SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE
Apostles

Simon is called in the Gospels "the zealous one." Jude was the brother of St. James the Less and therefore related to Christ. He is the author of one of the seven Catholic (i.e., addressed to all the faithful) Epistles in the New Testament. It is not known for certain where Simon and Jude preached the Gospel after Pentecost; but according to tradition they finally went to evangelize Persia and were martyred together there.

INTROIT (Ps. 138:17)
Your friends are greatly honored by me, O God; their pre-eminence is definitely established.
Ps. O Lord, you have proved me and You know me; You know when I sit and when I stand.
V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT
O God, Your blessed apostles Simon and Jude brought us the knowledge of Your Holy Name. May our progress in virtue add honor to their eternal glory, and may the honor we pay them make us even more holy. Through Christ Our Lord . . .


EPISTLE (Eph. 4: 7-13)
Brethren: But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the giving of Christ. Wherefore he saith: "Ascending on high, he led captivity captive: he gave gifts to men." Now that he ascended, what is it, but because he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended above all the heavens: that he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors: For the perfecting of the saints, for the word of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Until we all meet into the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ.


GRADUAL (Ps. 44:17-18)
You shall make them princes through all the land; they shall remember Your Name, O Lord. V. To take the place of your fathers, sons shall be born to you; therefore peoples shall praise you.


Alleluia, alleluia! V. (Ps. 138:17)
Your friends are greatly honored by me, O God; their pre-eminence is definitely established. Alleluia!


GOSPEL (St. John 15:17-25)
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: "These things I command you, that you love one another. If the world hate you, know ye that it hath hated me before you. If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember my word that I said to you: The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake: because they know not him that sent me.
"If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no other man hath done, they would not have sin: but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. But that the word may be fulfilled which is written in their law: 'They hated me without cause.' "


OFFERTORY ANTIPHON (Ps. 18:5)
Their voice has gone forth through all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.


SECRET
O Lord, we pay homage to the everlasting glory of Your holy apostles Simon and Jude. May these sacred mysteries atone for our sins so that we may be more worthy to honor them. Through Christ Our Lord . . .


COMMUNION ANTIPHON (Matt. 19:28)
You who have followed Me shall sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.


POSTCOMMUNION
We who received Your Sacraments, O Lord, humbly pray that this sacred rite which we offer in honor of the sufferings of Your blessed apostles Simon and Jude may heal our own infirmities through their intercession. Through Christ Our Lord . . .