Feria V Septuagesimæ; SAINT FINAN (661 A.D.) Bishop and Confessor

   

February 17

FERIAL DAY

Mass of preceding Sunday
is celebrated

[Commemoration]
SAINT FINAN

[Confessor]

SIMPLE / RED

Finan of Lindisfarne Irish by birth, St. Finan of Lindisfarne became a monk at Iona and upheld the Celtic traditions against the encroachment of Roman usage. Finan baptized Penda, ruler of the Middle Angles, and Sigebert, ruler of Essex. Elected bishop of Lindisfarne in 651, Finan sent missionaries to Mercia and to Essex. He also debated Ronan, an Englishman, about the correct way to calculate the date of Easter. On the Holy Island, he built a wooden cathedral, the roof of which was thatched with seagrass. (A later abbot removed the thatching and covered the building with lead). Finan died in 661, and St. Cuthbert succeeded him as abbot.

Introit
Ps 17:5-7
The terrors of death surged round me, the cords of the nether world enmeshed me. In my distress I called upon the Lord; from His holy temple He heard my voice.
Ps 17:2-3
I love You, O Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
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.
The terrors of death surged round me, the cords of the nether world enmeshed me. In my distress I called upon the Lord; from His holy temple He heard my voice.

COLLECT
O Lord, we beseech You, graciously hear the prayers of Your people, that we who are justly punished for our sins may be mercifully delivered for the glory of Your name.
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 FINAN

In mercy pour into our minds, we beg Thee, the glory of Thy praise, so that by the intercession of blessed Finan, Thy Confessor and Bishop, we too may be worthy to attain to Thine ineffable glory. Through our Lord . . .

Lesson
Lesson from the first letter of St Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians
1 Cor. 9:24-27; 10:1-5
Brethren: Do you not know that those who run in a race, all indeed run, but one receives the prize? So run as to obtain it. And everyone in a contest abstains from all things - and they indeed to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable. I, therefore, so run as not without a purpose; I so fight as not beating the air; but I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps after preaching to others I myself should be rejected. For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, all were baptized in Moses, in the cloud and in the sea. And all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink for they drank from the spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ. Yet with most of them God was not well pleased.

Gradual
Ps 9:10-11; 9:19-20
A helper in due time in tribulation. Let them trust in thee who know thy name: for thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee, O Lord.
For the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end: the patience of the poor shall not perish for ever. Arise, O Lord, let not man be strengthened.
Ps 129:1-4
Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice!
V. Let Your ears be attentive to the prayer of Your servant.
V. If You, O Lord, mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand it?
V. But with You is forgiveness, and by reason of Your law I have waited for You, O Lord.

GOSPEL
Continuation ☩ of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
R. Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
Matt 20:1-16
At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples this parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. And having agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And about the third hour, he went out and saw others standing in the market place idle; and he said to them, ‘Go you also into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is just.’ So they went. And again he went out about the sixth, and about the ninth hour, and did as before. But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing about and he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’ They said to him, ‘Because no man has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘Go you also into the vineyard.’ But when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers, and pay them their wages, beginning from the last even to the first.’ Now when they of the eleventh hour came, they received each a denarius. And when the first in their term came, they thought that they would receive more; but they also received each his denarius. And on receiving it, they began to murmur against the householder, saying, ‘These last have worked a single hour, and you have put them on a level with us, who have borne the burden of the day’s heat.’ But answering one of them, he said, ‘Friend, I do you no injustice; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go; I choose to give to this last even as to you. Have I not a right to do what I choose? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ Even so the last shall be first, and the first last; for many are called, but few are chosen.

SECRET
Since You have accepted our gifts and our prayers, we beseech You, O Lord, to cleanse us by this heavenly sacrament and mercifully to 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 FINAN 
May Thy Saints, we beseech Thee, O Lord, in all places bring us joy, that while we recall their merits, we may experience their patronage. Through our Lord . . .

49

Communion
Ps 30:17-18
Let Your face shine upon Your servant; save me in Your kindness. O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon You.

POSTCOMMUNION
May Your faithful people, O God, be strengthened by Your gifts; that by receiving them, they may still desire them, and by desiring them, may evermore receive them.
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 FINAN
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that, we who give thanks for the gifts that we have received, may through the intercession of blessed Finan, Thy Confessor and Bishop, obtain still greater blessings. Through our Lord . . .