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Today's Readings
Reading I
Jas 5:13-20
Beloved: Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in
good spirits? He should sing a song of praise. Is anyone among you
sick? He should summon the presbyters of the Church, and they should
pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. The
prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise
him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one
another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous
person is very powerful. Elijah was a man like us; yet he prayed
earnestly that it might not rain, and for three years and six months
it did not rain upon the land. Then Elijah prayed again, and the sky
gave rain and the earth produced its fruit. My brothers and
sisters, if anyone among you should stray from the truth and someone
bring him back, he should know that whoever brings back a sinner
from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will
cover a multitude of sins.
Responsorial Psalm
141:1-2, 3 and 8
R. (2a) Let my prayer come like incense before you. O LORD,
to you I call; hasten to me; hearken to my voice when I call upon
you. Let my prayer come like incense before you; the lifting up of
my hands, like the evening sacrifice. R. Let my prayer come like
incense before you. O LORD, set a watch before my mouth, a guard
at the door of my lips. For toward you, O God, my LORD, my eyes are
turned; in you I take refuge; strip me not of life. R. Let my
prayer come like incense before you.
Gospel
Mk 10:13-16
People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them, but
the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant
and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them,
for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you,
whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not
enter it.” Then he embraced the children and blessed them, placing
his hands on them.
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Our Lady, Help of Christians
May 24
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The feast of Our Lady, Help of
Christians, was instituted by Pius VII. By order of Napoleon, Pius VII was
arrested, 5 July, 1808, and detained a prisoner for three years at Savona,
and then at Fontainebleau. In January, 1814, after the battle of Leipzig,
he was brought back to Savona and set free, 17 March, on the eve of the
feast of Our Lady of Mercy, the Patroness of Savona. The journey to Rome
was a veritable triumphal march. The pontiff, attributing the victory of
the Church after so much agony and distress to the Blessed Virgin, visited
many of her sanctuaries on the way and crowned her images (e.g. the
"Madonna del Monte" at Cesena, "della Misericordia" at Treja, "della
Colonne" and "della Tempestà" at Tolentino). The people crowded the
streets to catch a glimpse of the venerable pontiff who had so bravely
withstood the threats of Napoleon. He entered Rome, 24 May, 1814, and was
enthusiastically welcomed (McCaffrey, "History of the Catholic Church in
the Nineteenth Cent.", 1909, I, 52). To commemorate his own sufferings and
those of the Church during his exile he extended the feast of the Seven
Dolours of Mary (third Sunday in September) to the universal Church, 18
Sept., 1814. When Napoleon left Elba and returned to Paris, Murat was
about to march through the Papal States from Naples; Pius VII fled to
Savona (22 March, 1815), where he crowned the image of Our Lady of Mercy,
10 May, 1815.
After the Congress of Vienna and the battle of Waterloo he returned to
Rome, 7 July, 1815. To give thanks to God and Our Lady he (15 Sept., 1815)
instituted for the Papal States the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians,
to be celebrated, 24 May, the anniversary of his first return. The
Dioceses of Tuscany adopted it, 12 Feb., 1816; it has spread nearly over
the entire Latin Church, but is not contained in the universal calendar.
They hymns of the Office were composed by Brandimarte (Chevalier, "Repert.
Hymnolog.", II, 495). This feast is the patronal feast of Australasia, a
double of the first class with an octave (Ordo Australasiae, 1888), and in
accordance with a vow (1891) is celebrated with great splendour in the
churches of the Fathers of the Foreign Missions of Paris. It has attained
special celebrity since St. Dom Bosco, founder of the Salesian
Congregation, 9 June, 868, dedicated to Our Lady, Help of Christians, the
mother church of his congregation at Turin. The Salesian Fathers have
carried the devotion to their numerous establishments.
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