Today, May 25
Feast of the Day
No feast of the day
Saint of the Day
A teacher of great repute, Bede is the only English Doctor of the Church. Born in the north of England about 673, he was sent to a Benedictine monastery at the age of 7, and was educated in a neighbouring monastery, where he remained for the rest of his life. At 19, he became a deacon and at 30, a priest.
Bede was considered the most learned man of his time and a gifted writer. Though he excelled in biblical commentary and history, he also wrote extensively in other areas, including poetry, biography, and chronology. His most famous work is the authoritative Historia ecclesiastica (Ecclesiastical History of the English People), the only source for much early Anglo-Saxon history.
His particular gift seems to have been his ability to recognize, with precision and clarity, the needs of his contemporaries and to judge accurately the historical significance of the events he and they were living through. His wisdom and learning earned him the respectful title of "Venerable," which the Church formalized in 853. He died on this day in 735.
Saint Gregory VII
Born in Tuscany about 1023, Hildebrand (later Pope Gregory VII) was sent to a monastery to be educated under John Gratian. When Gratian was elected pope, Hildebrand became his personal secretary. He also served Pope Leo IX as counsellor and treasurer of the Church's finances. After serving as chief counsellor for the next four popes and gaining an international reputation as papal representative to several courts, Hildebrand himself was acclaimed pope in 1073.
As Gregory VII, he began an extensive reform of the Church and of its relations with civil authorities, provoking conflict and intrigue. The Duke of Normandy came to Gregory's aid, but when Norman troops sacked Rome, even the Romans turned against the pope. In defending the Church against the threat of secular domination, Gregory made many enemies. He died in exile in 1085.
Saint Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
Catherine was born into a prominent family in Florence in 1566. Rejecting her parents' proposed suitors, she convinced her family of her religious vocation and at 17 became a Carmelite nun. Her biography, compiled by her confessor, gives a detailed account of her intense spiritual journey with its periods of desolation and ecstasy. Mary Magdalen had the gifts of prophecy and healing. She died in 1607 and her uncorrupted body is enshrined in the convent church.©2011 Living with Christ, Novalis - Bayard Press Canada Inc., http://www.livingwithchrist.ca/. Reprinted with permission.
Readings of the Day
Book of Genesis 3,9-15.20.
The LORD God called to the Adam and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, "I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself." Then he asked, "Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!" The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with me--she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it." The LORD God then asked the woman, "Why did you do such a thing?" The woman answered, "The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel." The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living.
Psalms 87(86),1-2.3.5.6-7.
His foundation upon the holy mountains, the LORD loves: the gates of Zion, more than any dwelling of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, O city of God! and of Zion they shall say: “One and all were born in her; and he who has established her is the Most High LORD.” They shall note, when the peoples are enrolled: "This man was born there." And all shall sing, in their festive dance: "My home is within you."
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 19,25-34.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I thirst." There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, "It is finished." And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit. Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
Daily Reflection
[Jesus came to John to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying: "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?" (Mt 3:13-14)] "I am the voice, the voice crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord." So I cannot be silent, Lord, in your presence. I "need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" (…) You existed from the beginning, you were with God and you were God (Jn 1:1). You are the radiance the Father's glory, the perfect image of the perfect Father (Heb 1:3). You are the true light enlightening every person who comes into the world (Jn 1:9). You were in the world yet you have come to where you were already. You have become flesh, but you have not been changed into flesh. You have lived among us, appearing to your servants in the likeness of a servant (Jn 1:14; 14:23; Phil 2:7). You by your holy name have bridged heaven and earth, and do you come to me? You, so great, to such as I? King to herald, master to servant? (…) I know the distance between the earth and the Creator, between the clay and the potter. I know how far I, a lamp lit by your grace, am outshone by you, the Sun of Righteousness (Mal 3:20; Jn 5:35). You are concealed by the pure cloud of your body, but I still recognize your sovereignty. I acknowledge my servile condition; I proclaim your greatness. I admit your absolute authority, and my own lowly estate. "I am unworthy to undo the strap of your sandal»; how then could I dare to touch your immaculate head? How could I stretch out my hand over you, who «stretched out the heavens like a tent," and "set the earth upon the waters" (Pss. 104[103]:2; 136[135]:6)? (…) Surely it is not for me to pray over you, for you are the one who receives the prayers even of those who have no knowledge of you.