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Wednesday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time Saints of the Day: Saints John Jones (2530-1598) and John Wall (1620-1679); two friars martyred in England in the 16th and 17th Centuries; John Jones was Welsh, and was twice imprisoned for administering the sacraments before he left England in 1590; joined the Franciscans and returned to England, where he ministered to Catholics until he was imprisoned, and condemned to death; John Wall was born in England, but educated Belgium; returned to England secretly, and was accused of being part of a plot to murder the king; he was arrested, imprisoned, and executed Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/12/23 Gospel: Matthew 10:1-7

Tuesday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Benedict, 480-547; born in central Italy, and drawn to monasticism; lived in a cave as a hermit for three years; some followers chose him as their leader, but disliked his strictness; but he had the idea of gathering various families of monks to give them the benefit of unity, fraternity, and permanent worship in one house; he began building Monte Cassino; The Rule that 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 7/11/23 Gospel: Matthew 9:32-38

Monday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Anthony Pechersky, 983-1073; born in Ukraine; after spending time on Mount Athos in Greece, he founded a hermitage in Kiev, which became known as the "Caves of Kiev"; founded another monastery in Chernagov; one of the fathers of Ukrainian monasticism Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/10/23 Gospel: Matthew 9:18-26

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/9/23 Gospel: Matthew 11:25-30

Saturday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Jeanne-Marie Kerguin, 1864-1900; born to a poor peasant family in France; joined the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in 1887, and was sent to Paris, then to Carthage in Northern Africa; health problems forced her to go to Rome to recover; she then went to China, and was almost immediately hospitalized with typhus; during a crackdown on foreign missionaries during the Boxer Rebellion, she was executed Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/8/23 Gospel: Matthew 9:14-17

Friday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Palladius; first bishop of Ireland, and immediate predecessor to St. Patrick; consecrated a bishop by Pope Celestine I, and sent to Ireland; his mission apparently had little impact on the people; he sailed to Scotland to preach to the Picts, but died shortly after arriving Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/7/23 Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13

Thursday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, 1890-1902; daughter of a poor Italian tenant farmer; she was attacked by a neighbor, Alessandro, who stabbed her with a dagger; she died about 24 hours after the attack; while in prison, Alessandro had a dream of Maria gathering flowers, and offering them to him, and his life was changed; upon his release, he sought the forgiveness of Maria's mother, and was present at Maria's canonization Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/6/23 Gospel: Matthew 9:1-8

Wednesday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria, 1502-1539; gave up life as a doctor to become a religious; helped to found three religious congregations--one for men, one for women, and another for married couples--the Barnabites; he encouraged the collaboration of laity in the apostolate, frequent communion, Forty Hours devotion, and the ringing of church bells on Friday at 3 p.m.; died at the age of 36 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/5/23 Gospel: Matthew 8:28-34

Tuesday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time Independence Day in the U.S. Optional Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal, 1271-1336; given in marriage to Denis, King of Portugal, at the age of 12; practiced piety and charity; became a peacemaker between royal family members; after being widowed, she retired to a monastery of Poor Clares Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/4/23 Gospel: Matthew 8:23-27

Feast of St. Thomas, apostle; known, unfortunately, for his doubt, but also for his faith; believed to have evangelized and preached in India; died 72 A.D. Monday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/3/23 Gospel: John 20:24-29

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/2/23 Gospel: Matthew 10:37-42

Saturday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Junipero Serra, 1713-1784; born in Mallorca, Spain, joined the Franciscans, and became famous as a preacher; gave it up and followed his desire to convert the Native peoples of the New World; founded missions in San Diego, Monterey/Carmel, San Antonio/San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco and San Juan Capistrano, and San Buenaventura; baptized 5,000; brought the native Americans the gift of faith and a decent standard of living Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/1/23 Gospel: Matthew 8:5-17

Friday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome; in 64 A.D., nearly half of Rome was destroyed by fire, likely caused by Nero; Nero blamed the Christians; many Christians were put to death, likely including Peter and Paul Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/30/23 Gospel: Matthew 8:1-4

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul Thursday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/29/23 Gospel: Matthew 16:13-19

Wednesday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Irenaeus, 130-202; as bishop of Lyons, he was concerned with the Gnostics, a group of heretical sects claiming to have "secret knowledge" imparted by Jesus to only a few; the work of Irenaeus gradually ended the influence of the Gnostics; declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Francis in 2022 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/28/23 Gospel: Matthew7:15-20

Tuesday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, 378-444; began his career as bishop of Alexandria with numerous harsh actions; but, he championed the cause of orthodoxy against the Nestorian heresy; Cyril was the pope's representative at the Council of Ephesus in 431, and proclaimed Mary the "God-bearer"; after that, he was deposed and imprisoned for three months, but was then welcomed back to Alexandria Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/27/23 Gospel: Matthew 7:6, 12-14

Monday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, 1902-1975; born in Spain, became a priest to make himself available for whatever God desired; in 1928, while on a retreat, he discerned that he was to found Opus Dei, an institution within the Catholic Church dedicated to helping people in all walks of life to follow Christ, to seek holiness in their daily life and grow in love for God and their fellow men and women; Opus Dei now has over 84,000 members in 60 countries Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/26/23 Gospel: Matthew 7:1-5

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/25/23 Gospel: Matthew 10:26-33

Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist Saturday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/24/23 Gospel: Luke 1:57-66, 80

Friday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Joseph Cafasso, 1811-1860; born in Italy, ordained in 1833; popular teacher, sought-after confessor and spiritual advisor; close friend of St. John Bosco, and encouraged him in his work with boys; patron of prison chaplains Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/23/23 Gospel: Matthew 6:19-23