Daybreak

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/5/25 Gospel: Luke 17:5-10

Saturday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi, 1181-1226; a serious illness caused him to abandon his frolicking life as leader of Assisi's youth; lengthy and difficult prayer led him to a self-emptying; from the cross in the neglected field-chapel of San Damiano, Christ told him, “Francis, go out and build up my house, for it is nearly falling down”; he gave up all of his possessions, he had no intention of founding an order, but once it began he protected it and accepted all the legal structures needed to support it; his devotion and loyalty to the Church were absolute; two years before his death, received the stigmata, the painful wounds of Christ in his hands, feet, and side; Francis died in 1221 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/4/25 Gospel: Luke 10:17-24

Friday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Adalgott; he was a monk in the Benedictine Monastery of Clairvaux, where St. Bernard trained his successors; he was appointed the abbot of the Benedictines in Dissentis, where he became known  for his care of the sick and poor; when Adalgott was named bishop of Chur, he conducted an apostolate for the suffering of the region, founding a hospital in 1150; he died in 1165 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/3/25 Gospel: Luke 10:13-16

Thursday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of the Guardian Angels Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/2/25 Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10

Wednesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Therese of Lisieux, 1873-1897; lived a cloistered life of obscurity in the convent of Lisieux, France and her preference for hidden sacrifice converted souls; her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, is read and loved throughout the world; Thérèse Martin entered the convent at the age of 15 and died in 1897 at the age of 24; she came to Carmel “to save souls and pray for priests”; shortly before she died, she wrote: “I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth” Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/1/25 Gospel: Luke 9:57-62

Tuesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Jerome, 345-420; known for his bad temper; but he was a great scripture scholar, translating most of the Old Testament from the Hebrew; he also wrote commentaries which are a great source of scriptural inspiration for us today; he was an avid student, a thorough scholar, a prodigious letter-writer and a consultant to monk, bishop, and pope; Saint Augustine said of him, “What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known”; he made a translation of the Bible which came to be called the Vulgate; he spent five years in the desert, and then settled in Bethlehem, where he died Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/30/25 Gospel: Luke 9:51-56

Feast of the Archangels, Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael Monday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/29/25 Gospel: John 1:47-51

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/28/25 Gospel: Luke 16:19-31

Saturday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, 1580-1660; Vincent became the leader of what is now known as the Congregation of the Mission, or the Vincentians; these priests, with vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability, were to devote themselves entirely to the people in smaller towns and villages; he also founded several hospitals, collected relief funds for the victims of war, and ransomed over 1,200 galley slaves from North Africa; he was zealous in conducting retreats for clergy; known as an irascible person, even to his friends, Vincent became a tender and affectionate man, very sensitive to the needs of others Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/27/25 Gospel: Luke 9:43b-45

Friday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of Saints Cosmas and Damian, brothers born in Arabia, who were proficient in the science of medicine; as Christians, they refused payment for their treatment; when the persecution of Diocletian broke out, they became marked objects of persecution; they were apprehended and underwent various torments in about the year 283; they are the patrons of pharmacists Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/26/25 Gospel: Luke 9:18-22

Thursday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Cleophas; he was one of the two disciples who met Christ on the road to Emmaus; he was also identified as the father of Mary, one of whom stood with the Mother of God at the foot of the Cross; he has been identified as the father of St. James the Less and as brother of St. Joseph; he died in the First Century Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/25/25 Gospel: Luke 9:7-9

Wednesday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Rupert of Salzberg; he was bishop of Worms in the Seventh Century when he was called to evangelize Bavaria; Duke Theodo II gave him land, on which he established the Abbey of St. Peter and the Nonnburg Convent; he converted pagan temples into Christian churches, and established the salt-mining industry, from which the city of Salzberg gets its name; when Rupert died in about 710, he was buried in St. Peter's Abbey, but his relics were later translated to the Cathedral at Salzberg Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/24/25 Gospel: Luke 9:1-6

Tuesday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, better known as Padre Pio, 1887-1968; grew up in a farming family in southern Italy; joined the Capuchins at the age of 15; on September 20, 1918, he had a vision of Jesus, and at the end of the vision, he had the stigmata in his hands, feet, and side; busloads of people came to see him, and in time his confessional ministry lasted ten hours per day Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/23/25 Gospel: Luke 8:19-21

Monday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Phocas the Gardener; in the third century, he cultivated a garden near the city gate of Sinope, now in Turkey; he shared with the poor what he earned from his gardening, and opened his home to travelers lacking a place to stay; the the pagan Romans became aware of him, and sent soldiers to find and arrest him; soldiers stopped at Phocas’ door and received lodging from him, unaware that their host was the man they were charged to capture; the next morning, he revealed to them his identity; at first, the soldiers were reluctant to carry out their orders against their kind host, but in the end they beheaded him; Phocas is venerated as a patron saint of both gardeners and mariners Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/22/25 Gospel: Luke 8:16-18

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/21/25 Gospel: Luke 16:1-13

Saturday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Taegon and Paul Chong Hasan, and companions, the Korean martyrs; Christianity came to Korea during the Japanese invasion in 1592 when some Koreans were baptized, probably by Christian Japanese soldiers; yhe first native Korean priest, Andrew Kim Taegon was the son of Christian converts; following his baptism at the age of 15, Andrew traveled 1,300 miles to the seminary in Macao, China, and was ordained a priest in Shanghai; Paul Chong Hasang, a lay apostle and married man, died in 1839 at age 45; besides Andrew and Paul, Pope John Paul II canonized 98 Koreans and three French missionaries who had been martyred between 1839 and 1867 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/20/25 Gospel: Luke 9:18-22

Friday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Januarius; in Diocletian's persecution of 305, Januarius and his companions were thrown to the bears in the amphitheatre, but the animals failed to attack, so they were beheaded; Januarius' blood was eventually brought to Naples, where it liquifies 18 times per year; the phenomenon eludes natural explanation Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/19/25 Gospel: Luke 8:1-3

Thursday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Joseph of Cupertino, 1603-1663; "the flying saint"; entered the Franciscan order, and was ordained a priest; over seventy times, people say they saw him rise from the ground while offering mass or praying; at Mass he is said to have frequently floated in the air in rapture; once as Christmas carols were being sung, he soared to the high altar and knelt in the air, in ecstatic prayer; endured many severe trials and temptations in his life Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/18/25 Gospel: Luke 7:36-50

Wednesday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, 1542-1621; ordained in 1570, and devoted his energy to the study of church history and the early church fathers; Pope Clement VIII made him a cardinal, saying that "he had not his equal for learning"; he relaxed none of his austerities, limiting his household expenses to what was barely essential, and eating only food made available to the poor; in 1616, representing the Holy Office, he cautioned his friend Galileo not to put forward--except as a hypothesis--theories not yet fully proven Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/17/25 Gospel: Luke 7:31-35

Tuesday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian; Cornelius was elected pope in 251; one of his great challenges was the question of whether the Church could pardon and receive back into the Church those who had apostacized in the face of martyrdom; Cornelius insisted that they be welcomed back; in 253, Cornelius was exiled, and died of the hardships of his exile; Cyprian was a close friend of Pope Cornelius, and supported him both against the anti-pope Novatian and in his views concerning the re-admittance of apostates into the Church; he was martyred in 258 during the persecutions of the emperor Valerian Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 9/16/25 Gospel: Luke 7:11-17