Catholic Missal of the day: Monday, April 16 2018
Monday of the Third week of Easter
Monday of the Third week of Easter
1. ReadingActs of the Apostles
6,8-15.]Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people.
]Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen,
]but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.
]Then they instigated some men to say, "We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God."
]They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, accosted him, seized him, and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
]They presented false witnesses who testified, "This man never stops saying things against (this) holy place and the law.
]For we have heard him claim that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us."
]All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Psalms
119(118),23-24.26-27.29-30.]Though princes meet and talk against me,
your servant meditates on your statutes.
]Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
]I declared my ways, and you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
]Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds.
]Remove from me the way of falsehood,
and favor me with your law.
]The way of truth I have chosen;
I have set your ordinances before me.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John
6,22-29.] The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left.
]Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks.
]When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
]And when they found him across the sea they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
]Jesus answered them and said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
]Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal."
]So they said to him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"
]Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent."
St. Engratia and Saragossa's Martyrs((† 304))
THE EIGHTEEN MARTYRS OF SARAGOSSA and ST. ENCRATIS, or ENGRATIA Virgin and Martyr ( 304) During Diocletian's persecution in 304, St. Optatus and seventeen holy men were martyred on the same day in Saragossa. Two others, Caius and Crementius, were martyred during a second persecution and died from torture. The Church also celebrates St. Encratis, or Engratia, a native of Portugal. Her father had promised her in marriage to a man of quality in Roussillon. She instead consecrated her virginity to Christ and served Him without hindrance. St. Engratia stole away from her father's house and fled privately to Saragossa. She reproached Governor Dacian for persecuting Christians and was tortured. Her sides were torn with iron hooks, one of her breasts was cut off and part of her liver was pulled out. Her relics and those of Saragossa's martyrs were recovered in 1389.
St. Bernadette Soubirous()
St. Bernadette SoubirousReligious and Visionary (1844-1879) Bernadette was born in Lourdes, France, on January 7, 1844, the daughter of Francis and Louise Soubirous. Hard times had fallen on France and the family lived in extreme poverty. Bernadette was a sickly child. She contracted cholera as a toddler and suffered severe asthma for the rest of her life. Bernadette attended the day school of the Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction from Nevers. By the time of the events at the grotto, her family's financial and social status had declined to the point where they lived in a one-room basement, formerly used as a jail, called le cachot. On February 11, 1858, Bernadette was granted a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a cave on the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes. She was placed in considerable jeopardy when she reported the vision; but crowds gathered when she had futher visits from the Virgin, from February 18 of that year through March 4.The civil authorities tried to frighten Bernadette into recanting her accounts, but she remained steadfast. On February 25, Our Lady revealed a spring hidden below mud and debris in the cave, whose waters miraculously healed the sick and the lame.On March 25, Bernadette announced that Our Lady claimed to be the Immaculate Conception, which convinced the local priest. Our Lady asked that a church be built on the site and for prayer and penance. Many authorities tried to shut down the spring and delay the chapel's construction. Bernadette's visions reached Empress Eugenie of France, the wife of Napoleon III, who expedited the construction. Crowds gathered, free of harassment from the anticlerical and antireligious officials. Bernadette disliked the attention she attracted and went to the hospice school run by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers, where she finally learned to read and write. Although she considered joining the Carmelites, her health precluded her entering any of the strict contemplative orders.On July 29, 1866, with forty-two other candidates, she took the religious habit of a postulant and joined the Sisters of Charity at their motherhouse at Nevers. She faced harsh treatment from the mistress of novices, but was relieved once her painful, incurable illness was discovered. On her deathbed, Bernadette suffered from severe pain. The Holy Virgin once reminded her, "Penance, Penance, Penance." With heroic generosity and love in the face of immense suffering, Bernadette exclaimed "all this is good for Heaven!" Her final words were, "Blessed Mary, Mother of God, pray for me! A poor sinner, a poor sinner." She passed away in Nevers on April 16, 1879. Lourdes became one of the major pilgrimage destinations in the world. The spring has produced 27,000 gallons of water each week since emerging during Bernadette's visions. She was not involved in the building of the shrine as she remained hidden in her monastic enclosure at Nevers. Bernadette was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1933 by Pope Pius XI.
Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2018 / Catholic Missal of april 2018
Published: 2026-07-14T18:16:19Z | Modified: 2026-07-14T18:16:19Z