Posted on 07/16/2009 10:28:22 PM PDT by Salvation
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This will probably be celebrated as a special Votive Mass for the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ.
Pope Notes His Goal for Year for Priests
On the Year for Priests
WHY A YEAR FOR PRIESTS?
Curé d'Ars: Model Priest [Year of the Priest]
ZENIT Launches Column on Priesthood
[Justin] Cardinal Rigali on the Year for Priests
Church Being Given Chance to Rediscover Priesthood [Year of the Priest]
Celebrating the Year of the Priesthood
St. John Vianney's Pastoral Plan
LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI PROCLAIMING A YEAR FOR PRIESTS [Catholic Caucus]
Year of the Priest Letter (Media immediately scrutinize its contents for controversy)
Year of the Priest [Catholic Caucus]
The Year for Priests [Catholic Caucus]
Year of the Priest Begins Friday
U.S. bishops launch website for Year for Priests
1. Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. The Apostles Creed: I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
3. The Lord's Prayer: 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 who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
4. (3) Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)
5. Glory Be: GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.
Announce each mystery, then say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be and 1 Fatima prayer. Repeat the process with each mystery.
End with the Hail Holy Queen:
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Final step -- The Sign of the Cross
The Mysteries of the Rosary
By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary.
The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.
St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle
Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the devil;
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
Cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
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Chaplet of the Most Precious Blood
The Traditional Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Catholic Caucus)
Devotion to the Precious Blood
DOCTRINE OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,And More on the Precious Blood
Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
NOTHING IS MORE POTENT AGAINST EVIL THAN PLEADING THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST
FORMER PENTECOSTAL RELATES MIRACLE THAT OCCURRED WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD
Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus
St.Gaspar:Founder of the Society of the Precious Blood[AKA The Hammer of Freemasons]
Holy Father's Prayer Intentions For July 2009
General: That the Christians of the Middle East may live their faith in full freedom and be an instrument of peace and reconciliation.
Mission: That the Church may be the seed and nucleus of a humanity reconciled and reunited in God's one and only family, thanks to the testimony of all the faithful in every country in the world.
From: Exodus 11:10-12:14
[10] Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the Lord har-
dened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.
The Institution of the Passover
[11] In this manner you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet,
and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s passover.
[12] For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will smite all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all, the gods of Egypt
I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. [13] The blood shall be a sign for you,
upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you,
and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
[14] “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast
to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as an ordinance for
ever.”
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Commentary:
12:1-14. This discourse of the Lord contains a number of rules for celebrating the
Passover and the events commemorated in it; it is a kind of catechetical-liturgical
text which admirably summarizes the profound meaning of that feast.
The Passover probably originated as a shepherds’ feast held in springtime, when
lambs are born and the migration to summer pastures was beginning; a new-born
lamb was sacrificed and its blood used to perform a special rite in petition for the
protection and fertility of the flocks. But once this feast became connected with
the history of the Exodus it acquired a much deeper meaning, as did the rites
attaching to it.
Thus, the “congregation” (v. 3) comprises all the Israelites organized as a reli-
gious community to commemorate the most important event in their history,
deliverance from bondage.
The victim will be a lamb, without blemish (v. 5) because it is to be offered to
God. Smearing the doorposts and lintel with the blood of the victim (vv. 7. 13),
an essential part of the rite, signifies protection from dangers. The Passover is
ssentially sacrificial from the very start.
The meal (v. 11) is also a necessary part, and the manner in which it is held is a
very appropriate way of showing the urgency imposed by circumstances: there is
no time to season it (v. 9); no other food is eaten with it, except for the bread and
desert herbs (a sign of indigence); the dress and posture of those taking part
(standing, wearing sandals and holding a staff) show that they are on a journey.
In the later liturgical commemoration of the Passover, these things indicate that
the Lord is passing among his people.
The rules laid down for the Passover are evocative of very ancient nomadic desert
rites, where there was no priest or temple or altar. When the Israelites had settled
in Palestine, the Passover continued to be celebrated at home, always retaining
the features of a sacrifice, a family meal and, very especially, a memorial of the
deliverance the Lord brought about on that night.
Our Lord chose the context of the Passover Supper to institute the Eucharist: “By
celebrating the Last Supper with his apostles in the course of the Passover meal,
Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning. Jesus’ passing over to his
Father by his death and Resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in the Sup-
per and celebrated in the Eucharist, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and antici-
pates the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the kingdom” (”Catechism
of the Catholic Church”, 1340).
12:2. This event is so important that it is going to mark the starting point in the re-
ckoning of time. In the history of Israel there are two types of calendar, both based
on the moon—one which begins the year in the autumn, after the feast of Weeks
(cf. 23:16; 34:22), and the other beginning it in spring, between March and April.
This second calendar probably held sway for quite a long time, for we know that
the first month, known as Abib (spring)—cf. 13:4; 23:18; 34:18—was called, in the
post-exilic period (from the 6th century BC onwards) by the Babylonian name of
Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esther 3:7). Be that as it may, the fact that this month is called
the first month is a way of highlighting the importance of the event which is going
to be commemorated (the Passover).
12:11. Even now it is difficult to work out the etymology of the word “Passover”.
In other Semitic languages it means “joy” or “festive joy” or also “ritual and fes-
tive leap”. In the Bible the same root means “dancing or limping” in an idolatrous
rite (cf. 1 Kings 18:21, 26) and “protecting” (cf. Is 31:5), so it could mean “punish-
ment, lash” and also “salvation, protection”. In the present text the writer is provi-
ding a popular, non-scholarly etymology, and it is taken as meaning that “the
Lord passes through”, slaying Egyptians and sparing the Israelites.
In the New Testament it will be applied to Christ’s passage to the Father by
death and resurrection, and the Church’s “passage” to the eternal Kingdom: “The
Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when
she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection” (”Catechism of the Catholic
Church”, 677).
12:14. The formal tone of these words gives an idea of the importance the Pass-
over always had. If the historical books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings) hard-
ly mention it, the reason is that they allude only to sacrifices in the temple and
the Passover was always celebrated in people’s homes. When the temple ceased
to be (6th century BC), the feast acquired more prominence, as can be seen from
the post-exilic biblical texts (cf Ezra 6:19-22; 2 Chron 30:1-27; 35:1-19) and extra-
biblical texts such as the famous “Passover papyrus Elephantine” (Egypt) of the
5th century BC. In Jesus’ time a solemn passover sacrifice was celebrated in the
temple the passover meal was held at home.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Matthew 12:1-8
The Question of the Sabbath
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Commentary:
2. “The Sabbath”: this was the day the Jews set aside for worshipping God.
God Himself, the originator of the Sabbath (Genesis 2:3), ordered the Jewish
people to avoid certain kinds of work on this day (Exodus 20:8-11; 21:13; Deu-
teronomy 5:14) to leave them free to give more time to God. As time went by,
the rabbis complicated this divine precept: by Jesus’ time they had extended
to 39 the list of kinds of forbidden work.
The Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples of breaking the Sabbath. In the casuistry
of the scribes and the Pharisees, plucking ears of corn was the same as harves-
ting, and crushing them was the same as milling—types of agricultural work for-
bidden on the Sabbath.
3-8. Jesus rebuts the Pharisees’ accusation by four arguments—the example of
David, that of the priests, a correct understanding of the mercy of God and Jesus’
own authority over the Sabbath.
The first example which was quite familiar to the people, who were used to liste-
ning to the Bible being read, comes from 1 Samuel 21:2-7: David, in flight from
the jealousy of King Saul, asks the priest of the shrine of Nob for food for his men;
the priest gave them the only bread he had, the holy bread of the Presence; this
was the twelve loaves which were placed each week on the golden altar of the
sanctuary as a perpetual offering from the twelve tribes of Israel (Leviticus 24:5-9).
The second example refers to the priestly ministry to perform the liturgy, priests
had to do a number of things on the Sabbath but did not thereby break the law of
Sabbath rest (cf. Numbers 28:9). On the other two arguments, see the notes on
Matthew 9:13 and Mark
2:26-27, 28.
[The notes on Matthew 9:13 states:
13. Here Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, keeping the hyperbole of the Semitic style.
A more faithful translation would be: “I desire mercy more than sacrifice”. It is
not hat our Lord does not want the sacrifices we offer Him: He is stressing that
every sacrifice should come from the eart, for charity should imbue everything a
Christian does—especially his worship of God (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Mat-
thew 5:23-24).]
[The notes on Mark 2:26-27, 28 states:
26-27. The bread of the Presence consisted of twelve loaves or cakes placed
each morning on the table in the sanctuary, as homage to the Lord from the
twelve tribes of Israel (cf. Leviticus 24:5-9). The loaves withdrawn to make room
for the fresh ones were reserved to the priests. Abiathar’s action anticipates what
Christ teaches here. Already in the Old Testament God had established a hierar-
chy in the precepts of the Law so that the lesser ones yielded to the main ones.
This explains why a ceremonial precept (such as the one we are discussing)
should yield before a precept of the natural law. Similarly, the commandment
to keep the Sabbath does not come before the duty to seek basic subsistence.
Vatican II uses this passage of the Gospel to underline the value of the human
person over and above economic and social development: “The social order and
its development must constantly yield to the good of the person, since the order
of things must be subordinate to the order of persons and not the other way a-
round, as the Lord suggested when He said that the Sabbath was made for man
and not man for the Sabbath. The social order requires constant improvement:
it must be founded in truth, built on justice, and enlivened by love” (”Gaudium Et
Spes”, 26).
Finally in this passage Christ teaches God’s purpose in instituting the Sabbath:
God established it for man’s good, to help him rest and devote himself to Divine
worship in joy and peace. The Pharisees, through their interpretation of the Law,
had turned this day into a source of anguish and scruple due to all the various
prescriptions and prohibitions they introduced.
By proclaiming Himself ‘Lord of the Sabbath’, Jesus affirms His divinity and His
universal authority. Because He is Lord he has the power to establish other
laws, as Yahweh had in the Old Testament.
28. The Sabbath had been established not only for man’s rest but also to give
glory to God: that is the correct meaning of the _expression “the Sabbath was
made for man.” Jesus has every right to say He is Lord of the Sabbath, because
He is God. Christ restores to the weekly day of rest its full, religious meaning: it
is not just a matter of fulfilling a number of legal precepts or of concern for physi-
cal well-being: the Sabbath belongs to God; it is one way, suited to human nature,
of rendering glory and honor to the Almighty. The Church, from the time of the
Apostles onwards, transferred the observance of this precept to the following day,
Sunday—the Lord’s Day—in celebration of the resurrection of Christ.
“Son of Man”: the origin of the messianic meaning of this _expression is to be
found particularly in the prophecy of Dan 7:13ff, where Daniel, in a prophetic vision,
contemplates ‘one like the Son of Man’ coming down on the clouds of Heaven,
who even goes right up to God’s throne and is given dominion and glory and royal
power over all peoples and nations. This _expression appears 69 times in the
Synoptic Gospels; Jesus prefers it to other ways of describing the Messiah—such
as Son of David, Messiah, etc.—thereby avoiding the nationalistic overtones those
expressions had in Jewish minds at the time (cf. “Introduction to the Gospel Ac-
cording to St. Mark”, p. 62 above.]
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
First reading | Exodus 11:10-12:14 © |
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Moses and Aaron worked many wonders in the presence of Pharaoh. But the Lord made Pharaohs heart stubborn, and he did not let the sons of Israel leave his country.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
This month is to be the first of all the others for you, the first month of your year. Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, On the tenth day of this month each man must take an animal from the flock, one for each family: one animal for each household. If the household is too small to eat the animal, a man must join with his neighbour, the nearest to his house, as the number of persons requires. You must take into account what each can eat in deciding the number for the animal. It must be an animal without blemish, a male one year old; you may take it from either sheep or goats. You must keep it till the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the community of Israel shall slaughter it between the two evenings. Some of the blood must then be taken and put on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten. That night, the flesh is to be eaten, roasted over the fire; it must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled, but roasted over the fire, head, feet and entrails. You must not leave any over till the morning: whatever is left till morning you are to burn. You shall eat it like this: with a girdle round your waist, sandals on your feet, a staff in your hand. You shall eat it hastily: it is a passover in honour of the Lord. That night, I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, man and beast alike, and I shall deal out punishment to all the gods of Egypt, I am the Lord! The blood shall serve to mark the houses that you live in. When I see the blood I will pass over you and you shall escape the destroying plague when I strike the land of Egypt. This day is to be a day of remembrance for you, and you must celebrate it as a feast in the Lords honour. For all generations you are to declare it a day of festival, for ever.
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Psalm or canticle: Psalm 115:12-13,15-18 |
Gospel | Matthew 12:1-8 © |
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Jesus took a walk one sabbath day through the cornfields. His disciples were hungry and began to pick ears of corn and eat them. The Pharisees noticed it and said to him, Look, your disciples are doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath. But he said to them, Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry how he went into the house of God and how they ate the loaves of offering which neither he nor his followers were allowed to eat, but which were for the priests alone? Or again, have you not read in the Law that on the sabbath day the Temple priests break the sabbath without being blamed for it? Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple. And if you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. For the Son of Man is master of the sabbath.
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Friday, July 17, 2009 Votive Mass of the Precious Blood |
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The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.
Amen. |
If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
Psalm 68 (69) |
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I am consumed with zeal for your house |
I am exhausted with crying, but still I put my hope in my God.
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Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
I am stuck in bottomless mud;
I am adrift in deep waters
and the flood is sweeping me away.
I am exhausted with crying out, my throat is parched,
my eyes are failing as I look out for my God.
Those who hate me for no reason
are more than the hairs of my head.
They are strong, my persecutors, my lying enemies:
they make me give back things I never took.
God, you know my weakness:
my crimes are not hidden from you.
Let my fate not put to shame those who trust in you,
Lord, Lord of hosts.
Let them not be dismayed on my account,
those who seek you, God of Israel.
For it is for your sake that I am taunted
and covered in confusion:
I have become a stranger to my own brothers,
a wanderer in the eyes of my mothers children
because zeal for your house is consuming me,
and the taunts of those who hate you
fall upon my head.
I have humbled my soul with fasting
and they reproach me for it.
I have made sackcloth my clothing
and they make me a byword.
The idlers at the gates speak against me;
for drinkers of wine, I am the butt of their songs.
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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I am exhausted with crying, but still I put my hope in my God.
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Psalm 68 (69) |
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They gave me bitterness to eat; when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink.
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But I turn my prayer to you, Lord,
at the acceptable time, my God.
In your great kindness, hear me,
and rescue me with your faithful help.
Tear me from the mire, before I become stuck;
tear me from those who hate me;
tear me from the depths of the waters.
Do not let the waves overwhelm me;
do not let the deep waters swallow me;
do not let the wells mouth engulf me.
Hear me, Lord, for you are kind and good.
In your abundant mercy, look upon me.
Do not turn your face from your servant:
I am suffering, so hurry to answer me.
Come to my soul and deliver it,
rescue me from my enemies attacks.
You know how I am taunted and ashamed;
how I am thrown into confusion.
You can see all those who are troubling me.
Reproach has shattered my heart I am sick.
I looked for sympathy, but none came;
I looked for a consoler but did not find one.
They gave me bitterness to eat;
when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.
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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They gave me bitterness to eat; when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink.
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Psalm 68 (69) |
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Seek the Lord, and your heart shall live.
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I am weak and I suffer,
but your help, O God, will sustain me.
I will praise the name of God in song
and proclaim his greatness with praises.
This will please the Lord more than oxen,
than cattle with their horns and hooves.
Let the humble see and rejoice.
Seek the Lord, and your heart shall live,
for the Lord has heard the needy
and has not despised his captive people.
Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and all that swims in them.
For the Lord will make Zion safe
and build up the cities of Judah:
there they will live, the land will be theirs.
The seed of his servants will inherit the land,
and those who love his name will dwell there.
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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Seek the Lord, and your heart shall live.
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The Lord will teach us his ways
and we shall walk in his paths.
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Reading | 2 Chronicles 20:1-9,13-24 © |
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After this the Moabites and Ammonites, with some of the Melinites started to make war on Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat received the following intelligence, A vast horde is advancing against you from Edom, from the other side of the sea; they are already at Hazazon-tamar, that is, En-gedi.
Jehoshaphat was alarmed and resolved to have recourse to the Lord; he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; they came seeking the Lord from every single town in Judah.
At this assembly of the people of Judah and Jerusalem in the Temple of the Lord, Jehoshaphat stood before the new court and said, O Lord, God of our ancestors, are you not the God who dwells in the heavens? Do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Such power and might are in your hands that no one can resist you. Are you not our God, you who have dispossessed the inhabitants of this land for Israel your people, and given it to the descendants of Abraham whom you will love for ever? They have settled in it and built a sanctuary there for your name, saying, Should calamity befall us, or war, punishment, pestilence, or famine, then we shall stand before this Temple and before you, for your name is in this Temple. From the depths of our distress we shall cry to you, and you will hear and save us.
All the men of Judah, even down to their youngest children and their wives, stood in the presence of the Lord. In the middle of the assembly the spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah the Levite, one of the sons of Asaph. Listen all you men of Judah, he cried and you who live in Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! The Lord says this to you, Do not be afraid, do not be daunted by this vast horde; this battle is not yours but Gods. March out against them tomorrow; they are coming up by the Slope of Ziz and you will come on them in the Valley of Soph, near the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight there. Take up your position, stand firm, and see what salvation the Lord has in store for you. Judah and Jerusalem, be fearless, be dauntless; march out against them tomorrow and the Lord will be with you.
Jehoshaphat bent his head, his face to the ground, and all Judah with those who lived in Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshipping him. Then the Levites Kohathites and Korahites began praising the Lord the God of Israel at the tops of their voices.
They rose early in the morning and left for the wilderness of Tekoa. As they were setting out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Listen to me Judah and all who live in Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be secure; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful. Then, having held a conference with the people, he set the cantors of the Lord in sacred vestments at the head of the army, to sing praises to him. Give praise to the Lord, they sang for his love is everlasting. As they began to sing their joy and their praise, the Lord laid an ambush for the Ammonites and Moab and the mountain folk of Seir who had come to attack Judah, and routed them. The Ammonites and Moabites turned on the mountain folk of Seir to inflict the ban on them and destroy them altogether, but they only helped each other to their own undoing.
When the men of Judah reached the spot that looks out on the wilderness and turned to face the horde, they found only corpses lying on the ground; no one had escaped.
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Reading | From the treatise On the Mysteries by Saint Ambrose, bishop |
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To the newly baptised on the eucharist | |
Fresh from the waters and resplendent in these garments, Gods holy people hasten to the altar of Christ, saying: I will go in to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth. They have sloughed off the old skin of error, their youth renewed like an eagles, and they make haste to approach that heavenly banquet. They come and, seeing the sacred altar prepared, cry out: You have prepared a table in my sight. David puts these words into their mouths: The Lord is my shepherd and nothing will be lacking to me. He has set me down there in a place of pasture. He has brought me beside refreshing water. Further on, we read: For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I shall not be afraid of evils, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff have given me comfort. You have prepared in my sight a table against those who afflict me. You have made my head rich in oil, and your cup, which exhilarates, how excellent it is.
It is wonderful that God rained manna on our fathers and they were fed with daily food from heaven. And so it is written: Man ate the bread of angels. Yet those who ate that bread all died in the desert. But the food that you receive, that living bread which came down from heaven, supplies the very substance of eternal life, and whoever will eat it will never die, for it is the body of Christ.
Consider now which is the more excellent: the bread of angels or the flesh of Christ, which is indeed the body that gives life. The first was manna from heaven, the second is above the heavens. One was of heaven, the other is of the Lord of the heavens; one subject to corruption if it was kept till the morrow, the other free from all corruption, for if anyone tastes of it with reverence he will be incapable of corruption. For our fathers, water flowed from the rock; for you, blood flows from Christ. Water satisfied their thirst for a time; blood cleanses you for ever. The Jew drinks and still thirsts, but when you drink you will be incapable of thirst. What happened in symbol is now fulfilled in reality.
If what you marvel at is a shadow, how great is the reality whose very shadow you marvel at. Listen to this, which shows that what happened in the time of our fathers was but a shadow. They drank, it is written, from the rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. All this took place as a symbol for us. You know now what is more excellent: light is preferable to its shadow, reality to its symbol, the body of the Giver to the manna he gave from heaven.
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Concluding Prayer |
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O God, your light guides those who have strayed and helps them back to the right path.
Grant to all who are called Christians
that they may reject whatever contradicts that name
but hold fast to whatever is right for it.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
Amen.
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Collect: God, our Father, your light of truth guides us to the way of Christ. May all who follow him reject what is contrary to the gospel. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Friday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time St. Alexius was an Eastern saint whose veneration was transplanted from the Byzantine empire to Rome, whence it spread rapidly throughout western Christendom. Together with the name and veneration of the Saint, his legend was made known to Rome and the West by means of Latin versions based on the form current in the Byzantine Orient. He was famous for his extraordinary self-denial. Before the reform of the General Roman Calendar today was his feast.
The Breviary gives these details. Alexius belonged to a noble Roman family. Prompted by a special divine illumination and moved by an ardent love for Jesus Christ, he left his maiden bride upon their wedding day and began a pilgrimage to the more illustrious churches of Christendom. He had devoted seventeen years to this pilgrimage and was at Edessa, a Syrian city, when his holiness was revealed by a picture of the Blessed Virgin that uttered his name. He left the place and by boat arrived at the port of Rome. His father received him as a traveling stranger and he remained there seventeen years, living under the stairs of the house unrecognized by anyone. Only after his death were documents found giving his name, family, and a kind of autobiography. He died July 17, 417, during the pontificate of Pope Innocent I. Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch. Patron: Of beggars and pilgrims. Symbols: A beggar or pilgrim holding a staircase (his emblem); asleep by the stairs, dirty water emptied on him; as a pilgrim with a staff and scrip; as a pilgrim, kneeling before the pope, to whom he gives a letter. Things to Do:
Old Calendar: St. Alexis, confessor
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St. AlexisTo what extent the life and Acts of this saint are historical, whether this "man of God," as he was and is called in the Orient, lived in the East or at Rome these are questions we here must pass over. The story of St. Alexius, one of the most edifying in Christian hagiography, presents a glorious illustration of that Christian ideal of perfection which for Christ's sake embraces poverty and humiliations. Is it possible to be more heroic than to live for seventeen years under the steps in one's own house, to endure the wanton affronts of one's father's slaves, to remain as an unknown beggar to father, mother, and a bride still longing for her spouse? And for Alexius all this was motivated by an insurmountable love of Christ! Even supposing the legend to lack an historical kernel, it still would be marvelous to find a religion that could create such an ideal.
Matthew | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
Matthew 12 |
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1. | AT that time Jesus went through the corn on the sabbath: and his disciples being hungry, began to pluck the ears, and to eat. | In illo tempore abiit Jesus per sata sabbato : discipuli autem ejus esurientes cperunt vellere spicas, et manducare. | εν εκεινω τω καιρω επορευθη ο ιησους τοις σαββασιν δια των σποριμων οι δε μαθηται αυτου επεινασαν και ηρξαντο τιλλειν σταχυας και εσθιειν |
2. | And the Pharisees seeing them, said to him: Behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days. | Pharisæi autem videntes, dixerunt ei : Ecce discipuli tui faciunt quod non licet facere sabbatis. | οι δε φαρισαιοι ιδοντες ειπον αυτω ιδου οι μαθηται σου ποιουσιν ο ουκ εξεστιν ποιειν εν σαββατω |
3. | But he said to them: Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and they that were with him: | At ille dixit eis : Non legistis quid fecerit David, quando esuriit, et qui cum eo erant : | ο δε ειπεν αυτοις ουκ ανεγνωτε τι εποιησεν δαυιδ οτε επεινασεν αυτος και οι μετ αυτου |
4. | How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the loaves of proposition, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for them that were with him, but for the priests only? | quomodo intravit in domum Dei, et panes propositionis comedit, quos non licebat ei edere, neque his qui cum eo erant, nisi solis sacerdotibus ? | πως εισηλθεν εις τον οικον του θεου και τους αρτους της προθεσεως εφαγεν ους ουκ εξον ην αυτω φαγειν ουδε τοις μετ αυτου ει μη τοις ιερευσιν μονοις |
5. | Or have ye not read in the law, that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple break the sabbath, and are without blame? | aut non legistis in lege quia sabbatis sacerdotes in templo sabbatum violant, et sine crimine sunt ? | η ουκ ανεγνωτε εν τω νομω οτι τοις σαββασιν οι ιερεις εν τω ιερω το σαββατον βεβηλουσιν και αναιτιοι εισιν |
6. | But I tell you that there is here a greater than the temple. | Dico autem vobis, quia templo major est hic. | λεγω δε υμιν οτι του ιερου μειζον εστιν ωδε |
7. | And if you knew what this meaneth: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: you would never have condemned the innocent. | Si autem sciretis, quid est : Misericordiam volo, et non sacrificium : numquam condemnassetis innocentes : | ει δε εγνωκειτε τι εστιν ελεον θελω και ου θυσιαν ουκ αν κατεδικασατε τους αναιτιους |
8. | For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath. | dominus enim est Filius hominis etiam sabbati. | κυριος γαρ εστιν του σαββατου ο υιος του ανθρωπου |
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