Brothers by birth, Mark and Marcellianus were brothers especially because they generously shed their blood for the sake of Christ (Alleluia). Persecuted for their Faith, like The Prophets and The Apostles (Gospel), they were arrested under the Emperor Diocletian and were nailed by the feet to a post, where they remained hanging.
The Holy Ghost, Who filled their hearts with The Holy Love of God and the hope of an eternal reward, sustained them in their torments (Epistle) and protected them in their tribulations (Introit). "Never", they exclaimed, "have we enjoyed such delights as those we feel in suffering for Jesus Christ."
After a day and night of suffering, they were pierced with arrows, in 286 A.D., and their Souls "delivered like the sparrow from the bird-catcher's net" (Offertory) entered for ever "into the Kingdom which had been prepared for them from the beginning of the World" (Communion).
On this day, the Anniversary of the Heavenly Birth of these two Holy Martyrs, let us ask God, through their intercession, to deliver us from all the ills that threaten us (Collect).
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, unless otherwise stated.
Saint Ephrem. Deacon. Confessor. Doctor of The Church. Feast Day 18 June.
Double.
White Vestments.
English: Roumanian Icon of Saint Ephrem-the-Syrian.
Français: Photo d'une icône roumaine de St Ephrem le Syrien (diacre et docteur de l'Eglise
dit "La Harpe de l'Esprit" ou encore "La cithare de Marie"), icône écrite par une sœur orthodoxe près d'Oradea en avril 2005, prise de vue par Geoffroy Blanc (le propriétaire de l'icône).
Source: Own work assumed (based on Copyright claims).
Author: Garzo assumed (based on Copyright claims).
(Wikimedia Commons)
Saint Ephrem was born in Nisibis, Mesopotamia, and was one of the Lights of The Church (Gospel). His father, a pagan priest, cast him out of his home. He then went as a Hermit in the desert and was Ordained Deacon of Edessa (Communion).
Led by The Holy Ghost to Caesarea, in Cappadocia, he there met Saint Basil. In order to refute the numerous errors which were being spread by the prayers and canticles of the Heretics, he wrote poems and Christian Hymns, celebrating the Mysteries of The Lives of Christ, The Blessed Virgin Mary, and The Saints. That is why he is called "The Harp of The Holy Ghost". He always had a great devotion to Our Lady.
He died at Edessa in 375 A.D., under the Emperor Valens. Pope Benedict XV proclaimed him a Doctor of The Universal Church (Collect).
Let us ask God, through the intercession of Saint Ephrem, to defend His Church against the snares of error and wickedness (Collect).
Mass:In médio. Commemoration of Saint Mark and Saint Marcellianus. Martyrs.
The Solemn Celebration of this Feast is, in some places, observed on the following Sunday.
After the Dogma of The Holy Trinity, The Holy Ghost reminds us of the Dogma of The Incarnation of Our Lord, in celebrating with The Church the greatest of all Sacraments, summing up the whole Life of The Redeemer, giving Infinite Glory to God and applying The Fruits of The Redemption at all times to ourselves (Collect).
It was on The Cross that Our Lord redeemed us, and The Holy Eucharist, instituted on the night before Our Lord's Passion, remains its Memorial (Collect). The Altar is the extension of Calvary ["The Celebration of The Mass has the same value as The Death of Jesus Christ on The Cross", Saint John Chrysostom.]; The Mass "shows The Death of The Lord" (Epistle).
Jesus is there in the State of a Victim, for the words of the Double Consecration mean only that the Bread is changed into The Body of Christ and the Wine into His Blood. On account of this double action with different effects, which constitutes The Sacrifice of The Mass, we are entitled to speak of Our Lord's Presence, under the appearance of Bread, as that of The Body of Christ, although, since He can die no more, the whole Christ is there contained; similarly, we may speak of the Presence under the appearance of Wine as that of His Blood, although He is contained there whole and entire.
Through His Priests, Our Lord Himself, the principal Priest of The Mass, offers in an unbloody manner His Body and Blood, Which were really separated on The Cross, but, on the Altar only in a representative or Sacramental sense, the matter and words used and the effect produced being different in the two Consecrations.
Besides, The Eucharist was instituted under the form of food (Alleluia), that we may be united with The Victim of Calvary, so that The Sacred Host becomes the "wheat" which feeds our Souls (Introit).
THE SEQUENCE FOR CORPUS CHRISTI.
The Solemnity of The Body and Blood of Christ.
Holy Mass, Procession to Saint Mary Major
and Eucharistic Blessing.
Basilica of Saint John Lateran, 23 June 2011.
Solennità del Santissimo Corpo e Sangue di Cristo.
Santa Messa, Processione a Santa Maria Maggiore
e Benedizione Eucaristica.
Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, 23 Giugno 2011.
Moreover, Christ, as The Son of God, receives The Eternal Life of The Father; in the same way, Christians share in that Eternal Life by uniting themselves to Christ, through The Sacrament, which is the symbol of unity (Secret), and this possession of The Divine Life, already realised on Earth through The Eucharist, is the pledge and the beginning of that in which we shall fully rejoice in Heaven (Postcommunion). As The Council of Trent puts it: "That same Heavenly Bread that we eat now, under the Sacred Veils, we shall feed upon in Heaven without Veil."
We should regard The Mass as The Centre of all Eucharistic Worship, seeing in Holy Communion the means instituted by Our Lord to enable us to share more fully in this Divine Sacrifice. In this way, our Devotion to Our Lord's Body and Blood will effectively obtain for us The Fruits of His Redemption (Collect).
Concerning the Procession, which regularly should follow The Mass, we remember how the Israelites revered The Ark of The Covenant, which was the Presence of God among them. When they carried on their victorious marches, the Ark went before, borne by the Levites in the midst of a cloud of incense, accompanied by the sound of musical instruments and of the songs and shouts of the multitude.
We Christians have a treasure far more precious, for, in The Eucharist, we possess God Himself. Let us feel a holy pride in forming His Escort and extolling His Triumphs, while He is in our midst.
Every Parish Priest celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.
Regularly, The Sacred Host, carried in The Procession, has been Consecrated in The Mass and exposed in The Monstrance immediately after The Communion of the Priest.
Sometimes, however, The Procession is a separate Function in the afternoon.
Capilla de Música de la Catedral de Pamplona: "Sacris Solemnis".
When the Priest leaves the Altar, the Choristers intone the Vesper Hymn Pange Lingua. If time allows, other Eucharistic Hymns are also sung, to be found among The Benediction Hymns, e.g: Sacris Solemniis and Verbum Supernum. Also the Hymns for The Ascension, Salutis Humanae, the Canticles Benedictus or Magnificat. On the return of The Procession, The Te Deum is usually sung.
When the Celebrant is arrived at the Altar, the Choristers intone the Tantum Ergo and Benediction is given.
Text: The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, unless stated otherwise.
Saint Basil the Great. Bishop. Confessor. Doctor of The Church.
Double.
White Vestments.
English: The Fathers of The Church: Saint Basil of Caesarea; Saint John Chrysostom; Saint Gregory of Nazianzen - an icon of the 17th-Century from Lipie, Historic Museum in Sanok, Poland.
Polski: Ojcowie Kościoła: św. Bazyli Wielki, św. Jan Chryzostom, św. Grzegorz z Nazjanzu
– ikona z XVII wieku, pochodząca z Lipia, miejsce ekspozycji -
Saint Basil was born at Caesarea, in Cappadocia. After having completed his studies at Constantinople and Athens with his intimate friend Saint Gregory of Nazianzen, he renounced the World, left his family (Gospel), and embraced Monastic Life in the Province of Pontus.
Like fully-seasoned salt (Gospel), he gave to his teaching the full flavour of the Gospel and nourished with Holy Truth the people of Caesarea committed to his care (Communion).
He was the author of the famous rule which bears his name; it was praised by Saint Benedict and is still observed by the Monks of The East. The Holy Ghost filled him with His Divine Wisdom and with intelligence (Introit).
When, therefore, he wrote against those who rebelled against the sound Doctrine (Epistle), he attacked the Arians, who denied The Divinity of Jesus Christ, and prepared the triumph of Orthodoxy over the error of the Macedonians by firmly establishing the Catholic Dogma regarding The Holy Ghost.
He is one of the Four Great Doctors of The East. He died in 379 A.D.
Let us ask Saint Basil to fill us with his Faith in The Divinity of The Third Person of The Holy Trinity, and to deliver us from sin (Offertory) which hinders the working of The Holy Ghost in our Souls.
