[Rank]
St. John of God, Confessor;;Duplex;;3;;vide C5

[Oratio]
O God, Who didst so enkindle in thy servant John the fire of thy Divine love, that when he walked in the midst of earthly fire the flame thereof had on his body no power, and Who didst choose him for a means whereby Thou hast given unto thy Church a new family of sons, mercifully grant unto us, for his sake, that the fire of thy love may burn up in us all things that displease thee, and make us meet for thy heavenly kingdom.
$Per Dominum.

[Lectio4]
John of God was born of Catholic and godly parents in the town of Montemor in Portugal, (in the year 1495.) Tne lot to which God had elected him was foreshown at his birth by a light shining over the house, and by the ringing of a bell untouched by human hands. He fell at one time into a loose habit of life, but was recalled by the grace of God, and began to show tokens of true reformation. By hearing the Word of God, he so felt himself stirred up to strive after nobler things, that he considered not that to which he had already attained, and yearned to be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. He gave away all his pro. perty to the poor and prisoners, and became a gazing -stock to all that knew him, by the strength of his repentance, and the depth of his selfcontempt. On this account he was commonly supposed to be mad, and was once shut up in a lunatic asylum. He was only the more filled with schemes of charity, and collected, by begging, funds sufficient to build a large double Hospital in the town ot Granada. Here he founded the new Order of Hospital Brethren with which he enriched the Church. These Brethren are now spread throughout all parts of the world, and engaged in ministering to the souls and bodies of the sick.

[Lectio5]
The strove to get for the sick poor, whom he sometimes brought to the Hospital on his own shoulders, whatever was needful for their souls or bodies. His charity was extended to the poor outside of his institution, and he used to supply food privately to necessitous widows, and more so to young women whose virtue was tempted on account of their poverty. He was most careful in encouraging the virtue of purity in all whom he knew. On one occasion when there was a great fire in the hospital at Granada, John bravely entered the burning house, ran from one part of it to another, carried out the sick on his shoulders, and threw the beds out of the windows, and finally, after passing half-an-hour in the midst of the flames, which were now raging with great violence, by the mercy of God left the building uninjured, to the great wonder of all the citizens; thereby to teach all them that love God that the fire which burnt in his heart gave him strength to risk the fire which threatened him from without.

[Lectio6]
He was a marked example of every kind of austerity, of the most lowly obedience, of the deepest voluntary poverty, of the most constant prayer, of ghostly contemplation, and of love towards the Blessed Virgin. He was distinguished for the gift of tears. Being at last seized by deadly sickness, he duly received, with saintly affection, all the Sacraments of the Church. After all strength seemed to have left him, he got out of his bed, put on his own clothes, and knelt down before an image of the Lord Christ hanging on the Cross. Round it he threw his arms and pressed it against his heart, and in this position, as it were in the kiss of the Lord, he died, on the 8th day of March 1550. After his death his body did not leave its grip of the crucifix until it was forcibly taken away, six hours after. During these six hours all the inhabitants of the city came to see it, and noticed a savour of strange sweetness proceeding from it. His name was illustrious as a worker of miracles both before and after his death, and the Supreme Pontiff Alexander VIII. added it to those of the Saints, and Leo XIII., at the desire of the Bishops of the Catholic world, and in accordance with a vote of the Congregation of Rites, declared him the patron in heaven of all the sick and those who nurse them, wheresoever dwelling, and ordered that his name should be called upon in the Litany for the dying.

[Lectio94]
John of God was born of devout Catholic parents in the town of Montenor o Novo in Portugal, was chosen for a special destiny by the Lord. Recalled by divine grace from a lax way of life, he gave an example of great holiness. He built two large hospitals in the city of Granada from alms collected from the faithful and founded the Order of Brothers Hospitallers for the service of the sick. John was famous for his kindness toward the Poor and his contempt for himself. He excelled in a wonderful devotion to the Blessed Virgin and in the gift of tears. Seized with a grave illness, he clung with hands and heart to the Lord Christ hanging on the Cross.,and died in the Lord on March 8 in the year 1550. Pope Alexander VIII enrolled him among the Saints; and Leo XIII proclaimed him the heavenly Patron of all hospitals of the needy poor all over the world, and ordered his name to be invoked in the litany for the dying.
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[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
!Matt 22:34-46
At that time The Pharisees came together: And one of them, a doctor of the law, asking him, tempting him: Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? And so on.
_
Homily by St. John Chrysostom, Patriarch (of Constantinople.)
!72nd on Matthew.
When the Pharisees had heard that Christ had put the Sadducees to silence, they gathered themselves together for a fresh attack; just when it behoved them to be quiet, they willed to contend; and so they put forward one of themselves, who professed skill in the law, not wishing to learn, but to lay a snare. This person therefore proposed the question Which is the great commandment in the law? The first and great commandment is Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, but they expected that He would make some exception or addition to this in His Own case, since He made Himself God. (John x. 33.) With this expectation they asked Him the question: But what said Christ? To show that they had adopted this course, because they were loveless, and sick with envy, He answered Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

[Lectio8]
Mighty is this second commandment like unto the first? Because the first is the second's source and sanction. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light. (John. iii. 20.) And again The fool hath said in his heart There is no God and there folio weth They are corrupt, and become abominable in their works. (Ps. xiii. I.) And yet again: The love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith. (i Tim. vi. 10.) And yet once more: If ye love Me, keep My commandments. (John xiv. 15,) of which commandments the head and root is Thou shalt love the Lord thy God; and thy neighbour as thyself.

[Lectio9]
If therefore, to love God is to love our neighbour also, as it appeareth where it is written Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? And he said unto Him Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him Feed My sheep, (John xxi. 17,) and if love is the fulfilling of the law, ~(Rom. xiii. 10,) justly doth the Lord say that on these two commandments hang all the law and the Prophets. And even as when, before this, (23-32,) being interrogated about the Resurrection, He answered them more than they asked, so, now, being interrogated concerning the first and great commandment, He answereth them, of His own accord, touching that second one also, which is little lower than the first, for the second is like unto it. Herein He would have them understand that it was hatred stirred them up to question Him. For Charity, saith the Apostle, envieth not. (1 Cor. xiii. 4.)
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