EMBER WEDNESDAY IN SEPTEMBER; SAINT THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, Bishop and Confessor; SAINT MAURICE AND HIS COMPANIONS, Martyrs

 

EMBER WEDNESDAY IN SEPTEMBER

[Commemoration]

St. Thomas of Villanova, renowned for the works of charity and love for the poor

El Greco

Martyrdom of St. Maurice and His Legions

1580-81
Oil on canvas, 448 x 301 cm
Chapter House, Monastery of El Escorial

SAINT THOMAS OF VILLANOVA
Bishop and Confessor

SAINT MAURICE AND HIS COMPANIONS
Martyrs

SIMPLE/RED
Introit
Ps 80:2-5
Sing joyfully to God our strength; acclaim the God of Jacob. Take up a pleasant psalm with the harp; blow the trumpet in the beginning of the month; for it is a statute in Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
Ps 80:6
He made it a decree for Joseph, when he came forth from the land of Egypt: he heard an unfamiliar speech.
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.
Sing joyfully to God our strength; acclaim the God of Jacob. Take up a pleasant psalm with the harp; blow the trumpet in the beginning of the month; for it is a statute in Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

Collect
Let us pray.
V. Let us kneel.
R. Arise.
May our frailty, we beseech You, O Lord, find support in the help of Your mercy; so that what is marred by its own nature may be restored by Your grace.
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.
R. Amen.

Lesson
Amos 9:13-15
Thus says the Lord God: Yes, days are coming, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the vintager, him who sows the seed; the juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains, and all the hills shall run with it. I will bring about the restoration of My people Israel; they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink the wine, set out gardens and eat the fruits. I will plant them upon their own ground; never again shall they be plucked from the land I have given them, say I, the Lord, your God.
R. Thanks be to God.

Gradual
Ps 112:5-7
Who is like the Lord, our God, Who is enthroned on high and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?
V. He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill He lifts up the poor. 

Collect
O Lord, we beseech You, grant to Your praying household that, as they fast from bodily food, they may also abstain mentally from sin.
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.
R. Amen.

 
Commemoration of SAINT  THOMAS OF VILLANOVA
Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555), great saint of the Spanish Renaissance and good friend of Emperor Charles V, joined the Hermits of St. Augustine, where his heroic qualities soon marked him for responsible offices in his community and then for ecclesiastical honor as archbishop of Valencia. A man of infinite charity in word and deed, he lived as frugally as the poor who benefited by his unstinted almsgiving. While provincial of his order in Castile, he sent the first group of Augustinians to the Americas. Establishing themselves in Mexico, they were integral in the growth of Christianity in the New World.
 
O God, You blessed the holy bishop Thomas with an extraordinary love for the poor. Be moved by his intercession to pour out the treasury of Your mercies upon all who humbly pray to You.

Commemoration of SAINT MAURICE AND HIS COMPANIONS
Near Lake Geneva, Switzerland, about A.D. 297, the Theban Legion of 660 soldiers under the command of St. Maurice died to a man for abstaining from pagan sacrifice. 

O Almighty God, let the solemn feast of Your holy martyrs Maurice and his companions fill us with joy. May we glory in their feast, as we also rely on the power of their intercession. Through our Lord . . .

Lesson
Lesson from the book of Esdra
2 Esd. 8:1-10
In those days, all the people were gathered together as one man, to the street which is before the water-gate, and they spoke to Esdras the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel. Then Esdras the priest brought the law before the multitude of men and women, and all those that could understand, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read it plainly in the street that was before the water-gate, from the morning until midday, before the men and the women and all those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book. And Esdras the scribe stood upon a step of wood, which he made to speak upon. And he opened the book before all the people, for he was above all the people; and when he had opened it, all the people stood. And Esdras blessed the Lord the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, lifting up their hands: and they bowed down, and adored God, with their faces to the ground. Now the Levites made silence among the people to hear the law; and the people stood in their place: and they read in the book of the law of God distinctly and plainly to be understood; and they understood when it was read. And Nehemias, and Esdras the priest and scribe, and the Levites who interpreted to all the people, said, This is a holy day to the Lord our God; do not mourn nor weep. And he said to them, Go, eat fat meats and drink sweet wine, and send portions to them that have not prepared for themselves; because it is the holy day of the Lord, and be not sad, for the joy of the Lord is our strength.


Gradual
Ps 32:12, 6.
Happy the nation whose God is the Lord, the people the Lord has chosen for His own inheritance.
V. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made; by the breath of His mouth all their host.  

GOSPEL
Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Mark
R. Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
Mark 9:16-28
At that time, one of the crowd answering, said to Jesus, Master, I have brought to You my son, who has a dumb spirit; and wherever it seizes him it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth; and he is wasting away. And I told Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not. And He answered and said to the, O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me. And they brought him to Him; and the spirit, when it saw Jesus, immediately threw the boy into convulsions, and he fell down on the ground, and rolled about foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, How long is it since this has come upon him? And he said, From his infancy. Oftentimes it has thrown him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. But Jesus said to him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. At once the father of the boy cried out, and said with tears, I do believe; help my unbelief. Now when Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering. He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, go out of him and enter him no more. And crying out and violently convulsing him, it went out of him, and he became like one dead, so that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised him and he stood up. And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, Why could not we cast it out? And He said to them, This kind can be cast out in no way except by prayer and fasting.

Secret
May this offering, O Lord, we beseech You, wipe away our transgressions, and make holy the minds and bodies of Your servants for celebrating this sacrifice.
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.
R. Amen.

 

Commemoration of SAINT  THOMAS OF VILLANOVA
Let our annual commemoration of Your blessed confessor bishop Thomas please You, O Lord. Grant that this Sacrifice of atonement which we offer on his feast may bring him greater honor and fill us with Your grace. 
 
Commemoration of SAINT MAURICE AND HIS COMPANIONS
Look graciously, O Lord, on the gifts we offer You in memory of Your holy martyrs Maurice and his companions. May the intercession of these saints who are pleasing to You win us Your grace for all time. Through our Lord . . .

 

Communion
2 Esd. 8:10
Eat fat meats, and drink sweet wine, and send portions to those who have not prepared for themselves: because it is the holy day of the Lord, be not sad, for the joy of the Lord is our strength.

 

  Post Communion
In partaking of Your heavenly gifts, we humbly entreat You, O Lord, that by Your grace we may receive what, through Your bounty, we perform in diligent service.
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.
R. Amen.

 

Commemoration of SAINT  THOMAS OF VILLANOVA

O God, rewarder of the faithful, pardon our sins through the intercession of Your blessed confessor bishop Thomas, whom we honor this day. 
 
Commemoration of SAINT MAURICE AND HIS COMPANIONS
You have comforted us by Your Sacraments, O Lord, and filled us with the joy of heaven. May Your saints defend us, even as we glory in their own victory. Through our Lord . . .