Daybreak

Friday of the Second Week of Lent Saint of the Day: St. Aubin, 470-550; entered the monastery of Tincillac when a youth, was elected Abbot when he was thirty-five, and was named Bishop of Angers in 529; known for his generosity to the sick and the indigent, widows, and orphans, for his work in ransoming slaves, and for his holiness and the many miracles he is reputed to have performed both during his lifetime and after his death Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/1/24 Gospel: Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent Saint of the Day: St. Oswald; Danish by birth, St. Oswald studied in the household of his uncle, Archbishop Odo of Fleury, France, where he was ordained; in 962, he was made bishop of Worcester, where he worked to eliminate abuses, and built many monasteries; became archbishop of York in 972; associated for most of his public life with St. Dunstan and St. Ethelwold and when he died in 992 popular veneration joined his name to theirs; one of the three who helped to revive English monasticism Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/29/24 Gospel: Luke 16:19-31

Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent Saint of the Day: Pope St. Hilary; born in Sardinia, pope from 461 to 468; successor to Pope St. Leo the Great; Hilary rebuilt many Roman churches and erected the chapel of St. John Lateran; validated the decisions of the General Councils of Nicaea, Ephesus, and Chalcedon; he consolidated the Church in Sandi, Africa, and Gaul; he died in Rome on February 28, 468 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/28/24 Gospel: Matthew 20:17-28

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent Saint of the Day: St. Anne Line, 1563-1601; English martyr; disowned by her father when she married a Catholic; Anne hid Catholic priests in a London safe house; she aided Jesuit Father John Gerard until her arrest; Anne was hanged in Tyburn on February 27, 1601 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/27/24 Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12

Monday of the Second Week of Lent Saint of the Day: St. Isabel of France, 1225-1270; sister of St. Louis and daughter of King Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile, she refused offers of marriage from several noble suitors to continue her life of virginity consecrated to God; she ministered to the sick and the poor, and after the death of her mother, founded the Franciscan Monastery of the Humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Paris; she lived there, but never became a nun and refused to become abbess Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/26/24 Gospel: Luke 6:36-38

Second Sunday of Lent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/25/24 Gospel: Mark 9:2-10

Saturday of the First Week of Lent Saint of the Day: St. Adela; benefactor and English princess. Adela was the youngest daughter of William the Conqueror. In 1080 she married Stephen of Blois. Throughout her life, Adela had an active role in English politics. She was famed for endowing churches and monastic institutions; she died in 1137 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/24/24 Gospel: Mark 5:43-48

Friday of the First Week of Lent Commemoration of St. Polycarp, 69-155; bishop of Smyrna, disciple of Saint John the Apostle and friend of Saint Ignatius of Antioch; only one of the many letters written by Polycarp has been preserved, the one he wrote to the Church of Philippi in Macedonia; at 86, Polycarp was led into the crowded Smyrna stadium to be burned alive. The flames did not harm him and he was finally killed by a dagger Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/23/24 Gospel: Matthew 5:20-26

Feast of the Chair of St. Peter; commemorating Christ’s choosing Peter to sit in his place as the servant-authority of the whole Church Thursday of the First Week of Lent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/22/24 Gospel: Matthew 16:13-19

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent Commemoration of St. Peter Damian, 988-1072; joined the Benedictines, and became abbot; Pope Stephen IX made him cardinal-bishop of Ostia, where he battled simony, and encouraged his priests to observe celibacy and urged even the diocesan clergy to live together and maintain scheduled prayer and religious observance; upon his retirement, he continued to serve as a papal legate; on one such assignment in Ravenna, he was overcome with fever, and died with his monks gathered around him praying the Divine Office Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/21/24 Gospel: Luke 11:29-32

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent Saints of the Day: Saints Jacinta (1910-1920) and Francisco (1908-1919); Jacinta, Francisco, and their cousin Lucia Dos Santos, received apparitions of Our Lady from  May 13 to October 13, 1917, near Fatima, Portugal; they were told to learn to read and write, and to pray the rosary to bring an end to the war Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/20/24 Gospel: Matthew 6:7-15

Monday of the First Week of Lent Saint of the Day: St. Colman of Lindisfarne, 605-675; Irish bishop of Lindisfarne, England, a disciple of St. Columba; defended Celtic ecclesiastical practices, and led a group of Irish and English monks to the Isle of Innishboffin, near Connaught, later moving the English monks to Mayo Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/19/24 Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46

First Sunday of Lent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/18/24 Gospel: Mark 1:12-15

Saturday after Ash Wednesday Commemoration of the Seven Founders of the Servite Order; in 1240, seven noblemen of Florence mutually decided to withdraw from the city to a solitary place for prayer and direct service of God; in 1244, they adopted a religious habit similar to the Dominican habit, choosing to live under the Rule of St. Augustine and adopting the name of the Servants of Mary; they came to the United States from Austria in 1852 and settled in New York and later in Philadelphia; members combined monastic life and active ministry Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/17/24 Gospel: Luke 5:27-32

Friday after Ash Wednesday Saint of the Day: St. Daniel; lived in the Third and Fourth Centuries; he and four companions, Elias, Isaias, Jeremy and Samuel were Egyptians who visited Christians condemned to work in the mines of Cilicia during Maximus' persecution; they were arrested at the gates of Caesaria, Palestine, accused of being Christians, and beheaded; Porphyry, a servant of St. Pamphilus demanded that the bodies be buried, and he was tortured and then burned to death when it was found he was a Christian; Seleucus witnessed his death and applauded his constancy in the face of his terrible death; whereupon he was arrested and beheaded; St. Daniel and his companions died in 309 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/16/24 Gospel: Mark 9:14-15

Thursday after Ash Wednesday Saint of the Day: St. Jordan; Jordan of Saxony met St. Dominic in Paris, and became a Dominican himself in 1220; in 1222, on the death of Dominic, Jordan was elected second master general of the Dominicans; he expanded the order, sent missionaries to Denmark, and frequently preached at universities to young students; St. Albert the Great became a Dominican after hearing one of his sermons; Jordan died in 1237 in a shipwreck on the coast of Syria

Ash Wednesday - The Beginning of Lent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/14/24 Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Catherine de Ricci, 1522-1589; born in Florence, and from her infancy, showed a great attraction to prayer; entered the convent of the Dominican nuns at Prat in Tuscany, in her fourteenth year; became mistress of novices, subprioress, and at age 25, perpetual prioress; her sanctity attracted many to her side, including a correspondence with St. Philip Neri; she experienced the "Ecstacy of the Passion" every week from Thursday noon to Friday afternoon for twelve years; died after a long illness Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/13/24 Gospel: Mark 8:14-21

Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Julian the Hospitaller; according to legend, in the Fourth Century, he killed his parents in a case of mistaken identity; Julian and his wife went to Rome to receive absolution; when they returned, he built an inn and a hospital for the poor; he even gave a leper his own bed. the leper was an angel Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/12/24 Gospel: Mark 8:11-13

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/11/24 Gospel: Mark 1:40-45