October 21
SAn Pedro Calungsod, Martyr
Memorial
Saint Pedro Calungsod (c. 1654 – April 2, 1672) is a Filipino Roman Catholic martyr who was killed while doing missionary work in Guam in 1672. He was beatified on March 5, 2000, by Pope John Paul II. As a skilled sacristan and teacher of cathecism, he was a companion of Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores to the Marianas Islands. Through their efforts, many receive the sacraments especially that of baptism. A plot to kill Pedro and San Vitores started when a certain Choco, a Chinese who gained influence over the Macanas of Marianas Island, circulated false accusations that the missionaries were spreading poison through the ritual of the pouring of water (i.e. baptism), and through the ritual of Catholic Masses. Calungsod and Diego San Vitores were both murdered after baptizing an infant and mother who converted to the Roman Catholic faith.
Reading I
I give you thanks, O Lord and King;
I praise you, O God my savior!
I will make known your name,
For you have been my helper and a protector to me.
You have saved me from death,
and kept back my body from the pit,
and from the scourge of a slanderous tongue,
from lips that went over to falsehood;
And in the sight of those who stood by,
You have delivered me,
According to the multitude of the mercy of your name,
and from then that did roar, prepare to devour me,
And from the power of those who sought my life;
From many a danger you have saved me,
from flames that hemmed me in on every side;
From the midst of unremitting fire when I was not burnt,
from the deep belly of the nether world;
From deceiving lips and painters of lies,
from the arrows of dishonest tongues.
My soul was at the point of death,
my life was nearing the depths of the nether world;
They compassed me on every side,
but there was no one to help me,
I looked for one to sustain me, but could find no one.
But then I remembered the mercies of the Lord,
his kindness through ages past;
For he saves those who take refuge in him,
and rescues them from every evil.
The word of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
℟ Our soul has escaped like a bird from the hunter's nest
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when our enemies attack us,
then they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger was kindled against us.
℟ Our soul has escaped like a bird from the hunter's nest
Then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone
the raging waters
℟ Our soul has escaped like a bird from the hunter's nest
The snare was broken,
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth
℟ Our soul has escaped like a bird from the hunter's nest
Alleluia
℟ Alleluia. Alleluia.
Blessed are those who suffer persecution for justice’s sake,
The kingdom of heaven is theirs
℟ Alleluia. Alleluia.
Gospel
✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.”
The Gospel of the Lord.