Ordinary Time: November 12th

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MASS READINGS

November 12, 2016 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

Stir up in your Church, we pray, O Lord, the Spirit that filled Saint Josaphat as he laid down his life for the sheep, so that through his intercession we, too, may be strengthened by the same Spirit and not be afraid to lay down our life for others. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

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Recipes (11)

• Caucasian Shashlik
• Ciastka Miodowe (Honey Cakes)
• Paczki (Polish Doughnuts)
• Pierogi (Potato Dumplings)
• Pirohi
• Potato Dumplings
• Potato Pudding
• Raisin Bread
• Roast with Vegetables
• Torte
• Ukrainian Poppy Seed Cake

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Activities (4)

• Praying for the Dead and Gaining Indulgences During November
• Religion in the Home for Elementary School: November
• Religion in the Home for Preschool: November
• What is a Nameday?

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Prayers (4)

• November Devotion: The Holy Souls in Purgatory
• Little Litany of the Holy Souls
• Prayer for a Happy Death
• Daily Acceptance of Death

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Library (12)

• Apostolic Letter of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II for the Fourth Centenary of the Union of Brest | Pope Saint John Paul II
• Background To Ecumenism | Philip Trower
• Courageous Defender of Ukrainian Values | Giovanni Scarabelli
• Ecclesiam Dei on St. Josaphat | Pope Pius XI
• Family, Young People In Cities, Are Priorities | Pope Saint John Paul II
• Magnum Baptismi Donum | Pope Saint John Paul II
• Nothing Separated Them From Christ | Pope Saint John Paul II
• One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic | Pope Saint John XXIII
• Orientales Omnes Ecclesias (On The Reunion Of The Ruthenian Chuch With Rome) | Pope Pius XII
• The Popes and the Eastern Rites | Allen Maloof
• Union of Brest Was Work of Holy Spirit | Pope Saint John Paul II
• Your Martyrs and Confessors Knew the Truth and the Truth Set Them Free | Pope Saint John Paul II

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Today the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Josaphat, a Catholic of the Ruthenian rite. Born in the then Polish region of Lithuania of Orthodox parents, he became a Catholic and a Ukrainian Basilian monk. Chosen bishop, he worked faithfully for the unity of the Church until he suffered martyrdom at the hands of an angry mob in Russia. His feastday in the Extraordinary Rite is celebrated on November 14.

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Martin I who was pope from 649 to 654. He was a courageous defender of the faith against heresy. He held a council at Rome which condemned the Monothelite heresy which taught that Christ had no human but only a divine will. The heretical emperor, Constans II, had him treacherously arrested and taken to Constantinople. After many sufferings and humiliations, he was exiled to Cherson in the Crimea where he died of exhaustion in 654.

St. Josaphat
Josaphat Kuncewitcz was born about the year 1580 at Vladimir, Volhynia, [part of the Polish province of Lithuania at the time] and given the name John at baptism. While being instructed as a child on the sufferings of our Savior, his heart is said to have been wounded by an arrow from the sacred side of the Crucified. In 1604 he joined the Ukrainian Order of Saint Basil (Basilians), lived as a monk in a very mortified life, went barefoot even in winter, refrained from the use of wine and flesh-meat, and always wore a penitential garb. In 1614 he was appointed archimandrite of Vilna, Russia and four years later archbishop of Polotzk; in this position he worked untiringly for Church reunion. He was a great friend of the poor, once even pledged his archepiscopal omophorion (pallium) to support a poor widow. The foes of union decided to assassinate him. In a sermon, he himself spoke of his death as imminent. When he visited Vitebsk (now in Russia), his enemies attacked his lodging and murdered a number of his companions. Meekly the man of God hastened toward the mob and, full of love, cried, "My children, what are you doing? If you have something against me, see, here I am." With furious cries of "Kill the papist!", they rushed upon him with gun and sword. Josaphat's body was thrown into the river but emerged, surrounded by rays of light, and was recovered. His murderers, when sentenced to death, repented their crime and became Catholics.

—Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Ukraine; eparchy of Edmonton, Alberta; eparchy of Toronto, Ontario

Often Represented With: chalice; crown; winged deacon

Things to Do:

• Pray to St. Josaphat for the reunion of the separated Eastern Churches.

• Read Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter on the Eastern Churches, Orientale Lumen.

• Read more about St. Josaphat from
  • The Basilica of St. Josaphat
    
  • Franciscan Media
    
  • Catholic Saints Info
• Read Pius XI's Encyclical Ecclesiam Dei on St. Josaphat and Pius XII's encyclical Orientales Omnes Ecclesias (On The Reunion Of The Ruthenian Church With Rome).

• Learn more about the different Eastern Rites which are in union with the Pope.

• Josaphat is the patron saint of Ukraine, but his life has Russian, Polish and Lithuanian influences. The recipes section has several highlighted recipes from these different regions.