Daybreak

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

Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Alto; Eighth Century hermit and missionary of Irish or Anglo-Saxon descent, who lived in a simple hut in the wild lands of Germany; King Pepin gave him a parcel of land on which Alto built an abbey; the monastery was ravaged by the Huns, but was restored in 1000 as a Benedictine house; it was taken over by the Brigittines in the Fifteenth Century; Also died in 760 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/9/24 Gospel: Mark 7:31-37

Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Jerome Emiliani, 1486-1537; ill-mannered soldier of the city-state of Venice; arrested, and while in prison, learned to pray; returned to Venice, took charge of the education of his nephews, and began studying for the priesthood; after his ordination, plague and famine swept northern Italy, and Jerome cared for the sick and fed the hungry; he also founded three orphanages, a shelter for penitent prostitutes and a hospital; founded the Clerks Regular of Somasca, dedicated to the care of orphans and the education of youth; died of an illness contracted when caring for the sick Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/8/24 Gospel: Mark 6:30-34

Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Luke the Younger; Tenth Century hermit and wonder-worker whose solitary hermitage in Thessaly, Greece, became known as the Soterion, "the place of healing"; became a hermit on Mount Joannitsa. near Corinth; revered for his holiness and miracles Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/7/24 Gospel: Mark 7:14-23

Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Paul Miki and companions, the Japanese martyrs; in 1597, 26 martyrs of Japan were crucified on a hill overlooking Nagasaki; included was Brother Paul Miki, a Jesuit and native of Japan; from his cross, he forgave his persecutors; when missionaries returned to Japan in the 1860's, they found that thousands of Christians lived around Nagasaki and that they had secretly preserved the faith Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/6/24 Gospel: Mark 7:1-13

Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Agatha, 230-251; arrested as a Christian in the persecution of Decius, and sent to a house of prostitution to be mistreated; she was preserved from being violated, and was later put to death Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/5/24 Gospel: Mark 6:53-56

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/4/24 Gospel: Mark 1:29-39

Saturday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Blaise; Fourth Century bishop of Sebastea, in Armenia; persecution raged in Armenia, and Blaise was forced to flee to the back country, where he lived as a hermit, and made friends with the wild animals; a group of hunters stumbled upon his cave, and found him kneeling in prayer surrounded by patiently waiting wolves, lions and bears; as they hauled him off to prison, a mother came with her young son who had a fish bone lodged in his throat. At Blaise’s command the child was able to cough up the bone--thus, the blessing of throats on this day; Blaise was eventually beheaded Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/3/24 Gospel: Mark 6:30-34