Pope Saint Melchiades
WEDNESDAY OF THE SECOND
WEEK OF ADVENT
SAINT MELCHIADES
Pope and Martyr
OUR LADY OF LORETO
of the HOLY HOUSE of LORETO
[See Story below]
Within the Octave
SIMPLE / WHITE
Second Sunday of Advent Mass, with the following commemoration of OUR LADY OF LORETO AND SAINT MELCHIADES
Introit
Isa 30:30
People of Sion, behold
the Lord shall come to save the nations; and the Lord shall make the
glory of His voice to be heard, in the joy of your heart.
Ps 79:2 O
Shepherd of Israel, hearken, O Guide of the flock of Joseph!
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
People of Sion, behold
the Lord shall come to save the nations; and the Lord shall make the
glory of His voice to be heard, in the joy of your heart.
COLLECT
Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the ways of
Your only-begotten Son, so that through His coming we may be able to
serve You with purified minds.
Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.
R. Amen
Commemoration of SAINT MELCHIADES
Pope
Melchiades, who was called by St. Augustine an excellent man, a true
son of peace, and a true father of Christians, suffered severe
persecution under Maximian. He survived, however, to see Constantine
establish toleration of Christianity in 313 A.D., and died peacefully
the following year.
O
Eternal Shepherd, who appointed blessed Melchiades shepherd of the
whole Church, let the prayers of this martyr and supreme pontiff move
You to look with favor upon Your flock and to keep it under Your
continual protection.
O
God, who through the Mystery of the Word made flesh, didst in Thy
mercy sanctify the House of Blessed Mary the Virgin, and by wondrous
means didst place it in the care of Thy Church, grant that we may keep
aloof from the tabernacles of sinners, and become worthy habitants of
Thy holy house. Through the same our Lord . . .
EPISTLE Rom. 15:4-13
Brethren:
For what things soever were written were written for our learning:
that, through patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have
hope. Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one
mind, one towards another, according to Jesus Christ: That with one mind
and with one mouth you may glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Wherefore, receive one another, as Christ also hath received
you, unto the honour of God. For I say that Christ Jesus was minister of
the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made
unto the fathers: But that the Gentiles are to glorify God for his
mercy, as it is written: "Therefore will I confess to thee, O Lord,
among the Gentiles and will sing to thy name." And again he saith:
"Rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people." And again: "Praise the Lord, all
ye Gentiles: and magnify him, all ye people." And again, Isaias saith:
"There shall be a root of Jesse; and he that shall rise up to rule the
Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope." Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing: that you may abound in hope and in
the power of the Holy Ghost.
GRADUAL Ps. 49:2-3, 5
Out of Sion, perfect in beauty, God shall come revealed.
V. Gather before Him His saints, who have ratified His covenant with sacrifice.
Alleluia, alleluia! V. Ps. 121:1
I rejoiced at the tidings which were told me, "We shall go into the house of the Lord."
Alleluia!
GOSPEL Matt. 11:2-10
At
that time, when John had heard in prison the works of Christ: sending
two of his disciples he said to him: "Art thou he that art to come, or
look we for another?" And Jesus making answer said to them: "Go
and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again,
the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he that shall
not be scandalized in me."
And when they went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: "What
went you out into the desert to see? a reed shaken with the wind? But
what went you out to see? a man clothed in soft garments? Behold they
that are clothed in soft garments, are in the houses of kings. But what
went you out to see? A prophet? Yea I tell you, and more than a prophet.
For this is he of whom it is written: 'Behold I send my angel before my
face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.' "
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Ps. 84:7-8
You
will turn again, O God, and bring us life, and Your people shall
rejoice in You. Show us Your mercy, O Lord, and grant us Your salvation.
SECRET
O
Lord, let our humble offering of these prayers and sacrifices appease
You for our sins. We have no merits of our own to depend on; so assist
us with Your aid. Through Our Lord . . .
Commemoration of SAINT MELCHIADES
By
the offered gifts we beseech thee, O Lord, that thou kindly enlighten
thy Church, so that thy flock may everywhere progress and prosper, and
thy shepherds, under thy guidance may be pleasing to thy name.
Accept, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the oblations worthily offered to
Thee in this holy house, and by the pleading merits of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, grant that they may avail us unto salvation. Through our
Lord . . .
COMMUNION ANTIPHON Bar. 5:5; 4:36
Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high, and behold the joy that comes to you from your God.
POSTCOMMUNION
We
have just been nourished with Your Body and Blood, O Lord. Teach us
through this Sacramental rite to despise the things of earth and to
yearn for the things of heaven. Through Our Lord . . .
Commemoration of SAINT MELCHIADES
Being
appeased, O Lord, guide thy Church, which has been nourished by holy
refreshment, that under thy direction and powerful rule it may receive
increase of liberty and may continue in religious integrity.
We
beseech Thee, O Lord our God, that the most holy Mysteries, which Thou
hast given us to safeguard our regenerated nature, may, through the
intercession of blessed Mary ever Virgin, be to us a healing remedy,
both for the present and for the future, Through our Lord . . .
of the HOLY HOUSE of LORETO
(1291, 1294)
Towards the end of the thirteenth century, the terrible news reached
Europe that the Holy Land was lost to the Christians, who during two
centuries had been able to maintain the Latin kingdom there by virtue
of their repeated Crusades. But at the time the Church was deploring
this painful loss, a new joy was given them: the holy house of Nazareth
— site of the birth of the Mother of God, of Her early education and
of the Annunciation by the Angel Gabriel of the wondrous news of the
Incarnation of the Son of God — had been found, transported
miraculously, near Tersatz in Dalmatia (Yugoslavia) on May 10th of
the year 1291. Between Tersatz and nearby Fiume, the residents of the
region beheld one morning an edifice, in a location where never had any
been seen before. After the residents of the region talked among
themselves of the remarkable little house surmounted by a bell tower,
and which stood without foundations on the bare ground, describing its
altar, an ancient statue of Our Lady, and other religious objects which
their wondering eyes had seen within it, another surprise came to
astound them once more.
Their bishop suddenly appeared in their midst, cured from a lingering
illness which had kept him bedridden for several months. He had prayed
to be able to go see the prodigy for himself, and the Mother of God had
appeared to him, saying, in substance: “My son, you called Me; I am
here to give you powerful assistance and reveal to you the secret you
desire to know. The holy dwelling is the very house where I was born...
It is there that when the announcement was brought by the Archangel
Gabriel, I conceived the divine Child by the operation of the Holy
Spirit. It is there that the Word was made flesh! After My decease, the
Apostles consecrated this dwelling, illustrated by such elevated
mysteries, and sought the honor of celebrating the August Sacrifice
there. The altar is the very one which the Apostle Saint Peter placed
there. The crucifix was introduced by the Apostles, and the cedar
statue is My faithful image, made by the hand of the Evangelist Saint
Luke... Your sudden return to health from so long an illness will bear
witness to this prodigy.” Nicolas Frangipane, governor of the territory
of Ancona, was absent, but when the news was carried to him, he
returned from a war in order to verify its authenticity. He sent to
Nazareth, at the eastern limits of the Mediterranean Sea, the bishop
and three other persons, to examine the original site of the house.
Indeed the house was no longer there, but its foundations remained and
were found conformable in every detail of dimension and substance, to
the stones at the base of the house now in Dalmatia. The testimony of
the delegates was drafted according to legal formalities, and confirmed
by a solemn oath.
Then, after three years spent in Dalmatia, the house disappeared. Paul
Della Selva, a holy hermit of that period and of the region of Ancona,
wrote: “During the night of December 10th, a light from
heaven became visible to several inhabitants of the shores of the
Adriatic Sea, and a divine harmony woke them that they might
contemplate a marvel exceeding all the forces of nature. They saw and
contemplated a house, surrounded by heavenly splendor, transported
through the air.” The angelic burden was brought to rest in a forest,
where again the local residents were able to contemplate the signal
relics which it contained. The antique Greek crucifix mentioned by Our
Lady was made of wood, and attached to it was a canvas on which the
words Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, were painted. The cedar
statue of the Virgin had been painted also; she wore a red robe and a
blue cloak and held the Infant Jesus in Her arms. His right hand was
raised in blessing; His left hand held a globe, symbol of His sovereign
power.
The story was far from ended. The house moved again, after robbers
began to intercept pilgrims coming through the forest to visit the
marvel. Twice more it rose from its place, the first time coming to
rest on a private terrain, which became then a source of dispute
between two brothers; and finally on a hilltop where a dusty and uneven
public road became its permanent site. For centuries the people of
Dalmatia came across the sea on pilgrimage, often crying out to Our
Lady and Her House to come back to them! Finally in 1559, after one
such visit by 300 pilgrims, the Sovereign Pontiff had a hospice built
at Loreto for families who preferred to remain near the house, rather
than return to a land deprived of its sacred presence.
The reddish-black stones of the house are a sort entirely foreign to
Italy; the mortar cementing them is again entirely different from the
volcanic-ash-based substance used in that country. The residents of the
region put up a heavy brick wall to support the house, which was
exposed to the torrential rains and winds of the hilltop and was
completely without foundation. But no sooner was that wall completed,
than they came back one morning to find it had moved away from the
house, as if to express its reverence, to a distance which permitted a
small child to walk around it with a torch in hand. The Author of the
miracle wanted it to be well understood that He who had brought it
without human assistance, was capable also of maintaining it there
where He had placed it, without human concourse.
The episodes concerning the Translation of the Holy House, all duly
verified, were consigned in documents borne to Rome to the Sovereign
Pontiffs at various epochs. Pope Sixtus IV declared that the house was
the property of the Holy See, and assigned duties to a specified
personnel named to be its custodians. By Pope Leo X the indulgence
applicable to the visit of several churches of Rome was accorded also to
a pilgrimage to Loreto. Eventually a magnificent basilica was built ar
ound the house, which within the basilica was itself enhanced by a
white marble edicule. Pope Clement IX in 1667, placed the story of the
House in the Roman
Martyrology for the 10th of December under the title: At
Loreto, in the territory of Ancona, translation of the Holy House of
Mary, Mother of God, in which the Word was made flesh. Pope Benedict
XIV, a prodigious scholar before he became Pope, established the
identity of the house with that of Nazareth, against its detractors, and
later worked for the embellishment of the August sanctuary. The feast
of Our Lady of Loreto is observed in many provinces of the Church,
inscribed in the Proper of their dioceses by their bishops.
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