Saint Petronilla. Virgin. Feast Day 31 May. White Vestments.

Saint Petronilla.

Illustration: TOM MAJOR'S SAINT OF THE DAY

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

Saint Petronilla.
   Virgin.
   Feast Day 31 May.

Simple.

White Vestments.

Aurelia Petronilla was the Spiritual daughter of the Prince of the Apostles in the 1st-Century A.D.

God delivered her, by sudden death, from the snares laid to imperil her Virginity. Her body rests in the Basilica Dedicated to Saint Peter, who had taught her The Faith.

Mass: Vultum tuum.

Saint Petronilla.

Illustration: SANTORAL

The Altar of Saint Petronilla,

Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome.

Illustration: FATHER JERABEK'S BLOG

The Altar of Saint Petronilla,

Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome.

Illustration: FATHER JERABEK'S BLOG

31 May. The Feast Day Of Saint Angela De Merici And Saint Petronilla.

Text is taken from “The Liturgical Year”, 

by Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.

Translated from the French by 

Dom. Laurent Shepherd, O.S.B.

   Volume 8.
   Paschal Time.
   Book II.

This last day of May, which is honoured by the Virginal triumph of Saint Aurelia Petronilla, in the first age of The Church, is also fragrant with the Lilies that wreathe the brow of Saint Angela de Merici.

The Sixteenth-Century, which, a few days back, offered to Our Risen Lord the Seraphic Magdalen de Pazzi [Editor: Feast Day 29 May], now presents Him with this second fruit of heroic Sanctity.

Saint Angela de Merici.

Virgin.

Angela de Merici realised the whole meaning of her beautiful name. She possessed the purity of The Blessed Spirits in a mortal body, and she imitated their celestial energy by the vigorous practice of every virtue.

This heroine of grace trampled beneath her feet everything that could impede her Heavenly march. Gifted at an early age with the highest contemplation, she bravely travelled to Palestine, there to Venerate the footsteps of her Divine Spouse, Jesus.

After this, she visited the New Jerusalem, Rome, and offered up her fervent Prayers at The Confession of Saint Peter. She then returned to her life of seclusion and Founded a Religious Order, which is, and will be to the end of time, one of the glories and aids of Holy Church.

The thought of the great Saint Ursula and her Virginal Legion made a great impression on Angela's Soul, and she, too, would form, to Our Lord, an army of valiant women.

Saint Ursula confronted the barbarian host; Saint Angela would give battle to the World and to its seductions, which are so dangerous to young girls. God Blessed her with victory. As a trophy of her combats, she can point to the countless generations of young people whom her Order has saved during the last three Centuries, by giving them a solid Christian education. The Liturgy speaks of the virtues and actions of Saint Angela.

Saint Angela was enrolled in The List of Holy Virgins, by Pope Pius VII, in a Solemn Canonisation, Celebrated in The Vatican Basilica, 24 May 1807.

Thou didst fight the battles of Our Lord, O, Angela, and thy holy labours merited for thee a glorious rest in the mansions of Eternal Bliss. An insatiable zeal for The Honour of Jesus, Whom thou hadst chosen as thy Spouse, and an ardent Charity for the creatures redeemed by His Precious Blood were the characteristics of thy whole life.

This love of thy neighbour made thee the mother of a countless progeny; for who can number the young children that have been educated in sound Doctrine and Piety by thy daughters ? Thou didst powerfully contribute to the welfare of Christian society, by thus preparing so many for the duties of domestic life; and how many other Congregations, in imitation of thy Ursulines, have taken up the same admirable work, and have brought consolation to The Church, and happiness to the World ?

The Sovereign Pontiff has ordered that thy Feast should be kept throughout the whole Church. He declared, in issuing this Decree, that he wished to put under thy maternal protection the young girls, who are, nowadays, exposed to such fearful dangers by the enemies of Christ and His Church.

They have formed the project of undermining the Faith of women, that so their good influence may be destroyed in their families. Disconcert these impious plans, O, Angela ! Protect thy sex; nourish within it the sentiment of the dignity of Christian women, and society may still be saved.

We turn to thee, O, Spouse of Christ, and ask for fervour in The Liturgical Year, wherein we are made to follow in the path that was so dear to thee. Thy Devotion in following The Divine Mysteries, which are successively brought before us, led thee to visit The Holy Land.

Thou didst long to see Nazareth and Bethlehem, to traverse Galilee and Judea, to give thanks in The Cenacle, to weep on Calvary, and to adore the glorious Sepulchre. Deign to Bless our feeble desires and efforts to tread in these same holy paths. We have still to follow thee to Mount Olivet, whence Our Redeemer ascended into Heaven; we have to return to The Cenacle, which the Holy Ghost is preparing to light up with His Divine Fire.

Obtain for us, O, Angela, that we may follow thee to these hallowed spots, which made thee quit thy Country and undertake a long and perilous pilgrimage. Oh !, prepare our hearts for the sublime Mysteries, which are to crown our Paschal Season.

The same day.

Saint Petronilla.

Virgin.

Though The Church makes but a simple Commemoration of this illustrious Virgin in The Office of this day, we will not fail to offer her the homage of our devout Veneration. On the twelfth of this month, we kept the Feast of the noble Virgin and Martyr, Flavia Domitilla; it is probable that Aurelia Petronilla was also of The Imperial Family of The Flavii.

The early Traditions of The Church speak of her as being the spiritual daughter of The Prince of The Apostles; and, though she did not, like Domitilla, lay down her life for The Faith, yet she offered to Jesus that next richest gift, her Virginity.

The same venerable authorities tell us that a Roman Patrician, by name Flaccus, having asked her in marriage, she requested three days for consideration, during which confidently besought the aid of her Divine Spouse.

Flaccus presented himself on the third day, but found the Palace in mourning, and her family busy in preparing the funeral obsequies of the young Virgin, who had taken her flight to Heaven, as a Dove that is startled by an intruder’s approach.

In the 8th-Century A.D., the Holy Pope, Paul 1, had the body of Saint Petronilla taken from the Cemetery of Domitilla, on the Ardeatine Way. Her Relics were found in a Marble Sarcophagus, the lid of which was adorned, at each corner, with a Dolphin. The Pope had them enshrined in a little Church, which he built near the South Side of the Vatican Basilica. This Church was destroyed in the 16th-Century A.D., in consequence of the alterations needed for the building of the new Basilica of Saint Peter; and the Relics of Saint Petronilla were Translated to one of its Altars on the West Side.

It was but just that she should await her glorious resurrection under the shadow of the Great Apostle, who had initiated her in The Faith, and prepared her for her Eternal Nuptials with The Lamb.

Thy triumph, O, Petronilla, is one of our Easter joys. We lovingly Venerate thy Blessed Memory. Thou didst disdain the pleasures and honours of the World, and thy Virginal name is one of the first on the list of The Church of Rome, which was thy mother.

Aid her, now, by thy Prayers. Protect those who seek thine Intercession, and teach us how to Celebrate, with Holy Enthusiasm, the Solemnities that are soon to gladden us.

The Web-Site of The Ursulines, Founded by Saint Angela De Merici, can be found HERE

The Blessed Virgin Mary. Mediatrix Of All Graces. Feast Day 31 May. White Vestments.

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

The Blessed Virgin Mary.
   Mediatrix of All Graces.
   Feast Day 31 May.

(Local Feasts. Feasts kept
in some Religious Congregations
and in some places).

White Vestments.

Rose Illustration: AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM

The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Mediatrix of All Graces.

Illustration: SHUTTERSTOCK

A Feast and Mass granted by Pope Benedict XV to many Dioceses.

“The Will of God is that we should have everything through Mary,” says Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. The Father has sent us His Son, but His Will was to make His Coming depend upon The Fiat of The Virgin, which He commanded the Angel Gabriel to solicit on the Day of The Annunciation.

The Father and The Son send us The Holy Ghost, but it is through Mary that He comes down to men. On the Day of Pentecost, according to an ancient Tradition, the Heavenly Fire, which descended on the Cenacle, first rested on Mary, and then on the Apostles. This is a figure of what happens every day in The Church, where The Holy Ghost is sent invisibly into our Souls.

“All the Gifts of The Holy Ghost are distributed by Mary to those whom she chooses; whenever she wishes; and as much as she wishes”, says Saint Bernadine of Siena.

The Graces, which The Holy Ghost pours down on us, are due to the Merits of Christ on Calvary; but in order that God may bestow them on the World, it is necessary that Mary should intervene. Having co-operated by her Divine Maternity and by her sufferings at the Foot of The Cross in The Incarnation and Redemption, she has deserved to co-operate when they are continually applied to creatures by The Most High,

“By The Communion of Sorrows and of Will, between Christ and Mary,” says Pope Saint Pius X, “she has deserved to become the dispenser of all the Blessings which Jesus acquired for us by His Blood” (Encyclical, 2 February 1904).

Such is His Will, but it is essential that she should constantly intercede for each one of us. This, she does, relying on The Blood of Christ, by Whom she was herself saved, and Who alone saves us. This actual intervention of Mary plays a preponderating part in the Salvation of the World. It is important that we should realise this, and it is the object of the Feast of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces. A clear idea of the fact may be obtained by simply reading the Texts of The Mass and Vespers.

“Through The Virgin,” says Saint Bernadine of Siena, “Life-Giving Graces flow from Christ, Who is The Head, into His Mystical Body”. “Through her,“ adds Saint Antoninus, “come from Heaven all the Graces granted to the World.” “What all the Saints united to thee may obtain for us by their intercession,” writes Saint Anselm, “thy pleading, alone, may obtain without the help of their Prayers.”

The Maternal Solicitude of Mary, for the whole Human Race, is therefore continual, and it is because of this that, unceasingly, through The Mass, The Sacraments, the hierarchy and other channels of Grace, the Merits of Calvary are applied to our Souls. “We may affirm,” declares Pope Leo XIII, “that, by the Will of God, nothing is given to us without Mary’s Mediation, in such a way that, just as no-one can approach The Almighty Father but through His Son, so no-one, so to speak, can approach Christ but through His Mother.” (Encyclical, 22 September 1891.)

Let us therefore not consider as of small importance the efforts made to establish this point of Doctrine of Mary’s Mediation, since this Doctrine enables us to understand the Divine Plan, and clearly manifests the Mediation of The Son of God, of which it is a corollary.

Mass: Adeamus.

Creed.

Preface: Of The Blessed Virgin: Et te in festivitáte.

THE SAINT ANDREW DAILY MISSAL

THE SAINT ANDREW DAILY MISSAL

Available (in U.K.) from

CENACLE CATHOLIC BOOKS

Available (in U.S.A.) from

ST. BONAVENTURE PUBLICATIONS

Available (in Ireland) from

SILVERSTREAM PRIORY

The Italian Catholic Communities Throughout New Jersey And Surrounding Areas Are Filled With Tradition. There Are Renewed Efforts To Revive The Devotional Customs.

 

All Illustrations: NEW LITURGICAL MOVEMENT

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

NEW LITURGICAL MOVEMENT

“Hold Fast to the Traditions”.

Guest Article by Mr Jay Rattino.

By: Gregory DiPippo.

Our thanks to Mr. Jay Rattino for sharing with us this interesting Article about the folk customs of Italian Catholics, and the efforts being made to preserve and revive them.

The Italian Catholic communities throughout New Jersey and the surrounding areas are filled with long-standing Traditions, and there are renewed efforts going on to revive the devotional customs brought to the U.S.A. by their ancestors.

For those unfamiliar with these practices, witnessing them can evoke both awe and confusion, often prompting the question: “What exactly is this ?”

Many of these Traditions fall under the umbrella of Catholic folk piety, which Gregory DiPippo defines as “devotional customs and practices which have arisen spontaneously among the people, and not from the Church’s official rites.”

Phillip Campbell, in a video for Unam Sanctam Catholicam, further reflects on how these simple acts express profound theological truths.

A great example — recently highlighted in an article on New Liturgical Movement — comes from Dr. Peter Kwasniewski’s Pilgrimage to Catania, Sicily.

The Patroness of the Town is Saint Agatha, who endured multiple tortures, including the cutting off of her breasts. During her Feast, which spans three days, Dr. Kwasniewski witnessed “countless individual candles,” “hundreds of devotees wearing White garments and medallions,” a “giant Silver Reliquary,” depictions of Saint Agatha in prison, and more.

The picture of an entire City embracing its Patroness with such dramatic public devotion is striking. This is a vivid and moving example of Catholic folk piety in action.

The Italian immigrants who came to The United States brought with them many of these folk devotions, and while they may not be on quite so grand a scale in New Jersey — or in The United States as a whole — one can still see traces of them, which we can perhaps also think of as seeds read to sprout again.

The St. Rocco Society of Fort Lee carries their Saint in a Traditional Procession, but, at one point, they begin to run — a joyful Tradition known as The Running Of The Saint, which traces its origins back to their hometown in Italy.

These Traditions (and many more) are alive — some thriving more than others, comparable to a pilot light: Steady and quietly burning.

But, recently, that pilot light has been turned up to full blast, thanks to a fresh wave of energy from young people involved in the Italian Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Newark.

Saint Angela Merici. Virgin. Feast Day 31 May. White Vestments.

Saint Angela Merici (1474-1540) as a teacher.

Devotional picture (pastel on paper) by 

Pietro Calzavacca (1855-1890).

Current location: Merician Museum, Brescia, Italy.

Date: Mid-19th-Century.

Source: Painting, Merician Museum, Brescia, Italy.

Author: Pietro Calzavacca (1855-1890).

(Wikimedia Commons)

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

Saint Angela Merici.
   Virgin.
   Feast Day 31 May.

Double.

White Vestments.

Born at Desenzano, on Lake Garda, Italy, in 1474, of pious parents, Angela, from her childhood, ever tried to please Jesus, the Spouse of her Soul (Epistle, Gospel, Communion). She adopted the Rule of the Third Order of Saint Francis and united evangelical poverty to the merit of Virginity.

She “loved justice and hated iniquity” (Introit) and subjected her body to the severest austerities to atone for the sins of the World. “The disorders of society”, she used to say, “are caused by those in families; there are few Christian mothers, because the education of young girls is neglected.”

In consequence of a vision, she successfully formed, in 1535 in The Church, a new Society of Holy Virgins (Collect). Its object being the Christian education of youth, she placed it under the Patronage of Saint Ursula, the chief of an Army of Virgins.

She died in 1540 at Brescia, Italy, with the name of Jesus on her lips.

Mass: Dilexísti.
Commemoration: Saint Petronilla, by the Collects of the Mass: Vultum tuum.

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

Angela Merici, 21 March 1474 – 27 January 1540, was an Italian Religious Educator. She Founded the Company of Saint Ursula in 1535 in Brescia, Italy, in which women dedicated their lives to the Service of The Church through the education of girls.

From this organisation later sprang the Monastic Order of Ursulines, whose Nuns established places of Prayer and Learning throughout Europe and, later, Worldwide, most notably in North America.

Today Is Trinity Sunday. The Marian Anthem “Salve Regina” Returns. As Does The Antiphon “Asperges Me” At The Start Of Mass.

“Salve Regina”.

Available on YouTube

HERE

“Salve Regina”.

Available on YouTube

HERE

“Asperges Me”.

Available on YouTube

HERE

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

“Asperges Me” is a Latin Antiphon said or sung at the Roman Catholic Main Mass on Sundays in all seasons except the Easter (Paschal) Season and Palm Sunday.

It traditionally accompanies The Asperges, the ritual sprinkling of the Congregation by the Celebrant with Holy Water, as part of an Entrance Ritual, symbolising the cleansing of the people. Its words are taken from Psalm 50, “The Miserere”.

Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo et mundabor,

Lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.

Miserere mei, Deus, 

secundum magnam misericordiam tuam. 

Thou wilt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop 

and I shall be cleansed

Thou wilt wash me, 

and I shall be washed whiter than snow.

Pity me, O God, according to Thy great mercy.

Trinity Sunday. White Vestments.

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

Trinity Sunday.

Double of The First-Class.

White Vestments.

The Most Holy Trinity

supported by The Thrones.

Artist: René de Cramer.

“Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium”.

Used with Permission.

Illustration: UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY

In the second part of the year, the six months from Trinity to Advent, The Holy Ghost, Whose Reign begins at Pentecost, comes to repeat to us what Our Lord, Himself, has taught us in the first part, the six months from Advent to Trinity Sunday.

The fundamental Truth, on which everything in The Christian Religion rests, is The Dogma of The Holy Trinity, from Whom all comes (Epistle), and to Whom, all Baptised in His Name must return (Gospel). In the course of The Cycle, having called to our minds, in order, God The Father, Author of Creation, God The Son, Author of Redemption, and God The Holy Ghost, Author of our Sanctification, The Church, today, before all else, recapitulates The Great Mystery by which we acknowledge and adore The Unity of Nature and Trinity of Persons in Almighty God (Collect).

"As soon as we have Celebrated The Coming of The Holy Ghost," says Abbot Rupert, in the 12th-Century, "we hail in song The Feast of The Holy Trinity, the following Sunday, a place in The Calendar well chosen, for immediately after The Descent of The Holy Ghost, Preaching and Conversion began, and Faith through Baptism and Confession, in the Name of The Father and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost."

The Dogma of The Holy Trinity is affirmed, in The Liturgy, on every hand. It is in The Name of The Father and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost that we begin and end The Mass and The Divine Office, and that we confer The Sacraments. All The Psalms end with the Gloria, the Hymns with The Doxology, and the Prayers by a Conclusion, in honour of The Three Divine Persons. Twice during The Mass, we are reminded that it is to The Holy Trinity that The Mass is being offered.

The Dogma of The Trinity is expressed in the very fabric of our Churches. Our fathers delighted to find a symbol of it in the admirably-proportioned height, breadth, and length of these buildings, in their primary and secondary divisions; the Sanctuary, the Choir and the Nave; the Ground-Floor, the Triforium and the Clerestory; the three Entrances, three Doors, three Bays, three Gables, and, often, three Towers.

On every hand, even to the smallest detail of decoration, the number three, repeated frequently, denotes a well-conceived Plan and a profound Faith in The Blessed Trinity.

The same thought is expressed in Christian iconography, in various ways. Up to the 12th-Century, God The Father is represented by a hand, emerging from the clouds, in Blessing, and often surrounded by a Nimbus [Editor: Halo] containing a Cross. By this hand, is symbolised Divine Omnipotence. In 13th- and 14th-Century work, one sees The Face and, then, The Figure of The Father. From the 15th-Century, The Father is represented as an old man in the garb of a Pontiff.

Up to the 12th-Century, God The Son was at first represented by a Cross, by a Lamb, or, again, by a gracious youth, in the same way that Apollo was represented in the pagan world. From the 11th- to the 16th-Century, Christ appears bearded and in the prime of life. From the 13th-Century, He is seen carrying The Cross and often He is depicted as The Lamb.

The Holy Ghost was, at first, represented under the form of a dove, whose outspread wings often touched the mouths of both Father and Son to show that He proceeds from both. For the same reason, from the 11th-Century He is depicted as a little child. In the 13th-Century, He is a youth, in the 15th-Century, He is a man of ripe age, like The Father and The Son, but with a dove above His head, or in His hand, to distinguish Him from the other Two Persons.

Since the 16th-Century, the dove and the fiery tongues are the only representations of The Holy Ghost. Quite recently, it was expressly forbidden to represent Him under a human form. Since 1628, was also forbidden the monstrous picture of three faces on one body.

As a symbol of The Trinity, the triangle has been borrowed from geometry, depicting by its form The Divine Unity in which are inscribed three angles, expressing The Three Persons in God. Trefoil plants, as Shamrock and Clover, serve to represent this Great Mystery, as also do three circles interwoven, with the word "Unity" inscribed in the central space belonging to all three.

A Miniature of the 16th-Century represents The Father and Son as like each other, with the same Nimbus, the same Triple Crown, the hair worn in the same way and a single cloak drawing them close together. Further, they are united by the same Book of Divine Wisdom as well as by The Holy Ghost, Who joins one to the other by the ends of His wings. But The Father is older than The Son, and the beard of the one is pointed, while that of the other is round.

The Father wears a Robe, without a Girdle, and carries the globe of the Earth in His hand, while The Son, as a Priest, wears an Alb, with Cincture and Stole.

The Feast of The Holy Trinity owes its origin to the fact that the Ordinations of The Ember Saturday, which took place in the evening, were prolonged to the next day, which was Sunday, and which had no Proper Liturgy.

As this day is Consecrated throughout the year to The Most Holy Trinity, The Votive Mass, composed in the 7th-Century A.D., to Celebrate this Mystery, was said on The First Sunday after Pentecost; and, since it occupied a fixed place in The Liturgical Calendar, this Mass was considered as establishing this Sunday as a special Feast of The Blessed Trinity.

Stephen, Bishop of Liége, who was born about 850 A.D., composed, in the 10th-Century, its Office, which was revised later on by The Franciscans.

The Feast was, in 1334, extended to The Universal Church by Pope John XXII and made a Double of The First-Class by Pope Saint Pius X.

That we may ever be armed against all adversity, let us, today, with The Liturgy, make our Solemn Profession of Faith in The Holy and Eternal Trinity and His indivisible Unity.

Every Parish Priest Celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.

Mass: Benedícta sit sancta.
Commemoration: The First Sunday After Pentecost.

Creed.
Preface: Of The Holy Trinity.
Last Gospel: The Gospel of The Sunday After Pentecost.