FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
[Commemoration]
SAINT FRANCES OF ROME
Widow
SAINT DOMINIC SAVIO (HISTORICAL)
[Commemoration]
SAINT FRANCES OF ROME
Widow
DOUBLE, FIRST CLASS / PURPLE
After our first brave efforts of Lent, our natural inclinations
tend to reassert themselves. Temptations may increase their strength
or their frequency. Hence the danger of discouragement and of
slackening in the observance of generous lenten resolutions. It is the
critical hour, in which temptation may surprise us, turn our thoughts
inward upon personal problems, and make us forget the sufferings of
other men. Brother to all men, Jesus showed that temptation can be a
way of redeeming souls--our own and those of others. "In that He
Himself has suffered and has been tempted, He is able to help those
who are tempted" (Heb. 2:18)
INTROIT Ps. 90:15-16
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him, I will deliver him and glorify him with length of days.
Ps. 90:1. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High shall abide in the protection of the God of heaven.
V. Glory be . . .
Ps. 90:1. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High shall abide in the protection of the God of heaven.
V. Glory be . . .
COLLECT
O God, each year You purify the Church through the lenten
observance. May the good works of Your Church obtain for us the grace
we ask for through our self-denial. Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your Son, who lives and rules with You in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God forever and ever.
Frances was born in Rome in 1384. When she was thirteen years of age, her parents married her to Lorenzo Ponziano, a man of outstanding virtue. Frances brought up her children in the love and fear of God. She was zealous in the performance of every household duty, saying, "A married woman must often leave God at the altar to find Him in her domestic cares." While her husband was still living, she founded an order of Oblates affiliated with the Benedictines; and when she became a widow she was elected superior of those religious women. Frances died on March 9, 1440, her face radiant with an unearthly glory.
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 . . .
Commemoration of SAINT FRANCES OF ROME
Frances was born in Rome in 1384. When she was thirteen years of age, her parents married her to Lorenzo Ponziano, a man of outstanding virtue. Frances brought up her children in the love and fear of God. She was zealous in the performance of every household duty, saying, "A married woman must often leave God at the altar to find Him in her domestic cares." While her husband was still living, she founded an order of Oblates affiliated with the Benedictines; and when she became a widow she was elected superior of those religious women. Frances died on March 9, 1440, her face radiant with an unearthly glory.
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 . . .
EPISTLE II Cor. 6:1-10
Brethren: We do exhort you that you receive not the grace of God in
vain. For he saith: In an accepted time have I heard thee and in the
day of salvation have I helped thee. Behold, now is the acceptable
time: behold, now is the day of salvation. Giving no offense to any
man, that our ministry be not blamed. But in all things let us exhibit
ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in tribulation,
in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in prisons, in seditions,
in labours, in watchings, in fastings, In chastity, in knowledge, in
longsuffering, in sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in charity unfeigned,
In the word of truth, in the power of God: by the armour of justice on
the right hand and on the left: By honour and dishonour: by evil
report and good report: as deceivers and yet true: as unknown and yet
known: As dying and behold we live: as chastised and not killed: As
sorrowful, yet always rejoicing: as needy, yet enriching many: as
having nothing and possessing all things.
GRADUAL Ps. 90:11-12
God has given his angels charge over you, that they guard you in all your ways.
V. Upon their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
V. Upon their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
TRACT Ps. 90:1-7; 11-16
He who dwells inm the shelter of the Most High shall abide in the protection of the God of heaven.
V. He shall say to the Lord, "You are my support and my refuge; my God, in You I trust."
V. For he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
V. He will overshadow thee with his shoulders: and under his wings thou shalt trust.
V. His truth shall compass thee with a shield: thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night.
V. Of the arrow that flieth in the day, of the business that walketh about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
V. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee.
V. For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways.
V. In their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
V. Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
V. Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he hath known my name.
V. He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation,
V. I will deliver him, and I will glorify him. I will fill him with length of days; and I will shew him my salvation.
V. He shall say to the Lord, "You are my support and my refuge; my God, in You I trust."
V. For he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
V. He will overshadow thee with his shoulders: and under his wings thou shalt trust.
V. His truth shall compass thee with a shield: thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night.
V. Of the arrow that flieth in the day, of the business that walketh about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
V. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee.
V. For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways.
V. In their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
V. Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
V. Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he hath known my name.
V. He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation,
V. I will deliver him, and I will glorify him. I will fill him with length of days; and I will shew him my salvation.
GOSPEL Matt. 4:1-11
At that time, Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be
tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty
nights, afterwards he was hungry. And the tempter coming said to him:
"If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."
Who answered and said: "It is written, Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from themouth of God."
Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him upon the
pinnacle of the temple, And said to him: "If thou be the Son of God,
cast thyself down, for it is written: That he hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone."
Jesus said to him: "It is written again: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
Again the devil took him up into a very high mountain, and shewed
him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, And said to
him: "All these will I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me."
Then Jesus saith to him: "Begone, Satan: for it is written: The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve."
Then the devil left him; and behold angels came and ministered to him.
CREED
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Ps. 90:4-5
The Lord will cover you with His shoulders, and under His wings you
shall find refuge. His truth shall surround you with a shield.
SECRET
O Lord, we solemnly offer You our sacrifice at the beginning of
Lent, and pray that by observing abstinence we may also learn to avoid
sinful pleasures. 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 . . .
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 Ps. 90:4-5
The Lord will cover you with His shoulders, and under His wings you
shall find refuge. His truth shall surround you with a shield.
POSTCOMMUNION
May the worthy reception of the Blessed Sacrament give us new
strength, O Lord. May it cleanse us from our old selves and bring us
closer to our salvation. Through our Lord . . .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 . . .
Image via WikipediaSt. 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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