Liturgical Year 2013 2014 Vol. 3

Liturgical Year 2013-2014, Vol.
3
Lent
by Jennifer Gregory Miller and Darden Brock
(editors)
Third of six volumes covering the 2013-2014 Catholic liturgical year, including all the
days of Lent and the Sacred Triduum leading up to Easter.
Trinity Communications
CatholicCulture.org
P.O. Box 582
Manassas, VA 20108
Copyright Trinity Communications 2014
Book ID: LY20132014-V3-L-jmgmdb
The chapters of this book appeared first on the Trinity Communications website,
CatholicCulture.org.
Our website includes many more Catholic materials, including daily news, commentary,
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Introduction to the Liturgical Year 6
Introduction to Lent 9
March 5th (Ash Wednesday) 12
March 6th (Thursday aIter Ash Wednesday) 18
March 7th (Memorial oI Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, martyrs) 22
March 8th (Optional Memorial oI St. John oI God, religious ) 26
March 9th (First Sunday oI Lent) 30
March 10th (Monday oI the First Week oI Lent) 35
March 11th (Tuesday oI the First Week oI Lent) 39
March 12th (Wednesday oI the First Week oI Lent) 43
March 13th (Thursday oI the First Week oI Lent ) 47
March 14th (Friday oI the First Week oI Lent) 51
March 15th (Saturday oI the First Week oI Lent ) 56
March 16th (Second Sunday oI Lent) 60
March 17th (Optional Memorial oI St. Patrick, bishop and conIessor (Solemnity Aus,
Ire, Feast New Zeal, Scot, Wales)) 65
March 18th (Optional Memorial oI St. Cyril oI Jerusalem, bishop, conIessor and doctor)
70
March 19th (Solemnity oI St. Joseph, Spouse oI the Blessed Virgin Mary) 75
March 20th (Thursday oI the Second Week oI Lent ) 83
March 21st (Friday oI the Second Week oI Lent ) 87
March 22nd (Saturday oI the Second Week oI Lent ) 90
March 23rd (Third Sunday oI Lent ) 93
March 24th (Monday oI the Third Week oI Lent ) 98
March 25th (The Annunciation oI the Lord) 102
March 26th (Wednesday oI the Third Week oI Lent) 110
March 27th (Thursday oI the Third Week oI Lent ) 113
March 28th (Friday oI the Third Week oI Lent ) 117
March 29th (Saturday oI the Third Week oI Lent ) 120
March 30th (Fourth Sunday oI Lent) 124
March 31st (Monday oI the Fourth Week oI Lent ) 130
April 1st (Tuesday oI the Fourth Week oI Lent) 134
April 2nd (Optional Memorial oI St. Francis oI Paola, hermit) 138
Table oI Contents
April 3rd (Thursday oI the Fourth Week oI Lent) 141
April 4th (Optional Memorial oI St. Isidore, bishop and doctor ) 146
April 5th (Optional Memorial oI St. Vincent Ferrer, priest ) 149
April 6th (FiIth Sunday oI Lent) 153
April 7th (Optional Memorial oI St. John the Baptist de la Salle ) 157
April 8th (Tuesday oI the FiIth Week oI Lent) 161
April 9th (Wednesday oI the FiIth Week oI Lent) 165
April 10th (Thursday oI the FiIth Week oI Lent) 168
April 11th (Optional Memorial oI St. Stanislaus, bishop & martyr ) 171
April 12th (Saturday oI the FiIth Week oI Lent) 175
April 13th (Palm Sunday) 178
April 14th (Monday oI Holy Week) 184
April 15th (Tuesday oI Holy Week) 188
April 16th (Wednesday oI Holy Week) 192
April 17th (Holy Thursday) 196
April 18th (Good Friday) 203
April 19th (Holy Saturday Easter Vigil) 209

Introduction to the Liturgical Year
The Church inculcates Christ and His mission through the patterns and rhythms of her
Liturgical Year. She is herself the universal sacrament of salvation and the visible
manifestation on earth of the presence of the Kingdom of God even now. But the Church
also has various ministries and means by which she carries out her special mission. The
Liturgical Year is perhaps the most important means she uses to sanctify the concept
of time itself.
During the course of the Liturgical Year, the saving actions of Christ are presented
again to the Faithful in an effective spiritual sequence that provides occasions for
deepening our experience of Christ, for giving scope to our need for fasts and feasts,
penance and joy, the remission of sin and the foretaste of heavenly glory. The annual
cycle invites us to live the Christian mysteries more deeply, to let the Christ-life seep
into our very bones, and in so doing to transform and renew all human endeavors, all
human culture.
The backbone of the Liturgical Year is the Liturgical Calendar, an annual cycle of
seasons and feasts which both commemmorate and invite us to more fully enter into the
real history of our salvation. At the same time, the days devoted to the celebration of
many of the Churchs saints provide us with inspiring models of what it means to
exemplify the love and virtues which Our Lord and Savior so zealously wishes us to
share. In this way, we may develop in and through time a heart like unto His own.
On the CatholicCulture.org website, we have collected and organized a great many
resources for helping all of us to live the Liturgical Year more consciously and more
actively. In addition to the accounts of the nature, history and purposes of the great
feasts, and of course the lives of the saints, we have brought together a wide variety of
customs for celebrating the various seasons and feasts which have grown up in cultures
throughout the world. And in connection with these customs, we have also collected
appropriate prayers and devotions, family activities, and even receipesthe better to
help us taste and see the glory of the Lord! (Ps 34:8)
All of these resources are organized according to the Liturgical Calendar, and many
of them are deliberately oriented toward use by the family, or what recent popes have
referred to as the domestic church. The family is to be the Church in miniature, the first
of all Christian communities, the warm embrace in which new souls are claimed for
Christ and nourished in every way for His service. The family is also the source of the
www.catholicculture.org
6 LITURGICAL YEAR 2013-2014, VOL. 3
Churchs manifold vocations, including the vocations of those who dedicate themselves
exclusively to Christ and the Churchs service as priests and religious. Thus, in every
way, the Church public, the Church as a whole, the mystical body of Christ in its fulness,
depends on the health and strength of the domestic church, even as she nourishes the
domestic church through her presence, her sacraments, her counsel, her teachingand,
of course, her Liturgical Year.
It is not possible in an eBook to reproduce the full richness and flexibility of these
resources as they are presented on our website ( www.catholicculture.org). The visual
displays of eBooks cannot, in most cases, equal those of web pages, and it is generally
not as easy to follow the many links available to explore the full range of offerings. What
we have done in the volumes of this series is to present the days of the Liturgical Year in
sequence, grouped in their proper seasons, so that the user can follow the unfolding of
the Liturgical Year with immediate access to the meaning of each day, complete with its
spiritual and liturgical explanations, and its biographies of the saints. Following the basic
presentation for each day are many links to additional information, prayers, activities and
recipes which relate specifically to that day or the Season as a whole.
These materials can be used with profit by anyone. However, if we were to offer
specific advice to parents on how they may make the best use of all the resources in their
own families, we would emphasize the following two points:
First, remember that all of us, but especially children, grow spiritually when we have
the opportunity to associate living examples, customs and activities with Gods love and
saving power. This sort of participation helps children to learn the Faith along with their
mothers milk, so to speakor, as we said above, to get it into their very bones. Children
also need heroes, and one way or another they will find them. The saints make the best of
all possible heroes.
Second, avoid trying to do too much. Select carefully and emphasize a few things
that you believe will work well in your situation. Keep your attitude joyful and relaxed.
With a little judicious planning, let your familys own customs grow and develop over
time. Much of this will be carried on for generations to come, generations which trace
their own faith to and through you.
A word, finally, on the sources of much of the material presented both in this eBook
and on the much larger web site. Many of these wonderful books are, sadly, out of print,
but we owe a great debt to them. You may enjoy pursuing some of these sources on your
own. The years listed are the original publication dates; some have gone through
multiple editions. They include:
Berger, Florence. Cooking for Christ (National Catholic Rural Life Conference)
1949
Burton, Katherine and Helmut Ripperger. The Feast Day Cookbook, 1951
Butler, Alban. Butlers Lives of the Saints (updated since the 18th century, up to
12 volumes depending on edition)
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy 2002
Gueranger, OSB (Abbot). The Liturgical Year, 1983
Kelly, Fr. George A. Catholic Family Handbook, 1959
Lodi, Enzo. Saints of the Roman Calendar, 1993
McLoughlin, Helen. My NamedayCome for Dessert, 1962
Mueller, Therese. Our Childrens Year of Grace, 1943
Newland, Mary Reed. Saints and Our Children, 1958
Newland, Mary Reed. We and Our Children, 1954
Newland, Mary Reed. The Year and Our Children, 1956
Parsch, Dr. Pius. The Churchs Year of Grace (5 volumes), 1953
Trapp, Maria Augusta. Around the Year with the Trapp Family, 1955
Weiser, Francis X., SJ. The Easter Book, 1954.
May you find in this series of volumes on the Liturgical Year a true gateway to the riches
of Christ!
View this item on CatholicCulture.org:
http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=871
Introduction to Lent
Lent is the penitential season of approximately 40 days set aside by the Church in order
for the faithful to prepare for the celebration of the Lords passion, death and
resurrection. During this holy season, inextricably connected to the Paschal Mystery, the
catechumens prepare for Christian initiation, and current Church members prepare for
Easter by recalling their baptism and by works of penance, that is, prayer, fasting and
almsgiving. As we enter Lent in this spirit of the Church and of her liturgy we seek to
wash away the stains of sin and to rid ourselves of all that prevents us from living a truly
Christian life.
Ash Wednesday is the clarion call to Repent and believe the gospel (Mk 1:15). For
the next forty days, the faithful willingly submit to fasting and self-denial in imitation of
Our Lords forty-day fast in the desert. It is in these dark and still nights, these
desert-times, that the soul experiences its greatest growth. There, in the inner arena, the
soul battles the world, the flesh and the devil just as Our Lord battled Satans triple
temptation in the desert. His battle was external, for Jesus could not sin; our battle is
interior, but with a hope sustained by the knowledge of Christs Easter victory over sin
and death.
The word Lent is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word lengten or lencten meaning
spring. We are to spring into action, to do the tasks of the season, to prepare for the
new growth and graces that will overflow at Easter. In most places, Lent corresponds to
Spring, the most important season for a farmer, in which he prepares the soil thoroughly
and plants the seed carefully, hoping that the seed buried deep in the soil will produce an
abundant crop.
On Palm Sunday, the very threshold of his death and Resurrection, Our Lord assured
his followers that unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a
grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. The man who loves his life loses it,
while the man who hates his life in this world preserves it to life eternal (Jn 12:24-25).
Because of this theme of dying in order to rise, the watchword for the liturgical
celebrations of the Season of Lent is austerity. The Church has proclaimed a time of
fasting and self-denial and she teaches by example. The priest is vested in violet, the
gloomy color of affliction and mortification, except on the Fourth Sunday of Lent
(Laetare Sunday) when he might choose the festive option of rose vestments. The
sanctuary is bereft of flowers, and less ornate linens and candlesticks adorn the altar. The
Gloria will not be prayed on Sunday, while the Alleluia will be entirely absent
throughout Lent.
There are two exceptions to the Lenten austerity. On the Solemnities of St. Joseph
(March 19) and the Annunciation (March 25) the Church sets aside her purple for white
vestments, sings the Gloria and prays the Creed.
Throughout the season, the readings of the Lenten Liturgies give us daily lessons
based on three major themes:
The first three weeks call us to repentance and to the practice of virtue, though
the Church will suspend her penitential readings on Laetare Sunday, the
midway point of the Lenten journey, to rejoice that Easter is near.
1.
The second theme that threads its way through the seasonal readings is the
instruction of the catechumens who are preparing for Easter-birth. The Rites of
Christian Initiation span the season of Lent and culminate in the Easter Vigil
Rites of Baptism and Confirmation of the Elect. The various readings put before
our eyes many Old Testament characters and events that prefigure Christ and the
Paschal Mystery: Christ is the new Adam, and he is the Isaac of the New
Covenant; the Church is the new Ark which saves mankind through the waters of
Baptism, and so on.
2.
The final scriptural theme unfolding in the last two weeks of Lent is the
mounting opposition to Christ. The sixth and final Sunday of Lent (Passion or
Palm Sunday) will usher in Holy Week, the greatest and holiest of all weeks.
The liturgies of Holy Week and the Sacred Triduum are too rich to be
summarized here.
3.
Note that the penitential regulations of Lent are as follows in most dioceses of the
Roman Rite:
Abstinence on all the Fridays of Lent, and on Ash Wednesday and Good
Friday. No meat may be eaten on days of abstinence. Catholics 14 years and
older are bound to abstain from meat. Invalids, pregnant and nursing mothers are
exempt.
Fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Fasting means having only one full
meal to maintain ones strength. Two smaller, meatless and penitential meals are
permitted according to ones needs, but they should not together equal the one
full meal. Eating solid foods between meals is not permitted. Catholics from age
18 through age 59 are bound to fast. Again, invalids, pregnant and nursing
mothers are exempt.
This third volume of our Liturgical Year series for 2011-2012 covers all the days of Lent
and the Sacred Triduum, from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, the day before
Easter. For more ideas, prayers and activities to assist families in living the liturgical
season of Lent, we suggest that you visit the Lenten Workshop on CatholicCulture.org.
http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=919
Lent: March 5th
Ash Wednesday
Old Calendar: Ash Wednesday
The time has now come in the Church year for the
solemn observance of the great central act of history,
the redemption of the human race by our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. In the Roman Rite, the beginning of
the forty days of penance is marked with the austere
symbol of ashes which is used in todays liturgy. The
use of ashes is a survival from an ancient rite according
to which converted sinners submitted themselves to
canonical penance. The Alleluia and the Gloria are
suppressed until Easter.
Abstinence from eating meat is to be observed on all
Fridays during Lent. This applies to all persons 14 and
older. The law of fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday applies to all Catholics
from age 18 through age 59.
Ash Wednesday
At the beginning of Lent, on Ash Wednesday, ashes
are blessed during Mass, after the homily. The blessed
ashes are then imposed on the faithful as a sign of
conversion, penance, fasting and human mortality. The
ashes are blessed at least during the first Mass of the
day, but they may also be imposed during all the
Masses of the day, after the homily, and even outside
the time of Mass to meet the needs of the faithful.
Priests or deacons normally impart this sacramental, but
instituted acolytes, other extraordinary ministers or designated lay people may be
delegated to impart ashes, if the bishop judges that this is necessary. The ashes are made
from the palms used at the previous Passion Sunday ceremonies.
Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year, Msgr. Peter J. Elliott
The act of putting on ashes symbolizes fragility and mortality, and the need to be
redeemed by the mercy of God. Far from being a merely external act, the Church has
retained the use of ashes to symbolize that attitude of internal penance to which all the
baptized are called during Lent. Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy
From the very early times the commemoration of the approach of Christs passion
and death was observed by a period of self-denial. St. Athanasius in the year 339
enjoined upon the people of Alexandria the 40 days fast he saw practiced in Rome and
elsewhere, to the end that while all the world is fasting, we who are in Egypt should not
become a laughing stock as the only people who do not fast but take our pleasure in those
days. On Ash Wednesday in the early days, the Pope went barefoot to St. Sabinas in
Rome to begin with holy fasts the exercises of Christian warfare, that as we do battle
with the spirits of evil, we may be protected by the help of self-denial. Daily Missal
of the Mystical Body

Things to Do:

Go with your family to receive ashes at Mass today. Leave them on your
forehead as a witness to your faith. Here is a Lenten reflection on the meaning of
the ashes on Ash Wednesday. If you have children, you may want to share this
with them in terms that they can understand.
Today parents should encourage their children to reflect upon what regular
penances they will perform throughout this season of Lent. Ideally, each member
of the family should choose his own personal penance as well as some good act
that he will perform (daily spiritual reading, daily Mass, extra prayers,
almsgiving, volunteer work, housecleaning, etc.), and the whole family may
wish to give up one thing together (TV, movies, desserts) or do something extra
(family rosary, Holy Hour, Lenten Alms Jar).
The use of Sacrifice Beans may help children to keep track of their Lenten
penances. Some families begin this activity (with undyed beans!) on Ash
Wednesday and then use the collected beans to cook a penitential bean dish for
Good Friday at the end of Lent.
Good Friday at the end of Lent.
Here is a Lenten prayer that the family may pray every night from Ash
Wednesday to the first Saturday in Lent, to turn the familys spiritual focus
towards this holy season.
Read the Pope Benedicts 2013 Message for Lent.
Stational churches are the churches that are appointed for
special morning and evening services during Lent, Easter and
some other important days. The tradition started in order to
strengthen the sense of community within the Church in Rome,
as this system meant that the Holy Father would visit each part
of the city and celebrate Mass with the congregation.
The first stational church during Lent is St. Sabina at the Aventine. It was built in
the 5th century, presumably at the site of the original Titulus Sabinae, a church in the
home of Sabina who had been martyred c. 114. The tituli were the first parish
churches in Rome. St Dominic lived in the adjacent monastery for a period soon
before his death in 1221. Among other residents of the monastery were St Thomas
Aquinas.
Visit Station Churches, a Lenten Journey by Fr. Bill for more information about
stational churches.
Daily Readings for: March 05, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of
Christian service, so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be
armed with weapons of self-restraint. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever.
RECIPES
Fritatta Sardegna (Omelet Sardinian)
Oeufs la Mistral (Baked Eggs)
Pain Dor (Golden Toast)
Dark Rye Bread
Herb Omelet III
Old-Fashioned Johnnycake
Ricotta Omelet
Scrambled Eggs and Cheese
Scrambled Eggs with Mushrooms
Scrambled Eggs with Shrimps
ACTIVITIES
A Two-Fold Theme: Baptism and Penance
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday Pretzels: Fastenbrezel
Examination of Conscience
Family Chart
Farewell to Alleluia
Hymn: Attende Domine - Hear, O Lord
Lenten Alms Jar
Lenten Customs of the Russian Germans
Lenten Fasting Regulations
NOW Cross
Palm Burning Procession for Ash Wednesday
Personal Program for Lent
Pretzels for God: Lent and the Pretzel
Sorrow, Keystone for Lent
Spirit of Lent, The
The Now Cross
The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy
The Liturgy of Lent
The Mystery of Lent
The Precepts of the Church
The Springtime of Lent
Time for God
Tuesday-Before-Ash-Wednesday Procession
Value of Fasting, The
Why Ashes?
Why Fasting and Abstinence?
Why Forty Days?
The Stational Church
PRAYERS
Prayer Before a Crucifix
Prayer from Ash Wednesday to Saturday
Way of the Cross
To Keep A True Lent
Book of Blessings: Blessing and Distribution of Ashes
Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Lent (1st Plan)
LIBRARY
Ash Wednesday Emphasizes That Life Is a Pilgrimage | Cardinal John
OConnor
What Are the Origins of Ash Wednesday and the Use of Ashes? | Fr.
William Saunders
William Saunders
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2014-03-05
Lent: March 6th
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Old Calendar: Sts. Perpetua and Felicitas, martyrs; St.
Colette, virgin & religious (Hist)
If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes
and pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of
heaven (Matt. 5:20). The need to make reparation is a
vital, inescapable urge of a free person. His very nature
cries out for order and peace. His reason tells him that
where an order has been violated, the order must be
repaired; and the higher the order, the greater must be
the reparation. To be free at all, is to accept the
responsibility for atonement. Sin is a violation of Gods
order. Sin demands reparation the reparation of
personal penance, personal prayer, personal charity to
all. Part of our atonement to God is made by serving our fellow men. Daily Missal of
the Mystical Body
According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the
Roman Rite, today is the feast of Sts. Perpetua and Felicitas. Their feast in the Ordinary
Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on March 7. Historically today is the feast of St.
Colette, who revived the Franciscan spirit among the Poor Clares. Her reform spread
throughout France, Savoy, Germany and Flanders, many convents being restored and
seventeen new ones founded by her. She helped St. Vincent Ferrer in the work of healing
the papal schism.
St. Colette
Born in 1380, Nicolette was named in honor of St.
Nicholas of Myra. Her loving parents nicknamed her
Colette from the time she was a baby. Colettes father
was a carpenter at an abbey in Picardy. Quiet and
hard-working, Colette was a big help to her mother with
the housework. Her parents noticed the childs liking
for prayer and her sensitive, loving nature.
When Colette was seventeen, both her parents died.
The young woman was placed under the care of the
abbot at the monastery where her father had worked.
She asked for and received a hut built next to the abbey
church. Colette lived there. She spent her time praying and sacrificing for Jesus Church.
More and more people found out about this holy young woman. They went to see her and
asked her advice about important problems. They knew that she was wise because she
lived close to God. She received everybody with gentle kindness. After each visit, she
would pray that her visitors would find peace of soul. Colette was a member of the Third
Order of St. Francis. She knew that the religious order of women who followed St.
Francis lifestyle are the Poor Clares. They are named after St. Clare, their foundress,
who was a follower of St. Francis. During Colettes time, the Poor Clares needed to go
back to the original purpose of their order. St. Francis of Assisi appeared to Colette and
asked her to reform the Poor Clares. She must have been surprised and afraid of such a
difficult task. But she trusted in Gods grace. Colette traveled to the Poor Clare convents.
She helped the nuns become more poor and prayerful.
The Poor Clares were inspired by St. Colettes life. She had a great devotion to Jesus
in the Eucharist. She also spent time frequently meditating on the passion and death of
Jesus. She loved Jesus and her religious vocation very much.
Colette knew exactly when and where she was going to die. She died in one of her
convents in Ghent, Flanders, in 1447. She was sixty-seven. Colette was proclaimed a
saint by Pope Pius VI in 1807.
Excerpted from Holy Spirit Interactive
Things to Do:
See the Ty Mam Duw Poor Clare Colettine Community for more information.
Todays station is at St. Georges. Pope St. Gregory established
a diaconia, an institution that cared for the poor, at the site of
a diaconia, an institution that cared for the poor, at the site of
this church. The area has a special place in the history of Rome,
as an ancient tradition claims that it was here that Romulus
killed his brother Remus before founding the city.
Collect: Prompt our actions with your inspiration, we pray, O Lord, and further
them with your constant help, that all we do may always begin from you and by
you be brought to completion. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
Basic French Bread
Cassoulet
ACTIVITIES
Lenten Practices for Children
Precious Coins: Mortification and Self-Denial
PRAYERS
Lent Table Blessing 1
The Chaplet of St. Colette
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 7th
Memorial of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, martyrs
Old Calendar: St. Thomas Aquinas, confessor and doctor
The account of the martyrdom of Sts. Perpetua and
Felicity forms one of the finest pages of the history of
the first centuries of the Church. It shows us clearly the
wonderful sentiments of these two women when they
heard that they had been condemned to the wild beasts.
Knowing their own weakness but relying on the
strength of Christ, who was fighting with them, they
went to their martyrdom as to a triumphant celebration,
to which they were invited by Christ. They were
exposed to the fury of wild beasts in the amphitheatre at
Carthage, A.D. 203, and finally killed by the sword. Their names are still mentioned
together in the Roman Canon of the Mass.
Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas which is now celebrated in the
Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite on January 28.
Sts. Perpetua and Felicity
Vibia Perpetua, a well-to-do young woman and mother,
and Felicitas, a slave who gave birth to a child three
days before suffering a martyrs death, were
catechumens. Against such prospective converts the
persecution of Septimius Severus was particularly
severe. These two holy women suffered death on the
seventh of March in Carthage. The Breviary relates the
following touching episode:
Now the day had arrived when they were to be
thrown to the wild beasts. Felicitas began to be sorrowful because she feared she
would have to wait longer than her companions. For eight months she had been
pregnant and therefore, according to Roman law, could not be executed before the
birth of the child. But the prayers of her fellow sufferers hastened her time and she
gave birth to a baby girl.
While she was suffering from the pains of childbirth, one of the guards called out to
her, If you are suffering so much now, what will you do when you are thrown to
the wild beasts? Now I suffer, she answered, but there Another will be in me,
who will suffer for me, because I will suffer for Him. When she was in travail she
had sorrow, but when she was set before the wild beasts she rejoiced"
(Martyrology).
Finally, on the seventh of March, these heroic women were led into the amphitheatre and
severely scourged. Then they were tossed about by an exceptionally wild cow, gored,
and thrown to the ground.
Excerpted from The Churchs Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Patron: Perpetua Cattle, death of children, martyrs. Felicity Death of children;
martyrs; sterility; to have male children; widows.
Symbols:

Perpetua Wild cow; spiked ladder guarded by a dragon. Felicity Seven
swords; cauldron of oil and sword; sword with seven heads; eight palms.
Things to Do:
The story of the sufferings of todays saints is preserved for us in authentic Acts
of the Martyrs that were composed partly by the saints themselves, and partly
by eyewitnesses (perhaps Tertullian). The account may be classed with the most
beautiful portions of ancient Christian literature that have come down to us.
Read from this account here.
The station for today is on Mt. Coelius in the basilica which
the Christian Senator Pammachius built over the home of the
the Christian Senator Pammachius built over the home of the
martyrs Sts. John and Paul and which is dedicated to them. Near
the church was a hospice where Pammachius dispensed his
fortune in charity to the poor.
Collect: O God, at the urging of whose love the Martyrs Saints Perpetua and
Felicity defied their persecutors and overcame the torment of earth, grant, we ask,
by their prayers, that we may ever grow in your love. Through our Lord Jesus
Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one
God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
Skewered Beef Roman Style
ACTIVITIES
Story of the Martyrdom of Sts. Felicity and Perpetua
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 8th
Optional Memorial of St. John of God, religious
Old Calendar: St. John of God
God is love! Whoever abides in love; abides in God
and God in him (motto of St. Johns community). St.
John of God, who was of Portuguese descent, was first
a shepherd, a dealer and then a soldier. At the age of
forty he was converted, and devoted himself to the care
of those sick in mind, showing himself in this thankless
task to be a true innovator and a saint of super-human
heroism. He founded the Order of the Brothers
Hospitallers, which bears his name. He died at Granada
in 1550. Pope Leo XIII declared him patron of
hospitals and of the sick and commanded his name to
be placed in the Litanies of the Dying.
St. John of God
In 1503, at the age of eight, John fled from his parents for some unknown reason. For a
while he was a shepherd, then a book dealer. Matters spiritual were of no particular
interest until he heard the preaching of Blessed John of Avila. Then his conversion was
so sincere and sudden that he was considered to be out of his mind. He was incarcerated
in the Royal Hospital in Granada, and suffered the cruel treatment of the day. Here he
discovered how to show his love for God, through caring for those who were unable to
respond to this cruel treatment. He resolved to devote the remainder of his life caring for
people living on the margins of society.
Following Johns death on his 55th birthday, March 8th, his helpers banded together
to live in the same radical, spiritual way of Hospitality that John had exemplified and in
1572 they were approved by Pius V, as the Hospitaller Brothers of (St) John of God. The
members bind themselves by a fourth vow, the service of the sick. Because of his work
our saint has become the patron of hospitals and the dying. His name is in the Litany of
the Dying.
From St. Johns Life by Bihlmeyer:
On July 3, 1549, a fire broke out in the
kitchen of the Royal hospital at Granada that
had been founded by the Spanish king and
queen, Ferdinand and Isabella. It threatened to
spread to the large wards where hundreds of
sick were lying. The storm and fire bells rang
loudly. People rushed from all sides, John in the
lead. The fire was beyond control, firemen and
volunteers were unable to extinguish it. No one
dared to enter the burning building from which came the pitiful cries of the sick in the
agony of imminent and certain death. Fire and smoke choked the exits. Those who could
still arise from their beds stood pleading at the windows. The scene was enough to drive
a person insane.
John could not stand idly by. Disregarding smoke and flame, he rushed in among the
sick, opened doors and windows, gave terse orders and directions as to how they who
could might save themselves; some he led, others he dragged or carried into the open,
often two at a time. When all the bedridden were safe, he wasted no time in throwing
coverlets, bed clothing, chairs and other valuables out of the windows, thus saving the
property of the poor.
Then he took an axe, climbed to the roof and began chopping away vigorously.
Suddenly the liberated flames leapt up high beside him. He fled, only to continue his
heroic work in another part of the building. There too a wave of fire soon stopped him.
He was standing literally between two infernos. Moments passed, he was lost in the heat
of the flames and the choking smoke. A quarter of an hourloud cries of fear could be
heard for the brave manand then he sprang from the fire, blackened by smoke but
unscathed except for singed eyebrows. Joyously the crowd surrounded him,
congratulating the savior of the sick. Johns modesty, however, prevented him from
accepting praise and honors.
Patron: Booksellers; heart patients; hospitals; nurses; the sick; the dying and firefighters.
Symbols: The pomegranatethe fruit which represents charity and love, in the Bible, is
the coat of arms of the Hospitaller Order and its motto is God is Love. John is depicted
in art washing the feet of Jesus. A famous painting by Gomez-Moreno 1880 depicts John
rescuing the patients from the inferno at the Royal Hospital (where he himself had been
a patient 10 years earlier) where not even one life was lost.
Things to Do:

St. John of God followed his impulses when it came to serving Christ. He never
reconsidered or second-guessed the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, but he acted
on them instantly, whether or not they seemed practical. Today do not dissuade
yourself from doing heroic little acts of charity, but follow Gods will
immediately as it is manifested to you.
St. John of God never thought of himself but always reached out to others.
Examine your conscience tonight and ask yourself: do I habitually give greater
importance to others needs before my own? Do I esteem myself over-highly, or
do I consider myself of least importance?
There is something lacking in present day hospital methods that characterized
the age-old practice of the Church, viz., a harmonious, organic relationship
between liturgy and care of the sick. Pray the Litany of the Sick for those
hospitalized. And pray that hospital care will incorporate the Christian
dimension and respect each person as an image of God.
The station for today is at the church dedicated to St. Augustine
of Hippo. Michalangelo was one of the artists commissioned for
the decoration of the church. The Renaissance faade, one of the
first in this style, is built of travertine marble said to be from the
ruins of the Colosseum.
Collect: O God, who filled Saint John of God with a spirit of compassion, grant,
we pray, that, giving ourselves to works of charity, we may merit to be found
among the elect in your Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who
lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever.
RECIPES
Mushroom Stroganoff
ACTIVITIES
Examination of Conscience
Examination of Conscience for Children
PRAYERS
Litany for the Sick and Afflicted
Litany of Saint John of God
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 9th
First Sunday of Lent
Old Calendar: First Sunday of Lent
The scene of the temptation, which opens the public life
of Jesus, declares in the Gospels in a very forceful
manner the great change in our lives that He introduces
into the world by His work of redemption. Where Adam
fell, Christ, the new Head of humanity, triumphs over
the power of Satan: at the time of His passion the
prince of this world will be cast out. The Gospel of the
temptation heralds Christs victory in advance.
By appointing this Gospel for the beginning of Lent
the Church proclaims that this victory should be ours
also. In us, as all around us, it is Christs temptation,
Christs struggle, Christs victory which is prolonged;
our effort is His and so is our strength; His will be our victory at Easter.
The Feast of St. Francis of Rome which is ordinarily celebrated today is superseded
by the Sunday Liturgy.
Sunday Readings
The first reading is from the Book of Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7 and is about the creation and
fall of man.
The second reading is from St. Paul to the Romans 5:12-19. He is speaking of some
of the immediate effects of Christian salvation, as brought to mankind by Christ. St. Paul
stresses the fact that Christ through his death not only conquered sin but poured out
divine grace so abundantly and lavishly on mankind, making them his brothers and
therefore sons of God, that there is no comparison between the world redeemed by
Christs death and the world of sin which prevailed up to then.
The Gospel is from St. Matthew 4:1-11. This incident in our Lords life, his forty
days and nights of fasting followed by temptations, has been chosen as a reading for this
first Sunday of Lent for our edification and encouragement. Lent is a period of
preparation for the central Christian events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Christ,
the Son of God in human nature, died the excruciating death of crucifixion on Good
Friday, because of the sins of the human race. By this supreme act of obedience to his
heavenly Father he made atonement for all our disobediences, and set us free from the
slavery of Satan and of sin. In his resurrection his human nature was glorified by God
the Father, and in that glorification we are all offered a share and given the right to an
eternal life of glory, if we follow Christ faithfully in this life.
For every sincere Christian therefore,
who appreciates what Good Friday and
Easter Sunday mean for her or him, this
period of preparation should be a welcome
opportunity. The Church no longer imposes
on us any obligatory daily fasting from food,
but it urges us to find other means of
mortifying ourselves, so as to show that we
realize what Christ has done for us and what
he has earned for us through his passion, death and resurrection. The example of Christ
fasting from food for forty days, should move even the coldest Christian heart to try to
do something to make reparation for past negligence and sins. Christ had no sin to atone
for; it was for our sins that he mortified himself. We all have much to atone for. If,
because of the demands of our present way of life, we cannot fast rigorously as our
grandparents did, we can find many other less noticeable, but maybe nonetheless
difficult, ways of subduing our human worldly inclinations. Where there is a will there is
a way; the willing Christian will find ready substitutes for fasting.
The temptations, to which our Lord allowed himself to be submitted, are for us a
source of encouragement and consolation. If our Lord and master under went temptation,
we cannot and must not expect to live a Christian life without experiencing similar tests
and trials. The three temptations Satan put to our Lord were suggestions to forget his
purpose in lifehis messianic mission of redemption. He was urged to get all the bodily
comforts of life, all the self-glory which men could give him, and all the possessions and
power this world has to offer.
Our basic temptations in life are the same: bodily comforts and pleasure, the empty
esteem of our fellowman, wealth and power. There are millions of men and women on
earth todaymany of them nominal Christianswho have given in to these temptations
and, are wasting their lives chasing after these unattainable shadows. But even should
they manage to catch up with some of them, they soon find out that they are empty
baubles. They will have to leave them so very soon.
Today, let each one of us look into his heart and honestly examine his reaction to
these temptations. Do we imitate our Savior and leader, and say begone Satan? Our
purpose in life is not to collect its treasures, its honors or its pleasures. We are here for a
few short years, to merit the unending life which Christ has won for us. Would we be so
foolish as to swap our inheritance for a mere mess of pottage (see Gen. 25:29-34)?
Lent is a golden opportunity to review our past and make sensible resolutions for our
future.
Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin OSullivan, O.F.M.
Things to Do:

Begin praying the prayer for the first week of Lent.
Make Pease Porridge (Split Pea Soup) for supper, a traditional dish for Sundays
during Lent. Add some diced ham for more flavor and substance.
Todays Gospel speaks of the temptation of Jesus after his forty days fast in the
desert. After you go to Mass, discuss this reading with your children,
emphasizing that temptation itself is not a sin, but we must use the Word of God
to combat it, as Christ did. Read the Catholic Encyclopedias explanation of the
Temptation of Christ.
The Station today is at St. John Lateran. The Lateran is
comprised of the Basilica, the Pontifical Palace and the
Baptistry. The church is dedicated to the Christ the Savior. In
the fifth century the titles of St. John Baptist and St. John the
Evangelist were added. The Papal altar contains the wooden
altar on which St. Peter is said to have celebrated Mass. This
basilica is the mother of all churches and is the only church which has the title of
Archbasilica.
Commentary for the Readings in the Extraordinary Form: First
Sunday of Lent
Not by bread alone does man live, but
by every word that comes forth from the
mouth of God (Gospel).
1. In this picture the devil points to
the bread of fleshly desire. Now is the
acceptable time to ration our
self-indulgence, our worship of physical
culture (Epistle), and to feed our souls with the Divine Word. This temptation calls
for the mortification of self.
2. The pinnacle of the temple (in the upper left corner), recalls the pride of
usurping Gods power, of trying to live beyond His reach. We must topple ourselves
from the pinnacle of pride and lift ourselves up by prayer to the pinnacle of God
Himself.
3. The kingdoms of the world, seen in the distance (in middle of picture),
represent those who covet mere earthly glory. To offset this temptation there must
be almsgiving or devoting ones talents to the service of ones neighbor.
The Epistle exhorts us not to receive in vain this plan of personal reformation,
first by warning, then by encouraging us in the eternal struggle between Christ and
Antichrist.
Excerpted from My Sunday Missal, Confraternity of the Precious Blood
Collect: Grant, almighty God, through the yearly observances of holy Lent, that
we may grow in understanding of the riches hidden in Christ and by worthy
conduct pursue their effects. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
Pease Porridge
ACTIVITIES
The Kaleidoscope of Lent
PRAYERS
Prayer for the First Week of Lent
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 10th
Monday of the First Week of Lent
Old Calendar: The Forty Holy Martyrs
According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the
Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of the
Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste, a group of forty soldiers who
suffered a martyrs death for their steadfast faith in Christ, by
freezing in a lake near Sebaste, in the former Lesser Armenia
(now Sivas in central-eastern Turkey).
The Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste
The Forty Martyrs were soldiers quartered at Sebaste in Armenia, about the year 320.
When their legion was ordered to offer sacrifice to idols, they refused to betray the faith
of their baptism, and replied to all persuasive efforts, We are Christians! When neither
cajolings or threats could change them, after several days of imprisonment they were
chained together and taken to the site of execution. It was a cruel winter, and they were
condemned to lie without clothing on the icy surface of a pond in the open air until they
froze to death.
The forty, not merely undismayed but filled with joy at the prospect of suffering for
Jesus Christ, said: No doubt it is difficult to support so acute a cold, but it will be
agreeable to go to paradise by this route; the torment is of short duration, and the glory
will be eternal. This cruel night will win for us an eternity of delights. Lord, forty of us
are entering combat; grant that we may be forty to receive the crown!
There were warm baths close by, ready for any among them who would deny Christ.
One of the confessors lost heart, renounced his faith, and went to cast himself into the
basin of warm water prepared for that intention. But the sudden change in temperature
suffocated him and he expired, losing at once both temporal and eternal life. The still
living martyrs were fortified in their resolution, beholding this scene.
Then the ice was suddenly flooded with a bright light; one of the soldiers guarding
the men, nearly blinded by the light, raised his eyes and saw Angels descend with forty
crowns which they held in the air over the martyrs heads; but the fortieth one remained
without a destination. The sentry was inspired to confess Christ, saying: That crown
will be for me! Abandoning his coat and clothing, he went to replace the unfortunate
apostate on the ice, crying out: I am a Christian! And the number of forty was again
complete. They remained steadfast while their limbs grew stiff and frozen, and died one
by one.
Among the forty there was a young soldier named Meliton who held out longest
against the cold, and when the officers came to cart away the dead bodies they found
him still breathing. They were moved with pity, and wanted to leave him alive, hoping he
would still change his mind. But his mother stood by, and this valiant woman could not
bear to see her son separated from the band of martyrs. She exhorted him to persevere,
and lifted his frozen body into the cart. He was just able to make a sign of recognition,
and was borne away, to be thrown into the flames with the dead bodies of his brethren.
Their bones were cast into the river, but they floated and were gathered up by the faithful.
Excerpted from Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butlers Lives
of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York,
1894); Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de lanne, by Abb L. Jaud (Mame: Tours,
1950).
Things to Do:
Learn more about the Forty Holy Martyrs here.
Read St. Basils Homily on their festival.
The Station today is at St. Peter in Chains. The church was one
of the tituli, Romes first parish churches, known as the Titulus
Eudoxiae or the Eudoxiana. It was built over the ruins of an
Imperial villa in 442 (or possibly 439), to house the chains that
had bound St. Peter in prison in Jerusalem.
Collect: Convert us, O God our Savior, and instruct our minds by heavenly
teaching, that we may benefit from the works of Lent. Through our Lord Jesus
RECIPES
Yellow Split Pea Soup
ACTIVITIES
Christ the Sower: Lenten Seed Sowing
PRAYERS
Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Lent (2nd Plan)
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 11th
Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. Eulogius, priest & martyr (Hist); St.
Sophronius (Hist)
Historically today is the feast of the martyred priest, St.
Eulogius of Cordoba, Spain, who was slain by the
Moors. A noted scholar of Scripture, Eulogius was
arrested in 850 after writing Exhortation of Martyrdom
for two young virgin martyrs, Flora and Mary, who
were beheaded after refusing to abjure the faith.
Released after a time Eulogius ws named archbishop of
Cordoba or Toledo. Before he could be consecrated, he
aided Leocritia, a young Moorish woman who had
converted to Christianity. They were caught and beheaded. Eulogius also wrote The
Memorial of the Saints and an Apologia.
It is also historically the feast of St. Sophronius a simple monk who pursued a life of
prayer and sacrifice first in the desert of Egypt, then near the Jordan River, then finally
in the Holy City of Jerusalem. He was ultimately chosen to be bishop and Patriarch of
Jerusalem in the early 7th century. He valiantly defended the true and full humanity of
Christ in the face of the heresy of Monothelitism, which denied that Jesus had a human
as well as a divine will. The year before his death in 638, he witnessed the capture of
Jerusalem by the Muslims under the Caliph Omar. Several of his sermons and poems
have survived till this day. St. Sophronius is known as one of the Fathers of the Church.
St. Eulogius
St. Eulogius was of a senatorian family of Cordova, at that time the capital of the Moors
in Spain. Our Saint was educated among the clergy of the Church of St. Zoilus, a martyr
who suffered with nineteen others under Diocletian. Here he distinguished himself, by
his virtue and learning, and, being made priest, was placed at the head of the chief
ecclesiastical school at Cordova. He joined assiduous watching, fasting, and prayer to his
studies, and his humility, mildness, and charity gained him the affection and respect of
every one.
During the persecution raised against the Christians in the year 850, St. Eulogius was
thrown into prison and there wrote his Exhortation to Martyrdom, addressed to the
virgins Flora and Mary, who were beheaded the 24th of November, 851. Six days after
their death Eulogius was set at liberty. In the year 852 several others suffered the like
martyrdom. St. Eulogius encouraged all these martyrs to their triumphs, and was the
support of that distressed flock.
The Archbishop of Toledo dying in 858. St. Eulogius was elected to succeed him; but
there was some obstacle that hindered him from being consecrated, though he did not
outlive his election two months.
A virgin, by name Leocritia, of a noble family among the Moors, had been instructed
from her infancy in the Christian religion by one of her relatives, and privately baptized.
Her father and mother used her very ill, and scourged her day and night to compel her to
renounce the Faith. Having made her condition known to St. Eulogius and his sister
Anulona, intimating that she desired to go where she might freely exercise her religion,
they secretly procured her the means of getting away, and concealed her for some time
among faithful friends.
But the matter was at length discovered, and they were all brought before the cadi,
who threatened to have Eulogius scourged to death. The Saint told him that his torments
would be of no avail, for he would never change his religion. Whereupon the cadi gave
orders that he should be carried to the palace and be presented before the kings council.
Eulogius began boldly to propose the truths of the Gospel to them. But, to prevent their
hearing him, the council condemned him immediately to lose his head. As they were
leading him to execution, one of the guards gave him a blow on the face, for having
spoken against Mahomet; he turned the other cheek, and patiently received a second.
He received the stroke of death with great cheerfulness, on the 11th of March, 859.
St. Leocritia was beheaded four days after him, and her body thrown into the river
Guadalquivir, but taken out by the Christians.
Excerpted from Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
St. Sophronius
Patriarch St. Sophronius of Jerusalem was called the
Sophist because of his knowledge of Greek. He was an
ardent opponent of monothelitism. Many of his writings,
including the Florilegium and the Life of St. John the
Almsgiver, are no longer extant. He wrote an encomium on
John of Cyrus and composed 23 anacreontic odes on the
feasts of the church. His Christmas homily of 634 suggests
that the Saracens held Bethlehem at that time. (Historians
had dated the event later). The Orthodox remember St.
Sophronius chiefly as the author of the life of St. Mary of
Egypt. Sophronius was born in Damascus around 560. He
and his friend John Moschus became ascetics together while they were in their late teens
or early twenties. Some say they lived near the Jordan; some say they lived in Egypt. In
605, Sophronius fled to Alexandria in the wake of Persian invaders, and when the
Persians invaded Alexandria in 616, he fled to Rome. In 619, he returned to Palestine and
lived in the Theodosius monastery in Jerusalem. When Patriarch Cyrus of Alexandria
began to preach monothelitism, St. Sophronius traveled to that city to argue against him;
in 633, when Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople began to preach monothelitism, St.
Sophronius traveled to that city to argue against him. Neither visit was successful. After
Sophronius was elected Patriarch of Jerusalem in 634, he wrote the Synodical Letter to
teach the two wills of Christ. In 637, the Muslims captured Jerusalem; St. Sophronius
died a year later of grief at the fall of his city.
Things to Do:
Read more about this Father of the Church at: The St. Pachomius Library, St.
Sophronius of Jerusalem, St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, St. Sophronius
and Butlers Lives of the SaintsSaint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem,
Confessor.
At Rome, the Station is in the church of St. Anastasia, where,
formerly, the Mass of the Aurora on Christmas Day was
celebrated. The first church was built in the late 3rd or early 4th
century, and was one of the first parish churches of ancient
Rome. It was given by a woman called Anastasia and called
titulus Anastasiae after her. Later, it was dedicated to a martyr
of the same name.
Collect: Look upon your family, Lord, that, through the chastening effects of
bodily discipline, our minds may be radiant in your presence with the strength of
our yearning for you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and
reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
Monastery Soup
ACTIVITIES
PRAYERS
The Marian Prayer of St. Sophronius (A.D. 560-638)
LIBRARY
The History of the Latin Vulgate | John E. Steinmeuller D.D., S.Scr.L.
The Last Ancient Patriarch of Jerusalem: Saint Sophronius | Robert Saffern
Lent: March 12th
Wednesday of the First Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. Gregory the Great, pope and doctor
Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the
feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great. His feast in the
Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on
September 3.
Today is an Ember Day in the Tridentine Rite. There are
two principal objects for the Ember Days of this period
of the year: the first is to offer to God the season of
Spring, and, by fasting and prayer, to draw down His
blessing upon it; the second is to ask Him to enrich with
His choicest graces the priests and sacred ministers who
are to receive their Ordination on Saturday.
Thanks to Fear of the Lord, There is no Fear of Evil
History, in fact, is not alone in the hands of dark powers, chance or human choices. Over
the unleashing of evil energies, the vehement irruption of Satan, and the emergence of so
many scourges and evils, the Lord rises, supreme arbiter of historical events. He leads
history wisely towards the dawn of the new heavens and the new earth, sung in the final
part of the book under the image of the new Jerusalem (cf. Revelation 21-22).
It must be reaffirmed, therefore, that God is not indifferent to human events, but
penetrates them realizing his ways, namely his plans and his efficacious deeds.
According to our hymn, this divine intervention has a very specific purpose: to be a
sign that invites all the peoples of the earth to conversion. Nations must learn to read in
history a message of God. Humanitys history is not confused and without meaning, nor
is it given over, without appeal, to the malfeasance of the arrogant and perverse. There is
the possibility to recognize divine action hidden in it. In the pastoral constitution
Gaudium et Spes, Vatican Council II also invites the believer to scrutinize, in the light
of the Gospel, the signs of the times to see in them the manifestation of the very action of
God (cf. n. 4 and 11). This attitude of faith leads man to recognize the power of God
operating in history, and thus to open himself to fear of the name of the Lord. In biblical
language, in fact, this fear does not coincide with dread, but is the recognition of the
mystery of the divine transcendence. Because of this, it is the basis of faith and is joined
with love: the Lord your God requires of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in
all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul (cf. Deuteronomy 10:12).
Following this line, in our brief hymn, taken from Revelation, fear and glorification
of God are united: Who will not fear you, Lord, or glorify your name (15:4)? Thanks
to fear of the Lord there is no fear of the evil that rages in history and one takes up again
with vigor the journey of life, as the prophet Isaiah declared: Strengthen the hands that
are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not! (Isaiah 35: 3-4).
Excerpted from Thanks to Fear of the Lord, There Is No Fear of Evil, Pope Benedict
XVI, May 11, 2005
Things to Do:
Your children may want to spend their afternoon learning about different local
charitable organizations or needy families to whom the alms from the familys
Lenten Jar will be given.
Todays Station is at St. Mary Major. The spring Ember Week
consecrated the new season to God and by prayer and fasting
sought to obtain abundant graces for those who on Saturday
were to receive Holy Orders. The Station was fittingly held in
the church, which witnessed the first scrutinies for the coming
ordinations, and which was dedicated to the mother of the great
High Priest.
Collect: Look kindly, Lord, we pray, on the devotion of your people, that those
who by self-denial are restrained in body may by the fruit of good works be
renewed in mind. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns
with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
Lenten Soup
Whole Wheat Bread II
ACTIVITIES
Good Example A Lesson in Discipline
Lent Hymn: Open, O Hard and Sinful Heart!
Religion in the Home for Elementary School: March
Religion in the Home for Preschool: March
PRAYERS
Novena to St. Joseph
Novena to St. Joseph II
Traditional Novena Prayer to St. Joseph
LIBRARY
Gregory the Great, a Model for Civil and Religious Leaders | Pope
Benedict XVI
Saint Gregory the Great (1) | Pope Benedict XVI
Saint Gregory the Great (2) | Pope Benedict XVI
The Divine Office: From St. Gregory the Great to Pius X | Benedictine
Monks of Buckfast Abbey
Lent: March 13th
Thursday of the First Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. Roderick, martyr (Hist)
On the Cross, Christ is both priest and victim; he fulfills
Isaiahs description of him as the suffering servant. And
the whole of his teaching is to make us ready to live our
sacramental life in his spirit of sacrifice. He impressed
on us that we must match the outward sign of his
sacraments in our lives. When we became other Christs
in Baptism, we became other Christs in Baptisms, we
became sharers in the priesthood of the Lord. We
gained the ability and the responsibility of combining
our inward obedience with every outward act of
sacrifice that we make as priests and victims. In every
Mass, then, we agree to offer our obedience to atone for,
to correct the disobedience of sin. On his part, Christ agrees to renew his sacrifice of
atonement and obedience, in which we join; and to nourish us on the victim, his flesh and
blood, the covenant food.
St. Andrew Bible Mission
Historically today is the feast of St. Roderick of Cordoba, a priest and martyr who
lived in Moorish Spain in the 9th century. He was beheaded in 857.
Confidence and Union with God in Temptation
Nothing is more efficacious against temptation than the remembrance of the Cross of
Jesus. What did Christ come to do here below if not to destroy the works of the devil?
And how has He destroyed them, how has He cast out the devil, as He Himself says, if
not by His death upon the Cross?
Let us then lean by faith upon the cross of Christ Jesus, as our baptism gives us the
right to do. The virtue of the cross is not exhausted. In baptism we were marked with the
seal of the cross, we became members of Christ, enlightened by His light, and partakers
of His life and of the salvation He brings to us. Hence, united to Him, whom shall we
fear? Dominus illuminatio mea et salus mea; quern timebo? Let us say to ourselves: He
hath given His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.
Because he hoped in Me (says the Lord) I will deliver him; I am with him in
tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him. I will fill him with length of days,
and I will show him My salvation.
Excerpted from Christ the Life of the Soul, Dom Marmion.
St. Roderick of Cordoba
Jesus warned his disciples that they should expect no
better treatment than Himself. They would be haled
before governors and kings on His account, and brothers
would even hand brothers over for execution.
That prophecy was literally fulfilled in the case of
St. Roderick, a Spanish martyr who died at the hands of
the Muslim Moors in A.D. 857. His was a bitter case of
the reverse of Christian love. We owe the account to
eyewitness St. Elogius, who later on died for the faith
himself.
It must be admitted that when the Mohammedans invaded Spain in A.D. 711, even
they were sometimes shocked by the lack of religious principles among a large number
of the Hispanic Christians. As the Moors swarmed in, the Catholics, far from presenting
a strong front, became divided. Many, whether out of fear or lack of faith, voluntarily
gave up their Christianity. Families thus split asunder and the members on either side
railed at each other.
St. Roderick was to prove a sad victim of this sort of betrayal. He was a good priest
of Cabra who had two irresponsible brothers. One of them was a bad Christian who had
all but abandoned his faith. The other had gone still further and joined Islam. One night
the two started to fight each other unmercifully. Roderick tried to break them up, but
instead of yielding, they turned on him and beat him senseless. Then the Muslim brother
had the priest put on a litter and carried half-conscious through the streets. The Muslim
accompanied the bier, proclaiming that Father Roderick, too, had apostatized, and that he
wanted it known publicly before he died. Eventually the victim did recover and went off
to a safe place.
But Father Roderick had not yet seen the last of his renegade brother. The Muslim
met the priest soon afterwards in the streets of Cordova. He had Roderick taken at once
before the Mohammedan kadi (judge), where he accused him of the crime of having
returned to Christianity after public profession of his Muslimism.
Although Father Roderick protested that he had never denied his Christian faith, the
kadi clapped him into the citys worst dungeon.
In that fetid jail, the priest at least had the comfort of finding one Solomon, another
Christian prisoner who had been accused of the same unforgiveable crime. Both of
them were given a long term of imprisonment, in the hope that they would convert. But
each man encouraged the other, and they remained firm in their Christian convictions.
Even when separated, they would not change their belief.
Eventually, the kadi ordered the Catholic priest and the layman beheaded. St.
Eulogius saw their headless bodies lying on the riverside. He noticed that the guards
were careful to throw into the stream any stones stained with the mens blood, for fear
the faithful might pick them up as relics.
The soldiers sought in vain to ward off veneration of SS. Roderick and Solomon.
Spanish Christians would always honor them thereafter as martyrs. And they would also
gradually learn from this heroism that the Faith is something really worth dying for.
Father Robert F. McNamara
Excerpted from St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish
The Station today is at St. Lawrence in Panisperna. The church
stands on the site of St. Lawrences martyrdom. The appellation
refers to the name of the street, which in turn most likely refers
to the tradition of the Poor Clares in the adjacent convent of
distributing bread and ham (pane e perna) on August 10th, the
feast day of St. Lawrence. This is done in remembrance of St.
Lawrence distributing funds from the church to the poor.
Collect: Bestow on us, we pray, O Lord, a spirit of always pondering on what is
right and of hastening to carry it out, and, since without you we cannot exist, may
we be enabled to live according to your will. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your
Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for
ever and ever.
RECIPES
Sauted Red Cabbage
ACTIVITIES
La Falla de San ChusepSaint Josephs Day in Valencia
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 14th
Friday of the First Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. Matilda (Hist)
Historically today is the feast of St. Matilda, Queen of
Germany and wife of King Henry. She was well known
throughout the realm for her generosity, she taught the
ignorant, comforted the sick, and visited prisoners.
Betrayed by Otto after Henrys death when he falsely
accused her of financial mismanagement.
Today is an Ember Day in the Tridentine Rite.
There are two principal objects for the Ember Days of
this period of the year: the first is to offer to God the
season of Spring, and, by fasting and prayer, to draw
down His blessing upon it; the second is to ask Him to
enrich with His choicest graces the priests and sacred ministers who are to receive their
Ordination on Saturday.
The Value of Fasting
Is fasting really worthwhile? Whenever I consider the value of a religious practice, I
always look into the earthly life of our Savior. He is our model. He dwelt with us in order
to teach us how to form our lives inwardly and outwardly. Christ Himself fasted often
and accorded it high praise in His teaching. Recall how He fasted forty days before
entering upon His work of teaching. At the beginning of Lent the Church wishes to
stamp this fact deep in our hearts: our fasting must be in union with and in imitation of
Christs.
I call to mind the mystery-laden, pregnant words spoken by our Savior when the
disciples, unable to cure a possessed boy, asked, Why could we not cast him out?, and
Jesus answered, This kind can be driven out in no way except by prayer and fasting
(Mark 9:29). This reply has always made the deepest impression on me. Prayer and
fasting are extraordinary means (we may call them violent means) when other simpler
ways are of no avail against the powers of hell.
Now another saying of Jesus comes to mind. When Johns disciples began to
reproach Him, Why do Your disciples not fast?, He replied: Can you make the
wedding guests fast as long as the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the
bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom
will be taken away from them; in those days they will fast (Luke 5:35). There is a
hidden depth of meaning in these words. The coming of Christ among men was a
wedding feast. Fasting had no place. But it is most proper to fast when the divine
Bridegroom is taken away. Fasting on Fridays and during Holy Week, then, is in accord
with Christs own wishes.
I should like to cite one further passage from the Gospel, one which casts light on
fasting from another direction. Once our Savior compared Himself with the Baptist in
these words, John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, `He has a devil! The
Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, `Behold a glutton and a wine
drinker. John was a man devoted to penance, an ascetic, who fasted throughout his life.
Not so Christ. His way of living was not based exclusively upon self-denial and
mortification, but upon an ordered enjoyment of life. So we learn from the Savior that
fasting should be the exception, not the rule, in Christian morality.
To complete the lesson let us consider for a moment the passage in the Sermon on
the Mount where Jesus speaks of the three important pious exercises of fasting, prayer,
and almsgiving. He highly recommends all three, but warns against practicing these
virtues in a pharisaical manner.
The main points in Jesus doctrine on fasting, then, are:
Fasting is an extremely important means of resisting the inroads of hell (hence
Lent).
1.
Fasting should be practiced as a memorial of Christs death (Friday, Holy Week). 2.
Fast days occur by way of exception in Christian life, they are not the normal
practice.
3.
Fasting holds a place alongside prayer and almsgiving as a pious exercise. 4.
Excerpted from The Churchs Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.
St. Matilda
This princess was daughter of Theodoric, a powerful
Saxon count. Her parents placed her very young in the
monastery of Erford, of which her grandmother Maud
was then abbess. Our Saint remained in that house, an
accomplished model of all virtues, till her parents
married her to Henry, son of Otho, Duke of Saxony, in
913, who was afterwards chosen king of Germany. He
was s pious and victorious prince, and very tender of his
subjects.
Whilst by his arms he checked the insolence of the
Hungarians and Danes, and enlarged his dominions by
adding to them Bavaria, Maud gained domestic victories over her spiritual enemies more
worthy of a Christian and far greater in the eyes of Heaven. She nourished the precious
seeds of devotion and humility in her heart by assiduous prayer and meditation. It was
her delight to visit, comfort, and exhort the sick and the afflicted; to serve and instruct the
poor, and to afford her charitable succor to prisoners. Her husband, edified by her
example, concurred with her in every pious undertaking which she projected.
After twenty-three years marriage God was pleased to call the king to himself, in
936. Maud, during his sickness, went to the church to pour forth her soul in prayer for
him at the foot of the altar. As soon as she understood, by the tears and cries of the
people, that he had expired, she called for a priest that was fasting to offer the holy
sacrifice for his soul.
She had three sons: Otho, afterwards emperor; Henry, Duke of Bavaria; and St.
Brunn, Archbishop of Cologne. Otho was crowned king of Germany in 937, and emperor
at Rome in 962, after his victories over the Bohemians and Lombards.
The two oldest sons conspired to strip Maud of her dowry, on the unjust pretence that
she had squandered the revenues of the state on the poor. The unnatural princes at length
repented of their injustice, and restored to her all that had been taken from her.
She then became more liberal in her alms than ever, and founded many churches,
with five monasteries.
In her last sickness she made her confession to her grandson William, the Archbishop
of Mentz, who yet died twelve days before her, on his road home. She again made a
public confession before the priests and monks of the place, received a second time the
last sacraments, and, lying on a sack-cloth, with ashes on her head, died on the 14th of
last sacraments, and, lying on a sack-cloth, with ashes on her head, died on the 14th of
March in 968.
Excerpted from Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Things to Do:
Learn more about St. Matilda here.
Todays station is at the Church of the Twelve Apostles.
Traditionally, this is the place where the Romans choose their
candidates for priesthood (Rite of Election). It was erected by
Julius I (337-352) over the barracks of ancient Romes firemen
and entrusted since 1463 to the Conventual Franciscans.
Originally dedicated to the Apostles St. James and St. Philip, it
was rededicated to all the Apostles in the 16th century.
Collect: Grant that your faithful, O Lord, we pray, may be so conformed to the
paschal observances, and the bodily discipline now solemnly begun may bear fruit
in the souls of all. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns
RECIPES
ACTIVITIES
Why Fasting and Abstinence?
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 15th
Saturday of the First Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. Louise de Marillac, widow (Hist); St.
Longinus (Hist)
feast of St. Louise de Marillac. She was born in 1592,
and married in 1613. When her husband died she made
a vow of widowhood and devoted herself entirely to
works of charity. St. Vincent de Paul, who became her
spiritual director, gradually initiated her into his own
charitable works for the poor and afflicted, and in 1639
they founded the Congregation of the Daughters of
Charity to which St. Louise dedicated the rest of her
life. She was canonized by Pope Pius XI on March 11,
1934.
Today is an Ember Day in the Tridentine Rite. There are two principal objects for the
Ember Days of this period of the year: the first is to offer to God the season of Spring,
and, by fasting and prayer, to draw down His blessing upon it; the second is to ask Him
to enrich with His choicest graces the priests and sacred ministers who are to receive
their Ordination on Saturday.
St. Louise de Marillac
St. Louise de Marrillac married an official of the royal court,
Antony Le Gras, and after his death in 1625 was an active
supporter of the charitable work of St Vincent de Paul, who
came to put more and more reliance on her. Mademoiselle Le
Gras, as she was known, became the co-founder with him of
the Daughters of Charity, whose convent is the sick-room,
their chapel the parish church, their cloister the city streets; it
was she who drew up the first draft of their rule of life. Her
clear intelligence and wide sympathy played a big part in the
beginnings of the congregation, whose aspirants she trained
and whose rapid growth involved responsibilities which largely fell on her. At the time
of her death there were already over forty houses of the sisters in France, the sick poor
were looked after at home in twenty-six Parisian parishes, hundreds of women were
given shelter, and there were other undertakings as well. St Louise was not physically
robust, but she had great powers of endurance, and her selfless devotion was a source of
incalculable help and encouragement to Monsieur Vincent.
Dictionary of Saints by Donald Attwater.
Patron: Disappointing children, widows, loss of parents, sick people, social workers,
Vincentian Service Corps, people rejected by religious orders.
Symbols: Saint Louise is depicted wearing the original Vincentian habit of grey wool
with a large headdress of white linen (typical of poor women in 17th century Brittany),
perhaps with an infant in her arms.
Things to Do:

Teach your children this simple morning aspiration by St. Louise: Grant me the
grace to spend this day without offending You and without failing my neighbor.
Begin planning a family Passion presentation or play in which all can participate.
You may want to plan this for the end of Lent Spy Wednesday or Holy
Thursday would be particularly appropriate days for this.
St. Longinus
St. Longinus was the Roman centurion who
pierced the side of Christ with a lance. He is
said to have converted to Christianity after
experiencing the darkness after Christs death.
St. Luke tells us that the centurion gave
praise to God, and exclaimed, Truly this was
an upright man. (Luke 23:47)
What was believed to be the Holy Lance of
Longinus, was given to Innocent VIII in 1492.
Things to Do:
Read more about the statue of St. Longinus at St. Peters Basilica.
Read The Life of Saint Longinus from the Golden Legend.
The Station is in the basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, where
the people would assemble towards evening, that they might be
present at the ordination of the priests and sacred ministers. This
day was called Twelve-Lesson-Saturday, because, formerly,
twelve passages from the holy Scriptures were read, as upon
Holy Saturday. Built by Constantine in 323, the basilica was
erected over the place where St. Peter was buried.
Collect: Turn our hearts to you, eternal Father, and grant that, seeking always the
one thing necessary and carrying out works of charity, we may be dedicated to
your worship. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with
you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
Cheese Manicotti
ACTIVITIES
Value of Fasting, The
PRAYERS
Prayer in Honor of St.Louise de Marillac
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 16th
Second Sunday of Lent
Old Calendar: Second Sunday of Lent
Between Moses and Elias Jesus shows forth His divine
glory, thus foreshadowing His resurrection. He is the
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of all
things. Todays Mass places before us the transfigured
Lord and the model toward Whom we must tend, and
our own transfiguration as the goal we must attain. We
attain this goal by a profound realization of our
sinfulness and need of a Redeemer; by preserving purity
of body and soul; by combating our passions and carnal
instincts and observing the commandments and most
importantly by participating in the Mass. Excerpted
from Cathedral Daily Missal
Sunday Readings
The first reading is taken from the book of Genesis 12:1-4. In due time God began the
remote preparation for the Incarnation. Almost 2,000 years before Christ was to come he
selected Abram to be the father of a people who would be his special friends, his
Chosen People, and through them, the fullness of his revelation. Christ, would come to
all men. This is the divine event read for us today.
The second reading is from the letter of St. Paul to Timothy 2 Tim 1:8-10. Timothy,
son a pagan father and a Jewish mother, became a Christian, together with his mother
Eunice and his grandmother Lois, on his first visit to Lystra. Later, Paul appointed him
head of the church at Ephesus. This epistle is principally concerned with the pastoral
duties of pastors or shepherds of the communities.
The Gospel is from St. Matthew 17:1-9. This momentary vision of Christ, in his
glory, was given in order to strengthen the three principal Apostles to face the trials to
their faith, which the sufferings and crucifixion of their beloved master would bring on
them. For the very same reason it is retold to us today, in the early part of Lent, to
encourage us to persevere in our Lenten mortification. It reminds us that, very soon, the
Easter bells will be ringing out their message of joy once more. If we are sharers with
Christ in his sufferings, we shall be sharers with him in his glory as St. Paul reminds us.
This is a truth we all too easily forget, namely, that we cannot and do not get to
heaven in a limousine. Our spell on earth is the chance given us by our heavenly Father
to earn an eternal reward. This reward surpasses even the wildest imagination of man.
We could never earn it, but God accepts the little we can do and provides the balance of
his infinite mercy. And yet there are many, far too many, who refuse even that little bit
that is asked of them, and are thus running the risk of not partaking in Gods scheme for
their eternal happiness.
And are they any happier during their few years on this earth by acting thus towards
the God of mercy? Can they, by ignoring God and their duties towards him, remove all
pain, all sorrow, all sufferings, from their daily lives? Death, which means a total
separation from all we possessed and cherished in this world, is waiting around the
corner for all of us. Who can face it more calmly and confidently he man who is
firmly convinced that it is the gateway to a new life, and who has done his best to earn
admission through that gateway, or the man who has acted all his life as if death did not
exist for him, and who has done everything to have the gate to the new life shut forever
in his face?
Illnesses and troubles and disappointments are the lot of all men. They respect
neither wealth, nor power, nor position. The man who knows his purpose in life, and is
ever striving to reach the goal Gods goodness has planned for him, can and will see in
these trials of life the hand of a kind father who is preparing him for greater things. His
sufferings become understandable and more bearable because of his attitude to life and
its meaning. The man who ignores God and tries to close the eyes of his mind to the real
facts of life has nothing to uphold him or console him in his hours of sorrow and pain.
Yet, sorrow and pain will dog his footsteps, strive as he will to avoid them, and he can
see no value, no divine purpose in these, for him, misfortunes.
Christ has asked us to follow him, carrying our daily cross, and the end of our
journey is not Calvary but resurrection, the entrance to a life of glory with our risen
Savior. The Christian who grasps his cross closely and willingly, knowing its value for
his real life, will find it becomes lighter and often not a burden but a pleasure. The man
who tries to shuffle off his cross, and who curses and rebels against him who sent it, will
find it doubles its weight and loses all the value it was intended to have for his true
welfare.
Let the thought of the Transfiguration encourage each one of us today, to do the little
God demands of us, so that when we pass out of this life we may be assured of seeing
Christ in his glory, ready to welcome us into his everlasting, glorious kingdom.
Excerpted from The Sunday Readings Cycle A, Fr. Kevin O Sullivan, O.F.M.
The Station at Rome is in the church of St. Mary in Dominica,
on Monte Celio. Tradition tells us that in this basilica was the
diaconicum of which St. Lawrence had charge, and from which
he distributed to the poor the alms of the Church.
Commentary for the Readings in the Extraordinary Form: Second
Sunday of Lent
Behold, there appeared to them Moses
and Elias talking together with Him
(Gospel).
Last Sunday we beheld Jesus as Man,
suffering and conquering the three
temptations. Today a faint glimpse of
Jesus as God is a further Lenten
incentive against discouragement or failure.
We behold Moses, the lawgiver, pointing to the code of the Ten Commandments;
Elias, the prophet, pointing to the creed of Divine Truth. This is the will of
Godwalking in the way of His Commandments (Epistle, applying your mind to
Divine Truth, so that you (may) learn how to possess (your) vessel in holiness.
"Your sanctification (Epistle) is an interior obligation in your own private life;
also exterior (Prayer), to the extent of helping your neighbor, for "the Lord is the
avenger" of deception in everyday business (Epistle).
Collect: O God, who have commanded us to listen to your beloved Son, be
pleased, we pray, to nourish us inwardly by your word, that, with spiritual sight
made pure, we may rejoice to behold your glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever.
RECIPES
Fall or Winter Sunday Dinner Menu
Huevos Rancheros
ACTIVITIES
How the Devil Tempts Us
PRAYERS
Prayer for the Second Week of Lent
LIBRARY
A Revival of Christian Culture Through the Family | Jennifer Gregory
Miller
Lent: March 17th
Optional Memorial of St. Patrick, bishop and
confessor (Solemnity Aus, Ire, Feast New Zeal,
Scot, Wales)
Old Calendar: St. Patrick
This day is not all about leprechauns, shamrocks and
green beer. This is a day to honor and pray to St.
Patrick. He was an influential saint who, 1,500 years
ago, brought Christianity to the little country of Ireland.
He was born about 385 in the British Isles, was carried
off while still very young during a raid on Roman
Britain by the Irish and sold as a slave. At the end of six
years he contrived to escape to Europe, became a monk
and was ordained; he then returned to Ireland to preach
the Gospel. During the thirty years that his missionary
labors continued he covered the Island with churches
and monasteries; in 444 he founded the metropolitan see
of Armagh. St. Patrick died in 461. After fifteen centuries he remains for all Irishmen the
great bishop whom they venerate as their father in the Faith.
St. Patrick
Not many facts are known about the life of St. Patrick. We know that he was born
around 415 AD, and was a Roman Briton. When he was about 16, while he was tending
his sheep some Irish raiders captured him and made him a slave. He eventually was able
to escape and return to Britain. There he heard the call to return and bring Christianity to
Ireland. He was ordained a priest, consecrated a bishop and came back to Ireland around
435 AD. Many legends are associated around St. Patrick: how he drove the snakes out of
Ireland, and the use of the shamrock to teach the mystery of the Trinity. Whether or not
Ireland, and the use of the shamrock to teach the mystery of the Trinity. Whether or not
the legends are true, St. Patrick succeeded in bringing Catholicism to Ireland, and in
time, the whole country converted from their pagan gods to the one true God.
Although a small country, Ireland has played a large role in saving and bringing
Christianity throughout the world. During the early Dark Ages, the Irish monasteries
preserved Western writings while Europe remained in darkness. But as the Catholic
country remained solidly Catholic, the Irish spread the faith to all corners of the world.
To learn more on this subject, read Thomas Cahills How the Irish Saved Civilization.

We have a few works attributed to St. Patrick, one being his autobiography called
Confessions. It is a short summary of the events in his life, written in true humility.
Below is a short excerpt:
I am greatly Gods debtor, because he granted me so
much grace, that through me many people would be
reborn in God, and soon after confirmed, and that
clergy would be ordained everywhere for them, the
masses lately come to belief, whom the Lord drew
from the ends of the earth, just as he once promised
through his prophets: To you shall the nations come
from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Our fathers
have inherited naught hut lies, worthless things in
which there is no profit. And again: I have set you
to be a light for the Gentiles that you may bring
salvation to the uttermost ends of the earth.
Patron: Ireland; against snakes; against ophidiophobia; archdiocese of Boston,
Massachusetts; diocese of Burlington, Vermont; engineers; excluded people; fear of
snakes; diocese of Fort Worth, Texas; diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; archdiocese
of New York; Nigeria; diocese of Norwich, Connecticut; ophidiophobics; diocese of
Portland, Maine; diocese of Sacramento, California; snake bites.
Symbols: A bishop trampling on snakes; bishop driving snakes away; shamrock; snakes;
cross; harp; demons; baptismal font.
Things to Do:
This is a good day to honor St. Patrick by trying typical Irish fare: corned beef
and cabbage, soda bread, scones, stew, Shepherds pie, potatoes in various forms
and the famous beer and spirits of Ireland. For dessert, try making the Irish
Porter Cake.
Read the Lorica (Breastplate) of St. Patrick. Here is an older translation pray
it with your family after your rosary tonight.
From the Catholic Culture library: The Conversion of Ireland by Warren Carroll,
The Irish Soldiers of Mexico by Michael Hogan, The Irish Madonna of
Hungary by Zsolt Aradi and Our Lady in Old Irish Folklore and Hymns by
James F. Cassidy.
The Station today is at St. Clements. The oldest level is
thought to be the titulus Clementis, one of the first parish
churches in Rome, and probably belonged to the family of Titus
Flavius Clemens, consul and martyr and a contemporary of Pope
St. Clement. Set right next to a pagan temple, a Mithraeum or
Temple of Mithras, it was one of the first churches in Rome.
Collect: O God, who chose the Bishop Saint Patrick to preach your glory to the
peoples of Ireland, grant, through his merits and intercession, that those who glory
in the name of Christian may never cease to proclaim your wondrous deeds to all.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
Barinbreac
Barm Brack
Cherries Jubilee II
Colcannon
Corned Beef and Cabbage
Glow Wine
Irish Porter Cake
Irish Scones
Irish Soda Bread
Irish Soda Bread
Irish Stew
Irish Tea Barmbrack
Jellied Pigs Head
Jiffy On-Fire Dessert
Nettles
Potato Dish
Potato Pancakes
Snowballs on Fire
ACTIVITIES
Gaelic Prayers
Pain and Suffering
St. Patricks Testimony
PRAYERS
Breast Plate Prayer (Lorica)
Annunciation Novena
Litany of Saint Padrig of Eire
Novena for the Annunciation
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 18th
Optional Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem,
bishop, confessor and doctor
Old Calendar: St. Cyril of Jerusalem; Our Lady of Mercy
(Hist)
Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, was banished from his see
on three occasions. With St. Athanasius and others, he
belongs to the great champions of faith in the fight
against Arianism. Famous as a teacher and preacher, he
has left a series of catechetical instructions that
constitute a priceless heirloom from Christian antiquity.
Of the twenty-four extant discourses, nineteen were
directed to catechumens during Lent as a preparation for
baptism, while five so-called mystagogical instructions
were given during Easter time to make the mysteries of
Christianity better known to those already baptized.
Historically today is the feast of Our Lady of Mercy.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Cyril of Jerusalem was given to the study of the Holy Scriptures from childhood, and
made such progress that he became an eminent champion of the orthodox faith. He
embraced the monastic institute and bound himself to perpetual chastity and austerity of
life. He was ordained priest by St. Maximus, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and undertook the
work of preaching to the faithful and instructing the catechumens, in which he won the
praise of all. He was the author of those truly wonderful Catechetical Instructions,
which embrace clearly and fully all the teaching of the Church, and contain an excellent
defense of each of the dogmas of religion against the enemies of the faith. His treatment
of these subjects is so distinct and clear that he refuted not only the heresies of his own
time, but also, by a kind of foreknowledge, as it were, those which were to arise later.
Thus he maintains the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the adorable
sacrament of the Altar. On the death of Patriarch St. Maximus, the bishops of the
province chose Cyril in his place.
As Bishop he endured, like blessed Athanasius, his contemporary, many wrongs and
sufferings for the sake of the faith at the hands of the Arians. They could not bear his
strenuous opposition to their heresy, and thus assailed him with calumnies, deposed him
in a pseudo-council and drove him from his see. To escape their rage, he fled to Tarsus in
Cilicia and, as long as Constantius lived, he bore the hardships of exile. On the death of
Constantius and the accession of Julian the Apostate, Cyril was able to return to
Jerusalem, where he set himself with burning zeal to deliver his flock from false doctrine
and from sin. He was driven into exile a second time, under the Emperor Valens, but
when peace was restored to the Church by Theodosius the Great, and the cruelty and
insolence of the Arians were restrained, he was received with honor by the Emperor as a
valiant soldier of Christ and restored to his see. With what earnestness and holiness he
fulfilled the duties of his exalted office was proved by the flourishing state of the Church
at Jerusalem, as described by St. Basil, who spent some time there on a pilgrimage to the
holy places.
Tradition states that God rendered the
holiness of this venerable Patriarch illustrious
by signs from heaven, among which is
numbered the apparition of a cross, brighter
than the sun, which was seen at the beginning
of his Patriarchate. Not only Cyril himself, but
pagans and Christians alike were witnesses of
this marvel, which Cyril, after having given
thanks to God in church, announced by letter to
Constantius. A thing no less wonderful came to
pass when the Jews were commanded by the impious Emperor Julian to restore the
Temple which had been destroyed by Titus. An earthquake arose and great balls of fire
broke out of the earth and consumed the work, so that Julian and the Jews were struck
with terror and gave up their plan. This had been clearly foretold by Cyril. A little while
before his death, he was present at the Ecumenical Council at Constantinople, where the
heresies of Macedonius and Arius were condemned. After his return to Jerusalem, he
died a holy death at sixty-nine years of age in the thirty-fifth year of his bishopric. Pope
Leo XIII ordered that his office and mass should be said throughout the Universal Church.
Things to Do:

Read part of St. Cyrils Catechetical Lectures On the Passion of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, which is very fitting meditation material for Lent.
Our Lady of Mercy
Devotion to the Virgin of Mercy dates back to the time
of the founding of Lima. It is known that the
Mercederian friars, who came to Peru with the
conquerors, had already built their primitive convent
chapel around 1535. This chapel served as Limas first
parish until the construction of the Main Church in
1540. The Mercederians not only evangelized the
region, but they also participated in the citys
development, building beautiful churches that have
been preserved as a valuable cultural and religious
patrimony.
With these friars came their celestial patroness, the
Virgin of Mercy, a Marian title of the thirteenth century. Tradition has it that around
1218, St. Peter Nolasco and James I, King of Aragon and Catalonia, experienced
separately a vision of the Most Holy Virgin who asked them to found a religious order
dedicated to rescuing the many Christian captives held by the Moslems. This Order of
Our Lady of Mercy, approved as a military order in 1235 by Pope Gregory IX, was able
to liberate thousands of Christian prisoners, and later became dedicated to teaching and
social work. The Mercederian friars habit imitates the garments worn by the Virgin
when she appeared to the founder of the order. [Our Lady of Our Lady of Mercy] The
image of the Virgin of Mercy is dressed all in white: over her long tunic she wears a
scapular with the shield of the order imprinted breast high. A cloak covers her shoulders
and her long hair is veiled by a fine lace mantilla. Some images have her standing, with
the child in her arms, and others with her arms extended showing a royal scepter in her
right hand and in the left some open chains, a symbol of liberation. Such is the
appearance of the beautiful image venerated in the Basilica of Mercy in the capital of
Peru. It was enthroned at the beginning of the XVII century and has been considered the
patroness of the capital. In 1730 she was proclaimed Patroness of the Peruvian Lands
patroness of the capital. In 1730 she was proclaimed Patroness of the Peruvian Lands
and in 1823 Patroness of the Armies of the Republic. On the first centennial of the
nations independence, the image was solemnly crowned and received the title of Grand
Marshall of Peru, on September 24, 1921, Feast of Our Lady of Mercy, since then
declared a national holiday, when every year the army renders homage to her high
military rank.
The image carries numerous decorations granted by the Republic of Peru, its
governors and national institutions. In 1970 the town council of Lima gave her the Keys
of the City, and in 1971 the president of the Republic conferred on her the Great
Peruvian Cross of Naval Merit, gestures which evidence the affection and devotion of
Peru to Our Lady of Mercy, that many consider their national patroness.
Excerpted from The Mary Page
The Station today is at St. Balbinas, virgin and martyr (130),
the daughter of the tribune and martyr, St. Quirinus. The church
is ancient, and was probably built in the 4th century above the
house of the consul Lucius Fabius Cilone. The first reference to
it is found in a 6th century document, where it is referred to as
Sanctae Balbinae. It was consecrated by Pope St. Gregory the
Great.
Collect: O God, who through the Bishop Saint Cyril of Jerusalem led your Church
in a wonderful way to a deeper sense of the mysteries of salvation, grant us,
through his intercession, that we may so acknowledge your Son as to have life
ever more abundantly. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and
RECIPES
Chicken Noodle Soup
ACTIVITIES
Namedays
What is a Nameday?
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem | Pope Benedict XVI
Lent: March 19th
Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed
Virgin Mary
Old Calendar: St. Joseph, Spouse of the Virgin Mary
St. Joseph, the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and
the foster-father of Jesus, was probably born in
Bethlehem and probably died in Nazareth. His
important mission in Gods plan of salvation was to
legally insert Jesus Christ into the line of David from
whom, according to the prophets, the Messiah would be
born, and to act as his father and guardian (Directory on
Popular Piety and the Liturgy). Most of our
information about St. Joseph comes from the opening
two chapters of St. Matthews Gospel. No words of his
are recorded in the Gospels; he was the silent man. We find no devotion to St. Joseph
in the early Church. It was the will of God that the Virgin Birth of Our Lord be first
firmly impressed upon the minds of the faithful. He was later venerated by the great
saints of the Middle Ages. Pius IX (1870) declared him patron and protector of the
universal family of the Church.
St. Joseph
St. Joseph was an ordinary manual laborer although
descended from the royal house of David. In the designs
of Providence he was destined to become the spouse of
the Mother of God. His high privilege is expressed in a
single phrase, Foster-father of Jesus. About him
Sacred Scripture has little more to say than that he was
a just man-an expression which indicates how faithfully
he fulfilled his high trust of protecting and guarding
Gods greatest treasures upon earth, Jesus and Mary.
The darkest hours of his life may well have been
those when he first learned of Marys pregnancy; but
precisely in this time of trial Joseph showed himself great. His suffering, which likewise
formed a part of the work of the redemption, was not without great providential import:
Joseph was to be, for all times, the trustworthy witness of the Messiahs virgin birth.
After this, he modestly retires into the background of holy Scripture.
Of St. Josephs death the Bible tells us nothing. There are indications, however, that
he died before the beginning of Christs public life. His was the most beautiful death that
one could have, in the arms of Jesus and Mary. Humbly and unknown, he passed his
years at Nazareth, silent and almost forgotten he remained in the background through
centuries of Church history. Only in more recent times has he been accorded greater
honor. Liturgical veneration of St. Joseph began in the fifteenth century, fostered by Sts.
Brigid of Sweden and Bernadine of Siena. St. Teresa, too, did much to further his cult.
At present there are two major feasts in his honor. On March 19 our veneration is
directed to him personally and to his part in the work of redemption, while on May 1 we
honor him as the patron of workmen throughout the world and as our guide in the
difficult matter of establishing equitable norms regarding obligations and rights in the
social order. Excerpted from The Churchs Year of Grace, Pius Parsch St. Joseph is
invoked as patron for many causes. He is the patron of the Universal Church. He is the
patron of the dying because Jesus and Mary were at his death-bed. He is also the patron
of fathers, of carpenters, and of social justice. Many religious orders and communities
are placed under his patronage.
Patron: Against doubt; against hesitation; Americas; Austria; Diocese of Baton Rouge,
Louisiana; California; Belgium; Bohemia; bursars; cabinetmakers; Canada; Carinthia;
carpenters; China; confectioners; craftsmen; Croatian people (in 1687 by decree of the
Croatian parliament) dying people; emigrants; engineers; expectant mothers; families;
fathers; Florence, Italy; happy death; holy death; house hunters; immigrants; interior
souls; Korea; laborers; Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin; Archdiocese of Louisville,
Kentucky; Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire; Mexico; Diocese of Nashville,
Tennessee; New France; New World; Oblates of Saint Joseph; people in doubt; people
who fight Communism; Peru; pioneers; protection of the Church; Diocese of San Jose,
California; diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; social justice; Styria, Austria;
travelers; Turin Italy; Tyrol Austria; unborn children Universal Church; Vatican II;
Vietnam; Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston West Virginia; wheelwrights; workers;
working people.
Symbols: Bible; branch; capenters square; carpenters tools; chalice; cross; hand tools;
infant Jesus; ladder; lamb; lily; monstrance; old man holding a lily and a carpenters tool
such as a square; old man holding the infant Jesus; plane; rod.
Things to Do:

You must have a table that is simply overflowing with good Italian food on this
day! The feast of San Giuseppe began in the Middle Ages when Sicily was
suffering from a severe drought and the desperate people begged St. Joseph for
rain. When they received rainy weather in response, they held a huge feste in
Saint Josephs honor. Even today, Sicilians go to Mass before their St. Josephs
day dinner and then process to their festive tables, decked out in flowers, breads,
and all sorts of Italian foods. The priest blesses the food, and everyone shouts
Viva la tavola di San Giuse! (which your children will readily do with great
gusto). After the meal is done, everyone present is given something to take
home, in the generous spirit of this day. Try some of our delicious recipes linked
here. We especially recommend the traditional Minestrone. Italian sausage is
always a favorite, as well. And you should have bread of all kinds this recipe
for Italian Decorative Breads can provide the traditional shape of your choice
(St. Josephs staff, his beard, etc). Also a traditional must with children is St.
Josephs Sfinge, (Cream Puffs), for which we have several recipes on this site.
Plan a St. Josephs potluck for this day with other Catholic families invite a
parish priest and ask his blessing over the food before you begin the meal. If you
do not have the time or resources to do this, plan a smaller affair with your own
family, complete with prayers to St. Joseph, a little procession with candles for
the older children and your favorite hymns, and then the father of the family
ought to say a special blessing over the food before you begin.
Check out this wonderful site that explains the St. Joseph Altar more in detail,
includes recipes, history, and allows virtual offerings.
For further reading:
Viva San Giuseppe: A guide for Saint Joseph Altars. This wonderful
booklet is available for $5.00 plus $1.50 postage. All proceeds from the
sale of this book will be used to assist the Sisters of St. Joseph in their
1.
Pray this prayer and litany in honor of St. Joseph with your family rosary tonight.
Here is a link to several meditations on St. Joseph choose the one that is
perfect for you and your family!
Here are some ideas for teaching children about St. Joseph.
Young girls ought to pray to St. Joseph for their future spouse.
sale of this book will be used to assist the Sisters of St. Joseph in their
ministries. Make your check payable to St. Joseph Guild, 1200 Mirabeau
Ave., New Orleans, LA 70122.
The St. Joseph Altar Traditions of South Louisiana (Louisiana Life
Series; No. 4) by Ethelyn Gay Orso, small booklet with photographs,
available for purchase at online bookstores, such as Amazon.
2.
Brand new beautifully illustrated hardcover book, Saint Joseph Altars
by Kerri McCaffety (Photographer), also available at bookstores.
3.
Read the section of Directory on Popular Piety and Liturgy on St.
Joseph.
4.
Read Pope Leo XIIIs encyclical on Devotion to St. Joseph. 5.
Interested in history? Read this article on the history of devotions to St.
Joseph, Finding St. Joseph, by Sandra Miesel.
6.
The Station is at the church of St. Cecelia where the Saint lived
and was martyred and where her body now rests. The first
church on the site was built in the 3rd or 5th century, and the
baptistery from this church was found during excavations,
situated underneath the present Chapel of Relics. A house from
the Imperial era was also found, and tradition claims that the
church was built over the house in which St Cecilia lived. This
house was one of the tituli, the first parish churches of Rome, known as the titulus
Ceciliae.
Collect: Grant, we pray, almighty God, that by Saint Josephs intercession your
Church may constantly watch over the unfolding of the mysteries of human
salvation, whose beginnings you entrusted to his faithful care. Through our Lord
Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
Paella Valenciana (Chicken and fish with rice)
Turron de Jijona
Almond Cookies
Almond Squares
Broiled Veal Rolls
Cannoli (Shells)
Cannoli Filling
Cavazune
Heart Cake (cut-up)
Italian Anise Toast
Italian Bread Sticks
Italian Decorative Breads
Italian Vegetable Soup
Maccu
Meatless Antipasto
Minestrone
Minestrone
Palermo Bread
Pane de San Giuseppe
Pecan Cookies
Pignolatti
Red Wine Cookies
Ricotta Filling
Saint Josephs Day Dinner
Sopa de Pescado
Spaghetti with Fennel Sauce
St. Josephs Cream Puffs I
St. Josephs Cream Puffs II
St. Josephs Cream Puffs III
St. Josephs Cream Puffs IV
St. Josephs Cream Puffs V
St. Josephs Sfinge I
St. Josephs Sfinge II
Symbolic Pastries
VuccidratoJesus Wreath
VuccidratoJosephs Staff
VuccidratoMarys Palms
ACTIVITIES
Tupa-Tupa (Knocking) for St. Josephs Day
Family and Friends of Jesus Scrapbook Album
Feast of St. Joseph
History of the St. Joseph Altar
St. Josephs Table or Buffet Dinner
St. Josephs Table: An Age-Old Tradition
Traditions related to Saint Joseph
PRAYERS
Prayer to St. Joseph
Book of Blessings: Blessing of Saint Josephs Table
March Devotion: Saint Joseph
St. Joseph Prayer for protection
Ad te Beate Ioseph - To thee, O blessed Joseph
Litany of St. Joseph
Chaplet of St. Joseph
Seven Sorrows and Joys of Saint Joseph
Blessing of the St. Joseph Altar
LIBRARY
Finding St. Joseph | Sandra Miesel
Guardian of the Redeemer (Redemptoris Custos) | Pope John Paul II
Imitate St Josephs Simple, Hard-Working Style | Pope John Paul II
Love and Serve the Church Like St Joseph | Pope John Paul II
On Devotion to St. Joseph | Pope Leo XIII
Saint Joseph Continues in His Role as Protector of the Body of Christ |
Pope John Paul II
Saint Joseph the Worker, Man of Faith and Prayer | Pope John Paul II
St. Joseph a Compilation | Various
St. Joseph and the Third Christian Millennium! | Rev. Regis Scanlon
O.F.M. Cap.
St. Joseph, a Witness to Fulfillment of the Promise | Pope John Paul II
St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church | Pope John Paul II
St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church | Pope John Paul II
St. Joseph: Man of Trust | Pope John Paul II
Thirty Days Prayer to St. Joseph | Unknown
Lent: March 20th
Thursday of the Second Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. Photina (Hist)
The theme of life and light has colored the Liturgy of
this week. Before leading the catechumens into the
Mystery of Christs Passion and Death, the Church
presents Christ to them once more as the Light of the
world who has power to open mans eyes to his Light.
He will veil it for a while during his Passion but it will
burst forth in full splendor again on Easter morning.
Historically today is the feast of St. Photina, the
Samaritan woman at the well.
Meditation
We must forgive our neighbor always. This fraternal charity is the source of strength
among the members of the Mystical Body: If two of you shall consent upon earth
concerning anything whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father.
This charity should animate us in giving fraternal correction, which should always be
free from all vanity, self-love and desire to humiliate and defame.
The Church dispenses Christs forgiveness through the power of the keys:
whatsoever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven. Christs pardon
of us is limitless. Just as the small quantity of oil, increasing miraculously at the word of
Elias, enabled the poor widow to pay all her debts, so the infinite merits of Christ enable
us to expiate all our sins.
Love of God and of neighbor imposes on us constant self-denial and self-mastery.
Only love working through mortification will enable us to ascend the holy hill and
dwell in Gods tabernacle. The Cathedral Daily Missal by Right Rev. Msgr.
Rudolph G. Bandas
Things to Do:
Discuss the idea of forgiveness with your children emphasizing with todays
Gospel that Christs forgiveness is limitless to those who humbly repent of their
offenses against Him. Ask them ways in which they practice this virtue every
day, with their sisters and brothers, with their parents, and with their friends.
Throughout this fourth week of Lent, often the time when children begin to lose
focus or weary of this penitential season, give them something tangible to work
on, such as a Lenten Scrapbook, an ongoing activity that will engage their minds
and stretch their creativity in putting their faith into pictures.
St. Photina
St. Photina was that Samaritan woman whom our Lord
met at Jacobs Well. When He disclosed the secret of
her profligate life, she believed in Him at once as that
Messiah which was to come, and began spreading the
Gospel among the Samaritans, converting many. Later,
she and her son Josiah and her five sisters went to
Carthage to preach and then to Rome. Another son,
Victor, was a soldier and had already come to Emperor
Neros attention as being a Christian. The Emperor
summoned the whole family and with threats and
tortures tried to force them to renounce their faith in
Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, when Neros daughter
Domnina came in contact with Photina (the Lord Himself had given her the name,
meaning resplendent or shining with light), she, too, was converted. The enraged
emperor had the heads of the sons and sisters cut off; Photina was held in prison for a
few more weeks before being thrown into a well, where she joyously gave her soul to the
Lord.
Excerpted from Orthodox America
The Station for today is in the celebrated basilica, St. Maria in
Trastevere. It was consecrated in the third century, under the
pontificate of St. Callixtus, and was the first church built in
Rome in honor of our Blessed Lady.
Collect: O God, who delight in innocence and restore it, direct the hearts of your
servants to yourself, that, caught up in the fire of your Spirit, we may be found
steadfast in faith and effective in works. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
and ever.
RECIPES
Ensalada de Escarola
ACTIVITIES
PRAYERS
Ordinary Time, Pre-Lent: Table Blessing 2
Litany of Humility
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 21st
Friday of the Second Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. Benedict, abbot
Sin is the great barrier between God and man. Sin,
caused the beginning of hell and made devils of the
fallen angels. Sin drove Adam and Eve out of their
paradise and took away their marvelous gifts of grace
and of freedom from sickness and death. But only in the
sufferings and death of the God-man do we see what
God really thinks of sin. Before sin there existed no
sickness, no death, no hatred, no discord, no ugliness.
Every suffering and disorder in the world is a reflection
of sin. Every Mass, continuing the atoning Sacrifice of
Calvary, is Gods mercy to sinners throughout the
world. Every sacrament is Gods means of restoring all
things in Christ. Daily Missal of the Mystical Body
Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Benedict, Father of Western Monasticism, twin
brother of St. Scholastica. His feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is
celebrated on July 11.
Meditation - On the Compassion of Some Women of Jerusalem
A goodly number of the women of Jerusalem (not disciples of Jesus) met this saddest of
funeral processions. No doubt their weeping and sobbing and loud wailing, however
sincere, was not in real accord with the sorrow that was straining Jesus heart to the
breaking point-His sorrow, namely, over their refusal to accept the truth of His
Messiahship and of His supreme royalty as the promised Christ and Savior. Still, the
heart of Jesus was deeply affected by the sympathy of these women. Contrasted with all
else that was poured into His ears, it was very acceptable and was gratefully received.
But what lastingly gives this incident its chief significance is the fact that, even here
in His greatest misery, Jesus is thinking predominantly of the doom of the Holy City and
its temple, now practically sealed. Evidently His heart is aching at the vision of the
horrors that will soon overtake it and the whole Jewish race, for its criminal blindness to
His divine credentials and its obstinate refusal to profit by His teaching and His Precious
Blood. For the days are near, when the barren among the Jewish women will be called
blessed; when death, sudden and terrible though it be, will seem preferable to life. Try,
therefore, to look deep into Jesus Sacred Heart in its very keen sympathy for these
women, and especially for their children. For of the children here present in the
procession, or carried in the arms of their mothers, many no doubt were to be witnesses
and victims of the abomination of desolation coming upon Jerusalem not forty years
hence (Luke 19:41-44)
Excerpted from Our Way to the Father by Leo M. Krenz, S.J.
The Station for today is in the church of St. Vitalis, martyr, the
father of the two illustrious Milanese martyrs, Sts. Gervasius
and Protasius. It was built about 400, and consecrated by Pope
Innocent I in 401/2. The dedication to St. Vitalis and his family
was given in 412. The church has been rebuilt several times, of
which the most comprehensive rebuilding was that of Pope
Sixtus IV before the 1475 Jubilee. It was then granted to Clerics
Regular.
Collect: Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, purifying us by the sacred practice of
penance, you may lead us in sincerity of heart to attain the holy things to come.
RECIPES
Eggs Benedict
Lenten Eggs Benedict
ACTIVITIES
Motivating Children to Perform Good Deeds
PRAYERS
Sacrifice Beads
Blessing of Bees on the Feast of St. Benedict
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 22nd
Saturday of the Second Week of Lent
The clear will of God is the light and the salvation of
all men. No one can desire anything good unless God
desires it. Even the best of intentions, even seemingly
worthy projects, are no good if they are not Gods will
at the moment. Distress, suffering, even death, can be
accepted as His mysterious will. His creative love is
always at work drawing the greatest possible good out
of everything. Be the humble servant of Gods will and
you will be truly wise and always at peace. Daily
Missal of the Mystical Body

Meditation: One Is Your Father
One is your Father, who is in heaven; one is your teacher, Christ; you are all brothers!
In these words lies embedded the basic structure of Christian common life. The
Christian ideal, life with the Church, is emphasized.
First, the Fatherhood of God. God is the head of the family. For the early
Christians it was a new and thrilling experience to be able to address God as
Abba, Father. Down to the present time this approach to God is peculiarly
Christian. There is here no juridical balance between accomplishment and merit,
but a predominance of grace and love. Perhaps we have grown too accustomed
to this unique privilege to be duly impressed. God is our Father, we His children.
To be a child of God is to have high rank through grace; this is our nobility. Lent
should deepen this Father-child relationship, should increase our confidence in
Gods fatherly goodness and care, should deepen our spirit of obedience and
childlike reverence.
a.
Christ is our teacher and master. We are called Christians, but do we always
act so as to deserve the name? Do we give constant attention to maintaining our
b.
Christian dignity? Are we humble enough to learn from Christ, as willing pupils?
His message comes to us most clearly in the Gospel. A good student would
never tire of examining the Gospel and following in his masters footsteps.
Christ speaks to us also through His priests, in the Church. Let us hold fast His
doctrine, and esteem His commands, especially His principal commandment,
love. No longer I, but Christ lives in me!
We are all brothers! We are Gods great family, bound by a strong, common
bond. Community is the word we have rediscovered-community in prayer, in
sacrifice, in common action. We must make this truth operative in every group
of which we are part, e.g., family, business, factory, parish, state! But what
special significance this truth assumes at divine services, at holy Mass! There we
are grouped around our teacher, Christ. We are His members, and He leads us to
the Father. Yes, in the Sacrifice of the Mass all three are together: Father,
teacher, and brothers.
c.
The Station is in the church of Sts. Peter and Marcellinus, two
celebrated martyrs of Rome under the persecution of Diocletian.
Their relics were brought to the church in 1256, and the church
was restored the same year on order from Pope Alexander IV.
Collect: O God, who grant us by glorious healing remedies while still on earth to
be partakers of the things of heaven, guide us, we pray, through this present life
and bring us to that light in which you dwell. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your
ever and ever.
RECIPES
Irish Soda Bread
Lenten Soup
ACTIVITIES
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 23rd
Third Sunday of Lent
Old Calendar: Third Sunday of Lent
Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks
this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the
water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall
give will become in him a spring of water welling up to
eternal life. The woman said to him, Sir, give me this
water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep
coming here to draw water. Jesus said to her, Go call
your husband and come back" (Jn 4:13-16).
The feast of St. Turibius of Mongrovejo which is
ordinarily celebrated today is superseded by the Sunday
Liturgy.
Sunday Readings
The first reading is taken from the Book of Exodus 17:3-7. The Israelites, the Chosen
People of God, were suffering slavery and the threat of total extermination in Egypt; God
miraculously set them free and, with Moses as their leader, he led them towards the
promised land of Canaan. But they soon forgot what God had done for them and began
to murmur and rebel because of the difficulties of the long desert journey. One of these
rebellious murmurings is put before us today.
The second reading is from the St. Pauls Letter to the Romans 5:1-2; 5-8. This brief
section is an encouragement to all who have been given the gift of the Christian faith to
persevere in spite of adversity.
The Gospel is from St. John 4:5-42. This gospel, about the Samaritan woman, is
exceptionally rich. Every time we read it we are passionately moved by that intense
conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. The Holy Father, Pope Benedict
XVI, recalling the great teaching of Saint Augustine, with regard to Christs request to
the woman, give me something to drink, said: Yes, God thirsts for our faith and our
love. As a good and merciful father, he wants our total, possible good, and this good is he
himself. The Samaritan woman, on the other hand, represents the existential
dissatisfaction of one who does not find what he seeks. She had five husbands and now
she lives with another man; her going to and from the well to draw water expresses a
repetitive and resigned life. However, everything changes for her that day, thanks to the
conversation with the Lord Jesus (Benedict XVI, Angelus 24 February 2008).
To recognize that if we entrust ourselves to God, we receive every possible good
which, as the Pope reminds us, is God himself, means living the dynamic of conversion
to God: renouncing a self-centered mentality, which deceives self-sufficient man, in
order to receive the gift of God. Man without God is inevitably destined to
dissatisfaction, limited in everything by his own limits as a creature, even in giving
himself or obtaining for himself joy, love, happiness Man without God cannot
think to reach boundless joy, unlimited and eternal love, the living water of which,
precisely, Jesus speaks with the Samaritan woman.
Happiness, another word for the living water, can only be given by the One who
possesses it, and man does not possess it. God alone can share it with those who place
their trust in Him and follow Him. The living water, the gift of the Holy Spirit, can only
be given by the Lord Jesus whom the Father sent into the world to give to all men and
women eternal life, that is, never ending happiness. As the Pope reminds us only the
water that Jesus offers, the living water of the Spirit, can quench mans thirst for the
infinite (Benedict XVI, homily 24 February 2008). Man is able to give his fellow
humans, affection, money, power, human glory, honor, career but not endless
happiness which, since it is an unlimited good, belongs to the divine, infinite sphere!
The living water flows only from the divine source. The Samaritan woman went to a
well which was deep, but limited, whereas unlimited was her thirst for happiness and
love. The woman, the Holy Father tells us, represents the existential dissatisfaction of
one who does not find what he seeks. How often man seeks the infinite, the eternal,
well-beingbut sadly continues to seek it in a well, in a reality, the earthly reality, which
is unable to contain it. How many wells, deep but empty, how many wells of stagnant
water, we have met on our way! We carry within us immense desires and easily deceive
ourselves that we can meet them.
On our path of conversion, what a great grace it is to find the Lord Jesus waiting
patiently for us beside our senseless wells. When, like the Samaritan woman, we are
tired of the things of this world, of almost empty wells, then the Divine Master is
especially close to us. He asks us to give him something to drink, he asks us to trust Him
to satiate our heart and if we trust in Him we discover the joy of finding the true well, the
source of crystal clear water.
Then, as if in a dream, as it was for the Samaritan woman, everything which before
was important, no longer counts, true reality is something else, it becomes that Man-God
who begs to give Himself! The secret of happiness is to invert the process of selfishness:
to forget self in order to make room for Another Person, the Lord of life and happiness.
Give up self and find God! If I renounce sin, I find grace, if I renounce myself, I find
God and my brothers and sisters. If you only knew what God is offering, happiness is
what He wants to give you! How often a priest should ask himself this question, or a
woman who wonders shall I have a child or not, am I thinking of myself, or of the
child who cannot come into the world without my help?" If you knew what gift of Life,
you would throw yourself into that well and there you would find the strength to
renounce self.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, with wisdom typical of saints, explained why we should
give ourselves to God: Why should we give ourselves completely to God? Because God
has given Himself to us. If God who owes us nothing is ready to give us nothing less
than Himself, can we respond with only a small part of ourselves? Giving ourselves
totally to God is a way of receiving God. I am for God and God is for me. I live for God
and renounce myself, in this way I allow God to live for me. To possess God we must
allow Him to possess our souls. (Blessed Teresa di Calcutta).
Mgr Luciano Alimandi, Ave Maria, Agenzia Fides 27/2/2008
The Station is in the basilica of St. Lawrence outside the walls.
The name of this, the most celebrated of the martyrs of Rome,
would remind the catechumens that the faith they were about to
profess would require them to be ready for many sacrifices. In
the primitive Church, the third Sunday in Lent was called
Scrutiny Sunday, because it was on this day that they began to
examine the catechumens, who were to be admitted to Baptism on Easter night.
Commentary for the Readings in the Extraordinary Form: Third
Sunday of Lent
"When (Jesus) cast out the devil, the
dumb man spoke. But as indicated by
the little whining group to the right,
some complained: By Beelzebub, the
prince of devils, He casts out devils"
(Gospel).
Formerly, on this day, candidates
were examined in preparation for Baptism on Holy Saturday. The first effect of
Baptism is to free the souls from the power of the devil. The house of which Jesus
speaks, is the human soul before His coming, degraded by idolatry, by sensuality,
under the tyranny of the evil spirit.
Mary holding the Infant (pictured in the upper left corner) is a symbol of our
Baptism. Mary gives birth to us as members of the Mystical Body of her Christ.
Moreover, like her, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it (Gospel).
These baptismal duties of death to sin and life in God (Epistle are meant to
gladden, not to oppress the human heart (Offertory), intended by God for Divine
possession (Communion Verse), safe from diabolical obsession.
Collect:

RECIPES
Spring, Fall or Winter Sunday Dinner Menu
ACTIVITIES
Explaining the Mass and Sacraments
PRAYERS
Prayer for the Third Week of Lent
LIBRARY
I Will Arise and Return to My Father | Pope John Paul II
Lent: March 24th
Monday of the Third Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. Gabriel, archangel; St. Catherine of
Sweden (Hist)
feast of St. Gabriel. His feast in the Ordinary Form of
the Roman Rite is celebrated on September 29 which is
also the feast of Sts. Michael and Raphael. Historically
the feast of St. Catherine of Sweden, the fourth child of
St. Bridget of Sweden, is celebrated today.
This Saturday, in the early ages of Christianity, was
called Sitientes, from the first word of the Introit of the
Mass, in which the Church addresses her catechumens
in the words of Isaias and invites them that thirst after grace to come and receive it in the
holy Sacrament of Baptism.
St. Catherine of Sweden
Catherine of Sweden, Saint, the fourth child of Saint Bridget of Sweden (q.v.) and her
husband, Ulf Gudmarsson, b. 1331 or 1332; d. March 24, 1381. At the time of her death
St. Catherine was head of the convent of Wadstena, founded by her mother; hence the
name, Catherine Vastanensis, by which she is occasionally called. At the age of seven
she was sent to the abbess of the convent of Riseberg to be educated and soon showed,
like her mother, a desire for a life of self-mortification and devotion to spiritual things. At
the command of her father, when about thirteen or fourteen years old, she married a
noble of German descent, Eggart von Krnen. She at once persuaded her husband, who
was a very religious man, to join her in a vow of chastity. Both lived in a state of
virginity and devoted themselves to the exercise of Christian perfection and active
charity. In spite of her deep love for her husband, Catherine accompanied her mother to
Rome, where St. Bridget went in 1349.
Soon after her arrival in that city Catherine received news of the death of her
husband in Sweden. She now lived constantly with her mother, took an active part in St.
Bridgets fruitful labors, and zealously imitated her mothers ascetic life. Although the
distinguished and beautiful young widow was surrounded by suitors, she steadily refused
all offers of marriage. In 1372 St. Catherine and her brother, Birger, accompanied their
mother on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; after their return to Rome St. Catherine was
with her mother in the latters last illness and death.
In 1374, in obedience to St. Bridgets wish,
Catherine brought back her mothers body to
Sweden for burial at Wadstena, of which foundation
she now became the head. It was the mother-house
of the Brigittine Order, also called the Order of St.
Savior. Catherine managed the convent with great
skill and made the life there one in harmony with
the principles laid down by its founder. The
following year she went again to Rome in order to
promote the canonization of St. Bridget, and to
obtain a new papal confirmation of the order. She
secured another confirmation both from Gregory XI (1377) and from Urban VI (1379),
but was unable to gain at the time the canonization of her mother, as the confusion
caused by the Schism delayed the process. When this sorrowful division appeared she
showed herself, like St. Catherine of Siena, a steadfast adherent of the party of the
Roman Pope, Urban VI, in whose favor she testified before a judicial commission.
Catherine stayed five years in Italy and then returned home, bearing a special letter of
commendation from the pope. Not long after her arrival in Sweden she was taken ill and
died. In 1484 Innocent VIII gave permission for her veneration as a saint and her feast
was assigned to March 22 in the Roman martyrology. Catherine wrote a devotional work
entitled Consolation of the Soul (Sielinna Troest), largely composed of citations from
the Scriptures and from early religious books; no copy is known to exist. Generally she is
represented with a hind at her side, which is said to have come to her aid when unchaste
youths sought to ensnare her.
Excerpted from The Catholic Encyclopedia, J.P. Kirsch
The Station is in the church of St. Mark, which was built in the
fourth century in honor of the evangelist, by the holy Pope
Mark, whose relics are kept there.
Collect: May your unfailing compassion, O Lord, cleanse and protect your
Church, and since without you she cannot stand secure, may she be always
governed by your grace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and
RECIPES
Swedish Waffles
ACTIVITIES
Precious Coins: Mortification and Self-Denial
PRAYERS
Annunciation Novena
The Canticle of the Passion
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 25th
The Annunciation of the Lord
Old Calendar: Annunciation of the Lord; St. Dismas (Hist);
St. Margaret Clitherow, martyr (Hist)
Again Lents austerity is interrupted as we solemnly
keep a feast in honor of the Annunciation. The
Annunciation is a mystery that belongs to the temporal
rather than to the sanctoral cycle in the Churchs
calendar. For the feast commemorates the most sublime
moment in the history of time, the moment when the
Second Divine Person of the most Holy Trinity assumed
human nature in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Thus it
is a feast of our Lord, even as it is of Mary, although the
liturgy centers wholly around the Mother of God.
The Churchs Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Today is also the historical feast of St. Dismas, the good thief and St. Margaret
Clitherow, wife and mother who was one of the English martyrs.
The Annunciation
A tradition, which has come down from the apostolic ages, tells us
that the great mystery of the Incarnation was achieved on the
twenty-fifth day of March. It was at the hour of midnight, when the
most holy Virgin was alone and absorbed in prayer, that the
Archangel Gabriel appeared before her, and asked her, in the name
of the blessed Trinity, to consent to become the Mother of God. Let
us assist, in spirit, at this wonderful interview between the angel and the Virgin: and, at
the same time, let us think of that other interview which took place between Eve and the
serpent. A holy bishop and martyr of the second century, Saint Irenaeus, who had
received the tradition from the very disciples of the apostles, shows us that Nazareth is
the counterpart of Eden.
In the garden of delights there is a virgin and an angel; and a conversation takes
place-between them. At Nazareth a virgin is also addressed by an angel, and she answers
him; but the angel of the earthly paradise is a spirit of darkness, and he of Nazareth is a
spirit of light. In both instances it is the angel that has the first word. Why, said the
serpent to Eve, hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of
paradise? His question implies impatience and a solicitation to evil; he has contempt for
the frail creature to whom he addresses it, but he hates the image of God which is upon
her.
See, on the other hand, the angel of light; see with what composure and peacefulness
he approaches the Virgin of Nazareth, the new Eve; and how respectfully he bows
himself down before her: Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou
among women! Such language is evidently of heaven: none but an angel could speak
thus to Mary.
Scarcely has the wicked spirit finished speaking than Eve casts a longing look at the
forbidden fruit: she is impatient to enjoy the independence it is to bring her. She rashly
stretches forth her hand; she plucks the fruit; she eats it, and death takes possession of
her: death of the soul, for sin extinguishes the light of life; and death of the body, which
being separated from the source of immortality, becomes an object of shame and horror,
and finally crumbles into dust.
But let us turn away our eyes from this sad spectacle, and fix them on Nazareth. Mary
has heard the angels explanation of the mystery; the will of heaven is made known to
her, and how grand an honor it is to bring upon her! She, the humble maid of Nazareth, is
to have the ineffable happiness of becoming the Mother of God, and yet the treasure of
her virginity is to be left to her! Mary bows down before this sovereign will, and says to
the heavenly messenger: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according
to thy word.
Thus, as the great St. Irenaeus and so many of
the holy fathers remark, the obedience of the second
Eve repaired the disobedience of the first: for no
sooner does the Virgin of Nazareth speak her fiat,
be it done, than the eternal Son of God (who,
according to the divine decree, awaited this word) is
present, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, in the
chaste womb of Mary, and there He begins His
human life. A Virgin is a Mother, and Mother of
God; and it is this Virgins consenting to the divine will that has made her conceive by
the power of the Holy Ghost. This sublime mystery puts between the eternal Word and a
mere woman the relations of Son and Mother; it gives to the almighty God a means
whereby He may, in a manner worthy of His majesty, triumph over satan, who hitherto
seemed to have prevailed against the divine plan.
Never was there a more entire or humiliating defeat than that which this day befell
satan. The frail creature, over whom he had so easily triumphed at the beginning of the
world, now rises and crushes his proud head. Eve conquers in Mary. God would not
choose man for the instrument of His vengeance; the humiliation of satan would not
have been great enough; and therefore she who was the first prey of hell, the first victim
of the tempter, is selected to give battle to the enemy. The result of so glorious a triumph
is that Mary is to be superior not only to the rebel angels, but to the whole human race,
yea, to all the angels of heaven. Seated on her exalted throne, she, the Mother of God, is
to be the Queen of all creation. Satan, in the depths of the abyss, will eternally bewail his
having dared to direct his first attack against the woman, for God has now so gloriously
avenged her; and in heaven, the very Cherubim and Seraphim reverently look up to
Mary, and deem themselves honored when she smiles upon them, or employs them in the
execution of any of her wishes, for she is the Mother of their God.
Therefore is it that we, the children of Adam, who have been snatched by Marys
obedience from the power of hell, solemnize this day of the Annunciation. Well may we
say of Mary those words of Debbora, when she sang her song of victory over the enemies
of Gods people: 'The valiant men ceased, and rested in Israel, until Debbora
arose, a mother arose in Israel. The Lord chose new wars, and He Himself overthrew the
gates of the enemies." Let us also refer to the holy Mother of Jesus these words of Judith,
who by her victory over the enemy was another type of Mary: Praise ye the Lord our
God, who hath not forsaken them that hope in Him. And by me, His handmaid, He hath
fulfilled His mercy, which He promised to the house of Israel; and He hath killed the
enemy of His people by my hand this night . The almighty Lord hath struck him, and
hath delivered him into the hands of a woman, and hath slain him.
Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.
Things to Do:
This feast is very important in the defense of the life of unborn children. Even
with small children, this is a good day to begin teaching about the high value
God places on human life. He loved us so much that he became one of us, took
on our human nature and became an innocent, completely dependent infant.
This is a Solemnity, so when this feast falls during the Lenten season, our Lenten
penance obligations are lifted. We should celebrate by some special food or
dinner. This feast day forecasts the blessed event of Christmas, and illustrates
how the liturgical year is an endless circle of days. To celebrate this circle or
cycle, serve a cake, coffee rings, or wreath-shaped cookies, or foods shaped in
ring molds for this feast day. A perfect symbolic food would be an angel food
cake for the archangel Gabriel, baked in a tube pan for the endless circle,
decorated with the frosting highlighted with blue for Mary.
A traditional food for this day is waffles. "Lady Day" or Annunciation, is the
only feast of Mary that Sweden still celebrates since the Lutheran faith became
the state religion in 1593. In most of Europe, waffles are a traditional feast day
food, but on the feast of the Annunciation in Sweden this is THE Waffle Day
(Vaffeldagen), where waffles are served either for breakfast, lunch or dinner,
with lingonberries or cloudberries.
If you are in the mood to bake cookies you can purchase a beautiful mold from
House on the Hill.
St. Dismas
Saint Dismas(sometimes spelled Dysmas or only
Dimas, or even Dumas), also known as the Good Thief
or the Penitent Thief, is the apocryphal name given to
one of the thieves who was crucified alongside Christ
according to the Gospel of Luke 23:39-43:
And one of the malefactors which were hanged
railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself
and us.
But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost
not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but
this man hath done nothing amiss.
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in
paradise.
St. Margaret Clitherow
St. Margaret is considered the first woman martyred
under Queen Elizabeths religious suppression.
Margaret was raised a Protestant but converted to
Catholicism about two to three years after she was
married. According to her confessor, Fr. Mush,
Margaret became a Catholic because she found no
substance, truth nor Christian comfort in the ministers
of the new church, nor in their doctrine itself, and
hearing also many priests and lay people to suffer for
the defense of the ancient Catholic Faith. Margarets
husband, John Clitherow, remained a Protestant but
supported his wifes decision to convert. They were happily married and raised three
children: Henry, William, and Anne. She was a businesswoman who helped run her
husbands butcher shop business. She was loved many people even her Protestant
neighbors.
Margaret practiced her faith and helped many people reconcile themselves back into
the Catholic Church. She prayed one and a half hours every day and fasted four times a
week. She regularly participated in mass and frequently went to confession. When laws
were passed against Catholics, Margaret was imprisoned several times because she did
not attend Protestant services. Other laws were passed which included a 1585 law that
made it high treason for a priest to live in England and a felony for anyone to harbor or
aid a priest. The penalty for breaking such laws was death. Despite the risk, Margaret
helped and concealed priests. Margaret said by Gods grace all priests shall be more
welcome to me than ever they were, and I will do what I can to set forward Gods
Catholic service.
Margaret wanted her son Henry to receive a Catholic education so she endeavored
that her son be sent outside the Kingdom to Douai, France for schooling. Such an act was
considered a crime. When the authorities discovered their intention, the Common
Council had the Clitherow house searched. They initially found nothing but later
retrieved religious vessels, books and vestments used for Holy Mass. They also found a
secret hiding place but no renegade priests. Still, Margaret was arrested. Margaret
secret hiding place but no renegade priests. Still, Margaret was arrested. Margaret
refused to plead and to be tried saying, Having made no offense, I need no trial.
English law decreed that anyone who refused to plead and to be tried should be pressed
to death. So on the morning of March 25, 1586, after sewing her own shroud the night
before and after praying for the Pope, cardinals, clergy, and the Queen, Margaret was
executed. She lay sandwiched between a rock and a wooden slab while weights were
dropped upon her, crushing her to death. She did not cry out but prayed "Jesu, Jesu, Jesu,
have mercy upon me. She died at age 30.
Move by her saintly life, all her children entered the religious life. Anne became a
nun. Henry and William both became priests.
On October 25, 1970, Pope Paul VI declared Margaret a saint.
Excerpted from Savior.org
Things to Do:
Read St. Margaret: Mother and Martyr
The Station is in the church of St. Pudentiana, daughter of
Pudens the senator. This holy virgin of Rome lived in the
second century. She was remarkable for her charity, and for the
zeal wherewith she sought for and buried the bodies of the
martyrs. Her church is built on the very spot where stood the
house in which she lived with her father and her sister St.
Praxedes. St. Peter the Apostle had honored this house with his presence, during the
lifetime of Pudentianas grandfather.
Collect: O God, who willed that your Word should take on the reality of human
flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, grant, we pray, that we, who confess our
Redeemer to be God and man, may merit to become partakers even in his divine
nature. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for
ever and ever.
RECIPES
Angel Food Cake I
Angel Food Cake II
Boiled White Icing
Classic Angel Food Cake
European Chocolate Icing
Jellied Macaroni Ring
Luscious Coffee Ring
Swedish Waffles
Waffles
ACTIVITIES
Angelus Lesson
Annunciation Day
Annunciation Tableau
Annunciation: A Little Play for Preschool Children
Celebrating the Feasts of the Blessed Virgin
Feast of the Annunciation
Feast of the Annunciation
Feasts of Mary in the Family
Feasts of Our Lady in the Home
Marian Hymn: Tis Said of Our Dear Lady
Marian Hymn: A Single Branch Three Roses Bore
Marian Hymn: Ave Maria Dear
Marian Hymn: Beautiful, Glorious
Marian Hymn: Lourdes Hymn or Immaculate Mary
Marian Hymn: Salve Regina
Marian Hymn: Stella Matutina
Marian Hymn: Virgin Blessed, Thou Star the Fairest
Mary Garden
PRAYERS
Angelus Domini (The Angel of the Lord)
Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Litany of Loretto)
Table Blessing for the Solemnity of the Annunciation
Annunciation Novena
Table Blessing for the Feasts of the Mother of God
LIBRARY
Mary Responds to God with Spousal Love | Pope John Paul II
Marys Faith in the Light of the Mystery of the Annunciation | Pope
Benedict XVI
We Repeat The Words Of The Annunciation For The World, The Church |
Guiseppe Luppino
Lent: March 26th
Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes
and pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of
heaven (Matt. 5:20). The need to make reparation is a
vital, inescapable urge of a free person. His very nature
cries out for order and peace. His reason tells him that
where an order has been violated, the order must be
repaired; and the higher the order, the greater must be
the reparation. To be free at all, is to accept the
responsibility for atonement. Sin is a violation of Gods
order. Sin demands reparation the reparation of
personal penance, personal prayer, personal charity to
all. Part of our atonement to God is made by serving our
fellow men. Daily Missal of the Mystical Body
Meditation
The story of the Prodigal Son is repeated again today. It is the history of the Church; it is
the history of our own desertion. In this Gospel we are given an urgent call to repentance
and conversion. Father, I have sinned. Penance alone can save us. Our Father
welcomes us with mercy. The sin and its eternal punishment are forgiven; the good
works which we did before sin and the merits which we lost through sin are revived. The
Father receives us again as His children, and celebrates a joyful banquet with us at Holy
Communion.
In the story of each human life, Gods mercy stands on one side and the
unfaithfulness of man on the other. Will God have to cast us off as He did the people of
Israel? Have we not fully deserved it? Sometimes it appears that God wishes to allow
our faithless generation to go its own way. If He does, it will merit a well deserved
punishment.
What can save us from rejection? Only penance, self-examination, and conversion.
What can save us from rejection? Only penance, self-examination, and conversion.
Be converted to Me with all your heart, in fasting and in weeping and in mourning (Joel
2:12).
Excerpted from The Light of the World by Benedict Baur, O.S.B.
Things to Do:
The parable of the lost sheep and the prodigal son in todays Gospel are both
very important for your children to learn by heart. The well-known Catechesis of
the Good Shepherd for children was developed by Sofia Cavaletti, a Roman
Catholic Hebrew scholar who spent 30 years researching the religious
development of children, and Gianna Gobbi, an educator who was trained by
Maria Montessori. Through her observation of childrens responses to different
religious themes, Cavaletti found that an overwhelming number of younger
children responded especially well to depictions of Christ as the Good Shepherd.
Here is a brief article discussing the increasing prevalence of this religious
program today. Find out more about this curriculum and try it with your own
children. If you are pressed for time, find out about the nearest (Catholic) Good
Shepherd program and consider enrolling your child.
The Station, at Rome, is in the church of St. Sisto Vecchio. It
was built in the 4th century, and was one of the first parish
churches in Rome and was known as the Titulus Crescentianae.
Tradition claims that it was founded by Pope Anastasius I.
Collect: Grant, we pray, O Lord, that, schooled through Lenten observance and
Collect: Grant, we pray, O Lord, that, schooled through Lenten observance and
nourished by your word, through holy restraint we may be devoted to you with all
our heart and be ever united in prayer. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
and ever.
RECIPES
New Orleans Shrimp and Spaghetti
Shrimp Jambalaya
ACTIVITIES
Lenten Prayer Pot
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 27th
Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. John Damascene, confessor and doctor
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that
year, said to them, You know nothing at all; you do not
understand that it is expedient for you that one man
should die for the people, and that the whole nation
should not perish. He did not say this of his own
accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied
that Jesus should die for the nation, and not for the
nation only, but to gather into one the children of God
who are scattered abroad (Jn 11:49-52).
feast of St. John Damascene. His feast in the Ordinary
Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on December 4.
Meditation - Christs Last Days
Every person who loves Christ now tries his best to remain close to his suffering Savior
during the last hours of His earthly life. The liturgy places us directly in the midst of the
recorded events and expects us to participate. During these next days, therefore, we will
traverse each road with Jesus.
Yesterday (Friday) He came with His disciples from the desert village of Ephrem to
Jericho. When near the Jordan we heard from His lips the third prophecy of the
crucifixion. Then Salome approached with her two sons, John and James, and begged
important positions for them in the coming kingdom. This gave Jesus the opportunity to
proclaim His wonderful teaching on humility. We stand close and listen.
The Lord enters Jericho. I am Zacheus, the chief publican, the little man who wants
to see the Messiah from a tree. He looks up to me and says, Today salvation has come to
your house! He stays two nights with me, a despised publican!
Over the Sabbath Jesus remains in Jericho. The next day (Sunday) He starts for
Jerusalem at the head of a lordly caravan. Along the road there sits a blind beggar. It is I,
again. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! He heals my eyes, I see, I am
enlightened!
In procession we pass through Jerichos inhospitable ravines up to Jerusalem. Night
intervenes and Jesus stops at Bethany. He is joyously welcomed by Martha and Mary.
Am I an active Martha or a meditating Mary? Possibly it was on this Sunday evening
that the memorable meal took place when, with Lazarus present and Martha as hostess,
Mary poured out the costly ointment for Jesus burial. It was the act which estranged
Judas completely from his Master.
In solemn procession on Monday afternoon the King of Israel comes to the top of
Olivet, weeps over Jerusalem, and then continues on to the temple. We feel ourselves
part of this festive procession, waving palms in our hands. We accompany our King and
watch Him drive the money-changers out of His Fathers house. Tuesday morning He
returns with His disciples and while crossing Mt. Olivet curses the unfruitful fig tree, a
figure of the Jewish people. This barren tree is likewise a warning for us.
Verbal encounters with the Jews take place in the temple courtyard until Wednesday
afternoon when Christ hurls His eightfold curse upon Pharisee and Jew, and leaves the
temple forever. With His disciples He then proceeds to the Mount of Olives and delivers
His powerful discourse on the end of the world and the destruction of Jerusalem. Present
in spirit we hear this sermon and take to heart His final admonition, Be vigilant!
Meanwhile Judas has left the circle of disciples and offers his assistance to the chief
priests.
Thursday morning Christ sends Peter and John from Bethany into the city to make
the needed preparation for the Passover meal. As evening falls He bids farewell to His
mother and His friends and goes with His apostles to the Upper Room in Jerusalem for
His Last Supper with them.In mind and in heart we will follow our Blessed Lord
closely during these sacred days of Holy Week.
The Station is at the church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian,
physicians. These martyrs were twin brothers originating from
Arabia. They practiced medicine in Aegea, Cilicia, but accepted
no money from the poor. Their beautiful Christian lives edified
the pagans and converted many to the Faith. They were arrested
in the persecution of Diocletian, subjected to torture, and finally
beheaded.
Collect: We implore your majesty most humbly, O Lord, that, as the feast of our
salvation draws ever closer, so we may press forward all the more eagerly towards
the worthy celebration of the Paschal Mystery. Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
for ever and ever.
RECIPES
Lenten Soup
ACTIVITIES
Lenten Pretzel
Spirit of Lent, The
PRAYERS
Family Spiritual Reading
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 28th
Friday of the Third Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. John of Capistrano, confessor
There were many lepers in Israel at the time of Eliseus
the prophet, and none of them was cleansed but Naaman
the Syrian. Naamans cure, an anticipatory figure of
baptism, also declares in advance the universality of
salvation. Naaman was the Syrian general who, in
obedience to the commands of Eliseus, was cured of
leprosy by bathing in the Jordan. At a later date Jesus
Himself was to receive in the waters of the Jordan the
baptism of John the Baptist. Let us always keep in mind
that repentance and a humble confession of our guilt
will draw upon us the mercy of God and infuse into our hearts the hope of pardon.
Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. John of Capistrano whose feast is celebrated in the
Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite on October 23.
The Need for Mortification Today
Lent is essentially a time of prayer and mortification. The body which has been indulged
for so many months must now be denied. Even though fasting and abstinence are
impossible for some of us, the penitential spirit may not be shirked. Modern creeds
approximate more and more the pagan conception of man, and the penitential spirit is, of
course, unbearable to those whose only philosophy of life is the song of the banqueter:
Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.
Modern civilization scoffs at the notion of doing penance as if it were a vice of the
pietist who wants to exalt one side of his nature at the expense of the other, although it is
no small thing that the soul should be king of the body. Penance has a deeper
significance than that, as I have pointed out. But, says the modern scoffer, a man is no
better and no worse than God made him. God who gave him impulses cannot be angry if
he obeys them. Let a man snatch the passing pleasure.
In the Cathedral of Lubeck in Germany is a Lenten Monitory which may be taken as
Gods answer to such blasphemy:
Ye call Me Master, and obey Me not: Ye call Me Light, and see Me not; Ye call Me
Way, and walk Me not; Ye call Me Life, and desire Me not; Ye call Me Wise, and
follow Me not: Ye call Me Fair, and love Me not; Ye call Me Rich, and ask Me not:
Ye call Me Eternal, and seek Me not; Ye call Me Gracious, and trust Me not; Ye
call Me Noble, and serve Me not; Ye call Me God, and fear Me not; If I condemn
youblame Me not. Amen
Excerpted from Message of the Gospels

The Station today is at St. Lawrences in Lucina. Near the
church was a well which was very dear to the Romans and
which probably suggested the Epistle and Gospel of todays
Mass. The church also contains a part of the gridiron on which
St. Laurence was burned. The Introit and Gradual refer to the
prayers of the Saint while he was being tortured.
Collect: Pour your grace into our hearts, we pray, O Lord, that we may be
constantly drawn away from unruly desires and obey by your own gift the
heavenly teaching you give us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who
lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever.
RECIPES
RECIPES
Fillet of Flounder in Tomato Sauce
ACTIVITIES
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 29th
Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
Then in anger his master handed him over to the
torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So
will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you
forgives your brother from your heart. (Mt. 18:35) No
one is merciful like God, and no one pardons as God
pardons. The mercy of the Jews was confined to
forgiving seven times. Jesus desires that His disciples
should always forgive even to seventy times seven
times.
Converting Our Hearts Every Day
The Season of Lent for every Christian should mark a turning point, accentuating that
change in thought and life which becomes daily in those who truly wish to follow Jesus.
In the Gospel the word daily is heard many times, for example speaking of the
demands of discipleship, the Lord says: every day it is necessary to take up the cross
and follow Him (cfr. Lk 9, 23). Every day is synonymous with totality, donation,
which, because it is daily, renews itself and never breaks up, never weakens. Just as
running water flows continually and is always fresh and clear, so too the spiritual life: to
maintain its vivacity it draws continually from the grace which flows from Jesus. In this
sense we clearly understand the necessity to pray without ceasing.
A great temptation on the path of conversion is to stop, to stagnate: we remain as
we are, we do not to renew ourselves, and in doing so deceiving ourselves and others
with a Christianity consisting of habits and goals reached. The journey of Lent
invites us to remove these illusions, the word of Jesus resounds louder than ever: repent
and believe in the Gospel. To be authentic conversion should never stop; the true
Christian experiences the dynamics of conversion, like walking behind Jesus, on a path
which never stops because it is at the spiritual level, if we stop, we go backwards!
Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of
Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of
God. (Lk 9, 62).
So as not to interrupt our conversion, our journey of becoming Christians, the only
possibility is daily conversion: denying ourselves, our ambitions every day, with the
dynamic power of love. Selfishness has its own dynamics, which is also daily and drives
us to satisfy ego. Only the disciple who gives himself entirely to the Lord, day after
day, becomes increasingly similar to his Master and lives in joy, light and love.
If a Christian says he has no joy, light or love then he must make a profound
examination of conscience to discern areas where the power of selfishness prevails over
the dynamics of conversion.
It is not God who is sparing with himself, or who hesitates to give Himself to us, it is
man, as St Teresa of Avila says so well: If we attain to the perfect possession of this
true love of God, it brings all blessings with it. But so niggardly and so slow are we in
giving ourselves wholly to God that we do not prepare ourselves as we should to receive
that precious thing which it is His Majestys will that we should enjoy only at a great
price. (Life, chapter 11, paragraph 1).
Dying to self costs, but it obtains the greatest result: it allows Jesus to live in us. In
fact there can be no dynamics of conversion, without daily renouncing self" precisely to
live for Jesus. The Word of God says clearly that only those who lose themselves, who
give themselves entirely to God, truly find Him and enjoy Him here on earth: If,
however, from there you start searching once more for Yahweh your God, and if you
search for him honestly and sincerely, you will find him. (Deut 4, 29). The Lenten
journey is therefore a path of self-giving and trusting in God which culminates at Easter
with new birth in Jesus. The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, describes this dynamics
with the following illuminating words: Jesus invitation to take up ones cross and
follow him may at first sight seem harsh and contrary to what we hope for, mortifying
our desire for personal fulfilment. At a closer look, however, we discover that it is not
like this: the witness of the saints shows that in the Cross of Christ, in the love that is
given, in renouncing the possession of oneself, one finds that deep serenity which is the
source of generous dedication to our brethren, especially to the poor and the needy, and
this also gives us joy. The Lenten journey of conversion on which we are setting out
today together with the entire Church thus becomes a favourable opportunity, the
acceptable time (II Cor 6: 2) for renewing our filial abandonment in the hands of God
and for putting into practice what Jesus continues to repeat to us: If any man would
come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Mk 8: 34) and
this is how one ventures forth on the path of love and true happiness. ()let us ask Our
Lady, Mother of God and of the Church, to accompany us on our way through Lent, so
that it may be a journey of true conversion. May we let ourselves be led by her, and
inwardly renewed we will arrive at the celebration of the great mystery of Christs
Pasch, the supreme revelation of Gods merciful love. (Benedict XVI, General
Audience 6 February 2008).
Msgr. Luciano Alimandi (Agenzia Fides 20/2/2008; righe 54, parole 792)
The Station is in the church of St. Susanna, virgin and martyr of
Rome. The first Christian place of worship was built here in the
4th century. It was probably the titulus of Pope Caius
(283-296). Caius was St. Susannas uncle, and tradition claims
that the church stands on the site of her martyrdom.
Collect: Rejoicing in this annual celebration of our Lenten observance, we pray, O
Lord, that, with our hearts set on the Paschal mysteries, we may be gladdened by
their full effects. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns
RECIPES
Mostaccioli
ACTIVITIES
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 30th
Fourth Sunday of Lent
Old Calendar: Fourth Sunday of Lent; Laetare Sunday
Rejoice, Jerusalem! Be glad for her, you who love her;
rejoice with her, you who mourned for her, and you will
find contentment at her consoling breasts. This Sunday
is known as Laetare Sunday and is a Sunday of joy.
Lent is half over, and Easter is enticingly near.
The Churchs liturgy, on this the fourth Sunday of
Lent, invites us to retrace one of the fundamental
dynamics of our baptismal re-birth through the Gospel
account of the healing of the man born blind. It is the
passage from the darkness of sin and error to the Light
of God, who is the Risen Christ.
This Sunday was formerly called Laetare Sunday
since its mood and theme was one of hope and rejoicing that Easter was near. In the
reformed calendar this Sunday is not different from the other Sundays of Lent even
though the entrance antiphon for the day still begins with the Latin word laetare and
the vestments worn by the celebrant are rose-colored, not violet. The day is important
because it is the day of the second scrutiny in preparation for the baptism of adults at the
Easter Vigil.
Sunday Readings
The first reading, first Book of Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a,l contains, at best, oblique
references to the other two readings. The anointing of David as king may be a reference
to the anointing in the responsorial psalm both of which may refer to Christ the good
shepherd. The figure of David may also be a prefigurement of the anointing to
Messiahship of Jesus for his mission. Whatever the reason for its selection for this day,
the theme of the liturgy is better reflected in the other two readings for they present
implications and applications of the baptism of the believer.
The second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians 5:8-14 is
particularly significant because throughout the season of Lent the community has been
urged to cast aside deeds of darkness and walk in the brilliance of the light of Christ. In
this reading, for the first time during Lent, the darkness-light theme which will be so
predominant at Easter is enunciated. The believer must leave the deeds of darkness and
live according to the justice and truth of God through the light of Christ. The selection of
this reading for the Sunday liturgy of the second scrutiny emphasizes clearly that the
preparation of a person coming to the faith is one of moral formation as well as
in-formation about the faith. The preparation of adults to be baptized has more to do
with choices and deeds than it does with dogmatic teaching.
The gospel reading, John 9:1-41, dominates the liturgy by the length of the reading
and its significance. Already, in Old Testament Revelation, the Lord God had shown the
People of Israel how the justice of the Creator was so much more profound and true that
the thoughts of men. We have, in fact, heard in the first reading God does not see as
human beings see; they look at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.' (1
Sam 16:76). The Lord pointed out in this way the true, unique, criteria on which men are
judged. He also indicated the unique place in which man can meet Gods gaze and enter
into a relationship with Himin his heart. Obviously, by the word heart the Bible
doesnt mean the centre of pulsation, but mans shrine, his conscience where he can
really listen and recognise Gods voice and so benefit from the Light: for the effects of
the light are seen in complete goodness and uprightness and truth. (Eph 5:9)
Man, incapable of remaining faithful to the truth that is in him, falls back to his own
limited criteria. This criteria produces every malice, injustice and falsehood and is used
to govern himself, to decide between good and evil, whilst hoping that what he obtains
will be to his benefit and so in this way he acts like God (Gen 3:5).
God doesnt give up but comes to meet everyone of us in the two fold way described
in todays Gospel. Firstly, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and
smeared the clay on his eyes (Jn 9:6). God made man, who is a creature. He united
Himself to our earth so that man would never need to flee Him, but could come to
recognise Him through a meeting with His Holy Humanity. St John wrote in the
Prologue to his Gospel, The Word became flesh, he lived among us (Jn 1:14).
In the second place from the Gospel account we read, He said to him, Go wash in
the Pool of Siloam which means Sent. (Jn 9:7a). Christ, sent by the Father, takes
onto Himself all our sins, which are ultimately the consequences of our blindness, as far
as allowing Himself to be stripped, crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross, rejected by
His own people and abandoned by His closest friends. Christs unprecedented love cant
but definitively overcome, with time, every fear in the face of our limitations because
there isnt anything that can stop Him from loving us. From the loving assumption of our
rejection to our obtuseness murder, the Lord has worked extraordinary feats in history.
He frequently offered His Body to the Father for our salvation and therefore has
consecrated His entire Person for every one of us. He has introduced us into His Most
Holy Heart, inflamed with love for us, which is the same as Gods light. In the Light of
the Resurrection he made us a new creation (cfr 2 Cor 5:17) and in the Gospel account
we have heard he went and washed, and came back able to see. (Jn 9:7)
The indestructible link with Christ, which is founded on His love and fidelity, is the
new creation that was given to us on the day of our Baptism. Through the Sacraments
of Christian initiation we are more profoundly linked with Christ. This new creation
can not bring fourth fruit in us without the full and renewed consent of our liberty that, in
this earthly life, is expressed, reinvigorated and triumphs through the extraordinary
events that Christ works in our lives. The blind man was interrogated by the world as to
the precise details of his cure and with great simplicity he explained what happened to
him: The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, Go to Siloam
and wash. So I went there and washed and was able to see. (Jn 9:11)
Let us ask Most Holy Mary to help us to be faithful to the truth, to the events of our
lives, taking the hand that always takes us to live totally for Him, in this life and eternity.
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. (Eph 5:14).
From the Congregation for the Clergy

The Station at Rome is in the basilica of Holy Cross in
Jerusalem, one of the seven principal churches of the holy city.
It was built in the fourth century, by the emperor Constantine.
The emperors mother, St. Helen, enriched it with most precious
relics, and wished to make it the Jerusalem of Rome.
Commentary for the Readings in the Extraordinary Form: Fourth
Sunday of Lent
Jesus then took the loaves and
distributed them to those reclining,
as much as they wished (Gospel).
We all wish to be fed with joy,now
and forever. The discipline of Lent may
sadden our poor frail nature, so the
Church analyzes the causes of true joy
on this Rejoice or Laetare Sunday
(Introit). The first source of genuine joy is a sincere Easter Confession; it
emancipates us from the slavery of sin. We now enjoy the freedom of Christs
Gospel of love, because we have been freed from the bondage of that fear which
prevailed in the days before Christ (Epistle).
The second source of genuine joy is a fruitful Easter Communion, for which
proper preparation and thanksgiving have been made. The souls instinctive hunger is
satisfied by the personal com-muning with God. In the picture, the Host and Chalice
are seen descending upon men of all races (symbolized by the awaiting crowd).
Humanity thus fed with Divinity, is joyously united in a real social and mystical
union. Men will then work for one another in a city which is compact together
(Communion Verse).
Collect: O God, who through your Word reconcile the human race to yourself in a
wonderful way, grant, we pray, that with prompt devotion and eager faith the
Christian people may hasten toward the solemn celebrations to come. Through our
Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy
RECIPES
Bury Simnel Cake
Bury Simnel Cake
Chocolate Pecan Pie
Easy Simnel Cake
Never Out of Season Sunday Dinner (Sample Menu)
Shrewsbury Simnel Cake
Simnel Cake I
Simnel Cake II
Simnel Cake IV
Simnel Cake V
ACTIVITIES
How to be a Good Father
Mothering Sunday
Mothers Day
Story-Telling
PRAYERS
Prayer for the Fourth Week of Lent
Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Ordinary Time (2nd
Plan)
LIBRARY
None
Lent: March 31st
Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
But he knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every
kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and
house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided
against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you
say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I,
then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your
own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your
judges. But if it is by the finger of God that (I) drive out
demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his
possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he
attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on
which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and
whoever does not gather with me scatters. (Lk 11:17-23).
Meditation on the Gospel - Mark 8:34-9:1
When Jesus said, "If any man would come after me", he was well aware that in
fulfilling his mission he would be brought to death on a cross; this is why he speaks
clearly about his Passion (vv:31-32). The Christian life, lived as it should be lived, with
all its demands, is also a cross which one has to carry, following Christ.
Jesus words, which must have seemed extreme to His listeners, indicate the standard
He requires His followers to live up to. He does not ask for short-lived enthusiasm or
occasional dedication; He asks everyone to renounce himself, to take up his cross and
follow him. For the goal He sets for men is eternal life. This whole Gospel passage has
to do with mans eternal destiny. The present life should be evaluated in the light of this
eternal life: life on earth is not definitive, but transitory and relative; it is a means to be
used to achieve definitive life in heaven: "All that, which worries you for the moment, is
of relative importance. What is of absolute importance is that you be happy, that you be
of relative importance. What is of absolute importance is that you be happy, that you be
saved" (J. Escriva, The Way, 297).
"There is a kind of fear around, a fear of the Cross, of our Lords Cross. What has
happened is that people have begun to regard as crosses all the unpleasant things that
crop up in life, and they do not know how to take them as Gods children should, with
supernatural outlook. So much so, that they are even removing the roadside crosses set
up by our forefathers!
"In the Passion, the Cross ceased to be a symbol of punishment and became instead a
sign of victory. The Cross is the emblem of the Redeemer: in quo est salus, vita et
resurrectio nostra: there lies our salvation, our life and our resurrection" (J. Escriva, The
Way of the Cross, II, 5).
Jesus promises eternal life to those who are willing to lose earthly life for his sake.
He has given us example: he is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep
(Jn 10:15); and he fulfilled in his own case what he said to the Apostles on the night
before he died: Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his
friends (Jn 15:13).
Each persons eternal destiny will be decided by Jesus Christ. He is the Judge who
will come to judge the living and the dead (Mt 16:27). The sentence will depend on how
faithful each has been in keeping the Lords commandments to love God and to love
ones neighbor, for Gods sake. On that day Christ will not recognize as His disciple
anyone who is ashamed to imitate Jesus humility and example and follow the precepts
of the Gospel for fear of displeasing the world or worldly people: he has failed to confess
by his life the faith which he claims to hold. A Christian, then, should never be ashamed
of the Gospel (Rom 1:16); he should never let himself be drawn away by the worldliness
around him; rather he should exercise a decisive influence on his environment, counting
on the help of Gods grace. The first Christians changed the ancient pagan world. Gods
arm has not grown shorter since their time (cf. Is 59:1). Cf. Mt 10:32-33 and note on
same.
Excerpted from The Navarre Bible - St. Mark
Things to Do:
If you wish to gain the courage to embrace the small crosses in your life with
joy, pray the Stations of the Cross. This is an excellent practice that should not
only be confined to Lent but ought to be prayed on Fridays throughout the year.
An excellent version with beautiful meditations composed by Pope John Paul II
is his Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum. Some recommended versions are:
Eucharistic Stations of the Cross, and the more traditional Stations of the Cross
written by Saint Alphonsus Liguori can be found in most Catholic bookstores.
Here are some guidelines for praying the Stations of the Cross in your home.
The Station is in the venerable church of the Four Crowned
(brothers); their names are, Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus,
and Victorinus; they suffered martyrdom under the persecution
of Diocletian. Their bodies, as also the head of the great
martyr St. Sebastian, are among the relics of this church.
Collect: O God, who renew the world through mysteries beyond all telling, grant,
we pray, that your Church may be guided by your eternal design. Through our
RECIPES
Minestrone
ACTIVITIES
Importance of Liturgy during Lent
Spirit of Lent, The
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 1st
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. Hugh of Grenoble, bishop (Hist)
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
Which is the first of all the commandments? Jesus
replied, The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our
God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your
mind, and with all your strength. (Mk 12:28).
Historically today is the feast of St. Hugh of
Grenoble, who was elected bishop at the age of
twenty-eight to purge the diocese of its disorders, and he
occupied the see until his death fifty-two years later.
St. Hugh of Grenoble
It was the good fortune of Saint Hugh to receive, from his cradle, strong impressions of
piety through the example and solicitude of his illustrious and holy parents. He was born
at Chateauneuf in Dauphin, France, in 1053. His father, Odilo, who served his country
in an honorable post in the army, labored by all means in his power to make his soldiers
faithful servants of their Creator, and by severe punishments, to restrain vice. By the
advice of his son, Saint Hugh, in his later years he became a Carthusian monk, and died
at the age of one hundred, having received Extreme Unction and Viaticum from the
hands of his son. Under his direction, his mother had served God in her own house for
many years by prayer, fasting, and abundant almsgiving; and Saint Hugh also assisted
her in her last hours.
Hugh, from the cradle, appeared to be a child of benediction; in his youth he was
recognized as such through his exceptional success in his studies. Having chosen to serve
God in the ecclesiastical state, he accepted a canonry in the cathedral of Valence. His
great sanctity and learning rendered him an ornament of that church, and at the age of
Excerpted from Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints
twenty-seven he was chosen Bishop of Grenoble. Pope Gregory VII consecrated him in
Rome, and inspired in him an ardent zeal for the Churchs liberty and the sanctification
of the clergy. He at once undertook to reprove vice and reform abuses, at that time
rampant in his diocese, but found his efforts without fruit. He resolved therefore, after
two years, to resign his charge, and retired to the austere abbey of Casa Dei, or
Chaise-Dieu, in Auvergne.
There Saint Hugh lived for a year, a perfect model of all virtues in a monastery filled
with saints, until Pope Gregory commanded him, in the name of holy obedience, to
resume his pastoral charge, saying: Go to your flock; they need you. This time his
sanctity effected great good in souls. His forceful preaching moved crowds and touched
hearts; in the confessional he wept with his penitents, and aroused in them a deeper
contrition. After a few years the face of his diocese had changed. His charity for the poor
led him to sell even his episcopal ring and his chalice to assist them. During his
episcopate the young Saint Bruno came to him for counsel, and it was Saint Hugh who
assisted him in the foundation of the Carthusian Monastery in the mountains of the
diocese of Grenoble, whose renown after a thousand years has not diminished.
Always filled with a profound sense of his own unworthiness, he earnestly solicited
three Popes for leave to resign his bishopric, that he might die in solitude, but was never
able to obtain his request. God was pleased to purify his soul by a lingering illness before
He called him to Himself. He closed his penitential course on the 1st of April in 1132,
two months before completing his eightieth year. Miracles attested the sanctity of his
death, and he was canonized only two years afterwards, by Pope Innocent II.
Things to Do:

Try making Mock Turtle Soup. St. Hugh for a time lived in a Carthusian
monastery as a simple monk. Legend has it that once, on arriving, he found the
monks assembled in the refectory but with nothing to eat. He was told that some
benefactor had indeed given them fowl but their rule forbade the eating of meat.
When Saint Hugh saw their predicament, he promptly made the sign of the cross
and changed the fowl into turtles.
The Station today is in St. Lawrences in Damasoa church
built by Pope St. Damascus in honor of the martyred deacon. It
was one of the first parish churches in Rome and was rebuilt in
the late 15th century by Bramante, and has since been restored
several times. Pope St. Damasus relics are beneath the altar.
Today the church is part of the Cancelleria, or the chancery, and
houses the Holy Fathers Tribunals: the Roman Rota, Apostolic
Signatura, and Apostolic Penitentiary.
Daily Readings for: April 01, 2014
Collect: May the venerable exercises of holy devotion shape the hearts of your
faithful, O Lord, to welcome worthily the Paschal Mystery and proclaim the
praises of your salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and
RECIPES
Mock Turtle Soup
Mock Turtle Soup - 2
ACTIVITIES
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 2nd
Optional Memorial of St. Francis of Paola,
hermit
Old Calendar: St. Francis of Paola, confessor
St. Francis was born at Paula in Calabria; after living as
a hermit for five years (from the age of fourteen to
nineteen) he gathered around him some companions
with whom he led the religious life. This was the origin
of a new order, to which he gave the name of Minims,
that is the least in the house of God. Pope Sixtus IV
sent him to France to help Louis XI on his deathbed. He
remained there and founded a house of his Minims at
Tours.
St. Francis of Paola
Francis of Paola founded the Minim Order, a branch of the
Franciscans (1454). These Hermits of St. Francis of
Assisi dwelt in small houses, and as least brethren,
endeavored to live a more austere and humble life than the
Fratres Minores.
The saint worked numerous miracles. He had a favorite
ejaculation, one that welled up from the depths of his
physical and spiritual being: Out of love. This was an
all-powerful ejaculation for him and for his companions.
Out of love the heaviest stone was light; Out of love he
admonished and punished; Out of love he once crossed
the sea without a boat.
For on a certain occasion the saint wanted to go from the Italian mainland to Sicily.
A boat was lying in the harbor. Francis asked the owner if he would take him and his
companion along on the boat. If you pay, monk, the sailor answered sulkily, I will
take you along. Out of love, the saint humbly pleaded; for I have no money with
me. Then I have no ship for you, came the mocking reply. Out of love, was Francis
answer, forgive me if I go away. He walked about a stones throw to the shore, knelt
down, and blessed the sea. Then, to the sailors great surprise, the saint suddenly stood
up, stepped out on the tossing waves, and with firm foot trod over the surging sea.
St. Francis of Paola stood high in the esteem of the French king, Louis XI, whom he
helped prepare for death.
The Churchs Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Patron: Against fire; boatmen; Calabria, Italy (named by Pope John XXIII in 1963);
mariners; naval officers; plague epidemics; sailors; sterility; travellers; watermen.
Symbols: Man with the word charitas levitated above a crowd; man holding a skull
and scourge; man sailing on his cloak.
The Station today is at St. Paul without-the-walls. On this
day the catechumens were subjected to a new examination
and, if approved, were registered for Baptism. The
beginning of the four Gospels was read to them, and the
Creed and the Our Father was given, or explained to
them. Todays Mass has a decided Baptismal character.
The joys of this day were anticipated on Laetare Sunday.
Collect: O God, exaltation of the lowly, who raised Saint Francis of Paola to the
glory of your Saints, grant, we pray, that by his merits and example we may
happily attain the rewards promised to the humble. Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
for ever and ever.
RECIPES
Pasta with Sardines & Fennel
ACTIVITIES
Turn to the Lord with a Pure Heart
PRAYERS
April Devotion: The Blessed Sacrament
Prayer to St. Francis of Paola
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 3rd
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. Richard of Chichester, bishop (Hist)
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will
not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (Jn
8:12). Like the forty days fast of the Ninevites, our
Lent continues in complete confidence in divine mercy;
but our hope is founded not so much on our poor efforts
at penance but on the passion of our Savior. No one is
excluded from the redemption effected by the Blood of
Christ; His grace is promised to all who believe in Him.
Historically today is the feast of St. Richard of
Chichester also known as Richard de Wych, a saint
canonized 1262 who was Bishop of Chichester.
Meditation
What do we do for the salvation of souls? It is true that we pray for one another, offer a
few words of comfort, and do each other slight favors; but we do little more. Christ was
more generous. He endured the crowning of thorns and dragged the heavy cross to
Calvary. We pamper our bodies as if they were our last end. We prefer to have our heads
crowned with laurels and roses. We are impatient and consider ourselves unfortunate
whenever we are called on to carry a mere splinter of the cross of Christ. Are we one in
spirit with Him?
Now, during Passiontide, we must begin to love and treasure pain and suffering. In
the cross, in suffering, in our crucifixion with Christ, we shall find salvation. For Him
and with Him we should bear all the slight injustices committed against us. For Him we
should suffer freely and willingly the unpleasant and disagreeable things that occur to us.
But our faith is weak. We flee from the cross instead of holding it dear, instead of loving
it and welcoming it as our Savior did.
What St. Paul says of many Christians of his day is equally true of many in our time:
For many walk, of whom I have told you often (and now tell you weeping) that they are
enemies of the cross of Christ. Whose end is destruction; whose God is their belly;
whose glory is in their shame; who mind earthly things (Phil. 3:18 f.).
Excerpted from The Light of the World by Benedict Baur, O.S.B.
St. Richard of Chichester
St Richard was born at the manor of Wiche, famous for its salt wells, four miles from
Worcester, being second son to Richard and Alice de Wiche. In order to keep faithfully
his baptismal vows, he from his infancy always manifested the utmost dislike to
frivalous diversions, and ever held in the highest contempt all worldly pomp: instead of
which his attention was wholly employed in establishing for himself a solid foundation of
virtue and learning. Every opportunity of serving others he regarded as his happiness and
gain.
The unfortunate situation of his eldest brothers affairs gave him an occasion of
exercising his benevolent disposition. Richard condescended to become his brothers
servant, undertook the management of his farms, and by his industry and generosity
effectually retrieved his brothers previously distressed circumstances.
Having completed this good work, he resumed at Paris those studies he had begun at
Oxford, leading with two select companions a life of piety and mortification, generally
contenting himself with coarse bread and simple water for his diet; except that on
Sundays and on particular festival she would, in condescendence to some visitors, allow
himself a little meat or fish.
Upon his return to England, he proceeded master of arts at Oxford, from whence he
went to Bologna, in Italy, where he applied himself to the study of canon law, and was
appointed public professor of that science. After having taught there a short time, he
returned to Oxford, and, on account of his merit, was soon promoted to the dignity of
chancellor in that university.
St. Edmund, archbishop of Canterbury, having the happiness of gaining him for his
diocese, appointed him his chancellor, and intrusted him with the chief direction of his
archbishopric; and Richard was the faithful imitator of his patrons piety and devotions.
The principal use he made of his revenues was to employ them to charitable purposes,
nor would he on any terms be prevailed on to accept the least present in the execution of
his office as ecclesiastical judge.
He accompanied his holy prelate in his
banishment into France, and after his blessed death
at Pontigni, retired into a convent of Dominican
friars in Orleans. Having in that solitude employed
his time in improving himself in theological studies,
and received the order of priesthood, he returned to
England to serve a private curacy, in the diocess of
Canterbury. Boniface, who had succeeded St.
Edmund in that metropolitan see, compelled him to
resume his office of chancellor with the care of his
whole diocese.
Ralph Nevil, bishop of Chichester, dying in
1244, King Henry III recommended to that see an
unworthy court favourite, called Robert Passelew:
the archbishop and other prelates declared the person not qualified, and the presentation
void, and preferred Richard de Wiche to that dignity. He was consecrated in 1245. But
the king seized his temporalities, and the saint suffered many hardships and persecutions
from him and his officers, during two years, till his majesty granted him a repreieve upon
which he recovered his revenues, but much impaired.
Afterwards having pleaded his cause at Rome before Pope Innocent IV against the
kings deputies, and obtained a sentence confirming his election, he had permitted no
persecution, fatigue, or difficulty to excuse him to himself for the omission of any part of
his duty to his flock: so now, the chief obstacles being removed, he redoubled his fervour
and attention. He in person visited the sick, buried the dead, and sought out and relieved
the poor. When his steward complained that his alms exceeded his income: then, said
he, sell my plate and my horse.
Having suffered a great loss by fire, instead of being more sparing in his charities, he
said, Perhaps God sent us this loss to punish our covetousness; and ordered upon the
spot more abundant alms to be given than usual. Such was the ardour of his devotion,
that he lived as it were in the perpetual contemplation of heavenly things. He preached
the word of God to his flock with that unction and success, which only an eminent spirit
of prayer could produce. The affronts which he received, he always repaid with favours,
and enmity with singular marks of charity.
In maintaining discipline he was inflexible, especially in chastising crimes in the
clergy: no intercession of the king, archbishop, and several other prelates could prevail
with him to mitigate the punishment of a priest who had sinned against chastity. Yet
penitent sinners he received with inexpressible tenderness and charity.
Whilst he was employed in preaching a holy war against the Saracens, being
commissioned thereto by the pope, he fell sick of a fever, foretold his own death, and
prepared himself for it by the most melting ejaculations of divine love and thanksgiving.
He died in an hospital at Dover, called Gods House, on the 3rd of April, in the year of
our Lord 1253, of his episcopal dignity the ninth, of his age the fifty-sixth.
His body was conveyed to Chichester, and interred before the altar which he himself
had consecrated in his cathedral to the memory of St. Edmund. It was removed to a more
honourable place in 1276, on the 16th of June, on which day our ancestors
commemorated his translation. The fame of miraculous cures of paralytic and other
distempers, and of three persons raised to life at his tomb, moved the pope to appoint
commissaries to inquire into the truth of these reports, before whom many of these
miracles were authentically proved upon the spot; and the saint was solemnly canonized
by Urban IV. in 1262.
Excerpted from The Lives of the Saints by Alban Butler (1866)
The Station is at the church of Saints Sylvester and Martin,
which is one of the most venerable in Rome. It was originally
built by Pope St. Sylvester, and still bears his name: but in the
sixth century, it was consecrated to St. Martin of Tours. In the
seventh century, it was enriched with the relics of Pope Saint
Martin, which were brought from Chersonesus, where he had
died a martyr a few years before. This church was the first Title
of St. Charles Borromeo. It was also that of the learned
liturgiologist, the Blessed Joseph-Mary Tommasi, whose body is now venerated in
this church, and has been miraculously preserved, even to this day, in a state of
incorruption.
Collect: We invoke your mercy in humble prayer, O Lord, that you may cause us,
your servants, corrected by penance and schooled by good works, to persevere
sincerely in your commands and come safely to the paschal festivities. Through
our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
Minestrone
ACTIVITIES
PRAYERS
St. Richard of Chichester Deathbed Prayer
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 4th
Optional Memorial of St. Isidore, bishop and
doctor
Old Calendar: St. Isidore
St. Isidore, who succeeded his brother St. Leander as
Archbishop of Seville, was one of the great bishops of
the seventh century. He was proficient in all brances of
knowledge and was regarded as one of the most learned
men of his time; with Cassiodorus and Boethius he was
one of the thinkers whose writings were most studied in
the Middle Ages, St. Isidore died in 636. Pope Innocent
XIII canonized him in 1722 and proclaimed him a
Doctor of the Church.
St. Isidore of Seville
Isidore, archbishop of Seville and brother of the saintly Bishop Leander, ranks as the
most outstanding person in the Church of Spain during the seventh century. Because of
the singular holiness of his life, he was idolized by the people. Wherever he appeared,
throngs gathered about him. Some came to see the miracles that he performed in the
name of the Lord. The sick came to be freed from their sufferings, for the power of God
emanated from him and he would heal them all (Bollandists: April 1, 340).
He is regarded as the great restorer of the Spanish Church after the Visigoths
returned to the Catholic faith. He also contributed greatly to the development of Spains
liturgy. He presided over the fourth provincial council of Toledo (633), the most
important in Spanish history. Rich in merit, he died in 636 after ruling his see 40 years.
St. Gregory the Great was one of his personal friends.
Excerpted from The Churchs Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.
Patron: Computer technicians; computer users; computers; the Internet; schoolchildren;
students.
Symbols: Bees; bishop holding a pen while surrounded by a swarm of bees; bishop
standing near a beehive; old bishop with a prince at his feet; pen; priest or bishop with
pen and book; with Saint Leander, Saint Fulgentius, and Saint Florentina; with his
Etymologia.
Things to Do:
Read more about St. Isidore in the Catholic Encyclopedia

For those who speak or read Latin and are fascinated by words you might take a
look at The Etymologies

From the Catholic Culture library you may also want to read what Pope Benedict
XVI has to say about St. Isidore.
The Station is in the church of St. Eusebius, priest of Rome,
who suffered for the faith in the Arian persecution under the
emperor Constantius.
Collect: Graciously hear the prayers, O Lord, which we make in commemoration
of Saint Isidore, that your Church may be aided by his intercession, just as she has
been instructed by his heavenly teaching. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your
ever and ever.
RECIPES
Paella I
Paella II
ACTIVITIES
How Sanctity Does Not Come Easily
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
Church and Internet | Pontifical Council for Social Communications
Deus ex Machina: How to Think About Technology | Archbishop Charles
J. Chaput O.F.M. Cap.
Ethics in Internet | Pontifical Council for Social Communications
Spread Christian Values Through the Media | Pope John Paul II
Statement on the Information Highway by the Canadian Conference of
Catholic Bishops | Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
Using the Internet in Religious Instruction | Ronald M. Vierling
Lent: April 5th
Optional Memorial of St. Vincent Ferrer, priest
Old Calendar: St. Vincent Ferrer, confessor
St. Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419) was born in Valencia,
Spain, and died in Vannes, Britany. He was a great
scholar and became Master of Theology he knew the
entire Bible by heart. He was also a great preacher,
preaching throughout Europe. Jews, infidels and
heretics were converted by his sermons on the true faith.
The most obdurate sinners embraced a life of holiness.
The favorite topic of his sermons was the final
judgment. He repeated over and over the words of the
prophet, Arise, ye dead, and come to the judgment. He is often called the Angel of the
Judgment. A renowned wonder-worker, St. Vincent cured the sick, the blind and the
lame.
Vincent Ferrer
St. Vincent Ferrers father was an Englishman, who had been knighted at the siege of the
city. On February 5th, 1367, having completed his studies in philosophy, he became a
Dominican. He was moved to Barcelona in the next year, and in 1370 became lecturer in
philosophy at the Dominican house in Lerida. In 1373, when he returned to Barcelona to
the Studium Arabicum et Hebraicum, he was already a famous public preacher.
In 1377 he was sent to Toulouse for further study; there he attracted the attention of
the Legate of the future Avignon antipope, Cardinal Pedro de Luna, whose suite he
joined, being himself a strong advocate of the claims of the Avignon popes as against
those of Rome. He preached a great deal, particularly to Jews and Moors, and converted a
rabbi of Valladolid, who, later became Bishop Paul of Burgos, and associated with St.
Vincent in his strenuous and successful attempts to convert the Jews of Spain.
Disillusioned in his attempts to heal the schism
between Rome and Avignon, St. Vincent saw a vision of
our Lord standing between St. Dominic and St. Francis,
commissioning him directly to go about preaching
penance. He was released by Benedict XIII in November
1399 to do this, and continued his preaching and
wandering throughout western Europe until his death,
being followed by a crowd of penitents and flagellants
which varied from 300 to 10,000. He was in Aragon when
the throne became vacant and with his brother, Boniface, a
Carthusian, was instrumental in choosing Ferdinand of
Castille as prince.
In 1416 he withdrew his own allegiance and that of the kingdom of Aragon from
Benedict XIII, because the Avignon antipope had made no serious attempt to heal the
schism and had refused the request made by the council of Constance that he should
resign in order to make possible a new and undisputed election to the papacy. St.
Vincents decision had the effect of deposing Benedict and of making possible an end to
the schism. St. Vincent died on April 5th, 1419, at Vannes in Brittany, where his relics
are venerated. He was canonized by Pope Calixtus II in 1455.
Excerpted from The Saints edited by John Coulson
Patron: Brick makers, builders construction workers, pavement workers, plumbers, tile
makers.
Symbols: Dominican holding an open book while preaching; Dominican with a
cardinals hat; Dominican with wings; cardinals hat; pulpit; trumpet; Dominican with a
crucifix; Dominican preacher with a flame on his head; flame; Dominican preacher with
a flame on his hand.
Things to Do:

St. Vincent reduces the rules of perfection to avoiding three things: first, the
exterior distraction of superfluous activities; secondly, all interior secret elation
of heart; and thirdly, all immoderate attachment to created things. Also to the
practicing of three things: first, the sincere desire of contempt and abjection;
secondly, the most affective devotion to Christ crucified; and thirdly, patience in
bearing all things for the love of Christ. Examine your own life and consider
how well you embrace the desire for perfection.
Learn more about St. Vincent by reading this longer account of his life and/or
reading this excerpt from his writing.
Todays Station is at St. Nicholas in Prison. It was constructed
in the ruins of two temples and the ancient Forum Olitorium,
and you can see fragments from them reused in the church. The
most important of the temples was the Temple og Piety, built by
Acilius Glabrius, consul in 191 B.C. The dedication to St.
Nicholas was made by the Greek population in the area.
Collect: O God, who raised up the Priest Saint Vincent Ferrer to minister by the
preaching of the Gospel, grant, we pray, that, when the Judge comes, whom Saint
Vincent proclaimed on earth, we may be among those blessed to behold him
reigning in heaven. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
Jiffy On-Fire Dessert
Snowballs on Fire
ACTIVITIES
Lenten Prayer Pot
PRAYERS
Litany of Dominican Saints and Blesseds
Novena to St. Vincent Ferrer
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 6th
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Old Calendar: Passion Sunday
Out of the depths I call to you O Lord: Lord hear my
cry. Listen attentively to the sound of my pleading! (Ps
129:1-2) In this, the fifth Sunday of Lent, the Church
invites us to turn our attention to the realities that are
perhaps the most scandalous in human experience, the
death of a loved one. In this Gospel we see all those
who are being supportive of Martha and Mary at the
moment of their brother, Lazarus death.
Previously called Passion Sunday, this Sunday
marks the beginning of Passiontide, a deeper time of
Lent. This is the third Sunday of the scrutinies for the
preparation of adult converts, and the final Sunday of
Lent before the beginning of Holy Week. The Liturgy of the Word of this day speaks of
re-creation, resurrection, and new life.
Sunday Readings
The first reading from the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel 37:12-14 is taken from the
chapter about pouring forth the Spirit upon the dry bones in the valley of his vision.
The prophet speaks of restoration through an act of God through the Spirit and that it
was through him that the people first were saved from their oppression in Egypt, and by
his power they will be saved again and restored as the people of God. The symbolic
meaning of the reading is the resurrection of the people to new life, a theme clearly
reiterated in succeeding apocalyptic literature and finally present in the death and
resurrection of Jesus.
The second reading from St Paul to the Romans 8:8-11 states that through Christ the
whole person of the believer is saved, raised up, and redeemed. The realm of the flesh is
the realm to be left behind, and the realm of the Spirit is where true life is to be found.
But there is no hellenistic dichotomy here between flesh and spirit since the believer
lives with the Spirit of God enfleshed in his body so that his whole person will live in
conformity with that Spirit. The indwelling of the Spirit refers to the baptism of the
person and his consequent moral life.
The Gospel reading, St. John 11:1-45, opens up in front of us a scene of
unprecedented sorrow. The Lord Jesus receives the message from the sisters of Lazarus
who, when confronted with the gravity of his condition, tried the only thing possible,
they turned to the Lord of who it was said: Everything He does is good, he makes the
deaf hear and the dumb speak (Mk 7:37). It is the cry of each one of us who would like
their loved ones to live forever without ever leaving us.
The Lord Jesus, inexplicably, waited a further two days before heading for Lazarus
home. Even then, He only left with His disciples when he divinely knew of His friends
death. This particular detail from the Gospel tells us that the Word of God was made
Man for the love of all of us. Also that His look of love is always upon us waiting for
that meeting of immense joy that will happen in eternity.
Upon Jesus arrival in Bethany there was a new apparently inexplicable development
in the story. First Mary, then her sister Marta and behind them all the Jews who were
united with them, converge on Jesus with the certainty that if there was a response to
their sorrow it would come from Him. They were not irreligious people who were
looking to Jesus for a solution. They profoundly accepted Israels faith in the final
Resurrection and so even this event was not ultimately inexplicable. In fact Martha said
to the Lord, I know that he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day. (Jn
11:24) However, knowing that in relation to the Lord, nothing that was authentically
human in them or their cry of sorrow be would be lost. Prior to that, their only
consolation came from the eschatological faith of the time.
In this last sign, worked by the Lord before His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem,
everything seams to flow to that new reality inaugurated by Emmanuel, God with us.
Sharing our existence, Jesus had loved us with a supreme passion, with that virginal love
that doesnt seek to possess the heart of the other, but to love it in truth with delicate
insistence right up to sacrificing Himself for us. In this infinite delicacy and attention to
everyone, He was able to be moved by those who were linked to Him by ties of the most
profound friendship who understood that it could not be anything but Gods presence
amongst them. I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he
dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe
this? She said to him, Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son
of God, the one who is coming into the world. (Jn 11:25-27)
Christ then performed the great miracle of Lazarus resurrection. He announced,
through the work of the Father, that He, Himself, God made man, is the Resurrection
and the Life. He is also the Lord of biological life. His voice can reach those who, like
Lazarus, have exceeded the threshold of four days from their death and arrived at the
point where bodily corruption commences. Faced with this sign, the words with which
He foretold His Resurrection become clearer: I lay down my life, that I may take it
again.(Jn 10:17) He really can take up [His life] again as He is the Word of Life. If
Lazarus resurrection didnt stop the Lords beloved friend from embracing our sister
death to use St Francis expression - when God finally called him again from this
life, then how much greater is the Life that the Lord has earned for Lazarus and everyone
of us in the Pascal Mystery that we are preparing to celebrate a few days from now.
It was Martha and Marys faith, even when confronted with Lazarus death that gave
rise to the extraordinary miracle worked by Christ. This is not only a consoling story
narrated in the letters of the Gospel, but it is also accessible to us today in the Church
from the day of our Baptism until when we are incorporated to Him by means of the
Spirit that He has given to us. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells
in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also
through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Rom 8:11)
Most Holy Mary, the mother of the Risen One, give us the grace to look towards and
live the light of this extraordinary reality the promise of Resurrection in Christ.
Amen.
From the Congregation for the Clergy

At Rome, the Station is in the basilica of St. Peter. The
importance of this Sunday, which never yields to any feast no
matter what its solemnity may be, requires that the place for the
assembly of the faithful should be in one of the chief sanctuaries
of the Holy City.
Collect: By your help, we beseech you, Lord our God, may we walk eagerly in
that same charity with which, out of love for the world, you Son handed himself
over to death. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with
RECIPES
Classic Beans and Rice
ACTIVITIES
Carling or Passion Sunday
PRAYERS
Prayer for the Fifth Week of Lent
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 7th
Optional Memorial of St. John the Baptist de la
Salle
St. John Baptist de La Salle was born in Rheims,
France. He was known as the Father of Modern
Pedagogy. He opened free schools for poor children,
introducing new teaching methods. He organized the
congregation called the Brothers of the Christian
Schools, which made great contributions to popular
education.
St. John Baptist de la Salle
Generations of schoolboys have been taught by the Christian Brothers, and their founder,
St. John Baptist de la Salle, is familiar in their prayers and devotions. Brothers Boys
are scattered all over the world and all of them have fond memories of their De la Salle
days.
John Baptist de la Salle was born at Rheims in
1651, became a member of the cathedral chapter at
Rheims when he was sixteen, and was ordained a priest
in 1678. Soon after ordination he was put in charge of a
girls school, and in 1679 he met Adrian Nyel, a layman
who wanted to open a school for boys. Two schools
were started, and Canon de la Salle became interested
in the work of education. He took an interest in the
teachers, eventually invited them to live in his own
house, and tried to train them in the educational system
that was forming in his mind. This first group
ultimately left, unable to grasp what the saint had in mind; others, however, joined him,
and the beginnings of the Brothers of the Christian Schools were begun.
Seeing a unique opportunity for good, Canon de la Salle resigned his canonry, gave
his inheritance to the poor, and began to organize his teachers into a religious
congregation. Soon, boys from his schools began to ask for admission to the Brothers,
and the founder set up a juniorate to prepare them for their life as religious teachers. At
the request of many pastors, he also set up a training school for teachers, first at Rheims,
then at Paris, and finally at St.-Denis. Realizing that he was breaking entirely new
ground in the education of the young, John Baptist de la Salle wrote books on his system
of education, opened schools for tradesmen, and even founded a school for the nobility,
at the request of King James of England.
The congregation had a tumultuous history, and the setbacks that the founder had to
face were many; but the work was begun, and he guided it with rare wisdom. In Lent of
1719, he grew weak, met with a serious accident, and died on Good Friday. He was
canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1900, and Pope Pius XII proclaimed him patron of
schoolteachers.
Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints, Rev. Clifford Stevens
Patron: Educators; school principals; teachers.
Things to Do:
From the Catholic Culture library: Consecrated Persons And Their Mission In
Schools by the Congregation for Catholic Education, Spectata Fides (On
Christian Education) by Pope Leo XIII and Divini Illius Magistri (On Christian
Education) by Pope Pius XI.
The Station, at Rome, is in the church of St. Chrysogonus, one
of the most celebrated martyrs of the Church of Rome. His
name is inserted in the Canon of the Mass. The church was
probably built in the 4th century under Pope Sylvester I.
Collect: O God, who chose Saint John Baptist de la Salle to educate young
Christians, raise up, we pray, teachers in your Church ready to devote themselves
wholeheartedly to the human and Christian formation of the young. Through our
RECIPES
French Style Shepherds Pie
ACTIVITIES
PRAYERS
Novena to St. Bernadette
LIBRARY
Popular Education During the Middle Ages | Hugh Graham Ph.D.
The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium |
Congregation for Catholic Education
What Would the World be, Ancient and Modern, without Consecrated
Life? | Pope John Paul II
Lent: April 8th
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. Julie Billiart, religious (Trad./ some places)
Mortification and self-denial are indispensable means of
acquiring strength of will and virtuous habits, and of
preserving the life of the soul.
Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, in some places
today is the feast of St. Julie Billiart, a French religious
who founded, and was the first Superior General of, the
Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.
Meditation - The Eloquence of Jesus Silence
How singularly majestic must have been the eloquence of Jesus, when as a boy He sat
among the doctors of the law in the temple, or when He thrilled the multitudes,
commanded the winds and waves, and put to flight diseases and demons and death itself!
Yet, perhaps nowhere else did the majesty of His eloquence reveal itself, as it did in that
heroic calm and consistent silence, which reached its climax in the three hours of His
agony.
But what should strike us most forcibly, and yet most sweetly, is the interior silence
of Jesus, the silence of His innermost soul and heart, of His human passions, of His
feelings and thoughts and fancies. Recall the word of Jesus, that from the heart come
forth evil works, bitter zeal, and false testimonies and blasphemies (Matt. 15:19); and
then dwell on His own strikingly consistent example of quashing all bitterness and
quenching all the fires of passion, and of refraining from impatience, anger, and
retaliation, even when tongues all around were busy kindling fires of hateful calumnies
against His truest self-knowledge and wounding His livest self-respect.
Hence, pray that you may see deep into the interior soul of Jesus, there to realize the
true majesty and marvelous eloquence of the silence of His lips and tongue, the silence
which was the fruit of His charity and of the interior peace and perfection of right order
that ever reigned within the sanctuary of His heart, the silence which was the precious
fruit of the obedience and humility in His absolute abandonment to the mysterious
providence of His Father in heaven.
Excerpted from Our Way to the Father, Rev. Leo M. Krenz, S.J.
St. Julie Billiart
Saint Julie was a woman completely immersed in Gods
love and goodness, even in the midst of great suffering.
She was a woman of vision who responded to the needs
of the suffering world around her.
Born in Cuvilly, France, on July 12, 1751, Julie
lived a humble life in a loving family. She was a woman
of serenity, despite the great personal suffering she
endured. The Billiart family survived many hardships,
including the deaths of several children. When Julie
was 16, she went to work to help support her family. At
the age of 23 she became paralyzed by the trauma of a
shooting that was aimed at her father. She spent more than 20 years confined to her bed,
unable to care for even her most basic needs.
Besides her physical pain, Julie suffered religious persecution, lived in hiding as a
refugee. Throughout her suffering, she steadfastly trusted in Gods goodness. At the age
of 53, Julie and her very good friend, Franoise Blin de Bourdon, along with two other
women, made their vows as Sisters of Notre Dame in Amiens, France. A variety of
difficult circumstances caused her to move her congregation to Namur, Belgium, several
years later. Today these sisters are known as the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Julies
spirit and charism also influenced the Sisters of Notre Dame of Amersfoort, The
Netherlands, as well as our own congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame, which began
in Coesfeld, Germany.
Julie reached out to the poor and forgotten, she brought comfort and hope to those
around her, she encouraged faith in the seeking and the lost. More than anything else, she
was a witness to the deep, loving goodness of God. Her motto and mantra was: Oh, how
good God is! In 1969 Julie was named a saint by the Catholic Church. The impact that
Saint Julie had on the world continues through the life and ministry of the sisters who
share in her heritage.
Excerpted from The Sisters of Notre Dame
The Station in Rome was formerly the church of the martyr St.
Cyriacus, and as such it is still given in the Roman missal; but
this holy sanctuary having been destroyed, and the relics of the
holy deacon translated to the church of St. Mary in Via lata, it is
here that the Station is now held.
Collect: Grant us, we pray, O Lord, perseverance in obeying your will, that in our
days the people dedicated to your service may grow in both merit and number.
RECIPES
Lenten Eggs Benedict
ACTIVITIES
Elementary Parent Pedagogy: Teaching by Example
Preschool Parent Pedagogy: Teaching Obedience in Preschool Children
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 9th
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St. Mary of Cleophas (Hist); St. Gaucherius
(Hist)
Historically today is the feast of St. Mary of Clophas,
Mother of St. James the Less and Joseph, wife of
Cleophas (or Clopas or Alpheus). She was one of the
Three Marys who served Jesus and was present at the
Crucifixion , and accompanied Mary Magdalen to the
tomb of Christ. Tradition reports that she went to Spain
as a missionary. Mary reportedly died at Ciudad
Rodrigo. Another tradition states that she went to
France with St. Lazarus and his sisters.
Also St. Gaucherius feast is historically celebrated
today. He was also know as Walter, abbot-founder and friend of St. Stephen of
Grandmont. He founded St. Johns Monastery at Aureilfor and a convent for women.
St. Mary of Clophas
And there were standing by the cross of Jesus His mother and His mothers sister, Mary
of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. How should we understand His mothers sister,
literally, as in having the same parents, or in the same sense that Jesuss brothers are to
be understood as close relatives?
The short answer is that Mary of Cleophas is probably the Blessed Virgins
sister-in-law. Mary of Cleophas may have had a previous husband named Alpheus, or
this Alpheus may have been Cleophas. The Blessed Virgin Mary, of course, only had one
husband (Joseph) and remained a virgin. The long answer may be found here.
St. Gaucherius
Born in Meulan-sur-Seine to the northwest of Paris, he
received a classical education and became a priest.
However he felt a deep longing for solitude and a life
more radically centered on God. He thereupon devoted
his life God as a hermit and began with his friend,
Germond, to reside in the area of Limoges. Alone and
forgotten by the world, Gaucherius and Germond grew
in holiness. Their example attracted others who built
hermitages near to theirs. Finally Gaucherius decided to
build a monastery at Aureil and to establish two
communities, one for men, the other for women, both
under the rule of St. Augustine. The passage of an eremitical settlement into the
canonical life was one of the principal ways through which the canons regular grew in
the 11th and 12th Century. The community of Aureil is typical of these kinds of Ordo
Novus canons regular. Thereafter he lived with his companions, being for all a model of
sanctity. His companions and disciples include St. Lambert of Angouleme and St.
Faucherus as well as the founder of Grandmont monastery, St. Stephen Muret. He died
80 years old in 1140 and was canonized in 1194.
Excerted from the Canons Regular of St. Augustine
The Station today is at the church of St. Marcellus at the Corso.
Legend claims that Pope St. Marcellus (308-309) was sentenced
by Emperor Maxentius to look after the horses at the station of
the Imperial mail on the Via Lata, where the Via del Corso now
lies. He was freed by the people, and hidden in the house of the
Roman lady Lucina (see also San Lorenzo in Lucina). He was
rearrested, and imprisoned in the stables.
Collect: Enlighten, O God of compassion, the hearts of your children, sanctified
by penance, and in your kindness grant those you stir to a sense of devotion a
gracious hearing when they cry out to you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your
ever and ever.
RECIPES
Basic French Bread
French Pea Soup
ACTIVITIES
Elementary Parent Pedagogy: Copy Jesus for Love
Preschool Parent Pedagogy: Lessons from Books
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 10th
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Old Calendar: St Fulbert (Hist)
Historically today is the feast of St. Fulbert, Bisbop of
Chartres, France, and a poet and scholar who aided the
Cluniac Reform. Born in Italy circa 952 or 960, Fulbert
studied at Rheims, France, under future Pope Sylvester
II. In 1003 he returned to France, becoming the bishop
of Chartres in 1007. Fulbert rebuilt the cathedral there
when it burned down and defended monasticism and
orthodoxy. His hymns, treatises, and letter have survived.
St. Fulbert
Bishop, b. between 952 and 962; d. 10 April, 1028 or 1029. Mabillon and others think
that he was born in Italy, probably at Rome; but Pfister, his latest biographer, designates
as his birthplace the Diocese of Laudun in the present department of Gard in France. He
was of humble parentage and received his education at the school of Reims, where he
had as teacher the famous Gerbert who in 999 ascended the papal throne as Sylvester II.
In 990 Fulbert opened a school at Chartres which soon became the most famous seat of
learning in France and drew scholars not only from the remotest parts of France, but also
from Italy, Germany, and England. Fulbert was also chancellor of the church of Chartres
and treasurer of St. Hilarys at Poitiers. So highly was he esteemed as a teacher that his
pupils were wont to style him venerable Socrates. He was a strong opponent of the
rationalistic tendencies which had infected some dialecticians of his times, and often
warned his pupils against such as extol their dialectics above the teachings of the Church
and the testimony of the Bible. Still it was one of Fulberts pupils, Berengarius of Tours,
who went farthest in subjecting faith to reason. In 1007 Fulbert succeeded the deceased
who went farthest in subjecting faith to reason. In 1007 Fulbert succeeded the deceased
Rudolph as Bishop of Chartres and was consecrated by his metropolitan, Archbishop
Leutheric of Sens. He owed the episcopal dignity chiefly to the influence of King Robert
of France, who had been his fellow student at Reims. As bishop he continued to teach in
his school and also retained the treasurership of St. Hilary. When, about 1020, the
cathedral of Chartres burned down, Fulbert at once began to rebuild it in greater
splendour. In this undertaking he was financially assisted by King Canute of England,
Duke William of Aquitaine, and other European sovereigns. Though Fulbert was neither
abbot nor monk, as has been wrongly asserted by some historians, still he stood in
friendly relation with Odilo of Cluny, Richard of St. Vannes, Abbo of Fleury, and other
monastic celebrities of his times. He advocated a reform of the clergy, severely rebuked
those bishops who spent much of their time in warlike expeditions, and inveighed against
the practice of granting ecclesiastical benefices to laymen.
Fulberts literary productions include 140 epistles, 2 treatises, 27 hymns, and parts of
the ecclesiastical Office. His epistles are of great historical value, especially on account
of the light they throw on the liturgy and discipline of the Church in the eleventh
century. His two treatises are in the form of homilies. The first has as its subject: Misit
Herodes rex manus, ut affligeret quosdam de ecclesia, etc. (Acts 12:50); the second is
entitled Tractatus contra Judaeos and proves that the prophecy of Jacob, Non auferetur
sceptrumde Juda, etc. (Genesis 49:10), had been fulfilled in Christ. Five of his nine
extant sermons are on the blessed Virgin Mary towards whom he had a great devotion.
The life of St. Aubert, bishop of Cambrai (d. 667), which is sometimes ascribed to
Fulbert, was probably not written by him. Fulberts epistles were first edited by Papire le
Masson (Paris, 1585). His complete works were edited by Charles de Villiers (Paris,
1608), then inserted in Bibl. magna Patrum (Cologne, 1618) XI, in Bibl. maxima
Patri. (Lyons, 1677), XVIII, and with additions, in Migne, P.L., CXLI, 189-368.
Excerpted from The Catholic Encyclopedia
The Station at Rome is in the church of St. Apollinaris, who
was a disciple of St. Peter, and afterwards bishop of Ravenna.
He was martyred. The church was founded in the early Middle
Ages, probably in the 7th century.
Collect: O God, who reward the merits of the just and offer pardon to sinners who
do penance, have mercy, we pray, on those who call upon you, that the admission
of our guilt may serve to obtain your pardon for our sins. Through our Lord Jesus
RECIPES
Chocolate Eclairs
ACTIVITIES
Homemade Prayer Book for Preschool Children
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 11th
Optional Memorial of St. Stanislaus, bishop &
martyr
Old Calendar: St. Leo I, pope and doctor
St. Stanislaus was the Bishop of Cracow, Poland. A
champion of the liberty of the Church and of the dignity
of man, he defended the lonely and the poor. When he
reproached King Boleslaus II for his immoral life, the
king himself killed him during Mass. He is the patron
saint of Poland.
Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, May 7, is the
feast of St. Stanislaus. In Poland his feast is celebrated
on May 8, which is the day he died.
Also the feast of St. Leo the Great is today and in
the Ordinary Form his memorial is celebrated on November 10.
St. Stanislaus of Cracow
Stanislaus was born in 1030 and was educated at Gnesen and at Paris. After his
ordination to the priesthood he was made a canon of the cathedral at Cracow as well as
archdeacon and preacher. Upon the death of the bishop of Cracow, he was nominated
bishop of the diocese by Pope Alexander II.
The king at the time, Boleslaus II, trying to
strengthen his own power, led an expedition against
the grand duchy of Kiev, making himself very
unpopular with the nobles of the country, who
opposed his policies. St. Stanislaus of Cracow sided
with the nobles, led by the kings brother, Ladislaus,
and this brought him into conflict with the king.
Stanislaus had opposed the king before for his
tyrannical ways and once confronted him boldly for
his immoral behavior when Boleslaus had abducted
the wife of a Polish nobleman and carried her off to his castle. No one seemed willing to
face the king from a fear of his rage, but Stanislaus boldly went to the king and
threatened excommunication if he did not change his ways. Furious, the king promised
revenge on the bishop. Later, Stanislaus sided with the nobles in their opposition to the
kings political policies, and the king accused him of being a traitor and condemned him
to death.
At first the king commanded his soldiers to kill the bishop when he was celebrating
Mass at St. Michaels chapel in Cracow, but the soldiers refused, fearing to bring down
upon themselves the wrath of God. Undeterred, the king himself entered the church,
drew his sword, and killed the bishop, ordering his soldiers to dismember the body.
Pope Gregory VII placed the country under interdict and Boleslaus fell from power,
fleeing to Hungary, where he entered the monastery of Osiak to do penance for his crime.
Stanislaus, canonized by Pope Innocent IV in 1253, is one of the patron saints of Poland.
The One Year Book of Saints by Rev. Clifford Stevens
Patron: Archdiocese of Cracow, Poland; Poland.
Symbols: Bishop being hacked to pieces at the foot of an altar.
Things to Do:
Sometimes evil has to be confronted boldly, whatever the consequences. Brave
men like St. Stanislaus of Cracow risked death in facing evil. There is little
chance today that we will ever be in that danger, but we must always be willing
to defend the truth, and it should be very clear, in the face of genuine evil, where
we stand. Christ our Lord can expect no less from us. Say an extra prayer today
for the gift of fortitude.
Learn a little more about the city of Kracow where both St. Stanislaus and Pope
John Paul II came from.
For those who are extremely interested in knowing more about Polish history
this online book, Polish Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland may
prove to be a good source of information.
prove to be a good source of information.
The final work of Franz Liszt is the unfinished oratorio St. Stanislaus, for which
he left two scenes (one and four) and two polonaises. Learn more about this
oratorio here and if you are able find a copy and listen.
The Station, at Rome, is in the church of St. Stephen on
Monte Celio. This church of the great proto-martyr was
chosen as the place where the faithful were to assemble on
the Friday of Passion week.
Collect: O God, for whose honor the Bishop Saint Stanislaus fell beneath the
swords of his persecutors, grant we pray, that we may persevere strong in faith
even until death. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns
RECIPES
Pierogi
Polish Potato Pancakes
ACTIVITIES
Namedays
What is a Nameday?
PRAYERS
To Keep A True Lent
LIBRARY
Now Is the Time to Remember All These Martyrs and to Pay Them Due
Honour | Pope John Paul II
We Give Praise and Thanks to God That the Gospel Seed Has Borne
Abundant Fruit | Pope John Paul II
Lent: April 12th
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Old Calendar: Julius I, pope (Hist)
Historically today is the feast of St. Julius, a Roman
who was chosen Pope on the 6th of February in 337. He
ruled the Church until 352 and received the appeal from
St. Athanasius, whom he defended against his Arian
accusers. The letter he wrote to the East on this
occasion is one of the most momentous pronouncements
of the Roman See. He built several churches in Rome
and ranks as one of the most distinguished occupants of
the Holy See.
St. Julius I
With Pope St. Julius the Papacy finds at its doorstep
the vexing problem of the Eastern Arians. It is true that
the Council of Nicaea had condemned Arianism, but in
spite of that Arians had been growing in strength and
had even gained the ear of Constantine, and what was
more crucial, that of his son Constantius who succeeded
him in the East.
The man who was compelled to face the problem
was Julius, a Roman who had been chosen to succeed
Mark after an unexplained interval of four months. He
soon received delegates from Alexandria asking him to acknowledge a certain Pistus as
bishop of Alexandria in place of Athanasius, the mighty fighter for orthodoxy. The
delegates tried to prove that Athanasius, who actually had been the victim of Arian
intrigue, had been validly deposed. Athanasius on his part also sent envoys and later
came to Rome in person to plead his case before the Pope. The Arians asked Julius to
hold a synod to decide the case, but when in 341 Julius actually did convene it, they
refused to attend. The Pope held it without them and over fifty bishops decreed that
Athanasius had been unjustly condemned. Julius informed the Arians at Alexandria of
this decision and let them know that he was displeased at their uncooperative attitude.
The Emperor Constans, who ruled in the West, was favorable to the orthodox
Christians while his brother Constantius, who ruled the East, was pro Arian. At this time
both Emperors agreed to hold a big general council to see if religious unity could be
achieved. Pope Julius approved of the plan and sent legates to Sardica, the modern Sofia,
where the council gathered. The council did not achieve religious unity because the
Arians, when they found themselves outnumbered, walked out. The council once again
vindicated Athanasius and once more repeated the solemn Nicene Creed. It also left an
interesting set of regulations on the manner in which appeals to the pope should be made.
In spite of the repeated vindications of Athanasius, that good man was unable to
return to his see. Emperor Constans supported the Arian George until the usurper died.
Then and only then was the long-suffering Athanasius allowed to go home. Pope Julius,
delighted, wrote a letter to the people of Alexandria, congratulating them on the return of
their true bishop.
At Rome the number of Christians continued to grow during the pontificate of Julius.
He built two new basilicas and three cemetery churches. The stay of St. Athanasius at
Rome helped to popularize Egyptian monasticism and gave an impetus to religious life
there.
Pope St. Julius died April 12, 352. He was buried in the Cemetery of Calepodius. His
feast is kept on April 12.
Excerpted from Popes Through the Ages by Joseph Brusher
Todays Station takes place in the Church of St. John before the
Latin Gate. This ancient basilica is built near the spot where the
beloved disciple was, by Domitians order, plunged into the
cauldron of boiling oil.
Collect: O God, who have made all those reborn in Christ a chosen race and a
royal priesthood, grant us, we pray, the grace to will and to do what you command,
that the people called to eternal life may be one in the faith of their hearts and the
homage of their deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and
RECIPES
Pea Soup
ACTIVITIES
Miniature Mystical BodyRaising Children to Be Adults
PRAYERS
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 13th
Palm Sunday
Old Calendar: Palm Sunday
So they took branches of palm trees and went out to
meet him, crying, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel! And
Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it; as it is written,
Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is
coming, sitting on an asss colt (Jn 12:13-15)!
Today we commemorate Christs entry into
Jerusalem for the completion of the Paschal Mystery. In
the old calendar before Vatican II, the Church
celebrated Passion Sunday two Sundays before Easter,
and then Palm Sunday was the beginning of Holy
Week. The Church has combined the two to reinforce
the solemnity of Holy Week.
The Palm Sunday procession is formed of Christians who, in the fullness of faith,
make their own the gesture of the Jews and endow it with its full significance. Following
the Jews example we proclaim Christ as a Victor Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord. But by our faith we know, as they did
not, all that His triumph stands for. He is the Messiah, the Son of David and the Son of
God. He is the sign of contradiction, acclaimed by some and reviled by others. Sent into
this world to wrest us from sin and the power of Satan, He underwent His Passion, the
punishment for our sins, but issues forth triumphant from the tomb, the victor over death,
making our peace with God and taking us with Him into the kingdom of His Father in
heaven.
Liturgy for Palm Sunday
The priests and deacons wear red vestments for Mass.
There is a special entrance at the beginning of each
Mass, either simple or solemn. This includes a blessing
of the palms and the gospel reading of the entrance into
Jerusalem (Matt 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; John 12:12-16;
Luke 19:28-40). The introduction by the priest explains
the solemnity of Holy Week, and invites the faithful to
take full part in the celebration:
Dear friends in Christ, for five weeks of Lent we
have been preparing, by works of charity and self-sacrifice, for the celebration of
our Lords paschal mystery. Today we come together to begin this solemn
celebration in union with the whole Church throughout the world. Christ entered in
triumph into his own city, to complete his work as our Messiah: to suffer, to die,
and to rise again. Let us remember with devotion this entry which began his saving
work and follow him with a lively faith. United with him in his suffering on the
cross, may we share his resurrection and new life.
The palms are blessed with the following prayer:
Almighty God, we pray you bless these branches and make them holy. Today we
joyfully acclaim Jesus our Messiah and King. May we reach one day the happiness
of the new and everlasting Jerusalem by faithfully following him who lives and
reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
As the faithful, we remember and dramatize Christs triumphal entrance into Jerusalem
on a donkey. In Jesus time, a huge crowd assembled, put their cloaks or branches on the
ground, and waved palm branches, acclaiming Christ as the King of Israel, the Son of
David. We now wave our palm branches and sing as the priest enters the church:
Hosanna to the Son of David, the King of Israel. Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
These words of praise are echoed every day at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the
Sanctus (Holy, Holy).
Our joy is quickly subdued. We are jolted to reality and see the purpose of Christ
coming to Jerusalem by the reading of the Passion at the Gospel. (Written by Jennifer
Gregory Miller)
Things to Do:
The palms distributed at Mass are blessed, so are sacramentals. Read Blessed
Palms in the Home.
Read Pope Francis Homily for Palm Sunday 2013. Also read the History of
Palm Sunday by Fr. Francis X. Weiser
This is also known as Carling Sunday after carling peas. Peas porridge would
be an appropriate dish for today. See recipes for suggestions and history behind
this tradition.
This is also known as Fig Sunday due to the tradition that Christ ate figs after
his entry into Jerusalem. Adding some type of figs to your meal would be a nice
touch.
Read the short passages from Directory on Popular Piety concerning Holy Week
and Palm Sunday.
The Station at Rome is in the church of St. John Lateran which
represents the Holy City Jerusalem which Christ and we, His
disciples, have just entered. It is the first cathedral of Rome,
where Emperor Constantine allowed the Pope to set up the
episcopal chair after 312.
Commentary for the Readings in the Extraordinary Form: Palm
Sunday
We carry palm branches as a tribute of
waving joy, before Christ, victorious
over death; also as a symbol of our
wavering fickleness, betraying Christ
unto His Death.
Jesus is our example; let us never
lose sight of the eternal joy of sharing
in His Resurrection, when with Him we now suffer on a cross (Prayer).
in His Resurrection, when with Him we now suffer on a cross (Prayer).
In glorious language we read how the Son of God became the slave of man;
how He humbled Himself and is now our pledge in the glory of God the Father
(Epistle).
Even as Christ adhered to the Father, so must we, despite the seeming prosperity
of the sinner (Gradual).
The long Gospelenables us, as it were, to be eyewitnesses of Christs Passion
and Death, revealing His love unto the end (indicated by Calvary in background).
Collect: Almighty ever-living God, who as an example of humility for the human
race to follow caused our Savior to take flesh and submit to the Cross, graciously
grant that we may heed his lesson of patient suffering and so merit a share in his
Resurrection. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one
RECIPES
Almond Milk
Almond Milk Frumenty
Fig Pudding
Fig Swirl
Frumenty
Pea Soup
Pease Porridge
ACTIVITIES
A Jonas (Jonah) Project
Blessed Palms in the Home
Carling or Passion Sunday
Fun Pretzel Project
Holy Week in the Catholic Tradition
Hymn: Gloria Laus et Honor (All Glory, Laud and Honor)
Jonas and Holy Week
Lent Hymn: O Head All Scarred and Bleeding
Music for Lent and Easter: St. Matthew Passion by Bach
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday and Holy Week in the Home
Palm Sunday Festivities
Palm Sunday Procession
Palm Sunday Procession
Purple Shrouds
Shrouding of Statues and Crucifixes
Traditions related to Palm Sunday
PRAYERS
Prayer for Palm Sunday and Holy Week
Sacrifice Beads
Way of the Cross
To Keep A True Lent
LIBRARY
From Palm Branches to the Wood of the Cross | Fr. Roger J. Landry
Hymn for Palm Sunday | Bishop Theodulf
Palm Sundays | Dom H. Philibert Feasey O.S.B.
We hail you, O Cross of Christ! | Pope John Paul II
Lent: April 14th
Monday of Holy Week
Old Calendar: Monday of Holy Week
Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in
whom my soul delights. I have endowed him with my
spirit that he may bring true justice to the nations. He
does not cry out or shout aloud, or make his voice heard
in the streets. He does not break the crushed reed, nor
quench the wavering flame (Is 42:1-2).
Outside of Holy Week today is the Solemnity of the
Annunciation of the Lord which is celebrated on April 8
this year.
Meditation - Mary and Judas
Today the liturgy presents two noteworthy characters who play dissimilar roles in the
Lords passion. One fills us with solace and comfort; the other with uneasiness and
wholesome fear. Their juxtaposition produces a powerful effect by way of contrast. The
two characters are Mary of Bethany and Judas.
Jesus is in the house of Lazarus, at dinner. Mary approaches, anoints the feet of her
Savior for His burial and dries them with her hair. Judas resents her action and resolves
upon his evil course. These two persons typify mans relation to Christ. He gives His
Body to two types of individuals: to Magdalenes to be anointed, to Judases to be kissed;
to good persons who repay Him with love and service, to foes who crucify Him. How
movingly this is expressed in the Lesson: I gave My body to those who beat Me, and
My cheeks to those who plucked them. I did not turn away My face from those who
cursed and spit upon Me.
The same must hold true of His mystical Body. Down through the ages Christ is
enduring an endless round of suffering, giving His body to other Marys for anointing and
to other Judases to be kissed, beaten, and mistreated. Augustine explains how we can
anoint Christs body:
Anoint Jesus feet by a life pleasing to God. Follow in His footsteps; if you have an
abundance, give it to the poor. In this way you can wipe the feet of the Lord.
The poor are, as it were, the feet of the mystical Christ. By aiding them we can comfort
our Lord in His mystical life, where He receives Judas kisses on all sides-the sins of
Christians.
The Gospel account may be understood in a very personal way. In everyones heart,
in my own too, there dwell two souls: a Judas-soul and a Mary-soul. The former is the
cause of Jesus suffering, it is always ready to apostatize, always ready to give the
traitors kiss. Are you full master over this Judas-soul within you? Your Magdalen-soul
is a source of comfort to Christ in His sufferings. May the holy season of Lent, which
with Gods help we are about to bring to a successful conclusion, bring victory over the
Judas-soul and strengthen the Magdalen-soul within our breasts.
The Station today is at the church of St. Praxedes which was
built over St. Praxedes house. It was one of the twenty-five
original parishes in Rome. It is easily one of the most beautiful
churches in the Eternal City and is bedecked with incredibly
beautiful mosaics. The present church is the one built by Pope
Adrian I c. 780, completed and altered by Pope St. Paschal I c.
822. It was enlarged at that time mainly to serve as a repository
for relics from the catacombs.
Collect: Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, though in our weakness we fail, we
may be revived through the Passion of your Only Begotten Son. Who lives and
RECIPES
Holy Thursday Meal Menu
ACTIVITIES
Housecleaning for Holy Week I
Housecleaning for Holy Week II
Jonas and Holy Week
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week in the Home
Spring Cleaning
The Passover Meal: 1. Introduction
PRAYERS
Prayer for Monday of Holy Week
Way of the Cross
To Keep A True Lent
Family Evening Prayer for Holy Week
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 15th
Tuesday of Holy Week
Old Calendar: Tuesday of Holy Week
False witnesses have stood up against me, and my
enemies threaten violence; Lord, do not surrender me
into their power! Our Lord calls upon His heavenly
Father to shield Him against His enemies. In Gods
providence, however, the Cross of Christ was destined
to be a sign of glory and not an emblem of shame: from
that Cross came victory over Satan, from it came life,
resurrection and salvation: It behooves us to glory in
the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in whom is our
salvation, life and resurrection, by whom we are saved
and delivered.
On the Cross Our Lord expiated our avarice by His extreme poverty, our sensuality
by His most bitter sufferings, our pride by His profound humiliations, our disobedience
by His most perfect submission to the Will of God. Embracing us with His extended
arms He draws us into the path which He has trod and which alone leads to life eternal.
Cathedral Daily Missal
Meditation
Today, again, our Savior sets out in the morning for Jerusalem. His intention is to repair
to the temple, and continue His yesterdays teachings. It is evident that His mission on
earth is fast drawing to its close. He says to His disciples: You know that after two days
shall be the Pasch, and the Son of Man shall be delivered up to be crucified.
On the road from Bethania to Jerusalem, the disciples are surprised at seeing the
fig-tree, which their divine Master had yesterday cursed, now dead. Addressing himself
to Jesus, Peter says: Rabbi, behold, the fig-tree, which Thou didst curse, is withered
away. In order to teach us that the whole of material nature is subservient to the will of
God, Jesus replies: Have the faith of God. Amen I say to you, that whosoever shall say
to this mountain: Be thou removed and cast into the sea! and shall not stagger in his
heart, but believe that whatsoever he saith shall be done, it shall be done unto him.
Having entered the city, Jesus directs His steps towards the temple. No sooner has
He entered, than the chief priests, the scribes, and the ancients of the people, accost Him
with these words: By what authority dost Thou do these things and who has given Thee
this authority, that Thou shouldst do these things? We shall find our Lords answer
given in the Gospel. Our object is to mention the leading events of the last days of our
Redeemer on earth; the holy volume will supply the details.
As on the two preceding days, Jesus leaves the city towards evening: He passes over
Mount Olivet, and returns to Bethania, where He finds His blessed Mother and His
devoted friends.
The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.
The Station today is at the church of St. Prisca. Saint Prisca was
baptized by Saint Peter when she was thirteen. She was thrown
to the lions by Claudius (41-54), but the lion only licked her
feet. She was then beheaded. Her home was made into a church
by Pope Saint Eutychianus (275-283), who placed her remains
under the high altar. It was probably one of the first gathering
places for Christians in Rome.
Collect: Almighty ever-living God, grant us so to celebrate the mysteries of the
Lords Passion that we may merit to receive your pardon. Through our Lord Jesus
RECIPES
ACTIVITIES
Jonas and Holy Week
Spring Cleaning
PRAYERS
Prayer for Tuesday of Holy Week
Way of the Cross
To Keep A True Lent
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 16th
Wednesday of Holy Week
Old Calendar: Wednesday of Holy Week
Wednesday is known as Spy Wednesday because on
this day Judas made a bargain with the high priest to
betray Jesus for 30 silver pieces (Matt 26:14-16; Mark
14:10-11; Luke 22:1-6). In Poland, the young people
throw an effigy of Judas from the top of a church
steeple. Then it is dragged through the village amidst
hurling sticks and stones. What remains of the effigy is
drowned in a nearby stream or pond.
This is also the day that Jesus was anointed with an
expensive jar of alabaster by the woman at Bethany, in
the house of Simon the leper (Matt 26:6-13; Mark
14:3-9; John 12:1-19).
The Sacrament of Penance and the Easter Duty
One of the duties of a Catholic is to fulfill the six Precepts of the Church, the positive
laws which are meant to guarantee to the faithful the indispensable minimum in the
spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor (Catechism
of the Catholic Church, 2041). Two of these precepts directly relate to the upcoming
Easter season. The third precept is You shall humbly receive your Creator in Holy
Communion at least during the Easter season. This is tied in with the second precept to
confess your sins at least once a year. If we want to receive Jesus worthily in Holy
Communion during Easter, we need to cleanse our souls, especially of any mortal sin
through the Sacrament of Penance. Most parishes offer extra confession times for Holy
Week, but usually any priest is available on request to hear confession by appointment.
Meditation
We are healed by His bruises! O heavenly Physician, who
takes upon Himself the sufferings of those He comes to cure!
But not only was He bruised for our sins, He was also
slaughtered as a lamb; and this not merely as a Victim
submitting to the inflexible will of His Father who hath laid
upon Him the iniquity of us all, but (as the prophet here
assures us) because it was His own will. His love for us, as
well as His submission to His Father, led Him to the great
Sacrifice. Observe, too, how He refuses to defend Himself
before Pilate, who could so easily deliver Him from His
enemies: He shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearers, and
He shall not open His mouth. Let us love and adore this divine silence, which works our
salvation. Let us not pass over an iota of the devotedness which Jesus shows usa
devotedness which never could have existed save in the heart of a God. Oh! how much
He has loved us, His children, the purchase of His Blood, His seed, as the prophet here
calls us. O holy Church! thou long-lived seed of Jesus, who laid down His life, thou art
dear to Him, for He bought thee at a great price. Faithful souls! give Him love for love.
Sinners! be converted to this your Savior; His Blood will restore you to life, for if we
have all gone astray like sheep, remember what is added: The Lord hath laid upon Him
the iniquity of us all. There is no sinner, however great may be his crimes, there is no
heretic, or infidel, who has not his share in this precious Blood, whose infinite merit is
such, that it could redeem a million worlds more guilty even than our own. The
Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.
The Station today is at St. Mary Major for the second time
during Lent. As we set our eyes on the Sacred Triduum, it is
good to stand in solidarity with our Mother of Sorrows as we
contemplate our Redemption.
Collect: O God, who willed your Son to submit for our sake to the yoke of the
Cross, so that you might drive from us the power of the enemy, grant us, your
servants, to attain the grace of the resurrection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
for ever and ever.
RECIPES
ACTIVITIES
Jonas and Holy Week
Spring Cleaning
Tenebr
PRAYERS
Prayer for Wednesday of Holy Week
Way of the Cross
To Keep A True Lent
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 17th
Holy Thursday
Old Calendar: Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday)
The last three days of Holy Week are referred to as the
Easter or Sacred Triduum (Triduum Sacrum), the
three-part drama of Christs redemption: Holy
Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.
Holy Thursday is also known as Maundy
Thursday. The word maundy comes from the Latin
word mandatum (commandment) which is the first
word of the Gospel acclamation:
Mandtum novum do vobis dicit Dminus, ut diligtis
nvicem, sicut dilxi vos. I give you a new
commandment: Love one another as I have loved
you. (John 13:34)
These are the words spoken by our Lord to His apostles at the Last Supper, after he
completed the washing of the feet. We should imitate Christs humility in the washing of
the feet.
By meditating on the Gospels (cf. Matt 26:1 ff.; Mark 14:1 ff.; Luke 22:1 ff.; John
13:1 ff.), we can recall to mind Jesus actions of that day. Father Bernard Strasser
summarizes all the events of that first Holy Thursday:
They included: (1) the eating of the Easter lamb or the paschal meal; (2) the
washing of the disciples feet; (3) the institution of the Most Holy Eucharist (the
first Mass at which Jesus Christ, the eternal high priest, is the celebrant; the first
Communion of the apostles; the first conferring of Holy Orders); (4) the foretelling
of Judas betrayal and Peters denials; (5) the farewell discourse and priestly prayer
of Jesus; (6) the agony and capture of Jesus in the Garden of Olives. 1947,
With Christ Through the Year
In all the German speaking countries, Slavic nations and in Hungary this day is also
known as Green Thursday. The word is a corruption of the German word grunen (to
mourn) to the German word for green (grn). Many people believe they must eat green
at todays meal, which is probably derived from from the Jewish Passover meal that
included bitter herbs.
Chrism Mass
There are only two Masses allowed on Holy Thursdaythe Chrism Mass and the
evening Mass of the Lords Supper. In each diocese there is a Chrism Mass or Mass of
the Holy Oils, usually said in the morning at the cathedral of the diocese. Catholics
should make an effort to participate at the Mass at least once in their lives, to experience
the communion of priests with their bishop. All the priests of the diocese are invited to
concelebrate with the bishop. The holy oils to be used throughout the diocese for the
following year in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders and the
Sacrament of the Sick are blessed by the bishop at this Mass. This Mass also celebrates
the institution of the priesthood.
Mass of the Lords Supper
During the evening of Holy Thursday, the Mass of the
Lords Supper is celebrated. It is celebrated in the
evening because the Passover began at sundown. There
is only one Mass, at which the whole community and
priests of the parish participate. This is a very joyful
Mass, as we recall the institution of the Holy Eucharist
and the priesthood. The priests wear white vestments,
the altar is filled with flowers, the Gloria is sung and the
bells are rung. After the Gloria, we shall not hear organ
music and the bells until the Easter Vigil. The Liturgy
of the Mass recalls the Passover, the Last Supper, which
includes the Washing of the Feet. The hymn Ubi Caritas
or Where Charity and Love Prevail is usually sung at this time. After the Communion
Prayer, there is no final blessing. The Holy Eucharist is carried in procession through
Church and then transferred into a place of reposition, usually a side chapel. The hymn
Pange Lingua is also usually sung at this time.
After the Mass, we recall the Agony in the Garden, and the arrest and imprisonment
of Jesus. The altar is stripped bare, crosses are removed or covered. The Eucharist has
been placed in an altar of repose, and most churches are open for silent adoration, to
answer Christs invitation Could you not, then, watch one hour with me? (Matt 26:40)
The Altar of Repose
When the Eucharist is processed to the altar of repose
after the Mass of the Lords Supper, we should remain
in quiet prayer and adoration, keeping Christ company.
There is a tradition, particularly in big cities with many
parishes, to try and visit seven churches and their altar
of repose during this evening.
Popular piety is particularly sensitive to the
adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament in the wake of
the Mass of the Lords supper. Because of a long
historical process, whose origins are not entirely clear, the place of repose has
traditionally been referred to as a holy sepulchre. The faithful go there to venerate
Jesus who was placed in a tomb following the crucifixion and in which he remained for
some forty hours.
It is necessary to instruct the faithful on the meaning of the reposition: it is an austere
solemn conservation of the Body of Christ for the community of the faithful which takes
part in the liturgy of Good Friday and for the viaticum of the infirmed. It is an invitation
to silent and prolonged adoration of the wondrous sacrament instituted by Jesus on this
day.
In reference to the altar of repose, therefore, the term sepulchre should be avoided,
and its decoration should not have any suggestion of a tomb. The tabernacle on this altar
should not be in the form of a tomb or funerary urn. The Blessed Sacrament should be
conserved in a closed tabernacle and should not be exposed in a monstrance.
After mid-night on Holy Thursday, the adoration should conclude without solemnity,
since the day of the Lords Passion has already begun.
Directory on Popular Piety
Washing of Feet and a Seder Meal
In imitation of Christs last supper, many Christians prepare a
seder meal or the pasch. Celebrating a paschal meal helps us
comprehend the plan of redemption. We see the lamb, cooked
whole, with no bones broken, foreshadowing the death of
Christ, the Lamb of God. We eat the unleavened bread and
recall to mind the Eucharist. We eat the whole meal in
prayerful reminder of that Last Supper that Jesus spent with
His apostles, His friends, instituting Holy Orders and leaving
His greatest gift, the Holy Eucharist.
A typical paschal meal includes the roast lamb, bitter
herbs, haroset, matzoh and wine. The meal can be as authentic or representative as
desired. There are numerous sources, both Christian and Jewish, that can give recipes,
prayers and procedure for an authentic paschal feast.
The Station today is at St. John Lateran. Maundy Thursday is
devoted to the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood.
On this day the bishop blesses the Holy Oils; thus is made clear
that the sacraments have their source in Christ and derive their
fruitfulness from the paschal mystery of salvation.
Collect: O God, who have called us to participate in this most sacred Supper, in
which your Only Begotten Son, when about to hand himself over to death,
entrusted to the Church a sacrifice new for all eternity, the banquet of his love,
grant, we pray, that we may draw from so great a mystery, the fullness of charity
and of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with
RECIPES
Arnaki Gemisto (Stuffed Easter Lamb)
Beranek
Charoses
Easter Lamb
Greek Easter Lamb
Haroset
Holy Thursday Spinach
Horoseth
Leg of Lamb
Matzah
Matzo Bread
Roast Leg of Spring Lamb
Spinach Fondue au Gratin
Spinach Soup
Spring Herb Soup
Unleavened Bread
Whole Baby Lamb
ACTIVITIES
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
Easter Garden I
Eucharist Hymn: Pange Lingua
Holy Thursday Activities in the Home
Holy Thursday in the Home with the Trapp Family
Holy Thursday Meal in the HomeRemembering the Last Supper
Hymn: Ubi Caritas
Jonas and Holy Week
Maundy Thursday and the Passover Meal
Maundy Thursday: Do Unto Others
Sacred Triduum in the Home
Tenebr
The Passover Meal: 2. Preparing for the Celebration
The Passover Meal: 3. Meal Preparation
The Passover Meal: 4. Introductory Blessings
The Passover Meal: 5. Traditional Passover Prayers
The Passover Meal: 6. The Questions
The Passover Meal: 7. Hallel: Psalms of Praise
The Passover Meal: 8. The Concluding Hallel
The Seder Meal as a Christian Home Celebration: Preparing and
Celebrating the Holy Thursday Meal
A Passover Supper On Holy Thursday
PRAYERS
Holy Thursday in the Home
Way of the Cross
Holy Thursday Table Blessing
Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Sacred Triduum
(2nd Plan)
Table Blessing for Holy Thursday
Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Sacred Triduum (1st
Plan)
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 18th
Good Friday
Old Calendar: Good Friday
It is accomplished; and bowing his head he gave up his
spirit. Today the whole Church mourns the death of
our Savior. This is traditionally a day of sadness, spent
in fasting and prayer. The title for this day varies in
different parts of the world: Holy Friday for Latin
nations, Slavs and Hungarians call it Great Friday, in
Germany it is Friday of Mourning, and in Norway, it
is Long Friday. Some view the term Good Friday
(used in English and Dutch) as a corruption of the term
Gods Friday. This is another obligatory day of fasting
and abstinence. In Ireland, they practice the black
fast, which is to consume nothing but black tea and water.
Liturgy
According to the Churchs ancient tradition, the sacraments
are not celebrated on Good Friday nor Holy Saturday.
Celebration of the Lords Passion, traditionally known as
the Mass of the Presanctified, (although it is not a mass) is
usually celebrated around three oclock in the afternoon, or
later, depending on the needs of the parish. The altar is
completely bare, with no cloths, candles nor cross. The
service is divided into three parts: Liturgy of the Word,
Veneration of the Cross and Holy Communion. The priest and deacons wear red or black
vestments. The liturgy starts with the priests and deacons going to the altar in silence and
prostrating themselves for a few moments in silent prayer, then an introductory prayer is
prayed.
In part one, the Liturgy of the Word, we hear the most famous of the Suffering
Servant passages from Isaiah (52:13-53:12), a pre-figurement of Christ on Good Friday.
Psalm 30 is the Responsorial Psalm Father, I put my life in your hands. The Second
Reading, or Epistle, is from the letter to the Hebrews, 4:14-16; 5:7-9. The Gospel
Reading is the Passion of St. John.
The General Intercessions conclude the Liturgy of the Word. The ten intercessions
cover these areas:
For the Church
For the Pope
For the clergy and laity of the Church
For those preparing for baptism
For the unity of Christians
For the Jewish people
For those who do not believe in Christ
For those who do not believe in God
For all in public office
For those in special need
For more information about these intercessions please see Prayers for the Prisoners

from
the Catholic Culture Library.
Part two is the Veneration of the Cross. A cross, either veiled or unveiled, is
processed through the Church, and then venerated by the congregation. We joyfully
venerate and kiss the wooden cross on which hung the Savior of the world. During this
time the Reproaches are usually sung or recited.
Part three, Holy Communion, concludes the Celebration of the Lords Passion. The
altar is covered with a cloth and the ciboriums containing the Blessed Sacrament are
brought to the altar from the place of reposition. The Our Father and the Ecce Agnus Dei
(This is the Lamb of God) are recited. The congregation receives Holy Communion,
there is a Prayer After Communion, and then a Prayer Over the People, and everyone
departs in silence.
Activities
This is a day of mourning. We should try to take time off
from work and school to participate in the devotions and
liturgy of the day as much as possible. In addition, we should
refrain from extraneous conversation. Some families leave the
curtains drawn, and maintain silence during the 3 hours (noon
3p.m.), and keep from loud conversation or activities
throughout the remainder of the day. We should also restrict
ourselves from any TV, music or computerthese are all
types of technology that can distract us from the spirit of the
day.
If some members of the family cannot attend all the services, a little home altar can
be set up, by draping a black or purple cloth over a small table or dresser and placing a
crucifix and candles on it. The family then can gather during the three hours, praying
different devotions like the rosary, Stations of the Cross, the Divine Mercy devotions,
and meditative reading and prayers on the passion of Christ.
Although throughout Lent we have tried to mortify ourselves, it is appropriate to try
some practicing extra mortifications today. These can be very simple, such as eating less
at the small meals of fasting, or eating standing up. Some people just eat bread and soup,
or just bread and water while standing at the table.
The Station today is at the church of the Holy Cross in
Jerusalem which contains parts of the true Cross and one of the
nails of the Crucifixion. The Church commemorates the
redemption of the world with the reading of the Passion, the
Collects in which the Church prays with confidence for the
salvation of all men, the veneration of the Cross and the
reception of Our Lord reserved in the Blessed Sacrament.
Collect: Remember your mercies, O Lord, and with your eternal protection
sanctify your servants for whom Christ your Son, by the shedding of his Blood,
established the Paschal Mystery. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen
RECIPES
Fritatta Sardegna (Omelet Sardinian)
Oeufs la Mistral (Baked Eggs)
Pain Dor (Golden Toast)
Vdolky (Bohemian Pan Cakes)
Cold Apple Soup
Cold Tomato Soup with Wine
Confectioners Sugar Icing
Dark Rye Bread
Dried Cod
Good Friday Bread
Herb Omelet III
Hot Cross Bread
Hot Cross Buns I
Hot Cross Buns II
Hot Cross Buns III
Hot Cross Buns IV
Hot Cross Buns V
Hot Cross Buns VI
Milk Rice
Old-Fashioned Johnnycake
Potted Cod with Sour Cream
Quick Hot Cross Buns
Ricotta Omelet
Scrambled Eggs and Cheese
Scrambled Eggs with Mushrooms
Scrambled Eggs with Shrimps
Sourdough Hot Cross Buns
Spatzle
ACTIVITIES
Devotions for Good Friday
Easter Garden I
Good Friday Activities in the Home
Good Friday in the Home
Good Friday in the Home
Good Friday in the Home with the Trapp Family
Good Friday Lamentations
Good Friday Remembrance
Good Friday Reproaches (Improperia)
Hymn: Vexilla Regis Prodeunt
Jonas and Holy Week
Lent Hymn: O Head All Scarred and Bleeding
Pretzels for God: Lent and the Pretzel
Tenebr
The Three OClock Hour
Good Friday Activities
PRAYERS
Prayer for Good Friday
Stations of the Cross at Home
Good Friday Table Blessing
(2nd Plan)
To Jesus Forsaken
The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy
Divine Mercy Novena
Plan)
LIBRARY
None
Lent: April 19th
Holy Saturday Easter Vigil
Old Calendar: Holy Saturday Easter Vigil
On Holy Saturday the Church waits at the Lords tomb,
meditating on his suffering and death. The altar is left
bare, and the sacrifice of the Mass is not celebrated.
Only after the solemn vigil during the night, held in
anticipation of the resurrection, does the Easter
celebration begin, with a spirit of joy that overflows into
the following period of fifty days.
Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday (from Sabbatum Sanctum, its official
liturgical name) is sacred as the day of the Lords rest;
it has been called the Second Sabbath after creation.
The day is and should be the most calm and quiet day of
the entire Church year, a day broken by no liturgical
function. Christ lies in the grave, the Church sits near
and mourns. After the great battle He is resting in peace,
but upon Him we see the scars of intense
sufferingThe mortal wounds on His Body remain
visible.Jesus enemies are still furious, attempting to
obliterate the very memory of the Lord by lies and
slander.
Mary and the disciples are grief-stricken, while the Church must mournfully admit
that too many of her children return home from Calvary cold and hard of heart. When
that too many of her children return home from Calvary cold and hard of heart. When
Mother Church reflects upon all of this, it seems as if the wounds of her dearly Beloved
were again beginning to bleed.
According to tradition, the entire body of the Church is represented in Mary: she is
the credentium collectio universa (Congregation for Divine Worship, Lettera
circolare sulla preparazione e celebrazione delle feste pasquali, 73). Thus, the
Blessed Virgin Mary, as she waits near the Lords tomb, as she is represented in
Christian tradition, is an icon of the Virgin Church keeping vigil at the tomb of her
Spouse while awaiting the celebration of his resurrection.
The pious exercise of the Ora di Maria is inspired by this intuition of the
relationship between the Virgin Mary and the Church: while the body of her Son
lays in the tomb and his soul has descended to the dead to announce liberation from
the shadow of darkness to his ancestors, the Blessed Virgin Mary, foreshadowing
and representing the Church, awaits, in faith, the victorious triumph of her Son over
death. Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy
Although we are still in mourning, there is much preparation during this day to prepare
for Easter. Out of the kitchen comes the smells of Easter pastries and bread, the lamb or
hams and of course, the Easter eggs.
There are no liturgies celebrated this day, unless the local parish priest blesses the
food baskets. In Slavic countries there is a blessing of the traditional Easter foods,
prepared in baskets: eggs, ham, lamb and sausages, butter and cheeses, horseradish and
salt and the Easter breads. The Easter blessings of food owe their origin to the fact that
these particular foods, namely, fleshmeat and milk products, including eggs, were
forbidden in the Middle Ages during the Lenten fast and abstinence. When the feast of
Easter brought the rigorous fast to an end, and these foods were again allowed at table,
the people showed their joy and gratitude by first taking the food to church for a
blessing. Moreover, they hoped that the Churchs blessing on such edibles would prove a
remedy for whatever harmful effects the body might have suffered from the long period
of self-denial. Today the Easter blessings of food are still held in many churches in the
United States, especially in Slavic parishes.
If there is no blessing for the Easter foods in the parish, the father of the family can
pray the Blessing over the Easter foods.
It is during the night between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday that the Easter Vigil
is celebrated. The service begins around ten oclock, in order that the solemn vigil Mass
may start at midnight.
Activities
Today we remember Christ in the tomb. It is not Easter yet, so its not time for
celebration. The day is usually spent working on the final preparations for the
biggest feast of the Church year. The list of suggested activities is long, but
highlights are decorating Easter eggs and attending a special Easter food
blessing.
For families with smaller children, you could create a miniature Easter garden,
with a tomb. The figure of the risen Christ will be placed in the garden on Easter
morning.
Another activity for families is creation of a paschal candle to use at home.
The Directory on Popular Piety discusses some of the various devotions related
to Easter, including the Blessing of the Family Table, Annual Blessing of Family
Home, the Via Lucis and the Visit to the Mother of the Risen Christ.
The Station today is at St. John Lateran. During the afternoon
of Holy Saturday the faithful were summoned here for the final
scrutiny of the catechumens. Then, in the evening began the
vigil or night of watching which concluded at dawn with the
solemn baptisms the neophytes, plunged into the baptismal
waters and there buried with Christ, were born to the life of
grace at the very time when our Savior came forth triumphant from the tomb at dawn
on Easter morning.
Collect: O God, who make this most sacred night radiant with the glory of the
Lords Resurrection, stir up in your Church a spirit of adoption, so that, renewed in
body and mind, we amy render you undivided service. Through our Lord Jesus
RECIPES
Casatiella (Egg Pizza)
Babka I (Polish Easter Bread)
Babka II (Polish Easter Bread)
Paskha (Ukrainian Easter Bread)
Beranek
Easter Eggs
Hard-Cooked Egg Cookies
Italian Easter Baskets
Moravian Love Cakes
Babka (Polish Easter Bread)
Koulich (Russian Sweet Easter Bread)
Easter Baba (Polish Easter Coffee Cake)
Easter Story Cookies
Italian Easter Bread Eggs
ACTIVITIES
Alleluia Egg
Baptismal Candles
Blessing of the Easter Foods
Creating a Lumen Christi (Light of Christ)
Cross of Victory
Easter Breakfast Picnic
Easter Eggs Decorations
Easter Eggs I
Easter Eggs II
Easter Eggs III
Easter Eggs! song
Easter Garden I
Easter Garden II
Easter Hymn
Easter Lamb
Easter Marian Hymn: Rejoice, O Rejoice, Heavenly Queen
Easter or Paschal Candle
Easter Song: Three Women at Break of Day
Easter Standard
Easter Vigil
Holy Saturday Activities in the Home
Holy Saturday and Easter in the Home
Holy Saturday Festivities
Holy Saturday with the Slovaks
Home Altar Hangings
Home Easter Vigil
Jonas and Holy Week
New Fire of Easter
Paschal Candle as a Centerpiece
Paschal Candle for Home
Symbolism of the Easter Eggs
Tenebr
Traditional Easter Hymns
Triptych
Window Transparencies
Wreath of Victory
Decorating Easter Eggs
PRAYERS
Prayer for Holy Saturday
Polish Easter Blessing
Blessing of the Home with Easter Water
Way of the Cross
To Keep A True Lent
Holy Saturday Table Blessing
Book of Blessings: Blessing of Food for the First Meal of Easter
(2nd Plan)
Easter Blessing of Food
Divine Mercy Novena
Plan)
Renewal of Baptismal Promises
Exsultet (Easter Proclamation)
LIBRARY
None
About CatholicCulture.org
The chapters of this book appeared first on the Trinity Communications website,
CatholicCulture.org.
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Liturgical Year 2013-2014, Vol.

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