MARCH 28, 2026 – LENT DAY 39 – ST. GONTRAN, KING.
- St. Guntramnus (Guntran) (592). Male repentant murderers and divorcees. (Historical) King
- St. John of Capistrano (1456). Patron or Patroness, Priest. Male jurists. (Traditional)
ST. GONTRAN was son of King Clotaire, and grandson of Clovis I. and St. Clotildis. Being the second son, whilst his brothers Charibert reigned at Paris, and Sigebert in Austrasia, residing at Metz, he was crowned king of Orleans and Burgundy in 561, making Chalons his capital. When compelled to take up arms against his ambitious brothers and the Lombards, he made no other use of his victories, under the conduct of a brave general called Mommol, than to give peace to his dominions. The crimes in which the barbarous manners of his nation involved him he effaced by tears of repentance. The prosperity of his reign, both in peace and war, condemns those who think that human poly cannot be modeled by the maxims of the Gospel, whereas nothing can render a government more flourishing. He always treated the pastors of the Church with respect and veneration. He was the protector of the oppressed, and the tender parent of his subjects. He gave the greatest attention to the care of the sick. He fasted, prayed, wept, and offered himself to God night and day as a victim ready to be sacrificed on the altar of His justice, to avert His indignation which he believed he himself had provoked and drawn down upon his innocent people. He was a severe punisher of crimes in his officers and others, and, by many wholesome regulations, restrained the barbarous licentiousness of his troops; but no man was more ready to forgive offenses against his own person. With royal magnificence he built and endowed many churches and monasteries. This good king died on the 28th of March, in 593, in the sixty eighth year of his age, having reigned thirty-one years and some months.
REFLECTION: There is no means of salvation more reliable than the practice of mercy, since our Lord has said it: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.”
WORD OF THE DAY
RAVEN. An emblem of several saints who profited by the miraculous assistance of this rapacious bird. St. Benedict (480-546), while being slandered by Florentius, had his life saved when a raven removed the poisoned loaf prepared for his meal by his enemies. St. Meinrad (d. 861), as a solitary, was murdered by two men who were after a treasure falsely reported to be hidden in the monk’s cave. They were brought to justice by the croaking of two ravens who followed them from the scene of their crime. Elijah the prophet is often represent by ravens who at God’s command brought food to him.
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!)
LENT MEDITATION DAY 39
Enjoy daily meditations this lent from Fr. Richard Clarke, SJ. Short and powerful, written in 1880 for busy lay people to reap rewards through lent. (includes audio): Lent Day 39: Saturday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent — The Good Thief.
March is the Month of St. Joseph
Daily devotional meditations on Saint Joseph: March 28th — St. Joseph’s Venerable Age.
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