SAINTS CHRYSANTHUS AND DARIA, Martyrs; Sts. Crispin and Crispinian, Martyrs

SAINTS CHRYSANTHUS AND DARIA
Martyrs

SIMPLE / RED 
Chrysanthus and his wife Daria carried on an active apostolate among the noble families of Rome during the third century. When they were denounced as Christians, they underwent various tortures with great constancy, and they were buried alive in a sandpit in the year 283.

MASS OF SEVERAL MARTYRS
INTROIT (Ps. 78, 11, 12, 10)
Let the sighing of the prisoners come in before Thee, O Lord; render to our neighbours sevenfold in their bosom; revenge the blood of Thy Saints, which hath been shed.
O God, the heathens are come into Thine inheritance, they have defiled Thy holy temple, they have made Jerusalem as a place to keep fruit. Glory be . . .

COLLECT
May the prayers of Your blessed martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria be with us, O Lord, so that we who devoutly honor them may always experience their kind assistance. Through our Lord . . .

EPISTLE II Cor. 6:4-10
Brethren: But in all things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labours, in watchings, in fastings, In chastity, in knowledge, in longsuffering, in sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in charity unfeigned, In the word of truth, in the power of God: by the armour of justice on the right hand and on the left: By honour and dishonour: by evil report and good report: as deceivers and yet true: as unknown and yet known: As dying and behold we live: as chastised and not killed: As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing: as needy, yet enriching many: as having nothing and possessing all things.


GRADUAL (Exodus 15, 11, 6)
Glorious is God in His Saints, marvellous in majesty, doing wonders. Thy right hand, O Lord, is magnified in strength, Thy right hand hath slain the enemy.
Alleluia, alleluia (Eccl. 44, 14)
The bodies of the Saints are buried in peace, and their name liveth unto generation and generation. Alleluia

GOSPEL St. Luke 11:47-51
At that time Jesus said to the Scribes and Pharisees: "Woe to you who build the monuments of the prophets: and your fathers killed them. Truly you bear witness that you consent to the doings of your fathers. For they indeed killed them: and you build their sepulchres. For this cause also the wisdom of God said: I will send to them prophets and apostles: and some of them they will kill and persecute. That the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, who was slain between the altar and the temple. Yea I say to you: It shall be required of this generation."

SECRET 
Be pleased, O Lord, by this sacrificial offering that Your people solemnly present to You on the feast of Your holy martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria. Through Christ, our Lord . . .

POSTCOMMUNION 
We have been filled with spiritual gifts and joy, O Lord. May we always profit spiritually from the service we perform here on earth, through the intercession of Your holy martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria. Through Christ our Lord . . .

Sts. Crispin and Crispinian

[Historical]

Martyrs of the Early Church who were beheaded during the reign of Diocletian; the date of their execution is given as 25 October, 285 or 286. It is stated that they were brothers, but the fact has not been positively proved. The legend relates that they wereRomans of distinguished descent who went as missionaries of the Christian Faith to Gaul and chose Soissons as their field of labour. In imitation of St. Paul they worked with their hands, making shoes, and earned enough by their trade to support themselves and also to aid the poor. During the Diocletian persecution they were brought before Maximianus Herculius whom Diocletian had appointed co-emperor. At first Maximianus sought to turn them from their faith by alternate promises and threats. But they replied: "Thy threats do not terrify us, for Christ is our life, and death is our gain. Thy rank and possessions are nought to us, for we have long before this sacrificed the like for the sake of Christ and rejoice in what we have done. If thou shouldst acknowledge and love Christ thou wouldst give not only all the treasures of this life, but even the glory of thy crown itself in order through the exercise of compassion to win eternal life." When Maximianus saw that his efforts were of no avail, he gave Crispin and Crispinian into the hands of the governor Rictiovarus (Rictius Varus), a most cruel persecutor of the Christians. Under the order of Rictiovarus they were stretched on the rack, thongs were cut from their flesh, and awls were driven under their finger-nails. A millstone was then fastened about the neck of each, and they were thrown into the Aisne, but they were able to swim to the opposite bank of the river. In the same manner they suffered no harm from a great fire in which Rictiovarus, in despair, sought death himself. Afterwards the two saints were beheaded at the command of Maximianus.
This is the story of the legend which the Bollandists have incorporated in their great collection; the same account is found in various breviaries. The narrative says that a large church was built over the graves of the two saints, consequently the legendcould not have arisen until a later age; it contains, moreover, many details that have little probability or historical worth and seems to have been compiled from various fabulous sources. In the sixth century a stately basilica was erected at Soissons over the graves of these saints, and St. Eligius, a famous goldsmith, made a costly shrine for the head of St. Crispinian. Some of the relicsof Crispin and Crispinian were carried to Rome and placed in the church of San Lorenzo in Panisperna. Other relics of the saintswere given by Charlemagne to the cathedral, dedicated to Crispin and Crispinian, which he founded at Osnabrück. Crispin and Crispinian are the patron saints of shoemakers, saddlers, and tanners. Their feast falls on 25 October.

(From Lives of the Saints, XII, 628; BUTLER)