The Church attaches great importance to The Feasts of The Apostles, which are preceded by a Vigil (Collect).
Saint Matthias, elected by The Will of God (Gospel), received Judas' share in the inheritance of The Church which was figured by The Promised Land divided into twelve tribes (Epistle).
Called "to give his life" (Gospel), like Jesus, to crown his Apostolic career, he suffered Martyrdom and was "clothed by God in resplendent glory" (Communion).
Let us ask God to prepare us to Celebrate piously The Feast of His Apostle, Saint Matthias.
Mass: Ego autem.
English: Stained-Glass Window, depicting Saint Matthias (Left)
in the Cathedral of Saint Marie d'Auch, France.
Français : Cathédrale Sainte-Marie d'Auch - Vitrail de la chapelle de la Passion (saint Mathias, Esdras, Habacuc, sibylle Tiburtine).
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, unless stated otherwise. Saint Peter Damian. Bishop. Confessor. Doctor Of The Church. Feast Day 23 February. Double. White Vestments.
English: Saint Peter Damian (Right), depicted with Saints Augustine, Anne, and Elizabeth.
Deutsch: Portuense-Altar, Szene: Thronende Madonna und Heilige:
Hl. Augustinus, Hl. Anna, Hl. Elisabeth, Hl. Petrus Damiani.
Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.
DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Saint Peter Damian showed remarkable piety from his childhood. Having, by chance, picked up a coin, he gave it to a Priest, requesting him to offer up The Divine Sacrifice for the Soul of his father. He added to his father's name, that of Damian, his brother, out of gratitude, because it was by his brother's generosity that he was able to pursue his studies.
"Despising Earthly riches" (Collect), he enterered a Monastery of Camaldolese of The Benedictine Observance and soon became its Abbot (Communion).
"As a light of Souls, he was to be placed on the candlestick" (Gospel), and became Bishop of Ostia and Cardinal. He rendered immense services to The Sovereign Pontiffs by his learning, his commissions as Legate and many other works.
Taking his share in the Apostolic life of Jesus, he combatted the heresy of The Simonists and died at Faenza in 1072. Pope Leo XII gave him the Title of Doctor of The Church.
Let us imitate in his ardour for Penance, Saint Peter Damian, who contributed so much, by his example and counsel, to spread the penitential practice of the discipline as an atonement for sin.
Mass: In médio. Commemoration and Last Gospel of The Feria in Lent. Commemoration of The Vigil of Saint Matthias the Apostle, if it be not Leap Year when The Vigil is on the 24th.
To honour the dignity of "The Prince" (Introit), to whom Jesus committed The Power of The Keys (Collect), The Church instituted The Feast of "The Chair of Saint Peter", which is found in The Roman Calendar on this date since 354 A.D.
[The Cathedra (Chair) is The Throne established where the Bishop resides, hence the name Cathedral, given to the Church where the Bishop's Seat is placed. Metaphorically, it represents the Episcopal authority itself. "The Chair of Saint Peter" means, therefore, a memory of Saint Peter's Episcopate, and his Primacy as Head of The Whole Church.]
As it often falls in Lent, certain Churches Celebrated it at an earlier date, in January. Hence, the two Feasts of "The Chair of Saint Peter", which The Church distinguished by connecting the more ancient Feast [Rome, until the 16th-Century, only Celebrated this Feast and not the other Feast] on 22 February, with "The Chair at Antioch", and the other Feast, on 18 January, with "The Chair of Rome". Saint Peter resided, indeed for some time, at Antioch about the years 51-52 A.D.
It is to Saint Peter, who proclaimed that Jesus was "The Christ, Son of The Living God" (Gospel), when all Palestine rejected Him, that The Master commits The Power to Bind Satan by Closing The Gates of Hell, to Open for us The Gates of Heaven (Gospel). And The Head of The Church teaches us in his first Epistle that it is "by Faith, in the sprinkling of The Blood of Jesus Christ, that The Holy Ghost Sanctifies us and reconciles us to The Father."
The Commemoration of Saint Paul immediately follows The Collect of The Feast, for The Liturgy does not separate those who have so justly been called "The Two Pillars of The Church".
Let us today honour The Head of The Church, who continues here below the redeeming work of Jesus.
Mass: Státuit ei Dóminus. Commemoration: Of Saint Paul. Commemoration: Of The Feria (with Last Gospel), in Lent.
