May 27th
St Bede (673-735), Confessor, Doctor of the Church; Northumbria, England; Feast day May 27th

"It is now time for me to return to Him who made me, and gave me a being when I was nothing.  I have lived a long time; my merciful Judge most graciously foresaw and ordered the course of my life for me.  The time of my dissolution draws near.  I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ.  Yes; my soul desires to see Christ my king in His beauty."

"And I pray Thee, loving Jesus, that as Thou hast graciously given me to drink in with delight the words of Thy knowledge, so Thou wouldst mercifully grant me to attain one day to Thee, the fountain of all wisdom, and to appear forever before Thy face."

"Holy Scripture is above all other books not only by its authority because it is Divine, or by its utility because it leads to eternal life, but also by its antiquity and its literary form."

"Highest Father of lights, by whom every excellent thing is given and from whom every perfect gift descends, you have given me, the humblest of your servants, both the love and the aid to consider the wonders of your law, and have manifested to me, unworthy though I am, the grace to not only grasp the ancient offerings in the treasury of this prophetic book but also to discover new ones beneath the veil of the old and to bring them forth for the use of my fellow servants -- remember me with favor, oh my God."

"Christ is the morning star, who when the night of this world has passed, brings to his saints the promised light of life, and opens to them everlasting day.  Amen."

"Whenever we enter the church and draw near to the heavenly mysteries, we ought to approach with all humility and fear, both because of the presence of the angelic powers and out of the reverence due to the sacred oblation.  For as the angels are said to have stood by the Lord's body when it lay in the tomb, so we must believe that they are present in the celebration of the Mysteries of His most sacred Body at the time of consecration."


St Julius (d. 302), Martyr; Bulgaria; Feast day May 27th

"Lord Jesus, for whose name I suffer death, vouchsafe to receive my soul in the number of thy saints."