Readings for the Memorial of Saint Cecilia, virgin and martyr Reading 1 2 Mc 7:1, 20-31 It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrestedand tortured with whips and scourges by the king,to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law. Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother,who saw…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Whether simple or elaborate, the same every year or constantly changing, a Nativity scene echoes “the beauty of our faith,” Pope Francis wrote. Marking the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi putting together the first Christmas crèche in a cave in Greccio, Italy, the Vatican publishing house compiled texts by…
Readings for the Memorial of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary Reading 1 2 Mc 6:18-31 Eleazar, one of the foremost scribes,a man of advanced age and noble appearance,was being forced to open his mouth to eat pork. But preferring a glorious death to a life of defilement,he spat out the meat,and went forward of…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When Mbengue Nyimbilo Crepin told Pope Francis of his harrowing journey to Italy and about the deaths of his wife and 6-year-old daughter in the desert along the border between Libya and Tunisia, the pope told him he had been praying for them since July. Nyimbilo, known as “Pato,” sobbed Nov.…
Reading 1 1 Mc 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63 [From the descendants of Alexander’s officers]there sprang a sinful offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes,son of King Antiochus, once a hostage at Rome.He became king in the year one hundred and thirty sevenof the kingdom of the Greeks. In those days there appeared in Israelmen who were breakers of the…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The material, cultural and spiritual poverties that exist in the world are a “scandal” that Christians are called to address by putting their God-given capacity for charity and love into action, Pope Francis said. The poor, whether “the oppressed, fatigued, marginalized, victims of war,” migrants, the hungry, those without work or…