Wednesday of the Third week of Lent

Book of Deuteronomy

Moses spoke to the people and said: "Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees as the LORD, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, 'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.'
For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?"
"However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children's children."

Psalms

Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
frost he strews like ashes.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

St. Turibius of Mongrovejo(Bishop (1538-1606))

SAINT TURIBIUS of MONGROVEJO Archbishop of Lima (1538-1606) Turibius Alphonsus Mongrovejo, feast day April 27, was born on November 6, 1538 at Mayorga, Kingdom of Leon, Spain. Brought up in a pious family with regular devotions, Turibius' youth was a model of Christian virtue. His leisure took the forms of spiritual reading and devotions; and he dedicated himself to works of charity. He always gave his body a little less gratification than it demanded, and would make long pilgrimages on foot. Turibius' reputation as a master of canon and civil law reached the ears of King Philip II, who made him a judge at Granada. About that time, the see of Lima, Peru, fell vacant, and among those proposed, Philip II found no one who seemed better endowed than Turibius. The Roman Pontiff confirmed King Philip's appointment, and directed Turibius to receive Holy Orders and be consecrated. Yielding at last by direction of his confessor, Turibius was ordained priest and consecrated. He arrived at Lima in 1587. With humility and consistent effort, he edified the Christians and brought order to his episcopal city. A model of virtue, he received confessions daily and prepared for Mass by long meditation. Turibius then began visiting his vast diocese, which he traversed three times. His first visitation lasted seven years, and his second four. He held provincial councils and framed decrees and regulations adopted in neighboring countries. A leader in social equity as a principle for common good, Turibius channeled nearly his entire revenue toward establishing safety nets and uplifting the lives of the poor and marginalized. While zealously performing his duties during a third visitation, he was seized with a fatal illness. He passed away on March 23, 1606 at Santa, exclaiming, as he received the sacred Viaticum: "I rejoiced in the things that were said to me: 'We shall go into the house of the Lord.'"The proofs of his holy life and of the favors granted through his intercession led Pope Innocent XI to beatify him. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726.

Sts Victorian and others(Martyrs (+ 484))

STS. VICTORIAN AND OTHERS Martyrs (+ 484) Huneric, the Arian king of the Vandals in Africa, succeeded his father Genseric in 477. He behaved himself at first with moderation towards the Catholics, but in 480 he began a grievous persecution of the clergy and holy virgins, which in 484 became general, and vast numbers of Catholics were put to death. Victorian, one of the principal lords of the kingdom, had been made governor of Carthage, with the Roman title of Proconsul. He was the wealthiest subject of the king, who placed great confidence in him, and he had ever behaved with an inviolable fidelity. The king, after he had published his cruel edicts, sent a message to the proconsul, promising, if he would conform to his religion, to heap on him the greatest wealth and the highest honors which it was in the power of a prince to bestow. The proconsul, who amidst the glittering pomps of the world perfectly understood its emptiness, made this generous answer: "Tell the king that I trust in Christ. His Majesty may condemn me to any torments, but I shall never consent to renounce the Catholic Church, in which I have been baptized. Even if there were no life after this, I would never be ungrateful and perfidious to God, Who has granted me the happiness of knowing Him, and bestowed on me His most precious graces." The tyrant became furious at this answer, nor can the tortures be imagined which he caused the Saint to endure. Victorian suffered them with joy, and amidst them finished his glorious martyrdom. The Roman Martyrology joins with him on this day four others who were crowned in the same persecution. Two brothers, who were apprehended for the faith, had promised each other, if possible, to die together; and they begged of God, as a favor, that they might both suffer the same torments. The persecutors hung them in the air with great weights at their feet. One of them, under the excess of pain, begged to be taken down for a little ease. His brother, fearing that this might move him to deny his faith, cried out from the rack, "God forbid, dear brother, that you should ask such a thing. Is this what we promised to Jesus Christ?" The other was so wonderfully encouraged that he cried out, "No, no; I ask not to be released; increase my tortures, exert all your cruelties till they are exhausted upon me." They were then burned with red-hot plates of iron, and tormented so long that the executioners at last left them, saying, "Everybody follows their example! no one now embraces our religion." This they said chiefly because, notwithstanding these brothers had been so long and so grievously tormented, there were no scars or bruises to be seen upon them. Two merchants of Carthage, who both bore the name of Frumentius, suffered martyrdom about the sane time. Among many glorious confessors at that time, one Liberatus, an eminent physician, was sent into banishment with his wife. He only grieved to see his infant children torn from him. His wife checked his tears by these words: "Think no more of them: Jesus Christ Himself will have care of them and protect their souls." Whilst in prison she was told that her husband had conformed. Accordingly, when she met him at the bar before judge, she upbraided him in open court for having basely abandoned God; but discovered by his answer that a cheat had been put upon her to deceive her into her ruin. Twelve young children, when dragged away by the persecutors, held their companions by the knees till they were torn away by violence. They were most cruelly beaten and scourged every day for a long time; yet by God's grace every one of them persevered in the faith to the end of the persecution.

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2022 / Catholic Missal of march 2022