Feast of Saint John the Apostle (Goffine's Devout Instructions)

December 27

JOHN, the brother of Saint James the Greater, was a son of Zebedee, a fisherman of Galilee, and of Salome, a cousin of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Matthew 4:21). He was the youngest of the apostles, and, with Peter and James, was the most trusted of the disciples of Jesus, by Whom he was most tenderly loved, on which account he is called the Disciple of Love. Of this Jesus gave the most convincing evidence when, at the Last Supper, He allowed that disciple to lean upon His breast, and when, from the cross, He committed to the care of John His own Mother. After the ascension John preached the Gospel in Palestine; afterwards went to Asia Minor, fixed his residence in Ephesus, and established many churches there. He was, with the other apostles, taken prisoner and scourged by the Jews, and in the year 95, under the Emperor Domitian, before the Latin Gate, at Rome, was thrown into a vessel of boiling oil. Having endured this torture without injury, he was then banished to the island of Patmos, where, by command of the Lord, he wrote the Apocalypse, or Revelation, concerning the fortunes of the Church. On returning from hIs banishment he again governed the churches of Asia Minor as chief pastor, as he had done before, and, at the age of nearly one hundred years, died at Ephesus a peaceful and natural death.

The Introit of the Mass reads: "In the midst of the Church the Lord opened his mouth, and filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and clothed him with a robe of glory. It is good to give praise to the Lord, and to sing to Thy name, O Most High." Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, Amen. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Prayer

Mercifully illustrate Thy Church, O Lord, that, enlightened by the doctrines of Thy blessed apostle and evangelist Saint John, she may arrive at gifts everlasting. Through Christ our Lord, etc. Amen.

Epistle: Ecclesiasticus 15:1-6

He that feareth God will do good: and he that possesseth justice shall lay hold on her, and she will meet him as an honorable mother, and will receive him as a wife married of a virgin. With the bread of life and understanding, she shall feed him and give him the water of wholesome wisdom to drink; and she shall be made strong in him, and he shall not be moved; and she shall hold him fast, and he shall not be confounded; and she shall exalt him among his neighbors, and in the midst of the Church she shall open his mouth, and shall fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and shall clothe him with a robe of glory. She shall heap upon him a treasure of joy and gladness, and our Lord God shall cause him to inherit an everlasting name.

On Purity

"He that loves wisdom," saith the Holy Ghost, "will obtain it, for it will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins" (Wisdom 1:4). Saint John was from his childhood an angel of purity, on which account he was particularly beloved by Jesus, and endowed by the Holy Ghost with such wisdom and knowledge that, as Saint Augustine has remarked, he begins his gospel in a manner more lofty and sublime than the other three evangelists. For while they walk with the God-man upon earth, speaking comparatively little of His divinity, Saint John, as if despising the world, soars beyond the vault of heaven, above the hosts of angels, and comes to Him by Whom all things are made, saying, "In the beginning was the Word." At the Last Supper he was permitted to lean on the bosom of Jesus, but what he there drank in secretly he imparted openly. Apply thyself, therefore, to purity of heart, and thou shalt be like Saint John, a beloved disciple of Jesus, and shalt be filled with heavenly wisdom.

Gospel: John 21:19-24

At that time Jesus said to Peter: Follow Me. Peter turning about, saw that disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also leaned on His breast at supper, and said: Lord, who is he that shall betray Thee? Him therefore when Peter had seen, he saith to Jesus: Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith to him: So I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee? follow thou Me. This saying therefore went abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die. And Jesus did not say to him: He should not die; but, So I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee? This is that disciple who giveth testimony of these things, and hath written these things; and we know that his testimony is true.

– Goffine's Devout Instructions

Vatican calls Whatcom boy's survival a miracle - seattlepi.com

Vatican calls Whatcom boy's survival a miracle - seattlepi.com

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha's Intercession

KATERI TEKAKWITHA: FIRST NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN SAINT

VATICAN CITY, 20 DEC 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father yesterday signed decrees acknowledging miracles attributed to the intervention of seven blesseds (four women and three men) who will shortly be canonised. One of the new blesseds is Kateri Tekakwitha, the first native North American to be raised to the glory of the altars.

Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in Ossernenon (present-day Auriesville, U.S.A.). Her father was a Mohawk chief and her mother a Roman Catholic Algonquian who had been educated by French missionaries. At the age of four she lost her family in a smallpox epidemic which also left her disfigured and with poor eyesight. Adopted by a relative, the chief of neighbouring clan, she continued to nurture an interest in Christianity and was baptised at the age of 20.

The members of her tribe did not understand her new religious affiliation and she was marginalised, practising physical mortification as a path of sanctity and praying for the conversion of her relatives. Having suffered persecutions which put her life at risk, she was forced to flee to a native American Christian community in Kahnawake, Quebec where she made a vow of chastity and lived a life dedicated to prayer, penance, and care for the sick and elderly. She died in 1680 at the age of 24. Her last words were: "Jesus, I love you". According to tradition, Kateri's scars disappeared after her death to reveal a woman of great beauty, and numerous sick people who participated in her funeral were miraculously healed.

The process of canonisation began in 1884. She was declared venerable by Pius XII in 1943 and beatified by John Paul II in 1980. As the first native North American to be beatified she occupies a special place in the devotion of her people.Her feast day falls on 14 July.

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Saint John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church

Saint John of the Cross (also known as Doctor of Mystical Theology) was born in 1542 A.D. at Fontiveros, Spain. John had been born in poverty. He cared for the poor in the hospital at Medina, and in 1563, at the age of 21, entered the Carmelite Order at Medina, and was ordained in 1567. 

He was persuaded by Saint Teresa of Avila to begin the Discalced or barefoot reform within the Carmelite Order, and he took the name John of the Cross. He assisted Saint Teresa in establishing a monastery of friars, carrying out the primitive rule. He was made first master of novices, and was called to Avila by Saint Teresa to serve as spiritual director and confessor in the convent of which she was the superior. 

His reforms did not set well with some of his brothers, and his provincial ordered him to return to Medina. He refused, and was imprisoned at Toledo, Spain, escaping after nine months. After his escape, he became the vicar-general of Andalusia. He strove for papal recognition of the order, and as a result suffered indignities under his displeased superior. His reforms revitalized the Carmelite Order.

He was a great contemplative and spiritual writer, and his two best-known works are “The Ascent of Mount Carmel” and “The Dark Night of the Soul”. Pope Pius XI proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church on August 24, 1926.

Saint John of the Cross died of natural causes on December 14, 1591 at Ubeda, Andalusia, Spain. His relics are at Segovia, Spain.

Saint Lucy of Syracuse, Virgin and Martyr

Saint Lucy of Syracuse (also known as Lucia of Syracuse; Lucia de Syracuse), virgin and martyr, was a rich, young Christian of Greek ancestry born in Syracuse, Sicily, around 283. She was of a noble Greek family, brought up as a Christian by her mother, Eutychia. Her Roman father died when she was young. Her mother had arranged a marriage for her. For three years she managed to keep the marriage on hold. To change the mother's mind about the girl's faith, Lucy prayed at the tomb of Saint Agatha, and her mother's long hemorrhagic illness was cured. After her mother's miraculous cure Lucy was allowed to make a vow of virginity and to distribute a great part of her riches among the poor, and Lucy became known as a patron of those with illnesses like her mother's.

This charitableness stirred the greed of Paschasius, the unworthy young man to whom Lucy had been unwillingly betrothed, and he denounced her to the Governor of Sicily as a Christian. The governor sentenced her to forced prostitution, but when guards went to fetch her, they could not move her even when they hitched her to a team of oxen. The governor ordered her killed instead. After torture that included having her eyes torn out, she was surrounded by bundles of wood which were set afire, but again God saved her, and the fire went out. She prophesied against her persecutors, and was executed by being stabbed in the throat with a dagger or sword . Her name is listed in the prayer "Nobis quoque peccatoribus" in the Canon of the Mass.

Legend says her eyesight was restored before her death. This and the meaning of her name (Light; Bringer of Light) led to her connection with eyes, the blind, eye trouble, and epidemic diseases.

Saint Lucy of Syracuse died in Syracuse, Sicily around 304, her relics are honored in churches throughout Europe.