27 Jul – St Pantaleon, Martyr
St. Pantaleon was the highly esteemed physician in ordinary of Emperor Maximian. Besides all kinds of physical and spiritual help he gave, he supported many poor people sharing his goods. In the East he is counted among the `hagioi anargyrioi` which means that he helped without being payed for it. In the East they were quasi the counterparts of our helpers. Among the doctors there were envious collegues who betrayed him being a Christian. “I rather want my hands to be withered than that I lift them to take an oath upon the pagan gods “, Pantaleon said being a convinced Christian. As he was bound to an olive- tree his hands were nailed on his head by his tormentors. He prayed for them while he died. That is why he got the name of “Panteleimon”. In some churches there were ampullas made of glass where the blood of the Saint is conserved. In the Convent of St. Augustin`s nunnery in Madrid the so-called wonder of St. Pantaleon takes place on July 27th. The blood in the ampulla becomes liquid and bubbles up (cf. also St. Januarius). In 871 Archbishop Gero of Cologne brought with him a relic from Constantinople. The church which has been built there in the Roman style keeps his skull since 1208. The church is an attraction for those who are interested in history of art. In Austria there are two places called St. Pantaleon. At Oberrotweil in the South of Germany there is an old tradition: A procession of horses in his honor.
Saint Pantaleon counted in the West among the late-medieval Fourteen Holy Helpers and in the East as one of the Holy Unmercenary Healers, was a martyr of Nicomedia in Bithynia during the Diocletian persecution of 303 AD.
Though there is evidence to suggest that a martyr named Pantaleon existed, some consider the stories of his life and death to be purely legendary.
According to the martyrologies, Pantaleon was the son of a rich pagan, Eustorgius of Nicomedia, and had been instructed in Christianity by his Christian mother, Saint Eubula; however, after her death he fell away from the Christian church, while he studied medicine with a renowned physician Euphrosinos; under the patronage of Euphrosinos he became physician to the Emperor Maximian or Galerius.
He was won back to Christianity by Saint Hermolaus (characterized as a bishop of the church at Nicomedia in the later literature), who convinced him that Christ was the better physician, signalling the significance of the exemplum of Pantaleon that faith is to be trusted over medical advice, marking the direction European medicine was to take until the 16th century.
- Alphonsus Liguori wrote regarding this incident:
He studied medicine with such success, that the Emperor Maximian appointed him his physician. One day as our saint was discoursing with a holy priest named Hermolaus, the latter, after praising the study of medicine, concluded thus: “But, my friend, of what use are all thy acquirements in this art, since thou art ignorant of the science of salvation?
By miraculously healing a blind man by invoking the name of Jesus over him, Pantaleon converted his father, upon whose death he came into possession of a large fortune, but freed his slaves and, distributing his wealth among the poor, developed a great reputation in Nicomedia. Envious colleagues denounced him to the emperor during the Diocletian persecution. The emperor wished to save him and sought to persuade him to apostasy. Pantaleon, however, openly confessed his faith, and as proof that Christ is the true God, he healed a paralytic. Notwithstanding this, he was condemned to death by the emperor, who regarded the miracle as an exhibition of magic.
According to the later hagiography, Pantaleon’s flesh was first burned with torches, whereupon Christ appeared to all in the form of Hermolaus to strengthen and heal Pantaleon. The torches were extinguished. Then a bath of molten lead was prepared; when the apparition of Christ stepped into the cauldron with him, the fire went out and the lead became cold. Pantaleon was now thrown into the sea, loaded with a great stone, which floated. He was thrown to wild beasts, but these fawned upon him and could not be forced away until he had blessed them. He was bound on the wheel, but the ropes snapped, and the wheel broke. An attempt was made to behead him, but the sword bent, and the executioners were converted to Christianity.
Pantaleon implored Heaven to forgive them, for which reason he also received the name of Panteleimon (“mercy for everyone” or “all-compassionate”). It was not until he himself desired it that it was possible to behead him, upon which there issued forth blood and a white liquid like milk.
- Alphonsus wrote:
At Ravello, a city in the kingdom of Naples, there is a vial of his blood, which becomes blood every year [on his feastday], and may be seen in this state interspersed with the milk, as I, the author of this work, have seen it.
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Seventh Sunday After Pentecost Semi – Double/ Green
Missa “Omnes gentes” “By their fruits you shall know them.”
INTROIT: Ps. 46. 2
Clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of joy.
(Ps. 46. 3). For the Lord is most high, He is terrible; He is a great King over all the earth. Glory be to the Father Clap your hands, all ye nations . . .
COLLECT
O God, whose providence faileth not in its designs, we humbly entreat Thee, to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us all things which be profitable for us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity . . .
EPISTLE: Romans 6. 19-23
Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Romans.
Brethren, I speak a human thing, because of the infirmity of your flesh; for as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanliness and iniquity for iniquity, so now yield your members to serve justice unto sanctification. For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from justice. What fruit therefore had you then in those things, of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting. For the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, is life everlasting; in Christ Jesus our Lord.
GRADUAL: Ps. 33. 12, 6
Come, children, hearken to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Come ye to Him and be enlightened; and your faces shall not be confounded.
Alleluia
(Ps. 46. 2). O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of joy. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL: Matthew 7. 15-21
† Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew.
At that time: Jesus said to His disciples, Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. Not everyone that saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father who is in heaven, he shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
OFFERTORY: Daniel 3. 40
As in holocausts of rams and bullocks, and as in thousands of fat lambs; so let our sacrifice be made in Thy sight this day, that it may please Thee: for there is no confusion to them that trust in Thee, O Lord.
SECRET
O God, who hast justified the variety of sacrifices of the Law by the perfection of this one Sacrifice: accept the Sacrifice of Thy servants who are dedicated to Thee, and sanctify it with a blessing like to that which Thou didst bestow upon the gifts of Abel, that what each one of us has offered to the honor of Thy Majesty, may profit us all unto salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost . . .
PREFACE
Preface of the Most Holy Trinity
It it 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; Who, together with Thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord: not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance. For what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim do praise: who cease not daily to cry out, with one voice saying…
COMMUNION: Ps. 30.
Inclina aurem tuam, accelera, ut eripias me. Bow down Thine ear, make haste to deliver me.
POSTCOMMUNION
May Thy healing work, O Lord, both mercifully free us from our perversities, and lead us to those things which are right. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost . . .
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