Basilica of

King of France Saint Louis

FIRST CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER

The Old Cathedral 209 Walnut Street Saint Louis, Missouri 63102

PARISH FOUNDED IN 1770 PRESENT CHURCH DEDICATED IN 1834

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

September 6, 2020

We welcome our devoted parishioners, neighbors who come so

regularly, our downtown working people, Saint Louisans of all faiths

and our many visitors from all over the world.

Serving you in this beautiful Old Cathedral is a privilege.

Father Nicholas Smith Rector

Director, Office of Sacred Worship Instructor, Kenrick -Glennon Seminary

Father Charles Samson

In Residence Faculty, Kenrick -Glennon Seminary

Sunday Masses 5:30 PM (Saturday Evening) 8:00 AM, 10:30 AM, 12 NOON, and 5:00 PM

Dai ly Masses Monday through Friday 7:00 AM and 12:10 PM SATURDAY– 7:00 AM

Basilica of Saint Louis, King

(popularly known as the Old Cathedral)

209 Walnut Street St. Louis, Missouri 63102

Phone: 314.231.3250 Email: oldcathedral@att.net

Website: www.oldcathedralstl.org

Confess ions

Daily, 11:30 AM—12:00 PM Saturdays, 4:30 PM—5:15 PM

Marriage

Please arrange at least six months in advance of the desired date. To reserve a date or for more information, please contact Tracy Marklein at 314.231.3250.

Devot ions

Perpetual Help Devotions: Tuesdays, 12:00 PM

Sunday September 6 8:00 AM Charles R. Chernick, Sr. 10:30 AM Parish Family (Live Streamed) 12:00 PM Celebrant’s Intentions 5:00 PM Louis Fagas Monday September 7 7:00 AM Louis Meziere Tuesday September8 7:00 AM The Wnuk Family 12:10 PM Betty A. Fourney Wednesday September 9 7:00 AM Kathleen Thomas 12:10 PM Joanne Cooper

Thursday September 10 7:00 AM Norma Schumer 12:10 PM Luis Actis, Jr. Friday September 11 7:00 AM Francisco & Herminia Actis 12:10 PM Fred Padberg Saturday September12 7:00 AM George M. Dankocsik 5:30 PM Sissy Morgan Sunday September 13 8:00 AM Norma Schumer 10:30 AM Parish Family (Live Streamed) 12:00 PM Francisco & Herminia Actis 5:00 PM Celebrant’s Intentions

Weekly Giving

The Old Cathedral has long been recog-

nized as one of the most historic and

beautiful churches of its time.

Our parish is proud of its more than 240

year history as a self-supporting Roman

Catholic Parish. Your presence, prayer and

generous kindness continue to make it so.

Your weekly envelope donations can still be made by mail or in person by check at the

Old Cathedral rectory or you can set up online donations at oldcathedralstl.org.

By uniting as a parish community and with continued prayer, we will face these

challenging times with faith together.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sunday, 08/30/20

Online Donations $225.00 Mailed Donations $535.00 Visitors $1362.00 Parish $474.00 Total $2596.00

Readings for the week of September 6, 2020

Sunday: Ez 33:7-9/Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 [8]/Rom 13:8-10/Mt 18:15-20

Monday: 1 Cor 5:1-8/Ps 5:5-6, 7, 12 [9]/Ps 5:5-6, 7, 12 [9]/Lk 6:6-11

Tuesday: Mi 5:1-4a or Rom 8:28-30/Ps 13:6ab, 6c [Is 61:10]/Mt 1:1-16, 18-23 or 1:18-23

Wednesday: 1 Cor 7:25-31/Ps 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17 [11]/Lk 6:20-26

Thursday: 1 Cor 8:1b-7, 11-13/Ps 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 23-24 [24b]/Lk 6:27-38

Friday: 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22b-27/Ps 84:3, 4. 5-6, 12 [2]/Lk 6:39-42

Saturday: 1 Cor 10:14-22/Ps 116:12-13, 17-18 [17]/Lk 6:43-49

Next Sunday: Sir 27:30—28:7/Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12 [8]/Rom 14:7-9/Mt 18:21-35

Observances for the week of September 6, 2020

Sunday: 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Monday: Weekday in Ordinary Time

Tuesday: The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Wednesday: St. Peter Claver, Priest

Thursday: Weekday in Ordinary Time

Friday: Weekday in Ordinary Time

Saturday: The Most Holy Name of Mary

Next Sunday: 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Live Stream Mass

Welcome all Parishioners and Visitors of The Old Cathedral to our live stream service. During these trying times, it is important to maintain spiritual communion with the Lord. We would like to offer you,

for this purpose, the opportunity to attend a live stream Mass.

Live Stream Mass Sundays - 10:30 AM

You can access the live streams through the link on our homepage at:

www.oldcathedralstl.org

Dear Old Cathedral Parishioners and Visitors: In writing to the Romans, Paul says that the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. He is reiterating the teaching of Christ, indeed, his greatest commandment. The commandment to love – inclusive of one another, oneself, and God – is found in all four of the Gospels.

Jesus is the love of God made flesh. He came out of love for love. He came to save us, to make us whole again, to make us holy. The love that Jesus commands, and that Jesus lives, is not a set of warm or fuzzy feelings. It is a profound willing of our good, and a selfless desire that we be who we are made to be. This is the love we also are commanded to live. We are asked to will – to want, to seek, to make happen – the good of those God puts around us. This is not always easy, and it is not always pleasant. We see examples of this in both the reading from Ezekiel and in our Gospel. The Lord tells the prophet Ezekiel that he will be held responsible for the death of the wicked if he does not speak out to dissuade him. In the Gospel, then, Jesus gives instructions on how we should correct those who sin against us; how to raise our voices against wickedness, speaking out and speaking up when we see others living apart from God. To do so is to love, and it is a commandment. Yet, before this clarion call leads us too far, we must remember what is perhaps the most uncomfortable reality of this law of love. Jesus makes it clear that we are not asked to do this from afar – e.g., from behind computer screens or behind backs – but one-on-one at first and always face to face. We are called to be present, to correct [our] brother who has sinned against us in person. We are called to be in relationship – to know of this sin in the first place because it is “against us” – because we are close.

Call it tough love, accountability, charitable or fraternal correction, or even speaking the truth in love, as Saint Paul says elsewhere (Ephesians 4:15). It is a love that truly desires the good of the other, and will intervene out of love for the sake of another’s salvation – just as the Father did in sending his Son. Ultimately, the one who chooses evil over good has forged his own path toward death. But in following the command to love one another in the ways just described, we can help others find the path toward life. And Christ, who is present here in this sacrament, gives us the grace to do just that. Blessings on your week. Stay safe! -Father Smith

STEWARDSHIP “You, son of man, i have appointed watchman for the house of Israel…” (Ezekiel 33:7)

Many of us are generous with our gifts. However, many of us are

not generous in proportion to the gifts we have been given. How often do we give at the minimum level required? Remember, the Lord calls us to nurture and develop our gifts. He calls us to be generous with all the gifts He has given us, especially the one that means the most to us.

Starting the day off with prayer can do wonders for your spiritual life.

Are you a morning person? For some of us, mornings are always the best part of our day. It is the time to begin fresh and look forward to what the day has in store.

For others, mornings are dreadful. We simply do not want to get out of bed!

Nevertheless, regardless of whether you are a morning person or not, the mornings remain an important part of anyone’s routine, especially when it comes to prayer. Typically the way we begin our day will dictate how the rest of our day unfolds. If we begin it with prayer, prayer will more likely be part of our daily activities.

Fr. Francis Xavier Lasance reflected upon this reality in his My Prayer Book.

There is a freshness about the early morning which belongs to no other period of the day. The sun has a more kindly brightness and the air a fresh crispness which are lost largely as the day grows older. Upon awakening we throw open the window wide and let in the buoyant atmosphere of the new-born day. It fills our lungs and brightens our eye and makes us feel how good it is to live. Lasance continues his reflection by explaining the benefits of morning prayer.

What the new-born day is to our physical nature the morning prayer is to the life of the soul. It is opening the windows of the heart that the clear air of heaven may flow in. It reinvigorates the life within us and turns our thoughts toward the One we love the most. It is a source of renewed strength, and gives a buoyancy to the spiritual step and a clearness to the inner vision. It floods the heart with the breath of life and bathes it in the sunshine of God’s smile. Our morning prayer time needn’t be long. We can even pray while we are putting on our clothes.

To begin the day without imploring God’s grace and thanking Him for benefits received, is certainly wrong and exposes us to great danger. St. Francis Xavier says: “When you wake in the morning, raise your thoughts at once to heaven, and while you are putting on your clothes and washing your hands and face, call to mind the faults into which you fell the day before, and ask your Lord grace to avoid them this day.”

Consider incorporating some type of morning prayer into your day.

Labor Day (September 7): Labor Day is not merely a civil holiday for Roman Catholics; this is a moment to give thanks for the social teaching of the Church on the rights of workers. We can trace this teaching to Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum issued on May 15, 1891. It was an open letter, passed to all Catholic patriarchs, primates, archbishop, and bishops that addressed the condition of the working classes. It would be most appropriate to offer our work to God through the intercession of Saint Joseph the Worker. Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(September 8): We celebrate the birth of Mary nine months after the Immaculate Conception. This feast, like that of the Assumption of Mary, originated in the fifth century as the feast of the Basilica Santae Mariae ubi nata est, now called the Basilica of Saint Anne. The original church, built in the fifth century, was erected on the spot known as the shepherd’s pool and thought to have been the home of Mary’s parents. At Rome the feast began to be kept toward the end of the 7th century, brought there by Eastern monks.

Saint Peter Claver, priest, religious, missionary (September 9): Saint Peter Claver was born on June 26, 1581, into a devoutly Catholic and prosperous farming family in Catalonia. He was born 70 years after King Ferdinand of Spain set the colonial slavery culture into motion by authorizing the purchase of 250 African slaves in Lisbon for his territories in New Spain. After two years of study in Barcelona, he entered the Society of Jesus in Tarra gona. Claver volunteered for the Spanish colonies and arrived in Cartagena (Columbia) in 1610. He was deeply disturbed by the harsh treatment and living conditions of the black slaves who were brought from Africa. Although the slave trade was condemned by Pope Paul III, and Urban VIII had issued a papal decree prohibiting slavery, it was a lucrative business and continued to flourish. Claver’s mentor, Father Alonso de Sandoval, SJ, devoted himself to serving the slaves for 40 years before Claver arrived to continue his work. Sandoval attempted to learn about their customs and languages, and wrote a book in 1627 about the nature,

customs, rites, and beliefs of the Africans. During Claver’s 40 years of ministry it is estimated that he personally catechized and baptized 300,000 slaves. He would then follow up on them to ensure that as Christians they received their Christian and civil rights. His mission extended beyond caring for slaves, however. He preached in the city square, to sailors and traders, and conducted country missions, returning every spring to visit those he had baptized, ensuring that they were treated humanely. During these missions, whenever possible he avoided the hospitality of planters and overseers; instead, he would lodge in the slave quarters. He died on September 8, 1654. He is remembered today not only as “the slave of the Africans forever,” but also as an inspiration for the Apostleship of the Sea. Saint Peter Claver is important in the history of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis because the final miracle needed for his canonization occurred at the Shrine of Saint Joseph in 1879. For more information of the St. Louis miracle, visit http://www.shrineofstjoseph.org/miracle.html. Holy Name of Mary (September 12): The observance of the Holy Name of Mary began in 1513 as a local celebration in Cuenca, Spain. In 1671 the feast was extended to the whole Kingdom of Spain. Before the Battle of Vienna in 1683, John III Sobieski had placed his troops under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the following year, to celebrate the victory, Pope Innocent XI added the feast to the General Roman Calendar, assigning it to the Sunday within the octave of the Nativity of Mary. The reform of Pope Pius X in 1911 restored to prominence the celebration of Sundays in their own right, after they had been often replaced by celebrations of the saints. The celebration of the Holy Name of Mary was therefore moved to September. The feast was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969 in the reform of the calendar by Pope Paul VI, as something of a duplication of the September 8 feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 2002, Pope John Paul II restored the celebration to the General Roman Calendar.

All you Saints of God, pray for us.

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