Thursday of Easter week

Acts of the Apostles

As the crippled man who had been cured clung to Peter and John, all the people hurried in amazement toward them in the portico called "Solomon's Portico."
When Peter saw this, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why are you amazed at this, and why do you look so intently at us as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety?
The God of Abraham, (the God) of Isaac, and (the God) of Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus whom you handed over and denied in Pilate's presence, when he had decided to release him.
You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.
And by faith in his name, this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong, and the faith that comes through it has given him this perfect health, in the presence of all of you.
Now I know, brothers, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;
but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer.
Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away."
and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment and send you the Messiah already appointed for you, Jesus,
whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.
For Moses said: 'A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kinsmen; to him you shall listen in all that he may say to you.
Everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be cut off from the people.'
Moreover, all the prophets who spoke, from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days.
You are the children of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he said to Abraham, 'In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'
For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways."

Psalms

O LORD, our Lord,
how glorious is your name over all the earth.
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet.
All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread.
While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you."
But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have."
And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?"
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.
He said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled."
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.
And he said to them, "Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things."

St. Benedict Menni(Priest († 1914))

Saint Benedict Menni Priest, O.H., Founder of the Hospitaller Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1841-1914) Benedict Menni was a faithful follower of Saint John of God. Through his words and deeds, he was a herald of the Gospel and prophet of hospitality.His origins and Hospitaller vocation Benedict was born in Milan on March 11, 1841, and baptized the same day. He was named Angelo Ercole; Ercole being Italian for "Hercules." He was the fifth of fifteen children born to Luigi Menni and Luisa Figini. His warm and hospitable home gave him the support and environment to develop character and virtues. He discerned a vocation early on. Faithful to his conscience, he gave up a good position at a bank and - with a selfless attitude to the suffering - volunteered to work as a stretcher-bearer to assist soldiers wounded on the battlefield in Magenta, near Milan. The spirit of dedication and self-denial of the Brothers of St. John of God attracted our future saint. At 19 years old, he applied to enter the Hospitaller Order. Taking the name Benedict, he was consecrated to God and caring for the sick.His Hospitaller formation and mission Benedict's vocation as Hospitaller was revealed through his care for the wounded and ill. He placed himself at the service of all, including his superiors. At the time, Spain (the cradle of the Hospitaller Order) was embroiled in political strife with open hostility to all religious orders, and the work of St. John of God was in jeopardy. Being sent to Spain in 1867, Benedict both restored the order of St. John of God and founded the Congregation of the Hospitaller Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.Restoration of the Hospitaller Order Sent by Fr. Giovanni M. Alfieri, the prior general of the Order who always supported him, and with the blessing of Pope Visitor and Pius IX, Benedict Menni demonstrated an iron will and determined spirit even before he left Rome. Only a few months after arriving, he set up his first children's hospital in Barcelona (1867), which marked the beginning of his extraordinary work of restoration that was carried out over 36 years. From the first moment, numerous generous followers rallied around Benedict; and it was through them that he was able to guarantee continuity to the new Hospitaller institutions. They sprung up in Spain, Portugal and Mexico; and subsequently throughout the New World.Foundation of the Hospitaller Sisters When he arrived in Granada (1878), Benedict Menni came in contact with two young women, Maria Josefa Recio and Maria Angtistias Gimenez, who would set up a new women's hospital to provide psychiatric care (1881). The mother house of the Congregation of the Hospitaller Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was founded in Ciempozuelos, Madrid, and received the approval of the Holy See in 1901. Six words summarize their identity: "pray, work, endure, suffer, a love God and silence." The Congregation soon became established in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Today, as it celebrates the canonization of its founder, the Sisters are present in 24 countries, with over 100 Hospitaller centers.Visitor and Prior General of the Order Benedict Menni's opera magna spread, at the request of the Holy See, to the whole Order when he was appointed Apostolic Visitor (1909-1911) and subsequently Prior General (1911). However, he resigned after one year because of health reasons and misunderstandings. He spent the last two years of his life in humility and purification, and died a holy death in Dinan, France, on April 24, 1914. His remains were taken by the Spanish Brothers to Ciempozuelos, and today are venerated under the high altar of the Founders' Chapel in the Hospitaller Sisters' mother house.In the glory of the saints The process for St. Benedict's canonization opened from 1945 to 1947 in the diocese of Madrid, where he is buried. On May 11, 1982, the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints recognized Benedict's virtues as heroic, and assigned to him the posthumous title of "Venerable." Following the official acceptance of the miraculous healing of Asuncion Cacho thanks to St. Benedict's intercession, Benedict was proclaimed "Blessed" in St. Peter's Basilica on June 23, 1985, and "Saint" on November 21, 1999, by Pope John Paul II.

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen(Martyr (1577-1622))

Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen Capuchin Priest and Martyr (1577-1622) St. Fidelis was born in Sigmaringen, southern Germany, to a noble family. He frequently received the sacraments, visited the sick and the poor and prayed at the altar. He followed the legal profession and was remarkable for his advocacy of the poor and his respectful language toward opponents. The contradictions Fidelis experienced in professional life may have led him to his heart's true desire. He entered the Capuchin Order, became a priest and embraced austerity and penance. His penances included prayer and self-denial for the salvation of souls. He was sent to Switzerland by the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith and braved every peril to draw souls to the Church and away from Calvinism. When Fidelis was in Seewis im Práttigau, he was shot by Calvinist nationalists. Undeterred, he continued preaching and was hacked to death with swords.He was perfectly conformed to Our Lord; and thus entered Heaven. Because of his heroic virtues and the miracles proceeding from his intercession, Fidelis was canonized by Pope Benedict XIV on June 29, 1746.

Bl. Maria Elisabetta Hesselblad((1870-1957))

BLESSED MARIA ELISABETTA HESSELBLAD (1870-1957) Maria Elisabetta Hesselblad was born in the little village of Faglavik, in the province of Alvsborg, Sweden, on June 4, 1870. The following month, she was baptized and received into the Reformed Church of Sweden. She was the fifth of thirteen children born to Augusto Roberto Hesselblad and Cajsa Pettesdotter Dag. Her childhood was lived out in various places due to economic difficulties. In 1886, Maria went to work first of all in Karlosborg and then in the United States of America. She went to nursing school at the Roosevelt Hospital in New York and dedicated herself to home care of the sick. She continually made sacrifices, which did not benefit her health, but her soul in turn flourished. The contact she had with so many Catholics, and her thirst for truth, helped keep alive her desire for full communion with Jesus Christ. Through prayer, personal study and a daughterly devotion to the Mother of God, Maria was decisively led to the Catholic Church. On August 15, 1902, at the Convent of the Visitation in Washington, she received conditional baptism from Fr. Giovani Giorgio Hagen, S.J., who also became her spiritual director. Looking back on that moment of grace, she wrote, "In an instant the love of God was poured over me. I understood that I could respond to that love only through sacrifice and a love prepared to suffer for His glory and for the Church. Without hesitation I offered Him my life, and my will to follow Him on the Way of the Cross." Two days later, she was nourished with the Eucharist; and then she left for Europe. In Rome, Maria received the Sacrament of Confirmation and perceived she was to dedicate herself to the unity of Christians. She also visited the church and house of Saint Bridget of Sweden (+ 1373) and came away with a deep and lasting impression. God spoke to her saying, "It is in this place that I want you to serve me." She returned to the United States, and her fragile health notwithstanding, she left everything on March 25, 1904, to settle in Rome at the Casa di Santa Brigida, receiving a wonderful welcome from the Carmelite Nuns. In silence and in prayer, she made great progress in knowledge and love of Christ. She fostered devotion to Saint Bridget and Saint Catherine of Sweden and nourished a growing concern for her people and the Church. In 1906, Pope Saint Pius X allowed her to take the habit of the Order of the Most Holy Savior of Saint Bridget and profess vows as a spiritual daughter of the Swedish saint. In the years that followed, Maria strove to bring back to Rome the Order of the Most Holy Savior, and to that end she visited the few existing Brigettine monasteries in Europe, an experience that brought joys, disappointments and no concrete help. Her dream of a Brigettine community in Rome consisting of members from the monasteries was unrealized. However, Divine Providence, in ways that were quite unexpected, enabled a new branch to grow from the ancient Brigettine trunk. In fact, on the November 9, 1911, the Servant of God welcomed three young English postulants and refounded the Order of the Most Holy Savior of Saint Bridget, whose particular mission was to pray and work, especially for the unity of Scandinavian Christians with the Catholic Church. In 1931, Maria experienced the great joy of receiving the Holy See's permission to have permanent use of the church and house of Saint Bridget in Rome. These became the center of activity for the Order, which - driven on by its missionary zeal - also established foundations in India (1937). During and after the Second World War, the Servant of God performed great works of charity on behalf of the poor and those who suffered because of racial laws. She promoted a movement for peace that involved Catholics and non-Catholics; she multiplied her ecumenical endeavors; and for many people who belonged to other religions or Christian confessions, she was part of their journey toward the Catholic Church. From the very beginning of the Foundation, Maria was particularly attentive to the formation of her spiritual daughters, for whom she was both a mother and a guide. She implored them to live in close union with God, to have a fervent desire to be conformed to our Divine Savior, to possess a great love for the Church and the Roman Pontiff, and to pray constantly that there be one Flock and one Shepherd, adding, "This is the prime goal of our vocation." She also devoted herself to fostering a unity of spirit within the Order. "The Lord has called us from different nations," she wrote, "but we must be united with one heart and one soul. In the divine Heart of Jesus we will always meet one another and there we seek our strength to face the difficulties of life. May we be strengthened to practice the beautiful virtues of charity, humility and patience. Then our religious life will be the antechamber to Heaven." On other occasions she said, "Our religious houses must be formed after the example of Nazareth: prayer, work, sacrifice. The human heart can aspire to nothing greater." Throughout her life, she remained faithful to what she had written in 1904: "Dear Lord, I do not ask to see the path. In darkness, in anguish and in fear, I will hang on tightly to your hand and I will close my eyes, so that you know how much trust I place in you, Spouse of my soul." Hope in God and in His providence supported her in every moment, especially in times of testing, solitude and the cross. She put the things of Heaven before the things of earth, God's will before her own, the good of her neighbor before her own benefit. Contemplating the infinite love of the Son of God, who sacrificed Himself for our salvation, she fed the flame of love in her heart, as manifested by the goodness of her works. Repeatedly to her daughters she said, "We must nourish a great love for God and our neighbors; a strong love, an ardent love, a love that burns away imperfections, a love that gently bears an act of impatience, or a bitter word, a love that lets an inadvertence or act of neglect pass without comment, a love that lends itself readily to an act of charity." The Servant of God was like a garden in which the sun of charity brought to bloom the flowers of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. She was filled with care and concern for her Sisters, for the poor, the sick, the persecuted Jewish people, for priests, for the children to whom she taught Christian doctrine, for her family and for the people of Sweden and Rome. She was a humble Sister and most obliging to all who sought her help. She always felt a sense of duty and great joy in sharing with others the gifts she had received from the Lord, and this she did with gentleness, graciousness and simplicity. She was prudent in her work for the Kingdom of God, in her speaking, acting, advising and correcting. She had great respect for the religious freedom of non-Christians and non-Catholics, whom she received gladly under her roof. She walked with God, clinging to the cross of Christ, who was her companion from the days of her youth. "For me," she said, "the way of the Cross has been the most beautiful of all because on this path I have met and known my Lord and Savior." Unremittingly, her physical suffering went hand in hand with her moral suffering. The cross became particularly heavy and painful during the final years of her life, when the Holy See prepared the Canonical Visit of her Order as her health deteriorated. In prayer and peaceful submission to God's will, the Divine Spouse called her to Himself in the early hours of April 24, 1957. The reputation for holiness that surrounded Maria Hesselblad increased after her death; and almost immediately, the Vicariate of Rome began the cause for beatification. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Rome on April 9, 2000.

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