Wednesday of Holy Week

Book of Isaiah

The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, That I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear;
And I have not rebelled, have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.
The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right; if anyone wishes to oppose me, let us appear together. Who disputes my right? Let him confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help; who will prove me wrong?

Psalms

For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother's sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
and said, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?"
He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples."'"
The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.
When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve.
And while they were eating, he said, "Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."
Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, "Surely it is not I, Lord?"
He said in reply, "He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me.
The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born."
Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" He answered, "You have said so."

St. Engratia and Saragossa's Martyrs((+ 304))

THE EIGHTEEN MARTYRS OF SARAGOSSA and ST. ENCRATIS, or ENGRATIA Virgin and Martyr (+ 304) During the persecution of Diocletian in 304, St. Optatus and seventeen other 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. 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. She was sent back to prison and dlied from her wounds. 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; and 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, and 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.

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