St. Hermenegild - Mass Propers

St. Hermenegild, Martyr 

It is through a Martyr's palm-branch that we must today see the Paschal Mystery. Hermenegild, a young Visigoth Prince, is put to death by his heretical father, because he courageously refused to receive his Easter Communion from an Arian Bishop. The Martyr knew that the Eucharist is the sacred symbol of Catholic unity; and that we are not allowed to approach the Holy Table in company with them that are not in the true Church. A sacrilegious consecration gives heretics the real possession of the Divine Mystery, if the priestly character be in him who dares to offer Sacrifice to the God whom he blasphemes; but the Catholic, who knows that he may not so much as pray with heretics, shudders at the sight of the profanation, and would rather die than share, by his presence, in insulting our Redeemer in that very Sacrifice and Sacrament, which were instituted that we might all be made one in God. The blood of the Martyr produced its fruit: Spain threw off the chains of heresy that had enslaved her, and a Council, held at Toledo, completed the work of conversion begun by Hermenegild's sacrifice. 

There are very few instances recorded in history of a whole Nation rising up in a mass to abjure heresy; but Spain did it, for she seems to be a country on which heaven lavishes exceptional blessings. 

Shortly after this she was put through the ordeal of the Saracen invasion; she triumphed here again by the bravery of her children; and ever since then, her Faith has been so staunch and so pure, as to merit for her the proud title of The Catholic Kingdom. St. Gregory the Great, a contemporary of St. Hermenegild, has transmitted to us the following account of the martyrdom. 

                   

St. Hermenegild, St. Gregory recovered Spain from the Arians. 

From the book of the Dialogues of Saint Gregory, Pope. King Hermenegild, son of Leovigild king of the Visigoths, was converted, from the Arian heresy, to the Catholic faith, by the preaching of the venerable Leander, Bishop of Seville, one of my oldest and dearest friends. His father, who continued in the Arian heresy, did his utmost, both by promises, and threats, to induce him to apostatize. But Hermenegild returned him ever the same answer, that he never could abandon the true faith, after having once known it. The father, in a fit of displeasure, deprived him not only of his right to the throne, but of everything he possessed. And when even this failed to break the energy of his soul, he had him put into close confinement with chains on his neck and hands. Hereupon the youthful king Hermenegild began to despise the earthly, and ardently to long for the heavenly, kingdom. Thus fettered, and wearing a hairshirt, he besought the Omnipotent God to support him. As to the glory of this fleeting world, he nobly looked on it with disdain, the more so as his captivity taught him the nothingness of that which could thus be taken from him. It was the Feast of Easter. At an early hour of the night, when all was still, his wicked father sent an Arian Bishop to him, with this message, that if he would receive Communion from his hands, (the Communion of a sacrilegious consecration!) he should be restored to favor. True to his Creator, the man of God gave a merited reproof to the Arian Bishop, and, with holy indignation, rejected his sinful offer; for though his body lay prostrate in chains, his soul stood on ground beyond the reach of tyranny. The Bishop therefore, returned whence he had come. The Arian father raged, and straightway sent his lictors, bidding them repair to the prison of the unflinching Confessor of the Lord, and murder him on the on the spot. They obeyed; they entered the prison; they cleft his skull with a sword ; they took away the life of the body, and slew what he, the slain one, had sworn to count as vile. Miracles soon followed, whereby heaven testified to the true glory of Hermenegild; for during the night, there was heard sweet music nigh to the body of the King and Martyr, King indeed, because he was a Martyr.

     It is said that lights were seen at the same time burning in the prison. The Faithful were led, by these signs, to revere the body, as being that of a martyr. As to the wicked father, he repented for having imbrued his hands in his son's blood; but his repentance was not unto salvation, in as much as, whilst acknowledging the Catholic Faith to be the true one, he had not the courage to embrace it, for he feared the displeasure of his subjects. When in his last sickness, and at the point of death, he commended his son Reccared, a heretic, to the care of Leander the Bishop, whom he had hitherto persecuted, but from whom he now asked, that he would do for this son what he had, by his exhortations, done for Hermenegild. Having made this request, he died, and was succeeded, on the throne, by Reccared, who taking, not his wicked father, but his martyred brother, as his model, he abandoned the impious Arian heresy, and led the whole Visigoth nation to the true Faith. He would not allow any man to serve in his armies, who dared to continue the enemy of the God of hosts by heresy. Neither is it to be wondered at, that being the brother of a Martyr, he should have become a propagator of the true Faith, for it was by Hermenegild's merits that he has succeeded in reconciling so many thousands to the great God of heaven. 

The Very Rev. Dom Gueranger - The Liturgical Year

                            

    St. Hermenegild /Monday after the Octave of Easter

    Semi-Double / Red Vestments  -   Missa 'Protexisti'

INTROIT 

Psalm 63: 3

Protexisti me, Deus, a convéntu malignántium, allelúia: a multitúdine operántium iniquitátem. T.P. Allelúia, allelúia. Ps. Exáudi, Deus, oratiónem meam cum déprecor: a timóre inimíci éripe ánimam meam. Gloria Patri

Thou last protected me, O God, from the assembly of the malignant, alleluia: from the multitude of the workers of iniquity.Alleluia. alleluia. Ps. Hear, O God, my prayers, when I make supplication to Thee: deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy Glory be to the Father.

COLLECT

O God, Who didst teach blessed Hermenegild, Thy Martyr, to choose a heavenly kingdom rather than an earthly one, grant us, we beseech Thee, to despise fleeting things, after his example, and to pursue those that are eternal. Through our Lord.

St. Hermenegild Resisting the Arian Bishop

EPISTLE 

Wisdom 5: 1-5

Then shall the just stand with great constancy against those that have afflicted them and taken away their labors. These seeing it, shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the suddenness of their unexpected salvation, saying within themselves, repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit: These are they whom we had some time in derision and for a parable of reproach. We fools esteemed their life madness and their end without honor; behold how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the Saints.

GRADUAL 

Psalm 88: 21-23

I have found David My servant, with My holy oil I have anointed him: for My hand shall help him, and Mine arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall have no advantage over him nor the son of iniquity have power to hurt him.

PASCHAL ALLELUIA 

Psalm 88: 6; Psalm 20: 4 

Alleluia, alleluia. the heavens shall confess Thy wonders, O Lord; and Thy truth in the Church of the saints.  Alleluia. O Lord, Thou halt set on his head a crown of precious stones. Alleluia.

GOSPEL 

Luke 14: 26-33

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, He cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after Me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you having a mind to build a tower, doth not first sit down, and reckon the charges that are necessary, whether he have wherewithal to finish it: lest, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that see it begin to mock him, saying: This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, about to go to make war against another king, doth not first sit down, and think whether he be able, with ten thousand, to meet him that, with twenty thousand, cometh against him? Or else, whilst the other is yet afar off, sending an embassy, he desireth conditions of peace. So likewise every one of you that doth not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be My disciple.

OFFERTORY 

Psalm 88: 6

The Heavens shall confess Thy wonders, O Lord, and Thy truth in the church of the saints. Alleluia, alleluia.

SECRET

Receive, we beseech Thee, O Lord, our offerings and prayers: cleanse us by virtue of these heavenly mysteries and graciously hear us. Through our Lord…

COMMUNION 

Psalm 63: 11

The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in Him: and all the upright in heart shall be praised. Alleluia, alleluia.

POSTCOMMUNION

Our strength renewed from having shared in Thy sacred gift, we beseech Thee, O Lord our God, that by the intercession of blessed Hermenegild, Thy Martyr, we may ever feel the mighty power of the sacrament we worship. Through our Lord.