Pope Saint Linus (The Second Pope). Martyr. Saint Thecla. Virgin And Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 23 September.

Pope Linus (♰ 79 A.D.)

Date: Copied from en: to he: by he:User:Ches

Source: http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Linus2.jpg

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Thecla.

Virgin and Martyr.

Illustration:

CATHOLIC HARBOR OF FAITH AND MORALS

Saint Thecla of Iconium.

Feast Day 23 September.

From: Butler’s Lives of the Saints.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Text is from “The Liturgical Year”.
   By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
      Volume 14.
      Time After Pentecost.
      Book V.

The lives of the first Vicars of Christ are buried in a mysterious obscurity; just as the foundations of a monument built to defy the ravages of time are concealed from view.

Let us leave the learned to discuss certain points in the following short legend; as for ourselves, we will rejoice with The Church on this Feast Day, and pay our loving Veneration to the humble and gentle Pontiff, who was the first laid to rest beside Saint Peter in the Vatican Crypts. And, in addition, to the Holy Virgin and Martyr, Saint Thecla.

Pope Saint Linus was born at Volterra, Tuscany, and was the first to succeed Saint Peter in the government of The Church.

His Faith and holiness were so great , that he not only cast out devils, but even raised the dead to life. He wrote the Acts of Blessed Peter, and, in particular, what he had done against Simon Magus.

Pope Linus decreed that no woman should enter a Church with her head uncovered. On account of his constancy in confessing the Christian Faith, this Pontiff was beheaded by command of Saturninus, a wicked and ungrateful ex-Consul, whose daughter Pope Linus had delivered from the tyranny of the devils.

He was buried on the Vatican, near the sepulchre of The Prince of The Apostles, on the ninth of the Kalends of October. He governed The Church eleven years, two months, and twenty-three days.

In two Ordinations in the month of December, he Consecrated fifteen Bishops and eighteen Priests.

We Pray: “Obtain by thy Prayers, that the shadows of Earth may never cause us to waver in our obedience; and that hereafter we may merit, with thee, to contemplate our Divine Head in The Light of Eternal Day”.

While honouring the first successor of Saint Peter, Rome Commemorates the Proto-Martyr of the female sex. Together with Holy Church, then, let us unite in the concert of praise unanimously lavished upon Saint Thecla by the Fathers of East and West.

When the Martyr, Bishop Methodius, gave his “Banquet of Virgins” to The Church, about the end of the 3rd-Century A.D., it is on the brow of The Virgin of Iconium that he placed the fairest of the Crowns distributed at the banquet of The Spouse.

And justly so; for had not Thecla been trained by Saint Paul, who had made her more learned in the Gospel than she was before in philosophy and every science ?

Heroism in her kept pace with knowledge; her magnanimity of purpose was equalled by her courage; while, strong in the virginal purity of her Soul and body, she triumphed over fire, wild beasts, and sea monsters, and won the glory of a triple Martyrdom.

A fresh triumph is hers at the mysterious banquet. Wisdom has taken possession of her, and, like a divine harp, makes music in her Soul, which is echoed on her lips in words of wondrous eloquence and sublime poetry.

When the Feast is over, and the Virgins rise to give thanks to The Lord, Thecla leads the chorus, singing: 

“For Thee, O Bridegroom, I keep myself pure; and with burning lamp I come to meet Thee.

“Having escaped the enchanting wiles of the serpent, and triumphed over the flaming fire and the attacks of wild beasts, I await Thee from Heaven.

“For Thee, O Bridegroom, I keep myself pure; and with burning lamp I come to meet Thee”. [Editor: Methodius: Conviv. dec. virg. vii, viii, xi.]

PRAYER.

Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, who Celebrate the Festival of Blessed Thecla, Thy Virgin and Martyr, may rejoice in her annual Solemnity, and make progress by the example of such great Faith.

Through Our Lord, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of The Holy Ghost, One God, World without end.

Amen.

Saint Thecla. Virgin And Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 23 September.

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

Saint Thecla.
   Virgin and Martyr.
   Feast Day 23 September.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

Saint Thecla.

Virgin and Martyr.

Illustration: 

CATHOLIC HARBOR OF FAITH AND MORALS

“In Lycaonia,” says The Roman Martyrology, “Saint Thecla, Virgin and Martyr, who, brought to The Faith by The Holy Apostle Paul, at Iconium (Asia Minor), victoriously underwent the torments of flames and wild beasts, under the Emperor Nero”. Having recovered, she died in peace at Seleucia.

Mass: Loquébar.

English: 

Saint Thecla (Mar Takla) Monastery, 

Ma'loula, Syria.

Français: 

Monastère de Sainte-Thècle (Mar Takla), 

Maaloula, Syrie.

Photo: 1 April 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: Bernard Gagnon

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia.

Thecla, or Tecla (Ancient Greek: Θέκλα, Thékla), was a Saint of the Early Christian Church, and a reported follower of Paul the Apostle. The earliest record of her life comes from the ancient apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla.

The Acts of Paul and Thecla is a 1st- or 2nd-Century A.D. Text, which forms part of the Acts of Paul, but also circulated separately. According to the Text, Thecla was a young noble Virgin from Iconium, who listened to Paul’s “discourse on Virginity”, espoused the teachings and became estranged to her fiancé, Thamyris, and her mother. They became concerned Thecla would follow Paul’s demand, “one must fear only one God and live in Chastity”, and turned to the authorities to punish both Paul and Thecla.

Thecla was miraculously saved from burning at the stake by the onset of a storm and travelled with Paul to Antioch of Pisidia. There, a nobleman named Alexander desired Thecla and attempted to take her by force. Thecla fought him off, assaulting him in the process, and was put on trial for assaulting a nobleman. She was sentenced to be eaten by wild beasts, but was again saved by a series of Miracles when the female beasts protected her against her male aggressors. While in the arena, she Baptised herself.

She re-joined Paul in Myra, and travelled to preach The Word of God and became an icon encouraging women to also live a life of Chastity and follow The Word of The Lord. 

She went to live in Seleucia, Cilicia. According to some versions of The Acts, she lived in a cave there for seventy-two years. Becoming a healer, the Hellenistic physicians in the City lost their livelihood and solicited young men to attack her. As they were about to take her, a new passage was opened in the cave and the stones closed behind her. She was able to go to Rome.

“The Mass Of The Foundation Of The Trinitarian Order”.

Artist: Juan Carreño de Miranda.

Illustration: LOUVRE

THE SAINT ANDREW DAILY MISSAL

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Saint Linus. The Second Pope. Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 23 September.

English: The Cupola of the Basilica of Saint Peter, Rome.

Italiano: Città del Vaticano - Cupola della Basilica di S. Pietro.

Photo: January 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: MarkusMark

(Wikimedia Commons)

Pope Linus (♰ 79 A.D.)

Date: Copied from en: to he: by he:User:Ches

Source: http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Linus2.jpg

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless otherwise stated.

Pope Linus (♰ 79 A.D.) was, according to several early sources, the second Bishop of Rome and is listed by The Catholic Church as the second Pope.

His Papacy lasted from circa 67 A.D., to his death, circa

79 A.D. According to other early sources, Pope Clement I was the second Pope; per the Annuario Pontificio, Clement was the fourth Pope. Among those considered by The Catholic Church to have held the position of Pope, only Clement, Linus and Peter are specifically mentioned in The New Testament.

The earliest witness, to Linus’s status as Bishop, was Irenæus, who, about the year 180 A.D., wrote: “The Blessed Apostles, then, having Founded and built up The Church, committed into the hands of Linus, The Office of The Episcopate.”

The Oxford Dictionary of Popes interprets Irenaeus as classifying Linus as the First Bishop of Rome. Linus is presented, by Saint Jerome, as “the first, after Peter, to be in charge of The Roman Church”, and, by Eusebius, as “the first to receive the Episcopate of The Church at Rome, after the Martyrdom of Saint Peter and Saint Paul”.

Saint John Chrysostom wrote: “This Linus, some say, was second Bishop of The Church of Rome, after Peter”, while The Liberian Catalogue presents Peter as the first Bishop of Rome and Linus as his successor in the same Office.

The Liber Pontificalis also presents a List that makes Linus the second in the Line of Bishops of Rome, after Peter, while also stating that Peter Ordained two Bishops, Linus and Cletus, for the Priestly Service of the Community, devoting himself instead to Prayer and Preaching, and that it was to Clement that he entrusted The Church as a whole, appointing him as his successor.

Tertullian, too, wrote of Clement as the successor of Peter. Jerome classified Clement as “the fourth Bishop of Rome, after Peter” (i.e., fourth in a series that included Peter), adding that, “most of the Latins think that Clement was second after The Apostle.”

The Apostolic Constitutions denote that Linus, who was Ordained by Paul, was the first Bishop of Rome and was succeeded by Clement, who was Ordained by Peter. Cletus is considered Linus's successor by Irenæus, and the others cited above, who present Linus either as the first Bishop of Rome or, if they give Peter as the first, as the second.

The Liberian Catalogue and The Liber Pontificalis date Linus’s Episcopate to 56 A.D. – 67 A.D., during the Reign of Nero, but Jerome dates it to 67 A.D. – 78 A.D., and Eusebius puts the end of his Episcopate at the second year of the Reign of Titus 

(80 A.D.).

Irenæus identifies Linus with the Linus mentioned in

2 Timothy 4:21 as an associate of The Apostle Paul. Others, of the sources mentioned above, say the same.

According to The Liber Pontificalis, Linus was an Italian, born in Volterra, in the Tuscany Region. His father’s name was recorded as Herculanus. The Apostolic Constitutions name his mother as Claudia (immediately after the name “Linus”, in 2 Timothy 4:21, a Claudia is mentioned, but the Apostolic Constitutions do not explicitly identify that Claudia as Linus’s mother).

According to “THE LIBER PONTIFICALIS”, Linus issued a Decree that women should cover their heads in Church, created the first fifteen Bishops, and that he died a Martyr and was buried on The Vatican Hill, next to Peter. It gives the date of his death as 23 September, the date on which his Feast is still Celebrated. His name is included in The Roman Canon of The Mass.

With respect to Linus’s supposed Decree requiring women to cover their heads, J.P. Kirsch commented in The Catholic Encyclopedia: “Without doubt, this Decree is apocryphal, and copied by the author of The Liber Pontificalis from The First Epistle of Saint Paul to The Corinthians (11:5) and arbitrarily attributed to the first successor of The Apostle in Rome. The statement made, in the same source, that Linus suffered Martyrdom, cannot be proved and is improbable. For, between Nero and Domitian, there is no mention of any persecution of The Roman Church; and Irenæus (1. c., III, iv, 3), from among the early Roman Bishops, designates only Telesphorus as a glorious Martyr.”

The Roman Martyrology does not list Linus as a Martyr. The entry about him is as follows: “At Rome, Commemoration of Saint Linus, Pope, who, according to Irenæus, was the person to whom The Blessed Apostles entrusted the Episcopal care of The Church, Founded in the City, and whom Blessed Paul the Apostle mentions as associated with him.”

A tomb, found in Saint Peter’s Basilica, in 1615, by Torrigio, was inscribed with the letters LINVS and was once taken to be Linus’s tomb. However, a note by Torrigio shows that these were merely the last five letters of a longer name (e.g. Aquilinus or Anullinus). A Letter on The Martyrdom of Peter and Paul was once attributed to Linus, but, in fact, dates to the 6th-Century A.D.

The Feast Day of Pope Saint Linus is 23 September.

[Editor: There is a famous Character, in the Strip Cartoon “Peanuts”, named Linus van Pelt, who is Charlie Brown’s blanket-toting best friend and Sally’s love interest. Linus is the most insecure, but the smartest, out of all the Characters.]

The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Saint Linus.
   Pope and Martyr.
   Feast Day 23 September.

Semi-Double.

Red Vestments.

“At Rome,” says The Roman Martyrology, “the triumph of Saint Linus, Pope and Martyr, who immediately succeeded Saint Peter in the government of The Church. He suffered Martyrdom, and was buried on The Vatican Hill, next to The Prince of The Apostles.”

The name of Saint Linus is mentioned in The Canon of The Mass, after the names of The Apostles.

Mass: Státuit.
Collects: Of The Mass: Sacerdótes.
Commemoration: Saint Thecla.

Tour Of Saint John Cantius Church, Chicago.

Tour Of Saint John Cantius Church, Chicago.

Available on YouTube

HERE

The “Angelus”. Artist: Jean-François Millet.

The “Angelus”.

Artist: Jean-François Millet

Illustration: EBAY

“The Angelus”.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

The “Angelus” (French: L’Angélus) is an oil painting by French painter Jean-François Millet, completed between 1857 and 1859.

The painting depicts two peasants bowing in a field, over a basket of potatoes, to say a Prayer, the “Angelus”.

Millet was commissioned by the American would-be painter and art collector Thomas Gold Appleton, who never came to collect it.

The painting is famous today for driving the prices for artworks of the Barbizon school up to record amounts in the Late-19th-Century.

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

The “Angelus” (Latin for “Angel”) is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation of Christ.

As with many Catholic Prayers, the name “Angelus” is derived from its incipit — the first few words of the text: “Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ” (“The Angel of The Lord declared unto Mary”). 

The devotion is practised by reciting, as versicle and response, three Biblical verses narrating the mystery, alternating with the Prayer “Hail Mary”.

The Angelus exemplifies a species of Prayer called the “Prayer of the devotee”.[1]

The devotion is traditionally recited in Roman Catholic Churches, Convents, Monasteries, and by The Faithful, three times a day:[2]

In the morning;
At noon;
In the evening (usually before or after Vespers).

The devotion is also observed by some Anglican, Western Rite Orthodox, and Lutheran Churches.

The Angelus is usually accompanied by the ringing of the Angelus Bell, which is a Call to Prayer.

The Angel referred to in the Prayer is Gabriel, a messenger of God, who revealed to The Virgin Mary that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God [Editor: If she gave her consent, of course. Which she did] (Luke 1:26–38).[3]

In Eastertide, the Angelus is replaced by the Regina Coeli.

Saint Maurice And His Companions. Martyrs. Feast Day 22 September.

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

Saint Maurice And His Companions.
   Martyrs.
   Feast Day 22 September.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

Meeting of Saint Erasmus and Saint Maurice.

Artist: Mathias Grünewald.

Date: Circa 1520.

Current location: Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany.

Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project (2002)

10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM),

distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

ISBN: 3936122202.

(Wikimedia Commons)

 

“The Martyrdom of Saint Maurice”.

Artist: Romulo Cincinato (1502–1593).

Cincinnato placed emphasis on the execution scene,

which has been brought into the foreground.

Date: 1583.

Current location: El Escorial, Madrid, Spain.

Source/Photographer: Web Gallery of Art

(Wikimedia Commons)

When Emperor Maximian led his Army into Gaul, The Theban Legion, composed of 660 Soldiers under the command of Saint Maurice, refused to take part in the ceremonies in honour of the gods.

The Soldiers were massacred out of hatred for the name of Christ, about 286 A.D., at Agaunum, now called Saint Maurice (Valais, Switzerland).

Mass: Intret.

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

Saint Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, or Mauritius; Coptic: Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲙⲱⲣⲓⲥ) was the leader of the legendary Roman Theban Legion in the 3rd-Century A.D., and one of the favourite and most-widely Venerated Saints of that group.

He is the Patron Saint of several professions, locales, and Kingdoms. He is also a highly-revered Saint in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and other Churches of Oriental Orthodoxy.

According to hagiographical material, Maurice was an Egyptian, born in 250 A.D. in Thebes, an ancient City in Upper Egypt that was the Capital of the New Kingdom of Egypt (1575-1069 B.C.).

Maurice became a Soldier in the Roman Army. He was gradually promoted until he became the Commander of the Theban Legion, thus commanding, approximately, a thousand men. He was an acknowledged Christian at a time when Early Christianity was considered to be a threat to The Roman Empire. Yet, he moved easily within the pagan society of his day.

The Legion, entirely composed of Christians, had been called from Thebes, in Egypt, to Gaul, to assist Emperor Maximian in defeating a revolt by the Bagaudae. The Theban Legion was dispatched with orders to clear The Great Saint Bernard Pass across The Alps.

Before going into battle, they were instructed to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods and pay homage to the Emperor. Saint Maurice pledged his men’s military allegiance to Rome. He stated that service to God superseded all else. He said that to engage in wanton slaughter was inconceivable to Christian Soldiers . He and his men refused to worship Roman deities.

However, when Emperor Maximian ordered them to harass some local Christians, they refused. Ordering the Legion to be punished, Maximian had every tenth Soldier killed, a Military punishment known as Decimation. More orders followed; the men refused, as encouraged by Maurice, and a second Decimation was ordered.

In response to the Theban Christians’ refusal to attack fellow Christians, Maximian ordered all the remaining members of his Legion to be executed. The place in Switzerland where this occurred, known as Agaunum, is now Saint-Maurice, Switzerland, site of The Abbey of Saint Maurice.

Saint Thomas Of Villanova. Bishop And Confessor. Feast Day 22 September.

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

Saint Thomas Of Villanova.
   Bishop.
   Confessor.
   Feast Day 22 September.

Double.

White Vestments.

Saint Thomas of Villanova.

Artist: Simone Cantarini (1612-1648).

Date: First half of the 17th-Century.

Current location: Pinacoteca Civica, Fano, Italy.

Source/Photographer: fondazionecarifano.it/

Progetti/cantarini/fano_per_cantarini_opere.html

(Wikimedia Commons)

Thomas was born in Spain in the 15th-Century. From his earliest childhood he had the tenderest compassion for The Poor. Having entered The Order of Hermits of Saint Augustine, he was soon made Superior, and, after having refused the Archbishopric of Granada, he was forced to accept that of Valencia.

He thus shared in the Eternal Priesthood of Christ (Introit, Epistle, Gradual, Offertory). He spent on The Poor the large revenues of his Church, and, on the day of his death, in 1555, he gave away his last Penny, and died on a bed which did not even belong to him.

The Church, therefore, Celebrates especially in this Pontiff “his extraordinary Charity towards The Poor” (Collect, Antiphon of The Benedictus).

Mass: Státuit.
Secret: Sancti Thomæ.
Postcommunion: Deus fidélium.
Commemoration: Saint Maurice and Companions.

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

Saint Thomas of Villanova O.S.A. (1488–1555) was a Spanish Friar of the Order of Saint Augustine, who was a noted Preacher, Ascetic and Religious Writer of his day. He became an Archbishop, who was famous for the extent of his care for The Poor of his See.

Holy Mass For Ember Saturday. September 2023. Sainte Messe Du Samedi Des Quatre-Temps De Septembre.

English: 

Holy Mass For Ember Saturday.

September 2023.

Français: 

Sainte Messe Du Samedi 

Des Quatre-Temps De Septembre.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Download the Booklet of this Mass in PDF format.

HERE