Daybreak

Thursday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, 1696-1787; born near Naples, graduated in law at the age of 16; entered the ecclesiastical state, and was ordained a priest in 1726; in 1732, he discerned a call from God to found the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer--also known as the Redemptorists--to labor for the salvation of the most abandoned souls; appointed bishop of St. Agatha in 1756, and retired to his convent in 1775, where he died Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/1/24 Gospel: Matthew 13:47-53