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      Friday is the Eleventh Friday in Ordinary Time while Saturday we commemorate the Feast of Saint Romuald, Abbot and Religious Founder, and the Observance of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday with Sunday being the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. For the readings, liturgies, meditations and vignettes for the weekend, click on WEEKEND LITURGY.

Friday, June 18:
Eleventh Friday in Ordinary Time

Green vestments

First Reading: 2 Corinthians 11: 18, 21-30
Psalms: Psalm 34: 2-7, 18
Gospel Reading: Matthew 6: 19-23

Saturday, June 19:
Eleventh Saturday in Ordinary Time and
Feast of Saint Romuald, Abbot and Religious Founder and Observance of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday

Green or White vestments

First Reading: 2 Corinthians 12: 1-10
Psalms: Psalm 34: 8-13
Gospel Reading: Matthew 6: 24-34

SAINT ROMUALD, ABBOT AND RELIGIOUS FOUNDER

    This saint of the tenth century, Saint Romuald was known for submitting totally to God's Will. He relished solitude all his life and died the same way while in prayer at the age of 76. Born into nobility in Ravenna, Italy in 951, he entered the Benedictine Monastery after witnessing the death of his father in a duel with an adversary. While there he rebuked his fellow monks who had grown lax in observing the rule, provoking their wrath. Frustrated that he could not totally fulfill God's will in this monastery that had traded sanctity for the world, the flesh and the devil, he received permission to move on to Venice where he obediently submitted to the life of a hermit, learning under a master hermit. He traveled throughout Italy preaching the strictness of adhering to God's Will and establishing hermitages and monasteries that would be in compliance with the strict Benedictine Rule. It was also during this time that satan assaulted him relentlessly, causing him to go into a "dark night of the soul", but he never gave up faith and when he emerged the stronger he desired to evangelize the faith as a missionary in Hungary. However, every time he stepped foot in that country, he became seriously sick. Finally, after several attempts, he realized it was not God's Will that he be a foreign missionary. Thus he returned to his homeland and place of birth and in 1012 founded the Camaldolese Order of Hermits. After the Order was well on its way, he set out to found more monasteries for the Order but died in the solitude of his cell at the monastery of Val di Castro in 1027.

      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, volume 7). 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."

SUNDAY, June 20:
TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
FATHER'S DAY

Green vestments

First Reading: Jeremiah 20: 10-13
Psalms: Psalm 69: 8-10, 14, 17, 33-35
Second Reading: Romans 5: 12-15
Gospel Reading: Matthew 10: 26-33

Monday, June 21:
Feast of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious

White vestments

First Reading: Genesis 12: 1-9
Psalms: Psalm 33: 12-13, 18-20, 22
Gospel Reading: Matthew 7: 1-5

      Known as the "Patron Saint of Seminarians and Altar Boys," Saint Aloysius Gonzaga never achieved his life-long goal of becoming a Jesuit priest. God took him home at the tender age of 23. Aloysius was born into nobility in 1568 during the reign of the great St. Pius V. Exposed to the spoils of the world, he was spoiled at a very early age, adapting a filthy mouth. However his mother roundly scolded him for his obscenities and swearing, reminding him over and over that it offended her, but it offended God and His Mother even more. This touched home with Aloysius who from that time on began a devoted life of prayer, learning to love the Lord and the time with Him in prayer. Though he had been deeded great wealth and property, he turned it all over to his brother in order to become a member of the Society of Jesus. He entered the seminary in Rome at the age of 16 where his spiritual director was St. Robert Bellarmine. There he studied under this wise saint and received minor orders at Rome's St. John Lateran. When a plague broke out in the city, many of the seminarians were recruited to minister to the sick. Willingly he went about this dangerous work for many of his fellow Jesuits also had taken sick. Not immune, Aloysius contracted the disease which took its toll on him at the stroke of midnight on June 21. Aloysius had always combined a remarkable innocence with the spirit of penance and was strengthened greatly by the Holy Eucharist of which he had an undying love for. He died with the name Jesus on his lips.

PRAYERS & DEVOTION

     In honor of the Feast of Saint Romuald, Abbot and Religious Founder on Saturday we present the Preface for the Mass honoring him:

In Your kindness You filled St. Romuald, father and teacher of monks and hermits, with the joy of sublime contemplation; You illumined him with the light of prophecy and inflamed him with apostolic zeal. Thus, by the silence of his tongue and the eloquence of his life, he led many souls along the way of salvation.

"Little children, open your eyes and see clearly how satan has taken possession of your world. Do you not see the hand of the evil one in the vile and violent crimes that daily mount in your world?"

     Those words above come from Our Lord in Message #561 on November 4, 1994 to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart in which Jesus warns of satan's cunning and that the natural disasters will intensify as signs of what is to come. His Blessed Mother follows up a day later by reinforcing her Divine Son's words and asking her little ones to pray and prepare and to offer sacrifice especially for the Holy Father. For Messages 561 and 562, click on "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..."

Message Five-Hundred-sixty-one, November 4, 1994

      Beloved Hidden Flower of My Mother's Immaculate Heart, I love and bless you.

      I say now to all the world: Come to Me. My Sacred and Merciful Heart awaits you! I long for My children to be with Me! But, little children, you cannot be Mine and belong also to the world. O! Those of My little ones who are possessed by the world are very far from Me. I cannot help them because they do not want My help.

      Little children, open your eyes and see clearly how satan has taken possession of your world. Do you not see the hand of the evil one in the vile and violent crimes that daily mount in your world?

      And do you not see the signs I am sending as a warning? Disasters of nature that affect many lives, My children, more signs shall yet be given of a wider and greater nature, so you may awaken from your slumber before it is too late.

      To those who have ears - Listen! To those who have eyes - See! To those whose hearts are open, receive My Spirit and let Divine Mercy be poured out upon your world now.

      I tell you this for you cannot conceive of the sorrows yet to befall your world. I am God, and all creation is Mine. Let My children come to Me, for I long to have you in the Refuge of My Sacred Heart.

      Peace, My humble, little ones. Pray much, for all humble prayer is heard and answered. Be swift in your response, for I Am Coming!

Message Five-Hundred-sixty-two, November 5, 1994

      Beloved Hidden Flower of my Immaculate Heart, I am with you.

      Please tell all the world how joyful I am when you honor my Immaculate Heart on the First Saturday. How I gather the prayers of the Rosary, and present them to my Divine Son, to ease the agony of His Most Merciful Heart. Please tell all of my children to come to Mass on all First Fridays and First Saturdays. Pray before the tabernacle and you will be richly blessed.

      Know, my children, the times are critical, and evil is everywhere. You can do nothing of yourself, but with God peace shall come to the world.

      If you truly desire God, God shall swiftly hear and answer your prayers. As Advent approaches please prepare yourself as if you were the manger at Bethlehem. Receive my Divine Son daily in Holy Communion and be ever meek, humble, obedient children of God.

      Offer special prayers every day for my beloved holy son, Pope John Paul II. Daily his cross grows heavier. He nears the summit of Calvary. I need your prayers so the enemies of my Divine Son shall not hasten the moment of my Divine Son's Vicar's death as a true martyr.

      O! Come to Mass well-prepared. Pray much. Speak little, for the hour of Great Suffering is here, and your tears shall flood the land before the Triumph of my Immaculate Heart is fulfilled.

      Therefore, heed my words given with all Motherly love. I give to each of you my Divine Son's peace. Thank you for responding to my Call!

         In our continuing coverage of the Holy Father's historic eighth return to his native homeland and the longest singular trip in his twenty-year pontificate, we present a special section providing the latest in-depth stories on the Pope's papal pilgrimage from the major Catholic news services covering the Vicar of Christ as he completes his Polish pilgrimage. For more, click on THE POPE IN POLAND

POPE SAYS GOOD-BYE TO LAND OF HIS BIRTH

Reminisces with Crowd about Days of His Youth

      WADOWICE, JUN 17 (ZENIT).- Yesterday, there was great excitement when John Paul II arrived in Wadowice, his birthplace, where he returned as Pope for the third time. Addressing thousands of youths, who were crowded in the market square, the Holy Father allowed himself to be swept up by the enthusiasm and, for forty minutes was enthralled by an explosion of memories, humorous phrases and the nicknames of those he knew. He started by saying, "My institute was on Mickiewicz street," and he gave thanks because on that very street, a home for single mothers has been opened, carrying his own mother's name: Emilia.

      "Farther down, in Sokol circle, my classmates and I would put on plays ... Halina was also there," his closest classmate who has become a great actress. The crowd was thrilled, as the Pope recalled the names of streets, squares, and people of his time. "My friend Jurek Kluger was there, and there was a bookstore there, is it still there?"

      The youths cried, "Magnificent, you are magnificent!"

      "On that corner there was a pastry shop, and it made fantastic cream pastries ... how many we ate after the entrance examination," he said from his papal throne in front of the parish church. The Pope laughed, enveloped in nostalgia. "How many memories come to mind. Everything began here: life, school, theater and priesthood."

      "Stay with us, come back here!" the youth cried.

      "My house was owned by a Jew. Many Jews of Wadowice suffered incidents during the war and there were those who ended up in extermination camps," the Pope said in a grave voice.

      The appointment with Wadowice was a long good-bye filled with emotions. Good-bye to the home of his birth; to the parish church, where he stopped to pray; good-bye to the convent where he had his first intense mystical reflections. "Keep praying for me," the Holy Father murmured and later hearing the cries of well-wishers he exclaimed: "You wish me to arrive to the age of one hundred ... may it be God's will."

      The youths were enthralled and asked the Pope to keep telling them stories. "When I was at the Institute, we recited Sophocles," the Holy Father obliged. "Halina was Antigone and I was Ammon."

      "You are great!" they shouted. "More, more."

      The meeting ended with a choral section of a song written for the Pope: "Wadowice, your city, your beloved home," while everyone in the Square waved banners and the band played. ZE99061708

POPE ABANDONS SCHEDULE TO VISIT CZESTOCHOWA

Visits Parents Graves in Krakow

      KRAKOW, JUN 17 (ZENIT).- The Pope's seventh pilgrimage to Poland moved slowly from the dynamism of news reports to the recollection of treasured memories -- both his own, and that of his countrymen, more than 8 million of whom came to pray with him in the remotest corners of the country. Krakow today was the last stage before his return to Rome.

      The day began at 7:30 a.m., with John Paul II's arrival at Krakow's Wawel Cathedral. The Sigmund bells, the largest in Poland, tolled on his arrival. In this cathedral, where saints, sovereigns, national heroes, and poets are buried, John Paul II celebrated Mass at the altar of Saint Stanislav. A thousand people attended, among them the students of the Major Seminary, upon whom he invoked the gifts of the Holy Spirit for their priestly vocation.

      Before the Mass, the Holy Father said: "I praise God because I was able to take part in this great spiritual heritage, especially as Bishop of Krakow. Because of this wealth I have been able to obtain strength and inspiration as Bishop of Rome."

      After a brief visit to the cemetery to pray at the tombs of his parents and his brother, who died in his youth, the Holy Father went to Czestochowa to pray before the ancient icon of the Black Madonna, a favorite place of pilgrims, especially Poles, who bring their personal, family and great national problems to the shrine, a stop that was not included in the Pope's original itinerary. The Pope was welcomed by the religious who have been custodians of the shrine for almost 600 years, and by some 800,000 persons from the surrounding areas. In his greeting to the pilgrims, John Paul II said the shrine of Jasna Gora could not be missing from his pilgrimage, and he entrusted every one of his countrymen to the Mother of God, Queen of Poland. ZE99061722

WARM WELCOME FOR POPE IN HIS NATIVE TOWN

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Pope John Paul II appeared to have recovered completely from a bout with the flu as he enjoyed an informal session of bantering with natives of Wadowice, his native village, on Wednesday evening, June 16.

      "I think of this town of my youth with great emotion," the Pontiff said, addressing a large crowd outside the little baroque church were he worshiped as a child. Arriving in the Popemobile, John Paul was greeted with shouts of "Welcome home!" and "We love you!"

      "This is where it all began," the Pope said; "my life, school, studies, the theater, the priesthood." The crowd responded by bursting into the traditional Polish song "Sto Lat"-- "May you live 100 years." In a self- deprecating allusion to his own frailty, the Pope replied, "That's easy to sing, but not so easy to do!"

      The Pope then delighted the crowd by reciting some verses from a Antigone, a play he had performed during his student years, and reciting the names of the other members of the cast. "I wish I could explore all the old corners of this town," he said.

      After a long informal session with the crowd, the Pope appeared a bit surprised-- and even embarrassed-- when aides reminded him that it was time for a formal ceremony in the parish church. He then solemnly crowned an image of the Virgin Mary, and exhorted the people of Wadowice to pray constantly to the Blessed Mother, since such prayers "never go without an answer."

      Returning to the archbishop's residence in Krakow, where he would spend the night, the Pope was greeted by a group of young people who cried out, "Long live the Pope!" Again he joked at his own expense, saying, "You're right; I'm still alive."

RECOVERED FROM FLU, POPE ENDS POLISH VISIT

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- On June 17, the last day of his visit to Poland, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass in the Krakow cathedral where he was ordained, consecrated as a bishop, and installed as archbishop.

      After Mass, the Pope visited the cemetery where his parents and his brother Edmund are buried, then headed for the Marian shrine at Czestochowa, where hundreds of thousands of Poles waited to greet him as he arrived to venerate the famous Black Virgin. After kneeling in prayer for some time before the 14th-century image, the Pope addressed the crowd, saying, "This sanctuary… could not be omitted from the itinerary of my pilgrimage to my native land." (The Pope had made an unanticipated change in his schedule in order to visit the shrine.) "I want to thank the Mother of Christ for her protection during these days of my pastoral service to the Church of my country; I want to thank her for the spiritual and material benefits she has brought to Poland."

      On the way to Czestochowa, the Pope made a short detour to Gliwice, in Silesia, the town he had been unable to visit on June 15, when he was confined to bed with the flu. Although the news of his impending visit was broadcast on the radio only a few hours before he actually arrived, a huge crowd gathered to greet him there. "I know that the people of Silesia will pardon me" for being sick, the Pope said. "Now I am going to ask for pardon at Czestochowa, and then I can return to Rome in peace."

POPE JOHN PAUL VISITS HIS NATIVE TOWN IN POLAND

      VATICAN CITY, 17 (NE) Visibly recovered from the light fever that made him suspend all his public activities yesterday, Pope John Paul II met yesterday people gathered in Stary Sacz, 70 miles away from Krakow, where he canonized blessed Kinga, daughter of King Bela IV of Hungary, who lived during the XIII century. The President of Hungary was also present in the ceremony.

      Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, Archbishop of Krakow, read the Pope's homily. In it the Pope stated the urgent need for saints in today's world, people that "nourish the spiritual growth of each man, with the influence of their goodness, their fidelity to the teachings of Christ and the witness of their daily life."

      "Today's world needs the sanctity of Christians, who assume their own daily duties in the ordinary conditions of familiar and professional life; people who, wishing to accomplish the will of the Creator and serve each day, respond to His eternal love."

      The Pope visited during the afternoon his native Wadowice, approximately 30 miles away from Krakow. In Wadowice the Pope recalled with emotion the years he spent there. He also addressed with beautiful words the people there, especially those present that had been the Pope's schoolmates. He later visited the temple where he was baptized, near the house where he was born. As he addressed the inhabitants of Wadowice, he also thanked that a health center for pregnant women had the name of his mother.

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June 18-20, 1999 volume 10, no. 118   DAILY CATHOLIC