• St. Columba (Columbkille or Columcille) (597). Abbot or Abbess. (Traditional)
• St. Ephrem of Syria (Ephraim Striac) (373). Deacon, Doctor of the Church. Patron of Spiritual directors and spiritual leaders. (Current)
• Sts. Primus & Felician (297). Martyr. (Traditional)

THESE two martyrs were brothers, and lived in Rome, toward the latter part of the third century, for many years, mutually encouraging each other in the practice of all good works. They seemed to possess nothing but for the poor, and often spent both nights and days with the confessors in their dungeons, or at the places of their torments and execution. Some they encouraged to perseverance, others, who had fallen, they raised again, and they made themselves the servants of all in Christ, that all might attain to salvation through Him. Though their zeal was most remarkable, they had escaped the dangers of many bloody persecutions, and were grown old in the heroic exercises of virtue, when it pleased God to crown their labors with a glorious martyrdom: The pagans raised so great an outcry against them that they were both apprehended and put in chains. They were inhumanly scourged, and then sent to a town twelve miles from Rome, to be farther chastised, as avowed enemies to the gods. There they were cruelly tortured, first both together, afterward separately. But the grace of God strengthened them, and they were at length both beheaded on the 9th of June.

REFLECTION: A soul which truly loves God regards all the things of this world as nothing. The loss of goods, the disgrace of the world, torments, sickness, and other afflictions are bitter to the senses, but appear light to him that loves. If we cannot bear our trials with patience and silence, it is because we love God only in words. “One who is slothful and lukewarm complains of every thing, and calls the lightest precepts hard,” says Thomas à Kempis.

WORD OF THE DAY

ROSICRUCIANS. The Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC), a cultic organization that claims to unlock the secret wisdom of the ages, banish fears, and lead its followers to self-mastery. Founded at New York City in 1915 by H. Spencer Lewis, an occultist. Original Rosicrucianism is traced to a small book, Fama Fraternitatis, published by the Lutheran theologian Johann Andrea (1586-1654), telling the story of a fictitious person, Christian Rosenkreutz, who at sixteen made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with an aged monk who died on the way. Rosenkreutz reputedly acquired a store of occult knowledge in Egypt, Morocco, and the Near East. Before he died he initiated eight men in his secrets. Ever since a variety of groups have claimed to be descendants of Rosenkreutz, besides the Lewis foundation. In one of its formal published statements, the Rosicrucians declared, "Because of its aggressiveness and growth, the Order Rosae Crucis of America, as well as in all other countries, has been condemned by the Pope as destructive to the principles of Roman Catholicism." The Holy Office in 1919 issued a statement forbidding Catholics to belong to theosophical societies such as the Rosicrucians.

Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon SJ (Get the real one at Eternal Life — don’t accept an abridged or edited version of this masterpiece!)

June, Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Sacred Heart of Jesus – Short Meditations for June. June 9 — The Sacred Heart during Our Lord’s Public Life.