Let us come before the Lord, giving thanks.
Year: B(II). Psalm week: 3. Liturgical Colour: Green.
Saint Jane Frances de Chantal (1572 - 1641)
She was born in Dijon, in France, in 1572. She married a nobleman called de Chantal, by whom she had six children whom she brought up in the faith. When her husband died she placed herself under the guidance of Saint Francis de Sales and progressed rapidly along the way of perfection. She performed many good works for the poor and the sick. She founded the Order of the Visitation and guided it wisely. She died in 1641. See the articles in
Wikipedia and the
Catholic Encyclopaedia.
Other saints: Blessed Isidore Bakanja (c.1886 - 1909)
Kenya, Nigeria, Southern Africa
Today the Church in Africa remembers one of her youngest martyrs in the person of Isidore Bakanja. A member of the Boangi tribe, he was born in Bokendela in what was then the Belgian Congo around the year 1886.
He was baptized on 6 May 1906 after receiving instruction from Trappists missionaries. Rosary in hand, he used any chance to share his faith; though he was untrained, many considered him as a catechist. He left his native village because there were no fellow-Christians there.
He then worked as a domestic on a Belgian rubber plantation. Many of the Belgian agents were atheists, who hated missionaries due to their fight for native rights and justice. (The agents used the term “mon père” for anyone associated with religion). Isidore encountered their hatred when he asked leave to go home. The agents refused, and he was ordered to stop teaching fellow workers how to pray: “You’ll have the whole village praying and no one will work!” He was told to discard his Carmelite scapular, and when he did not, he was flogged twice. The second time, the agent tore the scapular from Isidore’s neck, had him pinned to the ground, and then beaten with over 100 blows with a whip of elephant hide with nails on the end. He was then chained to a single spot 24 hours a day.
When an inspector came to the plantation, Isidore was sent to another village so that he would not be seen. He managed to hide in the forest, then dragged himself to the inspector. “I saw a man,” wrote the horrified inspector, “come from the forest with his back torn apart by deep, festering, malodorous wounds, covered with filth, assaulted by flies. He leaned on two sticks in order to get near me – he wasn’t walking; he was dragging himself”. The agent tried to kill “that animal, mon père”, but the inspector prevented him. He took Isidore home to heal, but Isidore knew better. “If you see my mother, or if you go to the judge, or if you meet a priest, tell them that I am dying because I am a Christian.”
Two missionaries who spent several days with him reported that he devoutly received the last sacraments. The missionaries urged Isidore to forgive the agent; he assured them that he already had. “I shall pray for him. When I am in heaven, I shall pray for him very much.” After six months of prayer and suffering, he died on 15 August 1909, rosary in hand and scapular around his neck.
Other saints: Saint Muredach
Ireland
He was a disciple of St Patrick and possibly a member of his family. He was put in charge of the church at Killala in 442 or 443. It is probable that he resigned his see after a few years, and retired to end his life in the lonely island in Donegal Bay which has ever since borne his name, Innismurray.
Other saints: Saint Attracta
Ireland
She lived in the fifth or sixth century and the details of her life have been obscured by legend. She may have received the veil from St Patrick. She is said to have founded several churches in the Counties of Galway and Sligo.
Other saints: Saint Lelia
Ireland
St Lelia is particularly venerated in the diocese of Limerick, but all details of her life have been lost. She clearly lived, but when and how is no longer known for certain.
Other saints: Saint Blaan (-590)
Argyll & the Isles
Saint Blane (Old Irish Bláán) was born on the Isle of Bute, a nephew of St Cathan, and was educated in Ireland under Saints Comgall and Kenneth. He became a monk, went to Scotland, and was eventually bishop among the Picts.
About the author of the Second Reading in today's Office of Readings:
Second Reading: Theodoret of Cyrus (c.393 - 457)
Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus. He played a pivotal role in the Christological controversies in the 5th-century Byzantine church, notably the Nestorian controversy concerning the twofold nature of Christ and the validity of the title “Mother of God”. Having experienced in his own diocese the process of reconciling heretics and schismatics to the Church, he strove earnestly for unity by urging the condemnation of Nestorius’ heretical doctrines without personally condemning Nestorius himself. As a result he himself found himself condemned and excommunicated by the Second Council of Ephesus, and was rehabilitated only after the death of the Emperor and an appeal to Pope Leo the Great. He was declared orthodox by the Council of Chalcedon.
Theodoret wrote many commentaries on Scripture and some doctrinal works, including On the Incarnation of the Lord, which provides some Second Readings for the Office of Readings.
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) | 2 Corinthians 13:11 |
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Brethren, be joyful. Try to grow perfect; help one another. Be united; live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.
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| Noon reading (Sext) | Romans 6:22 |
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Now you have been set free from sin, you have been made slaves of God, and you get a reward leading to your sanctification and ending in eternal life.
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| Afternoon reading (None) | Colossians 1:21-22 |
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Not long ago, you were foreigners and enemies, in the way that you used to think and the evil things that you did; but now he has reconciled you, by his death and in that mortal body. Now you are able to appear before him holy, pure and blameless.
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