TWENTY SIXTH AND LAST
SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

SAINT CATHARINE OF ALEXANDRIA
Virgin and Martyr

DOUBLE / GREEN
ENTRANCE HYMN Jer. 29:11, 12, 14
Said the Lord: "I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction. You shall call upon me and I will hear you, and I will bring you back from captivity from all places." Ps. 84:2. Lord, You have blessed Your land; You have restored Jacob from captivity.
V. Glory be . . .

PRAYER
O Lord, stir up the wills of the faithful that they may be more eager to seek the fruits of divine grace, and to discover in Your mercy greater healing for their sinfulness. Through Our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT CATHARINE OF ALEXANDRIA
The saint of philosophers and wheelwrights and one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, Catharine of Alexandria was very popular in the Middle Ages. Her legend relates that in the early years of the fourth century, Catharine converted to Christianity a group of philosophers whom Emperor Maximinus had appointed to shake the maiden's own faith. The infuriated ruler had Catharine scourged and bound to wheels on which knives were fixed; but the wheels broke and the knives flew off, killing some of the onlookers. Then she was beheaded. Angels are said to have carried her body up to Mount Sinai in Arabia, as today's Prayer recalls.

O God, You gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai, and later had the body of the blessed virgin martyr Catharine miraculously carried to the same spot by Your holy angels. Grant that we may reach the mountain which is Christ, through the merits and intercession of this saint; who lives and rules with You . . .

READING Col. 1:9-14
Brethren: Therefore we also, from the day that we heard it, cease not to pray for you and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: That you may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing; being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God: Strengthened with all might according to the power of his glory, in all patience and long-suffering with joy, giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins.

Gradual Ps. 43:8-9
You have freed us from those who afflict us, O Lord, and You have put to shame those who hate us. V. In God we will glory all the day, and praise Your name forever.

Alleluia, alleluia! Ps. 129:1-2
V. Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord; Lord, hear my prayer!
Alleluia!

GOSPEL Matt. 24:15-35
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: "When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand. Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains: And he that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take any thing out of his house: And he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. And woe to them that are with child and that give suck in those days. But pray that your flight be not in the winter or on the sabbath. For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened.
"Then if any man shall say to you, 'Lo here is Christ,' or 'there': do not believe him. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold I have told it to you, beforehand. If therefore they shall say to you, 'Behold he is in the desert': go ye not out. 'Behold he is in the closets': believe it not. For as lightning cometh out of the east and appeareth even into the west: so shall also the cowling of the Son of man be. Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together.
"And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be moved. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty. And he shall send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.
"And from the fig tree learn a parable: When the branch thereof is now tender and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh. So you also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh, even at the doors. Amen I say to you that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass: but my words shall not pass."

OFFERTORY HYMN Ps. 129:1-2
Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord; Lord, hear my prayer, out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord.

SECRET PRAYER
O Lord, lend a responsive ear to our petitions. Receive the offerings and prayers of Your people, and turn the hearts of us all towards Yourself, so that we may be drawn from earthly desires to the joys of heaven. Through Our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT CATHARINE
O Lord, accept the gifts we bring You on the feast of Your blessed virgin Catharine, through whose intercession we hope to be set free. Through our Lord . . .

COMMUNION HYMN Mark 11:24
Amen I say to you, all things whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come to you.

POSTCOMMUNION PRAYER
O Lord, cure the evil in our hearts by the healing power of the Sacrament we have received. Through Our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT CATHARINE
O Lord, through the intercession of Your blessed virgin martyr Catharine, may we be aided by the reception of the Blessed Sacrament and rejoice in Your everlasting protection. Through our Lord . . .