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Catholics Of Bristol, Bristol (2026)

08/06/2026

Saint Of The Day: Saint Ephrem

Poet, teacher, orator, and defender of the faith, Saint Ephrem is the only Syriac Christian recognized as a doctor of the Church. He took upon himself the special task of opposing the many false doctrines rampant at his time, always remaining a true and forceful defender of the Catholic Church.

Born in Nisibis, Mesopotamia, he was baptized as a young man and became famous as a teacher in his native city. When the Christian emperor had to cede Nisibis to the Persians, Ephrem fled as a refugee to Edessa, along with many other Christians. He is credited with attracting great glory to the biblical school there. He was ordained a deacon but declined becoming a priest. Ephrem was said to have avoided presbyteral consecration by feigning madness!

Saint Ephrem had a prolific pen, and his writings best illumine his holiness. Although he was not a man of great scholarship, his works reflect deep insight and knowledge of the Scriptures. In writing about the mysteries of humanity’s redemption, Ephrem reveals a realistic and humanly sympathetic spirit and a great devotion to the humanity of Jesus. It is said that his poetic account of the Last Judgment inspired Dante.

It is surprising to read that he wrote hymns against the heretics of his day. He would take the popular songs of the heretical groups and using their melodies, compose beautiful hymns embodying orthodox doctrine. Saint Ephrem became one of the first to introduce song into the Church’s public worship as a means of instruction for the faithful. His many hymns have earned him the title “Harp of the Holy Spirit.”

Saint Ephrem preferred a simple, austere life, living in a small cave overlooking the city of Edessa. It was here that he died around 373.

*** Reflection

Many Catholics still find singing in church a problem, probably because of the rather individualistic piety that they inherited. Yet singing has been a tradition of both the Old and the New Testaments. It is an excellent way of expressing and creating a community spirit of unity as well as of joy. An ancient historian testifies that Saint Ephrem’s hymns “lent luster to the Christian assemblies.” We need some modern Ephrems—and cooperating singers—to do the same for our Christian assemblies today.

08/06/2026

✝️ The Gospel Of The Day ✝️ 09/06/25
* A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew 5:13-16

🙏 Salt And Light 🙏

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

07/06/2026

Saint Of The Day: Saint Jacques Berthieu

Saint Jacques Berthieu was a French Jesuit priest working in Madagascar when he was martyred by rebel tribesmen hostile to his faith.

Saint Berthieu was born in France on November 27, 1838, as one of seven children. As you youth, he felt a strong calling to serve God and he joined the Jesuits in October of 1873.

Just two years later, he joined a Jesuit mission to Madagascar. His talent and zeal made him a favorite in the order and he was soon appointed to be the superior of mission in Ambositra in 1885.

Working from his mission, St. Berthieu grew the faith, inviting many of the locals to God.

However, his mission because increasingly fraught with danger as some locals became increasingly hostile to French influence in the region. The hostility eventually grew so that the mission had to be repeatedly moved.

Eventually, moving the mission was not enough and in 1896, St. Berthieu was kidnapped during a rebellion.

St. Berthieu's had many chances to flee before being captured and possibly after, but he would not consider it, preferring instead to remain on task, shepherding as many of the people as he could toward Christ.

On June 8, 1896, he was presented to a rebel leader who offered him a position as an advisor. St. Berthieu refused this honor. After refusing, he was then given only seconds to choose between renouncing his faith and being put to death.

To which St. Berthieu replied, "My son, I'm sorry, that I cannot do. I prefer to die."

Death came quickly as several men with clubs descended upon him and beat him. After beating him nearly to death, the attackers finished by shooting him. His murderers cast his body into a nearby river.

After his death, locals began to report miracles as a result of drinking the waters in which he was cast. The miracles occurred in St. Berthieu's name and were also associated with greenery along the riverbank.

St. Berthieu was venerated on April 8, 1964.

St. Berthieu was beautified on October 16, 1965 by Pope Paul VI.

St. Berthieu was recognized as a saint by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21, 2012.

07/06/2026

✝️ The Gospel Of The Day ✝️ 08/06/26
* A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew 5:1-12
🙏 The Beatitudes 🙏

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

07/06/2026

✝️ Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ ✝️

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is also known as the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, which translates from Latin to “Body of Christ.” This feast originated in France in the mid thirteenth century and was extended to the whole Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264. This feast is celebrated on the Thursday following the Trinity Sunday or, on the Sunday following that feast.

This feast calls us to focus on two manifestations of the Body of Christ, the Holy Eucharist and the Church. The primary purpose of this feast is to focus our attention on the Eucharist. The opening prayer at Mass calls our attention to Jesus’ suffering and death and our worship of Him, especially in the Eucharist.

At every Mass our attention is called to the Eucharist and the Real Presence of Christ in it. The secondary focus of this feast is upon the Body of Christ as it is present in the Church. The Church is called the Body of Christ because of the intimate communion which Jesus shares with his disciples. He expresses this in the gospels by using the metaphor of a body in which He is the head. This image helps keep in focus both the unity and the diversity of the Church.

The Feast of Corpus Christi is commonly used as an opportunity for public Eucharistic processions, which serves as a sign of common faith and adoration. Our worship of Jesus in His Body and Blood calls us to offer to God our Father a pledge of undivided love and an offering of ourselves to the service of others.

07/06/2026

✝️ The Gospel Of The Day ✝️ 07/06/26
* A reading from the holy gospel according to Mark 12:38-44

🙏 The Living Bread 🙏

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

05/06/2026

Saint Of The Day: Saint Norbert

On June 6 the Catholic Church honors Saint Norbert of Xanten – who started out as a frivolous and worldly cleric, but was changed by God’s grace into a powerful preacher and an important reformer of the Church during the early 12th century.
He is the founder of the Norbertine order.

Born around the year 1075 in the German town of Xanten, Norbert belonged to a high-ranking family with ties to the imperial court. As a young man he showed a high degree of intelligence and sophistication – which marked him out as a contender for offices within the Church, the state, or both. None of this, however, was any guarantee of a holy life. On the contrary, Norbert's gifts and advantages would prove to be a source of temptation even after he joined the ranks of the clergy.

Norbert was ordained as a subdeacon, and enrolled with a group of clerics in his town, before moving on to an appointment with the powerful Archbishop of Cologne. He went on to serve the German Emperor Henry V, in a position which involved the distribution of aid to the poor. In all of this, however, Norbert displayed no particular piety or personal seriousness, living a rather pleasurable and luxurious life.

Change would come from a brush with death, in approximately 1112: while riding on horseback near Xanten, he was caught in a storm and nearly killed by a lightning bolt. The frightened horse threw Norbert off, and he lay unconscious for some time. Sobered by the experience, he left his imperial post and began a period of prayer and discernment in a monastery. At age 35, he heard God calling him to the priesthood.

Radically converted to the ideals of the Gospel, Norbert was now set against the worldly attitude he had once embodied. This made him unpopular with local clerics, who responded with insults and condemnation. But Norbert was not turning back. He gave all of his wealth to the poor, reducing himself to a barefoot and begging pilgrim who possessed nothing except the means to celebrate Mass.

Pope Gelasius II gave Norbert permission to live as an itinerant preacher, and he was asked to found a religious order so that others might live after his example. He settled in the northern French region of Aisne, along with a small group of disciples who were to live according to the Rule of St. Augustine. On December 25, 1121, they were established as the Canons Regular of Premontre, also known as the Premonstratensians or Norbertines.

Their founder also established a women’s branch of the order, before returning to Germany for a successful preaching tour. He founded a lay branch of the Premonstratensians (the Third Order of St. Norbert), and went on to Belgium, where he preached against a sect that denied the power of the sacraments. His order was invited into many Northern European dioceses, and there was talk of making Norbert a bishop.

Though he avoided an earlier attempt to make him the Bishop of Wurzburg, Norbert was eventually chosen to become the Archbishop of Magdeburg in Germany. The archdiocese was in serious moral and financial trouble, and the new archbishop worked hard to reform it. His efforts were partly successful, but not universally accepted: Norbert was the target of three failed assassination attempts, made by opponents of his reforms.

When a dispute arose over the papal succession in 1130, Norbert traveled to Rome to support the legitimate Pope Innocent II. Afterward he returned to Germany and became a close adviser to its Emperor Lothar. In a sense, his life seems to have come full-circle: the first hints of his conversion had come on a trip to Rome two decades earlier, when he accompanied a previous emperor. This time, however, Norbert was seeking God’s will, not his own advancement.

With his health failing, Norbert was brought back to Magdeburg. He died there on June 6, 1134. Pope Gregory XIII canonized St. Norbert in 1582.

05/06/2026

✝️ The Gospel Of The Day ✝️ 06/06/26
* A reading from the holy gospel according to Mark 12:38-44

🙏 The Widow’s Offering 🙏

As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

04/06/2026

Saint Of The Day: Saint Dominic Huyen (Martyr)

Christians who died in the persecution conducted by King Tu-Duc in Central Tonkin, Vietnam. Five martyrs were beatified in 1906.

The following were canonized in 1988: Joseph Diaz Sanjurjo, Meichior Garcia Sampedro, Dominic Ninh, Laurence Ngon, Dominic An-Kham, Luke Cai-Thin, Joseph Cai-Ta, Dominic Mao, Vincent Tuong, Dominic Nguyen, Andrew Tuoung Dominic Nhi, Peter Da, Joseph Tuan, Peter Dung, Peter Tuan, Vincent Duong, Dominic Mau, Dominic Toai, Dominic Huyen, Joseph Tuan, Dominic Cam, Thomas Khuong, Paul Duong and Joseph Tuc. Some were ordained priests and others Dominican tertiaries.

04/06/2026

✝️ The Gospel Of The Day ✝️ 05/06/26
* A reading from the holy gospel according to Mark 12:35-37

🙏 Jesus’ Question About The Messiah 🙏

While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’ David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with delight.

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