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. Ludger(Bishop (c. 743-809))

SAINT LUDGER Bishop (c. 743-809) St. Ludger was a nobleman from Friesland. He was born around 743 and was educated by St. Gregory, St. Boniface's disciple. Ludger studied at St. Gregory's monastery in Utrech. He wore the clerical tonsure. In response to the Holy Spirit's prompting, he trained for four and a half years with Alcuincin in York. In 773, Ludger returned to Friesland. When St. Gregory passed away in 776, Ludger was ordained a priest. After his ordination, Fr. Ludger preached the Gospel in Friesland. Providentially, he founded several monasteries and churches. When the pagan Saxons ravaged the country, Fr. Ludger travelled to Rome to consult Pope Adrian I. The Saxons opposed foreign influence and Fr. Ludger was forced to retire to Monte Casino for three and a half years. Hence, Fr. Ludger donned the habit of the Order and conformed to its rule. In 787, Charlemagne defeated the Saxons and conquered Friesland and the coast of the Germanic Ocean as far as Denmark. Fr. Ludger returned to East Friesland and converted the Saxons to the Faith, including the province of Westphalia. Fr. Ludger founded the monastery of Werden, twenty-nine miles from Cologne. In 802, Hildebald, the Archbishop of Cologne, consecrated Fr. Ludger to the Bishopric of Munster. Bp. Ludger afterward appointed five cantons from Friesland, and founded the Monastery of Helmstad in the duchy of Brunswick. When charges were brought against Bp. Ludger for wasting the Church's donations, he was summoned to court by Emperor Charlemagne. The chamberlain sent to him was told that Bp. Ludger would follow after prayer. By the time Bp. Ludger finished praying, Emperor Charlemagne grew emotional and said, "Why did you make me wait so long?" Bp. Ludger replied that his respect for his Majesty was profound, but God was infinitely above him. While we are occupied with Him, it is our duty to forget everything else. This answer, and Bp. Ludger's account of himself, made the Emperor dismiss the charges. St. Ludger was favored with the gifts of miracles and prophecy. His last sickness, though painful, did not hinder his daily activities. Up to the last day of his life, Passion Sunday, Bp. Ludger preached very early in the morning, said Mass towards nine, and preached again before night. He passed away on March 26, midnight, at the hour he foretold.

Bl. Maddalena Caterina Morano (1847-1908)()

BLESSED MADDALENA CATERINA MORANO (1847-1908) Blessed Maddalena Caterina Morano grew up with a large family in Chieri, Italy. Her father and older sister passed away when she was 8 years old. She began working and receiviy an education. In 1866, she received her diploma as an elementary school teacher. Maddalena studied Christian doctrine and wanted to be a saint. She postponed entering religious life to provide for her family. She worked as a rural school teacher in Montaldo and taught catechism in the local parish for 12 years. In 1878, after securing her mother's retirement, Maddalena entered the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, a congregation founded six years earlier by Don Bosco. Maddalena was a model religious and took first vows after a brief but intense novitiate. In 1881, with Don Bosco's blessing, she was sent to Trecastagni (Diocese of Catania), Sicily, and put in charge of an existing institute for women, to which she gave a new orientation inspired by Salesian principles. Sicily became Mother Maddalena's second home, where she carried out a varied and fruitful apostolate. She opened new houses, set up after-school activities and sewing classes, trained teachers, and conducted apostolic activities. Her real love, though, was for catechism class, since she was convinced that the formation of Christian conscience was the basis of personal maturity and all social improvement. She coordinated catechetical instruction in eighteen of Catania's churches and trained lay and religious catechists. Mother Maddalena spent 25 years in Sicily and served her community as local and provincial superior. She was an attentive mother and cared for many local vocations, faithfully living the charism of Mother Maria Mazzarello, co-foundress of the institute. She passed away in Catania at the age of 61, on March 26, 1908.She was beatified on November 5, 1994, at Catania, by Pope John Paul II.

St. Margaret Clitherow()

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2025 / Catholic Missal of march 2025