Saint Mark The Evangelist. Feast Day 25 April. Red Vestments.

English: Saint Mark the Evangelist.

Español: San Marcos.

Artist: Jusepe Leonardo (1601–1653).

Date: Circa 1630.

Current location: Bowes Museum,

Barnard Castle, England.

This File: 7 June 2010.

User: Enrique Cordero

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Mark The Evangelist.

Illustration: UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY

Artist: René de Cramer.

“Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium”.

Used with Permission.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Mark the Evangelist.
   Feast Day 25 April.

Double of the Second-Class.

Red Vestments.

Saint Mark, the Disciple of Saint Peter, is one of the Four Evangelists (Collect) who wrote, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, an abridgement of the Life of Jesus. 

His narration begins by the mission of Saint John the 

Baptist, whose “voice was heard in the desert”; Saint Mark is represented with a Lion lying at his feet, because the Lion, 

one of the four symbolical animals in the vision of Ezechiel (Epistle), makes the desert re-echo with its roaring.

He was one of the seventy-two Disciples (Gospel). He
went to Egypt, where he was the first to announce Christ at Alexandria. The Preaching of the Gospel, which his Martyrdom confirmed, made him to enter into Glory (Secret), where Saint John shows him to us as one of the four symbolical animals who attend the Triumph of the Immolated Lamb.

Statue of Saint Mark the Evangelist (Copy).

Artist: Donatello

Location: Orsanmichele, Florence, Italy.

This File: 22 August 2005.

User: Cnelson~commonswiki

(Wikimedia Commons)

His body was taken to Venice, whose Patron he is since the 

9th-Century A.D. Rome possesses a Church Dedicated to 

Saint Mark, where a Station is held on the Monday of the 

Third Week in Lent.

Let us profit by the teaching of Saint Mark, who wrote the Gospel of Christ and Preached it, and let us have recourse to his Prayers (Collect).

Mass: Protexisti.
Commemoration: Of the Rogations, should the Rogation Mass not be Celebrated.
Credo: Is said.
Preface: Of The Apostles.

English: Venetian merchants,

with the help of two Greek Monks,

take Mark the Evangelist’s body to Venice

Deutsch: Bergung des Leichnams

des Hl. Markus (vor der Restaurierung).

Artist: Tintoretto

Date: 1562-1566.

Current location: Accademia of Venice, Italy.

Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project:

10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.

DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202

Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

(Wikimedia Commons)

“Goodnight”. Arthur J. Elsley (1860-1952).

“Goodnight”.

Artist: 

Arthur J. Elsley (1860-1952).

Illustration: MEISTERDRUCKE

Chauffeur Perkins Is Getting Big Ideas, Again.

“Perkins !!! 

“We need to talk !!!”

1931 CADILLAC V16 IMPERIAL CABRIOLET.

Illustration: HYMAN LTD

Psalm 23: : “The Lord Is My Shepherd”. The Choice Of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (R.I.P.) At Her Wedding In 1947.

Psalm 23.

“The Lord Is My Shepherd”.

 From: “The Sunday at Home”.

Date: 1880.

Illustration: WIKIPEDIA

Illustration from The Sunday at Home, 1880.

Other name: “Dominus reget me”.

Written around 1000 B.C.

Text attributed to King David.

Language Hebrew (original).

Psalm 23.

“The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want”.

Funeral Of HM Queen Elizabeth II (R.I.P.).

Westminster Abbey.

2022.

Available On YouTube

HERE

“The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want”, is a metrical translation of Psalm 23, found in the “Scottish Psalter” of 1650, set to the tune “CRIMOND”, by Jessie Irvine (1836 - 1887). 

The descant used in verses two and five 

was composed by W. Baird Ross (1871 - 1950). 

This Hymn was sung at the State Funeral of 

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (R.I.P.), 

at Westminster Abbey, 

Monday, 19 September 2022. 

May her Soul 

and the Souls of all the Faithful departed, 

through the mercy of God, 

Rest in Peace.

Amen.

This article is about Psalm 23 in Hebrew (Masoretic) numbering. 

Psalm 23 is the Twenty-Third Psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: “The Lord is my Shepherd”. 

In Latin, it is known by the Incipit: “Dominus regit me”.[1][2][3][4] 

The Book of Psalms is part of the Third Section of the Hebrew Bible,[5] and a book of the Christian Old Testament. 

In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this Psalm is Psalm 22.

Like many Psalms, Psalm 23 is used in both Jewish and Christian Liturgies. It has often been set to music.

The theme of God as a Shepherd was common in ancient Israel and Mesopotamia. For example, King Hammurabi, in the conclusion to his famous legal code, wrote: 

“I am the Shepherd 

Who brings well-being and abundant prosperity; 

My rule is Just . . . so that the strong 

Might not oppress the weak, 

And that even the orphan and the widow 

Might be treated with justice.”[6] 

This imagery and language were well-known to the community that created the Psalm, and it was easily imported into its Worship.

Psalm 23 portrays God as a good Shepherd, feeding (verse one) and leading (verse three) his Herd. 

The “Rod and Staff” (verse four) are also the implements of a Shepherd. Some commentators see the Shepherd imagery pervading the entire Psalm. 

It is known that the Shepherd is to know each Sheep by name, thus, when God is given the analogy of a Shepherd, He is not only a protector but also the caretaker. 

God, as the caretaker, leads the Sheep to Green Pastures (verse two) and Still Waters (verse two), because He knows that each of His Sheep must be personally led to be fed. 

Thus, without its Shepherd, the Sheep would die, either by a predator (like the Wolf) or of starvation, since Sheep are known for their helplessness without their Shepherd.

J. Douglas MacMillan argues that verse five (“Thou preparest a table before me”) refers to the “old oriental Shepherding practice” of using little raised tables to feed Sheep.[7]:   

Similarly, “Thou anointest my head with oil” may refer to an ancient form of Backliner [Editor: An externally applied medicine for Sheep] – the oil is poured on wounds, and repels flies.

MacMillan also notes that verse six (“Goodness and Mercy shall follow me”) reminds him of two loyal Sheepdogs coming behind the flock.[7]: 

The header, or first verse, of the Psalm, ascribes authorship to King David, said in the Hebrew Scriptures to have been a Field Shepherd, himself, as a youth.

Taken together, Psalm 22, Psalm 23, and Psalm 24, are seen by some as Shepherd Psalms, where the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the Sheep as a suffering Servant and King.[9]

Psalm 23.

Douai-Rheims Bible.

Bishop Challoner Revision.

(Ezekiel 34:11-24; John 10:1-21)

A Psalm for David. 

The Lord ruleth me: 

And I shall want nothing.

He hath set me in a place of pasture. 

He hath brought me up, 

on the water of refreshment:

He hath converted my Soul. 

He hath led me on the paths of justice, 

for His own name’s sake.

For though I should walk 

in the midst of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evils, for Thou art with me. 

Thy Rod and Thy Staff, they have comforted me.

Thou hast prepared a table before me 

against them that afflict me. 

Thou hast anointed my head with oil; 

and my Chalice which inebreateth me, 

how goodly is it !

And Thy mercy will follow me 

all the days of my life. 

And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord 

unto length of days.

Text of Psalm 23, above, is from the 

Douai-Rheims Bible at BIBLE HUB

Uses in Judaism.

Psalm 23 is Traditionally sung during the Third Shabbat Meal[15][16], as well as before the First and Second, and in some Jewish communities during the Kiddush. 

It is also commonly recited in the presence of a deceased person, such as by those keeping watch over the body before burial, and at the funeral service.[17][18]

“The Lord Is My Shepherd”.

“Crimond”.

Requested by Queen Elizabeth II (R.I.P.) 

at her Wedding in 1947.

BBC Radio 4 Extra Broadcast available at 

HERE

Spoiler Alert !!!

Ensure you have a large box of tissues with you, 

when listening to this not-to-be-missed broadcast.

Listen to this wonderful programme from Radio 4 Extra about the much-loved Hymn “Psalm 23”, set to music many times, including “Brother James’ Air” and “Crimond” [Editor: Crimond is a Village in Aberdeen-shire, Scotland].

The Queen (Queen Elizabeth II) requested 

the “Crimond” version at her wedding in 1947. 

Harriet Bowes Lyon tells the story that her mother, Lady Margaret Colville, (formerly Lady Margaret Egerton) taught the descant to the Queen (then Princess Elizabeth) and Princess Margaret, and she (Lady Colville) was summoned to sing it to the Presbyter in Westminster Abbey, when, two days before the Wedding, the descant music could not be found 

and nobody knew what the tune was !!! The Presbyter 

wrote down what he had heard from Lady Colville 

and all went ahead very well.

Howard Goodall, who wrote a new setting for 

“The Vicar of Dibley” television programme, 

describes how he composed it in a taxi. 

Selina Scott says that the “Crimond” always 

puts her in mind of her Scottish grandmother.

Procession And Holy Mass Of The Greater Litanies (25 April). Procession Et Sainte Messe Des Litanies Majeures.

Procession And Holy Mass: The Greater Litanies 2023.

Procession Et Sainte Messe Des Litanies Majeures.

The Church of Saint-Eugène - Sainte-Cécile, Paris.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Procession of The Greater Litanies: Pope Saint Gregory the Great has a vision of Saint Michael the Archangel on Castel Sant’Angelo sheathing his sword, marking the end of the plague epidemic in Rome. The Clergy carry in Procession 

the miraculous icon Salus Populi Romani.

Illustration: SCHOLA SAINT CECILE

The following Text is from SCHOLA SAINT CECILE

“De Jerusalem exeunt” – First Parisian Processional Antiphon for the Procession of The Greater Litanies on 25 April.

By: Henri de Villiers

In Litaniæ Majores

In Processione, Prima Antiphona

De Jerusalem * exéunt relíquiæ et salvátio de monte Zion; proptérea protectio erit huic civitáti, et salvábitur propter David fámulum ejus.

Alleluia.

From Jerusalem come the relics, and the salvation of Mount Zion; also this city will be protected and saved because of David, his servant.

Alleluia.

Source: Parisian Missal from the old background of Notre-Dame de Paris (c. 1225) – F-Pn lat. 1112 f°250 v° ( CAD n°1543 ).

This Antiphon, from “De Jerusalem exeunt”, is part of a large series of Processional Antiphons which were sung in Rome during the Procession of The Greater Litanies.

Not having been recorded in the Missale Romanum of Pope Saint Pius V, they have in fact fallen into disuse, despite their great antiquity.

The custom of Paris has preserved a certain number of them and began the procession of The Greater Litanies with this one, “De Jerusalem exeunt”.

These Antiphons were transcribed both in the Missal and in the Processional, they were used not only for The Greater Litanies, Celebrated on 25 April concomitantly with the Feast of Saint Mark, but also for The Lesser Litanies, that is to say three days of Rogation (Rogation Monday, Rogation Tuesday, Rogation Wednesday) immediately preceding the Feast Day of The Ascension.

These Antiphons were called in The Middle Ages “Litaniales Antiphons” – “Antiphonæ Lætanialis” or even “Antiphons of Mercy” – “Antiphonæ de Misericordia” . 

They most likely date back to the time of Pope Saint Gregory the Great (6th-Century A.D. ) or even earlier.

Originally, and before seeing their use specialising in Mediæval manuscripts for The Greater Litanies and The Lesser Litanies, they were used in Rome for all Processions, beginning with those that took place every day of Station between the Collect Church and that of the Station.

The text of our Antiphon “De Jerusalem exeunt” recalls that the Relics of the Saints must be carried to the Processions of The Greater Litanies and The Lesser Litanies (The Rogations Days), as can be seen on all the graphic representations of these Ceremonies.

The Greater Litanies On 25 April. The Lesser Litanies (Rogation Days). Chestnut Sunday (Rogation Sunday). The Litany Of The Saints.

Rogation Sunday.

Ancient Custom of Blessing the Fields,

Hever, Kent, England.

Photo: 9 February 1967.

Source: geograph.org.uk

Author: Ray Trevena

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

The Station is at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome.

Violet Vestments.

The Church Celebrates, on 25 April, two Solemnities, which have nothing in common: The Greater Litanies, so called on account of their Roman origin, and the Feast of Saint Mark, which is of later date. The word “Litany” means “Supplication”.

In ancient Rome, on 25 April, used to be celebrated the pagan feast of Robigalia. It consisted, principally, of a procession, which, leaving the City by the Flaminian Gate, went to the Milvian Bridge and ended in a suburban Sanctuary situated on the Claudian Way.

There, a ewe was sacrificed in honour of a god or goddess of the name Robigo (god or goddess of frost). The Greater Litany was the substitution of a Christian, for a pagan, ceremony. Its itinerary is known to us by a convocation of Saint Gregory the Great. It is, approximately, the same as that of the pagan procession.

All the Faithful in Rome betook themselves to the Church of Saint Laurence-in-Lucina, the nearest to the Flaminian Gate. Leaving by this Gate, the Procession made a Station at Saint Valentine’s, crossed the Milvian Bridge, and branched off to the Left towards the Vatican.

After halting at a Cross, it entered the Basilica of Saint Peter for the Celebration of the Holy Mysteries.

This Litany is recited throughout the Church to keep away calamities, and to draw down the Blessing of God on the Harvest. “Vouchsafe to grant us to preserve the fruits of the Earth, we Pray Thee, hear us”, is sung by the Procession through the Countryside.

The whole Mass shows what assiduous Prayer may obtain, when, in the midst of our adversities (Collects, Offertory), we have recourse with confidence to Our Father in Heaven (Epistle, Gospel, Communion).

If the Feast of Saint Mark is Transferred, the Litanies are not Transferred, unless they fall on Easter Sunday. In which case, they are Transferred to the following Tuesday.

Litany of The Saints.

Available on YouTube

HERE

The Litany Of The Saints.

The Litany of The Saints is used in connection with:

Holy Mass on the Greater Litanies (25 April);

The Lesser Litanies (Rogation Days);

Holy Saturday;

The Vigil of Pentecost;

Masses of Ordination, before the conferring of Major Orders.

On Saint Mark’s Day and Rogation Days, if the Procession is held, the Litany is preceded by the Antiphon “Exurge, Domine”, (Psalm XLIII. 26), and all Invocations are sung by the Cantors and repeated in full by the Choir [i.e., “Doubled”].

If the Procession cannot be held, the Invocations are not repeated.

On the Vigils of Easter and Pentecost, the Invocations marked with an asterisk (*) in the Missal are omitted; all the remaining Invocations are repeated, either there be a Font and a Procession from the Baptistry, or not.

At Masses of Ordination, only the first five Invocations are repeated.

Litany of the Saints at the Funeral of

Pope Saint John Paul II.

 Available on YouTube

HERE

Rogation Days are, in the Calendar of the Western Church, observed on 25 April (the Major Rogation) and the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday immediately preceding Ascension Thursday (the Minor Rogations).

The first Rogation, the Greater Litanies, has been compared 

to the ancient Roman religious festival of the Robigalia, a pagan ritual involving prayer and sacrifice for crops held on 25 April. 

The first Rogation is also observed on 25 April, and a direct connection has sometimes been asserted, with the “Christian substitute” following the same processional route in Rome. If Easter falls on 24 April, or on this day (25 April) (the latest possible date for Easter), the Rogations are Transferred to the following Tuesday.

The second set of Rogation Days, the Lesser Litanies, or Rogations, introduced about 470 A.D. by Bishop Mamertus of Vienne and eventually adopted elsewhere, are the three days (Rogation Monday, Rogation Tuesday and Rogation Wednesday) immediately before Ascension Thursday in the Christian Liturgical Calendar.

The word “Rogation” comes from the Latin verb “Rogare”, meaning “to ask”, and was applied to this time of the Liturgical Year because the Gospel reading for the previous Sunday included the passage, “Ask and ye shall receive” (Gospel of John 16:24).

The Sunday itself was often called Rogation Sunday, as a result, and marked the start of a three-week period (ending on Trinity Sunday), when Roman Catholic and Anglican Clergy did not solemnise marriages (two other such periods of marital prohibition also formerly existed, one beginning on the First Sunday in Advent and continuing through the Octave of Epiphany, or 13 January, and the other running from Septuagesima until the Octave of Easter, the Sunday after Easter (Low Sunday)).

In England, Rogation Sunday is called “Chestnut Sunday”.

The Faithful typically observed the Rogation Days by Fasting in preparation to Celebrate Ascension Day, and farmers often had their crops Blessed by a Priest at this time. 

Violet Vestments are worn at the Rogation Litany and its associated Mass, regardless of what colour Vestments were being worn at the ordinary Liturgies of the day.

A common feature of Rogation Days, in former times, was the Ceremony of “Beating the Bounds”, in which a Procession of Parishioners, led by the Minister, Churchwarden, and Choirboys, would proceed around the boundary of their Parish and Pray for its protection in the forthcoming year. This was also known as “Gang-Day”.

The reform of the Liturgical Calendar for Latin Roman Catholics, in 1969, delegated the establishment of Rogation Days, along with Ember Days, to the Episcopal Conferences . . .

the observance in the Latin Church subsequently declined . . .

[Editor: Can you believe that !!! Surely not !!! Surely the Episcopal Conferences would ensure the continuation of these most beautiful and effective Ceremonies, which had existed for over a thousand years !!! They would preserve them, and ensure their continuance and use . . . SURELY ???]

. . . but the observance has revived somewhat, since 1988, (when Pope Saint John Paul II issued his Decree “Ecclesia Dei Adflicta”) and especially since 2007 (when Pope Benedict XVI issued his Motu Proprio, “Summorum Pontificum”), when the use of older Rites was encouraged.

Churches of the Anglican Communion reformed their Liturgical Calendar in 1976, but continue to recognise the three days before Ascension [Editor: the Rogation Days (the Lesser Litanies)] as an Optional Observance.

“Ladies In Lavender”. Joshua Bell.

“Ladies in Lavender”.

Joshua Bell.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Lay Movement Launches International Campaign For “Total Freedom Of The Traditional Liturgy”.

Illustration: EP.

This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at,
EDWARD PENTIN

Being a Catholic in 2024 is no easy endeavour. The West is undergoing a massive de-Christianisation, so much so that Catholicism appears to be vanishing from the public sphere.

Elsewhere, the number of Christians being persecuted for their Faith is on the rise. What’s more, The Church has been struck by an internal crisis that manifests itself in a decline in Religious practice, a downswing in Priestly and Religious vocations, a decrease in Sacramental practice, and even a growing dissension between Priests, Bishops and Cardinals which, until very recently, was utterly unthinkable.

Yet, among all the things that can contribute to the internal revival of The Church and to the renewal of her missionary zeal, there is, above all, the worthy and reverent Celebration of her Liturgy, which can be greatly fostered thanks to the example and the presence of the Traditional Roman Liturgy.

Despite all the attempts that have been made to suppress it, especially during the present Pontificate, it lives on, continuing to spread and to sanctify the Christian people who are Blessed to be able to benefit from it. 

It bears abundant fruits of piety, as well as an increase of vocations and of conversions. It attracts young people and is the fount of many flourishing works, especially in schools, and is accompanied by a solid catechesis. 

No-one can deny that it is a vector for the preservation and transmission of The Faith and Religious practice in the midst of a waning of Religious belief and a dwindling number of believers. 

This Mass, due to its venerable antiquity, can boast of having sanctified countless Souls over the Centuries. Among other vital forces still active in The Church, this form of Liturgical life stands out because of the stability given to it by an uninterrupted “Lex Orandi”.

Certainly, some places of Worship have been granted, or rather tolerated, where this Liturgy can be Celebrated, but too often what has been given by one hand is taken back by the other, without, however, ever managing to make it vanish.

Since the massive decline during the period immediately following the Second Vatican Council, every attempt has been made on numerous occasions to revive Religious practice, to increase the number of Priestly and Religious vocations, and to preserve The Faith of the Christian people.

Everything, except letting the people experience the Traditional Liturgy, by giving the Tridentine Liturgy a fair chance. Today, however, common sense urgently demands that all the vital forces in The Church be allowed to live and prosper, and in particular the one which enjoys a Right dating back to over a millennium.

Let there be no mistake: The present appeal is not a petition to obtain a new tolerance as in 1984 and 1988, nor even a restoration of the status granted in 2007 by the Motu Proprio “Summorum Pontificum”, which, recognising in principle a Right, has in fact been reduced to a regime of meagrely-granted permissions.

As Lay People, it is not for us to pass judgement on the Second Vatican Council, its continuity or discontinuity with the previous teaching of The Church, the merits, or not, of the reforms that resulted from it, and so on.

On the other hand, it is necessary to defend and transmit the means that Providence has employed to enable a growing number of Catholics to preserve The Faith, to grow in it, or to discover it.

The Traditional Liturgy plays an essential role in this process, thanks to its transcendence, its beauty, its timelessness and its doctrinal certainty.

For this reason, we simply ask, for the sake of the true freedom of the children of God in The Church, that the full freedom of the Traditional Liturgy, with the free use of all its Liturgical Books, be granted, so that, without hindrance, in the Latin Rite, all The Faithful may benefit from it and all Clerics may Celebrate it.

Jean-Pierre Maugendre, Managing Director of Renaissance Catholique, Paris, France.

22 April 2024.

This appeal is not a petition to be signed, but a message to be disseminated, possibly to be taken up again in any form that may seem appropriate, and to be brought and explained to the Cardinals, Bishops, and Prelates, of The Universal Church.

Si Renaissance catholique a l’initiative de cette campagne, c’est uniquement pour se faire l’interprète d’un large désir en ce sens qui se manifeste dans l’ensemble du monde catholique. Cette campagne n’est pas la sienne, mais celle de tous ceux qui y participeront, la relayeront, l’amplifieront, chacun à leur manière.

Renaissance Catholique is a Paris-based movement of Lay People working to re-establish the social reign of Christ.

Saint Fidelis Of Sigmaringen.

Text from “The Liturgical Year”.

By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.

Volume 8.

Paschal Time.

Book II.

Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen.

   Martyr.

   Feast Day 24 April.

Our Risen Lord would have around Him a bright phalanx of Martyrs. Its privileged members belong to the different Centuries of The Church’s existence.

Its ranks open today to give welcome to a brave combatant, who won his Palm, not in a contest with paganism, as those did whose Feasts we have thus far kept, but in defending his mother, The Church, against her own rebellious children.

They were heretics that slew this day’s Martyr, and the Century that was honoured with his triumph was the 17th-Century.

Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen.

Feast Day 24 April.

“Standing Up For The Faith.

When You Don't Want To”.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Fidelis was worthy of his beautiful name. Neither difficulty nor menace could make him fail in his duty. During his whole life, he had but the glory and the service of his Divine Lord in view: And, when the time came for him to face danger, he did so, calmly but fearlessly, as behoved a disciple of Jesus who went forth to meet his enemies.

Honour, then, be today to the brave son of Saint Francis ! Truly, he is worthy of his seraphic Patriarch, who confronted the Saracens, and was a Martyr in desire !

Protestantism was established and rooted by the shedding of torrents of blood; and yet Protestants count it as a great crime that, here and there, the children of the True Church made an armed resistance against them.

The heresy of the 16th-Century was the cruel and untiring persecutor of men, whose only crime was their adhesion to the old Faith — the Faith that had civilised the World.

The so-called Reformation proclaimed liberty in matters of Religion, and massacred Catholics who exercised this liberty, and Prayed and believed as their ancestors had done for long ages before Luther and Calvin were born.

A Catholic who gives heretics credit for sincerity when they talk about Religious toleration, proves that he knows nothing of either the past or the present. There is a fatal instinct in error, which leads it to hate the Truth; and the True Church, by its unchangeableness, is a perpetual reproach to them that refuse to be her children.

Heresy starts with an attempt to annihilate them that remain Faithful; when it has grown tired of open persecution, it vents its spleen in insults and calumnies; and when these do not produce the desired effect, hypocrisy comes in with its assurance of friendly forbearance.

The history of Protestant Europe, during the last three Centuries [Editor: Guéranger was writing circa 1875], confirms these statements; it also justifies us in honouring those courageous servants of God who, during that same period, have died for the ancient Faith.

Let us now, respectfully, listen to the account given us in today’s Liturgy, of the life and Martyrdom of Saint Fidelis; we shall find that The Church has not grown degenerate in her Saints.

Pray, O, Holy Martyr, for the children of The Church. Obtain for them an appreciation of the value of Faith, and of the favour God bestowed on them when he made them members of the True Church.

May they be on their guard against the many false doctrines which are now current through the World. May they not be shaken by the scandals which abound in this age of effeminacy and pride.

It is Faith that is to bring us to our Risen Jesus: And He urges it upon us by the words he addressed to Thomas: “Blessed are they that have not seen and have believed”.