The Virgin Mary’s Crown of Humility JACQUES-BÉNIGNE BOSSUET

 

The Virgin Mary’s Crown of Humility

JACQUES-BÉNIGNE BOSSUET/Christopher Blum, trans

Humility brought about the triumph of Jesus and so must also be the cause of Mary’s glory. She was exalted because of her humility, and in the following manner. We recall that it belongs to the humble person to impoverish himself and strip himself of his advantages. Yet, by a marvelous exchange, humility enriches by stripping away, because it restores all that it takes away. Nothing is more fitting to humility than these words of St. Paul: “as having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (2 Cor. 6:10).

The Blessed Virgin possessed three precious goods: high rank, an admirable purity of body and mind, and, what is above every treasure, Jesus Christ himself. She had a beloved Son, in whom “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col. 1:19). Here is a creature different from every other creature, but her very great humility stripped her, in a certain sense, of these advantages.

It pleased the Son thus to humiliate her. St. John takes the liberty of recognizing her as his Mother, and she humbly accepts the exchange. How deep is her humility! How wonderful her obedience!

Let us gather together into one all of these acts of humility of the Blessed Virgin. Her high rank is covered with the mantle of servitude. Her purity is hidden under the marks of sin. She even loses her Son and consents to have another in his place. Her humility has stripped everything away. Yet we also see that this humility restores every advantage to her: “as having nothing, yet as possessing everything.”

Yourself a servant, today humility prepares a throne for you: climb up to this high place and receive absolute rule over every creature. O Virgin, all holy and all pure, more pure than the rays of the sun, you chose to purify yourself and to be counted among sinners, and your humility will raise you up; you will be the advocate for all sinners, and you will be their principal refuge and hope after Jesus Christ. You lost your Son, and it seemed that he had abandoned you to a foreign land, but because you submitted to such a humiliation with patience, your Son reclaims his rights, he holds out his hand to you, and the whole celestial court admires you, O Happy Virgin, as you rise into heaven: “Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” (Song of Sol. 8:5). This is the royal entry of the Blessed Virgin. The sacred ceremony is finished. Mary is placed upon her throne, in the arms of her Son, in the eternal noontime of heaven and it is holy humility that has accomplished the work.

It is now for us to pay our respects to this great Queen and, seeing her so close to her Son, to pray her to assist us by her all-powerful intercession. O holy, blessed Mary, because you are with Jesus, enjoying a holy and blessed familiarity with him, speak for us to his heart. Speak, and your Son will listen. We do not ask you for human glory. Obtain for us only that humility by which you have been crowned. May all those who celebrate your triumph enter profoundly into the knowledge that there is no glory except that which is founded upon humility and nothing truer than the words of the Gospel: the one who humbles himself in this life shall be exalted forever in the eternal joy to which we are being led by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Editor’s note: This article is an excerpt from Bishop Bossuet’s Meditations on Mary, which is available from Sophia Institute Press.

SS Nazarius & Celsus, Martyrs & Popes SS Victor I Martyr & Innocent I

 

SS Nazarius & Celsus, Martyrs & Popes SS Victor I Martyr & Innocent I

Nazarius was baptized by the blessed Pope Linus, and afterwards went to Gaul. There he met with the boy Celsus, whom he instructed in the Christian law, and baptized. Later on, they both came to Milan, where they spread the Faith of Christ, and as they remained firm in declaring that he is God, the Prefect Anolinus had them beheaded. Their bodies were found by Blessed Ambrose. On the same day is commemorated Pope St. Victor, who governed the Church in the time of the Emperor Severus, refuted Theodotus the tanner, and wrote upon the subject of the Passover. He received the crown of martyrdom, and was buried at the Vatican on the 28th day of July. Also on the same day is commemorated Pope St. Innocent, who condemned Pelagius and Celestius, and issued a decree against their heresy. His body is buried in the cemetery known as the Place of the Bear-and-the-Cap.

Sanctórum tuórum nos, Dómine, Nazárii, Celsi, Victóris et Innocéntii conféssio beáta commúniat: et fragilitáti nostræ subsídium dignánter exóret.

Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.
R. Amen.

Upon us, O Lord, be somewhat of the blessing of the testification of thine holy servants Nazarius, Celsus, Victor, and Innocent, and may the same ever plead with thee on behalf of our weakness, and ever obtain for us thy succour.

Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.

SS Nazarius & Celsus, Martyrs & Popes SS Victor I Martyr & Innocent I, Confessor: Missa “Intret in conspéctu”

The Church honours to-day several Saints who lived at different times and in different countries.

Nazarius, baptized by Pope St. Linus at Rome, in his turn baptized young Celsus who was born at Cimiez near Nice. They betook themselves to Milan, where they were arrested by the pagans and beheaded about the year 68. In 395 their bodies were discovered and in the tomb of St. Nazarius was found a phial of his blood as red as if it had been shed that very day.

From his youth Nazarius decided to devote his life to preaching Christ and to aid wandering Christians. With this intent he left Rome and arrived in Mediolanum (Milan).

Saint Nazarius met Protasius and Gervasius when he was visiting Christians in the Mediolanum prison. He so loved the twins that he wanted to suffer and die with them. The ruler heard that he was visiting the prisoners, so he had Saint Nazarius beaten with rods, then driven from the city.

Saint Nazarius proceeded to Gaul (modern France), and there he successfully preached Christianity and converted many pagans. In the city of Kimel he baptized Celsius, the son of a Christian woman who entrusted her child to the saint. Nazarius raised the boy in piety, and acquired a faithful disciple and coworker in his missionary labors.

The pagans threw the saints to wild animals to be eaten, but the beasts would not touch them. Afterwards, they tried to drown the martyrs in the sea, but they walked upon the water as if on dry land. The soldiers who carried out the orders were so amazed that they themselves accepted Christianity and released the holy martyrs.

Saints Nazarius and Celsius went to Milan and visited Gervasius and Protasius in prison. For this, they were brought before Nero, who ordered that Saints Nazarius and Celsius be beheaded. Soon after this the holy brothers Gervasius and Protasius were also executed. The relics of all four martyrs were stolen by a Christian named Philip, and were buried in his house.

Many years later, during the reign of the holy Emperor Theodosius (408-450), Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (December 7), discovered the relics of Saints Gervasius and Protasius through a revelation from God.

In the reign of Arcadius and Honorius, Saint Ambrose also discovered the relics of Saints Nazarius and Celsius. The holy relics, glorified by many healings, were solemnly transferred to the Milan cathedral.

St Pius X’s Breviary Reform/New Liturgical Movement

 

A Qualified Defense of St Pius X’s Breviary Reform/New Liturgical Movement

GREGORY DIPIPPO

Recent events have provoked a good deal of discussion in various fora about papal actions in matters of liturgical reform. In several of these discussions, and indeed, on articles here on NLM, the contention has been made that St Pius X’s significant reform of the breviary was, as it were, the breaching of the fortress, leading to further and highly deleterious reforms. It is not my purpose here to refute any of these contentions, least of all, those of my esteemed colleague Dr Kwasniewski. I intend rather to outline some important qualifiers in the light of which this reform needs to be understood, and particularly, understood as something very different, in kind, and not in degree, from the reforms that came after it. It is also not my purpose to claim that every aspect of this reform was perfect, or done as well as it might have been, or even necessary. I have always considered the whole project to be an imperfect solution to an intractable problem.

The essence of the reform was the re-ordering of the very ancient Roman arrangement of the weekly psalter. I described the original order and its rearrangement in detail in my series of article on the reforms (and note the use of the plural here) of the breviary in 2009-10 (part 7.1; part 7.2; part 7.3), so I shall here give just a very basic summary. (In order to stick to the main point, it will be necessary to oversimplify just a bit.)

In the very ancient traditional arrangement, the psalms of Lauds and Prime are partly variable and partly fixed, while those of Terce, Sext, None and Compline are completely invariable. These include only 24 of the 150 psalms; of the rest, the Roman weekly psalter puts those from 1-108 at Matins (18 on Sunday and 12 on weekdays), and those from 109-147 at Vespers. However, on the majority of feast days, the daily psalms of Matins and Vespers are replaced by proper psalms, and on all feast days, the psalms at Lauds are taken from Sunday. This means that many psalms were said only in the office of Sunday or on ferial days.

The problem which the reform of St Pius X was intended to deal with was that by his time, the number of feast days had multiplied very considerably, and it had become the custom to allow most of them to take precedence over the office of most Sundays and almost all ferias. I have a breviary printed in 1829 for the Franciscans in the Papal State, in which there are only 18 free days on the calendar. Therefore, the daily psalter was only used very, very rarely, on the tiny number of days (e.g. the major Sundays, Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday) which could never be impeded. (This is also, incidentally, why one sees fewer really nice green vestments in the great churches of Europe; since the Sundays after Epiphany and Pentecost were so often impeded, green was hardly needed, since it was only rarely used.)

The first point to note, therefore, is that the part of the Divine Office which St Pius X was principally concerned to reform, the weekly psalter, was mostly (not entirely) obsolete at the time that he reformed it. Regardless of whether one thinks that the problem was resolved well or badly, or somewhere in between, it was nevertheless a real problem, to which a real solution was given. And regardless of whether one thinks that the subsequent reforms were done well or badly, or somewhere in between, one cannot call the objects of them (e.g. Holy Week or the order of Mass) obsolete.

Secondly, St Pius X was certainly not the first Pope to make significant changes to the breviary. St Pius V rearranged the psalms of Prime, but in so minor a way as to be hardly pertinent to this topic. Far more importantly, he made a very considerable change to the readings of Matins. Urban VIII promulgated a radical (and justifiably much-criticized) reform of the hymns of the Divine Office, changing texts that were in some cases more than twelve centuries old, which is to say, older than the offertory prayers of the Mass are now. However, neither of these reforms swiftly led to a cascade of other, more dramatic reforms, sweeping away the customs of centuries to no good purpose. It is therefore safe to say that St Pius X could never imagine, and indeed, that he had no reason to imagine, that his reform of the psalter would do so either.

Of course, as a matter of history, it cannot be denied that after St Pius X’s time, the twentieth century saw more changes happen to the Roman Rite more swiftly than in all its prior history. But each of these later changes differs not in degree, but in kind, from his.

The first of these is NOT, by the way, the new psalter of Pius XII, for which I personally have no patience whatsoever, but which was nevertheless in a very real sense an ideal reform. The use of it was never obligatory, and therefore, it was, as military men say, run up the flagpole to see who would salute it. People soon stopped saluting, and it was quickly taken down.

However, the real breaching of the fortress did take place on the watch of Pius XII: first, with his general reform of the rubrics; second, and far more importantly, with his reform of Holy Week. In the case of the former, it cannot be denied that the rubrics of both the missal and the breviary had become very complicated. However, the reform enacted in 1955 to remedy the problem actually made it worse, as such reforms are wont to do. More importantly, it was the first reform to change the text of the liturgy (and that, mostly by way of hacking things out of it), for the sake of the rubrics. In other words, the liturgy was changed to benefit the rubrics, and not the rubrics to benefit the liturgy. It should require no explanation to demonstrate the danger of this principle.

Now, it has to be said that no small part of this complication of the rubrics actually came from the reform of St Pius X, and furthermore, that that particular aspect of his reform might well have been done differently and better. But it most certainly can not be said that his reform was done with disregard for the text of the liturgy per se; its care for the text of the liturgy was minute, and one might even say too minute.

Pius XII’s other major reform, of the Holy Week ceremonies, was also done to deal with a real problem, namely, that in many places (by no means all), they were not well attended. But in this case, that problem was used as a pretext to introduce all kinds of changes that had no bearing on it, and which cut deep into the bone of the Roman liturgical tradition. If greater participation was the goal, there was obviously no need to cut down the blessing of the palms so radically, or cut the synoptic accounts of the Last Supper out of the Roman Rite, or suppress the very ancient rite of the Presanctified on Good Friday, etc. But by the time this reform was enacted, the liturgical bien pensants had already fully embraced the highly damaging principle that popular participation can only be brought about by giving the people much less to participate in. It hardly needs to be added that the claims about the history of the liturgy on which it is based are a mixture of half-truths and outright falsehoods.

These principles, simplicity for its own sake, and callous disregard for the texts and rites of the Roman liturgical tradition, justified by atrocious scholarship, would carry through to the rest of the 20th century liturgical reforms: first, John XXIII’s mutilation of the breviary, and unnecessary removal of many more things from the missal; a new “simplified” set of rubrics which are anything but; and then within less than a decade, the total revolution of the post-Conciliar period.

Whatever its flaws may be, the Pius X reform is not based on these principles. It did not claim to simplify the Office for the sake of simplifying it. It did not claim that the reform was necessary to engender greater interest in the Office on the part of the faithful. It did not make false historical claims that it was returning to an earlier custom, and it honestly acknowledged that it was returning to an earlier custom in a novel way.

St. Lawrence of Brindisi

St. Lawrence of Brindisi

Born at Brindisi in the Kingdom of Naples, Lawrence entered the Capuchin order as a young man. He acquired a thorough knowledge of philosophy and theology and became proficient in several languages, ancient as well as modern. When he had been ordained a priest, he undertook the work of preaching, in which he labored indefatigably throughout almost all Italy and other European countries. Possessed of unusual prudence as well as the gift of counsel, he was given authority over the whole Order and was often employed by the popes for very important diplomatic missions. Indeed, it has been attributed chiefly to him that the Christian princes joined their forces against the invading Turkish troops. The Christian army engaged the Turkish forces in Hungary, and with Lawrence himself riding before the army, armed with the Crucifix, and urging on the soldiers and generals, they won a remarkable victory. Among all these important activities, he practiced the virtues of the religious to heroic degree. Whatever spare time he had, he devoted to prayer, wonderfully combining the interior life with the external and active life. Finally he died in 1619, at Lisbon, in the line of battle, at it were: he had been sent there by the people of Naples to put their case before the King of Spain, as a forceful pleader for Christian freedom and justice. He left many writings devoted to the defense of Catholic faith against heretics, and to the explanation of Sacred Scripture. Pope Leo XIII enrolled him among the Saints, and Pope John XXIII declared him a doctor of the Universal Church.

Deus, qui ad árdua quæque pro nóminis tui glória et animárum salúte beáto Lauréntio, Confessóri tuo atque Doctóri, spíritum sapiéntiæ et fortitúdinis contulísti: da nobis in eódem spíritu et agénda cognóscere; et cógnita, eius intercessióne, perfícere.

Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.

R. Amen.

O Lord, you conferred the spirit of wisdom and fortitude on St. Lawrence, Confessor and teacher of faith, to help him perform difficult tasks for the glory of Your name and for the salvation of souls. At his intercession grant us by the same Spirit the grace to know what we ought to do and the courage to do it.

Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

St. Vincent de Paul

 From his very boyhood, Vincent de Paul, born at Puy in Gascony, was remarkable for his great charity toward the poor. Called from the care of his father's flock to the study of letters and then ordained to the priesthood, he fell into the hands of the Turks, who took him captive into Africa. With his master, an apostate whom he had won back to the faith of Christ, he escaped and went back to France. In the parishes entrusted to him and then as chaplain of the galleys, he zealously undertook the work of the salvation of souls. As director of the Visitation nuns for about forty years, he governed them most wisely. Even in his old age, he worked untiringly for the evangelization of the poor, especially of those who lived in the country. He had founded a Congregation under the name of the Secular Priests of the Missions, and he bound them to this apostolic work by a perpetual vow confirmed by the Holy See. He established many associations for seeking out and aiding the unfortunate and for the education of girls. At length, worn out by bodily mortification, labours and old age, he peacefully fell asleep in the Lord in the year of salvation 1660. Famous for his miracles, he was placed among the Saints by Clement XII, and Leo XIII declared and appointed him the special heavenly patron of all charitable associations in the whole Catholic world which trace their origin in some way to him.

Nocte surgéntes vigilémus omnes

 

Hymnus {ex Psalterio secundum tempora}

Nocte surgéntes vigilémus omnes,
Semper in psalmis meditémur, atque
Voce concórdi Dómino canámus
Dúlciter hymnos.

Ut pio Regi páriter canéntes,
Cum suis Sanctis mereámur aulam
Íngredi cæli, simul et perénnem
Dúcere vitam.

Præstet hoc nobis Déitas beáta
Patris, ac Nati, paritérque Sancti
Spíritus, cuius résonat per omnem
Glória mundum.
Amen.

Hymn {from the Psalter for the season of the Church year}

Now, from the slumbers of the night arising,
Chant we the holy psalmody of David,
Hymns to our Master, with a voice concordant,
Sweetly intoning.

So may our Monarch pitifully hear us,
That we may merit with his saints to enter
Mansions eternal, therewithal possessing
Joy beatific.

This be our portion, God forever blessed,
Father eternal, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Whose is the glory, which through all creation
Ever resoundeth.
Amen.

g Ordinary Time.

Hymnus {ex Psalterio secundum tempora}

Nocte surgéntes vigilémus omnes,
Semper in psalmis meditémur, atque
Voce concórdi Dómino canámus
Dúlciter hymnos.

Ut pio Regi páriter canéntes,
Cum suis Sanctis mereámur aulam
Íngredi cæli, simul et perénnem
Dúcere vitam.

Præstet hoc nobis Déitas beáta
Patris, ac Nati, paritérque Sancti
Spíritus, cuius résonat per omnem
Glória mundum.
Amen.

Hymn {from the Psalter for the season of the Church year}

Now, from the slumbers of the night arising,
Chant we the holy psalmody of David,
Hymns to our Master, with a voice concordant,
Sweetly intoning.

So may our Monarch pitifully hear us,
That we may merit with his saints to enter
Mansions eternal, therewithal possessing
Joy beatific.

This be our portion, God forever blessed,
Father eternal, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Whose is the glory, which through all creation
Ever resoundeth.
Amen.

St. Bonaventure

Saint Bonaventure, prelate of Seraphic Order.

Born at Bagnorea in Tuscany, Bonaventure entered the Order of St. Francis of Assisi as a young man. Here he gave himself to study, and made such progress under his teacher, Alexander of Hales, that after seven years he publicly interpreted the book of Sentences at Paris, and gained the highest praise. He was a man of the greatest sweetness and humility, with a most ardent devotion to the Passion of Christ the Lord. When he was only thirty-five he was made Minister General of the whole Order. He carried out this office so prudently that he gained fame not only for his learning and holiness, but also for his diplomacy and skill. Because of this fame, Pope Gregory X made him Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He wrote many very learned works, not the least of which were his commentaries on the four books of the Sentences. He died at Lyon while the Council was in progress, at the age of forty-three. He was enrolled among the Saints by Sixtus IV, and Sixtus V gave him the title of Seraphic Doctor.

Deus, qui pópulo tuo ætérnæ salútis beátum Bonaventúram minístrum tribuísti: præsta, quǽsumus; ut quem Doctórem vitæ habúimus in terris, intercessórem habére mereámur in cælis.

Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.

R. Amen.

O God, who didst give blessed Bonaventure to be thy people’s minister in eternal salvation; grant, we pray, that we who have him for teacher of life here on earth, may also deserve now that he is in heaven, to have him for an advocate.

Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

R. Amen.

St. John Gualbert

St. John Gualbert

John Gualbert, born of a noble Florentine family, took up a military career at his father's wish. His only brother, Hugh, was slain by a relative, and it happened that on Good Friday, attended by armed soldiers, John met the slayer alone and unarmed on the road where they could not avoid each other. Because of John's reverence for the sign of the holy Cross, which his enemy, seeing death at hand, made with his arms in supplication, John graciously spared him and received him as a brother. Then he went to the Church of St. Minias, where, as he adored the Crucified, the image bent its head to him. Moved by this, he gave up the military life and, at the persuasion of St. Romuald, then living in the hermitage of Camaldoli, he put on the monastic habit. Later he founded a monastic Order under the Rule of St. Benedict in Vallombrosa, which had as its primary aims to do away with the stain of simony and to promulgate the apostolic faith. Full of virtues and merits and blessed with the companionship of Angels, he went to the Lord in his seventy-eighth year, the 12th day of July, 1073, at Passignano.

From New Liturgical Movement

In the altarpiece show above, by Giovanni del Biondo (ca. 1370), St John is shown forgiving his brother’s killer in the upper left section. Below it is depicted an especially famous episode in the ecclesiastical history of Florence, one which is connected to a contemporary of St John known as “Petrus Igneus - Fiery Peter.” A simoniac prelate, Peter of Pavia, was made bishop of Florence, much to the indignation of the populace, who demanded a trial by fire to determine the legitimacy of his appointment. Their appellant, a monk of St John’s order also called Peter, celebrated Mass in the presence of a crowd of some 3000 people; then, removing his chasuble (of course), he walked between two raging pyres set very close to each other, remaining totally unscathed, even though the fire seemed to fill his alb, and he sank into the hot coals up to his ankles. This was taken as God’s judgment that his cause was just, and Peter of Pavia was removed from the See at the order of Pope Alexander, while Peter the monk was eventually made a cardinal and Papal legate. He is now a blessed, and his feast is kept in Florence and by the Vallumbrosian order on February 8th.

St. Teresa of Avila and St. Charles de Foucauld: Let us do as did St. Teresa

 

St. Teresa of Avila and St. Charles de Foucauld: 

Let us do as did St. Teresa, who had so well acquired the habit of seeing all good as coming from God, that on seeing others she would immediately think of God acting in them; and in thinking about herself it was completely impossible for her to feel the least pride, since she saw that that she possessed nothing of her own, all coming from God alone.

St. Teresa did all in this way. From the time she had Jesus in her visions, nothing could please her any longer, neither the scenery, nor any created beauty. "In my eyes all was but mud," she said. Let us do the same.  

Commemoration: S. Pii I. Papae et Martyris

 Commemoratio S. Pii I Papæ et Martyris

Ant. Qui odit ánimam suam in hoc mundo, in vitam ætérnam custódit eam.

V. Iustus ut palma florébit.
R. Sicut cedrus Líbani multiplicábitur.

Orémus.
Gregem tuum, Pastor ætérne, placátus inténde: et per beátum Pium Mártyrem tuum atque Summum Pontíficem perpétua protectióne custódi; quem totíus Ecclésiæ præstitísti esse pastórem.
Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.
R. Amen.

Commemoration: S. Pii I. Papae et Martyris
Ant. He that hateth his life in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal.

V. The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree.
R. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Let us pray.
Look forgivingly on thy flock, Eternal Shepherd, and keep it in thy constant protection, by the intercession of blessed Pius thy Martyr and Sovereign Pontiff, whom thou didst constitute Shepherd of the whole Church.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.

Ss. Septem Fratrum Martyrum, ac Rufinæ et Secundæ Virginum et Martyrum ~ III. classis

Forgotten Saints

Ss. Septem Fratrum Martyrum, ac Rufinæ et Secundæ Virginum et Martyrum ~ III. classis

Seven Holy Brothers Martyrs and Ss. Rufina and Secunda Virgins and Martyrs 

At Rome, in the persecution of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, seven brothers, the sons of St. Felicity, were tempted in vain by the Prefect Publius to venerate idols. On the 10th of July, encouraged by their brave mother, they were put to death in various ways: Januarius was scourged with leaded whips; Felix and Philip were beaten with clubs; Silvanus was thrown headlong from a high place; Alexander, Vitalis, and Martialis were beheaded. Finally, four months afterwards, their mother gained the same palm of martyrdom. The Roman virgins Rufina and Secunda were sisters, and since they refused to marry Armentarius and Verinus because they had vowed their virginity to Christ, they were arrested during the reigns of the emperors Valerian and Gallienus. Junius the Prefect was unsuccessful in winning them from their determination by promises and threats, and so they were afflicted with various tortures. Protected by Angels, they persevered in their holy resolution, and they were finally beheaded at the tenth milestone on the Aurelian Way. Their bodies were buried by the matron Plautilla on her estate outside the City and later laid in the Basilica of Constantine near the baptistery.

Praesta, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus: ut, qui gloriosos Martyres fortes in sua confessione cognovimus, pios apud te in nostra intercessione sentiamus.

Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that we, who acknowledge the boldness of  thy glorious martyrs in confessing Thy name, may experience likewise their loving  intercession for us. (Collect)

Médiæ noctis tempus est

  Médiæ noctis tempus est

I fear that I have already posted this hymn; not fear really because I love these hymns for the night office, forgotten and ignored, but always what we need to hear. Especially in the era of "clown masses".

Médiæ noctis tempus est

This hymn was written in the 5th century. It was known to St. Charles of Arles. We rejoice knowing that we have been redeemed by the Blood of Christ. Hymn for the Office of Readings. 

Mediae noctis tempus est;

prophetica vox admonet

dicamus laudes ut Deo

Patri semper ac Filio,

Sancto quoque Spiritui:

perfecta enim Trinitas

uniusque substantiae

laudanda nobis semper est.

Terrorem tempus hoc habet,

quo, cum vastator angelus

Aegypto mortem intulit,

delevit primogenita.

Haec iustus hora salus est,

quos tunc ibidem angelus

ausus punire non erat,

signum formidans sanguinis.

Aegyptus flebat fortiter

tantorum diro funere;

solus gaudebat Israel

agni protectus sanguine.

Nos verus Israel sumus:

laetemur in te, Domine,

hostem spernentes et malum,

Christi defensi sanguine.

Dignos nos fac, rex optime,

futuri regni gloria,

ut mereamur laudibus

aeternis te concinere. Amen.

The time is of the middle of the night;

The prophetic voice admonishes

that we may speak praises to God

the Father always and to the Son,

And also to the Holy Spirit:

for the perfect Trinity

and of one substance

is to be praised by us always.

Terror this time holds,

for, when the destroyer angel

to Egypt brought death,

he wiped out the first-borns.

This hour, for the just, salvation is,

them, then, in that very hour, the angel

was not venturing to punish,

shirking at the sign of the blood.

Egypt was weeping tremendously

for such a dire funeral;

only Israel was rejoicing

protected by the blood of the lamb.

We the true Israel are:

May we be joyful in Thee, Lord,

spurning the enemy and evil,

defended in Christ's blood.

Worthy make us, King most great,

to be in the kingdom's glory,

that we may deserve praises

eternal to sing together to Thee. Amen.

St. Elizabeth of Portugal

St. Elizabeth of Portugal

Elizabeth was born of the royal family of Aragon in the year of our Lord 1271. The joy of her birth put an end to the unhappy quarrels between her grandfather and her father, thus making it clear from the outset that she would be a blessed peacemaker between kings and kingdoms. She was remarkable for the way in which she chastised her body, for her constancy in prayer, and for her exercise of the works of charity. When she was married to Denis, King of Portugal, she devoted herself no less to the work of cultivating virtue than to that of educating her children, striving to please her husband, but still more to please God. She not only had monasteries, colleges and churches built, but gave them magnificent endowments. She was wonderful in settling the disputes of kings, unwearied in relieving the private and public calamities of her fellow-men, and famous for her miracles. When King Denis had died, she put on the habit of the Seraphic Order, and whatever she had that was dear and precious to her she offered at the church of Compostella for the soul of the king and used for works of devotion and mercy. Finally, having fallen ill as a result of a journey she made to establish peace between two kings, her son and her grandson, she died a most holy death, after receiving a visit from the Virgin Mother of God. Famous for miracles, she was enrolled among the Saints by Urban VIII.

Roman Martyrology7/7/2023

 

Roman Martyrology: missing from the new liturgy but still in print.

Read after the office of Prime, which you will alas no longer find in Novus Ordo.

THE holy bishops Cyril and Methodius, who are mentioned on the 9th of March.—At Rome, the holy martyrs Claudius, notary, Nicostratus, assistant prefect, Castorius, Victorinus, and Symphorian, who were brought to the faith of Christ by St. Sebastian, and baptized by the blessed priest Polycarp. Whilst they were engaged in searching for the bodies of the holy martyrs, the judge Fabian had them arrested, and for ten days he tried by threats and caresses to shake their constancy, but being utterly unable to succeed, he ordered them to be thrice tortured, and then precipitated into the sea.—At Durazzo, in Macedonia, the holy martyrs Peregrinus, Lucian, Pompeius, Hesychius, Papius, Saturninus, and Germanus, natives of Italy. In the persecution of Trajan, they took refuge in the town of Durazzo, where seeing the saintly bishop Astius hanging on a cross for the faith of Christ, they publicly declared themselves to be Christians, when, by order of the governor, they were arrested and cast into the sea.— At Perugia, blessed Benedict XI., a native of Treviso of the Order of Preachers, who in the brief space of his pontificate, greatly promoted the peace of the Church, the restoration of discipline and the spread of religion.—At Alexandria, the birthday of St. Pantaenus, an apostolic man, filled with wisdom. He had such an affection and love for the word of God, and was so inflamed with the ardor of faith and devotion, that he set out to preach the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles inhabiting the farthest recesses of the East. At length returning to Alexandria, he rested in peace, under Antoninus Caracalla. —At Brescia, St. Apollonius, bishop and confessor.—In Saxony, St. Willibald, first bishop of Eichstadt, who labored with St. Boniface in preaching the Gospel, and converted many nations to Christ.— At Clermont, in Auvergne, St. Illidius, bishop.—At Urgel, in Spain, St. Odo, bishop.—In England, St. Hedda, bishop of the West-Saxons.—At Gray, in Burgundy, blessed Peter Fourier, Canon Regular of the most holy Saviour, renowned for virtues and miracles.—In England, St. Edelburga, virgin, daughter of an English king.

And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors and holy virgins.

Thanks be to God.

St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria 

Interestingly, the communities founded by St. Anthony Mary, Zaccaria, male and female, are the only religious orders under the patronage of St. Paul. 

Fac nos, Dómine Deus, supereminéntem Iesu Christi sciéntiam, spíritu Pauli Apóstoli, edíscere: qua beátus Antónius María mirabíliter erudítus, novas in Ecclésia tua clericórum et vírginum famílias congregávit.

Per eúndem Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.
R. Amen.

Make us able, O Lord God, in the Spirit of Thy blessed Apostle Paul, to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, wherein Thy blessed servant Anthony Mary was so wonderfully taught when he gathered together in thy Church new households of clerks and of virgins.

Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.

Prayer for the Sick

 

Prayer for the Sick

ALMIGHTY and Eternal God, the everlasting salvation of them that believe, hear us on behalf of Thy sick servant, Allan, priest, for whom we implore the aid of Thy pitying mercy, that, with his bodily health restored, he may render thanks to Thee in Thy Church. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.