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April 29 2019 Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 Acts 4:23-31 After their release Peter and John went back to their own people and reported what the chief priests and elders had told them. And when they heard it, they raised their voices to God with one accord and said, "Sovereign Lord, maker of heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them, you said by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David, your servant: Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples entertain folly?...

Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen Post by Franciscan Media Image: Painting of Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen | photo by Andreas Praefcke Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen Saint of the Day for April 24 (1577 – April 24, 1622)  Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen’s Story If a poor man needed some clothing, Fidelis would often give the man the clothes right off his back. Complete generosity to others characterized this saint’s life.Born in 1577, Mark Rey became a lawyer who constantly upheld the causes of the poor and oppressed people. Nicknamed “the poor man’s lawyer,” Rey soon grew disgusted with the corruption and injustice...

[Catholic Caucus] Don Bosco’s most ferocious enemy From the writings of Don Giuseppe Tomaselli H/T Cordialiter Blog The Devil gets furious with those striving for their own spiritual perfection and so everyday he engages in a fight with them, tempting them towards evil; if he doesn’t manage today, he hopes to do so tomorrow; he knows the weaknesses of everyone and also how to exploit them, by driving people to impurity, hate or the abuse of God’s mercy.    But if he behaves like this with devout people, imagine how his furor is roused against those who bring souls...

April 11 2019 Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent Reading 1 Gn 17:3-9 When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him:"My covenant with you is this:you are to become the father of a host of nations.No longer shall you be called Abram;your name shall be Abraham,for I am making you the father of a host of nations.I will render you exceedingly fertile;I will make nations of you;kings shall stem from you.I will maintain my covenant with youand your descendants after youthroughout the ages as an everlasting pact,to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.I...

April 5 2019 Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent Reading 1 Wis 2:1a, 12-22 The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright:"Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;he sets himself against our doings,Reproaches us for transgressions of the lawand charges us with violations of our training.He professes to have knowledge of Godand styles himself a child of the LORD.To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us,Because his life is not like that of others,and different are his ways.He judges us debased;he holds aloof...

April 4 2019 Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent Reading 1 Ex 32:7-14 The LORD said to Moses,"Go down at once to your peoplewhom you brought out of the land of Egypt,for they have become depraved.They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them,making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it,sacrificing to it and crying out,'This is your God, O Israel,who brought you out of the land of Egypt!'The LORD said to Moses,"I see how stiff-necked this people is.Let me alone, then,that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them.Then I...

April 2 2019 Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent Reading 1 Ez 47:1-9, 12 The angel brought me, Ezekiel,back to the entrance of the temple of the LORD,and I saw water flowing outfrom beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,for the façade of the temple was toward the east;the water flowed down from the right side of the temple,south of the altar.He led me outside by the north gate,and around to the outer gate facing the east,where I saw water trickling from the right side.Then when he had walked off to the eastwith a measuring cord...

March 23 2019 Saturday of the Second Week of Lent Reading 1 Mi 7:14-15, 18-20 Shepherd your people with your staff,the flock of your inheritance,That dwells apart in a woodland,in the midst of Carmel.Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,as in the days of old;As in the days when you came from the land of Egypt,show us wonderful signs. Who is there like you, the God who removes guiltand pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;Who does not persist in anger forever,but delights rather in clemency,And will again have compassion on us,treading underfoot our guilt?You will cast into...

March 19 2019 Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 2 Sm 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16 The LORD spoke to Nathan and said:"Go, tell my servant David,'When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors,I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,and I will make his kingdom firm.It is he who shall build a house for my name.And I will make his royal throne firm forever.I will be a father to him,and he shall be a son to me.Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me;your throne shall...

March 18 2019 Monday of the Second Week in Lent Reading 1 Dn 9:4b-10 "Lord, great and awesome God,you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love youand observe your commandments!We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws.We have not obeyed your servants the prophets,who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes,our fathers, and all the people of the land.Justice, O Lord, is on your side;we are shamefaced even to this day:we, the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem,and all Israel, near and far,in all...

March 17 2019 Second Sunday of Lent Reading 1 Gn 15:5-12, 17-18 The Lord God took Abram outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.Just so," he added, "shall your descendants be."Abram put his faith in the LORD, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness. He then said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession.""O Lord GOD," he asked, "how am I to know that I shall possess it?"He answered him, "Bring me a...

March 9, 2019 Saturday after Ash Wednesday Reading 1 Is 58:9b-14 Thus says the LORD:If you remove from your midst oppression,false accusation and malicious speech;If you bestow your bread on the hungryand satisfy the afflicted;Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,and the gloom shall become for you like midday;Then the LORD will guide you alwaysand give you plenty even on the parched land.He will renew your strength,and you shall be like a watered garden,like a spring whose water never fails.The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake,and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up;"Repairer...

March 8, 2019 Friday after Ash Wednesday Reading 1 Is 58:1-9a Thus says the Lord GOD: Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; Tell my people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins. They seek me day after day, and desire to know my ways, Like a nation that has done what is just and not abandoned the law of their God; They ask me to declare what is due them, pleased to gain access to God. "Why do we fast, and you do not see it? afflict ourselves, and you...

On March 7, AD 203, during the reign of the emperor Septimius Severus, five Christians were martyred in the amphitheater of Carthage under the procurator Hilarian. The three men were named Revocatus, Saturus, and Saturninus. The two women, however, are more famous, having their names entered into the Roman Canon of the Mass: Felicitas, a slave eight months pregnant, and Perpetua, a young Roman matron of noble birth who had recently given birth to a child. Unlike many of the Acts of these early martyrs, the antiquity and authenticity of the Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas is not seriously challenged...

March 7 2019 Thursday after Ash Wednesday Reading 1 Dt 30:15-20 Moses said to the people:"Today I have set before youlife and prosperity, death and doom.If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God,which I enjoin on you today,loving him, and walking in his ways,and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees,you will live and grow numerous,and the LORD, your God,will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen,but are led astray and adore and serve other gods,I tell you now that you will certainly perish;you will...

March 4 2019 Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Sir 17:20-24 To the penitent God provides a way back,he encourages those who are losing hopeand has chosen for them the lot of truth.Return to him and give up sin,pray to the LORD and make your offenses few.Turn again to the Most High and away from your sin,hate intensely what he loathes,and know the justice and judgments of God,Stand firm in the way set before you,in prayer to the Most High God. Who in the nether world can glorify the Most Highin place of the living...

Franciscan Media Image: Photograph from World War I of Blessed Daniel Brottier, army chaplain | Unknown Blessed Daniel Brottier Saint of the Day for February 28 (September 7, 1876 – February 28, 1936)  Blessed Daniel Brottier’s Story Daniel spent most of his life in the trenches—one way or another.Born in France in 1876, Daniel was ordained in 1899 and began a teaching career. That didn’t satisfy him long. He wanted to use his zeal for the gospel far beyond the classroom. He joined the missionary Congregation of the Holy Spirit, which sent him to Senegal, West Africa. After eight...

Franciscan Media Image: Stained glass of Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows in church of Brioux-sur-Boutonne | photo by Havang(nl) Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows Saint of the Day for February 27 (March 1, 1838 – February 27, 1862)  Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows’ Story Born in Italy into a large family and baptized Francis, Saint Gabriel lost his mother when he was only four years old. He was educated by the Jesuits and, having been cured twice of serious illnesses, came to believe that God was calling him to the religious life. Young Francis wished...

Franciscan Media Image: Statue of Santa Bertilla | facade of Church of Saints Peter and Paul, Cagnano, Italy | photo by Threecharlie . Saint Maria Bertilla Boscardin Saint of the Day for February 26 (October 6, 1888 – October 20, 1922)  Saint Maria Bertilla Boscardin’s Story If anyone knew rejection, ridicule and disappointment, it was today’s saint. But such trials only brought Maria Bertilla Boscardin closer to God and more determined to serve him.Born in Italy in 1888, the young girl lived in fear of her father, a violent man prone to jealousy and drunkenness. Her schooling was limited so that...

Franciscan Media Image: Statue of Blessed Sebastião de Aparício in A Gudiña | photo by Dantadd Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio Saint of the Day for February 25 (January 20, 1502 – February 25, 1600)  Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio’s Story Sebastian’s roads and bridges connected many distant places. His final bridge-building was to help men and women recognize their God-given dignity and destiny.Sebastian’s parents were Spanish peasants. At the age of 31, he sailed to Mexico, where he began working in the fields. Eventually he built roads to facilitate agricultural trading and other commerce. His 466-mile road from Mexico City...