SAINT BENEDICT JOSEPH LABRE (1783 A.D.); Saint Bernadette Soubirous (1879 A.D.)SAINT MAGNUS OF ORKNEY (1104 A.D.) Martyr

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SAINT BENEDICT JOSEPH LABRE

Confessor

  

 

 

 

St. Bernadette Soubirous

Virgin

[In some places]

 SAINT MAGNUS OF ORKNEY

Martyr

WHITE

St. Benedict Joseph Labre, born in France (1748) devoted himself from his youth to penance and prayer. Obeying the inspiration from on high he became a pilgrim. With no resources he journeyed to Loreto, Assisi and Rome. The populace treated him as a fool. He spent the last twelve years of his life praying in the sanctuaries of Rome and died on April 16 A.D. 1783.

INTROIT (Jer. 12, 7, Ps. 85)

I have forsaken my home, I have cast off mine inheritance, I am poor and nedy, but the Lord hath taken m up. Alleluia, alleluia. (Ps. 41, 2.) As the hart panteth after the fontains of water, so my soul panteth after Thee, O God. Glory be to the Fasther ...--I have forsaken ...

COLLECT

O God, who didst make Thy holy Confessor Benedict Joseph, by the pursuit of humility and by the love of poverty, cleave unto Thee alone, grant us by the help of his merits, to dispise all earthly things, and ever to seek after those of heaven. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT BERNADETTE
Bernadette Soubirous, in religion Sister Mary Bernard, was born at Lourdes, 7th January 1844. Died at Nevers, in the odour of sanctity, 16th April 1879. She was declared venerable 13th August 1913 and canonised 8th December 1933. The eighteen apparitions of the Immaculate Virgin took place between the 11th of February and 16th July 1858, when Bernadette was in her fifteenth year.

O God, protector and friend of the humble, who filled Thy servant, Mary Bernard, with joy by the apparition and the conversation of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, grant, we pray, that by the simple way of faith we may be counted worthy to see Thee face to face in heaven.  
 

Commemoration of SAINT MAGNUS

St. Magnus, Earl of the Orkney Isles, was a Saint famed for his heroic humility and charity. He was martyred in the Orkneys by pagan Norsemen on April 18, A.D. 1104.

May the excellent merits of holy Magnus, Thy Martyr, defend us, O Lord, and may we, who in those merits proclaim the works of Thy Majesty, obtain through them both present and future help. Through our Lord . . . 

EPISTLE 

(Timothy 6:6-12)

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain.

⁷ For we brought nothing into this world: and certainly we can carry nothing out.

⁸ But having food, and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content.

⁹ For they that will become rich, fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurtful desires, which drown men into destruction and perdition.

¹⁰ For the desire of money is the root of all evils; which some coveting have erred from the faith, and have entangled themselves in many sorrows.

¹¹ But thou, O man of God, fly these things: and pursue justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience, mildness.

¹² Fight the good fight of faith: lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art called, and hast confessed a good confession before many witnesses.

Alleluia, alleluia. (Ps. 112, 5, 6) Who is as the Lord our God, who dweleth on high, and looketh down on the low things in heaven and in earth? Alleluia. (Ps. 112, 7) Raising up the needy from the earth, and lifting up the poor out of the dunghill. That he may place him with princes, with the princes of His people. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Matthew (16:24-27)

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

²⁵ For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.

²⁶ For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?

²⁷ For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels: and then will he render to every man according to his works.

OFFERTORY (Heb. 13, 14, 15)

For we have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come. Let us therefore always offer to God, the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips confessing to His name. Alleluia.

SECRET

Most merciful God, graciously look down  upon the gifts we bring  and, giving ear to the prayers of St. Benedict Joseph, Thy Confessor, grant that our offerings may avail us unto salvation. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT BERNADETTE 
O Lord, by Thy Sacrifice inflame our souls with that heavenly ardour by which blessed Mary Bernard, Thy Virgin, presented herself as a praise-offering agreeable to Thee.  
 

Commemoration of SAINT MAGNUS

Behold graciously, we beseech Thee, O Lord, these our offerings, that they may be infused with the blessing of the Holy Ghost, and may pour into our hearts that vigorous love which enabled the holy Martyr Magnus to overcome all bodily tortures. Through our Lord . . . 

COMMUNION (Matt. 5, 4, 8)

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. Alleluia.

POSTCOMMUNION

We have been refreshed, O Lord, by Thy sacred gifts, and beg of Thee the grace to imitate the virtues of Thy holy Confessor Benedict Joseph, on whose merits we rely while we entreat Thy help. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT BERNADETTE 
We, who are renewed by those holy Mysteries, beseech Thee, O Lord, that imitating the marvelous constancy of the blessed Mary Bernard, we may obtain the eternal reward of our patience. 
 

Commemoration of SAINT MAGNUS

O Lord, we have received this heavenly Sacrament, while solemnising Thy holy Martyr Magnus, grant, we beseech Thee, through his prayers that what we now perform in this time we may receive in everlasting joys. Through our Lord . . . 

 

St. Bernadette Soubirous

 

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Feastday: April 16 [Traditional Calendar]
Died: 1879

Famed visionary of Lourdes, baptized Mary Bernard. She was born in Lourdes, France, on January 7, 1844, the daughter of Francis and Louise Soubirous. Bernadette, a severe asthma sufferer, lived in abject poverty. On February 11, 1858, she was granted a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a cave on the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes. She was placed in consider able jeopardy when she reported the vision, and crowds gathered when she had futher visits from the Virgin, from February 18 of that year through March 4.The civil authorities tried to frighten Bernadette into recanting her accounts, but she remained faithful to the vision. On February 25, a spring emerged from the cave and the waters were discovered to be of a miraculous nature, capable of healing the sick and lame. On March 25, Bernadette announced that the vision stated that she was the Immaculate Conception, and that a church should be erected on the site. Many authorities tried to shut down the spring and delay the construction of the chapel, but the influence and fame of the visions reached Empress Eugenie of France, wife of Napoleon Ill, and construction went forward. Crowds gathered, free of harassment from the anticlerical and antireligious officials. In 1866, Bernadette was sent to the Sisters of Notre Dame in Nevers. There she became a member of the community, and faced some rather harsh treatment from the mistress of novices. This oppression ended when it was discovered that she suffered from a painful, incurable illness. She died in Nevers on April 16,1879, still giving the same account of her visions. Lourdes became one of the major pilgrimage destinations in the world, and the spring has produced 27,000 gallons of water each week since emerging during Bernadette's visions. She was not involved in the building of the shrine, as she remained hidden at Nevers. Bernadette was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1933 by Pope Pius XI. 

From http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1757