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Monday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of the Dedication of St. Mary Major Basilica; raised at the order of Pope Liberius, rebuilt by Pope Sixtus III in 431; the largest church in the world honoring God through Mary Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/5/24 Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/4/24 Gospel: John 6:24-35

Saturday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Gamaliel; rabbinical teacher, mentor of St. Paul; mentioned in the Acts of the Apostle as advising the  Jewish   Sanhedrin  in  Jerusalem  to release  St. Peter and other apostles; reportedly became a Christian Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/3/24 Gospel: Matthew 14:1-12

Thursday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, 1696-1787; born near Naples, graduated in law at the age of 16; entered the ecclesiastical state, and was ordained a priest in 1726; in 1732, he discerned a call from God to found the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer--also known as the Redemptorists--to labor for the salvation of the most abandoned souls; appointed...

Wednesday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, 1491-1556; he sought a mililtary career, but after an injury which required a long convalescence, he read a Life of Christ and lives of the saints, and began his conversion; in 1534, he and six others began the Society of Jesus, with the approval of Pope Paul III; Ignatius centered his spiritual life on the essential f...

Tuesday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, 380-450; bishop and doctor of the church; called "Chrysologus," or "golden-worded," because of his oratorical excellence; appointed bishop of Ravenna in 433, and got rid of the last vestiges of paganism among his people; he also counseled the heretic, Eutyches, in order to prevent division, but warned him of the...

Monday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus; close friends of Jesus; Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and Martha made a profound statement of faith Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/29/24 Gospel: John 11:19-27

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/28/24 Gospel: John 6:1-15

Saturday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time Saints of the Day: Saints Natalie and Aurelius; Aurelius was the son of a Moor, and orphaned as a child, secretly raised a Christian by his aunt during the Moorish persecution of Christians; he married a half-Moorish woman, Sabigotho, who took the name Natalie when she converted to Christianity; they were both beheaded in 852 for practicing their faith op...

Friday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/26/24 Gospel: Matthew 13:18-23

Feast of St. James, apostle; died 44 A.D. Thursday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/25/24 Gospel: Matthew 20:20-28

Wednesday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Sharbel Makhlouf, 1828-1898; joined the Monastery of St. Maron at Annaya, Lebanon, at the age of 23; lived as a hermit from 1875 until his death; with a reputation for holiness, people sought him to receive a blessing and to be remembered in his prayers; he followed a strict fast and was very devoted to the Blessed Sacrament; he...

Tuesday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, 1303-1373; married to the Swedish king, Magnus II, mother of eight children, including St. Catherine of Sweden; Magnus gave Bridget land and buildings to found a monastery for men and women, an order which was eventually known as the Bridgetines; in 1350, Bridget made a pilgrimage to Rome, never to return to Swed...

Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, died about 63 A.D.; the "Apostle to the Apostles" Monday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/22/24 Gospel: John 20:1-2, 11-18

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/21/24 Gospel: Mark 6:30-34

Saturday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Apollinarius, sent by St. Peter to Ravenna, Italy, as its first bishop; his preaching was so successful, that the pagans expelled him three times; he died of injuries on his fourth try, in about 79 A,D, Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/20/24 Gospel: Matthew 12:14-21

Friday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Macrena the Younger, 330-379; granddaughter of Macrena the Elder, sister of Saints Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, and Peter of Sebastea; when her fiancé died, she dedicated her life to God; she and her mother retired to the  family  estate in  Pontus  and lived a  life  of  prayer  and  contemplation  in a community they formed there Office...

Thursday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis, 1550-1614; born in Bocchianico, Italy; fought for the Venetians against the Turks; became a Capuchin novice, but was unable to make profession due to a diseased leg; cared for the sick, and became director of St. Giacomo Hospital in Rome; founded the Ministers of the Sick; attended the plague-stricken aboard sh...

Wednesday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time Saints of the Day: Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne, died 1794; at the beginning of the French revolution, the Carmelite monastery in Compiegne, France, was ordered closed and the nuns disbanded; sixteen nuns were imprisoned in a Visitation convent, where they openly resumed their religious life; they were taken to Paris and sentenced to death; they went t...

Tuesday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/16/24 Gospel: Matthew 11:20-24

Monday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Bonaventure, 1221-1274; baptized John, but received the name Bonaventure when he became a Franciscan at the age of 22; St. Francis is credited with healing Bonaventure as a boy of a serious illness; Bonaventure was eventually elected to serve as General Minister of the order, at a time when it was embroiled in conflicts over the interpretati...

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/14/24 Gospel: Mark 6:7-13

Saturday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Henry II, 973-1024; born in Hildesheim, Bavaria; became Duke of Bavaria when his father died in 995, and emperor when his cousin Otto III died in 1002; crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Benedict VIII; also miraculously cured by St. Benedict; wanted to be a Benedictine, and lived as an oblate Office of Readings and Morning Prayer...

Friday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. John the Iberian; a noble of southern Georgia, also called Iberia, and a military leader; went with his son, St. Euthymius, to Mount Olympias in Bethynia, and then to Mount Athos in Macedonia; there, he founded a monastery which endured into the 20th Century; died 1002 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/12/24 Gospel: Matthew 1...

Thursday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Benedict, 480-547; born into a distinguished family in central Italy; drawn to monasticism, he became a hermit, and then withdrew to a high cave in the mountains; some monks chose him as their leader for a time, but many disagreed with his strictness; he conceived of gathering various families of monks into one “Grand Monastery” to give th...