Thursday of the Second week of Easter

Acts of the Apostles

When the court officers had brought the Apostles in and made them stand before the Sanhedrin, the high priest questioned them,
"We gave you strict orders (did we not?) to stop teaching in that name. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this man's blood upon us."
But Peter and the apostles said in reply, "We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
We are witnesses of these things, as is the holy Spirit that God has given to those who obey him."
When they heard this, they became infuriated and wanted to put them to death.

Psalms

I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
Many are the troubles of the just man,
but out of them all the LORD delivers him.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John

The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all.
He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.
Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy.
For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.
The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.

St. Stanislas(Bishop and Martyr (1030-1079))

SAINT STANISLAS Bishop and Martyr (1030-1079) St. Stanislas was born in answer to his parents' prayers, who were advanced in age. Out of gratitude, they educated him for the Church. He was ordained, became a holy priest, and in time was elected Bishop of Cracow. The King of Poland, Boleslas II, spoilt by material excesses, outraged the whole kingdom by carrying off the wife of one of his nobles. Against this public scandal, the chaste and gentle bishop alone raised his voice. Having commended the matter to God, he went down to the palace and openly rebuked the king for his crime against God and his subjects, and threatened to excommunicate him if he persisted in his sin. To slander the Saint's character, Boleslas suborned the nephews of one Paul, lately deceased, to swear that their uncle had never been paid for land bought by the bishop for the Church. The Saint stood fearlessly before the king's tribunal, though all his witnesses forsook him, and guaranteed to bring the dead man to witness for him within three days. On the third day, after many prayers and tears, Bp. Stanislas raised Paul to life, and led him in his grave-clothes before the king. Boleslas made a show for a while of a better life. Soon, however, he relapsed into the most scandalous excesses, and the bishop, finding all remonstrance useless, excommunicated him. In defiance of the censure, on April 11, 1079, the king went down to a chapel where the bishop was celebrating Mass, and sent in three companies of soldiers to kill him. Each in turn came out, saying they had been scared by a light from heaven. Then the king rushed in and slew the Saint at the altar with his own hand.

St. Gemma Galgani((1878-1903))

St. Gemma Galgani(1878-1903) St. Gemma Galgani was born on March 12, 1878, in a small Italian town near Lucca. At a very young age, she began praying regularly and frequently. She made her First Communion on June 17, 1887. As a pupil at the school run by the Sisters of St. Zita, Gemma was loved by her teachers and her fellow pupils. Although quiet and reserved, she always had a smile for everyone. She was a good student, but had to quit school due to chronic ill health. Throughout her life, Gemma was to be favored with many mystical experiences and special graces. These were often misunderstood by others, causing ridicule. Gemma suffered these heartaches in reparation, remembering that Our Lord Himself had been misunderstood and ridiculed. Gemma had an immense love for the poor and helped them in any way she could. After her father's death, the 19-year-old Gemma took charge of raising her seven brothers and sisters. When some were old enough to share this responsibility, she lived briefly with a married aunt. At this time, two young men proposed marriage to her. Gemma however, wanted silence and retirement, and more that ever, she desired to pray and speak only to God. Gemma returned home and almost immediately became very ill with meningitis. Throughout this illness, her one regret was the trouble she caused her relatives who took care of her. Feeling herself tempted by the devil, Gemma prayed for help to the Venerable Passionist, Gabriel Possenti (Gabriel was later canonized). Through his intercession, Gemma was miraculously cured. Gemma wished to become a nun, but her poor health prevented her from being accepted. She offered this disappointment to God as a sacrifice. Gemma predicted that the Passionists would establish a monastery at Lucca; this came to pass two years after her death. Today, Gemma's mortal remains are still treasured at the Passionist monastery in Lucca. On June 8, 1899, Gemma had an interior warning that some unusual grace was to be granted to her. She had pain in her hands, feet and heart and blood was coming from the places where she had pain. These were the marks of the stigmata. Each Thursday evening, Gemma would fall into rapture and the marks would appear. The stigmata remained until Friday afternoon or Saturday morning when the bleeding would stop, the wounds would close, and only white marks would remain in place of the deep gashes. Gemma's stigmata would continue to appear until the last three years of her life, when her confessor forbade her to accept them. Through her prayers, this phenomenon ceased, but the whitish marks remained on her skin until her death. Through the help of her confessor, Gemma went to live with a family named Giannini, where she was allowed more freedom than at home for her spiritual life. She had many ecstacies and her words spoken during these raptures were recorded by her confessor and a relative of her adoptive family. At the end of her ecstacies, she returned to normal and went quietly and serenely about the family life. Gemma often saw her guardian angel, with whom she was on familiar terms. She often sent her guardian angel on errands, usually to deliver a letter or oral message to her confessor in Rome. During the apostolic investigations into her life, all witnesses testified that there was no artfulness in Gemma's manner. Most of her severe penances and sacrifices were hidden from most who knew her. In January of 1903, Gemma was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She died quietly in the company of the parish priest on April 11, at age 25. The parish priest said, "She died with a smile which remained upon her lips, so that I could not convince myself that she was really dead." She was beatified in 1933 and canonized on May 2, 1940, only 37 years after her death.

St. Gemma Galgani (1878 - 1903)()

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