SAINT CLEMENT I Pope and Martyr; SAINT FELICITAS Martyr

SAINT CLEMENT I
Pope and Martyr

SAINT FELICITAS
Martyr

DOUBLE/RED

Pope Clement I, third successor of St. Peter, is believed to have ruled the See of Rome during the last ten years of the first century. He was the author of a beautiful and widely celebrated letter to the Corinthians. "They who are great," he wrote, "cannot yet subsist without those that are little, nor the little without the great. In our body, the head without the feet is nothing, neither the feet without the head. And the smallest members of our body are useful and necessary to the whole." He is said to have been exiled by Trajan to the Chersonese, where he converted so many pagans that the Emperor had him drowned in the sea.

INTROIT Isa. 59:21; 56:7 
The Lord said, "My words which I have put into your mouth shall never be wanting to your lips. And your gifts shall be acceptable upon my altar." 
Ps. 111:1. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments.V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT

O Eternal Shepherd, who appointed blessed Clement shepherd of the whole Church, let the prayers of this martyr and supreme pontiff move You to look with favor upon Your flock and to keep it under Your continual protection. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT FELICITAS, MARTYR 
According to ancient tradition, Felicitas, a Roman widow, was the mother of seven sons executed for the Faith. Felicitas herself was beheaded in the year 165 under Marcus Antoninus.

O Almighty God, may the merits and prayers of Your blessed Martyr Felicitas, whose feast we celebrate today, be our protection. Through Our Lord . . .

EPISTLE Philipp. 3:17; 4:1-3
Brethren: Be ye followers of me, brethren: and observe them who walk so as you have our model. For many walk, of whom I have told you often (and now tell you weeping) that they are enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction: whose God is their belly: and whose glory is in their shame: who mind earthly things. But our conversation is in heaven: from whence also we look for the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who will reform the body of our lowness, made like to the body of his glory, according to the operation whereby also he is able to subdue all things unto himself. Therefore my dearly beloved brethren and most desired, my joy and my crown: so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beg of Evodia and I beseech Syntyche to be of one mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee also, my sincere companion, help those women who have labored with me in the gospel, with Clement and the rest of my fellow laborers, whose names are in the book of life.

GRADUAL Ps. 106:32, 31
Let them extol him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders. 
V. Let them praise the Lord for his merits and for his wondrous deeds to the children of men.

Alleluia, alleluia! Matt. 16:18
Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church. 
Alleluia!

GOSPEL Matt. 16:13-19
At that time, Jesus came into the quarters of Cesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples, saying: "Whom do men say that the Son of man is?" But they said: "Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets." Jesus saith to them:"But whom do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered and said: "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answering said to him: "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven."

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Jer. 1:9-10
Behold, I have placed my words in your mouth; lo, I have set you over the nations and over kingdoms, to root up and to pull down, to build and to plant.

SECRET 
We have offered our gifts to You, O Lord. Let Your light graciously shine upon Your Church, so that this flock may everywhere prosper, and it pastors, under Your guidance, may be truly pleasing to You. Through Our Lord . . . 

Commemoration of SAINT FELICITAS
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 Matt. 16:18
Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church.

POSTCOMMUNION 
O Lord, govern the Church, which You have been pleased to nourish with Your Heavenly Food. Guide her by Your powerful direction, so that she may enjoy greater freedom and remain unshaken in the fullness of faith. Through Our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT FELICITAS
Increase Your Gifts within us, O Almighty God, and order our lives according to Your will through the intercession of Your saints. Through Our Lord . . .