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Saint Paulinus of Nola was of a family which boasted of a long line of senators, prefects, and consuls. He was educated with great care, and his genius and eloquence, in prose and verse, were the admiration of St. Jerome and St. Augustine. He had more than doubled his wealth by marriage, and was one of the foremost men of his time. Though he was the chosen friend of Saints, and had a great devotion to St. Felix of Nola, he was still only a catechumen, trying to serve two masters. But God drew him to Himself along the way of sorrows and trials. He received baptism, withdrew into Spain to be alone, and then, in consort with his holy wife, sold all their vast estates in various parts of the empire, distributing their proceeds so prudently that St. Jerome says East and West were filled with his alms.
He was then ordained priest, and retired to Nola in Campania. There he rebuilt the Church of St. Felix with great magnificence, and served it night and day, living a life of extreme abstinence and toil. In 409 he was chosen bishop, and for more than thirty years so ruled as to be conspicuous in an age blessed with many great and wise bishops. St. Gregory the Great tells us that when the Vandals of Africa had made a descent on Campania, Paulinus spent all he had in relieving the distress of his people and redeeming them from slavery.
At last there came a poor widow; her only son had been carried off by the son-in-law of the Vandal king. “Such as I have I give thee,” said the Saint to her; “we will go to Africa, and I will give myself for your son.” Having overborne her resistance, they went, and Paulinus was accepted in place of the widow’s son, and employed as gardener. After a time the king found out, by divine interposition, that his son-in-law’s slave was the great Bishop of Nola. He at once set him free, granting him also the freedom of all the townsmen of Nola who were in slavery.
One who knew him well says he was meek as Moses, priestlike as Aaron, innocent as Samuel, tender as David, wise as Solomon, apostolic as Peter, loving as John, cautious as Thomas, keen-sighted as Stephen, fervent as Apollos. He died in 431.
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2 Corinthians 11:18, 21-30
Psalms 34:2-7
Matthew 6:19-23
2 Corinthians 11:18, 21-30
(18) Since so many glory according to the flesh, I will glory also (21) I speak according to disgrace, as if we had been weak in this regard. In this matter, (I speak in foolishness) if anyone dares, I dare also (22) They are Hebrews; so am I. They are Israelites; so am I. They are the offspring of Abraham; so am I (23) They are the ministers of Christ (I speak as if I were less wise); more so am I: with many more labors, with numerous imprisonments, with wounds beyond measure, with frequent mortifications (24) On five occasions, I received forty stripes, less one, from the Jews (25) Three times, I was beaten with rods. One time, I was stoned. Three times, I was shipwrecked. For a night and a day, I was in the depths of the sea (26) I have made frequent journeys, through dangerous waters, in danger of robbers, in danger from my own nation, in danger from the Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in danger in the sea, in danger from false brothers (27) with hardships and difficulties, with much vigilance, in hunger and thirst, with frequent fasts, in cold and nakedness (28) and, in addition to these things, which are external: there is my daily earnestness and solicitude for all the churches (29) Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not being burned (30) If it is necessary to glory, I will glory of the things that concern my weaknesses
Psalms 34:2-7
(2) Take hold of weapons and a shield, and rise up in assistance to me (3) Bring forth the spear, and close in on those who persecute me. Say to my soul, “I am your salvation. (4) Let them be confounded and in awe, who pursue my soul. Let them be turned back and be confounded, who think up evil against me (5) May they become like dust before the face of the wind, and let the Angel of the Lord hem them in (6) May their way become dark and slippery, and may the Angel of the Lord pursue them (7) For, without cause, they have concealed their snare for me unto destruction. Over nothing, they have rebuked my soul
Matthew 6:19-23
(19) Do not choose to store up for yourselves treasures on earth: where rust and moth consume, and where thieves break in and steal (20) Instead, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither rust nor moth consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal (21) For where your treasure is, there also is your heart (22) The lamp of your body is your eye. If your eye is wholesome, your entire body will be filled with light (23) But if your eye has been corrupted, your entire body will be darkened. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great will that darkness be
Please comment below to leave your prayer request. As your request will be prayed for, please also pray for the petitions of others! Remember in your prayers, those in purgatory, all those suffering around the world, and for the intentions of the Pope! Lord, hear our prayer!
2 Corinthians 11:1-11
Psalms 111:1-4, 7-8
Matthew 6:7-15
2 Corinthians 11:1-11
(1) I wish that you would endure a small amount of my foolishness, so as to bear with me (2) For I am jealous toward you, with the jealousy of God. And I have espoused you to one husband, offering you as a chaste virgin to Christ (3) But I am afraid lest, as the serpent led astray Eve by his cleverness, so your minds might be corrupted and might fall away from the simplicity which is in Christ (4) For if anyone arrives preaching another Christ, one whom we have not preached; or if you receive another Spirit, one whom you have not received; or another Gospel, one which you have not been given: you might permit him to guide you (5) For I consider that I have done nothing less than the great Apostles (6) For although I may be unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge. But, in all things, we have been made manifest to you (7) Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you would be exalted? For I preached the Gospel of God to you freely (8) I have taken from other churches, receiving a stipend from them to the benefit of your ministry (9) And when I was with you and in need, I was burdensome to no one. For the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied whatever was lacking to me. And in all things, I have kept myself, and I will keep myself, from being burdensome to you (10) The truth of Christ is in me, and so this glorying shall not be broken away from me in the regions of Achaia (11) Why so? Is it because I do not love you? God knows I do
Psalms 111:1-4, 7-8
(1) Alleluia. Of the return of Haggai and Zachariah. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord. He will prefer his commandments exceedingly (2) His offspring will be powerful on the earth. The generation of the upright will be blessed (3) Glory and wealth will be in his house, and his justice shall remain from age to age (4) For the upright, a light has risen up in the darkness. He is merciful and compassionate and just (7) The just one will be an everlasting memorial. He will not fear a report of disasters. His heart is prepared to hope in the Lord (8) His heart has been confirmed. He will not be disturbed, until he looks down upon his enemies
Matthew 6:7-15
(7) And when praying, do not choose many words, as the pagans do. For they think that by their excess of words they might be heeded (8) Therefore, do not choose to imitate them. For your Father knows what your needs may be, even before you ask him (9) Therefore, you shall pray in this way: Our Father, who is in heaven: May your name be kept holy (10) May your kingdom come. May your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth (11) Give us this day our life-sustaining bread (12) And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors (13) And lead us not into temptation. But free us from evil. Amen (14) For if you will forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father also will forgive you your offenses (15) But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your sins
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In the tenth century Sergius, a nobleman of Ravenna, quarreled with a relative over an estate and, in a duel to which his son Saint Romuald was witness, slew him. The young man of twenty years was horrified at his father’s crime, and entered a Benedictine monastery at Classe to do a forty days’ penance for him. This penance led to his entry into religion as a Benedictine monk.
After seven years at Classe, Romuald went to live as a hermit near Venice, under the guidance of a holy man who had him recite the Psalter from memory every day. When he stumbled, the hermit struck his left ear with a rod. Romuald suffered with patience, but one day, noting that he was losing his hearing in that ear, asked the old man to strike him on his right ear. This episode supposes great progress in virtue. The two religious were joined by Peter Urseolus, Duke of Venice, who desired to do penance also, and together they led a most austere life in the midst of assaults from the evil spirits.
Saint Romuald, whose aim was to restore the primitive rule to the Order of Saint Benedict, succeeded in founding some hundred monasteries in both Italy and France, and he filled the solitudes with hermitages. The principal monastery was that at Camaldoli, a wild, deserted region, where he built a church, surrounded by a number of separate cells for the solitaries who lived under his rule; his disciples were thus called Camaldolese. For five years the fervent founder was tormented by furious attacks by the demon. He repulsed him, saying, “O enemy! Driven out of heaven, you come to the desert? Depart, ugly serpent, already you have what is due you.” And the shamed adversary would leave him. Saint Romuald’s father, Sergius, was moved by the examples of his son, and entered religion near Ravenna; there he, too, was attacked by hell and thought of abandoning his design. Romuald went to visit him; he showed him the error of the devil’s ruses, and his father died in the monastery, in the odor of sanctity.
Among his first disciples were Saints Adalbert and Boniface, apostles of Russia, and Saints John and Benedict of Poland, martyrs for the faith. He was an intimate friend of the Emperor Saint Henry, and was reverenced and consulted by many great men of his time. He once passed seven years in solitude and total silence. He died, as he had foretold twenty years in advance, alone in his monastery of Val Castro, on the 19th of June, 1027, in an advanced and abundantly fruitful old age.
By the life of Saint Romuald, we see how God brings good out of evil. In his youth Saint Romuald was much troubled by temptations of the flesh; to escape them he had recourse to hunting, and it was in the woods that he first conceived his love for solitude. His father’s sin prompted him to undertake a forty days’ penance in the monastery, which he then made his permanent home. Some bad examples of his fellow-monks induced him to leave them and adopt the solitary mode of life; the repentance of a Venetian Duke brought him his first disciple. The temptations of the devil compelled him to lead his severe life of expiation; and finally, the persecutions of others were the occasion of his settlement at Camaldoli, mother house of his Order.
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Venerable Matt Talbot is considered the patron of men and women struggling with alcoholism.
Matt was born in Dublin, where his father worked on the docks and had a difficult time supporting his family. After a few years of schooling, Matt obtained work as a messenger for some liquor merchants; there he began to drink excessively. For 15 years—until he was almost 30—Matt was an active alcoholic.
One day he decided to take “the pledge” for three months, make a general confession and begin to attend daily Mass. There is evidence that Matt’s first seven years after taking the pledge were especially difficult. Avoiding his former drinking places was hard. He began to pray as intensely as he used to drink. He also tried to pay back people from whom he had borrowed or stolen money while he was drinking.
Most of his life Matt worked as a builder’s laborer. He joined the Secular Franciscan Order and began a life of strict penance; he abstained from meat nine months a year. Matt spent hours every night avidly reading Scripture and the lives of the saints. He prayed the rosary conscientiously. Though his job did not make him rich, Matt contributed generously to the missions.
After 1923 his health failed and Matt was forced to quit work. He died on his way to church on Trinity Sunday. Fifty years later Pope Paul VI gave him the title venerable.
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2 Corinthians 9:6-11
Psalms 112:1-4, 9
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
2 Corinthians 9:6-11
(6) But I say this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And whoever sows with blessings shall also reap from blessings (7) each one giving, just as he has determined in his heart, neither out of sadness, nor out of obligation. For God loves a cheerful giver (8) And God is able to make every grace abound in you, so that, always having what you need in all things, you may abound unto every good work (9) just as it was written: “He has distributed widely, he has given to the poor; his justice remains from age to age. (10) And he who ministers seed to the sower will offer you bread to eat, and will multiply your seed, and will increase the growth of the fruits of your justice (11) So then, having been enriched in all things, you may abound in all simplicity, which works thanksgiving to God through us
Psalms 112:1-4, 9
(1) Alleluia. Praise the Lord, children. Praise the name of the Lord (2) Blessed is the name of the Lord, from this time forward and even forever (3) From the rising of the sun, even to its setting, praiseworthy is the name of the Lord (4) The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory is high above the heavens (9) He causes a barren woman to live in a house, as the joyful mother of sons
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
(1) “Pay attention, lest you perform your justice before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you shall not have a reward with your Father, who is in heaven (2) Therefore, when you give alms, do not choose to sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the towns, so that they may be honored by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward (3) But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing (4) so that your almsgiving may be in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you (5) And when you pray, you should not be like the hypocrites, who love standing in the synagogues and at the corners of the streets to pray, so that they may be seen by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward (6) But you, when you pray, enter into your room, and having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you (16) And when you fast, do not choose to become gloomy, like the hypocrites. For they alter their faces, so that their fasting may be apparent to men. Amen I say to you, that they have received their reward (17) But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face (18) so that your fasting will not be apparent to men, but to your Father, who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you
Please comment below to leave your prayer request. As your request will be prayed for, please also pray for the petitions of others! Remember in your prayers, those in purgatory, all those suffering around the world, and for the intentions of the Pope! Lord, hear our prayer!
