Saint Eusebius. Bishop. Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 16 December.

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

Saint Eusebius.
Bishop and Martyr.
Feast Day 16 December.

Semi-Double.

Red Vestments.

English: The Virgin Mary in Glory,

with Archangel Gabriel, and Saint Eusebius of Vercelli (seated), Saint Sebastian, and Saint Roch.

Deutsch: Maria in Gloria mit Erzengel Gabriel und Hl. Eusebius, Hl. Sebastian und Hl. Rochus.

Artist: Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734).

Date: 1724.

Current location: Università degli Studi, Milan, Italy.

Source: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002.

ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Author: Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Eusebius was born in Sardinia in the 4th-Century A.D., at a time when Arianism was bent on undermining The Dogma of The Divinity of Christ. Having become Bishop of Vercelli, in Italy, he seconded the efforts of Pope Liberius and of his successor, Saint Damasus, whose Feast was Celebrated a few days ago. The Arians, in their irritation, obtained his exile after making him suffer much ill-treatment. He died in 371 A.D.

The Mass describes the numerous Persecutions he underwent at the hands of these heretics. Constant in the midst of trials, as the Epistle relates, he encouraged The Clergy and people of Vercelli by the Letters he wrote to them.

The Church confers on him the Title of Martyr, although he did not have to shed his blood, on account of his sufferings generously undergone and his intrepidity before death (Gospel).

Let us confess, with Saint Eusebius, The Divinity of The Messias, Whose advent we are awaiting.

Mass: Sacerdótes Dei.

Commemoration: Of The Feria.

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Octave Day Of The Feast Of The Immaculate Conception. 15 December.

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

Octave Day of  The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.
15 December.

Greater-Double.

White Vestments.

The Immaculate Conception.

Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).

Date: 1628.

English: Work belonging to the Madrid Prado Museum photographed during the exhibition « Rubens et son Temps » (Rubens and His Times) at the Museum of Louvre-Lens.

Français: Œuvre appartenant au musée du Prado de Madrid photographiée lors de l’exposition temporaire « Rubens et son Temps » au musée duLouvre-Lens.

Deutsch: Arbeiten gehören in der " Rubens et son Temps " (Ausstellung Rubens und seine Zeit) im Museum von Louvre-Lens fotografiert.

Español: Trabaja perteneciente a fotografiado durante la exposición de " Rubens et son Temps " (Rubens y su época) en el Museo de Louvre-Lens.

Current location: Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain.

Source/Photographer: User:Jean-Pol GRANDMONT (2013).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The date of Mary's Nativity on 8 September caused her Conception to be Celebrated during Advent, the Season when The Church awaits "The Emmanuel, Whom a Virgin shall Conceive" (Communion of The Wednesday in Advent Ember Week).

Devotion to The Mother of God holds an important place in The Liturgy of Advent. One may say that the period comprising Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, constitutes the real Season, or Month, of Mary.

The Church does not yet possess Jesus, but she already has His Mother, "The Beginning of Christ", as Bossuet calls her. This period represents the first phase of the existence of The Saviour on Earth. The Divine Infant rests gently in Mary, a Living Tabernacle, which the pious sculptors of The Middle Ages wished to honour when they made a statue of The Virgin as a Tabernacle, where The Eucharist would be preserved.

During this Season of Advent, let us fix our eyes on The Virgin, who is to give us Christ.

Mass: As on The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.

Second Collect: Of The Feria.

Creed: On account of The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.

Preface: Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

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"Christmas Is Coming, The Goose Is Getting Fat". Have You Finished Baking ? Are The Cards Posted ? Which Mass Are You Going To ?

Found on squidoo.com

Illustration: PINTEREST

"Christmas Shopping".

Author: Frank Dadd.

Source: http://www.wikigallery.org/

Permission: Free for non commercial use. See below. Click here to report copyright issues.

This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.

However - you may not use this image for commercial purposes and you may not alter the image

or remove the WikiGallery watermark.

This applies to the United States, Canada, the European Union and those countries

with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.

(Wikigallery.org)

"Christmas is coming,

the Goose is getting fat . . ."

Sung by: John Denver and The Muppets.

Available on YouTube at

https://youtu.be/-TW7NiFZlhI?list=RD-TW7NiFZlhI

Artist: Muriel Dawson 

(1897-1974).

Illustration: PINTEREST

Found on clickamericana.com

Illustration: PINTEREST

Postmen of the British Empire.

Postcard from the private collection of Jennifer Drury.

Found on mybrightonandhove.org

Illustration: PINTEREST

Found at corbertgauthier.net

Illustration: PINTEREST

Illustration: PINTEREST

Found on flickr.com

Illustration: PINTEREST

Seventh Day Within The Octave Of The Feast Of The Immaculate Conception. 14 December.

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

Seventh Day within The Octave
      of The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.
14 December.

Semi-Double.

White Vestments.

The Immaculate Conception.

Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).

Date: 1628.

English: Work belonging to the Madrid Prado Museum photographed during the exhibition « Rubens et son Temps » (Rubens and His Times) at the Museum of Louvre-Lens.

Français: Œuvre appartenant au musée du Prado de Madrid photographiée lors de l’exposition temporaire « Rubens et son Temps » au musée duLouvre-Lens.

Deutsch: Arbeiten gehören in der " Rubens et son Temps " (Ausstellung Rubens und seine Zeit) im Museum von Louvre-Lens fotografiert.

Español: Trabaja perteneciente a fotografiado durante la exposición de " Rubens et son Temps " (Rubens y su época) en el Museo de Louvre-Lens.

Current location: Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain.

Source/Photographer: User:Jean-Pol GRANDMONT (2013).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Ancients said that White was a Divine Colour. Daniel (vii. 9) depicts God as appearing clothed in White. The Evangelists tell us that, at The Transfiguration, the garments of Jesus were of "dazzling Whiteness" (Mark, ix. 2).

The Liturgy of The Feast of The Immaculate Conception applies this Text to The Virgin, saying that the "garment of Salvation" (Introit), with which God has clothed her, is a "vesture as White as snow" (Second Antiphon at Vespers).

Let us, with The Church, ask The Blessed Virgin on her Feast that we may "by her intercession be purified from all our sins" (Collect), and let us be in readiness to receive Jesus.

Mass: As on The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.

Second Collect: Of The Feria.

Third Collect: Of The Holy Ghost.

Creed: On account of The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.

Preface: Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

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Sixth Day Within The Octave Of The Feast Of The Immaculate Conception. 13 December.

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

Sixth Day within The Octave
      of The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.
13 December.

Semi-Double.

White Vestments.

The Immaculate Conception.

Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).

Date: 1628.

English: Work belonging to the Madrid Prado Museum photographed during the exhibition « Rubens et son Temps » (Rubens and His Times) at the Museum of Louvre-Lens.

Français: Œuvre appartenant au musée du Prado de Madrid photographiée lors de l’exposition temporaire « Rubens et son Temps » au musée duLouvre-Lens.

Deutsch: Arbeiten gehören in der " Rubens et son Temps " (Ausstellung Rubens und seine Zeit) im Museum von Louvre-Lens fotografiert.

Español: Trabaja perteneciente a fotografiado durante la exposición de " Rubens et son Temps " (Rubens y su época) en el Museo de Louvre-Lens.

Current location: Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain.

Source/Photographer: User:Jean-Pol GRANDMONT (2013).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Mass: As on The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.

Commemoration: Of The Feria.

Commemoration: Of Saint Lucy from Mass: Dilexísti.

Creed: On account of The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.

Preface: Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

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Fifth Day Within The Octave Of The Feast Of The Immaculate Conception. 12 December.

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

Fifth Day within The Octave
      of The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.
12 December.

Semi-Double.

White Vestments.

The Immaculate Conception.

Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).

Date: 1628.

English: Work belonging to the Madrid Prado Museum photographed during the exhibition « Rubens et son Temps » (Rubens and His Times) at the Museum of Louvre-Lens.

Français: Œuvre appartenant au musée du Prado de Madrid photographiée lors de l’exposition temporaire « Rubens et son Temps » au musée duLouvre-Lens.

Deutsch: Arbeiten gehören in der " Rubens et son Temps " (Ausstellung Rubens und seine Zeit) im Museum von Louvre-Lens fotografiert.

Español: Trabaja perteneciente a fotografiado durante la exposición de " Rubens et son Temps " (Rubens y su época) en el Museo de Louvre-Lens.

Current location: Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain.

Source/Photographer: User:Jean-Pol GRANDMONT (2013).

(Wikimedia Commons)

To show that The Mother of Jesus occupies a special place in her worship, The Church reserves for her a Preface, which is said at each of her Feasts, and in which are noted, at each particular Feast, the different Mysteries of The Life of Mary.

Wherefore, during all this Octave, the Priest declares "that it is fitting and salutary to render thanks to God on this Feast of The Immaculate Conception of Blessed Mary Ever Virgin, who conceived His only Son by the operation of The Holy Ghost and who, without losing her Virginity, gave birth to Jesus Christ Our Lord."

Let us give thanks to God for this privilege off The Immaculate Conception and also for The Feast, which celebrates it each year, allowing us to imitate more and more this model of all purity.

Mass: As on The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.

Second Collect: Of The Feria.

Third Collect: Of The Holy Ghost.

Creed: On account of The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.

Preface: Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

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Yet Another Choir Practice For Midnight Mass On Christmas Eve.

Illustration: DENIEUWEBOEKERIJ

Fourth Day Within The Octave Of The Feast Of The Immaculate Conception. 11 December.

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

Fourth Day within The Octave
      of The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.
11 December.

Semi-Double.

White Vestments.

The Immaculate Conception.

Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).

Date: 1628.

English: Work belonging to the Madrid Prado Museum photographed during the exhibition « Rubens et son Temps » (Rubens and His Times) at the Museum of Louvre-Lens.

Français: Œuvre appartenant au musée du Prado de Madrid photographiée lors de l’exposition temporaire « Rubens et son Temps » au musée duLouvre-Lens.

Deutsch: Arbeiten gehören in der " Rubens et son Temps " (Ausstellung Rubens und seine Zeit) im Museum von Louvre-Lens fotografiert.

Español: Trabaja perteneciente a fotografiado durante la exposición de " Rubens et son Temps " (Rubens y su época) en el Museo de Louvre-Lens.

Current location: Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain.

Source/Photographer: User:Jean-Pol GRANDMONT (2013).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Mass: As on The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.

Commemoration: Of The Feria.

Commemoration: Of Saint Damasus from Mass: Sacerdótes tui.

Creed: On account of The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.

Preface: Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

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Saint Damasus I. Pope. Confessor. Feast Day, Today, 11 December.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,

unless otherwise stated.

Saint Damasus I.

Pope and Confessor.

Feast Day 11 December.

Semi-Double.

White Vestments.

English: 19th-Century imagined portrait of Pope Saint Damasus I

(Papacy 366 A.D.-384 A.D.).

Português: Lithography of Pope Saint Damasus I (Lisboa, 1840).

Source: Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal: http://purl.pt/6209/1/

Institution: National Library of Portugal.

Author: Pedro Augusto Guglielmi.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Pope Saint Damasus I, of Spanish extraction, succeeded Pope Liberius in the See of Saint Peter in 366 A.D. He thus shared the dignity of thee one whom the Epistle calls "the Holy Pontiff, innocent without stain, higher than the heavens".

He governed The Church seventeen years and showed himself the faithful and prudent servant mentioned in the Gospel, to whom "The Lord entrusts His family to be nourished by him in due Season."

The Era of Persecution being over, that of heresy began with the 4th-Century A.D. Wherefore, Pope Saint Damasus I confirmed the Second Ecumenical Council, which, at Constantinople, had condemned Arianism and Macedonianism  (381 A.D.). Saint Jerome, by Pope Saint Damasus I's command, translated The New Testament into Latin (from Greek).

This holy Pope increased the beauty of worship by his rules for the singing of Psalms, and by decreeing that thee Gloria Patri should be said at the end of Psalms, thus Baptising them, so to speak, in The Trinity. He adorned the Catacombs with artistic inscriptions, and died in 384 A.D.

Mass: Sacerdótes tui.

Commemoration: Of The Octave of The Immaculate Conception.

Commemoration: Of The Feria.

The Creed is said: On account of The Octave of The Immaculate Conception.

Preface: Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

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Saint Melchiades. Pope. Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 10 December.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,

unless otherwise stated.

Saint Melchiades.

Pope and Martyr.
Feast Day 10 December.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

Pope Saint Melchiades
(the alternate spelling of his name, Miltiades, is used on this illustration)
was Pope from 311 A.D. - 314 A.D.
This illustration is from The Lives and Times of the Popes by Chevalier Artaud de Montor, New York: The Catholic Publication Society of America, 1911. It was originally published in 1842.
Date: 6 June 2013.
Source: http://archive.org/details/livesofpopes01artauoft
Author: Artaud de Montor (1772–1849).
(Wikimedia Commons)

English: Emblem of The Papacy.

Triple Tiara and Keys.

Deutsch: Emblem des Pontifikats.

Français: emblème pontifical.

Italiano: emblema del Papato.

Português: Emblema papal.

Date: 19 January 2007.

Source: various elements taken from: 

File:Coat of arms Holy See.svg;

Image:Emblem of the Papacy.svg; 

Image:Escudo Benatae.svg

Author: Cronholm144 created this image using a file by User:Hautala - File:Emblem of Vatican City State.svg, who had created his file using PD art from Open Clip Art Library and uploaded

on 13 July 2006. User talk:F l a n k e ruploaded this version on 19 January 2007.

(Wikimedia Commons)

"At Rome, the death of Saint Melchiades, Pope, who, after undergoing great sufferings in the Persecution of Maximian, saw Peace restored to The Church and died peacefully in 314 A.D." (Roman Martyrology).

Mass: Státuit.

Wikipedia states: "Melchiades was the first Pope to see the end of Roman Persecution of Christians".

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