The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness: come, let us adore him.
Year: B(II). Psalm week: 3. Liturgical Colour: Green.
Saturday memorials of the Blessed Virgin Mary
‘On Saturdays in Ordinary Time when there is no obligatory memorial, an optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary is allowed.
‘Saturdays stand out among those days dedicated to the Virgin Mary. These are designated as memorials of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This memorial derives from Carolingian times (9th century), but the reasons for having chosen Saturday for its observance are unknown. While many explanations of this choice have been advanced, none is completely satisfactory from the point of view of the history of popular piety.
‘Whatever its historical origins may be, today the memorial rightly emphasizes certain values to which contemporary spirituality is more sensitive. It is a remembrance of the maternal example and discipleship of the Blessed Virgin Mary who, strengthened by faith and hope, on that “great Saturday” on which Our Lord lay in the tomb, was the only one of the disciples to hold vigil in expectation of the Lord’s resurrection. It is a prelude and introduction to the celebration of Sunday, the weekly memorial of the Resurrection of Christ. It is a sign that the Virgin Mary is continuously present and operative in the life of the Church.’
Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (2001), §188
Other saints: Bl Angelus Mazzinghi (c.1386-1438)
17 Aug (where celebrated)
Angelus was born near Florence, around the year 1386. He entered the Carmelite Order in 1413, being later ordained a priest in 1415. He was the first member of the reform movement delle selve (of the woods), which began in the convent of Santa Maria delle Selve at Lastra a Signa, west of Florence, a reform that later spread to the Carmelite Congregation of Mantua. Angelus served as prior of the reformed community from 1419 to 1430, as well as prior for two years in the community of Florence. He was a lector (teacher) in theology and was renowned for his preaching, no doubt arising from a deep love and practice of praying the Scriptures in his Carmelite life. Angelus is often depicted in iconography with flowers falling from his mouth as he preaches. He died in Florence on the 17th August 1438.
About the author of the Second Reading in today's Office of Readings:
Second Reading: St Pacian (c. 310–391)
Saint Pacian (Pacianus) was bishop of Barcelona from about 365 to 391. He is Jerome’s De viris illustribus, in which Jerome praises his eloquence, learning, chastity, and holiness of life.
His writings are extant only in part in three letters and a short treatise, Paraenesis ad Poenitentiam. He discusses ecclesiastical discipline, baptism and papal primacy. He also opposes the rigorous doctrines of Novatianism, which maintained that Christians who had once given in to their persecutors could never be forgiven or re-admitted to communion.
Liturgical colour: green
The theological virtue of hope is symbolized by the colour green, just as the burning fire of love is symbolized by red. Green is the colour of growing things, and hope, like them, is always new and always fresh. Liturgically, green is the colour of Ordinary Time, the orderly sequence of weeks through the year, a season in which we are being neither single-mindedly penitent (in purple) nor overwhelmingly joyful (in white).
| Mid-morning reading (Terce) | 1 Samuel 15:22 |
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Is the pleasure of the Lord in holocausts and sacrifices or in obedience to the voice of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifice, submissiveness better than the fat of rams.
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| Noon reading (Sext) | Galatians 5:26,6:2 |
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We must stop being conceited, provocative and envious. You should carry each other’s troubles and fulfil the law of Christ.
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| Afternoon reading (None) | Micah 6:8 |
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What is good has been explained to you, man; this is what the Lord asks of you: only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.
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