St. Matthew wrote the first Gospel.  He was a tax collector when Jesus called him to “follow me”.  He immediately arose and followed Him.  Matthew prepared a meal for Jesus and His apostles.  The Pharisees were indignant.  Jesus said, “I didn’t come to call the just but to call sinners.”  As an apostle, Matthew preached far and wide.  It is thought that he died in Parthia.

FEAST DAY:  September 21

PATRON OF:  Accountants, bookkeepers, tax collectors, security guards

JEWELRY

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

True

Today’s Question-

Christ as head of the Church is made visibly present through _________.

a) the clergy     b) the laity and the clergy     c) the religious.

At the beginning of the 17^th century through the efforts of several laypersons, the Christian faith reached Korea, where a strong and vital Christian community flourished under lay leadership until 1836 when, in secret, missionaries from France, members of the Paris Foreign Mission Society entered the country.  One hundred and three members of the Christian community gave their lives as martyrs during the persecutions of 1839, 1846, 1866, 1867.  Leaders of these witnesses were Andrew Kim Taegon, pastor, and the apostle, Paul Chong Hasang.  Among the martyrs were bishops and priests, but mostly they were laity.  All suffered greatly for the faith and consecrated the rich beginnings of the Church of Korea with their blood as martyrs.

FEAST DAY:  September 20

STATUE

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

The Lord upholds my life.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer:

c)  Levites

Today’s Question:

Only Christ is the true “priest” while all the others who are ordained priests are ministers in Christ’s name only.

True or false?

St. Januarius was born about 275.  When he was Bishop of Benevento, the persecution of Diocletian broke out.  Sosius, a deacon and  a very special friend of Januarius, and several other religious and eminent laymen were put into prison for the Faith by order of the Governor of Campania.  Hearing of this, St. Januarius went to pay them a visit in order to encourage them.  Suspicion was aroused and the Governor ordered that Januarius be brought before him at Nola.  Two others of his church were also apprehended and shared in his sufferings.  After harsh treatment, the three of them were thrown into prison where four other martyrs were.  By order of the Emperor, they were to be torn into pieces by wild beasts.  St. Januarius and the others were put in the ampitheater, but none of the animals touched them.  They were then beheaded.  The relics of St. Januarius were sent to Naples about 305.  Some of his blood is in a sealed vial.  It is a dark solid mass.  When held near a relic (believed to be his head), it liquefies.  There is no natural explanation for this well-attested phenomenon.

FEAST DAY:  September 19

PATRON OF:  Blood banks, volcanic eruptions

SPANISH/ESPANOL BOOKS

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

c) Deacon, priest and bishop

Today’s Question-

Which Old Testament tribe was set apart for liturgical service for the priesthood of the old covenant?

a) Pharisees     b) Levites     c) Israelites

St. Joseph was born in 1603 in Cupertino in Naples.  His childhood was one of simplicity and innocence.  He joined the Franciscan Friars Minor Conventual.  After his ordination he lived a life of humiliation, mortification and obedience.  He was devoted to the Blessed Virgin and promoted devotion to her among all classes of people.  He was subject to ecstasies and levitations.  Just the mention of God or a spiritual matter could take him out of his senses.  At Mass he frequently floated in the air in rapture.  He floated to the high altar at Christmastime when Carols were sung and knelt in prayer.  Once he ferried a cross thirty-six feet high through the air to the top of a calvary group as easily as one might carry a straw.  He converted many people who flocked to him seeking advice and in the confessional.  He  endured many severe trials and terrible temptations during his life.  He died September 18, 1663.

FEAST DAY:  September 18

PATRON OF:  Aviators

E-BOOKS

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

c) Peace

Today’s Question-

What are the three levels or degrees of the sacrament of orders.

a) lay, religious and ordained     b) deacon, priest and bishop     c) bishop, archbishop and cardinal

St. Robert was born in Italy, October 4, 1542. The third of ten children.  In 1560, he entered the Society of Jesus and after his ordination went to teach at Louvain.  There he became famous for his Latin sermons.  He was appointed to the chair of controversial theology at the Roman College in 1576.  He became Rector in 1592  and Provincial of Naples in 1594 and Cardinal in 1598.  He defended the Apostolic See against all comers.  He composed apologetic work against prevailing heresies.  He took positions in the field of church-state relations based on principles now regarded as fundamentally democratic – authority originates with God, but is vested in the people, who entrust it to fit rulers.  A host of his important writings and works of devotion and instruction as well as controversy was left to us.  He died in 1621.

FEAST DAY:  September 17

PATRON OF: Canonists

CD/AUDIO

Responsorial Psalm

Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

True

Today’s Question-

A special gift of the Holy Spirit is given in the sacrament of the sick in the form of _____________________,

a) tongues     b)  a dove     c) peach

Novatian claimed the Papacy shortly after St. Cornelius had been elected Pope.  Cornelius convoked a synod in Italy at which he got the support of sixty Bishops and established himself as the lawful Pope.  In his correspondence with St. Cyprian in regard to reception of apostates in the Decian persecution remains as an early witness for the primacy of the Roman See.  He died a martyr in 253.

FEAST DAY:  September 16

PATRON OF:  Earache, animals, epilepsy

Cyprian was born in Carthage in Africa.  He became public professor of rhetoric in Carthage.  He led a dissolute life  and through the influence of a priest named Caecilian he converted to Christianity.  He was known for his retired penitential life and gained renown for his virtue.  He was raised to the priesthood.  In 248 he succeeded Donatus as Bishop of Carthage.  In ten years time he led his flock through a two-year persecution under Decius.   He defended the unity of the Church and was the soul of the city’s morale during a devastating plague.  While he was in exile he kept up the spirits of his people by correspondence.  In 258 he fell victim to the new persecution under Valerian.

FEAST DAY:  September 16

FICTION BOOKS

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

We are his people: the sheep of his flock.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

False

Today’s Question-

Grave sin not only ruptures our relationship with God, but also harms our communion with the Church.

True or false?

The spiritual martyrdom of the Mother of God is the object of this feast and her compassion with the sufferings of Him.  Prophecy of Simeon, Flight into Egypt, Three Days’ Loss of Jesus, Meeting Jesus on the Way to Calvary, Mary at the Foot of the Cross, Jesus Taken Down from the Cross and the Burial of Jesus are the seven great events of the sorrow in her life.  The intense love of Him as her God, added to the love that exists of a fond mother and child, we may say that there could never be a love greater than the love between them.   Mary’s heart was filled with sorrow at the scoffing and blasphemes of her Son as she stood at the foot of His Cross of shame.  “Come, all who pass by the way, look and see whether there is any suffering like my suffering.”(Lamentations 1, 12)

FEAST DAY:  September 15

PIETA STATUE

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

Lent

Today’s Question-

Absolution takes away all the effects of sin.

True or false?

The cross on which Jesus was crucified was thrown into a ditch or well and covered with stones and earth.  This was so that no one could find it.  In 312 AD Constantine the Great, while doing battle with Maxentius for the throne of the Roman Empire, prayed to the God of the Christians to help him.  At this time Constantine was not yet a Christian.  A luminous cross of Christ appeared in the heavens.  It bore the inscription “In This Sign You Will Conquer.”  He defeated Maxentius and had the sign of Christianity placed on the Roman standards and shields of his soldiers in 312.  In 326, St. Helena found the True Cross in Jerusalem.  A  feast day celebrated the finding of the Cross on May 3.  In 614 the King of Persia sacked Jerusalem and took the True Cross along with other treasures.  Emperor Heraclius of Constantinople retrieved the Cross in 626 and brought it back to Calvary.  After divesting himself of every sign or royalty and clothing himself in sackcloth and barefoot, he carried the Cross up to Calvary and restored it to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

FEAST DAY:  September 14

CROSSES & CRUCIFIXES FOR THE HOME

Responsorial Psalm

Do not forget the works of the Lord!

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

b) The Prodigal Son

Today’s Question-

What is the major penitential season of the liturgical year?

He was born around the year 344 in Antioch to Christian parents.  His mother was widowed at the age of 20.  He lived the life of an anchorite in 374 in the mountains near Antioch, but because of ill health, he had to return to Antioch.  He was ordained a priest.  He was called Chrysostom, meaning golden-mouthed, because of his oratory, and he was elevated to the See of Constantinople in 398.  He suffered much from enemies, even ecclesiastics who were offended by the apostolic freedom of his discourses.  He was sent into exile.  He found great peace and happiness in his suffering.  He was consoled by the fact that the Pope remained his friend and did what he could for him.  Not being satisfied with his suffering, his enemies banished him to Pythius.  He died on his way there on September 14, 407.

FEAST DAY:  September 13

PATRON OF:  Epilepsy, orators, preachers

FULTON SHEEN BOOKS

Responsorial Psalm

To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

a) My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink

Today’s Question-

What parable of Jesus perhaps best describes the process of conversion and the merciful love of the Father?

a) the Lost Sheep    b) the Prodigal Son    c) the Good Samaritan

This feast began in Spain in 1513.  It extended to all of Spain and the Kingdom of Naples by 1671.  In 1683, the king of Poland, John Sobieski, while fighting the Muslim armies under Mohammed IV in Constantinople, entrusted himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  His army defeated the Muslims.  Pope Innocnet XI proclaimed the feast to the whole church.

FEAST DAY:  September 12

ROSARIES

Responsorial Psalm

How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

True

Today’s Question-

What teaching of Jesus given in John’s Gospel is too difficult for some of the disciples?

a) My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink    b) the Son of Man must suffer and die    c) one must be reborn to enter this kingdom