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     This weekend we observe the Lenten Liturgy Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT. For the readings, liturgy, and meditations, click on DAILY LITURGY FOR THE WEEKEND.

Friday March 5:
Lenten Weekday and
FIRST FRIDAY plus World Day of Prayer

Purple or violet vestments

First Reading: Genesis 37: 2-4, 12-13, 17-28
Psalms: Psalm 105: 5, 16-21
Gospel Reading: Matthew 21: 33-43, 45-46

Saturday March 6:
Lenten Weekday and
FIRST SATURDAY

Purple or violet vestments

First Reading: Micah 7: 14-15, 18-20
Psalms: Psalm 103: 1-4, 8-12
Gospel Reading: Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32

SUNDAY March 7:
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

Purple or violet vestments

First Reading: Exodus 17: 3-7
Psalms: Psalm 95: 1-2, 6-9
Second Reading: Romans 5: 1-2, 5-8
Gospel Reading: John 4: 5-42

Monday March 8:
Lenten Weekday and
Optional Feast of Saint John of God, religious founder

Purple or violet vestments

First Reading: 2 Kings 4: 1-15
Psalms: Psalm 42: 2-3; 43: 3-4
Gospel Reading: Luke 4: 24-30

      This saint, known for his work in the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy, lived in the 16th Century in Portugal and Spain. One day while traveling he came across a small child with no shoes. Because his own shoes would not fit the child he lifted Him upon his shoulders and carried him, offering solace and help. While stopping to drink, the child revealed Himself as the Infant Christ Child and presented John a pomagranate, the fruit of the region which is sweet and stood for charity. It was crowned with a cross, representing sacrifice, which Jesus said would be the "Cross of Granada" where John, at the age of 42, would establish the Brother Hospitallers of St. John of God in the year 1537. John was given the name "John of God" by his own bishop who saw in John, a true saint. John died saving others. After many close calls rescuing people from the streets and burning hospitals, he dove into the River Xenil to save a drowning lad and succumbed of pneumonia from the cold, icy waters at the age of 55.

      This weekend's prayer is the Act of Resignation to the Divine Will which carries with it an Indulgence of 7 years each time it is said. A Plenary Indulgence can be merited at the hour of death by those who have at least once during life devoutly made this Act of Resignation and fulfilled the usual conditions of Confession, Holy Communion and prayer for the Holy Father's intentions.

O Lord my God, I now at this moment, readily and willingly accept at Thy hand whatever kind of death it may please Thee to send me, with all its pains, penalties and sorrows.

     For the Lenten Way of the Cross, click on either the graphics Daily Way of the Cross or the text-only Daily Way of the Cross or the Meditative Lessons on the Way to Calvary

Events this weekend in Church History

      Sunday is the 725th anniversary of the death of what many consider the greatest Doctor of the Church - Saint Thomas Aquinas known as the Angelic Doctor. This great and wise Dominican set the bar for Catholicism as we know it today through his teachings and doctrines. For other events throughout the centuries that are memorable in Church history this weekend, click on MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES

Historical Events in Church Annals for March 5:

• 138 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Oliva, virgin and martyr from Breschia who received her eternal reward of Heaven through martyrdom at the hands of the Roman emperor Hadrian.

• 254 A.D.
  
• Death of Pope Saint Lucius I, 22nd successor of Peter. Born in Rome, he was elected on June 25, 253. Possessing an aesthetical nature, he forbade men and women not related by blood to live together; he also decreed that clergy could not live with deaconesses even if given lodging for reasons of charity. His pontificate was cut short after less than nine months as Roman Pontiff, by the cruel persecution of the Roman emperor Valerian who ordered the execution of this martyred Pope.

• 423 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Eusebius of Cremona. He succeeded Saint Jerome as Abbot of Bethlehem and was quite close to the saintly Doctor of the Church who translated the Bible into the Latin Vulgate.

• 1179 A.D.
  
• Pope Alexander III convenes the Third Lateran Council, better known as the 11th Ecumenical Council in which papal elections would be regulated to insist on two-thirds majority for confirmation of an election - something still in effect today. The Council Fathers also condemned Albigensianism and Waldensesism. The well-attended and short Council would last only two weeks, being closed on March 19th.

Historical Events in Church Annals for March 6:

• 1447 A.D.
  
• Cardinal Tommaso Parentucelli is elected the 208th successor of Peter, taking the name Pope Nicholas V out of respect for the bishop in Bologna who groomed him. Known as the "Renaissance Pope," for more we refer you to Tuesday's installment in The History of the Mass and Holy Mother Church.

Historical Events in Church Annals for March 7:

• 203 A.D.
  
• Death of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, virgins and martyrs who were subjected to torture by wild beasts in a Carthage amphitheater but came out of it unscathed. So incensed was the Procurator of the region Hilarion that he ordered them be swiftly killed by the sword.

• 445 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Gaudiosus, Bishop of Brescia who died of natural causes on this date.

• 1274 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelic Dominican Doctor of the Church. His feast used to be celebrated on the day of his death but in the new liturgy that was transfered to January 28th. For more on this great saint, see St. Thomas' feast day.

• 1530 A.D.
  
• Pope Clement VII denies the request by King Henry VIII for a divorce from Catherine of Aragon to which Henry declares he, not the Pope, is the supreme head of England's church, in effect declaring apostasy and schism that lasts even up to today.

• 1724 A.D.
  
• Death of Pope Innocent XIII, 244th successor of Peter. This Jesuit was born in Rome and elected the Roman Pontiff on May 18, 1721. During his three year pontificate he reconfirmed the papal bull Unigenitus for those of the French clergy who had not accepted it. He intervened forcibly in the Spanish Church and sent 100,000 crowns to the Knights of Malta in their struggle with the Turks.

Daily Dose of curious contents of the Church

   In honor of the 725th anniversary of the death of Saint Thomas Aquinas we wanted to briefly treat one of the greatest writings of the Church, his Summa Theologica a collection of major dogmatic writings that contain treatises, questions and answers and is split into three segments - Prima dealing with God as Creator; the second divided into two parts Prima Secundae and Secundae Secundae deal with the climax of man's in relationship to God and man's journey back to God respectively; and the third part Tertia covers Jesus Christ as the gateway for man's salvation through the Sacraments and matters of the end times. For more on this we refer you to the work itself expertly stored at the New Advent Catholic Supersite (sources: Catholic Encyclopedia, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

"I have said all God desires and you have not listened. Your hearts are as of stone!"

     Those words come from the Blessed Virgin Mary in her 422nd Message to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart on the Feast of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque on October 16, 1993 in which Our Lady reminds all her children that her messages will end soon and it is time to live her messages and take refuge in the only safe harbor available - her Divine Son Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist where, she asserts, all who come to Him will persevere. She prefaces this message three days earlier on the commemoration of the final apparition at Fatima by telling her children to perpetuate the inevitable truths of the True Presence of her Son in the Blessed Sacrament. For Messages #421 and 422, click on "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..."

Messages 421 and 422

      Beloved Hidden Flower, I bless you and all who journey with you, all families.

      I desire all of my children to know that to each I give many graces so that their hearts will be open to the Holy Spirit.

      Dear children, I call constantly to you to return all reverence, adoration and worship to my Divine Son in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I desire to have all my children know that my Son is truly present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Most Blessed Sacrament. This True Presence, my children, is His full Humanity and His full Divinity. Yes, it is a sublime mystery, a true miracle! But in your heart, through the intellect of your soul you recognize Jesus Christ as God and Savior, King of Kings. The Body is His Body as Incarnated in my Immaculate Womb at the moment of my Fiat to God at the Annunciation. His Blood is the Real Blood of His Humanity, shed for all men on Calvary.

      Soon, when I am no longer among you many Eucharistic Miracles will be given to recall all men to the Truth of this Sacrament of Love and the Eternal Sacrifice of Calvary. It is truly the Body and the Precious Blood of my Divine Son, and it is given you as a sign to strengthen your weak faith, to bring you to full abandonment to God, and to sublime Love. Do not doubt. Many miracles shall be granted as a sign of His Infinite Divine Mercy.

      Woe, triple woe to those who reject these miracles! Woe, triple woe to those who scoff, and with finite intellect call these Eucharistic Miracles "private revelation." The True Church teaches as sacred Truth, Dogma and Doctrine the Transubstantiation. This is Dogma - Divine Revelation as contained in Sacred Scripture.

      Be a people of great purity and your faith will allow you to see Him - your God Who suffered and died for you. Prepare yourselves well by being always with Him, for the time of Great Sorrow deepens and mankind continually crucifies my Divine Son by the many abuses and sacrileges against Him in the Holy Eucharist. Cling to Him and you shall persevere.

      I love and bless you. Thank you for responding to my Call!

      Beloved Hidden Flower, I bless you. Tell my little ones who are truly striving to live my messages that they give me great joy, and my Divine Son is comforted. Yet, I am much saddened, for many, many hear and read my messages and do not live them because their faith is weak and they are still attached to the world.

      Little children of my Immaculate Heart, soon my apparitions shall cease. In many places you will know the moment is at hand for I will come to you but without spoken words. I have said all God desires and you have not listened. Your hearts are as of stone!

      I solemnly tell you the grave trials and chastisements shall only increase. Every nation shall suffer greatly for their sins and lack of reparation. Yet in His Mercy God will give His children signs, and the moment of the Warning is about to strike!

      Therefore, heed my words and pray! Please come to me and be my little army, molded and purified in the Sacred Heart of my Divine Son. Help one another to fulfill all I have asked, that my many Eucharistic Communities may be completed, and the True Faith preserved. Believe and trust, and God shall send you all necessary help.

      I solemnly tell you that where the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is preserved, and all honor, reverence, adoration and glory is given my Divine Son, there shall my little ones be fed and receive the strength to persevere.

      I shall come now in silence. Listen in your heart and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in all things. There will be some of my messengers I will continue to speak to, but you must listen or else I shall no longer be able to help you in this way.

      Join with me in prayer, constant and unceasing, for the world has entered Calvary, and many are the souls who are close to perdition. I love all my children. Pray. Make sacrifice. Love my Divine Son!

      I love and bless you. Thank you for responding to my Call!

February 25th Medjugorje Monthly Message

   Dear children! Also today I am with you in a special way contemplating and living the passion of Jesus in my heart. Little children, open your hearts and give me everything that is in them: joys, sorrows and each, even the smallest, pain, that I may offer them to Jesus; so that with His immeasurable love, He may burn and transform your sorrows into the joy of His resurrection. That is why, I now call you in a special way, little children, for your hearts to open to prayer, so that through prayer you may become friends of Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call.

For more on Medjugorje, click on MEDJUGORJE AND MORE

Click here to go to SECTION THREE or return to SECTION ONE or click here to return to the graphics front page of this issue.

March 5-7, 1999 volume 10, no. 45   DAILY CATHOLIC