Saint Giles (724 A.D.); Twelve Holy Brothers; Saint Anna the Prophetess

Saint Giles

Martyrdom

SAINT GILES
Abbot

TWELVE HOLY BROTHERS
Martyrs

SAINT ANNA THE PROPHETESS

[Historical]

SIMPLE / WHITE
Tradition tells us that in the seventh century the Athenian Giles left his native Greece for a rough hermitage in far-distant Gaul. Hunters of a local ruler accidentally wounded Giles as he was shielding a fleeing deer. The ruler, Flavius said to him, "This must be the holy Giles! Come out of your hermitage, servant of God, and teach my Franks about heaven. They need you more than this forest does." Flavius built a monastery on the site of the hermitage; and under Giles' leadership it became a center of civilization and Christianity for all that sector of Gaul.

Mass of an  ABBOT, except

COLLECT
Let the blessed abbot Giles intercede for us, O Lord. May his prayers win us Your help, since our own actions cannot merit it. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of the  TWELVE HOLY BROTHERS
These fourth-century apostles refused to offer sacrifice to pagan gods. After imprisonment in an African jail, they died for Christ in pagan spectacles at various places along the Italian coast.

O Lord, may the martyrdom of these brothers warm our hearts with joy, enliven our faith by an increase of virtue, and comfort us by the added number of intercessors we have in heaven. Through our Lord . . .


Lesson
Lesson from the second letter of St Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians
2 Cor. 3:4-9
Brethren: Such is the assurance I have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything, as from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. He also it is Who has made us fit ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. Now if the ministration of death, which was engraved in letters upon stones, was inaugurated in such glory that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly upon the face of Moses on account of the transient glory that shone upon it, shall not the ministration of the spirit be still more glorious? For if there is glory in the ministration that condemned, much more does the ministration that justifies abound in glory.
R. Thanks be to God.

Gradual
Ps 33:2-3
I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall be ever in my mouth.
V. Let my soul glory in the Lord; the lowly will hear and be glad. Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps 87:2 O
V. Lord, the God of my salvation, by day I cry out, at night I clamor in Your presence. Alleluia.

Gospel
Cleanse my heart and my lips, O almighty God, who didst cleanse the lips of the prophet Isaias with a burning coal, and vouchsafe, through Thy gracious mercy, so to purify me, that I may worthily announce Thy holy Gospel. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Give me Thy blessing, O Lord. The Lord be in my heart and on my lips, that I may worthily and in a becoming manner, proclaim His holy Gospel. Amen.
P. The Lord be with you.
S. And with thy spirit.
Continuation ☩ of the Holy Gospel according to Luke
R. Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
Luke 10:23-37
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I say to you, many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and they have not seen it; and to hear what you hear, and they have not heard it." And behold, a certain lawyer got up to test Him, saying, "Master, what must I do to gain eternal life?" But He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read?" He answered and said, "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole strength, and with your whole mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you shall live." But he, wishing to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus answered and said, "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell in with robbers, who after both stripping him and beating him went their way, leaving him half-dead. But, as it happened, a certain priest was going down the same way; and when he saw him, he passed by. And likewise a Levite also, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by. But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came upon him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion. And he went up to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. And setting him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I, on my way back, will repay you.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, proved himself neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?" And he said, "He who took pity on him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do also in like manner."
R. Praise be to Thee, O Christ.
S. By the words of the Gospel may our sins be blotted out. 

 SECRET
May the offerings we lay upon Your sacred altar, O Lord, bring us closer to our salvation through the intercession of the blessed abbot Giles. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of the  TWELVE HOLY BROTHERS
O Lord, grant that we may celebrate these sacred mysteries with devotion to honor Your holy martyrs, so that through this sacrifice we may have new help and a deeper joy. Through our Lord . . .

POSTCOMMUNION 
May the Sacrament we have received and the prayers of the blessed abbot Giles protect us, O Lord. Grant also that we may imitate the virtues of this saint who is our intercessor with You in heaven. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of the  TWELVE HOLY BROTHERS
O Almighty God, grant that we may grow in grace by emulating the faith of these martyrs whose memory we honor by the reception of Your Sacrament. Through our Lord . . .

SAINT ANNA THE PROPHETESS
[Historical]

  Saint Anna the Prophetess was the daughter of a man named Phanuel who was of the tribe of Aser, one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. She was one of the very, very few faithful Jewish girls who believed with all her heart in the revelations of God in the Old Testament, and who awaited their fulfillment in the New Testament. Saint Anna was married when she was fourteen. She became a widow at twenty-one. She was the one in charge of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the time Mary was presented in the Temple at the age of three until she was betrothed at the age of fourteen. Saint Anna was seventy-two years old when she first met Our Lady. She was eighty-four years old when Mary presented Jesus in the Temple. All other Jewish women in the Temple at that time ignored Jesus. Only Anna greeted Him. All the Jewish priests ignored Jesus. Only Simeon greeted Him and held Him in his arms, and declared while Anna was listening, “Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace.” Anna was the name of Mary’s mother. Anna was the name of Mary’s teacher in the Temple. The name Anna means grace. Mary was not only full of grace, but was companioned by grace all during her childhood.