Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us. Come, let us adore him.
Or: O that today you would listen to his voice: harden not your hearts.
Year: A(I). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: Violet.
Other saints: Bl Josepha Girbes (1820-1893)
24 Feb (where celebrated)
Josepha Naval Girbés was born at Algemes in the Archdiocese of Valencia, Spain, on December 11, 1820. As a very young woman she consecrated herself to the Lord by a perpetual vow of chastity. Josepha’s life was simple. She stood out for her ardent love, and she made progress along the way of prayer and evangelical perfection, while dedicating herself generously to apostolic works in her parish community. In her own home she opened a school where she taught needlework, prayer, and the evangelical virtues. She formed many young girls and women and shared with them her wisdom and spiritual understanding. She was a member of the Third Order Secular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Teresa of Jesus, and had a special love for the Virgin Mother of God. Her holy death took place on February 24, 1893. She is buried in her parish church of Saint James in her native city.
Other saints: Bl. Constantius of Fabriano OP ( - 1481)
24 Feb (where celebrated)
Dominican Friar and Priest.
Born at Fabriano at the beginning of the fifteenth century, Blessed Constantius received the Dominican habit at the age of fifteen. He was noted for his austere and prayerful life, as well as his efforts in promoting peace. As prior at Fabriano, at Perugia, and at Ascoli he labored to restore regular life. He died at Ascoli on February 24, 1481.
About the author of the Second Reading in today's Office of Readings:
Second Reading: From an ancient Easter homily by Pseudo-Chrysostom
St John Chrysostom (349 – 407) was elected Patriarch of Constantinople in 397. His sermons and writings did much to explain the Catholic faith and to encourage the living of the Christian life, and his eloquence earned him the surname “Chrystostom” (the Greek for “golden mouth”). The works of a number of other people were collected with St John’s own and travelled down the centuries with them. It is not now possible to discover who the original authors were.
Liturgical colour: violet
Violet is a dark colour, ‘the gloomy cast of the mortified, denoting affliction and melancholy’. Liturgically, it is the colour of Advent and Lent, the seasons of penance and preparation.
Mid-morning reading (Terce) | Isaiah 55:3 © |
Come to me and listen to my words: hear me, and you shall have life. I will make a covenant with you, this time for ever, to love you faithfully as I have loved David.
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Noon reading (Sext) | (Jeremiah 3:12,14) © |
Come back, says the Lord, and I will frown on you no more, since I am merciful and I shall not keep my resentment for ever. Come back, disloyal children, says the Lord.
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Afternoon reading (None) | James 1:27 © |
In the eyes of God our Father, pure unspoilt religion is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows when they need it, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world.
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