Collect: Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit you enabled Saint Sixtus and his companions to lay down their lives for your word in witness to Jesus. Give us the grace to believe in you and the courage to profess our fatih. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Optional Memorial of Sts. Sixtus II, pope and martyr and companions, martyrs and Optional Memorial of St. Cajetan, priest
Old Calendar: St. Cajetan, confessor; St. Donatus, bishop and martyr
Today is also the feast of Sts. Sixtus II and his companions, Felicissimus and Agapitus. Pope Sixtus II was one of the first victims of the persecution under the Emperor Valerian. Felicissimus and Agapitus were two of his deacons who were executed with him. Sixtus governed the Church from 256 to 258. His name is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass.
Before the reform of the Roman Calendar today was the feast of St. Donatus. His name occurs second on the list of the bishops of the See of Arezzo. Little is known of him. The Acts of his martyrdom, unfortunately, do not merit credence.
Valerian issued his second edict ordering the execution of Christian bishops, priests, and deacons. Sixtus had taken to holding services in the private cemetery of Praetextatus because it was not watched as closely by the authorities as was the cemetery of Calixtus. But in early August of 258, while Sixtus was seated on his episcopal chair and surrounded by the brethren, the soldiers broke in arresting Sixtus and four deacons who were in attendance. After a formal judgment, Sixtus was led back to the very place where he had been arrested, to face execution. His chief deacon Lawrence, upon hearing the news, hastened to his side, desiring to die with his bishop. Sixtus consoled his deacon by telling him that he would follow in three days with even greater glory. The soldiers then placed Sixtus in his chair and swiftly beheaded him. True to the great pope's words, Lawrence was arrested three days later and executed the same day.
Excerpted from The Popes: A Papal History, J.V. Bartlett
Symbols: Cross; sword.
Often Portrayed As: Giving Saint Lawrence a bag of money to give to the poor; with Saint Lawrence; with Saint Lawrence and Saint John the Baptist.
In order to raise the standards of ecclesiastical discipline among the clergy, Cajetan founded in 1524 a community of Clerks Regular who were to lead an apostolic life. They were to look with disdain upon all earthly belongings, to receive no income, to accept no salaries from the faithful; only from that which was freely offered were they allowed to retain the means of livelihood. Thus they were to rely unreservedly upon Divine Providence.
St. Cajetan often prayed eight hours daily. He was particularly active during the Breviary reform under Pope Clement VII. He was kind, mild, but above all, humble. He asked God that no one should know the place of his burial. While attending the Christmas celebration at St. Mary of the Crib, he is said to have been given the grace of receiving from Mary the Child Jesus into his arms. During the sack of Rome by the soldiers of Charles V in 1527, he was tortured and cast into prison because he refused to surrender certain church monies which, in fact, he had distributed among the poor. An insurrection filled him with such grief and sorrow that he took sick and died.
Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.
Patron: job seekers; unemployed.
Legend says that he was born at Nicomedia of parents who had both been slain for Christ's sake. With the holy monk Hilarinus he fled to Arezzo in Tuscany, of which city he afterwards became Bishop. There the Prefect Quadratian, during the persecution under Julian, about 362, commanded both Hilarinus and Donatus to worship idols, and when they both refused, they were slain. Hilarinus was beaten to death with clubs. Donatus was in diverse ways savagely tortured, and then put to the sword. The Christians buried their bodies honourably close by the city.
Symbols: Dragon emerging from a well; chalice; crozier; sword.
O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
Psalm 42 (43) |
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Longing for the temple |
Vindicate me, Lord: judge my case against an unholy nation, rescue me from betrayers, from the wicked. For you are the God of my refuge; why have you rejected me? why must I suffer while my enemies torment me? Send forth your light and your truth; let them lead me away, let them lead me up your holy mountain, up to your sanctuary. I shall go in to the altar of God, to the God of my gladness and joy. I will sing out to you on the lyre, O God, my God. Why are you so sad, my soul, and anxious within me? Put your hope in the Lord, I will praise him still, my saviour and my God. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
Canticle | Isaiah 38 |
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The psalm of Hezekiah on recovering from sickness | |
I said, in the middle of my days I am going to the gates of the underworld. Where shall I find the remainder of my years? I said, I will not see the Lord God in the land of the living, I will never see another of the inhabitants of the earth. My dwelling-place is taken away, taken far away from me, like the tent of a shepherd. Like a weaver, he has rolled up my life and cut it off from the loom. From morning to night, you have made an end of me. I cried for help till daybreak; like a lion, he has crushed all my bones. From morning to night, you have made an end of me. I twitter like a fledgling sparrow, make noises like a dove. My eyes are weak from looking upward. But you have pulled my soul out of the pit of destruction, you have put all my sins behind you. For after all, the underworld will not proclaim you, nor death praise you; those who go down there do not wait in hope for your faithfulness. It is the living, the living who will proclaim you, as I do today. Fathers will pass on to their children the truth of your faithfulness. Save me, Lord, and to the sound of the harp we will sing to you, all the days of our life, in the house of the Lord. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
Psalm 64 (65) |
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A solemn thanksgiving |
To you we owe praise, O God, in Sion; to you we will fulfil our vows, in Jerusalem. It is you who answer prayers: to you must all men come, because we are sinners; even if our transgressions overwhelm us, you will blot them out. Blessed is the man you have taken up and chosen: he will live within your halls. We shall be filled with the good things of your house, with the holiness of your temple. Marvellous is the justice with which you listen to us, God of our salvation, hope of all the earth and far-off coasts. You make firm the mountains in their place, clothed in your power and might. You make still the roaring of the sea, the crash of its waves; and the tumult of the peoples. Those who live at the ends of the earth will tremble at your wonders. You will fill the east and the west with joy. You have come to the earth, you have filled it, saturated it with fruitfulness. The river of God is filled with water, as you prepare the harvest: for thus you have prepared the land, watering its furrows, smoothing its roughnesses, softening it with showers, blessing the seeds within it. You have crowned the year with your kindness. Your footsteps will drip with fruitfulness. The desert pastures will be soaked, the hills will be wrapped in rejoicing. The fields will be clothed with flocks, the vales overflow with corn. They will cry out, and sing your praise. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
Short reading | 1 Thessalonians 5:4 - 5 © |
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It is not as if you live in the dark, my brothers, for that Day to overtake you like a thief. No, you are all sons of light and sons of the day: we do not belong to the night or to darkness. |
Canticle | Benedictus |
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The Messiah and his forerunner | |
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption. He has raised up the sign of salvation in the house of his servant David, as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones, his prophets through the ages: to rescue us from our enemies and all who hate us, to take pity on our fathers, to remember his holy covenant and the oath he swore to Abraham our father, that he would give himself to us, that we could serve him without fear freed from the hands of our enemies in uprightness and holiness before him, for all of our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High: for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path, to let his people know their salvation, so that their sins may be forgiven. Through the bottomless mercy of our God, one born on high will visit us to give light to those who walk in darkness, who live in the shadow of death; to lead our feet in the path of peace. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
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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 that trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. |
Lord Jesus Christ, you are the true light that lights all mens paths to salvation. Give us the power, we pray you, to prepare for you the ways of peace and justice. You live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. |
May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life. |
A M E N |