Liturgical Calendar

Saint of the day

Saint Pacifico of San Severino (1653-1721)

Saint Pacifico was born into a well-off family in San Severino, Italy. He was ordained, taught philosophy, and became an accomplished preacher. Pacifico was a severe man. He fasted at all times, wore a penitential shirt made of iron, and was known for his extreme virtues of poverty and obedience. Saint Pacifico caught an illness that left him deaf, blind and crippled. He offered his suffering up for the conversion of sinners, and cured many of the ailing people who came to him for help. Saint Pacifico of San Severino was canonized in 1839.

Reflection

Saint Pacifico lived an extraordinarily exacting lifestyle. He chose poverty, wore a painful and annoying shirt, and even accepted gladly his deafness and blindness. He truly believed that, through suffering, one grows closer to God. Think of the many times in your life that you have suffered. Think of how you might be suffering right now. Imagine how these have the potential to lead you to more fully understanding and growing in relationship with God.

Prayer

Dear God, please help me to recognize that even my sufferings are an opportunity to grow closer to you and allow you to comfort me. Please be with me as I suffer.

Meditations

Meditation for Gospel

When a Chinese priest secretly entered Korea in 1789, he found four thousand Catholics there. None of them had ever seen a priest. It was a lay church. Korea didn't have religious freedom for nearly another century. These laypeople had spread the Catholic faith completely on their own. Many of them were cruelly tortured and killed for it. How fortunate we are to have freedom of religion at no cost to us when many have been killed just for believing. Decide today on one way to take the lamp of your faith and put it on a lampstand. You might wear a cross, carry your prayer book or Bible openly, or invite someone to go to church with you. (Taken from “Take Ten – Daily Bible Reflections for Teens”)