The month of May (Overview - Calendar) is the "month which the piety of the Faithful has especially Dedicated to Our Blessed Lady," and it is the occasion for a "moving tribute of Faith and love, which Catholics in every part of the world [pay] to The Queen of Heaven. During this month of May, Christians, both in Church and in the privacy of the home, offer up to Mary, from their hearts, an especially fervent and loving homage of Prayer and Veneration. In this month, too, the benefits of God's Mercy come down to us from her Throne in greater abundance" (Pope Paul VI: Encyclical on the Month of May, no. 1).
Einsiedeln Abbey is a BenedictineMonastery, in the town of Einsiedeln, in the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The Abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, the Title being derived from the circumstances of its Foundation, for the first inhabitant of the region was Saint Meinrad, a Hermit. It is a Territorial Abbey, and, therefore, not part of a Diocese, which is subject to a Bishop. It has been a major resting point, on the Way of Saint James, for Centuries.
Saint Meinrad was educated at The Abbey School, on Reichenau Island, in Lake Constance, Switzerland, under his kinsmen, Abbot Hatto and Abbot Erlebald, where he became a Monk and was ordained a Priest. After some years at Reichenau, and at a dependent Priory, on Lake Zurich, he embraced an eremitical life and established his Hermitage on the slopes of Etzel Mountain. He died on 21 January 861 A.D., at the hands of two robbers who thought that the Hermit had some precious treasures, but, during the next eighty years, the place was never without one or more Hermits emulating Meinrad's example. One of them, named Eberhard, previously Provost of Strasbourg, erected, in 934 A.D., a Monastery and Church there, of which he became the first Abbot.
English: Nave of the Abbatial Cathedral Saint Mauritius, Einsiedeln,
Canton of Schwyz, Central Switzerland.
Deutsch: Langhaus der Abteikathedrale Sankt Mauritius, Einsiedeln,
The Church was miraculously Consecrated, so the legend runs, in 948 A.D., by Christ Himself, assisted by The Four Evangelists, Saint Peter, and Saint Gregory the Great. This event was investigated and confirmed by Pope Leo VIII and subsequently ratified by many of his successors, the last ratification being by Pope Pius VI, in 1793, who confirmed the acts of all his predecessors.
In 965 A.D., Abbot Gregory, the third Abbot of Einsiedeln, was made a Prince of The Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Otto I, and his successors continued to enjoy the same dignity up to the cessation of The Empire at the beginning of the 19th-Century. In 1274, the Abbey, with its dependencies, was created an Independent Principality by Rudolf I of Germany, over which the Abbot exercised Temporal as well as Spiritual jurisdiction. It continued as an Independent Principality until 1798, the year of the French invasion. The Abbey is now what is termed an Abbey Nullius, the Abbot having quasi-episcopal authority over the territory where the Monastery is built.
For the learning and piety of its Monks, Einsiedeln Abbey has been famous for a thousand years, and many Saints and scholars have lived within its walls. The study of Letters, Printing, and Music have greatly flourished there, and the Abbey has contributed largely to the glory of The Benedictine Order. It is true that discipline declined somewhat in the 15th-Century and The Rule became relaxed, but Ludovicus II, a Monk of St. Gall, who was Abbot of Einsiedeln 1526-1544, succeeded in restoring the stricter observance.
English: Choir of the Abbatial Cathedral St. Mauritius, Einsiedeln,
Canton of Schwyz, Central Switzerland.
Deutsch: Chor der Abteikathedrale St. Mauritius, Einsiedeln,
In the 16th-Century, the religious disturbances, caused by the spread of the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland, were a source of trouble for some time. Zwingli, himself, was at Einsiedeln Abbey for a while, and used the opportunity for protesting against the famous Pilgrimages, but the storm passed over and the Abbey was left in peace. Abbot Augustine I (1600–1629) was the leader of the movement, which resulted in the erection of the Swiss Congregation of the Order of Saint Benedict, in 1602, and he also did much for the establishment of stricter observance in the Abbey and for the promotion of a high standard of scholarship and learning amongst his Monks.
The Pilgrimages, which have never ceased since the days of Saint Meinrad, have tended to make Einsiedeln Abbey the rival even of Rome, The Holy House of Loreto and Santiago de Compostela, serving as a major stopping point on the Way of St. James leading there. Pilgrimages constitute one of the features for which the Abbey is chiefly celebrated. The Pilgrims number around one million, from all parts of Catholic Europe or even further. The statue of Our Lady, from the 15th-Century, enthroned in the little Chapel erected by Eberhard, is the object of their devotion. This Chapel stands within the great Abbey Church, in much the same way as The Holy House at Loreto, encased in marble and elaborately decorated.
14 September and 13 October are the chief Pilgrimage days, the former being the Anniversary of the miraculous Consecration of Eberhard's Basilica, and the latter that of the Translation of Saint Meinrad's Relics from Reichenau Island to Einsiedeln Abbey, in 1039. The millennium of Saint Meinrad was kept there with great splendour in 1861, as well as that of the Benedictine Monastery, in 1934.
The great Church has been many times rebuilt, the last time by Abbot Maurus between 1704 and 1719. The last big renovation ended after more than twenty years in 1997. The Library contains nearly 250,000 volumes and many priceless Manuscripts. The work of the Monks is divided chiefly between Prayer, work and study. At Pilgrimage times, the number of Confessions heard is very large.
The Benedictine Community, at Saint Meinrad Arch-Abbey, consists of men who dedicate their lives to Prayer and work. They gather in Community five times a day — for Morning Prayer, Mass, Noon Prayer, Evening Prayer and Compline — to Pray for the Church and the world. Guests often join the Monks in Prayer in the Arch-Abbey Church.
Gregorian Chant is sung in The Canonical Hours of The Monastic Office, primarily in Antiphons, used to sing the Psalms, in the Great Responsories of Matins, and the Short Responsories of the Lesser Hours and Compline. The Psalm Antiphons of The Office tend to be short and simple, especially compared to the complex Great Responsories. In addition, the Monks spend private time reading spiritual and religious material. They live under the Rule of Saint Benedict, the 6th-Century instructions for Community Living, written by Saint Benedict.
This is a representation of the Coat-of-Arms of
Saint Meinrad Arch-Abbey in Saint Meinrad,
Indiana, United States of America.
Blazon: Azure, a Ship with one Sail, Argent, the Mast terminating in a Cross, the Sail charged with the Greek letters Chi Rho, Sable, resting on a Sea Barry Wavy of six, Argent and Azure; on a Chief, Or, two Eagles (Ravens ?) rising to Dexter, Sable. [1].
In 2013, the Community numbered sixty Monks. Attached to the Abbey are a Seminary and a College for about 360 Pupils, who are partially taught by the Monks, who also provide Spiritual Direction for six Convents of Religious Sisters.
In 1854, when the Monastery was again facing suppression, a colony was sent to the United States, from Einsiedeln, to minister to the local German-speaking population and to develop a place of refuge, if needed. Daughter Houses began to be Founded, the first being Saint Meinrad, Indiana, and, in 1881, these were formed into the Swiss-American Congregation, which, in 2013, comprised fourteen Monasteries from Canada, in the North, down to Guatemala, ten of which were directly founded from Einsiedeln. In the Fall of 1887, Einsiedeln Abbey sent eight Novices, and one Professed Monk, to Subiaco, Arkansas. The Reverend Father Gall D'Aujourd'hui, O.S.B., is considered to be the co-founder of Subiaco Abbey and Academy.
One of Einsiedeln Abbey's Apostolates is a School (Gymnasium), for the seventh- to twelfth-grades, which has existed in its present form since 1848. It is the continuation of a tradition of education that dates to the Early-Middle-Ages. Its distinguished Alumni include: Gall Morel; Franz Fassbind; Philipp Etter; Hans Hürlimann, and his son, Thomas Hürlimann; Bruno Frick; and Anatole Taubman.
Located in separate Cantons, Einsiedeln Abbey and Fahr Abbey, a Community of Benedictine Nuns, form a Double Monastery, both under the authority of the Abbot of Einsiedeln.
Einsiedeln Abbey's Library contains the Versus de scachis, the earliest mention of Chess in Western Literature.
Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, unless otherwise stated. Saint Catherine of Siena. Doctor of The Church. Virgin. Feast Day 30 April. Double. White Vestments.
Saint Catherine of Siena.
From the Church of Santa Maria del Rosario in Prati,
"The Holy Order of Preachers", which yesterday offered a Red Rose to Jesus risen again
[Editor: The Feast Day of Saint Peter of Verona, Martyr], offers Him, today, a Lily of Dazzling Whiteness". [The Liturgical Year, by Dom Guéranger: The Paschal Season. Vol. II. 30 April.]
Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) was the last but one of twenty-four children. In her childhood, she chose Jesus for her Spouse (Epistle). Subjecting her delicate body to frightful mortifications, her only support during her prolonged Fasts was Holy Communion (Postcommunion).
She received, from The Crucified Lord, The Stigmata and Inspired Knowledge, concerning the most profound Mysteries of Religion. It was by her persuasion that Pope Gregory XI left Avignon to return to Rome.
When, like Christ, she had reached her thirty-third year, she entered Heaven with her Divine Spouse to take part in The Nuptial Banquet (Gospel) in The Holy Joys of The Eternal Passover (Introit, Alleluia).
"Let us offer to God, on this day, The Sacred Host embalmed with the Virginal Perfume of Blessed Catherine" (Secret), so that He may grant us, in return, Life Eternal (Postcommunion).
Mass: Dilexisti.
The following Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.
And the day passing by, full of marvel, the evening came.
And I, feeling that the heart was so drawn by the force of love that I could offer no resistance to going to the place of prayer, and feeling that disposition come upon me which was at the time of my death, prostrated myself with great compunction.
And rising, with the impression of what I have said before the eye of my mind, God placed me before Himself.
I am always before Him, because He contains everything in Himself, but now He placed me before Himself in a new way, as if memory, intellect, and will had nothing whatever to do with my body.
And this Truth was reflected in me with such light that in that abyss were then renewed the mysteries of Holy Church, and all the graces received in my life, past and present, and the day in which my soul was wedded to Him.
All this then vanished from me through the increase of the inward fire.
And I paid heed only to what should be done, that I should make a sacrifice of myself to God for Holy Church and for the sake of removing ignorance and negligence from those whom God had put into my hands.
Then the devils called out havoc upon me, seeking to hinder and slacken with their terrors my free and burning desire.
So these beat upon the shell of the body; but desire became the more kindled, crying “O Eternal God, receive the sacrifice of my life in this mystical body of Holy Church!
“I have naught to give save what Thou hast given to me. Take then my heart, and may Thy Bride lean her face upon it!”
Then Eternal God, turning the eyes of His mercy, removed my heart, and offered it to Holy Church.
And He had drawn it to Himself with such force that had He not at once bound it about with His strength – not wishing that the vessel of my body should be broken – my life would have gone.
[. . .] Now I say: Thanks, thanks be to the Highest God Eternal, who has placed us in the battlefield as knights, to fight for His Bride with the shield of holiest faith.
The field is left free to us by that virtue and power which routed the devil who possessed the human race; who was routed, not in the strength of humanity, but of Deity.
Thus the devil neither is nor shall be routed by the suffering of our bodies, but by strength of the fire of divine, most ardent, and immeasurable love.
To those who think the Church’s day has come to an end:
“If you reply that it looks as though the Church must surrender, for it is impossible for it to save itself and its children, I say to you that it is not so. The outward appearance deceives, but look at the inward, and you will find that it possesses a power that its enemies can never possess.”
On finding God in the midst of a busy life:
“Build an inner cell in your Soul and never leave it.”
Faithfulness to duty:
“Let all do the work which God has given them, and not bury their talent, for that is also a sin deserving severe punishment. It is necessary to work always and everywhere for all God’s creatures.”
To Pope Gregory XI, who was weak and indecisive:
“You can do what he (Pope Gregory the Great) did, for he was a man as you are, and God is always the same as he was. The only thing we lack is hunger for the salvation of our neighbour, and courage.”
To a Cardinal, on the need for courage:
“A Soul which is full of slavish fear cannot achieve anything which is right, whatever the circumstances may be, whether it concern small or great things. It will always be shipwrecked and never complete what it has begun. How dangerous this fear is! It makes holy desire powerless, it blinds a man so that he can neither see not understand the truth. This fear is born of the blindness of self-love, for as soon as a man loves himself with the self-love of the senses he learns fear, and the reason for this fear is that it has given its hope and love to fragile things which have neither substance or being and vanish like the wind.”
To her Spiritual Director, Blessed Raymond of Capua, on courage:
“(I long) to see you grow out of your childhood and become a grown man . . . For an infant who lives on milk is not able to fight on the battlefield; he only wants to play with other children. So a man, who is wrapped in love for himself, only wishes to taste the milk of spiritual and temporal consolation; like a child he wants to be with others of its kind. But when he becomes a grown man he leaves behind this sensitive self love . . . He has become strong, he is firm, serious and thoughtful, he hastens to the battlefield and his only wish is to fight for the truth.”
To those who think the Church’s day has come to an end:
“If you reply that it looks as though the Church must surrender, for it is impossible for it to save itself and its children, I say to you that it is not so. The outward appearance deceives, but look at the inward, and you will find that it possesses a power that its enemies can never possess.”
To us all:
“If you are what you are meant to be, you will set the world on fire.” (Source)
Saint Catherine of Siena (1347–1380) was born in Siena, Italy, the 25th child of a wealthy wool dyer. She began having profound mystical experiences at the age of six, which encouraged her in a life of virtue, extreme Penance, and total Consecration to God. She became a Dominican Tertiary at the age of 16, while continuing to live in the home of her parents as a Virgin. She had regular mystical visits from, and conversations with, Jesus, Mary, and many of the Saints. Catherine had no formal education and could not read, however, her Theological knowledge astounded many. She was especially devoted to the unity and spiritual health of The Church. Among her most famous accomplishments, was that she persuaded the Pope to go back to Rome from Avignon in 1377. She became an important political figure in her day, and her spiritual and practical wisdom was widely sought after, both inside and outside The Church. Saint Catherine was granted The Stigmata, which was made visible only after her death in Rome at the age of 33. In 1970, she was proclaimed a Doctor of The Church. Her Feast Day is Celebrated on 30 April.
The following Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.
Solemn Mass (Latin: Missa Solemnis), sometimes also referred to as Solemn High Mass or, simply, High Mass, is, when used not merely as a description, the full Ceremonial Form of The Tridentine Mass, Celebrated by a Priest with a Deacon and a Sub-Deacon, requiring most of the parts of The Mass to be sung, and the use of Incense. The term "High Mass" is also used in the United States to describe the less elaborate Missa Cantata, which lacks Deacon and Sub-Deacon and some of the Ceremonies connected with them.
These terms distinguish the Form in question from that of Low Mass and Missa Cantata.
The parts assigned to the Deacon and Sub-Deacon are often done by Priests in Vestments, proper to those roles.
A Solemn Mass celebrated by a Bishop has its own particular Ceremonies and is referred to as a Solemn Pontifical Mass.
The terms "Solemn Mass," "Solemn High Mass," and "High Mass" are also often used within Anglo-Catholicism, in which the Ceremonial, and sometimes the Text, are based on those of The Sarum Rite or the later Tridentine Mass.
Notre-Dame de Chrétienté, the organisers of The Chartres Pilgrimage, the largest Traditional Catholic event of the year, have just released the names of the Celebrants of the main collective events this year:
- Dom Louis-Marie, Father Abbot of the Abbey of Saint Mary Magdalene of Le Barroux, will celebrate the Solemn Mass on Saturday, May 23, in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris (Notre-Dame de Paris).
- Bishop. Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary Bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, will celebrate the Pontifical Mass for Pentecost Sunday, May 24, at the Rambouillet Racecourse.
- Bishop. Michel Pansard, Bishop of Chartres, will preside at The Benediction of The Blessed Sacrament on Pentecost Sunday evening at the bivouac at Gas.
- Father Emmanuel-Marie de Saint Jean, Father Abbot of the Abbey of Saint Mary of Lagrasse, will celebrate the Pontifical Mass, closing the Pilgrimage, on Pentecost Monday, May 25, in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (Notre-Dame de Chartres).
There's still time to go ! Additional information in English at their WEB-SITE, and to take part go HERE, either directly or helping the event from the outside in any country ("Guardian Angel", "Ange Gardien").
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"; he 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.
His body was taken to Venice, whose Patron he is since the 9th-Century. 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).
English: Venetian merchants, with the help of two Greek Monks,
Roman Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.
Italic Text, Illustrations and Captions taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, unless otherwise stated. The Station is at Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome. Violet Vestments.
The Ancient Custom of Blessing the Fields, Rogation Sunday, Hever, Kent , England.
The Church celebrates, today (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.
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 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.
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 religiousfestival of the Robigalia, a 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 (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). In England, Rogation Sunday is called "Chestnut Sunday".
The Faithful typically observed The Rogation Days by Fasting in preparation to Celebrate The Ascension, 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 was 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. Their observance in the Latin Church subsequently declined, 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, called "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 as an optional observance.
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, unless otherwise stated. Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen. Martyr. Feast Day 24 April. Double. Red Vestments.
English: Wall painting of Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen
in the Church of Saint Venantius, Pfärrenbach, Horgenzell, Germany.
Deutsch: Filialkirche St. Venantius, Pfärrenbach, Gemeinde HorgenzellWandmalerei
im Kirchenschiff: Hl. Fidelis von Sigmaringen.
Photo: 2006.
Source: Own work.
Author: Photo: Andreas Praefcke.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Saint Fidelis was born at Sigmaringen, Swabia (or, Suabia), Germany, in 1577. He was at first a Magistrate and took so much interest in the Poor that he was called "the Advocate of the Poor". He entered the Seraphic Order of Saint Francis, intimately united to God in continual Prayer and work. He asked, and obtained from Him, to shed his blood for The Catholic Faith.
He was sent to the Country of the Grisons, where Protestant Soldiers, fearing his influence, stabbed him to death at Sévis in 1622 (Collect).
This Holy Martyr, who, in The Paschal Cycle, takes his place among the attendants of The Risen Lord, shares with Him the felicity of The Sons of God (Epistle).
The Gospel of The Martyr's Mass in Paschaltide is, like the Gospels after Easter, a passage from the last discourse pronounced by The Master on the eve of His Death.
On the symbolical vine, which is Jesus, there are two sorts of branches which receive different treatment. Those without fruit are cut off and thrown into the fire. Those that bear fruit are, on the contrary, "carefully pruned, in order that they may produce still more". That is why Saint Fidelis was persecuted and put to death.
Let us obtain by the merits of this Saint to be, like him, "so confirmed in Faith and Charity that we may be faithful in God's service unto death" (Collect).
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, unless otherwise stated. Saint George. Martyr. Feast Day 23 April. Semi-Double. (In England: Double of the First-Class with Octave.) Red Vestments.
Saint George, born of an illustrious family in Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey), was promoted by Emperor Diocletian to the First Ranks in the army.
When the Emperor had published at Nicomedia his first Edict against the Christians, Saint George reproached him for his cruelty. Immediately, Saint George was cast into prison and subjected to such atrocious torments that the Eastern Church calls him The Great Martyr. He was beheaded in 303 A.D.
This Patron of armies is Venerated by Greeks and Latins. Rome possesses a Sanctuary erected in his honour, where The Station is held on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday.
England chose him for her Patron in the 13th-Century. Therefore, in this Country, his Feast is a Double of the First-Class with an Octave. He is one of the fourteen Auxiliary Saints.
The following Text is from Wikipedia -the free encyclopaedia.
Saint George, was a Soldier in the Roman army and was later Venerated as a Christian Martyr. His father was Gerontius, a GreekChristian, from Cappadocia, and an Official in the Roman army; his mother, Polychronia, was a Christian, from Lydda. Saint George became an Officer in the Roman army in the Guard of the Emperor Diocletian, who ordered his death for failing to repudiate his Christian Faith.
