SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER
SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: MAY 6, 2024
Greetings, beloved family and Happy Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter!
We thank God for the gift of life and for the gift of the new month of May. The entire month of May is dedicated to our beloved Mother Mary, the Mother of God. May she continue to intercede for us and may God’s grace and mercy be with us all during this season of Easter🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN | May 6, 2024” |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 6, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | May 6, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 6, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 6, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteriels VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |
Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |
Today’s Bible Readings: Monday, May 6, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 16:11-15
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 9
Gospel, John 15:26-16:4
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF MAY: MONTH OF OUR LADY: In addition to the myriad feast days honoring Our Lady under her many titles and virtues, the entire month of May is especially given to her praise. In the words of Pope Paul VI, May is “a month which the piety of the faithful has long dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God … For this is the month during which Christians, in their churches and their homes, offer the Virgin Mother more fervent and loving acts of homage and veneration; and it is the month in which a greater abundance of God’s merciful gifts comes down to us from our Mother’s throne.”
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF MAY – FOR THE FORMATION OF RELIGIOUS AND SEMINARIANS: We pray that religious women and men, and seminarians, grow in their own vocations through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses to the Gospel.🙏
https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024
PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen🙏
During this Easter season, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏
On this special feast day, as we continue to celebrate our risen Lord, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for the Clergy and religious as they serve in the Lord’s Vineyard. We also pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to remember our beloved, we pray for the repose of their gentle souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯
PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏
Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/
FEAST OF SAINT JOHN BEFORE THE LATIN GATE; SAINT EVODIUS OF ANTIOCH, BISHOP; SAINT DOMINIC SAVIO, CONFESSOR; SAINT PETER NOLASCO, FOUNDER AND BLESSED EDWARD JONES AND ANTHONY MIDDLETON, MARTYRS ~ FEAST DAY: MAY 6TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint John before the Latin Gate, Saint Evodius of Antioch, Bishop, Saint Dominic Savio, Confessor; Saint Francis de Laval, Bishop, Saint Peter Nolasco, Founder and Blessed Edward Jones and Anthony Middleton, Martyrs. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for our children and children all over the world, we pray for their health, safety and well-being, we particularly pray for those who have no one to care for them and those who are terminally ill, we pray for God’s Divine healing upon them. We also pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, for all youths and Christians all over the world🙏
SAINT JOHN BEFORE THE LATIN GATE: St. John before the Latin Gate (95 A.D.), a tradition mentioned by St. Jerome, which goes back to the second century, says St. John the Apostle was taken to Rome under the Emperor Domitian and plunged into a cauldron of boiling oil; by a striking miracle he came out safe and sound from this torture. A church dedicated in honor of St. John was built near the Latin Gate, the spot referred to by the tradition.
In the year 95, Saint John the Evangelist, the only surviving Apostle, who was governing all the churches of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), was apprehended at Ephesus and sent in chains to Rome. The Emperor Domitian did not relent at the sight of the venerable old man, but condemned him to be cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. The martyr doubtless heard, with great joy, this barbarous sentence; the most cruel torments seemed to him light and agreeable because he hoped they would unite him forever to his divine Master and Saviour. But God accepted his will and crowned his desire; He conferred on him the honor and merit of martyrdom while suspending the operation of the fire, just as He had formerly preserved the three children from injury in the Babylonian furnace. The seething oil was changed for him into an invigorating bath, and the Saint came out more refreshed than when he had entered the cauldron.
The glorious triumph of Saint John happened just beyond the gate of Rome called the Latina. A church which ever since has borne this title was consecrated there, in memory of the miracle. Domitian saw this miracle without deriving the least advantage from it, remaining hardened in his iniquity. Nonetheless, he contented himself afterwards with banishing the holy Apostle to the little island of Patmos. Saint John returned to Ephesus during the mild reign of Nerva (96-98), who during his short imperial government lasting one year and four months, merely labored to restore the faded luster of the Roman Empire.
Reflection. Saint John suffered above the other Saints a martyrdom of love, being a martyr and more than a martyr, at the foot of the cross of his divine Master. All Our Lord’s sufferings were by love and compassion imprinted in his soul, and thus shared by him. O singular happiness, to have stood under the cross of Christ! O extraordinary privilege, to have suffered martyrdom beside Jesus, and been eye-witness of all He did or endured! If nature revolts within us against suffering, let us call to mind those words of the divine Master to Saint Peter: Now thou knowest not why, but thou shalt know hereafter. (John 13:7)
SAINT EVODIUS OF ANTIOCH, BISHOP: St. Evodius was one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ, and Catholic tradition has always held that he was the first bishop of Antioch after St. Peter. However, we are not sure in what year he assumed the position. As bishop of Antioch, he was the first to coin the word “Christian” to refer to the disciples of Jesus. He probably died between the years 64-67, when he was then succeeded by St. Ignatius of Antioch. Saint Evodius of Antioch, Bishop ~ Pray for us🙏
SAINT DOMINIC SAVIO, CONFESSOR: St. Dominic Savio (1842-1857) was only fifteen when he died but he had already attained a high degree of sanctity. A pupil of the great St. John Bosco who loved him like a son, St. Dominic organized the Company of the Immaculate Conception to help St. John in running the Oratory. Though St. Dominic’s life was one of poverty, work, and suffering, it was filled with the cheerfulness and joy of sanctity. This model for youths once wrote to a friend: “Here we make sanctity consist in being joyful all the time and in faithfully performing our duties.” St. Dominic Savio was born in Riva di Chieri, Italy, on April 2, 1842. He looked so frail and weak on the morning of his birth that his father rushed him that same evening to the parish church for Baptism. But St. Dominic survived and began serving Mass when he was five years old, one of his greatest joys. He was often seen at five o’clock in the morning in front of the church on his knees in rain or snow, waiting for the doors to be opened. When, at the age of seven, he made his First Holy Communion, he formed the motto, “Death, but not sin!”, the resolution to die rather than sin, as he had frequently expressed his determination and ambition to become a Saint. The village pastor at Mondonio, recognizing in Dominic a soul of predilection, arranged to have him enter Don Bosco’s Oratory at Turin. Don Bosco soon noted Dominic’s consuming quest for sanctity, and pointed out to the boy that the path to holiness is not necessarily among hair shirts and tortures of the flesh, but in the cheerful bearing and offering of each day’s small crosses. Steering the lad away from artificial practices, his loved master showed him that for a soul avid of penance, there is a superabundance to be had for the taking, through acceptance of the monotony and tribulations inseparable from the perfect fulfillment of the duties of one’s state of life.
After a few months of life in the environment of the Oratory and under the saintly care of Saint John Bosco, Dominic’s soul was fired with the zeal of his master, whose rule of life, Give me souls, Lord; You take the rest, the boy adopted for his own. Following the example of Don Bosco, who in season and out of season sought those souls wherever they were to be found, Dominic also went after them in his own little world. In the Oratory he founded and directed the Immaculate Conception Sodality, a group of boys who by prayer, word and example carried on an apostolate among their classmates and proved to be of valuable assistance to Don Bosco in his work. On one occasion Dominic broke up a vicious duel with stones. Standing between the boy-duelists with dramatic suddenness, he flashed a crucifix and said: This is Friday. Today Christ died for love of us. Can you look at Him and still hate each other? When Dominic’s health began to fail he was forced to leave the Oratory. Don Bosco and the boys were very sorry to see him leave; he had been a good friend to all.
Don Bosco said of him: His cheerful character and lively disposition made him extremely popular even among those boys who were no great lovers of their faith. His death at his home on March 9, 1857, was sweet and peaceful. As he was dying, he burst out into an ecstatic exclamation, ”Oh, what a beautiful sight I see!” Saint Dominic Savio is the youngest Confessor in the Church’s calendar of saints, and stands out as a hero of school-boy virtue, the shining model of holiness. St. Dominic was Beatified on March 5, 1950 by Pope Pius XII and Canonized on June 12, 1954 by Pope Pius XII. He’s the Patron Saint of choirboys, choristers the falsely accused, and juvenile delinquents. St. Dominic Savio’s feast is now celebrated on May 6th (formerly celebrated on March 9th)
PRAYER: Lord God, You alone are holy and no one is good without You. Through the intercession of St. Dominic help us to live in such a way that we may not be deprived of a share in Your glory. Amen🙏
SAINT FRANCIS DE LAVAL, BISHOP: Saint Francis-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval (1623-1708) was one of eight children born to one of France’s most illustrious families. He learned his piety from his mother, and like his namesake desired to become a priest and missionary. This dream was realized when he was appointed by Pope Alexander VII to be the first Apostolic Vicar of New France (Canada). His territory covered all of what is now Canada and the central section of what would become the United States, an enormous frontier which he undertook as a great spiritual work. He landed in Quebec in 1659 when the population was just 500 people. He supported the missions, built a cathedral to the Immaculate Conception, taught devotion to Our Lady under this title, founded a seminary and an industrial school, and began the first Catholic school system in Canada. In all seasons he made long and perilous journeys by land and water to minister to his flock. When Quebec became a diocese he was consecrated as Canada’s first bishop. He fought the sinister alcohol trade to the Indian tribes by having it outlawed within his territory and excommunicating those involved with it. He converted and baptized an Iroquois chief who then became a promoter of the Christian faith and won other converts among the local tribes. St. Francis de Laval was a man known for his great influence and holiness of life. His feast day is May 6th. Saint Francis de Laval, Bishop ~ Pray for us🙏
SAINT PETER NOLASCO, FOUNDER: St. Peter Nolasco (1189-1256) was born at Mas-des-Saintes-Puelles, Languedoc, today’s France in 1189 to Bernard Nolasque, but later settled in Barcelona, Spain. After taking part in the Crusades against the Albigensians, he used his inheritance to free Christian prisoners held by the Moors. He later founded the Order of Our Lady of Mercy (Mercedarians) beginning in 1218 devoted to ransoming Christians. One night while St. Peter Nolasco was praying, the Blessed Virgin appeared (1228) and told him how greatly pleased she and her divine Son would be if a religious order were established in her honor for the express purpose of delivering Christians held in bondage by the infidels. In compliance with her wish, St. Peter, together with St. Raymond of Penafort and James I, King of Aragon, founded the Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the ransom of captives. Besides the usual vows, all members were required to take a fourth, one by which they bound themselves to become captives of the pagans, if necessary, to effect the emancipation of Christians.
On one occasion Peter Nolasco ransomed 400 at Valencia and Granada; twice he traveled to Africa as “the Ransomer,” not without peril to his own life; and records show that through his personal efforts a total of 890 Christians regained their liberty. He died on May 6, 1256, Valencia, Spain with these words from Psalm 110 on his lips: The Lord has sent redemption to His people. Saint Peter Nolasco, Founder ~ Pray for us🙏
BLESSED EDWARD JONES AND ANTHONY MIDDLETON, MARTYRS: Bl. Edward Jones from Wales and Anthony Middleton from Yorkshire, were both educated at the Douai College in Rheims. They became priests and were sent to the English mission in the time of Elizabeth II. Middleton was the first to arrive in England, in 1586, and pursued the ministry for some time without being discovered, helped considerably by his youthful appearance and slight stature. Jones followed, in 1588, and quickly became known by the English Catholics as a devout and eloquent preacher.
The two men of God were hunted down and captured with the aid of spies posing as Catholics, and they were hanged before the very doors of the houses in Fleet Street and Clerkenwell where they were arrested. Their trial is regarded as full irregularities; the reason for the summary justice dispensed to them was spelled out in large letters: “For treason and foreign invasion.” After offering their death for the forgiveness of their sins, the spread of the true Faith, and the conversion of heretics, they died on May 6, 1590.
PRAYER: Lord, we devoutly recall the sufferings of Blessed Edward and Anthony. Give success to our joyful prayers and grant us also constancy in our Faith. Amen🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS
Bible Readings for today, Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ John 15:26-16:4a
“The Spirit of truth will testify to me”
“Jesus said to His disciples: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. “I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me. I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.”
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells His disciples that after He takes His leave of them they are to become His witnesses. Although Jesus will no longer be in the world in an embodied form, in another sense He will be in the world in an embodied form in and through His disciples who will be His witnesses. That remains our calling today as the Lord’s disciples, to witness to Him so that He can be present in the world in an embodied form through us. In our Gospel reading Jesus highlights two reasons why the disciples will be able to witness to Him. One reason is the Holy Spirit, because the chief witness to Jesus is the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit witnesses to Jesus in and through the lives of the disciples. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us and empowers us to be the Lord’s witnesses. Another reason why the disciples can be the Lord’s witnesses is that they have been with Him from the beginning, from the time of His baptism. Only those who have been with Jesus can witness to Him. We have not been with Jesus in the sense that the first disciples have, but if we are to witness to Jesus we need to be with Him in prayer. We need to be present to Him prayerfully if the Holy Spirit is to witness to Him through our lives.
Our first reading today gives an account of St. Paul’s visit to the city of Philippi to preach the gospel there. Philippi is in the eastern part of Greece today. This was the first time the Gospel was preached in what we would call today the continent of Europe. It was a very significant moment in the spread of the Gospel from Jerusalem. According to our reading, a group of women were among the first to hear St. Paul’s preaching of the Gospel on the European mainland, and one of them, a woman called Lydia from Thyatira, a dealer in expensive purple cloth, opened her home to Paul while he preached the Gospel in Philippi. This God-fearing lady, Lydia became a believer, and her whole entire household were baptised in the Lord. More and more believers came to follow the path of the Lord, and more gave themselves to be baptised, growing the early Church from a very small community in the very beginning into a rapidly burgeoning assembly of the faithful, spreading from cities and towns, from place to place. As Lydia had received the gift of the Gospel from St. Paul, in that way she showed gratitude to him. According to the Gospel reading, Jesus tells His disciples to expect hostility because of their faith in him and their witness to that faith. St. Paul himself experienced a great deal of hostility because of his witness to his faith in Jesus. Yet, every so often, he also experienced great support and kindness from people like Lydia. St. Paul needed people like Lydia who supported his mission. Lydia knew what it meant for her concretely, showing hospitality to Paul. The Lord will also make clear to us what it might mean for us concretely to give from what we have received. We all need such people on our faith journey. We need the support of one another, especially in the times we are in. The supportive faith presence that Lydia was for St. Paul, we are all called to be for one another. As Jesus promised to send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to help his disciples in their witnessing to him in the Gospel. Lydia was a channel of that Holy Spirit to St. Paul and we are called to be channels of that Holy Spirit to one another, so that we can all be encouraged in our efforts to follow the Lord as His witnesses in the world.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, all of us are called and reminded to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and dedicate ourselves to His works and ministry, and all that He has entrusted to all of us to do in our lives. Each and every one of us have been called to be good and faithful Christians in all things, to be role models and exemplary in our lives and actions so that we may be beacons of God’s light, truth and love in our various communities, proclaiming His Good News and truth to all the people all around us. That is what we have been called to do as Christians, and we will do well to heed this calling and to do what the Lord has commanded us to do, and to live our lives to the best of our abilities, in walking down the path that God has shown us. May the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ, our Saviour, King and Good Shepherd be with us always and be with His Church, that each and every one of us may ever be empowered, encouraged and strengthened to live our lives worthily as Christians, to be worthy beacons of God’s light, truth and love at all times. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace, may He bless us all and bless our every endeavours, our every good works for the greater glory of His Name. Amen🙏
Let us pray:
Most glorious Jesus, You promised to send upon Your disciples and also upon me the Holy Spirit, the Advocate and Spirit of Truth. Holy Spirit, I welcome You into my life and offer myself to You without reserve to be used to give testimony to the Truth. Please do use me, my God, and touch many lives through me. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint John before the Latin Gate, Saint Evodius, Saint Dominic Savio, Saint Peter Nolasco and Blessed Edward Jones and Anthony Middleton, Martyrs ~ Pray for us sinners🙏
Thanking God for the gift of this day and praying for His Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all and for vocations to priesthood and consecrated life. Have a blessed, safe, grace-filled and fruitful Sixth Week of Easter🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖