Liturgical Calendar

Devotions

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus- June 27
Devotion to the Sacred Heart, encouraged by mediaeval mystics and promoted by St Gertrude, St Margaret Mary Alacoque, St John Eudes and others, represents a devotion to Jesus in his human nature, in particular referring to the heart as the seat of the emotions.


An Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, to thee I consecrate and offer up my person and my life, my actions, trials, and sufferings, that my entire being may henceforth only be employed in loving, honouring and glorifying thee. This is my irrevocable will, to belong entirely to thee, and to do all for thy love, renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease thee.

  I take thee, O Sacred Heart, for the sole object of my love, the protection of my life, the pledge of my salvation, the remedy of my frailty and inconstancy, the reparation for all the defects of my life, and my secure refuge at the hour of my death.

  Be thou, O Most Merciful Heart, my justification before God thy Father, and screen me from his anger which I have so justly merited. I fear all from my own weakness and malice, but placing my entire confidence in thee, O Heart of Love, I hope all from thine infinite goodness. Annihilate in me all that can displease or resist thee. Imprint thy pure love so deeply in my heart that I may never forget thee or be separated from thee.

  I beseech thee, through thine infinite goodness, grant that my name be engraved upon thy Heart, for in this I place all my happiness and all my glory, to live and to die as one of thy devoted servants. Amen.


Corpus Christi processions June 22

Pope Urban IV established the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264 after Saint Juliana of Liège saw a dark spot on a full moon representing a missing feast honoring the Eucharist. Outdoor processions began in the 13^th and 14^th centuries, first in Germany and then throughout Europe. 

The Blessed Sacrament is carried in a monstrance by a priest through the streets with altar servers, liturgical ministers and parishioners following. The procession is a visual representation of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and a public expression of faith. 

Make plans to join us on Sunday, June 22 following the 10:00 am Mass at Saint Gregory Church, after the 11:00 am Mass at Holy Redeemer, and after the noon Mass at Saint Ferdinand Church.


Saints

St. Charles Lwanga and his companions

Many Christians, Catholic and Protestant, were killed by the Ugandan king Mwanga. Some of them were servants in the king’s palace or even his personal attendants. Between 1885 and 1887, Charles Lwanga and his 21 companions were executed for being Christians, for rebuking the king for his debauchery and his murder of an Anglican missionary, for “praying from a book,” and other alleged infractions.


Pentecost: The 50th Day

  The name “Pentecost” comes from the Greek word meaning “fiftieth.” Like Easter, it is tied to a Jewish feast. Forty-nine days after the second day of Passover, the Jews celebrated the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot).

  Symbolically, the parallel with the Jews is exact. We are freed from the slavery of death and sin by Easter; with the Apostles, we spend some time as toddlers under the tutelage of the risen Jesus; and when he has left, the Spirit comes down on us and we become a Church.


Monday, June 9
Mary, Mother of the Church 

The Blessed Virgin Mary has been given the title of Mother of the Church since she gave birth to Christ, the Head of the Church, and she became the Mother of the redeemed people before her Son had given up the spirit on the Cross. 


Wednesday, June 11
Saint Barnabas, Apostle 

  Saint Barnabas was born in Cyprus. He was one of the early converts in Jerusalem and vouched for St Paul when he appeared before the elders there. He accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey and later went to Cyprus with his cousin John Mark (Mark the evangelist) to preach the gospel there. He was probably martyred at Salamis in Cyprus, sometime before the year 61.


Friday, June 13
Saint Antony of Padua, Priest, Doctor 

  Saint Antony was first of all an Augustinian monk, but he was so impressed by the martyrdom of five Franciscans who had been spreading the faith in Morocco that he became a Franciscan friar himself, so that he could preach the gospel in Africa too. In 1221, he met Saint Francis of Assisi.  Later he returned to Italy, to Padua, where he was an outstanding preacher and the first Franciscan theologian.

  His shrine is a center of pilgrimage, and he is also the patron saint of the lost and found.


Sunday, June 15
The Most Holy Trinity - Solemnity 




Saturday, June 21
St Aloysius Gonzaga (1568 - 1591)

  St Aloysius was the eldest son of a Mantuan nobleman and was intended by his father to be a soldier. Aloysius, on the other hand, was determined to be a missionary, and even to die for his faith. He renounced his birthright and at the age of 16 became a Jesuit novice in Rome. 

In 1591 an epidemic of plague broke out in Rome, and the Jesuits opened a hospital to care for the sick. Aloysius, still a novice, worked hard in the hospital until he himself caught the plague. He did not recover; but, his determination to die for the faith having been fulfilled, died at midnight on the 20th of June with the name of Jesus on his lips.


Sunday, June 22
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) - Solemnity 



Tuesday, June 24
The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist - Solemnity 

  Saint John the Baptist has two feasts. One, in August, celebrates his death, and one, in June, celebrates his birth. 
  A prophet from before his birth, leaping in the womb to announce the coming of the incarnate God, his task was to proclaim the fulfilment of all prophecies – and thus his own obsolescence. And he did it: with unequalled courage he spread the news that he, the greatest of all men, was the least in the kingdom of heaven. 


Saturday, June 28
Saint Irenaeus, Bishop, Doctor, Martyr 

  Irenaeus was born in Smyrna, in Asia Minor (now Izmir in Turkey) and emigrated to Lyons, in France, where he eventually became the bishop.

  He played a decisive role in fixing the canon of the New Testament. The Church itself had to agree, early on, about what was scriptural and what was not. 
  
  So Irenaeus went through all the books of the New Testament, and all the candidates (such as the magical pseudo-Gospels, and the entertaining and uplifting novel The Shepherd of Hermas). He gave reasons for and against the canonicity of each. Irenaeus’s canon of scripture is very nearly the modern one, but more important is the fact that he started the tradition of biblical scholarship.


Sunday, June 29
Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles - Solemnity 

St Peter is not the model of a wise and noble hero. He walks on the water – but then panics and starts to sink. He makes the first profession of faith – and moments later blunders into error and is called Satan by the Lord. He refuses to be washed, and then, when the purpose is explained to him, demands to be washed all over. And, of course, he betrays his master soon after having been warned that he will and having sworn not to. 

  The choosing of Peter teaches us a lesson. The Church’s foundation-stone and its first leader is not all-wise, all-knowing, good, heroic, and beautiful. He is a very ordinary man who makes about as many mistakes as we would in his place.

  But the Church is not just for saints: it is for confused, impetuous, cowardly people like us – or St Peter. The rock crumbles, the ropes are frayed, the wood is rotten – but, although that improbable building, the Church, is made of such inferior materials, it grows (on the whole) faster than it collapses, and it is grace that holds it together.

St Paul

  Paul's mind shaped the early Church. But Paul is not some cold and remote intellectual – just read the Epistles and see if that stands up. Paul is always reminding people of his weakness. Paul is not all mind – he does have his troubles too.

  Let us pray for the grace to love God with our minds, as he did.