This Mass is said on the Sunday, if this falls on 29 December, or on 30 December, or on 31 December. In this case, every Parish Priest Celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.
It is said on 30 December (a Week-Day), if the Sunday falls on 25 December, or on 26 December, or on 27 December, or on 28 December.
The Mass tells us that "The Word that came down from Heaven during the night" (Introit) of Christmas is "The Son of God, Who has Come that we might participate of His heritage and receive the adoption of sons" (Epistle).
Before His Coming, man was as "a child, who, during his minority, differeth nothing from a servant" (Epistle). On the contrary, now that The New Law has emancipated him from the tutorship of The Old Law, "he is no longer a servant, but a son" (Epistle).
In revealing to us this supernatural filiation of Christ, which affects our Souls more especially at this Season of Christmas, The Liturgy makes The Divinity under the aspect of Paternity resplendent in our eyes. Also, the the worship of The Sons of God is summed up in that word spoken with Jesus, "Father !" (Epistle).
The Gospel also discloses to us the glorious mission which the future has in store for this Child, the manifestation of which begins today in the Temple.
"It is the King" (Gradual), "Whose reign" (Alleluia) "will reach the very depths of the heart" (Gospel). For all, it will be a touchstone, a stumbling block, for those who will persecute Him (Communion), a cornerstone "for many in Israel" (Gospel).
Mass: Dum médium. Second Collect: Of The Octave of The Nativity.
Credo: Is Said or Sung. Preface: For Christmas. Communicantes for Christmas: During The Octave.
Last Saturday, 21 December 2019, His Excellency Dominique Rey, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, France, Ordained a Member of The Monastère Saint Benoît to The Minor Orders of Exorcist and Acolyte.
The day was the Saturday Ember Day of Advent, one of the very ancient Traditional Days for The Conferral of Holy Orders, which, this year, was kept in The Extraordinary Form as a Commemoration on The Feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle.
Congratulation to the new Acolyte, Dom Ildephonse (who received this name in Religion in honour of The Blessed Ildephonse Schuster), and to his Community. “ Feliciter !!! ”
The Web-Site of The Monastère Saint Benoît, and the ability to make a small donation to support the successful emergence of this new Traditional Monastery, can be found HERE
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.
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 Saint Gall, who was Abbot of Einsiedeln 1526-1544, succeeded in restoring the stricter observance.
English: The Choir of The Abbatial Cathedral Saint Mauritius,
Einsiedeln, Canton of Schwyz, Central Switzerland.
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 Saint 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.
Saint Meinrad Arch-Abbey, Indiana, United States of America.
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.
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, which are the 6th-Century A.D. 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 from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia, unless otherwise stated.
The Massacre of The Innocents is the Biblical narrative of Infanticide, by Herod the Great, the Roman-appointed King of the Jews. According to the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the "Vicinity of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a new-born King of the Jews, whose birth had been announced to him by The Magi.
In typical Matthean style, it is understood as the fulfilment of an Old Testament Prophecy: "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah, the Prophet, saying: "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more."
The number of infants killed is not stated, however, The Holy Innocents, although not Christians, have been claimed as Martyrs for Christianity.
In Saint Matthew's account, Magi from The East go to Judea in search of the new-born King of the Jews, having "seen His Star in The East". The King, Herod the Great, directs them to Bethlehem, and asks them to let him know who this King is when they find Him. They find Jesus and honour Him, but an Angel tells them not to alert Herod, and they return home by another way. The Massacre of The Innocents is at Matthew 2:16–18, although the preceding Verses form the context:
When [The Magi] had gone, an Angel of The Lord appeared to Joseph, in a dream. "Get up", he said, "take The Child and His Mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for The Child to kill Him". So, he got up, took The Child and His Mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod.
And so was fulfilled what The Lord had said through the Prophet: "Out of Egypt I called My Son." When Herod realised that he had been outwitted by The Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem, and its vicinity, who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from The Magi.
Then, what was said through the Prophet Jeremiah, was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."
The story's first appearance in any source other than Matthew is in the apocryphal Proto-Evangelium of James of circa 150 A.D., which excludes The Flight into Egypt and switches the attention of the story to the infant John the Baptist:
"And when Herod knew that he had been mocked by The Magi, in a rage he sent murderers, saying to them: Slay the children from two years old and under. And Mary, having heard that the children were being killed, was afraid, and took The Infant and swaddled Him, and put Him into an ox-stall. And Elizabeth, having heard that they were searching for John, took him and went up into the hill-country, and kept looking where to conceal him. And there was no place of concealment. And Elizabeth, groaning with a loud voice, says: O mountain of God, receive mother and child. And immediately the mountain was cleft, and received her. And a light shone about them, for an Angel of The Lord was with them, watching over them."
The first non-Christian reference to The Massacre is recorded four Centuries later, by Macrobius (lived 395 A.D. - 423 A.D.), who writes in his Saturnalia:
"When he [Emperor Augustus] heard that, among the boys in Syria under two years old whom Herod, king of the Jews, had ordered to be killed, Herod's own son was also killed, he said: 'It is better to be Herod's pig, than his son'."
The Carol refers to The Massacre of The Innocents, in which Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two, in Bethlehem, to be killed. The lyrics of this haunting Carol represent a mother's lament for her doomed child. It is the only Carol that has survived from this Play. The author is unknown. The oldest known Text was written down by Robert Croo, in 1534, and the oldest known printing of the melody dates from 1591. The Carol is Traditionally sung a cappella.
Mediaeval Liturgical Drama recounted Biblical events, including Herod's Slaughter of The Innocents. The Pageant of The Shearmen and Tailors, performed in Coventry, England, included a haunting song about the episode, now known as The Coventry Carol.
The Ordo Rachelis Tradition of four Plays includes The Flight into Egypt, Herod's succession by Archelaus, The Return from Egypt, as well as The Massacre, all centred on Rachel weeping, in fulfilment of Jeremiah's Prophecy. These events were, likewise, in one of the Mediæval N-Town Plays.
The theme of "The Massacre of The Innocents" has provided artists of many nationalities with opportunities to compose complicated depictions of massed bodies in violent action. It was an alternative to The Flight into Egypt in Cycles of The Life of The Virgin. It decreased in popularity in Gothic Art, but revived in the larger works of The Renaissance, when artists took inspiration for their "Massacres" from Roman reliefs of The Battle of The Lapiths and Centaurs, to the extent that they showed the figures heroically nude.
The horrific subject matter, of The Massacre of The Innocents, also provided a comparison of ancient brutalities with early modern ones during the period of Religious Wars that followed The Reformation - Bruegel's versions show the soldiers carrying banners with The Habsburg Double-Headed Eagle (often used at the time for Ancient Roman soldiers).
The Commemoration of The Massacre of these "Holy Innocents" — considered by some Christians as the first Martyrs for Christ — first appears as a Feast of The Western Church in The Leonine Sacramentary, dating from about 485 A.D. The earliest Commemorations were connected with The Feast of The Epiphany, 6 January: Prudentius mentions The Innocents in his Hymn on The Epiphany; Pope Leo I, in his Homilies on The Epiphany, speaks of The Innocents; Fulgentius of Ruspe (6th-Century A.D.) gives a Homily "De Epiphania, deque Innocentum nece et muneribus magorum" ("On Epiphany, and on The Murder of The Innocents and The Gifts of The Magi").
In The 1962 Roman Catholic Calendar, the Violet Vestments for Holy Innocents were eliminated (Red Vestments used, instead), and, if 28 December fell on a Sunday, this Feast was Commemorated on The Sunday Within The Octave Of Christmas. This was changed in a later revision of The Church Calendar.
In Spain, Hispanic America and The Philippines, 28 December is a day for pranks, equivalent to April Fool's Day in many Countries. One of the more famous of these Traditions is the annual "Els Enfarinats" Festival of Ibi, in Alicante, Spain, where the inocentadas dress up in full military dress and incite a flour fight. Various Catholic Countries had a Tradition (no longer widely observed) of role reversal between children and their adult educators, including Boy Bishops, perhaps a Christianised version of the Roman annual feast of the Saturnalia (when even slaves played "masters" for a day). In some cultures, such as Mediæval England and France, it was said to be an unlucky day, when no new project should be started.
In addition, there was a Mediæval custom of refraining, where possible, from work on the day of the week on which The Feast of "Innocents Day" had fallen, for the whole of the following year until the next Innocents Day. This was presumably mainly observed by the better-off. Philippe de Commynes, the Minister of King Louis XI of France, tells in his memoirs how the King observed this custom, and describes the trepidation he felt when he had to inform the King of an emergency on the day.
The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.
The Feast of The Holy Innocents dates back to about the 5th-Century A.D. The Massacre of these Infants manifests The Royal Character of Jesus. It is because Herod believed the words of The Magi, and those of the High Priests, whom he consulted, that he sees a rival in The Infant of Bethlehem and jealously pursues Him "that is born King of the Jews" [Gospel of The Epiphany].
But, as The Church sings, "O cruel Herod, why thus fear, Thy King and God Who comes below ? No Earthly Crown comes He to take, Who Heavenly Kingdoms doth bestow" [Hymn for Vespers of The Epiphany].
It is this God-King that "The Innocents, by dying, confess" (Collect). "Their passion is The Exaltation of Christ" [Third Nocturn of Matins]. And the praise that they render to God is a subject of confusion in the enemies of Jesus (Introit), for, far from attaining their object, they only served to fulfil the saying of the Prophet "out of Egypt have I called My Son" (Gospel), and that at Bethlehem would be heard the lamentations of the mothers mourning for their children.
To picture their desolation in more vivid colours, Jeremias recalls Rachel, whose lamentations are heard in Rama [a Town situated two hours to the North of Jerusalem, in the old territory of Benjamin, son of Rachel], bewailing her children because they are not.
Like a compassionate mother, The Church robes her Priests, today, in Vestments of mourning, and suppresses the Gloria and Alleluia.
This Feast is celebrated at Saint Paul's-without-the-Walls, because the bodies of several of those Holy Martyrs are Venerated there.
Let us show forth in Holiness of Life, The Divinity of Christ, that was confessed by the death of these Innocent Souls children.
Every Parish Priest celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.
Mass: Ex ore infántium. The Gloria in excelsis, the Alleluia, and the Ita Missa est, are said only if The Feast falls on a Sunday, and on The Octave Day of The Feast Day (4 January). Second Collect: Of The Octave of The Nativity of Our Lord.
Credo: Is Said or Sung. Preface: For Christmas. Communicantes: For Christmas.
The Church was still in her infancy when Stephen, renowned for his virtues, received from The Apostles the mission to organise the meals where The Poor were fed in common. He worked such "great wonders and signs among the people" (Epistle) that the Jews from five different synagogues became alarmed and summoned him before the Sanhedrin (Introit).
Jesus had upbraided the Jews "for having killed and stoned the Prophets" (Gospel); Stephen, in his turn addressing his judges, declared that, in crucifying Christ, they had shown themselves worthy of their fathers, who put to death the messengers of God. The Holy Deacon then lifting his eyes to Heaven said that "he saw The Son of God standing on The Right-Hand of God" (Gospel).
What a splendid testimony to The Divinity of this Child, Whom we Venerate in The Crib.
English: Basilica of Saint Stephen-in-the-Round on The Coelian Hill.
Basilica of Santo Stefano Rotondo in a 19th-Century painting.
Italiano: Basilica di Santo Stefano al Monte Celio.
On hearing these words, the Jews, fulfilling once more the words of The Master (Gospel), "with one accord ran violently upon Stephen and stoned him,", who, falling on his knees, commended his Soul to Jesus (Epistle) and asked pardon for his executioners (Collect).
Stephen is the first of the witnesses of Christ, it is therefore only right that he should appear first in the glorious procession of Saints who surround The Cradle of The Saviour. It is a tendency noticeable in a Greek Martyrology of the 4th-Century A.D., to connect the greatest of The New Testament Saints with The Feast of The Nativity. His name is inscribed in The Canon of The Mass (Second List).
Following after the example of Stephen, may we "love by Charity even those who wrong us" (Collect), and be ever ready to surrender our life for Christ.
Every Parish Priest Celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.
Mass: Sedérunt principes. Second Collect: Of The Octave Of The Nativity Of Our Lord. Credo. Preface: Of Christmas. Communicantes: Of Christmas.
