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Thursday of the First Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. Gerald; French abbot; in the latter portion of the Eleventh Century, he was appointed choir director of the Cathedral of Toledo, Spain, as part of an ecclesiastical reform; he did his work so well that he was appointed bishop of Braga; he visited his diocese, and eradicated abuses which had cropped up; he died December 5, 1109, in Portugal Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/5/24 Gospel: Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent Optional Memorial of St. John Damascene, 676-749; born in Damascus, and followed his father in a government position under the Arabs; he resigned, and went to the monastery of St. Sabas; he is famous for his writings against the iconoclasts, who opposed the veneration of images; for his treatise, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, a summary of the Greek Fathers, of which he became the last; and for his poetry--he was one of the greatest poets of the Eastern Church Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/4/24 Gospel: Matthew 15:29-37

Tuesday of the First Week of Advent Memorial of St. Francis Xavier, 1506-1552; joined the infant Society of Jesus in 1534; ordained in 1537, and went to Lisbon; from there sailed to the East Indies, landing at Goa, on the west coast of India; for the next 10 years he labored to bring the faith to such widely scattered peoples as the Hindus, the Malayans, and the Japanese; he longed to go to China, but he died before reaching the mainland Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/3/24 Gospel: Luke 10:21-24

Monday of the First Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. Bibiana; the daughter of Christians, who were martyred by Apronianus, the governor of Rome; Bibiana and her sister Demetria were left to live in poverty in their home, where they prayed and fasted; Apronianus summoned them, and after confessing her faith, Demetria fell dead at his feet; Bibiana was sentenced to be scourged until her death in the Fourth Century. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/2/24 Gospel: Matthew 8:5-11

First Sunday of Advent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/1/24 Gospel: Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

Feast of St. Andrew, apostle Saturday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/30/24 Gospel: Matthew 4:18-22

Friday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Radbod of Utrecht, 850-917; educated as a Christian, and became bishop of Utrecht in 900; distinguished himself for his aid to the poor and his poetry; he was forced to move his see to Deventer, France, because of an invasion by the Danes, and he died there. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/29/24 Gospel: Luke 21:29-33

Thursday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/28/24 Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

Wednesday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. James Intercisus; a Christian, and a favorite of the 5th Century King Yezdigerd I of Persia; when the king launched a persecution of Christians, James denied his faith; but he repented after Yezdigerd died, and proclaimed himself a Christian to the new king, Bahram; James was executed in 421 A.D. by having his body cut apart (thus his name, Intercisus--"cut to pieces") and then he was beheaded Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/27/24 Gospel: Luke 21:12-19

Tuesday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Conrad; a member of the famous Guelph family and son of Count Henry of Altdorf, he was educated at the cathedral school of Constance and was ordained; he was made provost of the cathedral and in 934 was elected bishop of Constance; he gave his share of his inheritance to the Church and to the poor and built and renovated many churches in his see; St. Conrad died in 975 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/26/24 Gospel: Luke 21:5-11

Monday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria; became a Christian as the result of a vision; at age 18, she debated 50 pagan scholars, who were so impressed that they became Christians; Catherine was sentenced to be executed on a spiked wheel; when she touched the wheel, it shattered; she was beheaded in about 310 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/25/24 Gospel: Luke 21:1-4

Solemnity of Christ the King Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/24/24 Gospel: John 18:33-37

Saturday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, 1891-1927; born into a prosperous Mexican family; entered the Jesuits in 1911, but fled to Granada, Spain, because of religious persecution in Mexico; ordained in Belgium in 1925; he returned to Mexico to serve a church which was forced to go underground; arrested on trumped-up charges of trying assassinate the president of Mexico, and was sentenced to a firing squad in 1927; his final words were, "Viva Cristo Rey!"--"Long live Christ the King" Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/23/24 Gospel: Luke 20:27-40

Friday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Cecila; legend has it that she was a young Christian of high rank betrothed to a Roman named Valerian; he converted, and was martyred, along with his brother; the legend tells us that in about 240 A.D., Cecilia was struck on the neck with a sword three times, and lived for three days, during which time she asked the pope to convert her house to a church; since the time of the Renaissance, she has been portrayed with either a viola or a small organ, and she is the patroness of musicians Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/22/24 Gospel: Luke 19:45-48

Thursday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; a non-Biblical source tells us that Ann and Joachim presented Mary to God in the temple when she was 3, to carry out a promise made to God when Anna was still childless; the feast emphasizes that the holiness conferred on Mary from the beginning of her life on earth continued through her early childhood and beyond Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/21/24 Gospel: Luke 19:41-44

Wednesday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Edmund the Martyr; elected king of the East Angles in 855, at the age of 14; in 869-870, the Danes invaded, and Edmund was captured; after extreme torture, he was beaded and died calling upon Jesus; his shrine gave birth to the town, Bury St. Edmund's Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/20/24 Gospel: Luke 19:11-28

Tuesday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Raphael Kalinowski, 1835-1907; born inside the Russian partition of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in the city of Vilnius; he was a teacher, engineer, prisoner of war, royal tutor, and priest, who founded many monasteries around Poland after the suppression by the Russians; first male Discalced Carmelite to be beatified since St. John of the Cross Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/19/24 Gospel: Luke 19: 1-10

Monday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, 1769-1852; born in Grenoble, France; wanted to serve the Indians in America; entered the Visitation of Mary convent at 19; at 49, she traveled with six nuns to St. Charles, Missouri; in her first decade, she suffered nearly every hardship that the American frontier had to offer; finally, at age 72, and in poor health, a mission was founded among the Potawatomi in Sugar Creek, Kansas, and Rose was taken along; she died at the age of 83 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/18/24 Gospel: Luke 18:35:43

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/17/24 Gospel: Mark 13:24-32

Saturday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Margaret of Scotland, 1045-1093; daughter of Hungarian and Anglo-Saxon royalty; they were shipwrecked on the coast of Scotland, and befriended by King Malcolm, who married Margaret; as queen, Margaret promoted arts and education, and encouraged church synods to correct religious abuses; Margaret and Malcolm had six sons and two daughters; she had certain times for prayer and reading scripture, she ate sparingly and slept little; she was always surrounded by beggars, and never refused them; Malcolm and his oldest son Edward were killed in battle; Margaret, already on her deathbed, died four days later Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/16/24 Gospel: Luke 18:1-8