June 19, 2025
A reading from
the holy Gospel according to Matthew 6:7-15
Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“This is how you are to pray:
‘Our Father who art in heaven,/ hallowed be thy name,/ thy Kingdom come,/ thy will be done,/ on earth as it is in heaven./ Give us this day our daily bread;/ and forgive us our trespasses,/ as we forgive those who trespass against us;/ and lead us not into temptation,/ but deliver us from evil.’
“If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
June 19, 2025
Saint Who?
Saints Who Taught about the Holy Spirit
Saint Agnes of Montepulciano
Abbess († 1317)Feast: April 20
Agnes begged her parents to let her join the convent at Montepulciano in Tuscany when she was only nine years old. They probably thought she would change her mind. Instead, little Agnes surprised the nuns with her spiritual progress. They made her housekeeper when she was only fourteen and sent her to Proceno to assist another nun. The nuns at Proceno soon elected the fifteen-year-old as their abbess, although that required a papal dispensation. Later, Agnes returned to Montepulciano to serve as superior at a Dominican monastery for the rest of her life.
Agnes inspired others through her virtue of penitence and the fruit of the Holy Spirit, self-control: she slept on the ground, fasted daily on bread and water (except Sundays), and continued to cheerfully serve others even when suffering from painful illnesses. Her nuns saw her levitate during prayer and said she sometimes seemed to be covered with snowflakes—heavenly manna—after ecstasies. Agnes told them of a vision in which she saw and held the Child Jesus.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit which appeared so dramatically in Agnes’ life blessed not only her but also those around her. Just when there seemed to be no food left, Agnes would pray, and bread or oil would miraculously appear. People also reported miraculous cures or fulfilled prophecies after speaking with the holy abbess, who gave her whole life to God.
Holy Spirit, make us pure and simple
like the Lamb of God.
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