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29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/20/24 Gospel: Mark 10:35-45

Saturday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Saints Isaac Jogues and Jean de Brébeuf and companions, martyrs; Jesuits from France, they came to the New World in the 17th Century to serve the Native Americans; they eventually died martyrs' deaths Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/19/24 Gospel: Luke 12:8-12

Feast of St. Luke; writer of the Third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles; traditionally held to be a native of Antioch; referred to by Paul as "our beloved physician"; died about 84 A.D. Friday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/18/24 Gospel: Luke 10:1-9

Thursday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch; became bishop of Antioch in 307, when the emperor forced Christians to choose between apostacy and death; Ignatius chose the latter, and was sentenced to death in Rome; he is famous for the seven letters he wrote during the journey from Antioch to Rome; five were to the churches in Asia Minor, whom he urged to remain f...

Wednesday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, 1647-1690; entered the order of the Visitation Nuns at the age of 24; characterized by a fellow novice as simple, and frank, but above all, kind and patient under sharp criticism and correction; received the first of her revelations in 1674 when Christ requested that his love for humankind be made evident...

Tuesday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Teresa of Avila, 1515-1582; a woman, a contemplative, and an active reformer; she was a woman of prayer, discipline, and compassion; she spent much of her time and energy seeking to reform herself and the Carmelites, to lead them back to the full observance of the primitive Rule; her writings, especially the Way of Perfection  and  The Inte...

Monday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of Pope St. Callistus I; a slave of Rome, and later ordained deacon by Pope St. Zephyrinus, whom he succeeded as pope in the year 217; as a deacon, he was guardian of the Christian cemetery on the Appian way, which still bears his name; he vigorously opposed heresy, but his charitable attitude toward repentant sinners incurred the wrath of...

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/13/24 Gospel: Mark 10:17-30

Saturday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time Saint (Blessed) of the Day: Blessed Carlo Acutis, 1991-2006; from the age of 3, showed great interest in Catholic churches; prayed before the tabernacle and went to confession weekly; taught himself how to code and build websites while still in primary school; created websites for Catholic organizations; when he developed leukemia, he offered up his suffe...

Friday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, 1881-1963; firstborn of a farming family in northern Italy; as a stretcher-bearer in World War I, he had a firsthand knowledge of war; in 1925, he became a papal diplomat; named a cardinal and patriarch of Venice in 1953; a month short of his 78th year, he was elected pope; his most famous encyclicals were "Mother a...

Thursday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Francis Borgia, 1510-1572; Spanish nobleman; when widowed, he became a Jesuit priest; he only complained when someone attempted to treat as if he were still a nobleman; ultimately, he preached everywhere, and advised many important people; he helped to spread the Society of Jesus across Spain and Portugal Office of Readings and Morni...

Wednesday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Denis and companions; regarded as the first bishop of Paris; Denis was sent to Gaul from Rome in the third century and beheaded in the persecution under Emperor Valerius in 258; one legend says that he was martyred on Montmartre in Paris, and then carried his head to a village northeast of the city; St. Genevieve built a basilica...

Tuesday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Keyne; she lived in the Fifth Century, one of the 24 children of King Brychan of Brecknock, Wales; refused several offers of marriage, and became a hermitess; after living for several years on the banks of the Severn River in Somersetshire, England--during which she traveled widely--her nephew persuaded her to return to Wales; she fou...

Monday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary; originally named, "Our Lady of Victory," in honor of the Christian defeat of the Turks at the battle of LePanto Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/7/24 Gospel: Luke 10:25-37

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/6/24 Gospel: Mark 10:2-16

Saturday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, 1819-1867; born in southern Bavaria; came to the United States in 1843 to serve German-speaking Catholics; during the Civil War, he appealed to President Lincoln not to draft his Redemptorist students; died of yellow fever, contracted while visiting the sick Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/5...

Friday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi, 1181-1226; a poor little man who astounded and inspired the Church by taking the gospel literally—not in a narrow fundamentalist sense, but by actually following all that Jesus said and did, joyfully, without limit, and without a sense of self-importance; he had no intention of founding an order, but once it began he prote...

Thursday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Theodora Guérin, 1798-1856; born in France; joined the Sisters of Providence in 1823; at the invitation of the bishop of Vincennes, Indiana, Sister Theodora and five sisters were sent to St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, in 1840, to teach and care for the sick poor; they persevered despite fires, crop failures, prejudice against Cathol...

Wednesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of the Guardian Angels Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/2/24 Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10

Tuesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, 1873-1897; lived a cloistered life of obscurity in the convent of Lisieux, France, and her preference for hidden sacrifice converted souls; in her own words, she came to the Carmel convent “to save souls and pray for priests”; shortly before her death of tuberculosis, she wrote, “I want to spend my heaven doing good on e...

Monday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Jerome, 345-420; scripture scholar; translated most of the Old Testament from the Hebrew, and made a translation of the Bible which came to be called the Vulgate; traveled extensively in Palestine, and settled in Bethlehem, living in a cave believed to have been Christ's birthplace Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/30/24 Gospel: Lu...

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/29/24 Gospel: Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

Saturday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Wenceslaus, 907-929; son of the duke of Bohemia, and raised by his grandmother, Ludmilla, who was murdered; Wenceslaus assumed leadership of the government, and worked toward unification within Bohemia, support of the Church, and peace-making negotiations with Germany; he was assassinated by his brother Boleslav and companions Off...

Friday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, 1580-1660; born in Gascony, France, and came to lead what became known as the Congregation of the Mission, or the Vincentians; he later established confraternities of charity for the spiritual and physical relief of the poor and sick of each parish; with the help of Saint Louise de Marillac, he founded the Daughters of Chari...

Thursday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of Saints Cosmas and Damian; Arab-born Christians who were brothers, known for their skill in medicine; they refused payment for their services; their prominence made them targets in the persecution of Diocletian; they were tortured and killed in about 283; patron saints of pharmacists Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/26/24 Go...