Commemoration of Saints (February 10)

Solemnities, Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials, and Traditional Dates of Commemoration

• Scholastica, virgin
• Soteris, virgin and martyr
• Trumwin, bishop
• Austreberta, virgin
• William of Maleval

St. Scholastica (d. ca. 543 A.D.) was the sister of St. Benedict of Nursia. She may have also been his twin. Like her brother, she founded an abbey and became its abbess under St. Benedict's spiritual direction. That convent was located in Plombariola, near Monte Cassino, which was the location of the first Benedictine monastery.

Pope St. Gregory the Great wrote a story about St. Benedict and St. Scholastica in his Dialogues. Gregory wrote that St. Scholastica paid a visit to her brother for the last time, since she had an intuition of her day of death. Since women are not allowed in Monte Cassino, both of them met at a nearby farmhouse. They were discussing about spiritual matters when Benedict had to return to the monastery to obey the Rule required of him. Scholastica begged that her brother stay with her a little longer because she knew her time was near. When Benedict refused because of the Rule, Scholastica bowed her head in prayer, and a violent thunderstorm prevented Benedict from returning to the monastery. Benedict accused Scholastica of the storm to which she replied: "I asked a favor of you and you refused it. I asked it of God, and He has granted it." So both of them continued in their discussion about the joys of heaven.

Three days later, Scholastica died. While praying in his monastery cell, Benedict is said to have seen the soul of his twin sister rising to heaven in the form of a dove. St. Scholastica was buried in the tomb Benedict had prepared for himself.

St. William of Maleval (d. ca. 1157 A.D.) may have been a Frenchman who followed a military career at first and led a dissolute life. He however reformed from this former way of life and made a pilgrimage to Rome where he was attended by Pope Eugene III in 1145 A.D. The Pope sent him on a penitential pilgrimage to Jerusalem as a form of penance for his sins.

About 1153 A.D., he went to Tuscany to live as a hermit and at times with a religious community. He was asked to undertake the government of a monastery in the area, but was unsuccessful in attempting to reform the monks. He left that monastery and retired to Monte Pruno. In 1155 A.D. he went to the desert valley of Stabulum Rodis, later known as Maleval, in the territory of Castiglione della Pescaia, where he was joined by Albert, one of his disciples. Together with a doctor named Renaldo, their community developed into the Hermits of St. William (the Williamites) - an early branch of the Hermits of St. Augustine.

St. William of Maleval died at the age of 57 on February 10, 1157 A.D. and was canonized in 1202 A.D. He is honored by the Augustinians who founded a lot of parishes in the Philippines in his name. Most of these parishes are in the northern part of Luzon island in the Philippines. There is also one in the National Capital Region in Buting, Pasig City, and two outside of Luzon island (one in Iloilo and another in Cagayan de Oro) Learn more at Wikipedia.org

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [February 10]

• Charalampias, Martyr

Commemoration of Saints (February 9)

Solemnities, Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials, and Traditional Dates of Commemoration

• Apollonia, virgin and martyr
• Nicephorus, martyr
• Sabinus of Canosa, bishop
• Teilo, bishop
• Alto, abbot

St. Alto (d. ca. 760 A.D.) was probably an Irishman who became a hermit at Augsburg, Germany, in ca. 743 A.D. He so impressed King Pepin by his way of holiness and missionary work that the King gave him a parcel of land near Bavaria, Germany, to build a monastery. He is the founder of Altomünster Abbey, around which a market town grew up, also called Altomünster. Learn more Wikipedia.org

As with the date of commemoration of St. John of Matha, the dates of commemoration of St. Alto are two: one of February 9, today, and the other one on February 7. February 9th seems the more widely recognized feast day for St. Alto for the universal Catholic Church. The February 7th date might be a local commemoration observed particularly in Bavaria, Germany, where he was active as abbot of a monastery. This still needs more verification. What's important to remember is that both dates are valid ways to commemorate St. Alto. To commemorate his life and spiritual legacy, regardless of the specific day, whether locally connected or universally recognized, is essential.

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [February 9]

• St. Nicephorus, Martyr

5th Sunday of the Year (C)

(Edited) Sunday Reflections (from) Liturgical Years 2011 (A), 2012 (B), and 2013 (C)

5th Sunday of the Year (C), February 10, 2013
Liturgical readings
Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8
Psalm 138
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11

"They caught such a great number of fish that their nets were at the breaking point."

The three men whom Jesus first called to be His followers were fishermen. He needed laborers for His vineyard. He saw three fishermen (Simon Peter, James and John) working all night with their fish nets thrown alongside their boats, but were unable to catch fish. When Jesus witnessed this, He directed them to put out into the deep and lower their nets again. They did as they were told, and it did not take long for them to catch a great number of fish. It was such a big catch that their nets were almost at breaking point. Amazed at such a miraculous catch, all of them were seized with fear, especially Simon Peter. But the Lord reassured them, and told them not to be afraid. He had a vocation and a mission prepared for each of them.

What the Lord wanted Simon Peter, James, and John to do, is to be part of His mission - a mission to build God's kingdom. This kingdom seeks to teach all to place more importance to what is above; to raise minds and hearts to Heaven. It includes all states of life in the Church: not just clergy and religious, but all the lay faithful. It is the lay faithful who bring the gospel to marriage and family life, and to political, business and professional organizations. And in all these, like the clergy and the religious, they too work with perseverance and endurance in the demands of the Christian vocation - "to raise their minds and hearts to heaven". In this spiritual direction, everyone knows by faith that God does not abandon. For the Church in her Word and Sacrament always provide the encouragement needed in that mission: "...that they [all] may be fully mature and lacking in nothing" (James 1:3-4).

The universal call to holiness and mission is a call to all. It begins at baptism. God reassures each one (as He did with Simon Peter, James and John), that there is no need to fear. As long as each of the faithful continue each day to be faithful to his baptismal vows, then he obtains a better knowledge of God and becomes more faithful to Him. He contributes daily to the building of God's kingdom. That contribution is like a clear, life-giving stream that flows and adds to the river of life. Just as three fishermen turned back from their former way of life, and followed Christ, each of the faithful are also called to follow Christ. All are to adjust their sights from just secular concerns and to raise their "hearts and minds to heaven". For in this new spiritual direction do they discover and obtain the fullness they seek: in God's Word and Sacrament as the Source of all life and plenty.