calendarium ordinis praedicatorum

May 19 SAINT FRANCIS COLL GUITART Friar and Priest Memorial Common of Pastors or Common of Holy Men: For Religious Francis was born in Gombreny in Catalonia, northeastern Spain   in 1812, the tenth and last son of a wool carder. Staying in that district, he taught boys the rudiments of schooling. In 1830, he received the habit of the Order at Gerona, and there was promoted to the diaconate after professing solemn vows. He was forced to live away from the convent after 1835, but his Dominican profession never wavered and was cultivated more intensely. With the approval of his superiors, he was raised to the priesthood under the title of poverty in 1836, and was assigned to the parochial ministry. Afterwards he gave himself completely to itinerant preaching with apostolic zeal. Working for and with the lay members of the Order, he instituted a regular congregation of sisters for the education of the young, dedicated to the Annunciation. He died in Vich, after becomi...

19 May SAINT FRANCIS COLL GUITART, Friar and Founder Memoria THE OFFICE OF READINGS The Second Reading A reading from a letter of Father Francis Enrich, priest to the Vicar General of the Order of Preachers (SRC Sec. Hist. Vic. Beat. Et Can. Fr. Coll, Disqusitio, Vaticano 1966, p. 160-170 ). His total simplicity was characteristic of him “ Father Francis Coll had passed to a better life; he had gone to eternal rest at eight thirty in the morning of the same day of 2 April of the present year of 1875 ”. This formulary of Christian piety is pure truth for those who knew this good servant of the Lord. His was a perfect life adorned with zeal, whether radiantly in the pulpit or hidden in the confessional, he was always tireless for almost thirty years in which many times on his feet he travelled throughout Catalunya doing mission and which made his name popular and venerated. Humble at birth and not the least by election, one sees in him that he is not preoccupied b...

4 May PASSION OF THE LORD Votive Office THE OFFICE OF READINGS The Second Reading From the Summa Theologiae of Saint Thomas Aquinas. There was no better way to cure our misery than the passion of Christ. The liberation of humanity through the passion of Christ was consonant with both his mercy and his justice.   With justice, because by his passion Christ made satisfaction for the sin of the human race, and humanity was freed through the justice of Christ.   With mercy, because since humanity was by itself unable to satisfy for the sin of all human nature, as was said above, God gave us his Son to do so.   According to Paul: They are now justified by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, effective through faith. In so acting God manifested greater mercy than if God had forgiven sins without requiring   satisfaction.   Paul therefore writes: God, who i...

MAY 04, MAY Blessed Emily Bicchieri At Vercelli, in Italy, Blessed Emily Bicchieri, sister and virgin of the Order of Preachers. Blessed Emily was born at Vercelli, Italy on May 3, 1238. Upon the death of her father, she took her portion of the inheritance and used it to erect a convent of the Order of Penance of St. Dominic, the first of such in the annals of the Order. There she retired with some friends to lead of life of prayer and dedicate themselves to some form of ministry.    At the age of 20, she became the prioress of the community which she governed with great prudence and charity, using her most earnest endeavors to promote contemplative life and maintain regular discipline. She was especially devoted to the Passion of our Savior. She died on her birthday, May 3, 1314 and was beatified by Clement XIII in 1769. 04, MAY Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ The cult of the Passion of the Lord, which has been continuously and wonderfully cultivated among t...