Daybreak

Saturday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Joseph the Hymnographer, 810-886; the most prolific of the Greek hymn writers; born in Sicily, he left in 830 to escape an invasion by the Arabs; he went to Thessalonica, and then to Constantinople, and left in 841 to escape the iconoclast persecution; returning to Constantinople, he founded a monastery; for his defense of the icons, he was sent into exile; Joseph is credited with the composition of about one thousand canons Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/14/25 Gospel: Matthew 5:33-37

Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, 1195-1231; joined the Augustinians at a young age, and then the Franciscans; he became recognized as a great man of prayer and a great Scripture and theology scholar, Anthony became the first friar to teach theology to the other friars; soon, he was called to preach to the Albigensians in France; after leading the friars in northern Italy for three years, he made Padua his headquarters;in the spring of 1231 Anthony withdrew to a friary at Camposampiero where he had a sort of treehouse built as a hermitage; he fell ill on June 13, 1231, and died at Padua Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/13/25 Gospel: Matthew 5:27-32

Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Peter of Mount Athos; the first hermit to reside on the famous Mount Athos in Greece; legend has it that he was a soldier, captured by Muslims, and held until released through the intervention of St. Simeon; he went to Rome, and is believed to have received the monastic habit directly from the pope; he was graced with a vision from Our Lady, and traveled to Mount Athos, where he took up residence as a hermt, and remained for nearly half-a-century; died in the Eighth Century Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/12/25 Gospel: Matthew 5:20-26

Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Barnabas; he was closely associated with St. Paul; he introduced Paul to Peter and the other apostles—and served as a kind of mediator between the former persecutor and the still suspicious Jewish Christians; Barnabas and Paul instructed in Antioch for a year, after which they took relief contributions to Jerusalem; later, they were sent by Antioch officials to preach to the Gentiles; but they were expelled from one town, they had to go to Jerusalem to clear up the ever-recurring controversy about circumcision; Paul and Barnabas separated over a disagreement about Barnabas' cousin, John Mark, joining them after he had once deserted them Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/11/25 Gospel: Matthew 5:17-19

Tuesday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Landericus; as bishop of Paris from 650 to 661, he worked zealously to improve the lot of the poor; he sold his own possessions to feed the hungry during a famine, and even sold some of the Church vessels and furniture; he erected the city's first real hospital; he welcomed the Benedictines into his diocese, and encouraged them to set up the Abbey of Denis; he died about 661 after having commissioned the monk Marculfus to compile a collection of Ecclesiastical Formulas Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/10/25 Gospel: Matthew 5:13-16

Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/9/25 Gospel: John 19:25-34

Solemnity of Pentecost Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/8/25 Gospel: John 20:19-23

Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Willibald, 700-786; brother of Saints Winebald and Walburga, and related through his mother to St. Boniface; went on a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem, and was captured by Saracens who thought him a spy; he was eventually released and continued on to all of the holy places and then to Constantinople; When he returned to Rome he spent ten years at Monte Cassino, serving as sacristan, dean, and porter; Pope St. Gregory III sent him to Germany to assist his cousin St. Boniface; Boniface ordained him in 741 and soon appointed him bishop of Eichstatt, in Franconia; he founded a double monastery at Heidenheim, naming Winebald abbot and his sister Walburga abbess; Willibald served as bishop for some four decades Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/7/25 Gospel: John 21:20-25

Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter Optional Memorial of St. Norbert, 1080-1134; founder of the Praemonstratensians or the Norbertines; his founding of the Order was a monumental task: combatting rampant heresies—particularly regarding the Blessed Sacrament, revitalizing many of the faithful who had grown indifferent and dissolute, plus effecting peace and reconciliation among enemies; reluctantly, Norbert became archbishop of Magdeburg in central Germany, a territory half pagan and half Christian; in this position he zealously continued his work for the Church until his death Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/6/25 Gospel: John 21:15-19

Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter Memorial of St. Boniface, 675-754; an English Benedictine Monk who devoted his life to the evangelization of the German peoples; made a missionary trip in 719, and found paganism a way of life; the Holy Father directed him to reform the German Church, and he was eminently successful; during a final mission to the Frisians, Boniface and 53 companions were massacred while he was preparing converts for confirmation Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/5/25 Gospel: John 17:20-26

Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Petroc; born in Wales, became a monk, and went to Ireland to study; immigrated to Cornwall, England, and after thirty years made a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem, at which time, he is reputed to have reached the Indian Ocean, and spent some time as a hermit on an island; he returned to Cornwall, built a chapel, established a community of followers, and then became a hermit; again, he attracted followers, and he was known for his miracles; he died in 564 while visiting some of his disciples Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/4/25 Gospel: John 17:11b-19

Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and companions; Charles is the patron of youth and Catholic action in most of tropical Africa; he and his companions were martyred by the Bagandan ruler, Mwanga, for refusing his immoral sexual advances; Charles was burned to death on June 3, 1886 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/3/25 Gospel: John 17:1-11a

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter Optional Memorial of Saints Marcellinus and Peter; Marcellinus was a priest, and Peter was an exorcist; they were beheaded in the persecution of Diocletian in 304 A.D.; Pope Damasus wrote an epitaph apparently based on the report of their executioner, and Constantine erected a basilica over the crypt in which they were buried in Rome Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/2/25 Gospel: John 16:29-33

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord (in many areas) Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 6/1/25 Gospel: Luke 24:46-53

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 5/31/25 Gospel: Luke 1:39-56

Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Joan of Arc, 1412-1431; born southeast of Paris, Joan was only twelve when she heard the voices of Saints Michael the Archangel, Catherine of Alexandria, and Margaret of Antioch; during the Hundred Years War, Joan led French troops against the English and recaptured the cities of Orléans and Troyes; Joan was captured near Compiegne, and accused of heresy and witchcraft; in the end, she was condemned for wearing men's clothes, and was burned at the stake; a second Church trial 25 years later nullified the verdict, which was reached under political pressure Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 5/30/25 Gospel: John 16:20-23

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord (for some dioceses) Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 5/29/25 Gospel: Luke 24:46:53

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Bernard of Montjoux, 923-1008; born in Italy, became a priest, and was made vicar general of Aosta, and spent more than four decades doing missionary work in the Alps; he built schools and hospices, but is best remembered for the hospices he built to aid lost travelers; Bernard is the patron of mountaineers, skiiers, and the Alps Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 5/28/25 Gospel: John 16:12-15

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter Optional Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury; left Rome in 596 to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons in England; King Ethelbert welcomed him kindly, set up a residence for Augustine and his monks in Canterbury, and was, himself, baptized on Pentecost Sunday, 597; Augustine was consecrated a bishop in France, and returned to Canterbury, where he built a church and monastery near the present site of the cathedral; he is the "Apostle of England" Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 5/27/25 Gospel: John 16:5-11

Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter Memorial of St. Philip Neri, 1515-1595; moved to Rome at a young age, to devote his life to God; he spent 13 years engaged in prayer and apostolate; laypeople gathered around him, and they met as an informal prayer and discussion group, and also served poor people in Rome; at the urging of his confessor, Philip was ordained a priest and soon became an outstanding confessor himself, gifted with the knack of piercing the pretenses and illusions of others, though always in a charitable manner and often with a joke; some of Philip's followers became priests and lived in community, the beginning of the Oratory; Philip's characteristic virtues were humility and gaiety; he died after suffering a hemorrhage on the feast of Corpus Christi, 1595 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 5/26/25 Gospel: John 15:26-16:4a