• THE MOST HOLY NAME OF MARY. (Current, Traditional)

AS a child Guy had two loves, the Church and the poor. The love of prayer growing more and more, he left his poor home at Brussels to seek greater poverty and closer union with God. He arrived at Laken, near Brussels, and there showed such devotion before our Lady’s shrine that the priest besought him to stay and serve the Church. Thenceforth, his great joy was to be always in the church, sweeping the floor and ceiling, polishing the altars, and cleansing the sacred vessels. By day he still found time and means to befriend the poor, so that his almsgiving became famous in all those parts. A merchant of Brussels, hearing of the generosity of this poor sacristan, came to Laken, and offered him a share in his business. Guy could not bear to leave the church; but the offer seemed providential, and he at last closed with it. Their ship, however, was lost on the first voyage, and on returning to Laken, Guy found his place filled. The rest of his life was one long penance for his inconstancy. About the year 1033, finding his end at hand, he returned to Anderlecht, in his own country. As he died, a light shone round him, and a voice was heard proclaiming his eternal reward.

REFLECTION: Jesus was only nine months in the womb of Mary, three hours on the Cross, three days in the sepulchre, but He is always in the tabernacle. Does our reverence before Him bear witness to this most blessed truth?

WORD OF THE DAY

GIANTS. Huge persons mentioned in the Bible. When Moses sent spies into Canaan to discover whether it was a suitable place for the Promised Land, the spies were frightened by "the enormous size" of the natives. "We felt like grasshoppers and so we seemed to them" (Numbers 13:32-33). These people were called Nephilim. Another group of so-called giants were the Rephaim, who lived in Moabite territory (Deuteronomy 2:10). Goliath was unquestionably the best-known gigantic figure in Scripture, because of his famous encounter with David, but he was a Philistine, not a member of a tribe of giants (I Samuel 17).

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!)