October 31st Ferial day, Vigil of All Saints, St. Wolfgang, St. Quentin

FERIAL DAY

(Mass of preceding Sunday)

[Requiem or Votive Mass allowed]

VIGIL OF ALL SAINTS

Introit
Dan 3:31; 3:29; 3:35
All that You have done to us, O Lord, You have done in true judgment; because we have sinned against You, and we have not obeyed your commandments; but give glory to Your name, and deal with us according to the multitude of Your mercy.
Ps 118:1
Happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
All that You have done to us, O Lord, You have done in true judgment; because we have sinned against You, and we have not obeyed your commandments; but give glory to Your name, and deal with us according to the multitude of Your mercy

Collect
O Lord, we beseech You, graciously grant Your faithful forgiveness and peace, that they may be cleansed of all sin and serve You with minds free from care.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. 

Lesson
Lesson from the letter of St. Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians
Eph 5:15-21
Brethren: See to it that you walk with care: not as unwise but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not become foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, for in that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

Gradual
Ps 144:15-16
The eyes of all look hopefully to You, O Lord, and You give them their food in due season.
V. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps 107:2
V. My heart is steadfast, O God; my heart is steadfast; I will sing and chant praise to You, my glory. Alleluia.

Gospel
Continuation ✠ of the Holy Gospel according to John
R. Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
John 4:46-53
At that time, there was a certain royal official whose son was lying sick at Capharnaum. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and besought Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Jesus therefore said to him, Unless you see signs and wonders, you do not believe. The royal official said to Him, Sir, come down before my child dies. Jesus said to him, Go your way, your son lives. The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and departed. But even as he was now going down, his servants met him and brought word saying that his son lived. He asked of them therefore the hour in which he had got better. And they told him, Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him. The father knew then that it was at that very hour in which Jesus had said to him, Your son lives. And he himself believed, and his whole household. 

Offertory
Ps 136:1
By the streams of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered you, O Sion.  

Secret
May these sacramental rites, O Lord, we beseech You, be our heavenly medicine and expel evil from our hearts.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

Communion
Ps 118:49-50
Remember Your word to Your servant, O Lord, since You have given me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction.

Post Communion
That we may be made worthy, O Lord, of Your sacred gifts, make us, we beseech You, ever obedient to Your commandments.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.   

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Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg

Bishop (924-994 A.D.)

[Historical]

Wolfgang (d. 994) + Bishop and reformer. Born in Swabia, Germany, he studied at Reichenau under the Benedictines and at Wurzburg before serving as a teacher in the cathedral school of Trier. He soon entered the Benedictines at Einsiedeln (964) and was appointed head of the monastery school, receiving ordination in 971. He then set out with a group of monks to preach among the Magyars of Hungary, but the following year (972) was named bishop of Regensburg by Emperor Otto II (r. 973-983). As bishop, he distinguished himself brilliantly for his reforming zeal and his skills as a statesman. He brought the clergy of the diocese into his reforms, restored monasteries, promoted education, preached enthusiastically, and was renowned for his charity and aid to the poor, receiving the title Eleemosynarius Major (Grand Almoner). He also served as tutor to Emperor Henry II (r. 1014-1024) while he was still king. Wolfgang died at Puppingen near Linz, Austria. He was canonized in 1052 by Pope St. Leo IX (r. 1049-1054). Feast day: October 31.

SAINT QUENTIN
Apostle of Amiens, Martyr at Rome
(†287)

Saint Quentin was a Roman, descended from a senatorial family. Full of zeal for the kingdom of Jesus Christ, he left his country and went into Gaul, accompanied by eleven other apostles sent from Rome. They separated to extend their campaign of evangelization to the various regions of France. Saint Quentin remained at Amiens and endeavored by his prayers and labors to make that region part of Our Lord’s inheritance. By the force of his words and works he preluded the glory of his martyrdom. He gave sight to the blind, vigor to paralytics, hearing to the deaf, and agility to the infirm, in the name of Our Lord, simply by the sign of the Cross. At all hours of the day he invoked his God in fervent supplications.

But this apostolate could not escape the notice of Rictiovarus, the Roman prosecutor who at that time represented Maximian Herculeus in Gaul. Saint Quentin was seized at Amiens, thrown into prison, and loaded with chains. Rictiovarus asked him: “How does it happen that you, of such high nobility and the son of so distinguished a father, have given yourself up to so superstitious a religion, a folly, and that you adore an unfortunate man crucified by other men?” Saint Quentin replied: “It is sovereign nobility to adore the Creator of heaven and earth, and to obey willingly His divine commandments. What you call folly is supreme wisdom. What is there that is wiser than to recognize the unique true God, and to reject with disdain the counterfeits, which are mute, false and deceiving?”

When the holy preacher was found to be invulnerable to either promises or threats, the prosecutor condemned him to the most barbarous torture. He was stretched on the rack and flogged. He prayed for strength, for the honor and glory of the name of God, forever blessed. He was returned to the prison when the executioners who were striking him fell over backwards, and told Rictiovarus they were unable to stand up, and could scarcely speak. An Angel released the prisoner during the night, telling him to go and preach in the city, and that the persecutor would soon fall before the justice of God.* His sermon, a commented paraphrase of the Apostles’ Creed, has been conserved. To his profession of faith in the Holy Trinity, he added that Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he adored, “gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, health to the sick and even life to the dead. At His voice, the lame leaped up and ran, paralytics walked, and water was changed into wine... He has promised to be forever with those who hope in Him, and He never abandons those who place their hope in Him; by His omnipotence He delivers them, whenever it pleases Him, from all their tribulations.” His guardians discovered that he had disappeared, though all doors were barred, and found him in the city preaching. They were converted by the prodigy. But Rictiovarus was furious and said to them: “You, too, have become magicians?”

Brought back before the tribunal as a sorcerer, Saint Quentin said: “If by persevering in my faith, I am put to death by you, I will not cease to live in Jesus Christ; this is my hope, I maintain it with confidence.” He was again placed on the rack and beaten, and tortured with other demoniacal means; his flesh pierced with two iron wires from the shoulders to the thighs, and iron nails were thrust into his fingers, his skull and body. Finally, this glorious martyr was decapitated, after praying and saying: “O Lord Jesus, God of God, Light of Light..., for love of whom I have given up my body to all the torments... ah! I implore Thee, in Thy holy mercy, receive my spirit and soul, which I offer Thee with all the ardor of my desires. Do not abandon me, O most kind King, most clement King, who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever!” His death occurred on October 31, 287.

His body was twice buried secretly, and twice it was rediscovered miraculously — in the years 338 and 641, first by Saint Eusebie of Rome, on a marshy island, where it had remained intact; later near the city of Augusta, by Saint Eloi. Saint Quentin remains in great honor in France above all, where more than fifty-two churches and as many localities were, at the beginning of the 20^th century, dedicated to his memory; he is honored also in Belgium and in Italy. Charlemagne and the kings of France have gone to venerate the relics of Saint Quentin.

 Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 13.