“Now Saul was consenting to his execution. On that day, there broke out a severe persecution of the church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” (Acts 8:1.)
In commenting on these verses from today’s First Reading, Saint John Chrysostom writes:
“The persecution,” he says, “gained strength.” True, but especially then it delivered people who were previously possessed. For it planted miracles like forts among them. Even the death of Stephen did not quench their rage, but rather increased it. It dispersed the teachers, so that the discipleship became greater. There was joy, although there had been great lamentation. Note again the good: the malady lasted long enough, but it was this man who brought them deliverance.” (Homilies On the Acts of the Apostles, 18.)
Collect
O God,
Who set Saint Catherine of Siena
on fire with divine love
in her contemplation of the Lord’s Passion
and her service of Your Church,
grant, through her intercession,
that Your people,
participating in the mystery of Christ,
may ever exult in the revelation of His glory.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Who set Saint Catherine of Siena
on fire with divine love
in her contemplation of the Lord’s Passion
and her service of Your Church,
grant, through her intercession,
that Your people,
participating in the mystery of Christ,
may ever exult in the revelation of His glory.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
