Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop/Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Priest

4So then, the mix of common people, who had ascended with them, were enflamed with desire, and sitting and weeping, with the sons of Israel joining them, they said, “Who will give us flesh to eat? 5We remember the fish that we ate freely in Egypt; we call to mind the cucumbers, and melons, and leeks, and onions, and garlic. 6Our life is dry; our eyes look out to see nothing but manna.” 7Now the manna was like coriander seed, but with the color of bdellium. 8And the people wandered about, gathering it, and they crushed it with a millstone, or ground it with a mortar; then they boiled it in a pot, and made biscuits out of it, with a taste like bread made with oil. 9And when the dew descended in the night over the camp, the manna descended together with it. 10And so, Moses heard the people weeping by their families, each one at the door of his tent. And the fury of the Lord was greatly enflamed. And to Moses also the matter seemed intolerable. 11And so he said to the Lord: “Why have you afflicted your servant? Why do I not find favor before you? And why have you imposed the weight of this entire people upon me? 12Could I have conceived this entire multitude, or have given birth to them, so that you might say to me: Carry them in your bosom, as a nursemaid usually carries a little infant, and bring them into the land, about which you have sworn to their fathers? 13From where would I obtain the flesh to give to so great a multitude? They weep against me, saying, ‘Give us flesh, so that we may eat.’ 14I alone am unable to sustain this entire people, because it is too heavy for me. 15But if it seems to you otherwise, I beg you to put me to death, and so may I find grace in your eyes, lest I be afflicted with such evils.”

12But my people did not hear my voice, and Israel was not attentive to me.

13And so, I sent them away, according to the desires of their heart. They will go forth according to their own inventions.

14If my people had heard me, if Israel had walked in my ways,

15I would have humbled their enemies, as if it were nothing, and I would have sent my hand upon those who troubled them.

16The enemies of the Lord have lied to him, and their time will come, in every age.

17And he fed them from the fat of the grain, and he saturated them with honey from the rock.

13When Jesus had heard it, he withdrew from there by boat, to a deserted place by himself. And when the crowds had heard of it, they followed him on foot from the cities. 14And going out, he saw a great multitude, and he took pity on them, and he cured their sick. 15And when evening had arrived, his disciples approached him, saying: “This is a deserted place, and the hour has now passed. Dismiss the crowds, so that, by going into the towns, they may buy food for themselves.” 16But Jesus said to them: “They have no need to go. Give them something to eat yourselves.” 17They answered him, “We have nothing here, except five loaves and two fish.” 18He said to them, “Bring them here to me.” 19And when he had ordered the multitude to sit down upon the grass, he took the five loaves and the two fish, and gazing up to heaven, he blessed and broke and gave the bread to the disciples, and then the disciples to the multitudes. 20And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up the remnants: twelve baskets full of fragments. 21Now the number of those who ate was five thousand men, besides women and children.