SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST; SAINT EUSTACE AND HIS COMPANIONS, Martyrs

 

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The Vision of St. Eustace (c.1436) by Pisanello (Antonio or Vittore Pisano; c.1395-1455)

SAINT EUSTACE AND
HIS COMPANIONS
Martyrs

DOUBLE / GREEN

"O thou soul, most beautiful of creatures, who longs to know where your Beloved is, you are yourself that very tabernacle where He dwells" (St. John of the Cross). Tabernacles of God and chosen sons of eternity, men from the least corners of the earth are exalted to reflect the glory of God Himself.
All this is God's doing, not man's. God's infinite power brought him into being and must continually sustain him there. He does good only by God's grace. He needs God's help even to discipline and dispose himself for the indwelling "fullness of God." Loving truth, man must accept and live the truth of his own dependence upon God.

 
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 SAINT EUSTACE AND COMPANIONS
According to legend, Eustace was a distinguished Roman officer. He owed his conversion to the vision of a stag with a crucifix between its antlers, seen by him while he was hunting. His wife and their two sons became Christians at the same time. In about the year 118 Eustace and his family were martyred for having refused to offer sacrifice to false gods.

O God, who granted us the grace to celebrate the birthday of Your blessed martyrs Eustace and companions, grant that we may also share their eternal happiness in heaven. 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 SAINT EUSTACE AND COMPANIONS
We offer these gifts to You in sacrifice, O Lord. May the honor we pay to Your Saints please You, and may these offerings, through Your mercy, bring us closer to our salvation. 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 SAINT EUSTACE AND COMPANIONS
May the intercession of Your holy Martyrs Eustace and Companions help us to cherish with pure hearts the Sacrament we have received upon our lips. Through our Lord . . .