The painting is by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri; Italian, ca. 1591-1666),Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery, 1621.
SAINT FRANCES OF ROME
Widow
SIMPLE / PURPLE
Jesus
said: "Do not judge, that you may not be judged. For with what
judgement you judge, you shall be judged. . . . But why dost thou see
the speck in thy brother's eye, and yet dost not consider the beam in
thine own eye? . . . Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam from thine
own eye, and then thou wilt see clearly to cast out the speck from thy
brother's eye" (Matt. 7:1-3,5).
It
is common tendency to favor ourselves and condemn others precisely in
proportion to our own guilt. Conversely, the innocent find it easy to
believe in the innocence of others, and to sympathize with their
failures.
INTROIT Ps. 5:2-3
Hear my words, O Lord; consider my cry. Hearken to the voice of my prayer, O my king and my God.
Ps. 5:4. For to You I pray, O Lord; in the morning You hear my voice.
V. Glory be . . .
COLLECT
O
Almighty God, while Your servants mortify their bodies by fasting, may
they also follow after righteousness and avoid sin. Through our Lord . .
.
O God, among the many gifts of grace You bestowed on Your blessed servant Frances, You granted her an intimate friendship with an angel. May we be worthy of fellowship with the angels through her intercession. Through Our Lord . . .
LESSON Dan. 13:1-9, 15-17, 1930, 33-62
Now there was a man that dwelt in Babylon, and his name was Joakim: And he took a wife, whose name was Susanna, the daughter of Helcias, a very beautiful woman, and one that feared God. For her parents being just, had instructed their daughter according to the law of Moses.
Now Joakim was very rich, and had an orchard near his house: and the Jews resorted to him, because he was the most honourable of them all. And there were two of the ancients of the people appointed judges that year, of whom the Lord said: 'That iniquity came out from Babylon, from the ancient judges, that seemed to govern the people.' These men frequented the house of Joakim, and all that had any matters of judgment came to them. And when the people departed away at noon, Susanna went in, and walked in her husband's orchard. And the old men saw her going in every day, and walking: and they were inflamed with lust towards her:
And they perverted their own mind, and turned away their eyes, that they might not look unto heaven, nor remember just judgments.
And it fell out, as they watched a fit day, she went in on a time, as yesterday and the day before, with two maids only, and was desirous to wash herself in the orchard: for it was hot weather. And there was nobody there, but the two old men that had hid themselves, and were beholding her. So she said to the maids: "Bring me oil, and washing balls, and shut the doors of the orchard, that I may wash me."
Now when the maids were gone forth, the two elders arose, and ran to her, and said: "Behold the doors of the orchard are shut, and nobody seeth us, and we are in love with thee: wherefore consent to us, and lie with us. But if thou wilt not, we will bear witness against thee, that a young man was with thee, and therefore thou didst send away thy maids form thee." Susanna sighed, and said: "I am straitened on every side: for if I do this thing, it is death to me: and if I do it not, I shall not escape your hands. But it is better for me to fall into your hands without doing it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord." With that Susanna cried out with a loud voice: and the elders also cried out against her. And one of them ran to the door of the orchard, and opened it. So when the servants of the house heard the cry in the orchard, they rushed in by the back door, to see what was the matter. But after the old men had spoken, the servants were greatly ashamed: for never had there been any such word said of Susanna. And on the next day, When the people were come to Joakim, her husband, the two elders also came full of wicked device against Susanna, to put her to death. And they said before the people: "Send to Susanna, daughter of Helcias, the wife of Joakim." And presently they sent. And she came with her parents, and children and all her kindred.
Therefore her friends, and all her acquaintance wept. But the two elders rising up in the midst of the people, laid their hands upon her head. And she weeping, looked up to heaven, for her heart had confidence in the Lord. And the elders said: "As we walked in the orchard alone, this woman came in with two maids, and shut the doors of the orchard, ans sent away the maids from her. Then a young man that was there hid came to her, and lay with her. But we that were in a corner of the orchard, seeing this wickedness, ran up to them, and we saw them lie together.
And him indeed we could not take, because he was stronger than us, and opening the doors, he leaped out: But having taken this woman, we asked who the young man was, but she would not tell us: of this thing we are witnesses."
The multitude believed them, as being the elders, and the judges of the people, and they condemned her to death. Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice, and said: "O eternal God, who knowest hidden things, who knowest all things before they come to pass, Thou knowest that they have borne false witness against me: and behold I must die, whereas I have done none of these things, which these men have maliciously forged against me."
And the Lord heard her voice. And when she was led to be put to death, the Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young boy, whose name was Daniel: And he cried out with a loud voice: "I am clear from the blood of this woman." Then all the people turning themselves towards him, said: "What meaneth this word that thou hast spoken?" But he standing in the midst of them, said: "Are ye so foolish, ye children of Israel, that without examination or knowledge of the truth, you have condemned a daughter of Israel? Return to judgment, for they have borne false witness against her."
So all the people turned again in haste, and the old men said to him: "Come, and sit thou down among us, and shew it us: seeing God hath given thee the honour of old age." And Daniel said to the people: "Separate these two far from one another, and I will examine them." So when they were put asunder one from the other, he called one of them, and said to him: "O thou that art grown old in evil days, now are thy sins come out, which thou hast committed before: In judging unjust judgments, oppressing the innocent, and letting the guilty to go free, whereas the Lord saith: The innocent and the just thou shalt not kill. Now then if thou sawest her, tell me under what tree thou sawest them conversing together?": He said: "Under a mastic tree." And Daniel said: "Well hast thou lied against thy own head: for behold the angel of God having recieved the sentence of him, shall cut thee in two."
And having put him aside, he commanded that the other should come, and he said to him: "O thou seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda, beauty hath deceived thee, and lust hath perverted thy heart: Thus did you do to the daughters of Israel, and they for fear conversed with you: but a daughter of Juda would not abide your wickedness. Now, therefore, tell me, under what tree didst thou take them conversing together?" And he answered: "Under a holm tree." And Daniel said to him: "Well hast thou also lied against thy own head: for the angel of the Lord waiteth with a sword to cut thee in two, and to destroy you."
With that all the assembly cried out with a loud voice, and they blessed God, who saveth them that trust in him. And they rose up against the two elders, (for Daniel had convicted them of false witness by their own mouth) and they did to them as they had maliciously dealt against their neighbour, To fulfil the law of Moses: and they put them to death, and innocent blood was saved in that day.
GRADUAL Ps. 22:4
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me, O Lord.
V. Your rod and Your staff, these give me courage.
GOSPEL John 8:1-11
At
that time, Jesus went unto mount Olivet. And early in the morning he
came again into the temple: and all the people came to him. And sitting
down he taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees bring unto him a
woman taken in adultery: and they set her in the midst, And said to him:
"Master, this woman was even now taken in adultery. Now Moses in the
law commanded us to stone such a one. But what sayest thou?" And this
they said tempting him, that they might accuse him.
But
Jesus bowing himself down, wrote with his finger on the ground. When
therefore they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said to
them: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." And again stooping down, he wrote on the ground.
But
they hearing this, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest. And
Jesus alone remained, and the woman standing in the midst. Then Jesus
lifting up himself, said to her: "Woman, where are they that accused thee? Hath no man condemned thee?" Who said: "No man, Lord." And Jesus said: "Neither will I condemn thee. Go, and now sin no more."
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Ps. 118:133
Direct my footsteps according to Your promise, O Lord, and let no iniquity rule over me.
SECRET
Almighty God, grant that our sacrificial offering may cleanse and protect our frail nature from all evil. Through our Lord . . .
Commemoration of SAINT FRANCES OF ROME
Accept
this gift, O Lord, from a people dedicated to You. We offer it in honor
of Your saints for the help we have received from them when we were in
trouble. Through our Lord . . .
COMMUNION ANTIPHON John 8:10, 11
Has no one condemned thee, woman? No one, Lord. Neither will I condemn thee. From now on sin no more.
POSTCOMMUNION
O
Almighty God, may we, who have received the Body and Blood of Christ in
Communion, be numbered among the members of His Mystical Body; who
lives and rules with You . . .
Commemoration of SAINT FRANCES OF ROME
O
Lord, You have feasted Your family with the Food of heaven. May we
always be refreshed through the intercession of Your saint whose feast
we celebrate this day. Through our Lord . . .
PRAY OVER THE PEOPLE
O
Lord, stretch out Your helping hand from heaven to all the faithful who
seek You with all their hearts. May they be worthy of receiving that
which they rightly ask for. Through our Lord . . .
St. Dominic Savio
Here is a boy-saint who died at the age of fourteen, was one of the great hopes of St. John Bosco for the future of his congregation, and was canonized in 1954.
He was studying to be a priest when he became ill and died at the age of 14, possibly from pleurisy.
He was one of ten children of Carlo and Birgitta Savio. Carlo was a blacksmith and Birgitta was a seamstress. When Don Bosco was looking for young men to train as priests for his Salesian Order, his parish priest suggested Dominic Savio. Dominic became more than a credit to Don Bosco's school—he single-handedly organized those who were to be the nucleus of Don Bosco's order.
St. Dominic Savio was twelve when he met Don Bosco and organized a group of boys into the Company of the Immaculate Conception. Besides its religious purpose, the boys swept and took care of the school and looked after the boys that no one seemed to pay any attention to. When, in 1859, Don Bosco chose the young men to be the first members of his congregation, all of them had been members of Dominic's Company.
For all that, Dominic was a normal, high-spirited boy who sometimes got into trouble with his teachers because he would often break out laughing. However, he was generally well disciplined and gradually gained the respect of the tougher boys in Don Bosco's school.
In other circumstances, Dominic might have become a little self-righteous snob, but Don Bosco showed him the heroism of the ordinary and the sanctity of common sense. "Religion must be about us as the air we breathe," Don Bosco would say, and Dominic Savio wore holiness like the clothes on his back.
(Taken from Catholic Encyclopedia) EWTN.COM
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