Daily Readings:
Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: the Feast of the Nativity (2nd Day), the Feast of the Holy Family, the Feast of St. Stephen
St. Stephen
St. Stephen
Feastday: December 26
Patron of Stonemasons
Stephen's name means "crown," and he was the first disciple of Jesus to receive the martyr's crown. Stephen was a deacon in the early Christian Church. The apostles had found that they needed helpers to look after the care of the widows and the poor. So they ordained seven deacons, and Stephen is the most famous of these.
God worked many miracles through St. Stephen and he spoke with such wisdom and grace that many of his hearers became followers of Jesus. The enemies of the Church of Jesus were furious to see how successful Stephen's preaching was. At last, they laid a plot for him. They could not answer his wise argument, so they got men to lie about him, saying that he had spoken sinfully against God. St. Stephen faced that great assembly of enemies without fear. In fact, the Holy Bible says that his face looked like the face of an angel.
The saint spoke about Jesus, showing that He is the Savior, God had promised to send. He scolded his enemies for not having believed in Jesus. At that, they rose up in great anger and shouted at him. But Stephen looked up to Heaven and said that he saw the heavens opening and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
His hearers plugged their ears and refused to listen to another word. They dragged St. Stephen outside the city of Jerusalem and stoned him to death. The saint prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" Then he fell to his knees and begged God not to punish his enemies for killing him.
After such an expression of love, the holy martyr went to his heavenly reward. His feast day is December 26th.
St. Vincentia Maria Lopez Y Vicuna
Feastday: December 26
St. Vincentia Maria Lopez Y Vicuna, Virgin (Feast day - December 26) Vincentia was born at Cascante, Spain, in 1847. While being educated in Madrid, she lived with her aunt who had founded a home for domestic servants. That form of charity impressed Vincentia. Accordingly, she took a vow of chastity and, in concert with her aunt, organized a group of ladies who were interested in ministering to working girls. Between 1871 and 1876, she developed a written rule for her group, and in 1878, with three others, she took the vows of religion. Out of this grew the institute of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate for Domestic Service. The congregation, having spread throughout Spain, other sections of Europe, and Latin America, was given papal approbation in 1888. On December 26, 1896, Vincentia died at Madrid, and she was canonized in 1975 by Pope Paul VI. The dedication of one's life to the service of others reflects the depths of devotion and care that Joseph and Mary exemplified at Bethlehem. St. Vincentia reminds us that reaching out to others allows us to do God's will.
St. Neol Chabanel
Feastday: December 26
Father Noel Chabanel was one of the North American Martyrs. The murder of the missionaries and the havoc wrought amongst the Hurons, far from satisfying the ferocious Iroquois, only whetted their thirst for blood. Before the end of the year 1649, they had penetrated as far as the Tobacco Nation, where Father Garnier had founded a mission in 1641 and where the Jesuits now had two stations. The inhabitants of the village of Saint-Jean, hearing that the enemy was approaching, sent out their men to meet the attackers, who, however, having illicited from fugitives information of the defenseless condition of the settlement, took a round about way and arrived at the gates unexpectedly. An orgy of incredible cruelty followed, in the midst of which Garnier, the only priest in the mission, hastened from place to place, giving absolution to the Christians and baptizing the children and catechumens, totally unmindful of his own fate. While thus employed he was shot down by the muskets of an Iroquois. He strove to reach a dying man whom he thought he could help, but after three attempts, he collapsed, and subsequently received his death-blow from a hatchet which penetrated to the brain. Some of his Indian converts buried him on the spot where the Church had stood. Father Noel Chabanel, the missionary companion of Garnier, was immediately recalled. He had started on his way back with some Christian Hurons when they heard the cries of the Iroquois returning from Saint-Jean. The Father urged his followers to escape, but was too much exhausted to keep up with them. His fate was long uncertain, but a Huron apostate eventually admitted having killed the holy man out of hatred of the Christian Faith. Chabanel was not the least heroic of the martyrs. He possessed none of the adaptability of the rest, nor could he ever learn the language of the savages, the sight of whom, their food-everything about them-was revolting to him. Moreover he was tried by spiritual dryness during the whole of his stay in Canada. Yet in order to bind himself more inviolably to the work which his nature abhorred, he made a solemn vow, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, to remain till death in this mission to the Indians. Little did these noble martyrs who saw such scanty results accruing from their labors foresee that within a short time after their death, the truth they proclaimed would be embraced by their very executioners, and that their own successors would visit and Christianize almost every tribe withwhich the martyrs had been in contact. These martyrs of North American, Ss. John de Brebeuf, Isaac Jogues, Antony Daniel, Gabrial Lalemant, Charles Garnier, Noel Chabanel, Rene Goupil and John Lalande, were canonized in 1930. Their feast is observed throughout the United States and Canada and on December 26th, and on March 16th by the Society of Jesus.
St. Amaethlu
Feastday: December 26
6th century
Founder and hermit. Arnaethlu also called Maethlu, lived in Wales. A church in Anglesey is named after him as the founder.
St. Archelaus
Feastday: December 26
278
Bishop in Kashkar, in Mesopotamia. Archelaus was a foe of the heresy of Manichaeism and is believed to have debated the movement's founder, Manes, personally. Nothing else is known with certainty.
St. Zeno
Feastday: December 26
400
Zeno (d.c. 400) + Bishop of Gaza, Israel. He was a cousin to the martyrs Eusebius, Nestabus, and Zeno (f.d. September 8) and managed to survive the persecutions of the Church under Emperor Julian theArostate (r. 361-363) to become a bishop Feast Day: December 26.
St. Zosimus
Feastday: December 26
Zosimus, Pope + Pope from 417-41 8. A Greek, he succeeded Pope St. Innocent I (r. 401-417) on March 18, 417. He devoted most of his brief reign to advancing the cause of papal supremacy, albeit with very little success. While personally blameless in his private life, Zosimus did have a tactless and hasty personality, so much so that he found himself embroiled in various clashes with prelates throughout the Church. In fact he died while preparing to excommunicate a group of troublesome clerics. Zosimus wrote Episiola Thactaria, condemning Pelagianism. Since he was much disliked in Rome, his passing on December 27 brought celebrations in the streets. Feast day: December 26.
St. Tathal
Feastday: December 26
6th century
A hermit, also listed asTathan, Athan, and Athaeus. Of Celtic descent, he became a hermit in Glamorgan, Wales, eventually establishing a school and St. Athan's Monastery in Gwent.
St. Theodore the Sacrist
Feastday: December 26
6th century
A sacrist in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. He is known almost entirely through the writings of Pope St. Gregory I the Great (r. 590-604) who was a contemporary.
St. Pope Dionysius
Feastday: December 26
268
Pope from 259-268, who rebuilt the Church after the persecution conducted by Emperor Valerian. Dionysius was a Greek who served as a priest in Rome. He was elected pope on July 22, 259, after a year’s delay caused by the persecution. In 260, Dionysius defended the doctrine of the Holy Trinity against the heresy of Sabellianism. He also condemned Paul of Samosata for heretical teaching. Dionysius sent large sums of money to Cappadocia, which had been ravaged by the Goths. He rebuilt many areas after Emperor Gallienus issued an edict of toleration of Christians. Dionysius died in Rome, was the first pope not listed as a martyr, and was buried in the cemetery of Callistus.
St. Marinus
Feastday: December 26
Martyr of Rome. He was reportedly the son of a senator, tortured before his martyrdom. His Acts provide rather unusual versions of his ordeals.
St. Abadiu
Feastday: December 26
Bishop Martyr of Antinoe.
Scriptural Readings:
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Reading 1
Sir 3:2-6, 12-14
God sets a father in honor over his children;
a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.
Whoever honors his father atones for sins,
and preserves himself from them.
When he prays, he is heard;
he stores up riches who reveres his mother.
Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children,
and, when he prays, is heard.
Whoever reveres his father will live a long life;
he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.
My son, take care of your father when he is old;
grieve him not as long as he lives.
Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him;
revile him not all the days of his life;
kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
firmly planted against the debt of your sins
—a house raised in justice to you.
Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5Responsorial PsalmR. (cf. 1) Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
who walks in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Col 3:12-21Reading 2Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives, be subordinate to your husbands,
as is proper in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives,
and avoid any bitterness toward them.
Children, obey your parents in everything,
for this is pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children,
so they may not become discouraged.
or
Col 3:12-17
Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Mt 2:13-15, 19-23GospelWhen the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.
When Herod had died, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream
to Joseph in Egypt and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel,
for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”
He rose, took the child and his mother,
and went to the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea
in place of his father Herod,
he was afraid to go back there.
And because he had been warned in a dream,
he departed for the region of Galilee.
He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth,
so that what had been spoken through the prophets
might be fulfilled,
He shall be called a Nazorean.
Next Day
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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