Saint Hilary (367 A.D.); Saint Felix (260 A.D.)

  

SAINT HILARY
Bishop and Doctor of the Church

SAINT FELIX
Priest and Martyr

DOUBLE / WHITE
Champion of the divinity of Christ, Hilary was born in Gaul of patrician parents about the year 315. The people of Poitiers chose Hilary as their bishop in 353, and he protected his flock against numerous heretical teachings of the period. The charity of Christ taught Bishop Hilary that, while heresy deserves only hatred, the individual heretic has need of loving compassion. By the time he died in 367, he had been instrumental in purging his country of false belief and winning back many of the heretics into the true fold of Christ.

Mass of a DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, except

COLLECT
O God, may blessed Hilary intercede for us in heaven as he once instructed Your faithful on earth and directed them in the way of eternal salvation. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT FELIX
Felix of Nola, a priest of Campania during the third century, manifested heroic Christian courage in the service of his bishop, St. Maximus, during the cruel persecution under Emperor Decius.

Lesson
Lesson from the second letter of St Paul the Apostle to Timothy
2 Tim 4:1-8
Dearly beloved: I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming, and his kingdom: Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry. Be sober. For I am even now ready to be sacrificed: and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day: and not only to me, but to them also that love his coming. 

Gradual
Ps 36:30-31
Os justi meditábitur sapiéntiam, et lingua ejus loquétur judícium.
V. Lex Dei ejus in corde ipsíus: et non supplantabúntur gressus ejus.
Ps 36:30-31
The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom :
V. and his tongue shall speak judgment. The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be supplanted. Allelúja, allelúja
Sir 45:9
And he girded him about with a glorious girdle, and clothed him with a robe of glory, Allelúja.

GOSPEL
Matt 5:13-19
In that time Jesus said to His disciples: You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men. You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled. He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

 Offertory
P. The Lord be with you.
S. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
Ps 91:13
The just shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus. 

SECRET
O Lord, let Your blessed bishop and doctor Hilary always help us, and through his intercession accept our offering and pardon our sins. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT FELIX
O Lord, graciously accept the gifts we offer You in honor of Your blessed martyr Felix, and help us find in them unending assistance. Through our Lord . . .

 Communion
Luke 12:42
The faithful and wise steward, whom his lord setteth over his family, to give them their measure of wheat in due season.

POSTCOMMUNION
O Lord, may this Sacrifice bring us closer to our salvation through the intercession of Your blessed bishop and illustrious doctor Hilary. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT FELIX
We have been nourished by the Sacrament of salvation, O Lord. May we be aided also by the prayers of Your saint Felix, whom we honor this day. Through our Lord . . .