Luke 21:12-19.
Jesus said to the crowd, "They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself will give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives."
The Gospel of the Lord.
This is the last week of the Liturgical Year. In this last week we contemplate the end of things. We have four saints: Clement I, third Pope, Saint Columban Irish monk and missionary to Burgundy, France and Blessed Agustin Pro, 1891-1927 Jesuit priest and martyr in Mexico.
Saint Clement I, 3rd Pope, was banished by Emperor Trajan to work in a stone quarry.
Upon arrival, Clement saw that the workers needed water; he knelt and prayed; he saw a lamb on the side of a hill. He went up to the place where he had seen the lamb and struck that place with a pick ax. Water gushed forth. Many workers were converted to the faith and Clement was martyred.
Saint Columban, an Irish monk, deported to France with twelve followers, and traveled to Burgundy. All animals followed his word. His followers worked clearing the the woods of Burgundy.
Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, Mexican Jesuit priest, 1891-1927, martyred in Mexico for being a priest, known for his ability to talk about spiritual matters without being boring. An assassination attempt by bombing against Álvaro Obregón (which only wounded the ex-president) in November 1927 provided the state with a pretext to capture Pro and his brothers Humberto and Roberto. A young engineer who was involved and confessed his part in the assassination testified the Pro brothers were not involved.[7] Miguel and his brothers were taken to the Detective Inspector's Office in Mexico City.
On November 13, 1927, President Calles gave orders to have Pro executed under the pretext of the assassination, but in reality for defying the virtual outlawing of Catholicism.
Fr. Pro and his brothers were visited by Generals Roberto Cruz and Palomera Lopez around 11 p.m. on November 22, 1927. The next day, as Fr. Pro walked from his cell to the courtyard and the firing squad, he blessed the soldiers, knelt and briefly prayed quietly. Declining a blindfold, he faced his executioners with a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other and held his arms out in imitation of the crucified Christ and shouted out, "May God have mercy on you! May God bless you! Lord, Thou knowest that I am innocent! With all my heart I forgive my enemies!" [5] Before the firing squad were ordered to shoot, Pro raised his arms in imitation of Christ and shouted the defiant cry of the Cristeros, "Viva Cristo Rey!" -"Long live Christ the King!".[5] When the initial shots of the firing squad failed to kill him, a soldier shot him point blank.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria. 18 year old Egyptian virgin and brilliant scholar, who in the course of her studies, discovered Christianity, was converted by a vision of the Madonna, in 305. The Emperor Maximinius was persecuting Christians. Catherine went to him to plead on their behalf and the Emperor sent his chief pagan priests to argue with her and to bring her to her senses but instead Catherine converted the priests. The converted priests were martyred. The Empress went to see the girl. The Empress listened and was converted, and then the chief of her guard. Each was martyred. Maximinius in a rage sought to have St. Catherine scourged on what became known as St. Catherine's wheel. But at her touch the wheel was destroyed. The Emperor Maximinius had St. Catherine beheaded. The legend is that angels then carried her body to the top of Mt. Sinai.
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