Friday of the Thirty-Fourth, or Last, Week in Ordinary Time

For the Poor Souls in Purgatory

Saints: Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin, Martyr (d. 305); Saint Colman of Cloyne (522-600)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 46 Faults Committed in Other Matters

Mass: Rev 20:1-4, 11:21:2; Resp Ps 84; Lk 21:29-33

Consider the fig tree.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

OUR LADY OF VAILANKANNI,

OUR LADY OF MONTILGEON,

SAINT GERTRUDE THE GREAT OF HELFTA,

SAINT NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

(Lk 21:33)

With Jesus' words above, we are comforted and strengthened. There is no need to let our hearts be troubled, as Jesus tells us, You have faith in God; have faith also in me (Jn 14:1).

We are also comforted by Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who covers us in her protective veil. Yesterday I wrote about beginning a novena to Our Lady of Vailankanni, Our Lady of Good Health. A shrine dedicated to her is found in Vailankanni, Tamil Nadu, India. Unable to include the prayer yesterday, I include it today, day two of the novena. It's never too late to pray for the sick and infirmed, for health of mind and body. Mary, mother of health and our heavenly queen, pray for us. 

O Mary! Our Mother of Health and Our Heavenly Queen, we praise and honor you to be our refuge and relief. Relying on your power and goodness, we fly to you and implore you to heal infirmities and to obtain for us health of body and soul. At all times you have been the help and consolation of the sick. You obtain for them health, when it is conducive to their salvation. You assist them at time of their death. Help them O most amiable Mother and obtain for us cure from all sufferings, or patience to endure them in the spirit of resignation agreeable to God's holy will, so that all our trials and sufferings may help to purify our souls and help us to one day enter into eternal joy with you and your Divine Son who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

SAINT CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA,

SAINT COLMAN OF CLOYNE,

SAINT MARY ELIZABETH HESSELBLAD,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: About our fig tree, it has shed its leaves for the season. My king and my God!

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

For the Poor Souls in Purgatory

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 32 The Tools and Goods of the Monastery

Mass: Ezk 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; Resp Ps 46; 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17; Jn 2:13-22

There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

SAINT GERTRUDE THE GREAT OF HELFTA,

SAINT NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply will live.

(Ezk 47:9)

It is certainly an occasion for celebration and rejoicing as we mark the dedication of the magnificent Basilica of Saint John Lateran by Pope Saint Sylvester I in 324. It is this basilica, and not Saint Peter's, that is the cathedra (or chair) of the bishop of Rome, that is, the pope. The Basilica of Saint John Lateran in the San Giovanni in Laterano Square in Rome is "the mother and head of all churches of the city and of the world." God is praised.

There are plenty of things to be about this day. We turn to two saints for guidance. First, Saint Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians, reminds us that we are God's building and we must be careful how we build upon this building, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one who is there, namely, Jesus Christ. We are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in us. Let us not be about destroying God's temple, as God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which we are, is holy (see 1 Cor 3:9-11, 16-17). We reverence the building founded on the Rock Jesus Christ. As we turn away from evil and do good, we reverence our bodies by looking after ourselves, after our spiritual growth and development, our physical and emotional health and well-being, all while we foster with fervent love the good zeal that Saint Benedict writes about in Ch 72 of the Holy Rule. Yes, we regard all utensils and goods of the monastery as sacred vessels of the altar and never fail to keep the things belonging to the monastery clean and look after them with great care (see Rule of Saint Benedict, 31:10; 32:4). Be built up like living stones, into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood (Communion Antiphon, Mass). United in faith and prayer, we go forth.

My fellow Christians, today is the birthday of this church, and an occasion for celebration and rejoicing. We, however, ought to be the true and living temple of God ...

do we wish to celebrate joyfully the birth of this temple? Then let us not destroy the living temples of God in ourselves by works of evil ... Whenever we come to the church, we must prepare our hearts to be as beautiful as we expect this church to be. Do you wish to find this basilica immaculately clean? Then do not soil your soul with the filth of sins. Do you wish this basilica to be full of light? God too wishes that your soul be not in darkness, but that the light of good works shine in us, so that He who dwells in the heavens will be glorified. Just as you enter this church building, so God wishes to enter your soul, for He promised: I shall live in them, and I shall walk the corridors of their hearts.

(From a sermon by Saint Caesarius of Arles, in Office of Readings, November 9)

SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST,

POPE SAINT SYLVESTER I,

PRAY FOR US.

Friendly reminder: And just what saint are you adding to your collection today? And when the saints go marching in, when the saints go marching in ...

Today's photo: I was glad to find this in the archives, from 2018. Just what I was looking for. God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed. 

© Gertrude Feick 2022