Thursday, March 17, 2011

Roman Catholic Daily Readings For Friday, 18 March

From USCCB, CNA and Catholic Online:

Daily Readings:


Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated:  Lent

St. Cyril of Jerusalem


Feastday: March 18

b: 315? d: 386
"Make your fold with the sheep; flee from the wolves: depart not from the Church," Cyril admonished catechumens surrounded by heresy. These were prophetic words for Cyril was to be hounded by enemies and heretics for most of his life, and although they could exile him from his diocese he never left his beloved Church.
Cyril's life began a few years before Arianism (the heresy that Jesus was not divine or one in being with the Father) and he lived to see its suppression and condemnation at the end of his life. In between he was the victim of many of the power struggles that took place.
We know little about Cyril's early life. Historians estimate he was born about 315 and that he was brought up in Jerusalem. He speaks about the appearance of the sites of the Nativity and Holy Sepulchre before they were "improved" by human hands as if he were a witness. All we know of his family were that his parents were probably Christians and he seemed to care for them a great deal. He exhorted catechumens to honor parents "for however much we may repay them, yet we can never be to them what they as parents have been to us." We know he also had a sister and a nephew, Gelasius, who became a bishop and a saint.
He speaks as one who belonged to a group called the Solitaries. These were men who lived in their own houses in the cities but practiced a life of complete chastity, ascetism, and service.
After being ordained a deacon and then a priest, his bishop Saint Maximus respected him enough to put him in charge of the instruction of catechumens. We still have these catechetical lectures of Cyril's that were written down by someone in the congregation. When speaking of so many mysteries, Cyril anticipated the question, "But some one will say, If the Divine substance is incomprehensible, why then do you discourse of these things? So then, because I cannot drink up all the river, am I not even to take in moderation what is expedient for me? Because with eyes so constituted as mine I cannot take in all the sun, am I not even to look upon it enough to satisfy my wants? Or again, because I have entered into a great garden, and cannot eat all the supply of fruits, would you have me go away altogether hungry?.. I am attempting now to glorify the Lord, but not to describe him, knowing nevertheless that I shall fall short of glorifying God worthily, yet deeming it a work of piety even to attempt it at all."
When Maximus died, Cyril was consecrated as bishop of Jerusalem. Because he was supported by the Arian bishop of Caesarea, Acacius, the orthodox criticized the appointment and the Arians thought they had a friend. Both factions were wrong, but Cyril wound up in the middle.
When a famine hit Jerusalem, the poor turned to Cyril for help. Cyril, seeing the poor starving to death and having no money, sold some of the goods of the churches. This was something that other saints including Ambrose and Augustine had done and it probably saved many lives. There were rumors, however, that some of the vestments wound up as clothing for actors.
Actually, the initial cause of the falling out between Acacius and Cyril was territory not beliefs. As bishop of Caesarea, Acacia had authority over all the bishops of Palestine. Cyril argued that his authority did not include Jerusalem because Jerusalem was an "apostolic see" -- one of the original sees set up by the apostles. When Cyril did not appear at councils that Acacius called, Acacius accused him of selling church goods to raise money and had him banished.
Cyril stayed in Tarsus while waiting for an appeal. Constantius called a council where the appeal was supposed to take place. The council consisted of orthodox, Arians, and semi-Arian bishops. When Acacius and his faction saw that Cyril and other exiled orthodox bishops were attending, they demanded that the persecuted bishops leave. Acacius walked out when the demand was not met. The other bishops prevailed on Cyril and the others to give in to this point because they didn't want Acacius to have reason to deny the validity of the council. Acacius returned but left again for good when his creed was rejected -- and refused to come back even to give testimony against his enemy Cyril. The result of the council was the Acacius and the other Arian bishops were condemned. There's no final judgment on Cyril's case but it was probably thrown out when Acacius refused to testify and Cyril returned to Jerusalem.
This was not the end of Cyril's troubles because Acacius carried his story to the emperor ---embellishing it with details that it was a gift of the emperor's that was sold to a dancer who died wearing the robe. This brought about a new synod run by Acacius who now had him banished again on the basis of what some bishops of Tarsus had done while Cyril was there.
This exile lasted until Julian became emperor and recalled all exiled bishops, orthodox or Arian. Some said this was to exacerbate tension in the Church and increase his imperial power. So Cyril returned to Jerusalem. When Acacius died, each faction nominated their own replacement for Caesarea. Cyril appointed his nephew Gelasius -- which may seem like nepotism, except that all orthodox sources spoke of Gelasius' holiness. A year later both Cyril and Gelasius were driven out of Palestine again as the new emperor's consul reversed Julian's ruling.
Eleven years later, Cyril was allowed to go back to find a Jerusalem destroyed by heresy and strife. He was never able to put things completely right. He did attend the Council at Constantinople in 381 where the Nicene Creed and orthodoxy triumphed and Arianism was finally condemned. Cyril received justice at the same Council who cleared him of all previous rumors and commended him for fighting "a good fight in various places against the Arians."
Cyril had eight years of peace in Jerusalem before he died in 386, at about seventy years old.

 
St. Alexander


Feastday: March 18
St. Alexander, Bishop and Martyr. Alexander was a student with Origen at the famous Christian school of Alexandria in the late second century. He became bishop of Cappadocia and during the persecution of Severus was imprisoned for several years (204-211). Following his release from prison, he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was proclaimed coadjutor bishop there in the year 212. Demetrius, the bishop of Alexandria, censured Alexander for participating in the ordination of Origen and for encouraging Origen to teach in churches while still a layman. Despite this, Alexander received Origen in exile. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, Alexander developed a great theological library. During the persecution of Decius, he was seized and again imprisoned. After making a public confession of faith, he was condemned and thrown to the wild beasts, but they refused to attack him. Alexander was then taken to Caesarea where he died in chains in the year 251. The Church recognizes him as a martyr. St. Alexander, despite his great learning and important ecclesiastical positions, was known as an individual of great mildness, especially in his sermons. When put to the test during two persecutions, he remained steadfast in faith and was willing to suffer death for the Faith.
Today when we are criticized by friends and society for the moral tenets of our Faith, St. Alexander is a prime example of how we should stand fast in the face of ridicule and ostracism.


 
Bl. Christian


Feastday: March 18
Beyond the fact that he was Abbot of the first Cistercian monastery ever established in Ireland, practically nothing at all can be stated with certainty about Blessed Christian, otherwise called Christian O'Conarchy or Giolla Criost Ua Condoirche. The various traditions and legends are confused and conflicting. According to some accounts, he was born at Bangor in Ulster, and Colgan says that he was the disciple and afterwards the archdeacon of St. Malachy of Armagh, and that he probably accompanied the prelate on a visit to Rome, staying at Clairvaux on his way there. He would appear to have been one of the four disciples who remained behind at Clairvaux on the homeward journey and who received the habit from St. Bernard himself. Upon his return to Ireland, St. Malachy was anxious to introduce the Cistercian Order into his country, and at his prompting Donouth O'Carroll set about building Mellifont. Malachy applied to the founder for a superior and some monks to start the new foundation, and St. Bernard sent Christian and several French brothers in 1142. Abbot Christian is said by some writers to have become bishop of Lismore and papal legate for Ireland. An ancient anonymous Irish analyst notes the year 1186 as the date of the death of Christian, the illustrious prelate of Lismore, "formally legate of Ireland, emulator of the virtues which he saw and heard from his holy father St. Bernard and from the supreme pontiff, the venerable man Eugenius, with whom he was in the novitiate at Clairvaux". His feast day is March 18th.


St. Salvatore


Feastday: March 18

1567
St. Salvatore of Horta (Feast day - March 18th) St. Salvatore is usually described as "of Horta" because he spent many years in the Franciscan Friary of that place. He was born at Santa Columba in the diocese of Gerona in Spain. He came of a poor family, and lost both his parents while still a child. Migrating to the town, he worked as a shoemaker in Barcelona. At the age of twenty, as his heart was set on the religious life, he became a Franciscan of the Observance. Employed in the kitchen, his virtue quickly matured in these humble surroundings, but he thirsted for greater austerity, and passed on, first to the convent of St. Mary of Jesus at Tortosa, and then to the solitude of St. Mary of the Angels at Horta in the same diocese. In that house of very strict observance, he made a protracted stay but eventually he returned to Barcelona, where his supernatural gifts attracted much notice, and where the blind, lame and deaf came to him to be healed. He always walked barefoot, scourged himself daily, and kept long and rigorous fasts. He was specially devoted to our Lady and to St. Paul who appeared to him on several occasions, notably on his death-bed. St. Salvatore had gone to Sardinia in compliance with the orders of his superiors when he was seized with an illness which proved fatal. He died at Cagliari, being forty-seven years of age, in 1567. He was venerated as a saint during his lifetime and was eventually canonized in 1938.


St. Edward the Martyr


Feastday: March 18
Edward was the eldest son of King Edgar of England and his first wife, Ethelfleda who died shortly after her son's birth. He was baptized by St. Dunstan and became King in 975 on his father's death with the support of Dunstan but against the wishes of his stepmother, Queen Elfrida, who wished the throne for her son Ethelred. Edward ruled only three years when he was murdered on March 18 while hunting near Corfe Dastle, reportedly by adherents of Ethelred, though William of Malmesbury, the English historian of the twelfth century, said Elfrida was the actual murderer. In the end, Elfrida was seized with remorse for her crime and, retiring from the world, she built the monasteries of Amesbury and Wherwell, in the latter of which she died. Edward was a martyr only in the broad sense of one who suffers an unjust death, but his cultus was considerable, encouraged by the miracles reported from his tomb at Shaftesbury; His feast day is March 18 and still observed in the diocese of Plymouth.


St. Anselm of Lucca


Feastday: March 18

1086
Bishop and nephew of Pope Alexander II, called Anselm the Younger by his contemporaries. He was born in Mantua, Italy, in 1036, and was named bishop of Lucca by his uncle. He accepted the symbols of office from Emperor Henry IV, repenting immediately because of the Church's stand against allowing secular rulers to perform such acts. Anselm resigned his office and became a Benedictine monk. Pope Gregory VII, Alexander II's successor, placed him back in Lucca, but a quarrel with the priests of that city forced him to leave. Anselm went to Canossa, Italy, where he became the spiritual advisor to Countess Matilda. He was also named a papal legate, with wide-ranging jurisdictions over the local religious institutions. Pope Victor III made him papal legate of all Lombardy, Italy. Anselm was well versed in Scripture and wrote some important treatises. He died in Mantua on March 18, 1086.


St. Trophimus & Eucarpius


Feastday: March 18

304
Two martyrs during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian.They were two pagan soldiers in the Roman army stationed in Nicomedia (modern Turkey) who were ordered to pursue Christians. While hunting Christians, they became converts and as a result, they were burned alive at Nicomedia


St. Frediano


Feastday: March 18

588
Irish bishop, also called Frigidanus and Frigidian. He was reportedly a prince of Ireland who went on a pilgrimage to Rome and settled into a hermitage on Mount Pisano, near Lucca. The pope made him bishop of Lucca, but his see was attacked by Lombards. Frediano is believed to have founded a group of eremetical canons who merged with those of St. John Lateran in 1507.


St. Salvator of Horta


Feastday: March 18

1567
Franciscan confessor. Born at Santa Colomba, Gerona, Spain, he was orphaned as a child and became a shoemaker before joining the Franciscans in Barcelona as a lay brother. He worked for many years as a humble cook in the friary of Horta, near Tortosa, dying at the friary of Caliari, Sardinia. During his life, he was known for his many and severe austerities and his miracles. He was canonized in 1938.


St. Humphrey


Feastday: March 18

871
Benedictine bishop during the Norman invasion, also called Hunfrid. He was a monk at Prum until being made the bishop of Therouanne, France, in 856. Forced to flee the Normans, he returned to restore the city and to become abbot of St. Bertin in France.


St. Narcissus and Felix


Feastday: March 18
Martyrs. While it is certain that Narcissus, a bishop, and Felix, his deacon, were martyred in Spain, little else is known. Legends are associated with them, including their supposed escape to Germany or Switzerland.



Scriptural Readings:

First Reading - Ezek 18:21-28

21 But if the wicked do penance for all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment, and justice, living he shall live, and shall not die.22 I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done: in his justice which he hath wrought, he shall live.23 Is it my will that a sinner should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways, and live?24 But if the just man turn himself away from his justice, and do iniquity according to all the abominations which the wicked man useth to work, shall he live? all his justices which he hath done, shall not be remembered: in the prevarication, by which he hath prevaricated, and in his sin, which he hath committed, in them he shall die.25 And you have said: The way of the Lord is not right. Hear ye, therefore, O house of Israel: Is it my way that is not right, and are not rather your ways perverse?26 For when the just turneth himself away from his justice, and committeth iniquity, he shall die therein: in the injustice that he hath wrought he shall die.27 And when the wicked turneth himself away from his wickedness, which he hath wrought, and doeth judgment, and justice: he shall save his soul alive.28 Because he considereth and turneth away himself from all his iniquities which he hath wrought, he shall surely live, and not die.

Psalm - Ps 129:1-8

1 Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord:2 Lord, hear my voice. Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.3 If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it.4 For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord. My soul hath relied on his word:5 My soul hath hoped in the Lord.6 From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.7 Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption.8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Gospel - Mt 5:20-26

20 For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.21 You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.22 But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou Fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.23 If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath any thing against thee;24 Leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift.25 Be at agreement with thy adversary betimes, whilst thou art in the way with him: lest perhaps the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.26 Amen I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing

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