Tuesday, January 04, 2022

JANUARY 4th FERIAL; OCTAVE DAY OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS; SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON (1821 A.D.)

  


JANUARY FOURTH
FERIAL
OCTAVE DAY
HOLY INNOCENTS


[Commemoration]
SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON
(Widow)

Introit
Isa 9:6
A Child is born to us, a Son is given to us; upon His shoulder dominion rests; and His name shall be called the Angel of great counsel.
Ps 97:1
Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wondrous deeds.
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.
A Child is born to us, a Son is given to us; upon His shoulder dominion rests; and His name shall be called the Angel of great counsel.  

Collect
O God, You Who by the fruitful virginity of blessed Mary, have bestowed upon mankind the rewards of eternal salvation, grant, we beseech You, that we may enjoy the intercession of her through whom we have been found worthy to receive among us the author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son.
Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.
R. Amen
 


Commemoration of SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON
Mother Seton is one of the keystones of the American Catholic Church. She founded the first American religious community for women, the Sisters of Charity. She opened the first American parish school and established the first American Catholic orphanage. All this she did in the span of 46 years while raising her five children.
Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton is a true daughter of the American Revolution, born August 28, 1774, just two years before the Declaration of Independence. By birth and marriage, she was linked to the first families of New York and enjoyed the fruits of high society. Reared a staunch Episcopalian, she learned the value of prayer, Scripture and a nightly examination of conscience. Her father, Dr. Richard Bayley, did not have much use for churches but was a great humanitarian, teaching his daughter to love and serve others.
The early deaths of her mother in 1777 and her baby sister in 1778 gave Elizabeth a feel for eternity and the temporariness of the pilgrim life on earth. Far from being brooding and sullen, she faced each new “holocaust,” as she put it, with hopeful cheerfulness.
At 19, Elizabeth was the belle of New York and married a handsome, wealthy businessman, William Magee Seton. They had five children before his business failed and he died of tuberculosis. At 30, Elizabeth was widowed, penniless, with five small children to support.
While in Italy with her dying husband, Elizabeth witnessed Catholicity in action through family friends. Three basic points led her to become a Catholic: belief in the Real Presence, devotion to the Blessed Mother and conviction that the Catholic Church led back to the apostles and to Christ. Many of her family and friends rejected her when she became a Catholic in March 1805.
To support her children, she opened a school in Baltimore. From the beginning, her group followed the lines of a religious community, which was officially founded in 1809.
The thousand or more letters of Mother Seton reveal the development of her spiritual life from ordinary goodness to heroic sanctity. She suffered great trials of sickness, misunderstanding, the death of loved ones (her husband and two young daughters) and the heartache of a wayward son. She died January 4, 1821, and became the first American-born citizen to be beatified (1963) and then canonized (1975). She is buried in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

May our hearts ever seek You with heavenly desires, we beseech You, O Lord: Whom blessed Elizabeth Ann sought with constant charity and found with sincere faith. Through our Lord . . .

Lesson
Lesson from the letter of St. Paul the Apostle to Titus
Titus 2:11-15
Beloved: The grace of God our Savior has appeared to all men, instructing us, in order that, rejecting ungodliness and worldly lusts, we may live temperately and justly and piously in this world; looking for the blessed hope and glorious coming of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity and cleanse for Himself an acceptable people, pursuing good works. Thus speak, and exhort, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gradual
Ps 97:3-4, 2.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. Sing joyfully to God, all you lands.
V. The Lord has made His salvation known: in the sight of the nations He has revealed His justice. Alleluia, alleluia.
Heb 1:1-2
V. God, Who in diverse ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets; last of all, in these days, has spoken to us by His Son. Alleluia.

Gospel
Continuation  of the Holy Gospel according to Luke
R. Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
Luke 2:21
At that time, when eight days were fulfilled for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given Him by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. 
 
 
 

Secret
Accept, we beseech You, O Lord, our offerings and prayers; cleanse us by this heavenly rite, and in Your mercy, hear us.
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.


Commemoration of SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON
Receive, O Lord, our prayers, and may the sacrifice of this oblation, which we present to You in memory of blessed Elizabeth Ann, make us grow in abundant compassion pleasing to You, and lead us to everlasting joy. Through our Lord . . .

Post Communion
May this Communion, O Lord, cleanse us from guilt and, by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, impart to us heavenly healing.
Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.


Commemoration of SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON
Refreshed by the libation of Your sacred Body and Precious Blood, we seek Your mercy, O Lord: that we might be inflamed by that same desire for the heavenly banquet, with which blessed Elizabeth Ann was ardently consumed. Through our Lord . . .

  

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