August 21 - St Jane Frances de Chantal

St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Widow and Foundress

Jane Frances de Chantal was born in Dijon, France, on 28 January 1572, the daughter of the royalist president of the Parliament of Burgundy. Her mother died when Jane was 18 months old. Her father became the main influence on her education. She developed into a woman of beauty and refinement, lively and cheerful in temperament. She married the Baron de Chantal when she was 21 and then lived in the feudal castle of Bourbilly. Baron de Chantal was accidentally killed by an arquebus while out shooting in 1601. Left a widow at 28, with four children, the broken-hearted baroness took a vow of chastity. Her mother, step mother, sister, first two children and now her husband had died. Chantal gained a reputation as an excellent manager of the estates of her husband, as well as of her difficult father-in-law, while also providing alms and nursing care to needy neighbors.

During Lent in 1604, the pious baronness met Saint Francis de Sales, the bishop of Geneva who was preaching at the Sainte Chapelle in Dijon. They became close friends and de Sales became her spiritual director. She wanted to become a nun but he persuaded her to defer this decision. Later, with his support, and that of her father and brother (the archbishop of Bourges), and after providing for her children, Chantal left for Annecy, to start the Congregation of the Visitation. The Congregation of the Visitation was canonically established at Annecy on Trinity Sunday, 6 June 1610. The order accepted women who were rejected by other orders because of poor health or age. During its first eight years, the new order also was unusual in its public outreach, in contrast to most female religious who remained cloistered and adopted strict ascetic practices. The usual opposition to women in active ministry arose and Francis de Sales was obliged to make it a cloistered community following the Rule of St. Augustine. He wrote his Treatise on the Love of God for them. When people criticized her, Chantal famously said, "What do you want me to do? I like sick people myself; I'm on their side."

Her reputation for sanctity and sound management resulted in many visits by (and donations from) aristocratic women. The order had 13 houses by the time de Sales died, and 86 before Chantal herself died at the Visitation Convent in Moulins, aged 69. St. Vincent de Paul served as her spiritual director after de Sales' death. Her favorite devotions involved the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary. Chantal was buried in the Annecy convent next to de Sales. The order had 164 houses by 1767, when she was canonized. Chantal outlived her son (who died fighting Huguenots and English on the Île de Ré during the century's religious wars) and two of her three daughters, but left extensive correspondence. Her granddaughter also became a famous writer, Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné.

August 21 - Seventh day within the Octave of the Assumption, Twelfth week after Pentecost

St Jane Frances de Chantal, Widow Foundress Congregation of the Visitation

     Double / White Vestments

           Missa 'Cognovi'

           

INTROIT - Psalm 118: 75, 120 

Cognovi, Domine, quia æquitas judicia tua, et in veritate tua humiliasti me: confige timore tuo carnes meas, a mandatis tuis timui. Ps. Beati immaculati in via: qui ambulant in lege Domini. Gloria Patri.

I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are equity, and in Thy truth Thou hast humbled me: pierce Thou my flesh with Thy fear, I am afraid of Thy judgments. Ps. Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord. Glory be to the Father.

Francis de Sales meets Jane Frances de Chantal

COLLECT

Almighty and merciful God, Who didst endow blessed Jane Frances, burning with love of Thee, with an admirable strength of soul through all the paths of life in the way of perfection, and Who wast pleased to glorify Thy Church with a new family by her means, grant to her merits and prayers that we, who, conscious of our own infirmity, trust in Thy power, may, by the assistance of divine grace, conquer all obstacles which beset us. Through our Lord.

EPISTLE - Proverbs 31: 10-31

Who shall find a valiant woman? Far and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her. The heart of her husband trusteth in her, and he shall have no need of spoils. She will render him good, and not evil, all the days of her life. She hath sought wool and flax, and hath wrought by the counsel of her hands. She is like the merchant's ship, she bringeth her bread from afar. And she hath risen in the night, and given prey to her household, and victuals to her maidens. She hath considered a field, and bought it: with the fruit of her hand she hath planted a vineyard. She hath girded her loins with strength, and hath strengthened her arm. She hath tasted and seen that her traffic is good: her lamp shall not be put out in the night. She hath put out her hand to strong things, and her fingers have taken hold of the spindle. She hath opened her hand to the needy, and stretched out her hands to the poor. She shall not fear for her house in the cold of snow: for all her domestics are clothed with double garments. She hath made for herself clothing of tapestry: fine linen and purple is her covering. Her husband is honourable in the gates, when he sitteth among the senators of the land. She made fine linen and sold it, and delivered a girdle to the Chanaanite. Strength and beauty are her clothing, and she shall laugh in the latter day. She hath opened her mouth to wisdom, and the law of clemency is on her tongue. She hath looked well to the paths of her house, and hath not eaten her bread idle. Her children rose up, and called her blessed: her husband, and he praised her. Many daughters have gathered together riches: thou hast surpassed them all. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands: and let her works praise her in the gates.

GRADUAL - Ps. 44: 3, 5 

Grace is poured abroad in thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever and for ages of ages. Because of truth, and meekness, and justice: and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully.

ALLELUIA - Ps. 44: 5 

Alleluia, alleluia. With thy comeliness, and thy beauty set out, proceed prosperously, and reign. Alleluia.

GOSPEL - Matthew 13: 44-52

At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to His disciples: The kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field; which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls. Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way and sold all that he had, and bought it. Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like to a net cast into the sea, and gathering together of all kinds of fishes; which, when it was filled, they drew out, and sitting by the shore, they chose out the good into vessels, but the bad they cast forth. So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall go out, and shall separate the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Have ye understood all these things? They say to Him, Yes. He said unto them, Therefore, every scribe instructed in the kingdom of Heaven, is like to a man who is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old.

OFFERTORY – Psalm: 44: 3

Grace is poured abroad in thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever and for ages of ages.

SECRET

May this saving Victim, O Lord, inflame us with that fire of love with which it vehemently kindled the heart of blessed Jane Frances, burning it away with the flames of eternal charity. Through our Lord.

COMMON PREFACE

It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God: through Christ our Lord. Through Whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, the Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the Heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with them we entreat Thee, that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted, while we say in lowly praise.

COMMUNION - Psalm 44: 8

Thou hast loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

POSTCOMMUNION

Pour upon us, O Lord, the spirit of Thy love, that we, whom Thou hast filled with the virtue of the Heavenly bread, may, by the intercession of blessed Jane Frances, be made to despise earthly things and with pure minds seek only Thee, our God. Through our Lord.

ST BERNARD - AUGUST 20

 

                     ST BERNARD 

St. Bernard was born at the castle of Fontaines, in Burgundy. The grace of his person and the vigor of his intellect filled his parents with the highest hopes, and. the world lay bright and smiling before him when he renounced it forever and Citeaux. All his brothers followed Bernard to Citeaux except Nivard, the youngest, who was left to be the stay of his father in his old age. “You will now be heir of everything,” said they to him, as they departed. “Yes,” said the boy; “you leave me earth, and keep heaven for yourselves; do you call that fair?” And he too left the world. At length their aged father came to exchange wealth and honor for the poverty of a monk of Clairvaux. 

   Only one sister remained behind; she was married, and loved the world and its pleasures. Magnificently dressed, she visited Bernard; he refused to see her, and only at last consented to do so, not as her brother, but as the minister of Christ. The words he then spoke moved her so much that, two years later, she retired to a convent with her husband’s consent, and died in the reputation of sanctity. Bernard’s holy example attracted so many novices that other monasteries were erected, and our Saint was appointed abbot of that of Clairvaux. 

   Unsparing with himself, he at first expected too much of his brethren, who were disheartened at his severity; but soon perceiving his error, he led them forward, by the sweetness of his correction and the mildness of his rule, to wonderful perfection. In spite of his desire to lie hid, the fame of his sanctity spread far and wide, and many churches asked for him as their Bishop. Through the help of Pope Eugenius III., his former subject, he escaped this dignity; yet his retirement was continually invaded: the poor and the weak sought his protection; bishops, kings, and popes applied to him for advice; and at length Eugenius himself charged him to preach the crusade. By his fervor, eloquence, and miracles Bernard kindled the enthusiasm of Christendom, and two splendid armies were despatched against the infidel. Their defeat was only due, said the Saint, to their own sins. Bernard died A.D. 1153. His most precious writings have earned for him the titles of the last of the Fathers and a Doctor of Holy Church. 

  

August 20  
Twelfth week after Pentecost, within the Octave of the Assumption
St Bernard, Abbot, Doctor of the Church
Double/White Vestments
Missa 'In Medio Eccelesiae'

INTROIT - Ecclesiasticus 15: 5

In the midst of the Church the Lord opened his mouth: and filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding: He clothed him with a robe of glory. Ps. It is good to give praise to the Lord: and to sing to Thy Name, O Most High. Glory be to the Father.

In medio Ecclesiæ aperuit os ejus: et implevit eum Dominus spiritu sapientiæ, et intellectus: stolam gloriæ induit eum. Ps. Bonum est confiteri Domino: et psallere nomini tuo, Altissime. Gloria Patri.

COLLECT

O God, Who didst give blessed Bernard to Thy people as a minister of eternal salvation: grant, we beseech Thee, that we, who have had him for our teacher on earth, may deserve to have him for our advocate in heaven. Through our Lord.

EPISTLE - Eccles. 39: 6-14

The just will give his heart to resort early to the Lord that made him, and he will pray in the sight of the Most High. He will open his mouth in prayer, and will make supplication for his sins. For it shall please the great Lord, He will fill him with the spirit of understanding: and he will pour forth the words of his wisdom as showers, and in his prayer he will confess to the Lord: and He shall direct his counsel, and his knowledge, and in His secrets shall he meditate. He shall show forth the discipline he hath learned, and shall glory in the law of the covenant of the lord. Many shall praise his wisdom, and it shall never be forgotten. The memory of him shall be in request from generation to generation. Nations shall declare his wisdom, and the Church shall show forth his praise.

GRADUAL - Psalm 36: 30-31

The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment. The law of His God is in his heart: and his steps shall not be supplanted.

ALLELUIA - Ecclus. 45: 1, 9

Alleluia, alleluia. The Lord loved him and adorned him: He clothed him with a robe of glory. Alleluia.

GOSPEL - Matthew 5: 13-19

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and be trodden on by men. You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father, Who is in heaven. Do not think that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled. He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and so shall teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

OFFERTORY - Psalm 91: 13

The just shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus.

SECRET

May the loving prayers of St. Bernard, Thy Abbot and Doctor, not be wanting to us, O Lord, to commend our gifts and ever to obtain pardon for us. Through our Lord.

COMMON PREFACE

It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God: through Christ our Lord. through Whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, Dominations worship, Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the Heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with them we entreat Thee, that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted, while we say in lowly praise:

THE SANCTUS

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dóminus Deus Sábaoth. Pleni sunt cæli et terra glória tua. Hosánna in excélsis. Benedíctus qui venit in nómine Dómini. Hosánna in excélsis.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts! Heaven and earth are full of Thy Glory! Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He Who cometh in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest.

COMMUNION - Luke  12: 42

The faithful and wise servant, whom his lord setteth over his family: to give them their measure of wheat in due season.

POSTCOMMUNION

That Thy sacrifices may give us health, O Lord, may blessed Bernard, Abbot and illustrious Doctor, we beseech Thee, act as our intercessor. Through our Lord.

Lindsay Clancy's harrowing confession to husband Patrick about the 'male voice'...

 

Lindsay Clancy's harrowing confession to husband Patrick about the 'male voice' in her head ordering her to kill their children then herself!!!

Lindsay Clancy's psychologist recalled the moment she told her husband about the 'male voice' in her head that ordered her to kill her children, then herself. Dr Paul Zeizel, a highly experienced, well-respected forensic psychologist who works with defense attorney Kevin Reddington, was called to the stand on Tuesday.

He was at the heart of bombshell testimony earlier in the trial when a police officer admitted the state's apparent theory that a doctor coached Clancy to claim that she killed her children because she was hearing voices. Clancy, 36, is on trial for killing her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, at her home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in 2023. She strangled her children with exercise bands and then allegedly attempted to kill herself, but her efforts failed and left her paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair for life.

Clancy has admitted to killing her children but pleaded not guilty to murder by reason of insanity, citing postpartum psychosis, and is seeking to be committed to a state mental health facility rather than prison. Dr Zeizel testified that when he visited Clancy in the hospital in the days after the killings, she borrowed his phone to call her husband, Patrick.

That was when she told her husband that she had heard a man's voice telling her to kill the children and herself. Dr Zeizel told the jury that he did not meet with Clancy until 11 days after the killings. When they did meet for the first time, Clancy was in her room at Brigham and Women’s Hospital where she was handcuffed to the bed. Dr Zeizel gave her a brief mental status exam, and testified that she didn’t know where she was. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but she knew who she was. She remembered what had happened but was very foggy, he said. Since January 24, 2023, Clancy had had no contact with Patrick, and she wanted to call him to see how he was doing and see how things were, according to Dr Zeizel. The psychologist said she asked him if he could use his cell phone, and he allowed her to, but said it would have to be on speakerphone. Patrick did not pick up the first time, and Clancy left a voicemail. 

Two days later, on February 6, 2023, she called again and Patrick answered. ‘She told Patrick that she loved him very much. She was unable to express a lot of emotion,' Dr Zeizel said. ‘She said that she heard a male voice ordering her, telling her, that she didn't have any choice. That she had to kill her children and kill herself.’ When asked if he told her to say that, he said no. He let her call her husband 'out of human compassion,' he said. He has met Clancy over 45 times, many of them inside Tewksbury Hospital, where she remains held. 'I would see Lindsey Clancy in lockup because the nature of presentation in this court has been gut-wrenching for anyone who would be exposed to such horrific,' Dr. Zeizel said before being cut off by the prosecution.

Read more

On Tuesday, Buckingham provoked a tense exchange with Patrick Clancy's mother, Sue Clancy, as she was called to the stand to testify for the defense. 'Are you an active member in the Catholic Church?The prosecutor asked.'Yes,' Sue answered.

'So you are aware that murder is considered a mortal sin,' Buckingham continued. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington quickly interjected: 'Objection!

More here

AUGUST 18 - FOURTH DAY WITHIN OCTAVE OF THE ASSUMPTION

                        August 18

                         Gospel

                      Luke 1:41-50 

At that time, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how have I deserved that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, the moment that the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who has believed, because the things promised her by the Lord shall be accomplished. And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid; for, behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed; because He Who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name; and His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear Him.

             FOURTH DAY WITHIN 

   THE OCTAVE OF THE ASSUMPTION 

The Liturgical Year - Ven. Dom Prosper Gueranger

In the eternal decrees Mary was never separated from Jesus; together with Him, she was the type of all created beauty. 

When the Almighty Father prepared the heavens and the earth, His Son who is His Wisdom, played before Him in His future humanity as first exemplar as measure and number, as starting point, center and summit of the work undertaken by the Spirit of Love; but at the same time the predestined Mother, the woman chosen to give to the Son of God from her own flesh His quality of Son of Man. appeared among mere creatures as the term of all excellence in the various orders of nature, of grace and of glory. We need not then be astonished at the Church putting on Mary's lips the words first uttered by Eternal Wisdom: 'From the beginning and before the world was I created.' The divine ideal was realized in her whole being, even in her body. To form out of nothing a reflection of the divine perfections is the purpose of creation and the law even of matter. Now next to the face of the most beautiful of the sons of men, nothing on earth so well expressed God as the Virgin's countenance. 

St. Denis is said to have exclaimed on seeing our Lady for the first time: 'Had not faith revealed to me thy Son, I should have taken thee for God.' Whether it be authentic or not to place it in the mouth of the Areopagite, this cry of the heart expresses the feeling of the ancients. We shall be the less surprised at this, if we remember that no son ever resembled his mother as Jesus did; it was the law of nature doubled in Him, since He had no earthly father. It is now the delight of the angels to behold in the glorified bodies of Jesus and Mary new aspects of eternal beauty, which their own immaterial substances could not reflect. Now the unspeakable perfection of Mary's body sprang from the union of that body with the most perfect soul that ever was, excepting, of course, the soul of our Lord her Son. With us, the Original Fall has broken the harmony that ought to exist between the two very different elements of our human being, and has generally displaced, and sometimes even destroyed, the proportions of nature and grace. It is very different where the divine work has not thus been vitiated from the beginning: so that in each blessed spirit of the nine choirs, the degree of grace is in direct relation to His gifts of nature. Exemption from sin allowed the soul of the Immaculate One to inform the body of its own image with absolute sway, while the soul itself, lending itself to grace to the full extent of its exquisite powers, suffered God to raise it supernaturally above all the Seraphim, even to the steps of His own throne. For in the kingdom of grace, as in that of nature, Mary's supereminence was such as became a Queen. At the first moment of her existence in the womb of St. Anne, she was set far above the highest mountains; and God, who loves only what He has made worthy of His love, loved this entrance, this gate of the true Sion, above all the tabernacles of Jacob. It was indeed impossible that the Word, who had chosen her for His Mother, should, even for an instant, love any creature more, as being more perfect. Throughout her life there was never in Mary the least want of correspondence with her preventing graces; so great perfection could not brook the least failing, the least interruption, the least delay. From the first moment of her most holy Conception till her glorious death, grace operated in her without hindrance, to the utmost of its divine power. Thus, starting from heights unknown to us, and doubling her speed at each stroke of her wings her powerful flight bore her up to that nearness to God, where our admiring contemplation follows her during these days. Our Lady, moreover, is not only the first-born, the most perfect, the most holy, of creatures and their Queen-or rather she is all this, only because she is also the Mother of the Son of God. 

God the Father Designing the Immaculate Conception

If we wish only to prove that she alone surpasses all the united subjects of her vast empire, we may compare her with men and with angels, in the order of nature and of grace. But all comparison is out of the question if we try to follow her to the inaccessible heights, where, still the handmaid of the Lord, she participates in the eternal relations which constitute the Blessed Trinity. What mode of divine charity is that whereby a creature loves God as her Son? But let us listen to the Bishop of Meaux, not the least of whose merits is to have understood as he did the greatness of Mary: To form the holy Virgin's love, it was necessary to mingle together all that is most tender in nature and most efficacious in grace. Nature had to be there, for it was love of a son; grace had to act, for it was love of a God. But what is beyond our imagination is that nature and grace were insufficient; for it is not in nature to have God for a son; and grace, at least ordinary grace, cannot love a son as God: we must therefore rise higher. Suffer me, 0 Christians, to raise my thoughts to-day beyond nature and grace, and to seek the source of this love in the very bosom of the Eternal Father. The divine Son, of whom Mary is Mother, belongs to her and to God. She is united with God the Father by becoming the Mother of His only begotten Son, who is common to her and the Eternal Father by the manner of His conception. But to make her capable of conceiving God, the Most High had to overshadow her with His own power-that is, to extend to her His own fecundity. In this way Mary is associated in the eternal generation. But this God, who willed to give her His Son, was obliged also, in order to complete His work, to place in her chaste bosom a spark of the love He himself bears to His only Son, who is the splendour of His glory and the living image of His substance. Such is the origin of Mary's love: it springs from an effusion of God's heart into hers; and her love of her Son is given to her from the same source as her Son Himself. After this mysterious communication, what hast thou to say, 0 human reason? Canst thou pretend to understand the union of Mary with Jesus Christ? It has in it something of that perfect unity which exists between the Father and the Son. Do not attempt any more to explain that maternal love which springs from so high a source, and which is an overflow of the love of the Father for His only begotten Son.'

August 18 - Agapitus of Palestrina - Martyr

Palestrina, the ancient Praeneste, sends a representative to Mary's court to-day, in the person of its valiant and gentle martyr, Agapitus. By his youth and his fidelity, he reminds us of that other gracious athlete, the acolyte Tarcisius, whose victory, gained on August 15, is eclipsed by the glory of Mary's queenly triumph. During the persecution of Valerian, and just before the combats of Sixtus and Lawrence, Tarcisius, carrying the body of our Lord, was met by some pagans, who tried to force him to show them what he had; but, pressing the heavenly treasure, to his heart, he suffered himself to be crushed beneath their blows rather than 'deliver up to mad dogs the members of the Lord.' 

Agapitus, at fifteen years of age, suffered cruel tortures under Aurelian. Though so young he may have seen the disgraceful end of Valerian; while the new edict, which enabled him to follow Tarcisius to Mary's feet, had scarcely been promulgated throughout the empire, when Aurelian, in his turn, was cast down by Christ, from whom alone kings and emperors hold their crowns.

PRAYER

Let Thy Church rejoice,

O God, relying on the

intercession of blessed Agapitus.

Thy martyr; and by his glorious

Prayers, may she remain devout

and be securely supported.

Fourth day within the Octave of the Assumption The Roman Breviary - Vespers

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Judith 13:22-23

The Lord hath blessed thee by his power, because by thee he hath brought our enemies to nought. Blessed art thou, O daughter, by the Lord the most high God, above all women upon the earth.

Hymn

Ave, star of ocean,

Child divine who barest,

Mother, Ever-Virgin,

Heaven's portal fairest.

Taking that sweet Ave

Erst by Gabriel spoken,

Eva's name reversed,

Be of peace the token.

Break the sinners' fetters,

Light to blind restoring,

All our ills dispelling,

Every boon imploring.

Show thyself a mother

In thy supplication;

He will hear who chose thee

At his incarnation.

Maid all maids excelling,

Passing meek and lowly,

Win for sinners pardon,

Make us chaste and holy.

As we onward journey

Aid our weak endeavor,

Till we gaze on Jesus

And rejoice forever.

Father, Son, and Spirit,

Three in One confessing,

Give we equal glory

Equal praise and blessing.

Amen.

Prayer

Almighty everlasting God, who hast taken body and soul into heaven the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of thy Son: grant, we beseech thee, that by steadfastly keeping heaven as our goal we may be counted worthy to join her in glory.

August 19 - St. John Eudes

 

              St. John Eudes

John was born in the year 1601, of pious and respectable parents, at a village commonly known as Ri, in the diocese of Seez. While still a boy, when he was fed with the bread of Angels, he cheerfully made a vow of perpetual chastity. Having been received at the College of Caen, directed by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, he was conspicuous for a remarkable piety; and, committing himself to the protection of the Virgin Mary, when still a youth he signed with his own blood, the special covenant he had entered into with her. Having completed his courses of letters and of philosophy with great distinction, and having spurned opportunities of marriage which had been arranged for him, he enrolled himself with the Congregation of the Oratory de Bérulle, and was ordained priest at Paris. He was on fire with a marvellous love towards his neighbour: for he took the most constant pains in caring for both the souls and bodies of those smitten with the Asiatic plague, in many different places. He was made Rector of the Oratorian house at Caen, but since he had been thinking for a long time of educating suitable young men for the ministry of the Church, earnestly asking for the divine assistance, with a brave spirit he most regretfully departed from the associates with whom he had lived for twenty years.

     Accordingly, associating five priests with himself, in the year 1643, on the feastday of the Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary, he founded a Congregation of Priests, to whom he gave the most holy names of Jesus and Mary, and opened the first seminary at Caen; and a great many others followed immediately in Normandy and Brittany, also founded by him. For the recalling of sinful women to a Christian life, he founded the Order of Our Lady of Charity; of which most noble tree, the Congregation of the Good Shepherd of Angers is a branch. Furthermore, he founded the Society of the Admirable Heart of the Mother of God, and other charitable institutions. He was the author of many excellent treatises, and laboured as an Apostolic Missionary to the very end of his life, preaching the Gospel in very many villages, towns, and cities, and even in the royal court.

     His matchless zeal was very conspicuous in promoting the salutary devotion towards the most sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, whose liturgical worship he was the first of all to devise, although not without some divine inspiration. He is therefore held to be the father, the teacher, and the apostle of that worship. Courageously withstanding the doctrines of the Jansenists, he preserved unalterable obedience towards the Chair of Peter, and he constantly prayed to God, both for his enemies as well as for his brethren. Broken by so many labours, rather than by years, desiring to be freed and to be with Christ, on the 19th day of August, 1680, frequently repeating the sweet names of Jesus and Mary, he died in peace. As he became illustrious by many miracles, Pope Pius X added him to the list of the Blessed, and as he still shone forth with new signs and wonders, Pope Pius XI, in the holy year and on the day of Pentecost, placed him among the Saints, and extended his Office and Mass to the universal Church.

Hymn

This the confessor of the Lord, whose triumph

Now all the faithful celebrate, with gladness

On this feast day year by year receiveth

Merited honors.

Saintly and prudent, modest in behaviour,

Peaceful and sober, chaste was he, and lowly.

While that life's vigour, coursing through his members,

Quickened his being.

Sick ones of old time, to his tomb resorting,

Sorely by ailments manifold afflicted,

Oft-times have welcomed health and strength returning,

At his petition.

Whence we in chorus gladly do him honour,

Chanting his praises with devout affection,

That in his merits we may have a portion,

Now and forever.

His be the glory, power and salvation,

Who over all things reigneth in the highest,

Earth's mighty fabric ruling and directing,

Onely and Trinal.

Amen.

Magnificat of Saint John Eudes

My soul doth magnify the admirable Heart of Jesus and Mary,

And my spirit rejoices in my great Heart.

Jesus and Mary have given me their Heart,

This immense Heart in order that all in me

May be performed in its love.

Infinite thanks to them for their ineffable gift.

This heart infinitely merciful has done great things for me;

It has possessed me from the womb of my mother.

Infinite thanks for His ineffable gifts.

The abyss of my misery has called on the abyss of His Mercy.

Infinite thanks for His ineffable gifts.

This Heart infinitely meek has presented me

With blessings of its sweetness.

Infinite thanks for His ineffable gifts. 

       August 19 - Mass Propers

              St. John Eudes

Twelfth week after Pentecost within the 

         Octave of the Assumption

      Double/White Vestments

             Missa 'Os Justi'

      

INTROIT -  Psalm 36: 30-31

The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment: the law of his God is in his heart. Ps. Be not emulous of evildoers: nor envy them that work iniquity. Glory be to the Father.

Os justi meditabitur sapientiam, et lingua ejus loquetur judicium: lex Dei ejus in corde ipsius. Ps. Noli æmulari in malignantibus: neque zelaveris facientes iniquitatem. Gloria Patri.

COLLECT

O God, Who didst wonderfully inflame blessed John, Thy Confessor, to promote the public worship of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and through him didst will to found new religious families in Thy Church: grant, we beseech Thee, that we who venerate his merits may also be taught by the example of his virtues. Through the same Lord.

Second Collect - Commemoration of the Octave of the Assumption

Almighty, everlasting God, Who took up, body and soul, the immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of Your Son, into heavenly glory, grant, we beseech You, that, always devoting ourselves to heavenly things, we may be found worthy to share in her glory. Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son…

EPISTLE - Ecclesiasticus 31: 8-11

Blessed is the man that is found without blemish, and that hath not gone after gold, nor put his trust in money nor in treasures. Who is he, and we will praise him? for he hath done wonderful things in his life. Who hath been tried thereby, and made perfect, he shall have glory everlasting: he that could have transgressed, and hath not transgressed: and could do evil things, and hath not done them: therefore are his goods established in the Lord, and all the Church of the Saints shall declare his alms.

GRADUAL - Psalm 91: 13, 14

The Just shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus in the house of the Lord. To show forth Thy mercy in the morning, and Thy truth in the night.

ALLELUIA - James 1: 12

Alleluia. Alleluia. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life. Alleluia.

GOSPEL - Luke 12: 35-40

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: Let your loins be girt and lamps burning in your hands, and you yourselves like to men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding: that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching: amen I say to you that he will girt himself and make them sit down to meat, and passing will minister unto them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But this know ye, that if the householder did know at what hour the thief would come, he would surely watch. and would not suffer his house to be broken open. Be you then also ready, for at what hour you think not the Son of man will come.

Madonna and Child with St. Jerome and St. Gregory the Great (Pinturicchio, Louvre)

Homily by Pope St Gregory the Great

Dearly beloved brethren, the words of the Holy Gospel, which have just been read, lie open before you, and, lest their very plainness should make them seem to some to be hard, we will go through them with such shortness as that neither may they which understand not remain unenlightened, nor they which understand be wearied. The Lord saith Let your loins be girded about. Now, we gird our loins about, when by continency we master the lustful inclination of the flesh. But, forasmuch as it sufficeth not for a man to abstain from evil deeds, if he strive not to join thereto the earnest doing of good works, it is immediately added And your lights burning. Our lights burn when, by good works, we give bright example to our neighbour; concerning which works the Lord saith Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Which is in heaven. 

Here, then, are two commandments, to gird our loins about, and to keep our lights burning the cleanness of purity in our body, and the light of the truth in our works. Whoso hath the one and not the other, pleaseth not thereby our Redeemer; that is, he pleaseth Him not which doth good works, but bridleth not himself from the pollutions of lust, neither he which is eminent in chastity, but exerciseth not himself in good works. Neither is chastity a great thing without good works, nor good works anything without chastity. And if any man do both, it remaineth that he must look by hope toward our Fatherland above, and not have for his reason wherethrough he turneth himself away from vice, the love of honour in this present world.

 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. The Lord cometh at the hour of judgment He knocketh when, by the pains of sickness, He biddeth us know that death is nigh. To Him open we immediately, if we receive Him in love. Whoso feareth to leave this body, will not open to the Judge when He knocketh, for he dreadeth to see that Judge, Whom he knoweth that he hath despised. But whosoever knoweth that his hope and works are built upon a good foundation, when he heareth the Judge knock, openeth to Him immediately, for to such an one that coming is blessed, yea, when the hour of death is at hand, such an one haileth with gladness a glorious reward.

OFFERTORY - Psalm 88: 25

My truth and My mercy shall be with him: and in My name shall his horn be exalted.

SECRET

In memory of Thy Saints, O Lord, we offer Thee the sacrifice of praise, by which we trust to be freed from both present and future evils. Through our Lord.

Commemoration of the Octave of the Assumption

May the offering of our devotion rise unto You, O Lord, and by the intercession of the most blessed Virgin Mary, who was taken up into heaven, may our hearts, on fire with love, strive ever upward to You. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord…

COMMON PREFACE

It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God: through Christ our Lord. through Whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, Dominations worship, Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the Heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with them we entreat Thee, that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted, while we say in lowly praise…

COMMUNION - Matthew 24: 46-47

Blessed is that servant, whom when his Lord shall come he shall find watching: amen I say to you, he shall place him over all his goods.

POSTCOMMUNION

Refreshed by meat and drink from heaven, O God, we humbly entreat Thee, that we may be protected by the prayers of him in whose memory we have partaken. Through our Lord.

Commemoration of the Octave of the Assumption

Having partaken, O Lord, of the sacrament of salvation, grant, we beseech You, that through the merits and intercession of the blessed Virgin Mary, who was taken up into heaven, we may be delivered from all the evils that threaten us. Through Jesus Christ…