16th Sunday After Pentecost, Saints Cornelius, Cyprian, Euphemia, Lucy, Geminian

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

 

SAINTS CORNELIUS AND CYPRIAN
Martyrs

SAINTS EUPHEMIA, LUCY, AND GEMINIAN
Martyrs

DOUBLE / GREEN
INTROIT Ps. 85:3, 5
Have pity on me, O Lord, for to You I call all the day; for You, O Lord, are sweet and mild, and plentiful in mercy to all who call upon You.
Ps. 85:1. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am needy and poor.
V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT
O Lord, may Your grace always be with us to make us diligent in performing good deeds. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINTS CORNELIUS AND CYPRIAN
Pope Cornelius, who was exiled after a short reign and slain by Decius in the year 253, strove always for Church unity and for kindness towards Christians who fell away during persecutions. Cyprian, an African lawyer and a pagan until middle life, had not been long a Christian when he was ordained to the priesthood and then made bishop of Carthage. He became a great leader and an inspired religious writer. At his martyrdom five years after that of Pope Cornelius, he had the consolation of being surrounded by crowds of his faithful children in Christ.

O Lord, let the prayers of Your blessed martyr bishops Cornelius and Cyprian, whom we honor today, gain us Your protection.

Commemoration of SAINTS EUPHEMIA, LUCY, AND GEMINIAN
These martyrs bore witness to Christ under Diocletian in the fourth century. Euphemia died at Chalcedon, and Lucy and Geminian in Rome.

Grant our requests, O Lord, and fill us with joy. Each year we devoutly observe the day of martyrdom of blessed Euphemia, Lucy, and Geminian; grant that we may also imitate their resolute faith. Through our Lord . . .

EPISTLE Eph. 3:13-21
Brethren: Wherefore I pray you not to faint at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named: That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened by his Spirit with might unto the inward man: That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that, being rooted and founded in charity, You may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, To know also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge: that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God.
Now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us: To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, unto all generations, world without end. Amen.

GRADUAL Ps. 101:16-17
The nations all revere Your name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth shall reverence Your glory.
V. For the Lord has built up sion, and He shall appear in His glory.

Alleluia, alleluia! V. Ps. 97:1
Sing to the Lord a new canticle, for He has done wondrous deeds. Alleluia!

GOSPEL Luke 14:1-11
At that time, when Jesus went into the house of one of the Pharisees, on the sabbath day, that they watched him. And behold, there was a certain man before him that had the dropsy. And Jesus answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying: "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?"
But they held their peace. But he taking him, healed him and sent him away. And answering them, he said: "Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fall into a pit and will not immediately draw him out, on the sabbath day?" And they could not answer him to these things.
And he spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking how they chose the first seats at the table, saying to them: "When thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the first place, lest perhaps one more honourable than thou be invited by him: And he that invited thee and him, come and say to thee: 'Give this man place.' And then thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art invited, go, sit down in the lowest place; that when he who invited thee cometh, he may say to thee: 'Friend, go up higher.' Then shalt thou have glory before them that sit at table with thee. Because every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Ps. 39:14, 15
Look down, O Lord, to help me. Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life. Look down, O Lord, to help me.

SECRET
Cleanse us by this Sacrifice, O Lord, and in Your mercy make us worthy to participate in it. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINTS CORNELIUS AND CYPRIAN
O Lord, hear the prayers we offer on the feast of Your saints. Since we cannot rely on our own merits, let the merits of those who have been pleasing to You be our assistance.

Commemoration of SAINT EUPHEMIA AND HER COMPANIONS
Look with favor upon the offerings of Your people, O Lord. Let us rejoice in the protection of Your saints whose feast we are permitted to celebrate today. Through our Lord . . .

COMMUNION ANTIPHON Ps. 70:16-17, 18
O Lord, I will be mindful of Your singular justice. O God, You have taught me from my youth, and when I am old and gray, O God, forsake me not!

POSTCOMMUNION
Purify our souls, O Lord, and instill new life into them through this Heavenly Sacrament, so that even our bodies may find strength now and for the future. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINTS CORNELIUS AND CYPRIAN
We have been nourished by the Sacrament of salvation, O Lord. May we be aided also by the prayers of Your saints whom we honor this day.

Commemoration of SAINT EUPHEMIA AND HER COMPANIONS
Hear our prayers, O Lord. Help us through the intercession of Your blessed martyrs Euphemia, Lucy, and Geminian, whose feast we celebrate today. Through our Lord . . .

15th Sunday after Pentecost, Saint Peter Claver, Saint Gorgonius

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

SAINT PETER CLAVER
Confessor

SAINT GORGONIUS
Martyr

DOUBLE / GREEN
INTROIT Ps. 85:1, 2-3
Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me. Save Your servant who trusts in You. Have pity on me, O Lord, for to You I call all the day.
Ps. 85:4. Gladden the soul of Your servant, for I have lifted up my soul to You, O Lord.
V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT
O Lord, let Your abiding mercy purify and defend the Church. Govern her always by Your care, for without Your assistance she cannot remain safe. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT PETER CLAVER
Cartagena, in Columbia, was the central slave mart of Spanish America. Transported on filthy ships like animals, the hapless Africans were forgotten men. A young Spanish Jesuit named Peter Claver appeared providentially in Cartagena in 1610, and until his death in 1654, he cared with the tenderness of Christ for the wracked bodies and tortured souls of the slaves. During his long apostolate he baptized some three hundred thousand Negro children of God. The Church has designated him the special patron of all Catholic missioners working among the Negroes.

O God, in order to bring the enslaved Negroes the knowledge of Your holy name, You gave blessed Peter the strength to help them through a wondrous love and patience. May we all seek the things that belong to Jesus and in doing so love our neighbors in truth and in deed through the intercession of Your saint.

Commemoration of SAINT GORGONIUS
During the early years of the fourth century, Gorgonius, with the help of his ally Dorotheus, both Christian freedmen in the palace of Diocletian at Nicomedia, had managed to convert almost the whole imperial household. When they saw another servant, Peter, tortured for having borne witness to Jesus, they protested to the Emperor. Diocletian promptly condemned them to severe tortures, and then to death by strangulation.

O Lord, may the intercession of saint Gorgonius fill us with joy and may his holy feast be the occasion of happiness for us. Through our Lord . . .

EPISTLE Gal. 5:25-26; 6:1-10
Brethren: If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be made desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Brethren, and if a man be overtaken in any fault, you, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens: and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ. For if any man think himself to be some thing, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every one prove his own work: and so he shall have glory in himself only and not in another. For every one shall bear his own burden.
And let him that is instructed in the word communicate to him that instructeth him, in all good things. Be not deceived: God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit of the spirit shall reap life everlasting. And in doing good, let us not fail. For in due time we shall reap, not failing. Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

GRADUAL Ps. 91:2-3
It is good to praise the Lord, and to sing to Your name, O Most high.
V. To proclaim Your mercy in the morning and Your truth throughout the night.

Alleluia, alleluia! V. Ps. 94:3
For the Lord is a great God, and a great king over all the earth. Alleluia!

GOSPEL Luke 7:11-16
At that time, Jesus went into a city that is called Naim: and there went with him his disciples and a great multitude. And when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother: and she was a widow. And a great multitude of the city was with her. Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, he said to her: "Weep not." And he came near and touched the bier. And they that carried it stood still. And he said: "Young man, I say to thee, arise." And he that was dead sat up and begun to speak. And he gave him to his mother. And there came a fear upon them all: and they glorified God saying: "A great prophet is risen up among us: and, God hath visited his people."

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Ps. 39:2, 3, 4
I have waited and waited for the Lord, and He inclined toward me and heard my cry. And He out a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God.

SECRET
O Lord, may Your Sacrament safeguard and defend us always against the attacks of the devil. through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT PETER CLAVER
O Lord, may the Victim of love which we offer here in sacrifice obtain mercy for us; and may the prayers and merits of blessed Peter help us toward salvation by making us more patient and charitable.

Commemoration of SAINT GORGONIUS
Be pleased, O Lord, by the offering which we, Your servants, make to You through the intercession of the blessed martyr Gorgonius. Through our Lord . . .

COMMUNION ANTIPHON John 6:52
The Bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world.

POSTCOMMUNION
Let the grace of your Heavenly gift rule our minds and bodies, O Lord, that we may overcome the unruly impulses of our nature. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT PETER CLAVER
Increase in us the effects of Your life-giving love, O Lord, so that after being refreshed by the Food of Heaven we may come to the reward of everlasting life through the intercession of blessed Peter.

Commemoration of SAINT GORGONIUS
Let the everlasting sweetness of the Sacrifice fill Your household and bring it to new life, O Lord, so that through Your martyr Gorgonius we may always be refreshed by the fragrance of Christ, Your Son; who lives and rules with You . . .