Wednesday of the 3rd week of EastertideOffice of Readings | Morning Prayer | Evening Prayer | Night Prayer | Mass(St John of Beverley (-721))

John of Beverley was born at Harpham a few miles from Driffield on the Yorkshire Wolds. He studied at Canterbury under St Adrian, the African-born abbot of the famous monastery there, who was a great scripture scholar and a fine teacher of Greek and Latin. When John returned to the North, he entered the double monastery at Whitby under the remarkable abbess, St Hilda, who had a great influence on many of the outstanding religious people of her time.In 687 John was consecrated Bishop of Hexham in succession to Bishop Eata, one of the twelve disciples of St Aidan and the teacher of St Cuthbert. During his time at Hexham, John ordained the future St Bede as priest. He was a good pastoral bishop, a man who loved the Scriptures, and a patient teacher. Like many of his contemporaries he also had a deep seated need for prayerful solitude and used to retire to a quiet place on the banks of the Tyne for prayer and the study of Scriptures, especially during the season of Lent. In 705 he was appointed to the See of York in succession to St Bosa, himself a former monk of the monastery at Whitby. John remained in the diocese for 12 years but the call of solitude remained strong, and four years before his death he retired to Beverley to a religious house he founded there.John died on 7 May 721, having worked for more than thirty years as a bishop. His shrine became famous up and down the country and was considered to be one of the chief places of devotion in England for many years.Many miracles of healing are ascribed to John, and the popularity of his cult was a major factor in the prosperity of Beverley during the Middle Ages. He was celebrated for his scholarship as well as for his virtues. He was canonized in 1037. In 1541, his shrine was destroyed on the orders of Henry VIII. About a hundred years later workmen discovered a vault under the floor of the Minster’s nave. The inscription on it indicates that the contents contained the relics of St John. In 1738, when the present Minster floor was laid, these relics were disinterred and replaced in the same position with an arched brick vault over them. The inscription on the tomb now reads:HERE LIESTHE BODY OF SAINT JOHN OF BEVERLEYFOUNDER OF THIS CHURCHBISHOP OF HEXHAM A.D. 687-705BISHOP OF YORK A.D. 705-718HE WAS BORN AT HARPHAMDK, Middlesbrough Ordo

Tuesday of the 3rd week of EastertideOffice of Readings | Morning Prayer | Evening Prayer | Night Prayer | Mass(Saint François de Laval (1623 - 1708))

He was the first bishop of New France, later to become Canada. He founded a seminary and had schools and churches built. He resigned his bishopric in 1684 but remained in New France and acted as deputy to his successor. He was canonized by Pope Francis on 3 April 2014.

Monday of the 3rd week of EastertideOffice of Readings | Morning Prayer | Evening Prayer | Night Prayer | Mass(St Asaph)

He was a monk of the monastery at Llanelwy, founded by St Kentigern. He was consecrated bishop in 573, and the town of Llanelwy (as well as the diocese) is called St Asaph in his honour. See also the articles in Wikipedia and the Catholic Encyclopaedia.(Blessed Edmund Rice (1762 - 1844))