Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

The Month of January Dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus

Saints: Saints Robert, Alberic and Stephen, Abbots and Founders of the Cistercian Order (11th-12th century); Saints Timothy and Titus, Companions of Saint Paul, Bishops

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 7:5-9 Humility

Mass: For the Solemnity of Saints Robert, Alberic and Stephen: Sirach 44:1, 10-15; Resp Ps 114; Heb 11:1-2, 8-16; Mk 10:24b-30   

For the memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus: 2 Tm 1:1-8 or Titus 1:1-5; Resp Ps 96; Lk 10:1-9

Who turned rock into pools of water.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

OUR LADY OF CITEAUX,

OUR LADY OF NAZARETH,

OUR LADY OF THE REDWOODS,

OUR LADY OF KLAARLAND,

OUR LADY OF NEW CLAIRVAUX,

MARY, QUEEN OF MONKS AND NUNS,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

JESUS, THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

Now will I praise those godly men, our ancestors, each in his own time ...

Through God's covenant with them their family endures, their posterity for their sake.

(Sirach 44:1, 12)

Today we commemorate the Founders of the Cistercian Order, Saints Robert of Molesmes, Alberic of Citeaux and Stephen Harding, who set out from Molesme for Citeaux, called the "New Monastery", for the sake of a stricter, more secluded life according to the Rule of the Blessed Benedict (see Exordium Parvum, Ch Twelve, 5). Please pray for all the monks and nuns of the Order of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance and all Cistercians, that they may be renewed in their vocations, so that, by fidelity to their monastic way of life, which has its own mode of apostolic fruitfulness, they may continue to perform a service for God's people and the whole human race (see OCSO, Constitutions of the Nuns, C. 3, 4). And please, pray especially for us here at Our Lady of the Redwoods Abbey. Thank you for the being there, dear faithful readers. United in faith and prayer, may we all be faithful to our vocations, here, there, and everywhere, no matter our state in life. Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in the present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come (Mk 10:29-30).

The organization of the monastery is into bringing the nuns into close union with Christ, since it is only through personal experience of personal love for the Lord Jesus that the specific gifts of the Cistercian vocation can flower. Only if the sisters prefer nothing whatever to Christ will they be happy to persevere in a life that is ordinary, obscure and laborious. And may He lead them all together into eternal life.

(OCSO, Constitutions of the Nuns, C. 3, 5)

All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland.

(Heb 11:13-14)

SAINTS ROBERT, ALBERIC AND STEPHEN,

SAINT BENEDICT OF NURSIA,

SAINT SCHOLASTICA,

SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX,

SAINT GERTRUDE THE GREAT,

SAINTS TIMOTHY AND TITUS,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: The bend in the river as seen yesterday. Compare with the photo of the same bend featured Saturday, January 14, 2023. Stone into flowing springs.

© Gertrude Feick 2023