17 NOVEMBER

Today is the 33d Sunday per annum in the Pauline rite and the 26th Sunday after Pentecost in the traditional rite using the Missal of Bl. Pope John XXIII. The propers used today in the traditional rite are those of the 6th Sunday after Pentecost.

In several English dioceses and in the Carthusian Order this is the feast of the 12th century bishop, St. Hugh of Lincoln.
St. Hugh was a Burgundian and a Carthusian whom King Henry II obtained as superior for his newly founded priory of Witham in Somerset. He eventually became bishop of Lincoln. Although he had serious disputes with the king during his tenure as bishop, so greatly respected was he that at his funeral two of his pall bearers were the Kings of England and Scotland.

In the traditional calendar this is the feast of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, i.e., “The Wonderworker”, bishop and confessor.
“[B]ishop of Neo-Caesarea on Pontus (Asia Minor), [he] was graced to an extraordinary degree with the charism of performing miracles. Basil the Great compared him to Moses, the prophets, and the apostles. For instance, by his prayer he moved a hill which obstructed the construction of a church, dried up a swamp which had occasioned dissension between two brothers, drove devils from men and idols. His miracles and prophetic gifts converted many to Christ. As he neared death (c.270), he asked how many unbelievers remained in Neo-Caesarea and was told seventeen. He thanked God and said, “That many believers I found here when I became bishop.” -“The Church’s Year of Grace”, vol. V Pius Parsch.

And on a non-liturgical note: Happy Birthday to Geraldine McWeeney and Carol W.!