Optional Memorial of St. Ephrem
Pour into our hearts, O Lord, we pray, the Holy Spirit, at whose prompting the deacon, Saint Ephrem exalted in singing of your mysteries, and from whom he received the strength to serve you alone. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
Daily Thought from the Saints
"The patient and humble endurance of the cross—whatever nature it may be—is the highest work we have to do."
— St. Katharine Drexel
Daily Scripture Verse
"So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."
Ephesians 2:19-22
Daily Meditation
"While St. Teresa was well acquainted with methods of meditation and wished her young nuns to be instructed in them, she emphatically insisted that the primary need for beginners is not to find the ideal method but to do God’s will from moment to moment throughout the day—which is probably the last thing the beginner thinks is primary. Her thought is strong and unambiguous: ‘The whole aim of any person who is beginning prayer—and don’t forget this, because it is very important—should be that he work and prepare himself with determination and every effort to bring his will in conformity with God’s will’. She then adds that ‘it is the person who lives in more perfect conformity who will receive more from the Lord and be more advanced on this road of prayer.’"
— Fr. Thomas Dubay
Day by Day with Mary, the Mother of God
All Mary’s honors have been summarized in one word, namely, when we call her God’s mother. No one can say anything greater about her or to her, even if he had as many tongues as there are leaves and grass, stars in the sky, or sand by the sea. But one must also reflect with one’s heart what it means to be God’s mother.
—Martin Luther
A Prayer from Notre Dame University
Rev. Herb Yost, C.S.C.
Gracious God, you know how deeply we long for wholeness and a deeper happiness than we find in things and possessions. Teach us to take your Son’s Beatitudes to heart, so that in letting go of those things that bind our hearts and minds, we may experience something of the joy and wonder now being experienced by all the saints in heaven. Amen.