Daybreak

Monday of the Second Week of Lent Commemoration of St. Patrick, 415-493; Patrick called himself both a Roman and a Briton; at 16, he and a large number of his father’s slaves and vassals were captured by Irish raiders and sold as slaves in Ireland; Patrick escaped and returned to Britain at the age of 22; his great desire was to proclaim the Good News to the Irish; despite opposition from those who felt his education had been defective, he was sent to carry out the task; he ordained many priests, divided the country into dioceses, held Church councils, founded several monasteries and continually urged his people to greater holiness in Christ; in a short time, Ireland was prepared to send out missionaries who were largely responsible for Christianizing Europe Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/17/25 Gospel: Luke 6:36-38

Second Sunday of Lent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/16/25 Gospel: Luke 9:28-36

Saturday of the First Week of Lent Saint of the Day: St. Louise de Marillac, 1591-1660; following the death of her husband, she met St. Vincent de Paul, and worked with him for the rest of her life, directing his Ladies of Charity in their work of caring for the sick, the poor, and the neglected; in 1633, she set up a training center for candidates seeking to help in her work--the beginning of the Sisters (or Daughters) of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (though it was not formally approved until 1655); Louise traveled all over France establishing her Sisters in hospitals, orphanages, and other institutions; by the time of her death, the Congregation had more than forty houses in France; since then they have spread all over the world Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/15/25 Gospel: Matthew 5:43-48

Friday of the First Week of Lent Saint of the Day: St. Matilda; Tenth Century daughter of Count Dietrich of Westphalia and Reinhild of Denmark; married Henry the Fowler, son of Duke Otto of Saxony, in the year 909; he succeeded his father as Duke in the year 912 and in 919 succeeded King Conrad I to the German throne; she was noted for her piety and charitable works; she was widowed in 936; she was severely criticized by her sons Otto and Henry for what they considered her extravagant charities, so she resigned her inheritance to them, and retired to her country home; in 955, she built three convents and a monastery; she was left in charge of the kingdom when Otto went to Rome in 962 to be crowned Emperor (often regarded as the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire); she spent most of the declining years at the convent at Nordhausen she had built; she died at the monastery at Quedlinburg on March 14, 968 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/14/25 Gospel: Matthew 5:20-26

Thursday of the First Week of Lent Saint of the Day: St. Heldrad; Ninth Century Benedictine abbot who devised ways of rescuing travelers in the Alps; a noble from Provence, France, he set out on a pilgrimage to Rome, entered the abbey of Novalese in the Italian Alps, became abbot, and ruled for thirty years; he built a hospice and added to the abbey's library; Heldrad died in 842 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/13/25 Gospel: Matthew7:7-12

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent Saint of the Day: St. Peter of Nicomedia; Third- and early Fourth-Century chamberlain to emperor Diocletian in Nicomedia; arrested for being a Christian at the beginning of the last great persecution by the Roman Empire; Peter was tortured and roasted to death over a fire in 303 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/12/25 Gospel: Luke 11:29-32

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent Saint of the Day: St. Eulogius of Cordoba; noted scripture scholar; wrote "Exhortation to Martyrdom" for two young virgin martyrs; he was named archbishop of Cordoba; before being consecrated, he aided Leocritia, a young Moorish woman who had converted to Christianity; they were caught and beheaded in 859 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/11/25 Gospel: Matthew 6:7-15

First Sunday of Lent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/9/25 Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

Saturday after Ash Wednesday Commemoration of St. John of God, 1495-1550; wanted to be a martyr in North Africa, but returned to care for the sick poor; John became ill after ten years of service, and died under the care of a spiritual friend and admirer, Lady Ana Ossorio Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/8/25

Friday after Ash Wednesday Commemoration of Saints Perpetua and Felicity; Perpetua was a young, beautiful, well-educated, a noblewoman of Carthage in North Africa in the Second and early Third Centuries, mother of an infant son and chronicler of the persecution of the Christians; Perpetua refused to renounce her Christian faith, and she, Felicity--a slavewoman and expectant mother–and three companions were sent to the public games in the amphitheater; there Perpetua and Felicity were beheaded, and the others killed by beasts, all in 203; Perpetua’s record of her trial and imprisonment ends the day before the games; the diary was completed by an eyewitness Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/7/25 Gospel: Matthew 9:14-15

Thursday after Ash Wednesday Saint of the Day: St. Fridolin; Sixth century Benedictine abbot, an Irishman venerated as “the Apostle of the Upper Rhine”; settled in Poitiers, France, and rebuilt the monastery of St. Hilary, destroyed by Vandals; then, he became a hermit on the Rhine, and built the Abbey of Sackingen; he was often called "The Wanderer" because of his many evangelizing journeys in the area; Fridolin died in 540 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/6/25 Gospel: Luke 9:22-25

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/5/25 Gospel: Matthew 6: 1-6. 16-18

Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Casimir, 1458-1483; lived a disciplined, holy life from his teens; when the people of Hungary asked Casimir's father, the king of Poland, to come and take over their country, Casimir obeyed--but was outnumbered; when his troops started deserting, Casimir decided to return home; his father punished him by confining him for three months, while Casimir returned to study and prayer; Casimir reigned briefly as king of Poland during his father’s absence; he died of lung trouble in 1493, at the age of 25 while visiting Lithuania, of which he was also Grand Duke Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/4/25 Gospel: Mark 10:28-31

Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Katharine Drexel, 1858-1955; born in Philadelphia, and grew up in a privileged atmosphere; but when nursing her terminally ill stepmother, her life took a turn; on a trip to Europe, Pope Leo XIII invited her to become a missionary, and she returned to the United States to begin her systematic aid to Indian missions; Mother Drexel and her band of nuns opened a boarding school in Santa Fe; in all, she opened 50 missions for Indians in 16 states; at 72, she suffered a heart attack, and spent almost 20 years of quiet, intense prayer from a small room overlooking the sanctuary Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/3/25 Gospel: Mark 10:17-27

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/2/25 Gospel: Luke 6:39-45

Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Aubin, aka St. Albinus, 470-550; entered the monastery of Tincillac as a youth, was elected Abbot when he was thirty-five, and was named Bishop of Angers in 529; known for his generosity to the sick and the indigent, widows, and orphans, for his work in ransoming slaves, and for his holiness and the many miracles he is reputed to have performed both during his lifetime and after his death Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 3/1/25 Gospel: Mark 10:13-16

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Oswald, 925-992; a Dane by birth, St. Oswald studied in the household of his uncle, Archbishop Odo of Fleury, France, where he was ordained; he returned to England in 959, and was made Bishop of Worcester in 962; in 972, he became archbishop of York; for most of his public life, he was associated with St. Dunstan and St. Ethelwold, and the three have been regarded as the saints who restored English monasticism Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/28/25 Gospel: Mark 10:1-12

Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Baldomerus; Seventh Century locksmith until he entered the monastery of St. Justus; he is depicted in liturgical art as carrying blacksmith tools and pincers; he is the patron of locksmiths Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/27/25 Gospel: Mark 9:41-50

Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Isabel of France, 1225-1270; sister of St. Louis, and daughter of King Louis VIII of France; refused offers of marriage to continue her life consecrated to God; she ministered to the sick and the poor, and after the death of her mother, founded the Franciscan Monastery of the Humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Paris; she lived there in austerity, but never became a nun and refused to become abbess; she died there in 1270

Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Walburga, 710-779; born in Devonshire, England, the daughter of a West Saxon Chieftain, and sister of Saints Willebald and Winebald; she was educated at Wimborne Monastery in Dorset, where she became a nun; she was later sent to Germany to help St. Boniface in his missionary work; she became Abbess of the double monastery at Heidenheim founded by her brother Winebald; on Winebald's death, she was appointed abbess of both monasteries by her brother Willebald, who was then bishop of Eichstadt; she remained the superior of both the men and women until her death Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/25/25 Gospel: Mark 9:30-37