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: C(I). Psalm week: 2. Liturgical Colour: Violet.
Other saints: Our Lady, Help of Christians
Kenya, Southern Africa, Malaysia, Australia, Shrewsbury, Poland, Slovenia, New Zealand
‘This is your mother.’ Under the title of Help of Christians, Mary was chosen as Patroness of Australasia by the First Provincial Synod, convened by Archbishop Bede Polding, in Sydney in 1844. The fledgling colonies needed Mary’s help at that time, as the nation does today. We are helped through Mary’s powerful intercession, and through the example of her life that we find in the Gospels. See also the article in the
Catholic Encyclopaedia.Other saints: Blessed Louis-Zéphirin Moreau (1824 - 1901)
Canada
He was bishop of the St Hyacinthe diocese in Quebec for 25 years, from 1876 until his death.
Other saints: St Aldhelm
Clifton, Plymouth
Aldhelm became a monk at Malmesbury, but completed his education at Canterbury. In about 675 he became Abbot of Malmesbury, and made foundations at Frome and Bradford-on-Avon. When the Wessex diocese was divided in 705 he became the first bishop of its western half, Sherborne, without ceasing to rule the abbey at Malmesbury.
He was renowned for his learning and sanctity. He wrote both prose and verse, and set his verse to music. Finding the people of his time somewhat dilatory in their church attendance, it is said that he would stand up in public places, singing songs and preaching sermons to attract people to the faith. His Old English verse, sung with harp accompaniment, has not survived, so we can judge this Anglo-Saxon writer only by his Latin works. It is thought that he invented the crossword puzzle. He died at Doulting near Wells in Somerset, and was buried at Malmesbury. His cult was discontinued by Lanfranc, but Osmund authorised its resumption with the translation of his relics in 1078.
Other saints: Translation of St. Dominic
24 May (where celebrated)
This memorial celebrates the first translation of the remains of Saint Dominic, who had been buried in the church of Saint Nicholas of the Vineyards at Bologna. Many people were healed at his tomb, yet his brethren were reluctant to acknowledge these miracles. Finally at the urging of Pope Gregory IX, Dominic’s remains were moved to a marble sepulcher. This translation took place on Pentecost Tuesday, May 24, 1233, and marked the beginning of the canonization process; upon its completion Gregory IX canonized Dominic on July 3, 1234. In 1267 Dominic’s remains were moved to his present tomb.
About the author of the Second Reading in today's Office of Readings:
Second Reading: St John Chrysostom (349 - 407)
John was born in Antioch. After a thorough education, he took up the ascetic life. He was ordained to the priesthood, and became a fruitful and effective preacher.
He was elected Patriarch of Constantinople in 397, and was energetic in reforming the ways of the clergy and the laity alike. He incurred the displeasure of the Emperor and was twice forced into exile. When the second exile, to Armenia, had lasted three years, it was decided that he should be sent still further away, but he died on the journey, worn out by his hardships.
His sermons and writings did much to explain the Catholic faith and to encourage the living of the Christian life: his eloquence earned him the surname “Chrystostom” (the Greek for “golden mouth”).
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) | Wisdom 11:23-24 © |
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Lord, you are merciful to all, because you can do all things and overlook men’s sins so that they can repent. Yes, you love all that exists, you hold in abhorrence nothing of what you have made.
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| Noon reading (Sext) | Ezekiel 18:23 © |
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Am I likely to take pleasure in the death of a wicked man – it is the Lord who speaks – and not prefer to see him renounce his wickedness and live?
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| Afternoon reading (None) | Isaiah 58:6,7 © |
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Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me – it is the Lord who speaks – to share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor, to clothe the man you see to be naked and not turn from your own kin?
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