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Friday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Macrena the Younger, 330-379; granddaughter of Macrena the Elder, sister of Saints Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, and Peter of Sebastea; when her fiancé died, she dedicated her life to God; she and her mother retired to the family estate in Pontus and lived a life of prayer and contemplation in a community they formed there Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/19/24 Gospel: Matthew 12:1-8

Thursday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis, 1550-1614; born in Bocchianico, Italy; fought for the Venetians against the Turks; became a Capuchin novice, but was unable to make profession due to a diseased leg; cared for the sick, and became director of St. Giacomo Hospital in Rome; founded the Ministers of the Sick; attended the plague-stricken aboard ships in Rome's harbor and in Rome; sent members of his order to minister to wounded troops in Hungary and Croatia, the first field medical unit; died after a long illness in 1614 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/18/24 Gospel: Matthew 11:28-30

Wednesday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time Saints of the Day: Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne, died 1794; at the beginning of the French revolution, the Carmelite monastery in Compiegne, France, was ordered closed and the nuns disbanded; sixteen nuns were imprisoned in a Visitation convent, where they openly resumed their religious life; they were taken to Paris and sentenced to death; they went to the guillotine singing the Salve Regina Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/17/24 Gospel: Matthew 11:25-27

Tuesday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/16/24 Gospel: Matthew 11:20-24

Monday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Bonaventure, 1221-1274; baptized John, but received the name Bonaventure when he became a Franciscan at the age of 22; St. Francis is credited with healing Bonaventure as a boy of a serious illness; Bonaventure was eventually elected to serve as General Minister of the order, at a time when it was embroiled in conflicts over the interpretation of poverty; Bonaventure structured the order through effective legislation, and offered an organized spirituality based on the vision and insights of Saint Francis; Pope Gregory X made him a cardinal and appointed him bishop of Albano; but while participating in the Second Council of Lyon, Saint Bonaventure died suddenly on July 15, 1274 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/15/24 Gospel: Matthew 10:34-11:1

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/14/24 Gospel: Mark 6:7-13

Saturday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Henry II, 973-1024; born in Hildesheim, Bavaria; became Duke of Bavaria when his father died in 995, and emperor when his cousin Otto III died in 1002; crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Benedict VIII; also miraculously cured by St. Benedict; wanted to be a Benedictine, and lived as an oblate Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/13/24 Gospel: Matthew 10:24-33

Friday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. John the Iberian; a noble of southern Georgia, also called Iberia, and a military leader; went with his son, St. Euthymius, to Mount Olympias in Bethynia, and then to Mount Athos in Macedonia; there, he founded a monastery which endured into the 20th Century; died 1002 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/12/24 Gospel: Matthew 10:16-23

Thursday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Benedict, 480-547; born into a distinguished family in central Italy; drawn to monasticism, he became a hermit, and then withdrew to a high cave in the mountains; some monks chose him as their leader for a time, but many disagreed with his strictness; he conceived of gathering various families of monks into one “Grand Monastery” to give them the benefit of unity, fraternity, and permanent worship in one house; he then began to build Monte Cassino; the rule which gradually developed prescribed a life of liturgical prayer, study, manual labor, and living together in community under a common abbot Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/11/24 Gospel: Matthew 10:7-15

Wednesday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Veronica Giuliani, 1660-1727; native of Binasco, near Milan, Italy, born in 1660; she entered the Capuchins in 1677, and served as novice mistress for 34 years; received a stigmata in 1697, and had visions, the accounts of which are quite detailed; she remained practical in spite of her ecstatic experiences; became abbess in 1716, a role she served until her death Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/10/24 Gospel: Matthew 10:1-7

Tuesday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Augustine Zhao Rong and Companions, the Chinese martyrs; the 120 martyrs in this group died between 1648 and 1930; Augustine Zhao Rong was a Chinese soldier who accompanied Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse of the Paris Foreign Mission Society to his martyrdom in Beijing; all 120 were canonized on October 1, 2000 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/9/24 Gospel: Matthew 9:32-38

Monday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Priscilla; she and her husband, Aquila, the tent-maker, were forced to leave Rome, and settled in Corinth, where they provided lodging for Paul--who may have converted them to Christianity; they went with Paul to Ephesus, and then back to Rome; they suffered martyrdom in Asia Minor according to the Roman martyrology, but one tradition has them martyred in Rome Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/8/24 Gospel: Matthew 9:18-26

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/7/24 Gospel: Mark 6:1-6

Saturday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, 1890-1902; daughter of a poor Italian tenant farmer; on a hot July afternoon, an 18-year-old neighbor, Alessandro, attempted to molest her, and ended up stabbing her multiple times; Maria was taken to a hospital, where she died; Alessandro was sentenced to 30 years in prison; while there, he received a dream--or vision--of Maria gathering flowers and offering them to him; his life changed, and he was released after 27 years; he immediately sought the forgiveness of Maria's mother; at Maria’s canonization in 1950, a 66-year-old Alessandro Serenelli knelt among the quarter-million people and cried tears of joy Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/6/24 Gospel: Matthew 9:14-17

Friday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria, 1502-1539; born in Cremona, Italy; ordained a priest at the age of 26; sent to Milan, and he laid the foundations of three religious congregations, one for men, one for women, and an association of married couples; Anthony encouraged such innovations as the collaboration of the laity in the apostolate, frequent Communion, the Forty Hours devotion, and the ringing of church bells at 3:00 p.m. on Fridays; on a mission of peace, Anthony became seriously ill and was brought home for a visit to his mother; he died at Cremona at the age of 36 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/5/24 Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13

Thursday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time; Independence Day in the United States Optional Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal, 1271-1336; daughter of Pedro III, future king of Aragon; given in marriage to Denis, king of Portugal, at age 12; she exercised both piety and charity, and remained devoted to her husband, whose infidelity to her was a scandal to the kingdom; Denis gave up his life of sin, and Elizabeth became a peacemaker among family; after the death of her husband, she retired as a tertiary to a Poor Clare monastery--and she brought about peace between her son Alfonso, now king of Portugal, and his son-in-law, the king of Castile Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/4/24 Gospel: Matthew 9:1-8

Feast of St. Thomas, apostle; died about 72 A.D. Wednesday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/3/24 Gospel: John 20:24-29

Tuesday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Otto of Bamberg, 1060-1139; born in Swabia, served Emperor Henry IV in various posts; Otto was appointed bishop of Bamberg in 1103; he was a figure in the reconciliation of the pope and Emperor Henry V; headed a mission to Pomerania, and made numerous converts among the local inhabitants; known as the Apostle of Pomerania Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/2/24 Gospel: Matthew 8:23-27

Monday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Junipero Serra, 1713-1784; born on Spain’s island of Mallorca, and joined the Franciscans; set out to convert native peoples in the New World; worked in central Mexico and the Baja Peninsula, and then traveled 900 miles north to set his first mission, San Diego; other missions followed; Junipero’s missionary life was a long battle with cold and hunger, with unsympathetic military commanders and even with danger of death from non-Christian native peoples--but he baptized over 6,000 people and confirmed 5,000; he gave the Native Americans the faith and a decent standard of living Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/1/24 Gospel: Matthew 8:18-22

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/30/24 Gospel: Mark 5:21-43