The Church Celebrates, tomorrow, The Feast of the two Apostles who are the two Foundations on which she is solidly established (Collect).
"The rigour to which a people subjects itself by certain days of preparation," writes Dom Guéranger, "is a mark of The Faith which it has preserved, showing that it understands the greatness of the object proposed by The Holy Liturgy for its Worship." [The Liturgical Year; Vigil of The Holy Apostles.]
Peter, raised to his Cross (Introit, Gospel), like Christ, rises above the World. He seals, in his blood, his Confession of Faith (Gospel of tomorrow) and love (Gospel) in Jesus, and, henceforth, it will be in His name (ibid) and as His Vicar that he will be King of Souls.
Paul, by sharing his labours and Martyrdom, shares his Kingship and his triumph.
Towards the end of the Second Century A.D., when Gnostic Sects endeavoured to undermine the basis of The Christian Religion, God raised up Saint Irenaeus to oppose them. "He granted him the Grace to destroy the Heresies by the Truth of his doctrine" (Collect).
Succeeding Saint Pothinus in the See of Lyons, in 177 A.D., Saint Irenaeus "Preached in Season and out of Season", as Saint Paul prescribes (Epistle) and constituted himself defender of Christ (Gospel) and of His Spouse.
"The Church", he declares, "disseminated throughout the World, to the extremities of the Earth, professes The Faith she has received from The Apostles, who themselves received it from The Son of God." This Church has its centre at Rome. "With her, every Church must be in agreement because of her primacy; for, through the succession of Roman Pontiffs, the Apostolic Tradition of The Church has come down to us."
An ardent apologist, Saint Irenaeus was also a profound Theologian. He has been called the Father of the Catholic Theology and the golden link binding the spirit of the Gospel to the Doctrine of The Fathers. With his ears still full of the last echoes of Apostolic Teaching (Alleluia), he was the first to write a reasoned summary of our Faith. His Treatise "False Doctrine Unmasked and Refuted", also called "Against Heresies", gave the death blow to the Gnostic Heresy.
Saint Jerome gives him the glorious title of Martyr. He died, as is believed, during the persecution of Emperor Septimus Severus in 202 A.D. Pope Benedict XV extended his Feast to the Universal Church.
Commemoration: The Octave of Saint John the Baptist. Commemoration: The Vigil of The Apostles.
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),
The Roman Breviary is the title of the book obligatorily used for celebrating the Roman RiteDivine 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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 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).
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.
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.
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”
Hamburg HRA VR4551 Ust-ID-Nr.: DE118718969Bundesgeschäftsführer: Dr. Sebastian Husen.
(Wikimedia Commons)
"A Prophet of The Most High" (Alleluia), Saint John is pre-figured by Isaias and Jeremias (Introit, Epistle, Gospel); moreover, he was Consecrated before birth to announce Jesus (Secret) and to prepare Souls for His coming.
The Gospel narrates the prodigies which accompanied his birth. Zachary gives his child the name which Saint Gabriel has brought him from Heaven, which signifies: "The Lord has pardoned". He immediately recovers his speech and, filled with The Holy Ghost, he foretells the greatness of his son: "He shall walk before The Face of The Lord, to give unto the people the knowledge of Salvation."
The Virgin and Child, with The Infant Saint John, appearing to Saint Jerome and Saint Anthony.
Artist: Andrea Celesti (1637-1712).
Date: Circa 1700.
Current location: Santa Maria dei Derelitti, Venice, Italy.
The Angel Gabriel had announced to Zachary that "many would rejoice in the birth of Saint John the Baptist". Indeed, not only "the neighbours and relations of Elizabeth" Solemnised the event, but every year, on its Anniversary, the whole Church invites her children to share in this Holy Joy. She knows that The Nativity "of this Prophet of The Most High", at this "Summer Christmas", is intimately connected with The Advent of The Messias.
After The Feast of The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, the days become shorter, while, on the contrary, after The Nativity of The Saviour, of which this Feast is the prelude, the days become longer. The Precursor must efface himself before Jesus, Who is The True Light of Faith. "He must increase," says Saint John, "and I must decrease."
The Solstices were the occasion of pagan feasts, when fires were lighted to honour the orb which gives us light. The Church Christianised the Rites, seeing in them a symbol of Saint John, who was "a burning and brilliant lamp".
Current location: Saint John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta.
Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002.
ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Indeed, "she encouraged this kind of manifestation, which corresponds so well with the character of the Feast. The Saint John bonfires happily completed The Liturgical Solemnity: They showed The Church and the Earthly City united in one thought." [The Liturgical Year by Dom Guéranger: The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist.]
The name of The Precursor is inscribed in The Canon of The Mass at the head of The Second List.
Formerly, on his Feast Day, three Masses were Celebrated in his honour, and numerous Churches were Dedicated to him. Parents loved to give his name to their children.
Paul the Deacon, a Monk of Monte Cassino, Italy, and a friend of Charlemagne, had composed, in honour of Saint John the Baptist, the Hymn: "Ut queant laxis." In the 13th-Century, the Benedictine Monk, Guy of Arezzo, noticed that the notes, sung on the first syllables, formed the sequence of the first six degrees of The Scale. He named each degree by the corresponding syllable: "Ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si" and thereby greatly facilitated the study of musical intervals.
Ut queant laxis resonare fibris [Do - Re]
Mira gestorum famuli tuorum [Mi - Fa]
Solve polluti labii reatum [Sol - La]
Sancte Johannes [Si] (S J makes Si)
"Unloose, great Baptist, our sin-fettered lips;
That with enfranchis'd voice we may proclaim,
The Miracles of thy transcendent life,
Thy deeds of matchless fame."
"That thy servants may sing with full voice
the marvels of thy works, purify their sullied lips, O Saint John."
Immediately, Zachary made signs that he wished to call his son "John", he recovered his speech; and Lo !, a Hymn composed in honour of The Prophet, whose voice resounds in the desert, becomes the occasion of a new progress in music.
Every Parish Priest Celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.
Mass:De ventre.
English: The Chapel of Saint John and Saint Paul in Szekszárd, Hungary.
Magyar: A barokk stílusú Szent János és Pál kápolna Szekszárdon.
Esperanto: Kapelo Sanktaj Johano kaj Paŭlo en Szekszárd, Hungario.
