The Conversion Of Saint Paul. Feast Day, Today, 25 January.

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

The Conversion of Saint Paul.
   Feast Day 25 January.

Greater-Double.

White Vestments.

The Conversion of Saint Paul.

Artist: Caravaggio (1571–1610).

Date: 1600.

Current location: Odescalchi Balbi Collection, Rome, Italy.

Source/Photographer: Web Gallery of Art.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Conversion of Saint Paul.

Artist: Caravaggio.

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

Paul of Tarsus was a Jew of the Tribe of Benjamin. A most zealous Pharisee, he appears in the Epistle as full of hatred "for the Disciples of The Lord". He becomes a "Vessel of Election", so filled with The Holy Ghost (Epistle), "that all Nations shall drink of its fulness," says Saint Ambrose, and shall learn through him that "Jesus is The Son of God" (Epistle).

Saint Paul is, like The Twelve, an Apostle of Christ (Alleluia), "he shall sit in one of the twelve seats and shall judge the World when The Son of Man shall Himself be seated on The Throne which belongs to Him as Son of God" (Gradual and Gospel).

We owe it to today's Feast, which follows by a few days that of The Chair of Saint Peter at Rome, and which had for its origin a Translation of the body of Saint Paul, that we are enabled to see the whole Season after Epiphany represented in a picture [Editor: A Theoretical Picture], giving us an admirable vision of The Kingship of Jesus.

In the foreground [Editor: Of this Theoretical Picture] are the two witnesses of The Divinity of Christ, Saint Peter, more especially sent to the sons of Israel, and Saint Paul, to the Gentiles (Collect, Gradual).

In the background [Editor: Of this Theoretical Picture], is Galilee with its verdant hills, where we perceive Cana, the Synagogue of Nazareth, and the Lake of Genesareth, where Jesus, by His Miracles, proved that He was The Son of God.

Following the example of Saint Paul, let us show by our Faith, and by a new life, that Jesus is God and that He is our King.

Mass: Scio cui crëdidi.
Commemoration: Of Saint Peter.
Gospel: Ecce nos.
Creed: Is said.

Into The Silence Of The Mother Of God.

This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at, VULTUS CHRISTI

Illustration: VULTUS CHRISTI

The Seven Utterances Of The Mother Of God.

It is rarely noted that The Seven Utterances of The Mother of God are given us in the arc of time that stretches from The First Sunday of Advent to today, The Second Sunday After Epiphany. It is as if The Church, by entering yearly into The Utterances Of The Mother of God, would have us enter into her Immaculate Heart. Does not Our Lord say: "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good . . . For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh" (Luke 6:45).

The First Four Utterances.

Our Lady speaks but Seven Times in the Gospels. Today’s Holy Mass [Editor: The Second Sunday After Epiphany] and Divine Office enshrine the last of these Seven Utterances. The first Four Utterances of The Mother of God are given us in The Liturgy of The Ember Days of Advent:

1. “And Mary said to the Angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man ?” (Luke 1:34).

2. “And Mary said: Behold The Handmaid of The Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.” (Luke 1:38).

3. "And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth.” (Luke 1:40).

4. “And Mary said: My Soul doth magnify The Lord. And my Spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. [Because He hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold, from henceforth, all generations shall call me Blessed. Because He that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and Holy is His Name. And His Mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him. He hath shewed might in His Arm. He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of His Mercy: As He spoke to our Fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.”] (Luke 1:46–55).

The Fifth Utterance.

On The Sunday Within The Octave Of The Epiphany, The Fifth Utterance is given us:

5. “And His Mother said to Him: Son, why hast Thou done so to us ? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee, sorrowing.” (Luke 2:48).

The Sixth And Seventh Utterances.

Finally, on The Second Sunday after The Epiphany, we hear The Sixth and Seventh Utterances of The Mother of God. It is these that will carry us through The Whole Liturgical Year, until, the mystic circle made complete once again, we enter upon a new Advent.

6. “And, the wine failing, The Mother of Jesus saith to Him: They have no wine.” (John 2:3).

7. “His Mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye.” (John 2:5).

Into A Great Silence.

After today [Editor: The Marriage Feast at Cana], The Mother of God retreats into a great silence; the silence of listening to her Son’s Words; the silence of contemplating His deeds; the silence of The Via Crucis; the silence of Calvary, pierced only by the words from The Cross; the silence of her Child’s lifeless Body and of the tomb; the silence of Holy Saturday; the silence of The Resurrection; the silence of her wonder at The Ascension; the silence of her incandescent Prayer in The Cenacle; the silence of Pentecost, borne aloft on a mighty wind; and, finally, the heavenly silence of her Assumption. The Blessed Virgin Mary is, as the poet John Lynch aptly called her, "The Woman Wrapped In Silence". It was in silence that The Immaculate Mother of God came to Knock (Ireland) in 1879. It is silence — with very few exceptions and in few words — that The Queen of Heaven continues to manifest her presence in The Church.

No one can draw near to The Mother of God, The Ark of The Covenant, without entering into the silence of the heavenly Sanctuary. "And, when he had opened The Seventh Seal, there was silence in Heaven, as it were for half an hour" (Apocalypse 8:1). What is this measure of silence ? A half–hour in Heaven can, in no way, be compared to the fleeting half–hours of Earthly timepieces. Is this silence in Heaven not brought to Earth in the space of a single Rosary ? What is The Rosary, but a progressive entrance — Mystery by Mystery, and Ave by Ave— in the silence of Heaven, into The Silence of Mary ?

The Maternal Heart Of Mary.

What does the last recorded utterance of The Blessed Virgin Mary tell us about her ? It tells us, first of all, that Our Lady is attentive. No one spoke to The Mother of Jesus of the lack of wine that would have brought humiliation upon the bridegroom and troubled the joy of the feast. Mary observed quietly. She saw what would have escaped the attention of another. Her maternal Heart compelled her to intervene, and so she spoke to her Son: “They have no wine” (John 2:3).

There is no detail of our days and nights that escapes Our Lady’s notice. The maternal Heart of Mary is, at every moment, attentive to the circumstances of our lives. Mary’s silence is not the silence of one removed from those around her and absorbed in herself. It is the silence of a maternal Heart intent on observing everything that impinges upon the life of her children. There is no sorrow of ours, no need, no anguish, no temptation, and even no sin, that Our Lady does not see and take to heart.

“Woman, what is that to Me and to thee ? My Hour is not yet come” (John 2:4). Mary received her Son’s mysterious response not as a rebuff but as an invitation to trust, or, as The Irish say: "To leave it with Him”. Our Lady had learned, from the time she laid her Jesus in the manger, to gaze into His Face and to read the light shining in His Eyes. This is, I think, what happened at Cana. Our Lady looked into the eyes of her Divine Son and saw there the promise of The Revelation of His Glory. Turning to the waiters, she said: “Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye” (John 2:5). These are the last recorded words of The Mother of God in the Gospels.

Listening To The Mother Of God.

“Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye” (John 2:5). There is in The Christian Life a moment in which one realises that a childlike obedience to The Mother of God is the beginning of obedience to the Commandments of her Son. Mary is the gateway to newness of life. “Come to me,” she says, “that thou mayest return by the labour of obedience to Him from Whom thou hadst departed through the sloth of disobedience” (Prologue, Rule of Saint Benedict). The quiet presence of Mary in one’s life, and the intercession of her maternal Heart, make easy the things that at first appear difficult and altogether beyond one’s strength. It is Mary who accompanies her sons along “the hard and rugged paths by which we walk towards God ” (Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter LVIII); at every step, she offers encouragement and consolation. The Sacred Liturgy places these words on her lips:

"Listen to me, then, you that are my sons, that follow, to your happiness, in the paths I shew you; listen to the teaching that will make you wise, instead of turning away from it. Blessed are they who listen to me, keep vigil, day by day, at my threshold, watching till I open my doors". 

(Proverbs 8:32–34).

Jesus Completes The Words Of His Mother, Saying:

"If you keep My Commandments, you shall abide in My Love; as I also have kept My Father’ s Commandments, and do abide in His Love". (John 15:10).

The sign of water changed into wine at the behest of The Mother of Jesus — and in so lavish a quantity — reveals the glory of His Divinity, and causes His disciples to believe in Him, that is, to stake their lives on Him and on the efficacy of His Priestly Prayer:

"Father, I Will that where I am, they also, whom Thou hast given Me, may be with Me; that they may see My Glory, which Thou hast given Me, because Thou hast loved Me before The Creation of The World". (John 17:24).

The Hour Of The Mother.

The Prayer of The Mother effectively opens hearts to The Prayer of The Son. The Hour of The Mother hastens The Hour of The Son, “Whom, having not seen, you love; in Whom also now, though you see Him not, you believe; and, believing, shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and glorified”

(1 Peter 1:8). Mary’s Hour is whatever hour in which her children, members of her Son’s Mystical Body, are in need of her presence. Mary’s Hour is whatever hour in which her children find themselves in sore need of her intervention. Mary’s Hour is the hour in which any Soul turns to her in confidence, saying, “Show thyself a Mother” (Vespers Hymn, Ave Maris Stella).

Today, as at The Wedding Feast of Cana, Mary is present in The Church, observing all things and attentive to every need. Today, even as at The Wedding Feast of Cana, Mary intervenes quietly and effectively, even without being asked. Today, even as at The Wedding Feast of Cana, she speaks to her Son on our behalf — “They have no wine” — and, then, speaks to us on His behalf — “Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye”.

Mary is The Mediatrix Of All Graces; she is The Almoner Of The Divine Munificence; she is The Mother Of The Mystical Body, bending over the little ones, comforting those who weep, and lifting up the fallen. So attuned is her maternal Heart to The Heart of God that she, like Him, “fills the hungry with good things” (Luke 1:53) and causes wine to flow in abundance “lest anyone be troubled or grieved in The House Of God” (Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter XXXI).

Saint Timothy. Bishop And Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 24 January.

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

Saint Timothy.
   Bishop and Martyr.
   Feast Day 24 January.

Double.

Red Vestments.

Stained-Glass Window of Saint Timothy, 

Southwark Cathedral, London.

Photo: 1 August 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: Vassil.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Timothy (Greek: Τιμόθεος; Timótheos, meaning "Honouring God" or "Honoured by God") was a 1st - Century A.D. Christian Bishop, who died around 97 A.D. The New Testament indicates that Saint Timothy travelled with Saint Paul, who was also his mentor. Timothy is addressed as the recipient of the Epistles to Timothy.

Saint Timothy is mentioned in The Bible at the time of Paul's second visit to Lystra, in Anatolia, where Timothy is mentioned as a "Disciple". Paul calls him his "own son in The Faith". Timothy often travelled with Paul. Timothy's mother was Jewish and his father was Greek, but he had not been circumcised, and Paul now ensured that this was done, according to the Text, to ensure Timothy’s acceptability to the Jews.

According to McGarvey, Paul performed the operation "with his own hand", but others claim this is unlikely and nowhere attested. He was Ordained and went with Paul on his journeys through Phrygia, Galatia, Mysia,Troas, Philippi, Veria, and Corinth. His mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, are noted as eminent for their piety and Faith, which indicates that they may have also been Christians. Timothy is praised by Paul for his knowledge of The Scriptures (in the 1st-Century A.D., mostly The Septuagint (Greek); See Development of The New Testament Canon - Clement of Rome), and is said to have been acquainted with The Scriptures since childhood.

Saint Timothy (17 A.D. - 97 A.D.). (Orthodox icon).

Bishop and Martyr.

Source: http://www.svetigora.com/node/921

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

That Timothy was jailed at least once, during the period of the writing of The New Testament, is implied by the writer of Hebrews mentioning Timothy's release at the end of the Epistle. It is also apparent that Timothy had some type of stomach malady, owing to Paul's advice, in 1 Timothy 5:23, counselling Timothy to: "No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments."

Paul commanded Timothy to remain in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1): "I command you to stay there in Ephesus", to prevent Heresy from infecting The Church in Ephesus. Paul also gave him instructions for establishing Elders and Deacons, there. These very guidelines have become the commonly-used guidelines among Churches across the World to this day.

According to later Tradition, Paul Consecrated Timothy as Bishop of Ephesus in 65 A.D., where he served for fifteen years. In 97 A.D., (with Timothy dying at age eighty), Timothy tried to halt a pagan procession of idols, ceremonies, and songs. In response to his Preaching of the Gospel, the angry pagans beat him, dragged him through the streets, and stoned him to death. In the 4th-Century A.D., his Relics were Transferred to The Church of The Holy Apostles, in Constantinople.

Pen and Ink Drawing (top), 

Colour Photo (middle), 

The High Altar (bottom),

of The Catholic Church of Saint Timothy, 

Los Angeles, California, 

United States of America.

Illustration: SAINT TIMOTHY CATHOLIC CHURCH

The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Saint Timothy, born at Lystra (Asia Minor), of a pagan father and a Jewish mother, was already a Christian when Saint Paul came to that town. Saint Paul, whose Conversion we Celebrate tomorrow, was struck by Timothy's Holiness and took him as a companion on his travels. Saint Timothy thereupon gave up everything and became his Disciple (Gospel).

Saint Paul conferred on him full Sacerdotal powers (Introit) and committed to his care The Church of Ephesus. We read, in the Epistle, a passage of one of the two admirable Letters which his Master wrote to him. Saint Timothy was stoned to death in his Episcopal City in 97 A.D.

Let us, with Timothy, confess The Divinity of Christ in this Season After Epiphany, which is its Liturgical manifestation.

Mass: Státuit. Of a Martyr Bishop.

Saint Emerentiana. Virgin And Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 23 January.

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

Saint Emerentiana.
   Virgin and Martyr.
   Feast Day 23 January.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

The Royal Gold Cup, or Saint Agnes Cup, is a Solid Gold Covered Cup, lavishly decorated

with Enamel and Pearls. It was made for The French Royal Family at the end of the 14th -Century, and later belonged to several English Monarchs, before spending nearly 300 years in Spain.

Since 1892, it has been in The British Museum, and is generally agreed to be the outstanding

survival of Late-Mediaeval French Plate.

Saint Emerentiana's likeness is shown, here, on The Royal Gold Cup.

Date: 4 July 2010.

Current location: British Museum, London.

Source: Own work.

Author: Johnbod.

(Wikimedia Commons)

A Foster-Sister of Saint Agnes, the Virgin, Emerentiana, while still a Catechumen, shed tears on the tomb of her friend, who had just been Martyred.

Some Pagans mocked her grief. She, full of The Divine Virtue of which Jesus is the source (Collect), reproached the idolaters with their cruelty towards Saint Agnes, and they, in their fury, stoned her on that very tomb. Baptised in her own blood, she went to join for every more her Spouse and her Sister, about 304 A.D.

Mass: Me exspectavérunt.

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Saint Raymund Of Pennafort. Confessor. Feast Day, Today, 23 January.

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

Saint Raymund of Pennafort.
   Confessor.
   Feast Day 23 January.

Semi-Double.

White Vestments.

Saint Raymund of Pennafort.

Master-General of The Dominican Order (1238–1240).

Artist: Tommaso da Modena (1326–1379).

Date: 1352.

Current location: Church of San Nicolò, Treviso, Italy.

Source/Photographer: Il Capitolo dei Domenicani

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Raymund was born in 1175 of the noble Spanish family of Pennafort. Christ, by His teaching and Miracles, showed Himself to be the Son of God. The Church shows us, today, how, by the knowledge and Miracles of Saint Raymund, and thanks to her Saints, she also has a part in The Divinity of The Word.

Having given up everything to enter The Order of Saint Dominic, of which he is one of the glories, Saint Raymund "meditated on The Law of God" (Introit) and wrote the "Summa of cases of conscience", a summary of Christian morals which is much esteemed. Wherefore, The Church awarded him the title of "eminent Minister of The Sacrament of Penance" (Collect).

The Collect alludes to the Miracle by which, having spread out his cloak on the waters, Saint Raymund, in six hours, crossed the fifty-three Leagues of sea which separate the island of Majorca from Barcelona.

He persuaded Saint Peter Nolasco to sacrifice his fortune for the ransoming of Christians detained as captives in The Barbary States, and, with that end in view, obtained The Institution of The Order of Our Lady of Ransom.

Saint Raymund, unwilling to be surprised by the sudden arrival of The Lord (Gospel), employed the last thirty-five years of his life in a very special manner in preparing himself for death. The Saint gave up his Soul to God in 1275 at the age of ninety-nine.

Through the intercession of Saint Raymund, who was the eminent Minister of The Sacrament of Penance, and who miraculously crossed the sea, may we obtain to produce worthy fruits of Penance and to reach the haven of Eternal Salvation (Collect).

Mass: Os justi.
Commemoration: Of Saint Emerentiana. Virgin and Martyr.

Saint Vincent And Saint Anastasius. Martyrs. Feast Day 22 January.

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

Saint Vincent and Saint Anastasius.
   Martyrs.
   Feast Day 22 January.

Semi-Double.

Red Vestments.

English: The Church of Saint Vincent and Saint Anastasius, Rome, Italy.

Italiano: Chiesa dei Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio, a Roma, nel rione Trevi. Foto personale.

Date: 28 July 2008 (original upload date).

Source: Transferred from it.wikipedia

Author: Original uploader was Croberto68 at it.wikipedia

(Wikimedia Commons)

Vincent, the Deacon of Saragosa, and Anastasius, a Monk of Persia, died the same day, with an interval of 325 Years (303 A.D. and 628 A.D.). The head of Saint Anastasius was brought to Rome and deposited in a Church Dedicated to him and Saint Vincent. Therefore, their names are associated in one Worship. "Their name shall live for evermore" (Alleluia).

Under the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, the Deacon Vincent, as formerly the Deacon Laurence, was placed on a gridiron over burning coals. "God has tried them, like Gold in the furnace (Epistle); wherefore the names of Laurence and Vincent follow one another, in The Litany of The Saints, for their "victorious" brows are wreathed with the same "laurels".

English: Church of Saint Vincent and Saint Anastasius, Rome, Italy,

with The Orthodox iconostasis and the Altar.

Italiano: Roma, ss. Vincenzo e Anastasio: altar maggiore e iconostasi.

Photo: 27 January 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Anastasius was beheaded after suffering atrocious torments, but he was upheld by Christ, for Whose cause he was persecuted; "Thy Right-Hand, O Lord, hath broken the enemies" (Gradual).

English: Church of Saint Vincent and Saint Anastasius,

Rome, Italy, from The Trevi Fountain.

Italiano: Roma, piazza di Trevi e chiesa dei santi Vincenzo e Anastasio.

Photo: February 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa.

(Wikimedia Commons)

On the burning coals, Saint Vincent exclaims: "I thought your cruelty would go still further." Saint Anastasius also says: "I expected a more cruel kind of death."

Let us ask God, by the intercession of these Holy Martyrs, to help us to overcome our temptations and vices and work out our Salvation (Collect), Secret, Postcommunion).

Mass: Intret.

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Do You Know The Difference Between Privileged Octaves And Common Octaves And Simple Octaves ?

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

Pope Saint Zephyrinus.

(Papacy 199 A.D. - 217 A.D.).

Date: 24 March 2006 (original upload date).

Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia; Original uploader was Amberrock
at en.wikipedia; transferred to Commons by User:Sreejithk2000 using CommonsHelper.

Author: Not Known.

(Wikimedia Commons)

A Double of The First-Class can have:

1.      A Privileged Octave.

a.      Of The First Order (Easter and Pentecost),

so called, because the Church does not permit, during this Octave, the celebration of any other Feast.

Only from the Wednesday (within the Octave), Commemorations of Saints are made by Collects, Proper to them.

b.      Of The Second Order (Epiphany and Corpus Christi),

which gives place only to Feasts of The First-Class, or to the Octave Day of a Feast of The First-Class, on the Calendar of the Universal Church. In these cases, a Commemoration is always made of the Octave.

c.      Of The Third Order (Christmas, Ascension and Sacred Heart),

which admits all Feasts, above the Rite of Simple, within the Octave, but the Octave Day gives place only to Feasts of The First-Class and of The Second-Class. A Commemoration is also made of the Octave.

2.      A Common Octave.

Containing all other Octaves of Feasts of The First-Class which have Octaves. For example, the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, All Saints, the Dedication of Churches, Patronal Feasts. These Octaves admit the celebration of the same Feasts as Privileged Octaves of The Third Order. The Commemoration of the Octave is omitted on Doubles of The First-Class and of The Second-Class.

3.      A Simple Octave.

A Double of The Second-Class may have a Simple Octave, i.e., where the Octave Day is kept or Commemorated as a Simple Feast (Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Stephen, etc.).