DAILY CATHOLIC    FRI-SAT-TRINITY SUNDAY     June 5-7, 1998     vol. 9, no. 109

DAILY LITURGY

To print out entire text of Today's issue, go to SECTION ONE and SECTION TWO

Friday, June 5, 1998

      First Reading: 2 Timothy 3: 10-17
      Psalms: Psalm 119: 157, 160-161, 165-166, 168
      Gospel Reading: Mark 12: 35-37

SAINT BONIFACE, BISHOP, RELIGIOUS AND MARTYR

          Known as the "Apostle of Germany," Saint Boniface was born in the 670's in Wessex, England. He became a Benedictine and became a missionary at the approval of Pope Gregory II who ordained him a bishop in 722 and placed him ecclesiastically in charge of Germany. His zeal and perseverance paid off in converting most of this land, producing many saintly monks and nuns. One account tells of him chopping down a huge oak tree which had been dedicated to the god Jupiter. Boniface then proceeded to use the wood from this tree to build a church dedicated to St. Peter. Pope Gregory III saw the fruits and added Bavaria and what is today Austria to Boniface's charge, making the saint an archbishop. Boniface founded numerous dioceses establishing monasteries and abbeys in each. On a trip to Holland, while waiting to confirm 52 newly-Baptized Dutch Catholics, he was murdered by a hostile troop of heathens on June 5, 755. His body was buried at the now-famous abbey in Fulda which Boniface had not only founded, but had managed to receive pontifical exemption for the monastery, a first in the history of the Church. Fulda is the site where the bishops of western Germany still convene today for synods.

Saturday, June 6, 1998

    First Saturday, June 6: Ninth Saturday in Ordinary Time and
    Feast of Saint NorbertReligious Founder andObservance of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday and
    FIRST SATURDAY

    Green and White vestments

      First Reading: 2 Timothy 4: 1-8
      Psalms: Psalm 71: 8-9, 14-17, 22
      Gospel Reading: Mark 12: 38-44

SAINT NORBERT, RELIGIOUS FOUNDER

          Saint Norbert is best known for his work in the reform of the Church in the 12th Century as a holy bishop and for founding the Norbertines, an order of canons regular. Norbert was born into French nobility and through Godincidences in his life, gave all he had to the poor, dedicating his life totally to doing God's work. St. Norbert was a close friend of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and patterned much of his life on this teacher who composed the "Memorare." Norbert died peacefully in Magdeburg near Germany in 1134 and was canonized by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. His relics can be found in the abbey of his name in Strahov, Bohemia where they were permanently placed in 1627.

OBSERVANCE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY ON SATURDAY

       &bnsp;&bnsp; Honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary is a custom first promoted by the Benedictine Monk Saint Alcuin back in the days of Charlemagne (see archives December 23, no. 25 issue). He composed different formulas for Votive Masses for each day of the week, with two set aside to honor Our Lady on Saturday. This practice caught on with great enthusiasm and eventually the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday became the Common of the Blessed Virgin. This Mass was a favorite with retired priests and those whose sight was failing for most had memorized this Mass and were able to say it by heart without having to read the Lectionary or Sacramentary. One reason Saturday was dedicated to Mary was that Saturday held a special meaning in Mariology. First of all, as Genesis accounts for, God rested on the seventh day. In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was Saturday. Jesus, Son of God rested in the womb and then, when He became incarnate, in the loving arms of Mary from birth until she held His lifeless body at the foot of the Cross. Thus the God-head rested in Mary. It was also on Saturday after Good Friday that Jesus gave His Mother a special gift and reward for keeping her faith in His Divinity intact by making an exceptional appearance to her. Thus, because of these reasons, the devotion spread by St. Alcuin and other liturgies that evolved within the Church, Saturday took on a special Marian significance. Saturday took on even more significance in honoring Mary when Our Lady imparted to visionary Lucia in her third apparition at Fatima on July 13, 1917, "Our Lord wishes that devotion to my Immaculate Heart be established in the world. If what I tell you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace; the war will end...I ask the consecration of the world to my Immaculate Heart and Communion of reparation on the First Saturday of each month...If my requests are granted, Russia will be converted and there will be peace...In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph, and an era of peace will be conceded to humanity." As we draw nearer to that wonderful event, it is more important than ever to honor Mary's request on the First Saturday as well as each Saturday that her feast is commemorated in the Church calendar, not to mention responding to her call daily with the Rosary and attending Daily Mass, nourished by her Divine Son present body and blood, soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament. It is in the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary where she remains in the background in the liturgy of the Word so that her Divine Son's words and His Presence take the spotlight as He should while Mary remains the chief intercessor before the Holy Trinity as she should and serves as the ideal for all Catholics to strive for, as we should. The Dictionary of Mary states quite succinctly, "Through these liturgical acts, (honoring Mary on Saturday) Christians exalt the person of Mary in the action that renews the sacrifice of Christ and in the action that prolongs His prayer."

TRINITY SUNDAY, June 7, 1998

      First Reading: Proverbs 8: 22-31
      Psalms: Psalm 119: 157, 160-161, 165-166, 168
      Second Reading: Romans 5: 1-5
      Gospel Reading: John 15: 12-15

FEAST OF THE HOLY TRINITY

          This feast, one week after the Feast of Pentecost and one week before the Feast of Corpus Christi celebrates the most august mystery of our faith - that God is Three Persons in One. Each Person is distinct from the other but identical in Divine Substance. It was Jesus who revealed the Father and the Holy Spirit and thus Christians have always clung to this essence of the Triune Divinity. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the greatest example of this relationship for she was the daughter of the Divine Father, Mother of the Divine Son, and Spouse of the Divine Spirit. In the Trinity we proclaim our "sonship" to the Father, our fellowship to the Son for we are Jesus brothers and sisters, and through these relationships and our life of grace we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Though the origins of Trinity Sunday go back to the time of the Arian heresy, the feast actually didn't become a reality until Saint Thomas Becket received from Rome permission for England to celebrate this special feast on the Sunday after Pentecost to honor the Trinity in the twelfth century. Two centuries later Pope John XXII extended this feast to the entire Church.

Monday, June 8, 1998

      First Reading: 1 Kings 17: 1-6
      Psalms: Psalm 119: 157, 160-161, 165-166, 168
      Gospel Reading: Matthew 5: 13-16

June 5-7, 1998       volume 9, no. 109
LITURGY

DAILY CATHOLIC

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