Lent: March 20th

MASS READINGS

March 20, 2019 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

Keep your family, O Lord, schooled always in good works, and so comfort them with your protection here as to lead them graciously to gifts on high. 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 (8)

• Bohemian Csicky (Filled Doughnuts)
• Bohemian Kolachky
• Bohemian Rye Bread
• Galuschde (Krautwickel, stuffed cabbage)
• Kolace (Bohemian Filled Buns)
• Poppyseed Rings
• Vanocka (Czech Braided Bread)
• Vdolky (Bohemian Pan Cakes)

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Activities (2)

• Religion in the Home for Elementary School: March
• Religion in the Home for Preschool: March

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Prayers (4)

• Lent Table Blessing 4
• March Devotion: Saint Joseph
• Litany of Humility
• Ad te Beate Ioseph - To thee, O Blessed Joseph

Library (0)

Blog & Podcasts (0)

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The theme of life and light has colored the Liturgy of this week. Before leading the catechumens into the Mystery of Christ's Passion and Death, the Church presents Christ to them once more as the Light of the world who has power to open man's eyes to his Light. He will veil it for a while during his Passion but it will burst forth in full splendor again on Easter morning.

Historically today is the feast of St. Photina, the Samaritan woman at the well.

Stational Church

St. John Nepomucene (Nepomuk)
Born at Nepomuk, Bohemia, 1340; died in Prague, March 20, 1393; canonized in 1729. Saint John used the name of his native town for his surname instead of his family name of Woelflein or Welflin. He studied at the University of Prague, was ordained, and became a canon. In time, he became vicar general of Archbishop John of Genzenstein at Prague and according to tradition incurred the enmity of dissolute King Wenceslaus IV when he refused to reveal what Queen Sophie, Wenceslaus’ second wife, had told him in confession. Of a retiring disposition, Father John repeatedly refused bishoprics which were offered to him.

In 1393 (or 1383 according to some), he became involved in a dispute between Wenceslaus and the archbishop when the king sought to convert a Benedictine abbey into a cathedral for a new diocese he proposed to create for a favorite when the aged abbot died. The archbishop and John thwarted him by approving the election of a new abbot immediately on the death of the old abbot. At a meeting with John and other clerics, Wenceslaus flew into a rage, tortured them so that John was seriously injured, and then had him murdered and thrown into the Moldau River at Prague (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney)

Saint John is portrayed in art as an Augustinian canon with a fur almuce and a bridge near him. He may hold his finger to his lips and have seven stars around his head, or wear a padlock on his lips (in Austria and Bohemia). John, patron of confessors and bridges, is venerated in Austria and Spain (Roeder).
—by Katherine Rabenstein, Saints of the Day

Patronage: against calumnies; against floods; against indiscretions; against slander; bridge builders; bridges; canons; confessors; for discretion; for good confession; mariners, sailors, boatmen, watermen; running water; silence; spiritual directors; Bohemia; Czech Republic; archdiocese of Prague, Czech Republic; Slovakia; Venice, Italy

Symbols and Representation: halo with five stars; cross; bridge; angel indicating silence by a finger over the lips; priest's biretta

Highlights and Things to Do:

• Read more about St. John Nepomucene:
  • Catholic Encyclopedia
  • Mary Pages
  • Catholic Exchange
  • Catholic Saints Info
• Read about the location of Saint John of Nepomuk's Martyrdom.
• The Statue of St. John of Nepomuk on Charles Bridge in Prague.
• See Christian Iconnography for depictions of St. John.
• Learn more about Prague and the Czech Republic and St. Vitus Cathedral, supposedly started by St. Wenceslas in the 10th century as a small chapel to house relics of St. Vitus and were in the 14th century St. John Nepomucene was buried after being executed for refusing to violate the seal of the confessional.
• Read about the Infant Jesus of Prague and pray the chaplet.
• Bake a loaf of bread for dinner and serve Pilsner beer in honor of St. Wenceslas. See also Catholic Cuisine for other ideas.

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent
Station with Santa Maria in Trastevere (St. Mary in Trastevere ):
The Station for today is in the celebrated basilica, St. Maria in Trastevere. The basilica was consecrated in the third century, under the pontificate of St. Callixtus, and was the first church built in Rome in honor of our Blessed Lady, particularly for her Assumption. The original church was demolished and the current church was constructed between 1139 to 1181, with additions such as mosaics and chapels added through the centuries.

For more on Santa Maria in Trastevere, see:

• Rome Art Lover
• Roman Churches
• Churches of Rome
• PNAC
• Aleteia
• Station Church

For further information on the Station Churches, see The Stational Church.