12 March
BLESSED
ALOYSIUS ORIONE
priest
In
Lent the memorial is omitted. If for particular pastoral reasons it
is desired to commemorate the Beatus, the Office is arranged as
follows:
(a) in the Office of Readings, after the second reading of the
Lenten feria the reading of the Beatus is added with its responsory
and prayer;
(b) in addition at Morning and Evening Prayer the
conclusion to the ferial prayer is omitted and the proper antiphon
and prayer of the Beatus added (cf. Principles and Norms for the
Liturgy of the Hours, n. 230).
Aloysius
Orione was born at Pontecurone, Italy, on 23 June 1872. He became a
disciple of St John Bosco, whom he admired and imitated as a model of
apostolic holiness. While still a student at the seminary of Tortona
he began his apostolate among youth, and after his priestly
ordination he continued to dedicate his energies to the relief of
every kind of physical and moral distress, so as to spread among
people the love for Christ and lead them to perceive his presence in
the Church, the Pope and the bishops. He devoted his life to works of
charity in many countries, especially Italy and Latin America, and
founded several Congregations. After a life of hard work and
suffering, he died at Sanremo, Italy, on 12 March 1940. He was
beatified by John Paul II on 26 October 1980.
Office of Readings
SECOND READING
From
“Notes” of Blessed Aloysius Orione
(25 February 1939).
Place
me, 0 Lord, at the mouth of hell,
that by your mercy I may
close it.
To be able to see and love in the world only the souls of our brothers and sisters. Souls of little ones, souls of the poor, souls of sinners, souls that have been led astray, repentant souls, souls rebelling against God’s will, souls rebelling against Christ’s Church, souls of depraved children, souls of wretched and disloyal priests, souls overwhelmed by grief, souls white as doves, pure and simple virginal souls, souls that have fallen into the darkness of the senses and the bestiality of the flesh, souls proud of their evil state, souls greedy for money and power, souls full of themselves, wandering souls looking for the right road, sorrowing souls looking for refuge or a kind word, condemned souls crying out in desperation or souls intoxicated with the elation of living the truth: all these are souls loved by Christ; for all of them Christ died; all of them he wants safe in his arms and pressed to his transfixed Heart.
Our
life and our whole Congregation must be a joint canticle and
holocaust of brotherhood in Christ, so as to see and feel Christ in
mankind. In us must be the deepest and most lofty music of charity
For us the central point of the universe is the Church of Christ and
the soul the corner-stone of the Christian drama. All I hear is an
infinite divine symphony of spirits palpitating around the Cross, and
from the Cross exudes through the centuries, drop by drop, the divine
bloodshed for each human soul.
From
the Cross Christ cries out: “I thirst!” — a terrible cry of
yearning which stems not from the flesh but from the craving for
souls, and it is for this thirst for our souls that Christ dies.
All
I see is a heaven; but a heaven truly divine, because it is the
paradise of salvation and of true peace:
I see only a kingdom
of God, the kingdom of love and forgiveness, where the whole
multitude of peoples is the heritage of Christ and his kingdom.
RESPONSORY
Christ
wants everyone to be safe in his arms and close to his pierced heart.
From the cross he cries out:
“I thirst” * for the
salvation of souls.
I shall write my life with blood
and tears, for the salvation...
Prayer as at Morning Prayer.
Morning Prayer
For the commemoration:
Ant. Whatever you do for the least of my brethren, that you do unto me, says the Lord.
PRAYER
God
of boundless mercy, you empowered your priest, Blessed Aloysius
Orione, to serve Christ your Son in the young and the poor; grant
that we too may practise works of mercy, and daily experience the
tenderness of your Fatherly love. We ask this through our Lord…
Evening Prayer
For the commemoration:
Ant. Let us never tire in doing good; let us work for the good of all, In due time we shall reap the reward.
Prayer as at Morning Prayer.
