Catholic Missal of the day: Friday, July 17 2026

Friday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time

Book of Isaiah

In those days, when Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: "Thus says the LORD: Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover."
Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD:
"O LORD, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly I conducted myself in your presence, doing what was pleasing to you!" And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah:
"Go, tell Hezekiah: Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the LORD'S temple; I will add fifteen years to your life.
I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; I will be a shield to this city."
Isaiah then ordered a poultice of figs to be taken and applied to the boil, that he might recover.
Then Hezekiah asked, "What is the sign that I shall go up to the temple of the LORD?"
(Isaiah answered:) "This will be the sign for you from the LORD that he will do what he has promised:
See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz go back the ten steps it has advanced." So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced.

Book of Isaiah

Once I said,
"In the noontime of life I must depart!
To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned
for the rest of my years."
I said, "I shall see the LORD no more
in the land of the living.
No longer shall I behold my fellow men
among those who dwell in the world."
My dwelling, like a shepherd's tent,
is struck down and borne away from me;
You have folded up my life, like a weaver
who severs the last thread.
Those live whom the LORD protects;
Yours is the life of my spirit.
You have given me health and life.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath."
He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry,
how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat?
Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent?
I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.
If you knew what this meant, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned these innocent men.
For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."

St. Alexius(Mendicant († 404))

SAINT ALEXIUS Confessor( 404) St. Alexius was the only son of noble Roman parents. On his wedding night, he secretly quitted Rome and journeyed to Edessa in the East. There, he gave away all his possessions and lived on alms at the gate of Our Lady's church. His father's servants saw him at the Church's gate and gave him alms without recognizing him. After seventeen years, when Alexius' sanctity was manifested by the Blessed Virgin's image, he once more sought solitude. On his way to Tarsus, contrary winds drove his ship to Rome. There, no one recognized in the wan and tattered mendicant the heir of Rome's noblest house: not even his parents. From his father's charity, he begged a mean corner of the palace for shelter and the scraps of his table for food. Alexius spent seventeen years bearing patiently the ill-usage of his servants. At last, when death came for him, his household learned, from a writing in his own hand, who it was that they had unknowingly sheltered. God bore testimony to his sanctity by many miracles. St. Alexius received God by way of self-renunciation. He was a prefiguration of St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of evangelical poverty. Alexius had nothing to cling to on earth, so his spirit soared to the heights of union with God. He went into eternity where his treasure was stored, and lives with Our Lord and Our Lady forever.

Bl. Pavol Gojdič(Bishop and Martyr (1888-1960))

BLESSED PAVOL GOJDIČ Basilian Bishop and Martyr (1888-1960) Pavol Gojdič was born on July 17, 1888, in Ruské Pekľany, near Prešov, Slovakia. He was from the family of the Greek-Catholic priest Štefan Gojdič. His mother was Anna Gerberyová. He was named Peter in baptism. Peter attended the elementary school in Cigeľka, Bardejov and Prešov. He finished primary studies in Prešov, which concluded with a maturity exam in 1907. After accepting God's invitation to the priesthood, he began studying theology in Prešov. His academic excellence resulted in a transfer to Budapest for accelerated education a year later. As a seminarian, Peter was told by his spiritual director, "Life is not difficult, but it is a serious matter." Peter became remarkably prudent from that point on. After earning his degree on August 27, 1911, he was ordained a priest in Prešov by Bishop Dr. Ján Valyi. He worked as an assistant parish priest for one year before being appointed prefect of the eparchial seminary. He taught religion in a higher secondary school as well. Later on, he was put in charge of protocol and archives at the diocesan curia. He was also entrusted with the spiritual care of the faithful in Sabinov as an assistant parish priest. In 1919, he became the director of the episcopal office. To everyone's surprise on July 20, 1922, Fr. Peter joined the Order of St. Basil the Great in Černecia Hora, near Mukačevo. He took the habit and the name Pavol on January 27, 1923. The name signifies modesty, humility and asceticism. God had other plans, however, and Father Pavol was ordered to a higher office. On September 14, 1926, he was nominated apostolic administrator of the eparchy of Prešov. During his inauguration as apostolic administrator, he announced his program: "With the help of God, I want to be a father to orphans, a support for the poor and consoler to the afflicted." His first act as administrator was to address a pastoral letter on the occasion of the 1100th anniversary of the birth of St. Cyril, the apostle of the Slavs. On March 7, 1927, Fr. Pavol was nominated bishop with the title of Harpaš (Church of Harpaš - in Asia Minor). His episcopal consecration took place at the Basilica of San Clemente in Rome, on March 25, 1927, on the feast of the Annunciation of Our Lady. After his episcopal consecration, he visited St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, where he prayed at the tomb of the Apostle. On March 29, 1927, together with Bishop Nyaradi, he was received in a private audience by the Holy Father Pius XI. The pope gave Bishop Pavol Gojdič a gold cross saying: "This cross is only a faint symbol of the heavy crosses that God will send you, my son, in your work as bishop." Bp. Pavol chose the motto, "God is love, let us love Him!" He promoted the spiritual life for the clergy and the faithful, insisted on the proper celebration of the liturgy and church feasts and established new parishes in Prague, Bratislava, Levoča and elsewhere. Thanks to his hard work, the orphanage in Prešov was built and entrusted to the local sisters. He also founded the Greek-Catholic school in Prešov in 1936. He supported the teaching academy, the seminary and colleges. He also guided the publication of Blahovistnik (Messenger of the Gospel), Da prijdet carstvije Tvoje (Thy Kingdom Come) and various prayers, published by the PETRA publishing house. He was described as "a man with a heart of gold." An important characteristic was his strong affection for the Eucharistic Savior, who strengthened him during his visits to the residential chapel. Another characteristic of his spiritual life was his devotion to the Sacred Heart. As a seminarian in Budapest, he had already consecrated himself to the Sacred Heart. He confirmed it upon waking up every morning with the words, "All the prayers, sacrifices and crosses I offer to make up for the sins of the whole world!" He had a great devotion to the Mother of God and prayed before a picture of the Virgin of Klokočov at his residential chapel. To the Mother of God, he entrusted himself and the whole eparchy. On April 13, 1939, Bp. Pavol was appointed apostolic administrator in Slovakia of the Apostolic Administration of Mukačevo. In the difficult situation of the Slovak State, he became a "thorn in the flesh" for the representatives of the government of the time and so offered his resignation from the post. In fact, the Holy Father appreciated his work and not only refused his resignation, but also made him residential bishop of Prešov. And so, on August 8, 1940, he was solemnly consecrated in Prešov. On January 15, 1946, Bp. Pavol was confirmed in his jurisdiction over the Greek-Catholics in the whole of Czecho-Slovakia. The progress in religious and spiritual life in the eparchy was interrupted by the events of war and especially the communists' coming to power in 1948. Their ideology and materialism was directed against the Greek-Catholic Church. Bp. Pavol resisted any initiative to submit the Greek-Catholics to Russian Orthodoxy assisted by the communist party and the power of the state, even though he knew he was risking persecution and arrest - possibly even death. Gradually, communist agents isolated him from the clergy and the faithful. Despite severe pressure to renounce the Catholic faith and break unity with the pope, Bp. Pavol refused every attractive offer and exclaimed: "I am already 62 and sacrifice all my goods and residence, but I will not deny my faith in any way because I want to save my soul. Do not even come to me." During the events known as the Sobor of Prešov, starting April 28, 1950, when the state outlawed the Greek-Catholic Church and forbade its activity, Bp. Pavol was arrested and imprisoned. Thus began his via crucis in many prisons of what was Czecho-Slovakia, which ended with his death. From January 11 to 15, 1951, the so-called high treason bishops (Vojtaššák, Buzalka and Gojdič) were prosecuted. Bp. Pavol was given a life sentence, fined two hundred thousand crowns and deprived of all his civil rights. Transfers from one prison to another followed, where he suffered physical and psychological punishment and humiliation. He was forced to do the most difficult and degrading jobs. However, he never complained and never asked to be relieved. He made use of all available time to pray and celebrate the sacred liturgy in secret. Following the amnesty in 1953, given by State President A. Zapotocký, his life sentence was changed to twenty-five years' detention. He was then 66 and his health was deteriorating. Yet, all further requests for amnesty were denied. Bp. Pavol Gojdič could only leave prison at the cost of renouncing his faithfulness to the Church and the Holy Father. Various offers were made to him, as is proven by an event that he recounted: In the prison of Ruzyň, he was received by a high-ranking official at an office after being brought out of his cell. The official informed him that he would go straight to Prešov on condition that he was willing to become patriarch of the Orthodox Church in Czecho-Slovakia. The bishop refused this offer, excusing himself and explaining that this would be a very grave sin against God, a betrayal of the Holy Father, of his conscience and of his faithful, most of whom were then suffering persecution. Even in the most difficult situation, Bp. Pavol abandoned himself to the will of God, which we can see from his words: "I do not really know whether it is a gain to exchange the crown of martyrdom with two or three years of life in freedom. But I leave the good Lord to decide." On the occasion of his 70th birthday, the Holy Father Pius XII sent him a telegram in prison. In it, he assured him he would not forget his heroic son. A great desire of Bishop Gojdič was to die comforted by the sacraments on his birthday. Both desires were fulfilled. Father Alojz Vrána was transferred to the room of the prison hospital of Leopoldov (Slovakia) and administered the sacraments. An eye witness, František Ondruška, testified: "The Bishop died on July 17, 1960, on the day of his 72nd birthday. He died in the hospital of the prison of Leopoldov from illnesses caused by maltreatment. He was afterward buried without ceremony in a nameless tomb at the prison cemetery, with only the prisoner number 681." As a result of the easing of the political situation in Czecho-Slovakia after 1968, the state authorities, after many delays, gave permission to exhume the remains of Bp. Pavol Gojdič. This happened at the cemetery of Leopoldov on October 29, 1968, and was followed by the transfer of his relics to Prešov. The authorities then consented to transferring his relics to Prešov's Greek-Catholic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Since May 15, 1990, his relics have been kept in a sarcophagus at the cathedral's chapel. Bp. Pavol Gojdič was legally rehabilitated on September 27, 1990. Subsequently, he was decorated posthumously with the Order of T. G. Masaryk - II class, and with the Cross of Pribina - 1st class. Pope John Paul II, during his visit to Prešov, prayed at the tomb of this bishop-martyr. Bp. Pavol Gojdič was beatified on November 4, 2001.

The Blessed Martyrs of Compiegne()

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