EMBER SATURDAY AFTER
PENTECOST
SAINT FELIX I
Pope and Martyr
Virgin
[Patron of France, Historical]
Pentecost is the climax of Easter, and this is the last day of the Easter season. The extra lessons in today's Mass allow for the conferring of one of the four minor orders or one of the three major orders after each lesson. Priesthood is conferred before the last verse of the Sequence. The ordained priest combines in himself the powers and the responsibilities of each distinct order.
INTROIT Rom. 5:5
The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, alleluia! by His Spirit dwelling within us, alleluia, alleluia!
Ps. 102:1. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all my being bless His holy name.
V. Glory be . . .
Kyrie
P. Lord, have mercy.
S. Lord, have mercy.
P. Lord, have mercy.
S. Christ, have mercy.
P. Christ, have mercy.
S. Christ, have mercy.
P. Lord, have mercy.
S. Lord, have mercy.
P. Lord, have mercy.
COLLECT
O Lord, graciously fill our hearts with Your Holy Spirit, who wisely created us and so carefully governs us. Through our Lord . . .
FIRST LESSON Joel 2:28-32
Thus says the Lord God: "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy: your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Moreover, upon my servants and handmaids in those days I will pour forth my spirit. And I will shew wonders in heaven; and in earth, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood: before the great and dreadful day of the Lord doth come. And it shall come to pass, that every one that shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved."
ALLELUIA! V. John 6:64
It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing.
May the Holy Spirit, O Lord, influence us with that same fire which Our Lord Jesus Christ sent upon the earth to burn brightly; who lives and rules with You, in the unity of the same Holy Spirit.
SECOND LESSON Lev. 23:9-11, 15-17, 21
In those days, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: "Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: 'When you shall have entered into the land which I will give you, and shall reap your corn, you shall bring sheaves of ears, the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. Who shall lift up the sheaf before the Lord, the next day after the sabbath, that it may be acceptable for you, and shall sanctify it. You shall count therefore from the morrow after the sabbath, wherein you offered the sheaf of firstfruits, seven full weeks. Even unto the morrow after the seventh week be expired, that is to say, fifty days: and so you shall offer a new sacrifice to the Lord. Out of all your dwellings, two loaves of the firstfruits, of two tenths of flour leavened, which you shall bake for the firstfruits of the Lord. And you shall call this day most solemn, and most holy. You shall do no servile work therein. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in all your dwellings and generations.' " says the Lord Almighty.
ALLELUIA! V. Job 26:13
His Spirit has adorned the heavens.
O God, who commanded us to discipline our bodies by fasting in order to heal our souls, grant that we may always be ardently attached to You in body and soul. Through our Lord . . .
THIRD LESSON Deut. 26:1-3, 7-11
In those days, Moses said to the children of Israel: "Hear, O Israel, the things that I command you today. When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God will give thee to possess, and hast conquered it, and dwellest in it: Thou shalt take the first of all thy fruits, and put them in a basket, and shalt go to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may be invocated there: And thou shalt go to the priest that shall be in those days, and say to him: 'I profess this day before the Lord thy God, who heard us, and looked down upon our affliction, and labour, and distress: And brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand, and a stretched out arm, with great terror, with signs and wonders: And brought us into this place, and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey. And therefore now I offer the firstfruits of the land which the Lord hath given me.' And thou shalt leave them in the sight of the Lord thy God, adoring the Lord thy God. And thou shalt feast in all the good things which the Lord thy God hath given thee."
ALLELUIA! V. Acts 2:1
When the days of Pentecost were drawing to a close, they were all sitting together.
FOURTH LESSON Lev. 26:3-12
In those days, the Lord said to Moses: "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them from Me 'If you walk in my precepts, and keep my commandments, and do them, I will give you rain in due seasons. And the ground shall bring forth its increase: and the trees shall be filled with fruit. The threshing of your harvest shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land without fear. I will give peace in your coasts: you shall sleep, and there shall be none to make you afraid. I will take away evil beasts: and the sword shall not pass through your quarters. You shall pursue your enemies: and they shall fall before you. Five of yours shall pursue a hundred others: and a hundred of you ten thousand. Your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. I will look on you, and make you increase: you shall be multiplied, and I will establish my covenant with you. You shall eat the oldest of the old store: and, new coming on, you shall cast away the old. I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you: and my soul shall not cast you off. I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be My people,' " says the Lord Almighty.
ALLELUIA! (All kneel.) V.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love.
O Almighty God, grant that by abstaining from food we may also abstain from sin that surrounds us. Through our Lord . . .
FIFTH LESSON Dan. 3:47-51
In those days, the angel of the Lord went down with Azarias and his companions into the furnace: and he drove the flame of the fire out of the furnace, And made the midst of the furnace like the blowing of a wind bringing dew. And the flame mounted up above the furnace nine and forty cubits; and it broke forth, and burnt such of the Chaldeans as it found near the furnace, the servants of the king, who were heating it and the fire touched them not at all, nor troubled them, nor did them any harm. Then these three, as with one mouth, praised and glorified and blessed God, in the furnace, saying:
The response Deo gratis is not made.
ALLELUIA! V. Dan. 3:52
Blessed are You, O Lord the God of our fathers, and worthy of praise forever.
GLORIA
COLLECT
O God, who protected the three young men from the flames of fire, grant that the flames of sin may not consume us, Your servants.
Commemoration of SAINT FELIX
Felix I, a Roman by birth, was pope from 269 to 274 A.D. In his love of the true doctrine of the Church, he courageously condemned the heretical bishop of Antioch and is said to have died a martyr under Aurelian. "The sacred Liturgy puts all these gems [the virtues of the saints] before us . . . that guided by them we may follow the saints into glory" (Pope Pius XII).
O Eternal Shepherd, who appointed blessed Felix 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. Through our Lord . . .
Commemoration of SAINT JOAN OF ARC
St. Joan of Arc is the patroness of soldiers and of France. On January 6, 1412, Joan of Arc was born to pious parents of the French peasant class, at the obscure village of Domremy, near the province of Lorraine. At a very early age, she heard voices: those of St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret.
At first the messages were personal and general. Then at last came the crowning order. In May, 1428, her voices "of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret" told Joan to go to the King of France and help him reconquer his kingdom. For at that time the English king was after the throne of France, and the Duke of Burgundy, the chief rival of the French king, was siding with him and gobbling up evermore French territory.
After overcoming opposition from churchmen and courtiers, the seventeen year old girl was given a small army with which she raised the seige of Orleans on May 8, 1429. She then enjoyed a series of spectacular military successes, during which the King was able to enter Rheims and be crowned with her at his side.
In May 1430, as she was attempting to relieve Compiegne, she was captured by the Burgundians and sold to the English when Charles and the French did nothing to save her. After months of imprisonment, she was tried at Rouen by a tribunal presided over by the infamous Peter Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, who hoped that the English would help him to become archbishop.
Through her unfamiliarity with the technicalities of theology, Joan was trapped into making a few damaging statements. When she refused to retract the assertion that it was the saints of God who had commanded her to do what she had done, she was condemned to death as a heretic, sorceress, and adulteress, and burned at the stake on May 30, 1431. She was nineteen years old. Some thirty years later, she was exonerated of all guilt and she was ultimately canonized in 1920, making official what the people had known for centuries. Her feast day is May 30.
Joan was canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.
O God, you have chosen Saint Joan of Arc to defend her country against the invading enemy. Through her intercession, grant that we may work for justice and live in peace. We pray through Jesus Christ, your son, living and reigning with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
EPISTLE Rom. 5:1-5
Brethren: Having been justified therefore by faith, let us have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access through faith into this grace wherein we stand: and glory in the hope of the glory of the sons of God. And not only so: but we glory also in tribulation, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience trial; and trial hope; And hope confoundeth not: because the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost who is given to us.
Gradual Ps. 116:1-2
Praise the Lord, all you nations; praise Him in unison, all you peoples!
V. For His mercy is steadfast toward us, and the truth of the Lord endures forever.
SEQUENCE
Holy Spirit, come and shine
On our souls with beams divine
Issuing from your radiance bright.
Come, O Father of the poor,
Ever bounteous of your store,
Come, our heart's unfailing light.
Come, Consoler, kindest, best,
Come our bosom's dearest guest,
Sweet refreshment, sweet repose.
Rest in labor, coolness sweet,
Tempering the burning heat,
Truest comfort of our woes.
O divinest light, impart
Unto every faithful heart
Plenteous streams from love's bright flood.
But for your blest Deity,
Nothing pure in man could be;
Nothing harmless, nothing good.
Wash away each sinful stain;
Gently shed your gracious rain
On the dry and fruitless soul.
Heal each wound and bend each will,
Warm our hearts benumbed and chill,
All our wayward steps control.
U nto all your faithful just,
Who in you confide and trust,
Deign the sevenfold gift to send.
Grant us virtue's blest increase,
Grant a death of hope and peace,
Grant the joys that never end.
Amen.
GOSPEL Luke 4:38-44
At that time, Jesus rising up out of the synagogue, went into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever: and they besought him for her. And standing over her, he commanded the fever: and it left her. And immediately rising, she ministered to them. And when the sun was down, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them to him. But he, laying his hands on every one of them, healed them. And devils went out from many, crying out and saying: "Thou art the son of God." And rebuking them he suffered them not to speak; for they knew that he was Christ. And when it was day, going out he went into a desert place: and the multitudes sought him, and came unto him. And they stayed him that should not depart from them. To whom he said: "To other cities also I must preach the kingdom of God: for therefore am I sent." And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
CREED
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Ps. 87:2-3
O Lord, God of my salvation, I have cried out by day and by night in Your presence. Let my prayer come before You, O Lord, alleluia!
SECRET
May our hearts, which we offer You, O Lord, be made clean by this sacred rite, so that our fasting may also become acceptable to You. Through our Lord . . .
Commemoration of SAINT FELIX
We have offered our gifts to You, O Lord. Let Your light graciously shine upon Your Church, so that this flock may everywhere prosper, and its pastors, under Your guidance, may be truly pleasing to You.
Commemoration of SAINT JOAN OF ARC
O Lord, on this feast of Saint Joan of Arc, accept this pure offering of the victim who is our salvation. Grant that we may love you in all things and more than all things so that we may live for the praise of your glory. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
COMMUNION ANTIPHON John 3:8
The wind blows where it will, and you hear its sound, alleluia, alleluia! but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
POSTCOMMUNION
O Lord, may Your Sacrament fill us with holy fervor so that we may delight in the celebration and grace of this Sacred Rite. Through our Lord . . .
Commemoration of SAINT FELIX
O Lord, govern the Church, which You have been pleased to nourish with Your heavenly Food. Guide her by Your powerful direction so that she may enjoy greater freedom and remain unshaken in the fullness of faith.
Commemoration of SAINT JOAN OF ARC
You have strengthened us, O Lord, with bread from heaven from which Saint Joan of Arc so frequently found light and comfort. May this heavenly nourishment sustain us in the service of our brothers and sisters. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Burial of Saint Petronilla by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (1623)
