OLOL Traditional Latin Rite Catholic Church

Today is June 25th, Saint William, Abbot. Born at Vercelli, Italy, of noble parents, Saint William made a pilgrimage barefoot to St. James in Galicia, Spain. Up...on returning to Italy and realizing that his desire for making additional pilgrimages to the holy places could not be fulfilled, he retired to lead a solitary life on Mount Virgiliano between Nola and Benevento, in the Kingdom of Naples. He named it Monte Virgine (Mount of the Virgin), and here he founded a monastery of cenobites under the rule of St. Benedict. He died in 1142. Prayer: O God, who have given us in Your saints an example and protection to help our weakness along the way of salvation, grant that we may so venerate the merits of the Blessed Abbot William, that we may share in his prayers and follow in his footsteps. Amen. Have a wonderful and Blessed day.

Today is June 24th, Nativity of Saint John the Baptist The feast of the Nativity, or birthday, of Saint John the Baptist, the precursor of the Messiah and born ...six months before Him, is observed on June 24th, and is one of the oldest feasts in the liturgy of the Church. He was the son of Zachary and Elizabeth, a cousin of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Tradition places the home and birthplace of the Baptist near the village of Ain-Karim, six miles west of Jerusalem, where a Franciscan church marks the site. The church is called "Saint John in the Mountains." What we know of this saint, than whom a greater prophet had not arisen, from his sanctification before his birth to his martyrdom under King Herod, is set down in Holy Scripture. He has always had a chief place in the veneration given by Holy Church to the heroic servants of God. While the feast of other saints is celebrated on the day of their death, when their finally victory is won, the birthday of Saint John the Baptist is his feast day, as he was born free from original sin. We have also the feast of the Nativity of Mary Immaculate. Thirty years after the birth of Jesus, John began his mission on the banks of the Jordan. He was the last of the prophets of the Old Covenant. His work was to prepare the way and announce the coming of the long-expected Messiah, the Redeemer, in whom all flesh would see "the salvation of God." Before Saint John was born, an angel announced that "many would rejoice in his birth," and so June 24th is ranked among the joyous feasts of the year. In former times, and in other lands, it was observed with greater holiday rejoicing and greater outward display than in our age. On the eve of Saint John's day "Saint John's fires" were lighted on the hills and mountains in many countries, as they are still lighted in some places. "Scarce had the last rays of the setting sun died away, when all the world over, immense columns of flame arose from every mountain top, and in an instant every town and village and hamlet was lighted up." (Dom. P. L. P. Gueranger.) Prayer: O God, You, who have made this day honorable to us by the birth of Blessed John, grant to Your people the grace of spiritual joys, and direct the minds of all the faithful into the way of eternal salvation. Amen Have a wonderful and Blessed day.

Today is June 23rd, Saint Ethelreda, Virgin. This holy virgin was the third daughter of Annas, the saintly King of East Anglia. Three of her sisters, Sexburga, ...Ethelburga and Withburga are numbered among the saints. She came into this world at Exning, a village in Suffolk. To comply with the desire of her parents she married Prince Tonbert, but she remained a virgin, for they lived in perpetual continency. Three years after her marriage her husband died and she retired to the island of Ely, where she lived a retired life of contemplation for five years. Her fame reach the ears of Egfrid, the powerful King of Northumberland, who extorted her consent to marry him; and thus for the second time she became engaged in the state of matrimony. With her second husband she lived, as she had done with the first, more as his sister than as his wife, devoting her time to the exercises of devotion and charity. Finally, with the advice of St. Wilfrid, after twelve years of wedded life, probably with her husband's consent, she embraced the religious life and withdrew to the monastery of Coldingham near Berwick, where she lived in obedience to the Abbess, St. Ebba. In the year 672 she returned to the isle of Ely and founded a monastery. Her life hence-forward was one of great austerity and perfection. She became a model of virtue to all her Sisters. Sufferings were her delight. She thanked God when, in her last sickness, she had much to suffer. After a lingering illness she expired in peace, June 23, 679. Prayer: Hear us, O God, our Savior, so that we, who rejoice in the feast of Blessed Ethelreda, Your Virgin, may be taught by the spirit of holy devotion. Amen. Have a wonderful and Blessed day.

Today is June 16th, Saint John Francis Regis, Confessor. This saint was a descendant of the nobility of Languedoc, France, where he was born in 1597. He was edu...cated in the Jesuit College of Beziers, and in his nineteenth year he entered the Jesuit novitiate at Toulouse, taking his vows two years later. After finishing his course in philosophy in 1621, he was sent to teach the classics in several colleges. He began his study of theology at Toulouse in 1628; in 1630 he was ordained priest, and the following year, having finished his studies, he made his Third Probation. He was now fully prepared for his lifework and entered upon his apostolic career in the summer of 1631. Two years later he went to the diocese of Viviers at the invitation of the Bishop, giving missions over the whole diocese. Saint Francis labored diligently, both for priests and people, and numerous conversions resulted. Saint Francis longed to devote himself to the conversion of the Indians in Canada, but Divine Providence kept him in France until his death. Incredible were the hardships he endured on his apostolic journeys over rugged mountains in the depth of winter, but nothing could arrest his zeal. He died in 1640. Prayer: O God, who endowed Blessed Francis, Your Confessor, with wonderful charity and unconquerable patience, so that he might go through much toilsome work for the salvation of souls without faltering: grant, we beseech You, that we might so profit by the example he has left us and so avail ourselves of his prayers, that we too may win the reward of everlasting life. Amen Have a wonderful and Blessed day.

Today is June 15th, Saint Vitus, (Patron Saint of Comedians and Actors), Saint Modestus and Saint Crescentia, Martyrs. According to the Acts of these holy marty...rs, Saint Vitus was a child of noble birth who had been instructed in the Faith by his nurse, Saint Crescentia, and her husband, Saint Modestus. His father Hyla, an idolater, not being able to overcome his constancy in the Faith by dint of ill-treatment, delivered him up to Valerian, the Governor, who was no more successful. Saint Vitus escaped, and with Saint Crescentia and Saint Modestus fled from Sicily to the mainland of Italy. They suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Dilcletian. Prayer: Grant to Your Church, O Lord, we beseech You, through the intercession of Your holy Martyrs, Vitus, Modestus and Crescentia, not to be proud, but to advance in that humility which is pleasing in Your sight, that contemning evil things, it may practice with overflowing charity whatsoever things are right in Your sight. Amen. Have a wonderful and Blessed day.