Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

Wednesday 28 June 2017

Wednesday Within The Octave Of The Feast Of The Sacred Heart.


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,

   or, where indicated,
   Abbot Guéranger's "The Liturgical Year".

Wednesday within The Octave of The Sacred Heart.


Semi-Double.

White Vestments.



"Sweet Sacrament Divine".
Available on YouTube at


The Sacred Heart of Jesus
with Saint Ignatius of Loyola and
Saint Louis Gonzaga (circa 1770).
Artist: José de Páez, Mexico, 1727-1790.
(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text on Annum Sacrum is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Annum Sacrum.

Annum Sacrum (meaning Holy Year) is an Encyclical by Pope Leo XIII on The Consecration of The Entire World to The Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was delivered in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome on the 25th day of May, 1899, the twenty-second year of his Pontificate.

The Consecration in The Encyclical entered new Theological territory by Consecrating non-Christians. The Encyclical, and The Consecration, were influenced by two Letters written to the Pope by Sister Mary of The Divine Heart, who stated that, in Visions of Jesus Christ, she had been told to request The Consecration.

The Encyclical includes The Prayer of Consecration to The Sacred Heart, composed by His Holiness Pope Leo XIII.


English: Coat-of-Arms of Pope Leo XIII.
Français: Armoiries du pape Léon XIII : D'azur au cyprès de sinople planté
sur une plaine 
de même accompagné au francs quartier d'une comête d'or et en
pointe de deux flaurs de lys d'argent, à la fasce d'argent brochant sur le tout.
Date: 11 August 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Odejea.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Protestantism, in the 16th-Century, and Jansenism, in the 17th-Century, had attempted to spoil one of the essential Dogmas of Christianity, namely, The Love of God for all men.

It became necessary that The Spirit of Love, which directs The Church, should, by some new means, counteract the spreading Heresy, in order that The Spouse of Christ, far from seeing her love for Jesus diminish, should feel it always increasing.

This was made manifest in Catholic Worship, which is The Sure Rule of Our Faith, by the institution of The Feast of The Sacred Heart.

Yet, in The Early-Middle-Ages, the Doctors and Saints used to see, in The Wound of Jesus' Side, The Source of All Graces. Saint Bonaventure invites us "to enter this Wound and to dwell in the quiet of this Heart" (Third Nocturn).


English: Saint John Eudes, 1673.
Nederlands: Portret Jean Eudes ca. 1673 - 
publiek domein, ouderdom.
Source: Transferred from nl.wikipedia
Author: Original uploader was Besednjak at nl.wikipedia
(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Jean Eudes (14 November 1601 - 19 August 1680) was a French Missionary, Founder of The Congregation of Jesus and Mary, and of The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of The Refuge, and author of The Propers for Mass and The Divine Office of The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

The two Benedictine Virgins, Saint Gertrude and Saint Mechtilde, in the 13th-Century, had a clear vision of the grandeur of The Devotion to The Sacred Heart. Saint John the Evangelist, appearing to Saint Gertrude, announced to her that "the meaning of The Blessed Beating of The Heart of Jesus, which he had heard whilst his head rested on His Breast, was reserved for The Latter Times, when the World, grown old and cold in Divine Love, would require to have its fervour renewed by means of this Mystery of Burning Love".


English: Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque 
contemplating The Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Italiano: Santa Margherita Maria Alacoque 
Contempla il Sacro Cuore di Gesù.
Polski: Św. Małgorzata Maria Alacoque 
adoruje Najświętsze Serce Jezusa.
Artist: Giaquito Corrado.
Date: 1765.
Source: Lib-Art.com
(Wikimedia Commons)

This Heart, say these two Saints, is an Altar on which Christ offers Himself to The Father as a perfect and most acceptable victim. It is a Golden Censer from which rise, towards The Father, as many Clouds of Incense as there are kinds of men for whom Christ suffered.

In this Heart, the Praise and Thanks we give to God, and all our good works, are ennobled and become acceptable to The Father.

But, in order to make this worship public and recognised, Providence first raised up Saint John Eudes, who, in 1670, composed an Office and a Mass of The Sacred Heart for the so-called Congregation of The Eudists.

Providence then chose one of The Spiritual Daughters of Saint Francis of Sales, Saint Margaret-Mary Alacoque, to whom Jesus showed His Heart at Paray-le-Monial, on 16 June 1675, the Sunday after Corpus Christi, and asked her to institute a Feast of The Sacred Heart on The Friday following The Octave of Corpus Christi.


The Sacred Heart of Jesus, 
(Sacro cuore di Jesu),
painting on the Altar in the Northern Side Chapel 
of Il Gesu, 
in Rome, circa 1767,
by Pompeo Batoni.
Author: Pompeo Batoni (1708–1787).
(Wikimedia Commons)

Lastly, God employed, for the propagation of this Devotion, Blessed Claude de la Colombiere. He belonged to The Company of Jesus, "the whole of which inherited his zeal in the propagation of The Devotion to The Sacred Heart" [the quoted portion is from Dom Guéranger's "The Liturgical Year, Volume 10, Book 1: The Feast of The Sacred Heart"].

[Dom Guéranger writes, in the above tome, on The Feast of The Sacred Heart of Jesus: "A new ray of light shines today in the heaven of Holy Church, and its light brings warmth. The Divine Master given to us by Our Redeemer, that is, The Paraclete Spirit, Who has come down into this World, continues His teachings to us in The Sacred Liturgy. The earliest of these, His Divine Teachings, was The Mystery of The Trinity; and we have worshipped The Blessed Three: We have been taught Whom God is, we know Him in His Own Nature, we have been admitted, by Faith, into the Sanctuary of The Infinite Essence.


Image of Prosper Guéranger,
by Claude-Ferdinand Gaillard (1874).
Date: 2007-05-07 (original upload date).
Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia
Author: Original uploader was Ikanreed at en.wikipedia
(Wikimedia Commons)

"Then, this Spirit, The Mighty Wind of Pentecost, opened to our Souls new aspects of The Truth, which it is His Mission to make the World remember; and His Revelation left us prostrate before The Sacred Host, The Memorial which God Himself has left us of all His Wonderful Works.

"Today, it is The Sacred Heart of The Word Made Flesh that this Holy Spirit puts before us,
that we may know and love and adore It."]


In 1765, Pope Clement XIII, gave his approbation to The Feast and The Office of The Sacred Heart, and, in 1856, Blessed Pope Pius IX, extended it to The Universal Church. In 1929, Pope Pius XI composed a new Mass and Office for this Feast and gave it a Privileged Octave of The Third Order.

The Solemnity of The Sacred Heart sums up all the phases of The Life of Jesus, recalled in The Liturgy from Advent to The Feast of Corpus Christi.

It constitutes an admirable Triptych, giving us, in abridgment, all The Mysteries (Joyous, Sorrowful, and Glorious) of The Saviour's Life devoted to The Love of God and men. This Feast is, indeed, placed on a height from which may be contemplated The Redeeming Labours of The Saviour on Earth and The Glorious Victories He will, by The Working of The Holy Ghost, achieve in Souls until the end of the World.


Pope Leo XIII 
in 1880.
Source: 1880 book on Pope Leo XIII.
Author: Karl Benzinger.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Pope Leo XIII wrote the Encyclical, "Annum Sacrum", on The Consecration of The Entire World to The Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was delivered in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome on 25 May 1899.

Coming after The Feasts of Christ (Ascension and Corpus Christi), this Feast completes them, concentrating them in one object, which is, materially, Jesus' Heart of Flesh, and, formally, the Unbounded Charity symbolised by this Heart. This Solemnity, therefore, does not relate to a particular Mystery of The Saviour's Life, but embraces them all; indeed, The Devotion to The Sacred Heart Celebrates all the Favours we have received from Divine Charity during the year (Collect), and all the marvellous things that Jesus has done for us (Introit, Tract, Alleluia).

It is The Feast of The Love of God for men, a Love which has made Jesus come down on Earth for all, by His Incarnation (Epistle), which has raised Him on The Cross for The Redemption of all and which brings Him down every day on our Altars by Transubstantiation, in order to make us benefit by The Merits of His Death on Calvary.


English: Blessed Sister Mary of The Divine Heart.
and Mother Superior 
of The Good Shepherd Convent, 
Deutsch: Schwester Maria Droste zu Vischering.
Español: Beata María del Divino Corazón.
Date: Circa 1890.
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Blessed Mary of The Divine Heart (1863 - 1899).
Born Maria Droste zu Vischering, she was a German Roman Catholic Nun,
who was best known for influencing Pope Leo XIII's Consecration
of The World to The Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Pope Leo XIII called this Consecration "the greatest act of my Pontificate".

These three Mysteries, which manifest to us The Divine Charity in a more special way, sum up the spirit of The Feast of The Sacred Heart. It is "His Love which forced Him to put on a mortal body" (Hymn at Matins). It is His Love which willed that The Sacred Heart should be pierced on The Cross (Gospel and Communion), in order that from the Wound should flow a Spring (Preface) we might draw from, joyfully (Versicle at Second Vespers), whose Water cleanses us from our sins in Baptism and whose Blood nourishes our Souls in The Eucharist.

And, as The Eucharist is the continuation of The Incarnation and The Sacrifice of Calvary, Jesus asked that The Feast should be placed immediately after The Octave of Corpus Christi.

As these manifestations of Christ's Love only show the more the ingratitude of men, who only answer by coldness and indifference (Offertory), this Solemnity has a character of Reparation (Collect) demanded of us by The Wounded Heart of Jesus and by His Immolation in The Crib, on The Cross and on The Altar.

Let us learn from The Heart of Jesus, Whose Gentle and Humble Love turns no-one away, and in it we shall find rest for our Souls (Alleluia).

Mass: Cogitationes Cordis.
Second Collect, Secret, Postcommunion: Of Our Lady. Concéde..
Third Collect: For The Church or For The Pope. Ecclesiae or Deus omnium.
Creed.
Preface: Of The Sacred Heart.
Vespers: As on the day of The Feast.
Feasts of The Double Rite: Celebrated with a Commemoration of The Octave.

Reform Of The Roman Breviary By Pope Saint Pius X. The Apostolic Constitution "Divino Afflatu" Of 1 November 1911.


Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless stated otherwise.





Portrait of Pope Saint Pius X (1835-1914),
257th Pope of The Roman Catholic Church.
Date: 23 April 1910.
Author: Bain News Service, publisher.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Reform of the Roman Breviary, by Pope Pius X, was promulgated by that Pope with the Apostolic Constitution "Divino Afflatu" of 1 November 1911.

An Apostolic Constitution (Latin Constitutio Apostolica) is the highest level of Decree issued by the Pope. The use of the term Constitution comes from Latin Constitutio, which referred to any important law issued by the Roman Emperor, and is retained in Church documents because of the inheritance that the Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church received from Roman Law.

By their nature, Apostolic Constitutions are addressed to the public. Generic constitutions use the title Apostolic Constitution, and treat on solemn matters of the Church, such as the promulgation of laws or definitive teachings. The forms Dogmatic Constitution and Pastoral Constitution are titles sometimes used to be more descriptive as to the document's purpose.

Apostolic Constitutions are issued as Papal Bulls, due to their solemn, public form. The next highest category, after an Apostolic Constitution, is an Encyclical Letter.


A Leaf from a Breviary.
Artist: Francesco di Antonio del Chierico (1433–1484),
Italian Manuscript Illuminator.
Date: Third -Quarter 15th-Century (Renaissance).
Current location: Walters Art Museum
Baltimore, United States of America.
Source/Photographer: Walters Art Museum.
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Roman Breviary is the title of the book obligatorily used for celebrating the Roman Rite Divine Office from the revision of Pope Pius V (Apostolic Constitution Quod a nobis, 9 July 1568) to that by Pope Paul VI (Apostolic Constitution Canticum laudis, 1 November 1970).

A minor matter was the printing, in a separate section, called the "Ordinary", of those parts of the Psalter that were to be recited frequently, perhaps several times in the same day, such as the Invitatory, Hymns for the Seasons, Blessings, Absolutions, Chapters, Suffrages, the Lord's Prayer, Benedictus, Magnificat, Te Deum etc.

Much more radical was a completely new arrangement of the Psalms, distributing them or, when too long, dividing them, so as to have approximately the same number of Verses in each day's Office. The length of the Offices of the Breviary were reduced (for example, Matins went from eighteen Psalms recited on Sundays and twelve on Ferial Days, to nine Psalms or parts of Psalms, never more, with the result of reaching a fairly equal number of Verses for each day - between 360 and 497 - whereas the former Office of Saturday contained 792, and that of Sunday, 721).



This change, made with a view to restoring the original use of the Liturgy, which provided for the Chant or recitation of the entire Psalter each week, and the accompanying changes in the rubrics concerning the precedence between Saints' Days and the Sunday and Ferial Offices, was meant to remedy the situation whereby the multiplication of Saints' Days had made celebration of Sundays and Ferias, and consequently of certain Psalms, very rare.

With the reform, the Psalter was once again recited integrally each week without suppressing the Feasts of Saints; the proper Liturgy of Sundays and weekdays was restored; the readings of Holy Scripture, "Proper" to the Seasons of the year, were Privileged.



English: Pope Benedict XV.
Français: Photo de Benoît XV prise vers 1915.
Date: Circa 1915.
Source: Library of Congress.
Author: Unknown. See Source for details.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Pope Benedict XV modified the "Typical Edition" of the Roman Missal (Missale Romanum), in 1920, to accommodate the changes made by Pope Saint Pius X.

Each day, therefore, had its own Psalms, as arranged in the new Psalter, except certain Feast Days, about 125 in number, viz., all those of Christ and their Octaves, the Sundays within the Octaves of the Nativity, Epiphany, Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Vigil of the Epiphany, and the day after the Octave of the Ascension, when the Office is of these days; the Vigil of the Nativity from Lauds to None and the Vigil of Pentecost; all the Feasts of the Blessed Virgin, of the Angels, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Joseph, and the Apostles, as well as Doubles of the First-Class and Second-Class and their entire Octaves.


The Office for the last three days of Holy Week remained unchanged, except that the Psalms for Lauds were from the corresponding days of the week in the Psalter, and, for Compline, those of Sunday. For all other Feasts and for Ferias in Eastertide, the Psalms were those of the new Psalter, while the rest of the Office was from the "Proper" or "Common".

When a Feast has special Antiphons for any of the Major Hours, it retained them with its own Psalms. Except for certain Feasts, the Lessons of the First Nocturn were to be the current Lessons from Scripture, though the Responsories were to be taken from the "Common" or "Proper". Any Feast that had its own Proper Lessons retained them; for Feasts with their own Responsories, those with the Common Lessons were to be read.

Pope Pius X ordered that these changes, proposed by a Committee of Liturgists appointed by him, and adopted by the Congregation of Rites, be put into effect, at latest, on 1 January 1913.




Pope Saint Pius V.
Artist: Bartolomeo Passarotti (1529–1592).
Date: Circa 1566 (Renaissance).
Current location: Walters Art Museum,
Baltimore, United States of America.
Source/Photographer: Walters Art Museum.
(Wikimedia Commons)

The aging, enthroned Pope turns toward the viewer, while making the sign of Blessing with his Right Hand. Pope Saint Pius V (1566-1572) belonged to the Ghislieri family, and on the top of the back of the throne is his family's Coat-of-Arms, crowned by the Papal Tiara and The Keys of Saint Peter, a symbol of the Papacy's descent from Christ's Apostle.

Through the Apostolic Constitution, Divino afflatu, by which Pope Saint Pius X promulgated his Revision of The Roman Breviary, he abolished The Psalter established by Pope Pius V.

By the Motu Proprio "Ab hinc duos annos" of 23 October 1913, Pope Pius X added to his Reform of 1 November 1911: No Feast was to be fixed to a Sunday, except The Holy Name of Jesus and The Blessed Trinity - later, The Feasts of The Holy Family and of Christ The King would be added. The Octaves were equally Simplified.

These changes made it necessary to modify the Roman Missal, also. This was effected in the 1920 "Typical Edition" of the Missal, promulgated by Pope Pius X's successor, Pope Benedict XV.


Through the Apostolic Constitution, Divino afflatu, by which Pope Pius X promulgated his Revision of the Roman Breviary, he abolished the Psalter established by his predecessor, Pope Pius V, and forbade its use, declaring that those who were obliged to recite the Divine Office, every day, failed to fulfil this grave duty unless they used the new arrangement.

The wording of his Apostolic Constitution echoed closely that of his predecessor's Quod a nobis, promulgating the Tridentine Roman Breviary, and also the same predecessor's Quo Primum, promulgating the Tridentine Roman Missal. It included the paragraph: "This we publish, declare, sanction, decreeing that these our letters always are and shall be valid and effective, notwithstanding Apostolic Constitutions and ordinances, general and special, and everything else whatsoever to the contrary. Wherefore, let nobody infringe or temerariously oppose this page of our abolition, revocation, permission, ordinance, precept, statue, indult, mandate and will. But if anybody shall presume to attempt this let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God and of his Apostles the Blessed Peter and Paul.

Quod a nobis concluded with: Nulli ergo omnino hominum liceat hanc paginam Nostrae ablationis, abolitionis, permissionis, praecepti, statuti, indulti, mandati, decreti, relaxationis, cohortationis, prohibitionis, innodationis, et voluntatis infringere, vel ei ausu temerario contraire. Si qui autem hoc attentare praesumpserit, indignationem omnipotentis Dei, ac beatorum Petri et Pauli Apostolorum eius se noverit incursurum.




Psalm 150.
Another point, controversial at the time of Pope Pius X's Breviary reforms,
was the suppression of the immemorial and universally-held usage
of reciting Psalms 148, 149, and 150 at the end of Lauds.
Available on YouTube at

An Article, published in the September 2003 issue of "The Angelus", associated with the Society of Saint Pius X, remarks: "The distribution of the Psalms in Saint Pius X's Breviary was entirely new. It only partially took into account the ancient tradition of the Church, for example, abandoning the number of twelve Psalms at Matins, a number consecrated by a tradition going back to the Desert Fathers and expressly codified in the Rule of Saint Benedict. Another point, controversial at the time, was the suppression of the immemorial and universally held usage of reciting Psalms 148, 149, and 150 at the end of Lauds, daily. This amounts to saying that the Breviary of Pius X did not have so much in common with that of his predecessor and that Clerics were significantly unsettled in their habits ! "

To correspond to the new Psalms, the Antiphonary of the Traditional Roman Office was also almost completely overhauled, as well. Pre-1911, there were 141 unique Antiphons in the Psalter. Post-1911, there were 220. Only sixty-two Antiphons were recognisably the same, and several of these added words or removed them. Many of the overlapping ones were those for the special Seasons (Advent, Lent, Passiontide), not for the per annum (Ordinary Time) Ferias. Thus, seventy-nine Antiphons of the Pre-1911 Breviary were removed, and 158 unique to the Post-1911 Breviary introduced.


Tuesday 27 June 2017

"Baba Yetu". The Lord's Prayer. In Swahili.




"Baba Yetu".
The Lord's Prayer in Swahili.
Available on YouTube at


This Article can be read in full at A CHAPLAIN ABROAD - FR. BEDE ROWE

Monday 26 June 2017

Poland Blasts The Council Of Europe Report On ABORTION.


This Article is a reprint from 26 June 2016 and can be read in full at
CENTER FOR FAMILY AND HUMAN RIGHTS



By Stefano Gennarini, J.D.

NEW YORK, June 24, 2016 (C-Fam) The Polish Government snapped back at European bureaucrats in a scathing response to a Report published last week by The Council of Europe that criticised Poland’s restrictive ABORTION Law and its treatment of women.

Donning the ceremonial tone and submissive deference that many Countries adopt in their interface with international bureaucrats, Poland accused The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Latvian-American Nils Muižnieks, of “overstepping his mandate,” of bias and selectivity, and interfering in internal affairs in an official response to a Report of The Commissioner published last week.


In a section on “sexual and reproductive health” the Commissioner’s Report instructs Poland to decriminalise ABORTION, remove conscience protections for doctors and medical personnel, and enact mandatory comprehensive sexuality education.

Instead of bowing obsequiously, as is commonly assumed Nations will do in such situations, Poland replied that The Commissioner had his facts wrong, and that he both misunderstood Polish Law and the obligation of Poland under The European Convention on Human Rights.

“Polish Law in this regard has its sources in The Constitution and is conditioned by a widely-shared care of Polish Society for The Respect For Life,” was Poland’s specific response on the issue of ABORTION.

Saint John And Saint Paul. Martyrs. Feast Day, Today, 26 June.


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

Saints John and Paul.
   Martyrs.
   Feast Day 26 June.

Double.

Red Vestments.




English: Basilica of the Church of The Holy Martyrs, John and Paul, 
on Mount Coelius, Rome.
The Lenten Station, for Friday after Ash Wednesday, is held at this Basilica.
Français: Vue d'ensemble de la Basilique Santi Giovanni e Paolo de Rome sur le Celio.
Photo: May 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: LPLT.
(Wikimedia Commons)

The two brothers, John and Paul, were Romans and in the service of Constantia, daughter of Emperor Constantine. Julian the Apostate, having invited them to be among his familiar friends, they refused, so as to remain faithful to Jesus.

Ten days were allowed for them to deliberate, and they used them in distributing all they possessed to the Poor. They were then arrested and "without fearing those who can only kill the body, and beyond that can do nothing more" (Gospel), they became, in 362 A.D., brothers more than ever, by the same Faith and the same Martyrdom (Collect, Gradual, Alleluia).

The Church compares them "to the two olive-trees and to the two candle-sticks, mentioned in The Apocalypse, which shine before The Lord." [Response at Matins.]

"These Just Men," she [Editor: The Church] adds, "have stood before The Lord and have not been separated from one another." [Antiphon at The Magnificat.] Wherefore, both their names, mentioned in The Canon of The Mass (First List), pass on from generation to generation, while their bodies rest in peace (Epistle) in the ancient Church erected in their honour on Mount Coelius at Rome. It is there that The Station is held on The Friday after Ash Wednesday.

Let us enjoy today, with The Church, the double triumph of Saints John and Paul (Collect) and let us, like them, courageously confess Jesus before Men, so that He may recognise us for His own before His Angels (Gospel).

Mass: Multae tribulatiónes.
Commemoration: Of The Octave of Saint John the Baptist.



English: Basilica of The Holy Martyrs, John and Paul, Rome, Italy.
Italiano: SS. Giovanni e Paolo - Roma, Italia.
Photo: July 2006.
Source: Flickr
Reviewer: Mac9
(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

John and Paul were Saints in The Roman Empire. They were Martyred at Rome on 26 June. They should not be confused with the famous Apostles of the same names (see Saint Paul; Saint John the Apostle). The year of their Martyrdom is uncertain according to their Acts; it occurred under Julian the Apostate (361 A.D. – 363 A.D.).

In the second half of the 4th-Century A.D., Byzantius, the Roman Senator, and Saint Pammachius, his son, fashioned their house on The Cælian Hill into a Christian Basilica. In the 5th-Century A.D., the Presbyteri Tituli Byzantii (Priests of The Church of Byzantius) are mentioned in an Inscription and among the signatures of The Roman Council of 499 A.D. The Church was also called the Titulus Pammachii, after Byzantius's son, the pious friend of Saint Jerome.

In the ancient apartments on the ground-floor of the house of Byzantius, which were still retained under the Basilica, the tomb of two Roman Martyrs, John and Paul, was the object of Veneration as early as the 5th-Century A.D.

The Sacramentarium Leonianum already indicates, in the Preface to The Feast of the Saints, that they rested within the City walls ("Sacr. Leon.", ed. Feltoe, Cambridge, 1896, 34), while, in one of the early itineraries to the tombs of The Roman Martyrs, their grave is assigned to the Church on The Cælian (De rossi, "Roma sotterrania", I, 138, 175).




(Basilica of Saints John and Paul).
Photo taken by Necrothesp, 14 May 2004.
Date: 1 July 2004 (original upload date).
Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons
Author: The original uploader was Necrothesp at English Wikipedia.
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Titulus Byzantii, or Pammachii, was consequently known at a very early date by the names of the two Martyrs (Titulus SS. Joannis et Pauli). That the two Saints are Martyrs of The Roman Church is historically certain; as to how and when their bodies found a resting-place in the house of Pammachius, under the Basilica, we only know that it certainly occurred in the 4th-Century A.D. The year and circumstances of their Martyrdom are likewise unknown.

According to their Acts, the Martyrs were eunuchs of Constantina, daughter of Constantine the Great, and became acquainted with a certain Gallicanus, who built a Church in Ostia. At the command of Julian the Apostate, they were beheaded secretly by Terentianus in their house on The Caelian Hill, where their Church was subsequently erected, and where they were buried.

The rooms on the ground-floor, of the above-mentioned house of Pammachius, were rediscovered under the Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Rome. They are decorated with important and interesting frescoes, while the original tomb (Confessio) of Saints John and Paul is covered with paintings, of which the Martyrs are the subject. The rooms and the tomb form one of the most important Early-Christian Memorials in Rome.




English: Frescoes in the original Roman house 
below the present-day Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Rome, Italy.
Italiano: Roma , casa romana sotto la basilica
dei santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio - affreschi.
Photo: 3 October 2004.
Source: Own work.
Author: user:Lalupa.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Since the erection of the Basilica, the two Saints have been greatly Venerated, and their names have been inserted in The Canon of the Mass. Their Feast Day is kept on 26 June.

The Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, in Rome, is Dedicated to them, as well as the Basilica di San Zanipolo in Venice ("Zanipolo" being Venetian for "John and Paul").

The Lueneberg Manuscript (circa 1440–1450) mentions "The Day of John and Paul" in an early German account of The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

A small village next to Caiazzo, in the Campania region of Italy, is named Santi Giovanni e Paolo, in honour of these Martyrs. Many residents of this village bear the family name "San Giovanni," as do the descendants of immigrants to The United States from this village (in particular, in Michigan, New York, and Florida).

Sunday 25 June 2017

Saint William. Abbot. Feast Day 25 June.


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

Saint William.
Abbot.
Feast Day 25 June.

Double.

White Vestments.




Saint William of Vercelli.
Statue at Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican.
Date: 1878.
Author: Giuseppe Prinzi.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint William was born, in 1085, of noble parents, at Vercelli, Piedmont, Italy. Having left his family and renounced his riches (Gospel), he built a Monastery on Monte Vergine.

Like Moses, to whom God gave His Law on the mountain (Epistle), under the guidance of Heaven, he gave to the Congregation of Hermits, whose father he became (Communion), a Rule, inspired, in a great measure, by that of Saint Benedict.

His holy life was entirely spent in the meditation of Divine things (Introit), and became renowned by his numerous Miracles.

After having foretold the moment of his death, he fell asleep in The Lord in 1142, and in Heaven his brow was encircled with "the Crown of Precious Stones" (Gradual, Offertory), the symbol of his virtues.

Let us walk in the footsteps of Saint William, with the help of his Prayers (Collect).

Mass: Os justi.
Commemoration: Of The Octave of Saint John the Baptist.



English: The Abbey of San Guglielmo al Goleto, in what is now Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, Italy,
was Founded by Saint William of Vercelli in 1114. It was started as a female Cloister, with
a small attached Monastery for the spiritual guidance and economic assistance of the Nuns.
The period 1135-1515 was known as The "Age of the Nuns." The Cloister became wealthy
from 1135 to 1348 until The Black Death struck and the Cloister began to decline.
On 24 January 1506, Pope Julius II declared that, upon the death of the last Abbess,
the Cloister would be closed, which occurred in 1515.
The "Age of the Nuns" was followed by the "Epoch of the Monks" from 1515 to 1807.
When the Cloister closed, the Monastery merged with that on Montevergine and began to grow.
Pope Sixtus V, who was also Superior of The Franciscan Convent of Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, accelerated this growth. The Monastery reached its peak between the 17th- and 18th-Centuries.
In 1807, the King of Naples, Joseph Bonaparte, ordered the Abbey closed. Saint William's body was moved to Montevergine and the furnishings of the Abbey were looted.
The Abbey remained abandoned until 1973, when a Monk of Montevergine, Lucio M. De Marino, obtained permission to relocate to Goleto, re-occuping the Abbey and beginning its restoration.
In 1989, the Abbey was entrusted to The Little Brothers of Jesus.
Español: Abadia de Goleto, Campania, Italia.
Photo: 23 October 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: Bocachete.
(Wikimedia Commons)



The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Saint William of Montevergine, or, Saint William of Vercelli, (Italian Guglielmo) (Latin Gulielmus) (1085 – 25 June 1142) was a Catholic Hermit and the Founder of The Congregation of Monte Vergine, or, "Williamites".

He was born into a noble family of Vercelli, in North-West Italy, and brought up by a relation after the death of his parents. He undertook a Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Catholic Tradition states that, on his Pilgrimage to Compostela, William encircled his body with iron bands to increase his suffering.

He then lived as a Hermit on the summit of Monte Vergine (then known as Monte Vergiliana), between Nola [Editor: See Saint Paulinus of Nola - Feast Day two days ago, 22 June] and Benevento. Here, he attracted a number of followers and founded the Monastery of Montevergine.



While at Montevergine, William of Vercelli is stated as having performed Miracles. King Roger I of Sicily served as a Patron to William, who Founded many Monasteries for men and women in Sicily. The Catholic Encyclopedia states that King Roger I built a Monastery opposite his Palace at Salerno in order to have William always near him.

Saint William died at Goleto, a Daughter House of Montevergine, near Nusco, Province of Avellino. Catholic Tradition states that William foresaw his own imminent death “by special revelation”

The following Text is from INSTITUTE OF CHRIST THE KING SOVEREIGN PRIEST

The Feast Day of Saint William was inserted into the Church's Calendar by Pope Leo XIII.

Litany Of The Sacred Heart Of Jesus. With 18th-Century Plainchant From Auxerre Cathedral, France, By Ensemble Organum - Marcel Pérès.



Catholic Holy Card depicting The Sacred Heart of Jesus, circa 1880.
Auguste Martin Collection, University of Dayton Libraries, Ohio, United States of America.
Date: 1880.
Source: Turgis et Fils, Paris, France.
Author: Turgis et Fils, Paris, France.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Ensemble Organum et CIRMA

Litany Of The Sacred Heart Of Jesus.
With 18th-Century Plainchant From Auxerre Cathedral, France,
By Ensemble Organum - Marcel Pérès.
Available on YouTube at
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