Catholic Missal of the day: Saturday, March 10 2018
Saturday of the Third week of Lent
Saturday of the Third week of Lent
1. ReadingBook of Hosea
6,1-6.]Come, let us return to the LORD, it is he who has rent, but he will heal us; he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds.
]He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, to live in his presence.
]Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD; as certain as the dawn is his coming, and his judgment shines forth like the light of day! He will come to us like the rain, like spring rain that waters the earth."
]What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your piety is like a morning cloud, like the dew that early passes away.
]For this reason I smote them through the prophets, I slew them by the words of my mouth;
]For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than holocausts.
Psalms
51(50),3-4.18-19.20-21ab.]Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
]Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
]For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
]My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
]Be bountiful, O LORD, to Zion in your kindness
by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem;
]Then shall you be pleased with due sacrifices,
]burnt offerings and holocausts.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke
18,9-14.]Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.
]"Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
]The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity--greedy, dishonest, adulterous--or even like this tax collector.
]I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.'
]But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'
]I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
St. Marie Eugenie of Jesus(Foundress (1817-1898))
Saint Marie Eugenie of JesusFoundress of the Religious of the Assumption (1817 - 1898) Anne Marie Eugenie was born in 1817, in Metz, after Napoleon's defeat and the monarchy's restoration. Her family was non-believing and financially comfortable. It seemed unlikely that Anne Marie would trace a new spiritual path in France. Anne Marie's father adhered to Voltaire, was a liberal, and made his fortune in banking and politics. Her mother provided an education, which developed Anne Marie's character and gave her a strong sense of duty. Family life developed Anne Marie's intellectual curiosity, romantic spirit, interest in social questions and a broad world view. Like her contemporary, George Sand, Anne Marie went to Mass on feast days and received the sacraments of initiation, but did so according to custom and without knowledge or conviction. However, her First Communion was a mystical experience that foretold the secret of her future. She did not grasp its prophetic meaning until much later when she recognized it as her path toward totally belonging to Jesus Christ and the Church. Anne Marie's youth was happy, but not without suffering. When she was a child, her elder brother and a baby sister passed away. She was also frail; and a fall from a horse left her with permanent injuries. Anne Marie was mature for her age and learned how to hide her feelings and face up to events. After a prosperous period for her father, she experienced the failure of his banks, the misunderstanding and eventual separation of her parents and the loss of all security. She had to leave her family home and go to Paris with her mother; while Louis, closest to her in age and a faithful companion, went to live with their father. Anne Marie went to Paris only to see her mother die from cholera. At the age of 15, she was now alone in a society that was worldly and superficial. She thus searched in anguish for truth and meaning. When she was 19, Anne Marie attended the Lenten Conferences at Notre Dame in Paris, preached by the young Abbe Lacordaire, who was already well-known for his talent as an orator. Lacordaire was a former disciple of Lamennais: the latter envisioned a renewed Church with a special place in the world. Lacordaire understood young people, their questions and their desires, their idealism and their ignorance of both Christ and the Church. His words touched Anne Marie's heart, answered her many questions and aroused her generosity. "I was truly converted," she wrote, "and I was seized by a longing to devote all my strength or rather all my weakness to the Church which, from that moment, I saw as alone holding the key to the knowledge and achievement of all that is good." At this time, Anne Marie met Fr. Combalot, another of Lamennais' disciples. In the confessional, he recognized her as the soul who would found the congregation he envisaged. He persuaded her to undertake the work by showing education evangelized minds, made families truly Christian and thus transformed society. Anne Marie accepted the project as God's will for her and allowed the Fr. Combalot to guide her. At 22 years old, Anne Marie founded the Religious of the Assumption, whose members consecrate their lives to extend the Kingdom of Christ in themselves and in the world. In 1839, Anne Marie, with two other young women, began a life of prayer and study in a flat at rue Ferou near the church of St. Sulpice in Paris. In 1841, under Madame de Chateaubriand, Lacordaire, Montalembert and their patrons, the Sisters opened their first school. In a relatively short time, there were sixteen Sisters of four nationalities in the community. Anne Marie and her community wanted to link the ancient and the new: uniting the past treasures of the Church's spirituality and wisdom with a type of religious life and education able to satisfy the demands of modern minds. It was a matter of respecting the values of the period and making the Gospel penetrate the culture. The spirituality of the Congregation, centered on Christ and the Incarnation, was both deeply contemplative and dedicated to apostolic action. Anne Marie's long life covered almost the whole of the 19th century. She loved her times passionately and took an active part. Progressively, she channeled her energy and gifts into the Congregation, which became her life's work. God gave her many Sisters and friends. One of her first Sisters was an Irish mystic who she called, "half of myself." Kate O'Neill (called Mother Therese Emmanuel in religion) is considered as a co-foundress. Father Emmanuel d'Alzon became Anne Marie's spiritual director soon after the foundation. He was a father, brother or friend according to the seasons. In 1845, he founded the Augustinians of the Assumption and the two founders helped each other in a multitude of ways over a period of forty years. Both had a gift for friendship and they inspired many lay-persons to work with them and the Church. Together, as they followed Christ and labored with him, the religious and laity traced the path of the Assumption and took their place in the great cloud of witnesses. In the last years of her life, Mother Anne Marie Eugenie experienced a progressive physical weakening, which she lived in silence and humility. She received the Eucharist for the last time on March 9, 1898. On the 10th, she gently passed over to the Lord. She was beatified by Pope Paul VI on February 9, 1975, and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on June 3, 2007.
The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste((† c. 320))
THE FORTY MARTYRS OF SEBASTE ( c. 320) These martyrs were soldiers quartered in Sebaste (modern Turkey) circa 320. When their legion was ordered to offer pagan sacrifice, they declined. As punishment, they were scourged, torn with iron hooks, chained together and left to a lingering death. In the dead of winter, the men were condemned to freeze on the icy surface of a pond. With Christ so near during their trial, they removed their garments and went toward the pond singing hymns. The secular authorities placed hot baths nearby to tempt them, yet not one renounced his faith. They remained steadfast and passed away one by one. Among the forty, there was a young soldier who held out the longest. When the officers came to cart away the bodies, they asked him to change his mind, but the soldier's mother encouraged him to triumph. He made a sign of recognition before being carried away - loyal and true to the very end. Forever in heaven, the martyrs praise God and intercede for us. We may call upon them for courage to obey the Holy Spirit.
St. Macarius()
Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2018 / Catholic Missal of march 2018
Published: 2026-07-14T18:16:27Z | Modified: 2026-07-14T18:16:27Z