly and thighs bronze, the legs iron,its feet partly iron and partly tile.While you looked...

The Martyrdomof Blessed Miguel Pro, S.J. A picture is worth a thousand words. One of the things that brought the attention of the world to the anti-Catholic persecutions in Mexico was the distribution of the photographs of some of the executions. Una imagen vale más que mil palabras. Una de las cosas que atrajo la atención del mundo a la persecución anticatólica en México fue la distribución de fotografías de algunas de las ejecuciones. In Father Pro's case, Plutarco Calles wanted the execution to be a "big show" and had instructed his underlings to invite representatives from all the...

The Angelus 1428. Why do Catholic Churches ring bells at daybreak, noon, and sun set. The ringing of these bells is to remind Catholics to say the Angelus, a short devotion in honor of the incarnation of Christ. Three rings are given three times separately, and then nine rings, according to an ancient custom. The devotion is called the Angelus because the first words of the prayers to be said begin as follows, "The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary." The Angelus, therefore, reminds us of the message of the Angel Gabriel who brought the good news of the...

November 23, 2009                                     Monday of the Thirty-fourth Week                                      in Ordinary Time     Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Dn 1:1-6, 8-20 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah,King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon cameand laid siege to Jerusalem.The Lord handed over to him Jehoiakim, king of Judah,and some of the vessels of the temple of God;he carried them off to the land of Shinar,and placed the vessels in the temple treasury of his god. The king told Ashpenaz, his chief chamberlain,to bring in...

November 22, 2009                                     The Solemnity of Christ the King Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Dn 7:13-14 As the visions during the night continued, I sawone like a Son of man coming,on the clouds of heaven;when he reached the Ancient Oneand was presented before him,the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.His dominion is an everlasting dominionthat shall not be taken away,his kingship shall not be destroyed. Responsorial PsalmPs 93:1, 1-2, 5 R. (1a) The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.The...

The Priesthood and the Mass Theologian Notes the Priest's Privileged Role By Father Mauro Gagliardi VATICAN CITY, NOV. 20, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI proclaimed, as everyone knows, the Year for Priests (June 2009-June 2010), on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the "dies natalis" of the holy Curé d'Ars. The purpose is "to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a stronger and more incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world"[1]. St. John Mary Vianney, besides concretely representing a supreme model of the priesthood, always proclaimed with clarity and incomparable emphasis the...

November 21, 2009                                   Memorial of the Presentation                                    of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 11 Mc 6:1-13 As King Antiochus was traversing the inland provinces,he heard that in Persia there was a city called Elymais,famous for its wealth in silver and gold,and that its temple was very rich,containing gold helmets, breastplates, and weaponsleft there by Alexander, son of Philip,king of Macedon, the first king of the Greeks.He went therefore and tried to capture and pillage the city.But he could not do so,because his plan became known to the people of the citywho rose up in battle against him.So...

November 19 Spiritual Bouquet: For the clean, all things are clean. Titus 1:15 SAINT ELIZABETH of HUNGARYWidow(1207-1231) Elizabeth was the daughter of the just and pious Andrew II, king of Hungary, the niece of Saint Hedwig, and the sister of the virtuous Bela IV, king of Hungary, who became the father of Saint Cunegundes and of Saint Margaret of Hungary, a Dominican nun. Another of her brothers was Coloman, King of Galicia and prince of Russia, who led an angelic life amid the multiple affairs of the world and the troubles of war. She was betrothed in infancy to Louis,...

November 18, 2009                                 Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week                             in Ordinary Time   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 12 Mc 7:1, 20-31 It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrestedand tortured with whips and scourges by the king,to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law. Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother,who saw her seven sons perish in a single day,yet bore it courageously because of her hope in the Lord.Filled with a noble spirit that stirred her womanly...

November 18 Spiritual Bouquet: All who want to live piously in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. II Tim. 3:12 DEDICATION of the BASILICASof Saint Peter and Saint Paul The ancient basilica of Saint Peter stood, like the present one, on the hill of Rome called in Latin Mons Vaticanus, at the northwestern extremity of the city, on the right bank of the Tiber. What we call the Vatican is a Roman palace, the ordinary dwelling of the Pope. Near the Lateran palace where the early Popes dwelt, which was itself built by Constantine the Great or Saint Liberius, Constantine built...

November 17, 2009                                   Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, religious   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 12 Mc 6:18-31 Eleazar, one of the foremost scribes,a man of advanced age and noble appearance,was being forced to open his mouth to eat pork. But preferring a glorious death to a life of defilement,he spat out the meat,and went forward of his own accord to the instrument of torture,as people ought to do who have the courage to reject the foodwhich it is unlawful to taste even for love of life. Those in charge of that unlawful ritual meal took the man aside privately,because...

November 17 Spiritual Bouquet: The servant of the Lord must be gentle towards all. II Tim. 2:24 SAINT GREGORY THAUMATURGEBishop, confessor(†270) Saint Gregory was born in the Pont, of distinguished parents who were still engaged in the superstitions of paganism. He lost his father at the age of fourteen, and began to reflect on the folly of idolatry’s fables. He recognized the unity of God and was becoming disposed to accept the truths of Christianity. His father had destined him for the legal profession, in which the art of oratory is very necessary, and in this pursuit he was succeeding...

November 16, 2009                                   Monday of the Thirty-third Week                                 in Ordinary Time Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 11 Mc 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63 [From the descendants of Alexander’s officers]there sprang a sinful offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes,son of King Antiochus, once a hostage at Rome.He became king in the year one hundred and thirty‑sevenof the kingdom of the Greeks. In those days there appeared in Israelmen who were breakers of the law,and they seduced many people, saying:“Let us go and make an alliance with the Gentiles all around us;since we separated from them, many evils have...

November 16 Spiritual Bouquet: If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him. II Tim. 2:11 SAINT GERTRUDEAbbess of Eisleben(1264-1334) Saint Gertrude of Eisleben is the most celebrated of several Saints of the same name, and for this reason the ancient authors named her Gertrude the Great. She was born in the year 1264 of a noble Saxon family, and placed at the age of five for education with the Benedictines of Helfta. She dwelt there as a simple religious, very mistrustful of herself, under the direction of an Abbess having the same name as herself. The...

November 15 Spiritual Bouquet: Labor as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. II Tim. 2:3 SAINT ALBERT THE GREATDoctor of the Chuch(1207-1280) Saint Albert the Great was born in the region of Ausgbourg, of parents rich in the goods of fortune. From the time he was a child, he manifested in his studies an unusual aptitude for the exact sciences. While he was still a boy, he had himself let down the side of a cliff to examine at close range an eagle’s nest which interested him. At the age of fifteen he was already a student of the natural...

November 14 Spiritual Bouquet: Having food and sufficient clothing, with these let us be content. I Tim. 6:8 SAINT JOSAPHATArchbishop and Martyr(1584-1623) Born in 1584 in Vladimir, a city of ancient Poland, Saint Josaphat was the son of Gabriel Kuncewicz. His was a family of honorable Christians of the Greco-Slavic rite, in use among the Russians. His mother took care to raise him in the fear of God, and in his tender heart formed the first longings for virtue. He was never in any way lightheaded, but separated willingly from the games of his companions to pray. He made excellent...

November 13 Spiritual Bouquet: In all things give thanks; for this is the Will of God. I Thess. 5:18 SAINT STANISLAUS KOSTKAJesuit, Patron of Youth(1550-1568) Saint Stanislaus Kostka was born in Poland in 1550, of a noble Polish family. At the age of fourteen he was sent with his older brother Paul to study at the Jesuit College in Vienna. Twice a day he would pray at length in the chapel, and he never failed to recite a crown of the Rosary. He avoided the company of students too free in their speech and behavior, and often fasted and inflicted...

November 13, 2009                                 Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, virgin       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Wis 13:1-9 All men were by nature foolish who were in ignorance of God,and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing him who is,and from studying the works did not discern the artisan;But either fire, or wind, or the swift air,or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water,or the luminaries of heaven, the governors of the world, they considered gods.Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought...

November 12, 2009                                 Memorial of Saint Josaphat, bishop and martyr   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Wis 7:22b–8:1 In Wisdom is a spiritintelligent, holy, unique,Manifold, subtle, agile,clear, unstained, certain,Not baneful, loving the good, keen,unhampered, beneficent, kindly,Firm, secure, tranquil,all-powerful, all-seeing,And pervading all spirits,though they be intelligent, pure and very subtle.For Wisdom is mobile beyond all motion,and she penetrates and pervades all things by reason of her purity.For she is an aura of the might of Godand a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty;therefore nought that is sullied enters into her.For she is...

November 11, 2009                                   Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, bishop     Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Wis 6:1-11 Hear, O kings, and understand;learn, you magistrates of the earth’s expanse!Hearken, you who are in power over the multitudeand lord it over throngs of peoples!Because authority was given you by the Lordand sovereignty by the Most High,who shall probe your works and scrutinize your counsels.Because, though you were ministers of his kingdom, you judged not rightly,and did not keep the law,nor walk according to the will of God,Terribly and swiftly shall he come against...

November 10, 2009                                    Memorial of Saint Leo the Great,                                     pope and doctor of the Church   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Wis 2:23–3:9 God formed man to be imperishable;the image of his own nature he made them.But by the envy of the Devil, death entered the world,and they who are in his possession experience it. But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;and their...

TOTOWA — Little Sisters of the Poor, a Roman Catholic order of women, cares for 110 needy seniors living at a home in the borough, and to keep the home running, its 14 nuns go into the community each day to ask the public for donations.  This small order was thrust into the spotlight this month when Pope Benedict XVI canonized its founder, Jeanne Jugan, on Oct. 11 at the Vatican. Thousands of Little Sisters of the Poor from more than 200 homes around the world, along with residents and volunteers, made a pilgrimage to Rome last weekend for the...

November 7 Spiritual Bouquet: Strip off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new. Col. 3:9-10 SAINT WILLIBRORDApostle of the Frisons, of Holland, Zealand, Flanders and Brabant(657 — ca. 738) Saint Willibrord was born in Northumberland (northeastern England) in 657. His father left the world to enter a monastery, and is honored as a Saint in the monastery of Echternach in the diocese of Treves, and named in the English calendar. When his son was twenty years old he was already wearing the religious habit. Being accustomed to bearing the yoke of the Lord, and finding it...

Saint John Fischer: Catholic Hero Amid Softness Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira    Wednesday, November 4, 2009 Saint John Fischer was a martyr, cardinal and bishop of Rochester, England. Henry VIII ordered him beheaded out of hatred for both the Catholic faith and the primacy of the Roman Pontiff in the sixteenth century.He was entirely isolated due to the general apostasy of the Catholic Church in England. We can draw parallels with the apostasies caused by modernism since history repeats itself. A great process of apathy, lukewarmness and indifference always prepares the Catholic masses for the greatest of...

November 4, 2009                                 Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week                                 in Ordinary Time Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 13:8-10 Brothers and sisters:Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.The commandments, You shall not commit adultery;you shall not kill;you shall not steal;you shall not covet,and whatever other commandment there may be,are summed up in this saying, namely,You shall love your neighbor as yourself.Love does no evil to the neighbor;hence, love is the fulfillment of the law. Responsorial...

November 3, 2009                                     Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week                             in Ordinary Time   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 12:5-16ab Brothers and sisters:We, though many, are one Body in Christand individually parts of one another.Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,let us exercise them:if prophecy, in proportion to the faith;if ministry, in ministering;if one is a teacher, in teaching;if one exhorts, in exhortation;if one contributes, in generosity;if one is over others, with diligence;if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness....

November 2 All Souls Day  The death of one we love leaves us empty. Yearning for lost companionship, we grieve through remembrance, tears, and prayer. Whether death comes mercifully to end a long illness or ruthlessly in violence or accident, mourners struggle to live day by day without the person who made those days bright, who made them feel loved, and who lightened burdens like these. Catholics who grieve find comfort in faith. Belief in life after death helps us receive the loss of someone we love with anticipation. We believe we will reunite with those we love after death. Catholics...

"The only mistake in life is not to become a Saint." When I first heard the above quote (perhaps a FIT reader will recall who said it) as a student at the University of Notre Dame, it really made me think. It was at a time when, after falling away from my child-like enthusiasm for Catholicism, I was coming back to the Faith but struggling to accept it as a man. But just as those too-perfect pictures of the Saints had hooked me as a youth, the realistic struggles of the Saints to follow Christ was what sealed the...

November 1, 2009                                        Solemnity of All Saints       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Rv 7:2-4, 9-14 I, John, saw another angel come up from the East,holding the seal of the living God.He cried out in a loud voice to the four angelswho were given power to damage the land and the sea,“Do not damage the land or the sea or the treesuntil we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal,one hundred and forty-four thousand markedfrom every tribe of the children of...

October 31 Spiritual Bouquet: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Phil. 4:4 SAINT QUENTIN Apostle of Amiens, Martyr at Rome Saint Quentin was a Roman, descended from a senatorial family. Full of zeal for the kingdom of Jesus Christ, he left his country and went into Gaul, accompanied by eleven other apostles sent from Rome. They separated to extend their campaign of evangelization to the various regions of France. Saint Quentin remained at Amiens and endeavored by his prayers and labors to make that region part of Our Lord’s inheritance. By the force of his words and...

ALL SAINTS & ALL SOULS We are approaching the end of the liturgical year which will culminate with the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe. At this feast we celebrate what we read in Scripture, that God will be all in all. As we move toward this feast during this month of November, as a church we focus on the four last things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. The thought of death may bring discomfort to non believers who are healthy, wealthy, and wise in our own estimation. It can mean the loss of power, prestige, and possessions...

Saints Simon and Jude                      SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE, APOSTLES From a commentary on the gospel of John by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishopAs the Father sent me, so I am sending you    Our Lord Jesus Christ has appointed certain men to be guides and teachers of the world and stewards of his divine mysteries. Now he bids them to shine out like lamps and to cast out their light not only over the land of the Jews but over every country under the sun and over people scattered in all directions and settled in distant lands.   That man...

October 28, 2009                                 Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles   Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Eph 2:19-22 Brothers and sisters:You are no longer strangers and sojourners,but you are fellow citizens with the holy onesand members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.Through him the whole structure is held togetherand grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;in him you also are being built togetherinto a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Responsorial PsalmPs 19:2-3, 4-5 R. (5a) Their message goes...

October 24, 2009                                 Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week                                 in Ordinary Time Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 8:1-11 Brothers and sisters:Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesushas freed you from the law of sin and death. For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do,this God has done:by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful fleshand for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in...

October 20, 2009                             Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week                                 in Ordinary Time       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 5:12, 15b, 17-19, 20b-21 Brothers and sisters:Through one man sin entered the world,and through sin, death,and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned. If by that one person’s transgression the many died,how much more did the grace of Godand the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christoverflow for the many.For if, by the transgression of the one,death came to reign through that...

Brebeuf's Instructions to the Missionaries In 1637, Father Jean de Brebeuf drew up a list of instructions for Jesuit missionaries destined to work among the Huron. These reflect his own experience and a genuine sensitivity toward our people. You must love these Hurons, ransomed by the blood of the Son of God, as brothers. You must never keep the Indians waiting at the time of embarking. Carry a tinder-box or a piece of burning-glass, or both, to make fire for them during the day for smoking, and in the evening when it is necessary to camp; these little services...

Isaac Jogues, S.J. 1607-1646 Sponsored by the Vincentian Community(Congregation of the Mission) and the Missouri Knights of Columbus.Reprinted with permission. One of the eight Frenchmen known as the North American Martyrs, Isaac Jogues' first task when he arrived in Quebec in 1636, was to learn the Huron language. His teacher was Father Jean le Brebeuf, another Jesuit. Brebeuf earlier had written Instruction, a collection of data based on his years of living among the Hurons since 1625. His practical advice included tips for conduct: eating with the Indians, sharing their camps, caring for the ill in view of "medicine...