- Our Lady, Queen of the Universe. (Traditional) the Saturday after Ascension Thursday (oops, we’ll get it right next year)
- St. Brendan the Navigator (578). Abbot or Abbess, Patron or Patroness. Patron of of sailors. (Historical)
- St. John Nepomucene (1393). Martyr, Patron or Patroness, Priest. Patron of of confessors. (Historical)
- St. Simon Stock (1265). Religious. (Historical) received the brown scapular from Our Lady
- St. Ubaldus (1160). Bishop. (Traditional)
ST. JOHN was born, in answer to prayer, A.D. 1330, of poor parents, at Nepomuc in Bohemia. In gratitude they consecrated him to God; and his holy life as a priest led to his appointment as chaplain to the court of the Emperor Wenceslas, where he converted numbers by his preaching and example. Amongst those who sought his advice was the empress, who suffered much from her husband’s unfounded jealousy. St. John taught her to bear her cross with joy; but her piety only incensed the emperor, and he tried to extort her confessions from the Saint. He threw St. John into a dungeon, but gained nothing; then, inviting him to his palace, he promised him riches if he would yield, and threatened death if he refused. The Saint was silent. He was racked and burnt with torches; but no words, save Jesus and Mary, fell from his lips. At last set free, he spent his time in preaching, and preparing for the death he knew to be at hand. On Ascension-eve, May 16th, Wenceslas, after a final and fruitless attempt to move his constancy, ordered him to be cast into the river, and that night the martyr’s hands and feet were bound, and he was thrown from the bridge of Prague. As he died, a heavenly light shining on the water discovered the body, which was buried with the honors due to a Saint. A few years later, Wenceslas was deposed by his own subjects, and died an impenitent and miserable death. In 1618, the Calvinist and Hussite soldiers of the Protestant Elector Frederick tried repeatedly to demolish the shrine of St. John at Prague. Each attempt was miraculously frustrated; and once the persons engaged in the sacrilege, among whom was an Englishman, were killed on the spot. In 1620, the imperial troops recovered the town by a victory which was ascribed to the Saint’s intercession, as he was seen on the eve of the battle, radiant with glory, guarding the cathedral. When his shrine was opened, three hundred and thirty years after his decease, the flesh had disappeared, and one member alone remained incorrupt, the tongue; thus still, in silence, giving glory to God.
REFLECTION: St. John, who by his invincible sacramental silence won his crown, teaches us to prefer torture and death to offending the Creator with our tongue. How many times each day do we forfeit grace and strength by sins of speech!
WORD OF THE DAY
MACHIAVELLIANISM. The political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) and of those who apply his principles in the government of civil society. It is a combination of treachery and intrigue, subterfuge and tyranny, and its substance is contained in Machiavelli’s The Prince. The basis of political morality is expediency, where any means justify whatever is good for the State. Moral law and individual virtue must give way when the interest of the State demands it. Thus a ruler or legislator may continue to profess Christian principles as an individual while denying these principles in practice as a statesman.
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!)
May, Month of the Immaculate Heart
Maria Magnificata. Short Meditations for May, the Month on Our Lady’s Life. 16th Day — Simeon’s Prophecy to Mary.
This article, MAY 16, 2024 – ST. JOHN NEPOMUCEN. is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
https://bellarmineforum.org/may-16-2024-st-john-nepomucen/
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