Author Archives: Steve Benner

Antiphon 1 Ant. You will turn toward us, O God, *and restore our life again, and your people will rejoice in you.Show us, Lord, your mercy and grant us your salva tion.V. O Lord, you have favored your land, *and brought back the captives of Jacob.You forgave the guilt of your people, *and covered all their sins.You avertedContinue reading “Oremus for Sunday, December 8, 2024”

AmbroseBorn in Trier in 339, Ambrose was of an aristocratic family and in the year 374 was governor of northern Italy, with his headquarters in Milan. Whilst trying to bring peace to the Christian community, with Arianism and orthodoxy each trying to gain the election of its man as bishop, Ambrose, known and respected byContinue reading “Oremus for Saturday, December 7, 2024”

NicholasVery little is known about the life of Nicholas, except that he suffered torture and imprisonment during the persecution under the Emperor Diocletian. It is possible that he was one of the bishops attending the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325. He was honored as a saint in Constantinople in the sixth century byContinue reading “Oremus for Friday, December 6, 2024”

Antiphon https://tinyurl.com/48bst233 Blessed are the peacemakers,for they shall be called children of God.Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 5 Music: https://tinyurl.com/ycn4djk5 O Lord, open my lips.And my mouth will declare your praise.Make haste, O God, to deliver me;make haste to help me, OContinue reading “Oremus for Thursday, December 5, 2024”

John of DamascusJohn of Damascus was the son of a Christian tax collector for the Mohammedan Caliph of Damascus. At an early age, he succeeded his father in this office. In about 715, he entered the monastery of St. Sabas near Jerusalem. There he devoted himself to an ascetic life andto the study of theContinue reading “Oremus for Wednesday, December 4, 2024”

Francis XavierFrancis was born at the castle of Xavier in Spanish Navarre in 1506. He was educated in Paris and, with Ignatius of Loyola, became one of the group of seven who took vows as the first members of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits. Since preaching the gospel overseas was an integral part ofContinue reading “Oremus for Tuesday, December 3, 2024”

The Martyrs of El SalvadorThe Salvadoran Civil War was a civil war in El Salvador which was fought between the military-led junta government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) (a coalition or “umbrella organization” of left-wing groups) from 15 October 1979 to 16 January 1992. A coup on October 15, 1979, was followed by killings of anti-coup protesters by the government and of anti-disorder protesters byContinue reading “Oremus for Monday, December 2, 2024”

AndrewThough Andrew is named among the apostles in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, it is in John’s gospel that most is learned about him. Andrew was a Galilean fisherman, mending his nets, when Jesus called him to follow him, which he promptly did. He then seems to have remained with Jesus until theContinue reading “Oremus for Saturday, November 30, 2024”

Dorothy DayDorothy Day was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 8, 1897, the third child of Grace and John Day.  Her nominally religious family moved to the San Franciso Bay area and then to Chicago where she was baptized in the Episcopal Church.  She attended the University of Illinois at Urbana and became interestedContinue reading “Oremus for Friday, November 29, 2024”