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Tuesday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo, 1538-1584; ordained a priest at age 25, and was then consecrated archbishop of Milan; he deserves the credit for keeping the Council of Trent in session when at several points it was on the verge of breaking up; when he was finally able to spend time on his diocese, St. Charles found it in much need of reform, accomplished...

Monday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, 1579-1639; son of a black or indiginous freed woman of Peru and a Spanish Grandee; his parents never married, and Martin bore the appearance of his mother; his father abandoned the family, and Martin grew up in poverty; he became a lay helper for the Dominicans, who eventually asked him to make full religious profe...

Commemoration of all of the Faithful Departed - All Souls Day 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/2/25 Gospel: John 6:37-40

Solemnity of All Saints Saturday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/1/25 Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12a

Friday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Wolfgang; born in Swabia, Germany; became a Benedictine, and was appointed head of the monastery school; in 972, he was named bishop of Regensburg; he brought the clergy of the  diocese into his reforms, restored monasteries, promoted education, preached enthusiastically, and was renowned for his charity and aid to the poor; he al...

Thursday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Serapion of Antioch; much praised by  St. Jerome and Eusebius of Caesarea for his theological writings, and he was considered one of the chief theologians of his era; he became  bishop of Antioch, Syria, in 190, and. was revered as a theologian; only fragments of his work have survived; among the extant writings are a lette...

Wednesday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Abraham of Rostov; born in Galicia, Russia, and practiced the local pagan religion; when struck with a serious illness, he called on Christ, and was miraculously cured; he became a Christian, was baptized, and became a monk; he went to the city of Rostov, where he began his ministry among the pagan peoples; he built two  parish...

Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, two of the Twelve Apostles Tuesday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/28/25 Gospel: Luke 6:12-16

Monday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Abraham the Poor; sometimes referred to as "the Child," alluding to his purity and simplicity; born in Egypt, he became a disciple of St. Pachomius, the founder of cenobitic monasticism; he spent almost two decades in a cave near Pachomius' foundations; he died in 372 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/27/25 Gospel: Luke...

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/26/25 Gospel: Luke 18:9-14

Friday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret, 1807-1870; missionary, religious founder, social reformer, queen’s chaplain, writer and publisher, archbishop, and refugee; he was a Spaniard whose work took him to the Canary Islands, Cuba, Madrid, Paris, and to the First Vatican Council; at age 42, he founded the Claretians; he was appointed to the archd...

Saturday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. John Houghton, 1486-1535;  protomartyr of the English Reformation; a Carthusian, and an opponent of King Henry VIII’s Acts of Succession and Supremacy; he was arrested with other Carthusians, but released temporarily; he refused to swear to the Oath of Supremacy, the first  man to make this refusal; he was executed at...

Thursday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. John of Capistrano, 1386-1456; entered the Franciscan novitiate at the age of 30, and was ordained a priest four years later; his preaching attracted great throngs at a time of religious apathy and confusion; he helped bring about a brief reunion with the Greek and Armenian Churches; John preached a crusade against the Turks, for...

Wednesday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. John Paul II, 1920-2005; born in Wadowice, Poland; he was elected pope in 1978, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years; in his 27 years of papal ministry, John Paul II wrote 14 encyclicals and five books, canonized 482 saints and beatified 1,338 people Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/22/25 Gospel: Luke 12:39-48

Tuesday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Hilarion, 291-371; abbot and disciple of St. Anthony the Great; born in Tabatha, Palestine, and educated in Alexandria, Egypt; stayed with St. Anthony in the  desert before becoming a hermit at Majuma, near Gaza, Israel; in 356, Hilarion returned to the desert, but found that his fame had spread there; he fled to  Sicily to...

Monday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Paul of the Cross, 1694-1775; born in northern Italy; he developed a devotion to Christ's passion; he was known as one of the most popular preachers of his day; in 1720, he founded the Congregation of the Passion--the Passionists--whose members combined devotion to Christ’s passion with preaching to the poor, and rigorous pena...

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/19/25 Gospel: Luke 18:1-8

Feast of St. Luke; he wrote a major portion of the New Testament, a two-volume work comprising the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles; tradition holds him to be a native of Antioch; he became a companion to St. Paul; he died about 84 A.D. Saturday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/18/25 Gospel: Luke 10:1-9

Friday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch; born in Syria, converted to Christianity, and became bishop of Antioch; in 107 A.D., the Emperor forced the Christians to choose between apostasy and death; Ignatius was condemned to be put to death in Rome; he is known for the seven letters that he sent during the long journey from Antioch to Rome--five to the churches...

Thursday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, 1647-1690; became a Visitation Nun at age 24; in 1674, she received the first of her revelations; she felt "invested" with the presence of God; during the next 13 months, Christ appeared to her at intervals, and told her that his human heart was to be the symbol of his divine-human love; some of Margaret Ma...

Wednesday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Teresa of Avila, 1515-1582; she was a woman of prayer, discipline, and compassion; her ongoing conversion was an arduous lifelong struggle, involving ongoing purification and suffering; 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; she fo...

Tuesday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of Pope St. Callistus I; lived in the first part of the Third Century; he was a slave, with money entrusted to him; he lost the money, and fled Rome; his master caught him as he was about to jump into the sea, and released him under the assumption that he could recover some of the money; later, he was arrested for fighting in a synagogue,...

Monday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Theophilus of Antioch; bishop of Antioch, and an early Christian apologist; a philosopher in the eastern Roman Empire, he began to study the Scriptures with the intention  of attacking the  Christian   faith but was soon converted; he wrote an apology in three books addressed to Autolycus which demonstrated the superiori...

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/12/25 Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

Saturday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. John XXIII, 1881-1963; in 1958, he was elected pope, and took the name John XXIII; it was originally expected that Pope John XXIII would only serve a short time before passing away and that he would make no significant changes to Church practice; but his most influential decision was the call for an ecumenical council which would...