Catholic Missal of the day: Tuesday, December 11 2018
Tuesday of the Second week of Advent
Tuesday of the Second week of Advent
1. ReadingBook of Isaiah
40,1-11.]Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God.
]Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.
]A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
]Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; The rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley.
]Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all mankind shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
]A voice says, "Cry out!" I answer, "What shall I cry out?" "All mankind is grass, and all their glory like the flower of the field.
]The grass withers, the flower wilts, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it. (So then, the people is the grass.)
]Though the grass withers and the flower wilts, the word of our God stands forever."
]Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; Cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God!
]Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm; Here is his reward with him, his recompense before him.
]Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, Carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.
Psalms
96(95),1-2.3.10ac.11-12.13.]Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
]Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
Announce his salvation day after day.
]Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
]Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
]He governs the peoples with equity.
]Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
]let the plains be joyful and all that is in them.
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult before the LORD.
]The LORD comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew
18,12-14.]Jesus said to his disciples: “What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?
]And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
]In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”
St. María Maravillas de Jesús((1891-1974))
SAINT MARÍA MARAVILLAS DE JESÚS (Pidal y Chico de Guzmán)Professed Nun of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (1891-1974) María de las Maravillas was born in Madrid, Spain, on November 4, 1891. She was the daughter of Luis Pidal y Mon, the Marquis of Pidal, and Cristina Chico de Guzmán y Muñoz. Her father was the Spanish Ambassador to the Holy See. She was blessed togrow up in a virtuous Catholic family. María made a vow of chastity at the age of 5 and devoted herself to acts of charity. After reading the works of St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Jesus, she felt called to become a Discalced Carmelite. Her father, whom she assisted when he became ill, passed away in 1913. Understandably, her mother was reluctant to accept her entry into a Carmelite monastery. On October 12, 1919, María entered the Discalced Carmelites of El Escorial. Her simple vows were on May 7, 1921. Before a final profession on May 30, 1924, she discerned God's will to found the Carmel of Cerro de los Ángeles. Sr. María's foundation was inaugurated on October 31, 1926, together with three other Carmelites. It was the first in a series of Teresian Carmelite Monasteries that she established. She was not being called to found a new order or to branch off from the Discalced Carmelites. She sought to live deeply and to transmit the spirit and ideals of St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross. On June 28, 1926, the bishop of the Diocese of Madrid-Alcalá appointed Sr. María as the monastery's prioress. In 1933, Mother María established another foundation in Kottayam, India. From there, other foundations began. Mother María's role as prioress would be permanent in the various monasteries she founded: notwithstanding the natural apprehension she feltin accepting positions of responsibility. She was motivated by her love for the Church and for her Carmelite sisters. Mother María was criticized for the poverty of the convents she founded. Some alleged that they were not solid, small in size and unfurnished, with bare walls on which hung Bible verses or writings of the Carmelite saints. She would reply, "It is not our concern to plant a seed, since the Discalced Carmelites have already been founded." During the Spanish Civil War, the nuns of Cerro de los Ángeles lived in an apartment in Madrid. In September 1937, another Carmel in the Batuecas, Salamanca, was founded. In 1939, the monastery of Cerro de los Ángeles was restored. Amid deprivations, Mother María was courageous and happy: edifying and encouraging her daughters. Mother María was a mystery to the sisters closest to her in the sense of interior trials. Only her spiritual directors knew the "dark night of the soul" that she lived throughout her life, which kept her in profound spiritual aridity. Her guide was total abandonment to the will of God. In the following years, foundations were established in other parts of Spain. Mother María also sent nuns to the Carmel of El Escorial and to the venerable Monastery of the Incarnation in Avila. To unite the monasteries founded by her and others, she founded the Association of St. Teresa, which received official approval from the Holy See in 1972. On December 8, 1974, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Mother María received Last Rites. On December 11, surrounded by her community in the Carmel of La Aldehuela, Madrid, she passed away. At the time of her passing, her sisters reported that she kept repeating the phrase, "What happiness to die a Carmelite!" Mother María was beatified on May 10, 1998. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II on May 4, 2003.
St. Damasus I(Pope († 384))
SAINT DAMASUS IPope( 384) St. Damasus established the canonical books of Sacred Scripture and secured the unity of faith. He was the Roman Church's archdeacon in 355 when Pope Liberius was banished to Berda. He accompanied Pope Liberius to Berda, returned to serve the Church and was consecrated pope. St. Damasus prevented schism and upheld apostolic succession when Ursinus attempted to usurp the papacy. Church historians Jerome and Rufinus affirm that St. Damasus was rightfully appointed amidst slander and subterfuge by the losing party. After freeing the Church of schism, St. Damasus began extirpating Arianism in the West and Apollinarianism in the East. He convened several councils and rebuilt the church of St. Laurence in Damaso. His greatest achievement was the Council of Rome in 382 wherein the canonical books of the New Testament were solemnly declared. St. Damasus encouraged Jerome's participation in the Council of Rome. His influence resulted in Jerome translating Sacred Scriptures into their more accurate Latin version from Greek. The Latin Vulgate was the first widely disseminated Bible and may be called the beginning and first source of Scripture. He further maintained the unity of tradition by encouraging the cult of martyrs and by decorating their tombs and sepulchers. St. Damasus is truly what Christ calls the rock on which the Church is built. His works show the necessity and primacy of St. Peter's role in the Church. St. Damasus ensured the papcy's legitimacy, disproved heresies and confirmed the divinely-inspired books of the New Testament amidst forces that attempted to corrupt the Church's teaching. He passed away on December 10, 384, after serving as pope for eighteen years and two months.
Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2018 / Catholic Missal of december 2018
Published: 2026-07-14T18:16:22Z | Modified: 2026-07-14T18:16:22Z