Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.
Saint Dionysius (Bishop),
Saint Rusticus and Saint Eleutherius (Martyrs).
Feast Day 9 October.
Semi-Double.
Red Vestments.
English: Basilica of Saint Denis, France.
The Tympanum of The Portal of The North Transept:
The beheading of Saint Denis and his companions,
Saint Rusticus and Saint Eleutherius.
Français: Basilique Saint-Denis (France),
tympan du portail du transept nord:
la décollation de saint Denis et de ses compagnons
Photo: 1 March 2012.
Source: Own work.
Author: Myrabella
(Wikimedia Commons)
English: The Church of Saint John the Baptist,
Dammartin-en-Goële, France. Stained-Glass Window
depicting Saint Dionysius (Saint Denis) on the Right.
Deutsch: Katholische Pfarrkirche Saint-Jean-Baptiste
(Johannes der Täufer) in Dammartin-en-Goële
m Département Seine-et-Marne (Région Île-de-France/Frankreich),
Bleiglasfenster mit der Jahreszahl 1910, Darstellung:
Herz Jesu und Margareta Maria Alacoque,
links: Bathilde, rechts: Dionysius von Paris
Photo: 4 April 2013.
Source: Own work.
Author: GFreihalter
(Wikimedia Commons)
Dionysius (Denis), the first Bishop of Paris, accompanied by the Priest, Rusticus, and the Deacon, Eleutherius, was sent to Lutetia (Editor: Present-day Paris) in the 3rd-Century A.D. After carrying out his Mission there for several years, he was beheaded with his Companions at Catulliacum, present-day Saint Denis, Paris, where they erected over his tomb a Basilica. It was here that the Kings of France were buried. [Because of his beheading, Saint Dionysius (Denis) is always represented by bearing his head in his hands.] Saint Dionysius (Denis) is one of The Fourteen Auxiliary Saints.
The Gospel and Collect of today's Mass show forth the Christian heroism of these three Martyrs, who fearlessly confessed The Name of Christ before men and remained firm in the midst of their sufferings.
In the 9th-Century A.D., Saint Dionysius was erroneously identified with Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, whence the Epistle in The Mass relating the conversion of the latter Saint, which happened when Saint Paul passed through Greece on his second journey.
Mass: Sapiéntiam sanctórum.
