FEASTS OF THE WEEK
Sunday 16th August : 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
There is a great mystery in the will of God that all be saved. He knows the minds and hearts of all and does not judge in a human way. We hold to the belief in the need of membership for salvation, but we do so in the light of the universality of salvation. Like the Canaanite woman we must persevere with a determined faith in seeking the truth in love, until all nations learn of God's salvation, and all people praise his name.
Monday 17th August : Our Lady of Knock
The story of Knock began on the 21st August 1879 when Our Lady, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist appeared at the south gable of Knock Parish Church. This miraculous apparition was witnessed by fifteen people, young and old. Knock is an internationally recognised Marian Shrine and was visited by Pope St. John Paul II in 1979 and Pope Francis in 2018.
Wednesday 19th August : St. John Eudes (1601-1680)
From Normandy, France, he spent a fruitful twenty years with the French Oratory, then left to found a congregation to improve the standards of the clergy through seminaries. He founded also the Sister of Our Lady of Charity and Refuge. He was a powerful preacher and among the first to promote devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Thursday 20th August : St. Bernard (1090-1153)
He became a Cistercian monk at Citeaux in 1113 and was chosen Abbot of Clairvaux in 1115. His writings reveal a solid grasp of biblical studies, spiritual theology and philosophy. Patron of Gibraltar and beekeepers.
Friday 21st August : St. Pius X (1835-1914)
Born Guiseppe Melchiorre Sarto in northern Italy in 1835. Cardinal Patriarch of Venice. He became Pope in 1903. In his 11 year pontificate, he carried out key reforms in the Church. He encouraged pastoral liturgy and sacramental practice, especially of frequent communion, to which he admitted young children reversing the then practice of someone receiving Confirmation before Communion. He developed a reputation as being very friendly with children. During papal audiences, he would gather children around him and talk to them about things that interested them. His weekly catechism lessons in the courtyard of San Damaso in the Vatican always included a special place for children. In the last months of his life, he witnessed the violence and destruction of World War I. Some say he died of grief - just three weeks after the war started; he died on the night of 20th August 1914. The only motto attributed to him is the one for which he is best remembered: instaurare omnia in Christo (to restore all things in Christ); these were the last words he spoke.
Saturday 22nd August : The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
During the Middle Ages, Mary was venerated as queen of the angels and saints. Pope Pius XII prescribed the memorial for the universal Church at the close of the Marian Year 1954. It is placed on this date to stress the connection of Mary's queensihp with the Assumption.