Here we are on the last Friday before that Most Holy Night, and also an Ember Day. Below is this week's Saint story along with five recipes for Friday Fare. A day that not only do we abstain from eating flesh meat in honor or Our Lord's Death on the cross but an Ember Day were we fast in edition in thanksgiving for the abundance that God has provided us with. Feria in Latin means, without and is used in the Liturgical Year to mean a day in which a feast is not celebrated at mass. For our blog series we use Feria to mean 'without' meat. Have a blessed Friday as we approach the end of the 3rd week of Advent!



Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. 1894

December 21.—ST. THOMAS, Apostle.
ST. THOMAS was one of the fishermen on the Lake of A Galilee whom Our Lord called to be His apostles. By nature slow to believe, too apt to see difficulties, and to look at the dark side of things, he had withal a most sympathetic, loving, and courageous heart. Once when Jesus spoke of the mansions in His Father's house, St. Thomas, in his simplicity, asked: "Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and how can we know the way?" When Jesus turned to go toward Bethany to the grave of Lazarus, the desponding apostle at once feared the worst for his beloved Lord, yet cried out bravely to the rest: "Let us also go and die with Him." After the Resurrection, incredulity again prevailed, and whilst the wounds of the crucifixion were imprinted vividly on his affectionate mind, he would not credit the report that Christ had indeed risen. But at the actual sight of the pierced hands and side, and the gentle rebuke of his Saviour, unbelief was gone forever; and his faith and ours has ever triumphed in the joyous utterance into which he broke: "My Lord and my God!"

Reflection.—Cast away all disquieting doubts, and learn to triumph over old weaknesses as St. Thomas did, who "by his ignorance hath instructed the ignorant, and by, his incredulity hath served for the faith of all ages."


Read more about St. Thomas and see where on the map he is placed over at All the Saints and Peter and Paul!

Read more about the Ember Friday of Advent over at Crusader's for Christ

Download our St. Thomas coloring page

1.) Sweet Potato Soup in a Flash

2.) Spinach, feta and Potato Gratin

3.) Hashbrown & Quinoa Casserole

4.) Pumpkin Pasta

5.) Mushroom Stroganoff with the veg. broth option

In our previous schedule for the Keeping Advent Catholic series we were planning on sharing about Christmas Eve today. While we still plan on doing that we are going to wait until later this week or next with a special edition of Keeping it Catholic 'Monday'. As there are a couple of other topics we thought would be more appropriate on this day.

The Liturgical Year - Advent Volume
By: Dom Guearnger Imprimatur 1927

THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE GREAT ANTIPHONS
The Church enters to-day on the seven days which precede the Virgil of Christmas, and which are known in the liturgy under the name of the Greater Ferias. The ordinary of the Advent Office becomes more solemn; the antiphons of the psalms, both for Lauds and the Hours of the day, are proper, and allude expressly to the great coming. Every da, at Vespers, is sunga solemn antiphon, consisting of a fervent prayer to the Messias, whom it addresses by one of the titles given Him in the sacred Scriptures.

In the Roman Church, there are seven of these antiphons, one for each of the greater ferias. They are commonly called the O's of Advent, because they all begin with that interjection. In other Churches, during the middle ages, two more were added to these seven; one to our blessed Lady, O Virgo virginum; and the other to the angel Gabriel, O Gabriel; or to St. Thomas the apostle, whose feast comes during the greater ferias; it began O Thoma Didyme. (It is more modern than the O Gabriel; but dating from the thirteenth century, it was almost universally substituted for it.) There were even Churches where twelve great antiphons were sung; that is, besides the nine we have just mentioned, O Rex Pacifice to our Lord, O mundi Domina to our Lady, and O Hierusalem to the city of the people of God.

The canonical Hour of Vespers has been selected as the most appropriate time for this solemn supplication to our Saviour, because, as the Church sings in one of her hymns, it was in the evening of the world (vergente mundi vespers) that the Messias came amongst us. These antiphons are sung at the Magnificat, to show us that the Saviour whome we expect is to come to us by Mary. They are sung twice, once before and once after the canticle, as on double feasts, and this to show their great solemnity. In some Churches it was formerly the practice to sing them thrice; that is, before the canticle, before the Gloria Patri, and after the Sicut erat. Lastly, these admirable antiphons, which contain the whole pith of the Advent liturgy, are accompanied by a chant replete with melodious gravity, and by ceremonies of great expressiveness, though, in these latter, there is no uniform practice followed. Let us enter into the spirit of the Church; let us reflect on the great day which is coming; that thus we may take our share in these the last and most earnest solicitations of the Church imploring her Spouse to come, to which He at length yields.

The Liturgical Year - Advent Volume
By Dom Guearnger Imprimatur 1927


The Lord is now nigh; come, let us adore.

To-day the Church begins the fast of the Quartuor Tempora, or, as we call it, of Ember Days: it includes also the Friday and Saturday of this same week. This observance is not peculiar to the Advent liturgy; it is one which has been fixed for each of the four seasons of the ecclesiastical year. We may consider it as one of those practices which the Church took from the Synagogue; for the prophet Zacharias speaks of the fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months. ( Zach. viii. 19.) Its introduction into the Christian Church would seem to have been made in the apostolic times; such, at least, is the opinion of St. Leo, of St. Isidore of Serville, of Rabanus Maurus, and of several other ancient Christian writers. It is remarkable, on the other hand, that the orientals do not observe this fast.

From the first ages of the Quartuor Tempora were kept in the Roman Church, at the same time of the year as at present. As to the expression, which is not unfrequently used in the early writers, of the three times and not the four, we must remember that in the spring, these days always come in the first week of Lent, a period already consecrated to the most rigorous fasting and abstinence, and that consequently they could add nothing to the penitential exercises of that portion of the year.

The intentions, which the Church has in the fast of the Ember days, are the same as those of the Synagogue; namely, to consecrate to God by penance the four seasons of the year. The Ember days of Advent are known, in ecclesiastical antiquity, as the fast of the tenth month; and St. Leo, in one of his sermons on this fast, of which the Church has inserted a passage in the second nocturne of the third Sunday of Advent, tells us that a special fast was fixed for this time of year, because the fruits of the earth had then all been gathered in, and that it behoved Christians to testify their gratitude to God by a sacrifice of abstinence, thus rendering themselves more worthy to approach to God, the more they were detached from the love of created things. 'For nourishment of virtue. Abstinence is the source of chaste thoughts, of wise resolution,s of the salutary counsel. By voluntary mortifications, the flesh dies to its concupiscences, and the spirit is renewed in virtue. But since fasting alone is not sufficient whereby to secure the soul's salvation, let us add to it works of mercy towards the poor. Let us make that which we retrench from indulgence, serve unto the exercise of virtue. Let the abstinence of him that fasts, become the meal of the poor man.'

To be Continued...

Another Friday brings us another Saints story, an apostle even, and another five meatless recipes. To view all previous recipes please visit our Feria Friday posts. Today is also the second September Ember Day, may it be a fruitful one!

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. 1894

September 21.—ST. MATTHEW, Apostle. ONE day, as Our Lord was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw, sitting at the receipt of custom, Matthew the publican, whose business it was to collect the taxes from the people for their Roman masters. Jesus said to him, "Follow Me;" and leaving all, Matthew arose and followed Him. Now the publicans were abhorred by the Jews as enemies of their country, outcasts, and notorious sinners, who enriched themselves by extortion and fraud. No Pharisee would sit with one at table. Our Saviour alone had compassion for them. So St. Matthew made a great feast, to which he invited Jesus and His disciples, with a number of these publicans, who henceforth began eagerly to listen to Him. It was then, in answer to the murmurs of the Pharisees, that He said, "They that are in health need not the physician. I have not come to call the just, but sinners to penance." After the Ascension, St. Matthew remained some years in Judæa, and there wrote his gospel, to teach his countrymen that Jesus was their true Lord and King, foretold by the prophets. St. Matthew afterward preached the Faith far and wide, and is said to have finished his course in Parthia.

Reflection.—Obey all inspirations of Our Lord as promptly as St. Matthew, who, at a single word, "laid down," says St. Bridget, "the heavy burden of the world to put on the light and sweet yoke of Christ."

1.) Farro Salad with Tomatoes and Grilled Zucchini

2.) Butternut Squash Mac and Cheeze

3.) Butternut Squash and Black Bean Chili in Pumpkin Bowls

4.) Vegan Tortilla Soup

5.) Creamy Roasted Tomato, Garlic & Onion Coconut Soup

September seems to be passing on by rather quickly. Rushing in the new season this week are the upcoming September Ember Days. They fall this time of year the week following the Exhalation of the Holy Cross which was on Friday, the 14th of September. Last year at this time was posted a wonderful article from Catholic Life about the Ember Days both explaining them and sharing the martrydom of the Macabee's and there wonderful perseverance for fasting. Many fasting and abstinence recipes can be found throughout the Feria Friday posts, to be used on this coming Wednesday, Friday and Saturday's Ember days.

This year you will find a story to go along with that from the book Anedotes and Examples for the Catechism By: Spirago. May you have a blessed week!


From Anedotes and Examples for the Catechism
By: Spirago Imprimatur 1908

Q. Why does the Church command us to fast and abstain?
A. The Church commands us to fast and abstain, in order that we may mortify our passions and satisfy for our sins.

THE MONK AND THE CALVINISTS
A monk who was traveling in Switzerland happened on his journey to enter an inn where a party of PRotestants were dining. For the purpose of annoying the religious, and displaying their contempt for his beliefs, from time to time they threw a bit of meat to their dog, saying: "Here, old Papist, catch!" Each time of doing this they looked across at the monk, expecting he would make some remark. As, however, he remained quiet, and did not betray the slightest annoyance at their conduct, one of them presently said to him: "Do you think it a singular thing that a dog should be named Papist?" "I see nothing singular in it," the monk calmly replied. "As a man's relgion is, so is his pope. Your pope is a dog,, mine is the vicegerent of God upon earth." This rebuke silenced the scoffers; they looked ashamed, erelong left the inn. How true is the distich,-"Unless in your own defense you speak, In vain respect from others you seek."

A CARDINAL'S MOTIVE FOR FASTING
Fasting tends to prolong life. A well-known cardinal named Stanislas Osius observed all the fasts of the Church most scrupulously in spite of his great age. His friends told him that he would shorten his life by his asceticism, and thus the Church would be deprived too soon of one of her most valuable supporters. "On the contrary," the cardinal replied, "I have every reason to expect that if I keep the fasts conscientiously, God will grant me a long life. The fourth commandment says: "Honor thy father and they mother that thou mayst be long-lived upon the land which the Lord shall give thee." It is the will of my Father in heaven, almighty God, that I should mortify myself and fast; my mother, the Church indicates the days on which I am to fast. Since I obey both God and the Church, I hope that length of days will be granted me." The late Pontiff, Leo XIII, was an illustrious example of abstemiousness on bodily health and prolongation of life.

Welcome to another Feria Friday, where every Friday we share a saints story and 5 meatless recipes in honour of Christ's Passion and death on the Cross.In regards to Church use 'feria' means without and is used to mean a day in the Church calendar that is without a feast of a saint. Typically in our posts we use 'feria' in reference to recipes without meat.

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. 1894

ST. JEROME EMILIANI.
ST. JEROME EMILIANI was a member of one of the patrician families of Venice, and, like many other Saints, in early life a soldier. He was appointed governor of a fortress among the mountains of Treviso, and whilst bravely defending his post, was made prisoner by the enemy. In the misery of his dungeon he invoked the great Mother of God, and promised, if she would set him free, to lead a new and a better life. Our Lady appeared, broke his fetters, and led him forth through the midst of his enemies. At Treviso he hung up his chains at her altar, dedicated himself to her service, and on reaching his home at Venice devoted himself to a life of active charity. His special love was for the deserted orphan children whom, in the times of the plague and famine, he found wandering in the streets. He took them home, clothed and fed them, and taught them the Christian truths. From Venice he passed to Padua and Verona, and in a few years had founded orphanages through Northern Italy. Some pious clerics and laymen, who had been his fellow-workers, fixed their abode in one of these establishments, and devoted themselves to the cause of education. The Saint drew up for them a rule of life and thus was founded the Congregation, which still exists, of the Clerks Regular of Somascha. St. Jerome died February 8, 1537, of an illness which he had caught in visiting the sick.

Reflection.—Let us learn from St. Jerome to exert ourselves in behalf of the many hundred children whose souls are perishing around us for want of some one to show them the way to heaven.


** What a fitting saint for today! Yesterday we shared about a family who is in need of assistance getting their airline tickets to bring home two down syndrome children. Previously we have also shared about the Pleven, Bulgaria orphanage where our daughter is from and their need to medical funding. In honor of St. Jerome please consider donating to one of these causes.

If you have room in your home for a child in need please consider adoption as there are so many special kids waiting for someone to love them, cloth them and feed them. Visit Rainbow Kids for an overview of the special ones that need a home!***

1.) Henri's French Onion Soup from the Curvy Carrot

2.) Stuffed Zucchini (skip the optional bacon for Friday) served with your favorite summer salads!

3.) Potato and Onion Frittata

4.) Baguette with Roasted Red Pepper Spread

5.) Mega Veggie Burrito

Welcome to the 4th week of July in the Holy Simplicity Planner! What is on your schedule this week? Our big event coming up is the Feast of Saint Anne, the Grandmother of Jesus!! Download the FREE PDF here or get your hard copy for only $21.95 plus shipping. The school year is fast approaching!

It's Friday the 13th, a special day! Christ's number is 13 and he died on Good Friday. Today is HIS day!

Welcome to another Feria Friday, where every Friday we share a saints story and 5 meatless recipes in honour of Christ's Passion and death on the Cross.In regards to Church use 'feria' means without and is used to mean a day in the Church calendar that is without a feast of a saint. Typically in our posts we use 'feria' in reference to recipes without meat.

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. 1894

July 13.—ST. EUGENIUS, Bishop.
THE episcopal see of Carthage had remained vacant twenty-four years, when, in 481, Huneric permitted the Catholics on certain conditions to choose one who should fill it. The people, impatient to enjoy the comfort of a pastor, pitched upon Eugenius, a citizen of Carthage, eminent for his learning, zeal, piety, and prudence. His charities to the distressed were excessive, and he refused himself everything that he might give all to the poor. His virtue gained him the respect and esteem even of the, Arians; but at length envy and blind zeal got the ascendant in their breasts, and the king sent him an order never to sit on the episcopal throne, preach to the people, or admit into his chapel any Vandals, among whom several were Catholics. The Saint boldly answered that the laws of God commanded him not to shut the door of His church to any that desired to serve Him in it. Huneric, enraged at this answer, persecuted the Catholics in various ways. Many nuns were so cruelly tortured that they died on the rack. Great numbers of bishops, priests, deacons, and eminent Catholic laymen were banished to a desert filled with scorpions and venomous serpents. The people followed their bishops and priests with lighted tapers in their hands, and mothers carried their little babes in their arms and laid them at the feet of the confessors, all crying out with tears, "Going yourselves to your crowns, to whom do you leave us? Who will baptize our children? Who will impart to us the benefit of penance, and discharge us from the bonds of sin by the favor of reconciliation and pardon? Who will bury us with solemn supplications at our death? By whom will the Divine Sacrifice be made? " The Bishop Eugenius was spared in the first storm, but afterwards was carried into the uninhabited desert country in the province of Tripolis, and committed to the guard of Antony, an inhuman Arian bishop, who treated him with the utmost barbarity. Gontamund, who succeeded Huneric, recalled our Saint to Carthage, opened the Catholic churches, and allowed all the exiled priests to return. After reigning twelve years, Gontamund died, and his brother Thrasimund was called to the crown. Under this prince St. Eugenius was again banished, and died in exile, on the 13th of July, 505, in a monastery which he built and governed, near Albi.

Reflection.—"Alms shall be a great confidence before the Most High God to them that give it. Water quencheth a flaming fire, and alms resisteth sin."

1.) Spicy Thai Noodles serve with Bok Choy Salad

2.) Meatless Sliders serve with sweet potato fries, potato salad, macaroni salad? Endless possibilities!

3.) BBQ Portobella Quesadilla

4.) Greek Style Quinoa Burgers

5.) Grilled Vegetable Tostadas

If you are following along with our Holy Simplicity Planner, we are getting ready to head into week 3. Did you know, for those of you still on summer break, that the planner can be used as a mother's daily task list? Get the FREE PDF here and the printed version here for only $21.95. Have a blessed week!

Welcome to Feria Friday, where every Friday we share a saints story and 5 meatless recipes in honour of Christ's Passion and death on the Cross. In regards to Church use 'feria' means without and is used to mean a day in the Church calendar that is without a feast of a saint. Typically in our posts we use 'feria' in reference to recipes without meat.

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. 1894

June 29.—ST. PETER, Apostle

PETER was of Bethsaida in Galilee, and as he was fishing on the lake was called by Our Lord to be one of His apostles. He was poor and unlearned, but candid, eager, and loving. In his heart, first of all, grew up the conviction, and from his lips came the confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God;" and so Our Lord chose him, and fitted him to be the Rock of His Church, His Vicar on earth, the head and prince of His apostles, the centre and very principle of the Church's oneness, the source of all spiritual powers, and the unerring teacher of His truth. All Scripture is alive with him; but after Pentecost he stands out in the full grandeur of his office. He fills the vacant apostolic throne; admits the Jews by thousands into the fold; opens it to the Gentiles in the person of Cornelius; founds, and for a time rules, the Church at Antioch, and sends Mark to found that of Alexandria. Ten years after the Ascension he went to Rome, the centre of the majestic Roman Empire, where were gathered the glories and the wealth of the earth and all the powers of evil. There he established his Chair, and for twenty-five years labored with St. Paul in building up the great Roman Church. He was crucified by order of Nero, and buried on the Vatican Hill. He wrote two Epistles, and suggested and approved the Gospel of St. Mark. Two hundred and sixty years after St. Peter's martyrdom came the open triumph of the Church. Pope St. Sylvester, with bishops and clergy and the whole body of the faithful, went through Rome in procession to the Vatican Hill, singing the praises of God till the seven hills rang again. The first Christian emperor, laying aside his diadem and his robes of state, began to dig the foundations of St. Peter's Church. And now on the site of that old church stands the noblest temple ever raised by man; beneath a towering canopy lie the great apostles, in death, as in life, undivided; and there is the Chair of St. Peter. All around rest the martyrs of Christ—Popes, Saints, Doctors, from east and west—and high over all, the words, "Thou art Peter, and on this Rock I will build My Church." It is the threshold of the apostles and the centre of the world.

Reflection.—Peter still lives on in his successors, and rules and feeds the flock committed to him. The reality of our devotion to him is the surest test of the purity of our faith.

June 30.—ST. PAUL

ST. PAUL was born at Tarsus, of Jewish parents, and studied at Jerusalem, at the feet of Gamaliel. While still a young man, he held the clothes of those who stoned the proto-martyr Stephen; and in his restless zeal he pressed on to Damascus, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of Christ." But near Damascus a light from heaven struck him to the earth. He heard a voice which said, "Why persecutest thou Me? " He saw the form of Him Who had been crucified for his sins, and then for three days he saw nothing more. He awoke from his trance another man—a new creature in Jesus Christ. He left Damascus for a long retreat in Arabia, and then, at the call of God, he carried the Gospel to the uttermost limits of the world, and for years he lived and labored with no thought but the thought of Christ crucified, no desire but to spend and be spent for Him. He became the apostle of the Gentiles, whom he had been taught to hate, and wished himself anathema for his own countrymen, who sought his life. Perils by land and sea could not damp his courage, nor toil and suffering and age dull the tenderness of his heart. At last he gave blood for blood. In his youth he had imbibed the false zeal of the Pharisees at Jerusalem, the holy city of the former dispensation. With St. Peter he consecrated Rome, our holy city, by his martyrdom, and poured into its Church all his doctrine with all his blood. He left fourteen Epistles, which have been a fountain-head of the Church's doctrine, the consolation and delight of her greatest Saints. His interior life, so far as words can tell it, lies open before us in these divine writings, the life of one who has died forever to himself and risen again in Jesus Christ. "In what," says St. Chrysostom, "in what did this blessed one gain an advantage over the other apostles? How comes it that he lives in all men's mouths throughout the world? Is it not through the virtue of his Epistles?" Nor will his work cease while the race of man continues. Even now, like a most chivalrous knight, he stands in our midst, and takes captive every thought to the obedience of Christ.

Reflection.—St. Paul complains that all seek the things which are their own, and not the things which are Christ's. See if these words apply to you, and resolve to give yourself without reserve to God.

1.) Baked Halibut with Sour Cream, Parmesan and Dill Topping

2.) Grilled Salmon with New Mexico Chile Honey and Mustard Glaze

3.) Grilled Tilapia with Cherry Salsa

4.) Salmon with Martini Sauce

5.) Grilled Salmon with Avacado Salsa

Are you enjoying your Holy Simplicity Planner yet? We are still shipping the 2011-2012 planners. Get your copy today and help simplify your homeschooling, home planning and Liturgical Year in your home all in one place! Included within the planner is a reprint of the book Catholic Life giving wonderful lessons each season of the Liturgical Year!

Welcome to Feria Friday, where every Friday we share a saints story and 5 meatless recipes in honour of Christ's Passion and death on the Cross. In regards to Church use 'feria' means without and is used to mean a day in the Church calendar that is without a feast of a saint. Typically in our posts we use 'feria' in reference to recipes without meat.

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. 1894

June 22.—ST. PAULINUS OF NOLA.
PAULINUS was of a family which boasted of a long line of senators, prefects, and consuls. He was educated with great care, and his genius and eloquence, in prose and verse, were the admiration of St. Jerome and St. Augustine. He had more than doubled his wealth by marriage, and was one of the foremost men of his time. Though he was the chosen friend of Saints, and had a great devotion to St. Felix of Nola, he was still only a catechumen, trying to serve two masters. But God drew him to Himself along the way of sorrows and trials. He received baptism, withdrew into Spain to be alone, and then, in consort with his holy wife, sold all their vast estates in various parts of the empire, distributing their proceeds so prudently that St. Jerome says East and West were filled with his alms. He was then ordained priest, and retired to Nola in Campania.

There he rebuilt the Church of St. Felix with great magnificence, and served it night and day, living a life of extreme abstinence and toil. In 409 he was chosen bishop, and for more than thirty years so ruled as to be conspicuous in an age blessed with many great and wise bishops. St. Gregory the Great tells us that when the Vandals of Africa had made a descent on Campania, Paulinus spent all he had in relieving the distress of his people and redeeming them from slavery. At last there came a poor widow; her only son had been carried off by the son-in-law of the Vandal king. "Such as I have I give thee," said the Saint to her; "we will go to Africa, and I will give myself for your son." Having overborne her resistance, they went, and Paulinus was accepted in place of the widow's son, and employed as gardener. After a time the king found out, by divine interposition, that his son-in-law's slave was the great Bishop of Nola. He at once set him free, granting him also the freedom of all the townsmen of Nola who were in slavery. One who knew him well says he was meek as Moses, priestlike as Aaron, innocent as Samuel, tender as David, wise as Solomon, apostolic as Peter, loving as John, cautious as Thomas, keen-sighted as Stephen, fervent as Apollos. He died in 431.

Reflection.—"Go to Campania," writes St. Augustine; "there study Paulinus, that choice servant of God. With what generosity, with what still greater humility, he has flung from him the burden of this world's grandeurs to take on him the yoke of Christ, and in His service how serene and unobtrusive his life!"

1.) A Manly Man's Veggie Burger

2.) Florida Avocado Summer Wrap

3.) Panini with Anjou Pears, Brie, Caramelized Walnuts and Aurgula Pesto Mayo

4.) Grilled Summer Vegetable Pasta

5.) Fresh Tortellini with Asparagus, Peas & Mint

Get your Holy Simplicity Planner now, in time for the first month in the book! The planner runs from July 2011 to June 2012. Great for planning your day even if you haven't started school yet! It doubles as a daily planner as well as a homeschool planner that follows the Church's Liturgical Year. Enjoy the simplicity of having it all in one place!

Another Friday is upon us and with that we are sharing another Feria Friday Post. "Feria" means Latin and in the church is held to mean a day that no feast is celebrated at the mass. For our blog post Feria means without meat as Friday's are dedicated to Christ's Passion and as such we offer the sacrifice of no meat on this day up in return for such a great sacrifice.

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. 1894 June 8.—ST. MEDARD, Bishop.

ST. MEDARD, one of the most illustrious prelates of the Church of France in the sixth century, was born of a pious and noble family, at Salency, about the year 457. From his childhood he evinced the most tender compassion for the poor. On one occasion he gave his coat to a destitute blind man, and when asked why he had done so, he answered that the misery of a fellow-member in Christ so affected him that he could not help giving him part of his own clothes. Being promoted to the priesthood in the thirty-third year of his age, he became a bright ornament of that sacred order. He preached the word of God with an unction which touched the hearts of the most hardened; and the influence of his example, by which he enforced the precepts which he delivered from the pulpit, seemed irresistible. In 530, Alomer, the thirteenth bishop of that country, dying, St. Medard was unanimously chosen to fill the see, and was consecrated by St. Remigius, who had baptized King Clovis in 496, and was then exceeding old. Our Saint's new dignity did not make him abate anything of his austerities, and, though at that time seventy-two years old, he thought himself obliged to redouble his labors. Though his diocese was very wide, it seemed not to suffice for his zeal, which could not be confined; wherever he saw the opportunity of advancing the honor of God, and of abolishing the remains of idolatry, he overcame all obstacles, and by his zealous labors and miracles the rays of the Gospel dispelled the mists of idolatry throughout the whole extent of his diocese. What rendered this task more difficult and perilous was the savage and fierce disposition of the ancient inhabitants of Flanders, who were the most barbarous of all the nations of the Gauls and Franks. Our Saint, having completed this great work in Flanders, returned to Noyon, where he shortly after fell sick, and soon rested from his labors at an advanced age, in 545. The whole kingdom lamented his death as the loss of their common father and protector. His body was buried in his own cathedral, but the many miracles wrought at his tomb so moved King Clotaire that he translated the precious remains to Soissons.

Reflection.—The Church takes delight in styling her founder "THE AMIABLE JESUS," and He likewise says of Himself, "I am meek and humble of heart."

1.) Vegetable and Edamame Pasta with Basil Sauce

2.) Grilled Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

3.) Zucchini Lasagna

4.) California Sandwhich- looks super yummy!

5.) Summer Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese

We are still shipping out hard copies of the Holy Simplicity Planner for the 2011-2012 school year! The Planner starts next month so get your copy now! Its never too early to start planning next years lessons!

Welcome to another Feria Friday post! Every Friday we share the saint story of the day from Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints. As well as five meatless recipes to help promote our abstinence from meat on Fridays in honour of Christ's death and Passion on Good Friday. 'Feria' means 'without' and is typically used on a day in the Church calendar that is 'without a feast of a saint'. For this series we use it to mean "without meat". If you need more recipe ideas please visit our previous Feria Friday posts. God bless! (Just a quick note; Today is also Ember Friday after Pentecost)

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. 1894

June 1.—ST. JUSTIN, Martyr. ST. JUSTIN was born of heathen parents at. Neapolis in Samaria, about the year 103. He was well educated, and gave himself to the study of philosophy, but always with one object, that he might learn the knowledge of God. He sought this knowledge among the contending schools of philosophy, but always in vain, till at last God himself appeased the thirst which He had created. One day, while Justin was walking by the seashore, meditating on the thought of God, an old man met him and questioned him on the subject of his doubts; and when he had made Justin confess that the philosophers taught nothing certain about God, he told him of the writings of the inspired prophets and of Jesus Christ Whom they announced, and bade him seek light and understanding through prayer. The Scriptures and the constancy of the Christian martyrs led Justin from the darkness of human reason to the light of faith. In his zeal for the Faith he travelled to Greece, Egypt, and Italy, gaining many to Christ. At Rome he sealed his testimony with his blood, surrounded by his disciples. "Do you think," the prefect said to Justin, "that by dying you will enter heaven, and be rewarded by God?" "I do not think," was the Saint's answer; "I know." Then, as now, there were many religious opinions, but only one certain—the certainty of the Catholic faith. This certainty should be the measure of our confidence and our zeal.

Reflection.—We have received the gift of faith with little labor of our own. Let us learn how to value it from those who reached it after long search, and lived in the misery of a world which did not know God. Let us fear, as St. Justin did, the account we shall have to render for the gift of God.

1.) Summer Corn Cakes

2.) Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

3.) Summer Vegetable Crepes

4.) Crockpot Gingered Chickpea and Spicy Tomato Soup

5.) Quinoa Burgers with Salad

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