Ordinary Time: November 20th
Friday of the Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time
Other Commemorations: St. Bernward, Bishop (RM); St. Edmund, Martyr (RM)
MASS READINGS
November 20, 2020 (Readings on USCCB website)
COLLECT PRAYER
Grant us, we pray, O Lord our God, the constant gladness of being devoted to you, for it is full and lasting happiness to serve with constancy the author of all that is good. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
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In the General Roman Calendar, this date is a "feria" or "ferial day", or a weekday in Ordinary Time. No feast of a saint is celebrated. Ordinary in this instance does not mean "common" or "mundane", but refers to counted time, coming from the word "ordinal". The readings and prayers of the Mass during this season retell the story of our salvation history through Jesus Christ.
Before the reform of the Roman Calendar in 1969, this was the feast of St. Felix of Valois, confessor. He was one of the courageous companions of St. John of Matha in the foundation of the Trinitarian Order for the redemption of captives in the hands of the Muslims. His feastday is no longer on the Universal Roman Calendar, but has been transferred to particular calendars. He died in 1212, at the motherhouse of the Order in the diocese of Meaux.
Historically today is also the feast of St. Bernward of Hildesheim, a Benedictine bishop, architect, painter, sculptor, and metalsmith. Also, it is the feast of St. Edmund who was elected king of the East Angles in 855 at the age of fourteen and began ruling Suffolk, England, the following year.
St. Bernward
Saint Berward served as the thirteenth Bishop of Hildesheim, Germany during the middle of the tenth century. His grandfather was Athelbero, Count Palatine of Saxony. After having lost his parents, Bernward was sent to live with his uncle Volkmar, Bishop of Utrecht. His uncle enlisted the assistance of Thangmar, the pious and learned director of the cathedral school at Heidelberg, for the boy's education. Under the instruction of Thangmar, Bernward made rapid progress in Christian piety as well as in the sciences. He became very proficient in mathematics, painting, architecture, and particularly in the manufacture of ecclesiastical vessels and ornaments of silver and gold.
Saint Bernward completed his studies at Mainz, where he was then ordained a priest. In leiu of being placed in the diocese of his uncle, Bishop Volkmar, he chose to remain near his grandfather, Athelbero, to comfort him in his old age. Upon his grandfather’s death in 987, he became chaplain in the imperial court, and the Empress-Regent Theophano quickly appointed him to be tutor of her son Otto III, who was only six years old at the time. Bernward remained at the imperial court until 993, when he was elected Bishop of Hildesheim.
His knowledge and practice of the arts were entirely employed in the service of the Church. A man of extraordinary piety, he was devoted to prayer as well as the practice of mortification.
Shortly before his death in 1022 he was vested in the Benedictine habit. He was canonized by Pope Celestine III in 1193.
—Excerpted from Catholic News Agency
Patronage: architects; goldsmiths; painters; sculptors
Symbols and Representation: bishop making a chalice with a goldsmith‘s hammer; holding a short cross in his hand and surrounded by tools
Highlights and Things to Do:
- Find out more about St. Bernward:
- Read Saint Bernward of Hildesheim: Medieval Patron of the Arts.
- St. Bernward is buried in Church of St. Michael (German: Michaeliskirche) in Hildesheim, Germany. It is now a shared church, the main church being Lutheran and the crypt being Roman Catholic. Wikipedia has further details.
St. Edmund the Martyr
On Christmas Day in the year 855, a remarkable event unfolded as a 14-year-old boy named Saint Edmund was hailed as the rightful king of Norfolk by the influential figures of the county, including ruling men and clergy. This acclaim was soon followed by a similar declaration from the leaders of Suffolk the following year.
For the next 15 years, Edmund would go on to rule over the East Angles, a region in England, with a reputation for Christian dignity and justice that was universally acknowledged. He appeared to draw inspiration from the piety of King David from the Old Testament, notably excelling in the public recitation of the Psalms during worship.
However, Edmund’s reign was not without its challenges. Starting in 866, his kingdom faced escalating threats from Danish invasions. For four years, the East Angles managed to maintain an unstable and often broken peace with the invaders. Nevertheless, the situation took a dire turn when the Danes set fire to Thetford, prompting King Edmund’s army to confront them. Unfortunately, they were unable to defeat the marauding Danish forces.
As the invaders reached East Anglia, they presented Edmund with an offer for peace, but it came with a condition that he found impossible to accept. The condition required him to rule as a vassal under Danish authority and, most notably, to forbid the practice of the Christian faith. Edmund unwaveringly refused this ultimatum, choosing to stand firm in defense of his religious beliefs.
In response to his refusal, Edmund was subjected to a gruesome and torturous fate. He was bound to a tree and made the target of Danish archers, who rained down a hail of arrows upon him. Throughout this agonizing ordeal, Edmund displayed remarkable bravery, repeatedly invoking the name of Jesus. Eventually, he was decapitated, sealing his fate as a martyr for his faith.
Edmund’s final resting place is the town of Bury St. Edmunds, where his memory is cherished to this day. The tree at Hoxne, which tradition claimed was the site of his martyrdom, stood as a symbol of his sacrifice until 1849 when it fell. During the tree’s dismantling, an arrowhead was discovered embedded in its trunk, serving as a poignant reminder of his martyrdom.
Saint Edmund holds a unique place in history as the only English sovereign to die for both his religious beliefs and the defense of his throne until the time of King Charles I. His martyrdom quickly earned him reverence, and his cultus (devotion) spread widely throughout the Middle Ages. Together with Saint George, Saint Edmund is celebrated as one of the Patron Saints of England.
—Excerpted uCatholic
Patronage: against plague; Diocese of East Anglia, England; kings; torture victims; wolves
Symbols and Representation: arrow; king tied to a tree and shot with arrows; wolf; bearded king with a sword and arrow; man with his severed head between the paws of a wolf; sword
Highlights and Things to Do:
- Read The Passion of Saint Edmund, King and Martyr.
- Visit Saint Edmund: England's Original Patron Saint on the web.
- Learn more about St. Edmund the Martyr:
- See Christian Iconography for some images of St. Edmund.
- Wikipedia and CatholicSaints.info detail what happened to St. Edmund's relics.
- See the full text of "Saint Edmund king and martyr: a history of his life and times with an account of the translation of his incorrupt body, etc," from original mss.
