Welcome to the Doctors of the Catholic Church.
On Saturdays it is an honored tradition in the Catholic Church that the faithful honor Mary. The Almighty’s gift to us, through her, is our divine Redeemer. Christ’s personal gift to us from the holy cross is his own mother. She is given to help us imitate him, her only divine and human Son. The Word was made Flesh and dwells among us now.
Mary is Queen of heaven and earth and the mother of our divine Savior. As the Son of God, Jesus Christ is begotten of our eternal Father and born in time on earth by this most blessed Virgin.
“Advent is that sacred season of anticipation and expectation in which we come to terms with the deepest yearning of our soul – a yearning fulfilled only in Jesus Christ.
We have only 3 more nights before the Prince of Peace, the little Lord Jesus, will break forth from the stars above and unite his divinity to our humanity and become one of us so that we may become one with him in love and eternal life. O holy night!
This site is usually updated daily with the liturgical gospel message that is the heart of Christianity. If it is not posted below it can be read and prayed by clicking on the following link and open today's readings through the date on the calendar. It also contains the bible, rosary, stations, and saint of the day.
Today’s Readings
You can translate the Gospel Text below into 10 different languages when you copy and paste the English text in the Google link in red that follows. The same applies to translations you want for any Doctor or Apostle of the Church found on links on this site.
Google Translate Link from English to Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Arabic
Many of the Morning and Evening Prayers and Hymns with the Meditation of Day and other prayers, commentaries, and intercessions are frequently taken from the Magnificat Publication whose link is below.
Magnificat
Morning Prayers and Hymn
In Jesus Christ, God has done great things for us: let us give thanks and praise! Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia!
Hark, the glad sound! The Savior comes,
The Savior promised long;
Let every heart prepare a throne,
And every voice a song.
He comes, the broken heart to bind,
The bleeding soul to cure;
And with the treasures of his grace
To enrich the humble poor.
Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Your welcome shall proclaim;
And heav’n’s eternal arches ring
With your beloved Name.
Psalm 113 Commentary: The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. (Lk 1:49) Mary gives voice to the rejoicing of the redeemed world: Christ was born among the poor to a virgin, a “childless wife”; he was put to death, where dust returns to dust; he rose on high to the throne of glory at the right hand of the Father, Our Savior comes to raise us up.
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
Praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed
Both now and for evermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting
Praised be the name of the Lord!
High above all nations is the Lord,
Above the heavens his glory.
Who is like the Lord, our God,
Who has risen on high to his throne
Yet stoops from the heights to look down,
To look down upon heaven and earth?
From the dust he lifts up the lowly,
From his misery he raises the poor
To set him in the company of princes,
Yes, with the princes of his people.
To the children wife he gives a home
And gladdens her heart with children.
Glory to the Father…
From the Mass on Dec 22nd
All her life, the barren Hannah has waited to give birth to a child. In thanks, she dedicates her son Samuel to the Lord. From our barrenness, through an obedient Virgin, jGod lifts up the lowly. Before her Son iss born, the Mother of God dedicates him to the Father’s will so that he can “come and save us who have been formed from the dust.”
Responsorial Psalm 1 Samuel 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd
R. (see 1a) My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“My heart exults in the LORD,
my horn is exalted in my God.
I have swallowed up my enemies;
I rejoice in my victory.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“The bows of the mighty are broken,
while the tottering gird on strength.
The well-fed hire themselves out for bread,
while the hungry batten on spoil.
The barren wife bears seven sons,
while the mother of many languishes.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“The LORD puts to death and gives life;
he casts down to the nether world;
he raises up again.
The LORD makes poor and makes rich,
he humbles, he also exalts.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“He raises the needy from the dust;
from the dung heap he lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles
and make a glorious throne their heritage.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
Reflection
When Mary proclaims the omnipotence and majesty of God through her Magnificat Prayer she does not mean that that those who have plenty of money or billionaires are excluded from the kingdom of God. When she said that God sends away the rich empty, she means that those who place monetary values above the immense treasures and opulence of grace, beauty and spiritual delights are truly empty
The exquisite immensities that God provides for us in the three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity are the treasures that are bestowed upon us when we love, and should we not desire to use them to love God, we will not only be sent away but sent away empty, in dire straits, and totally depleted with no value but the justice of God which will be sever and tragic for us.
We should not be surprised when we get to heaven to see rich people and perhaps scores of billionaires in heaven and many poor people that we knew on earth not there. Faith and hope are the only means to enjoy love and the infinite and priceless treasures of the spiritual world and of the beautiful riches of God’s heavenly kingdom. The meditation of the day will make this crystal clear by one of my favorite Dominican writers that describes these precious, spiritual, jewels.
Gospel Lk 1:46-56
Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior,
for he has looked upon his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.”
Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and then returned to her home.
Meditation of the Day
“The rich he has sent away empty”
It did not become Immensity to confine himself within a man-made dwelling. It was not fitting that he – supreme in opulence, commanding the extravagant outlay of each day’s dawn, setting the brow of night with dazzling jewels casting about the shoulders of a crumbling wall a brilliant mantle richer than those of kings – should be born surrounded by our tawdry treasures. He dominates them by eschewing them. He shows his greatness by choosing what we call wretchedness. He wills no other luxury than what befits the restorer as well as the founder of the earth. The flower of this world – and not a hothouse flower – he wills to blossom in the midst of creation, with not other architect of interior decorator for his birthplace than the God whose Son and equal he is.
Moreover, it is not fitting that he who is the man of all men should , from his very first hour, be accessible to all, especially to those who resemble him the most: the humble, the lowly, the despised, whom he loves? Look at those shepherds skirting the edge of the Judean wilderness, a black veil covering their heads, a sheepskin thrown over one shoulder, a threadbare tunic gathered close at the waist, and a short club cut from the sycamore tree in hand, to hurl after the wandering sheep. These are the men to whom Jesus owes himself. They are nothing – lest than nothing; especially in the Orient, they are the servants of servants and, like Jesus, they have no other shelter than the overhanging rocks. It is to them first of all that Jesus would offer himself-Father Antonin Gilbert Sertillanges, O.P. (+ 1948) was a renowned Dominican preacher, apologist, and philosopher.
The Calendar below lists the liturgical readings for each day and mant other devotions. On any given day we can readily read the gospel, pray and reflect.
Calendar
Evening Prayer and Hymn
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rx Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!.
O come, desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid every sad division cease
And be thyself our Prince of Peace. Rx
Psalm 72 1-6 Commentary: He shall be peace. (Mi 5:4) In a world divided by the rule of sin and death, we place our hope in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose coming we prepare to celebrate with joy.
O God, give your judgment to the king,
To a King’s son your justice,
That he may judge your people in justice
And your poor in right judgment.
May the mountains bring forth peace for the people and the hills, justice.
May he defend the poor of the people
And save the children of the needy
And crush the oppressor.
He shall endure like the sun and the moon
From age to age.
He shall descend like rain on the meadow,
Like raindrops on the earth.
In his days justice shall flourish
And peace till the moon fails.
He shall rule from sea to sea,
From the Great River to earth’s bounds.
Glory to the Father…
Holy are you, O Mary…who gave birth to a Savior for the lost human raceSaint Anselm of Canterbury
This Doctor of the Church has his link below.
St> Anselm
· Anselm and Mary
Anselm's great love for Mary is recorded in Alloquia Caelestia, a treatise in her praise. He says: "O woman admirably unique and uniquely admirable, grant me the grace that your love be constantly in my heart and that you bear me forever within your heart." Her sanctity surpasses that of all other creatures and gains her the dignity of becoming the restorer of the world, Anselm taught. He also believed that her sufferings were greater than those of any of the martyrs and that being raised so high, nothing but God is greater than Mary. Anselm declared that his mind failed him and his tongue was dumb when he wished to contemplate the immensity of Mary's grace and glory. (O'Carroll, 33)
His writings reveal the purest affection and the highest esteem for her. Although Anselm did not write about Mary in formal treatises, he deserves to be called a great Marian Doctor. For he set forth the tradition about her with clarity and force, showing the divine maternity to be the foundation of all Our Lady's privileges. "Nothing is equal to Mary; nothing except God is greater than God.
Mary and Christ Prayer, taken from Marian Prayers and Devotions -see doctoral sources.
Mary the dawn, Christ the glorious day;
Mary the gate, Christ the heavenly way.
Mary the root, Christ the holy vine;
Mary the grape, Christ the sacred wine.
Mary the wheat, Christ the living bread;
Mary the stem, Christ the rose blood-red.
Mary the font, Christ the healing flood.
Mary the chalice, Christ the saving blood.
Mary the temple, Christ the temple’s Lord;
Mary the shrine, Christ the God adored.
Mary the beacon, Christ the haven’s rest;
Mary the mirror, Christ the vision blest.
Mary the Mother, Christ the Mother’s Son;
Glory and praise while endless ages run.
The holy face of Jesus from the Shroud of Turin is considered an esteemed and sacred relic and can be viewed in the link below. It can also be viewed on St John Damascene's site listed on the sidebar.
THE HOLY FACE OF JESUS
Almsgiving Section
The Doctors of the Church always advocated, above all: prayer, fasting and almsgiving as the highest form of Christian living. Support the Poor, Inc., is a non-profit charitable organization which was established in 2006 in the State of Maryland. As the name indicates, the purpose for this organization is to give meaningful support to the poorest of the poor particularly in Africa and the Caribbean. The birth of this organization was established by Dr. Mary Wandia who has been helping orphaned children in Africa for many years. Support the Poor, Inc., is a 501 ( c )( 3 ) tax exempt. Contributions are fully tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. Documents and information submitted to the State of Maryland under the Maryland Charitable Solicitation Act are available from the office of the Secretary of State. For donations or more information, please write, call, or email: President Dr Mary Wandia; P.O. Box 80; Clarksville, MD. 21029; Phone 443-538-5553; email: support the poor@comcast.net
Apostles of the Lord
Email tommyferris@comcast.net
The background music is Andrea Bocelli's "Ave Maria".
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