HIS COMPANIONS
Martyrs
SAINT THEODORE OF CANTERBURY
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| Statue of Our Lady of La Salette, talking to the children (second stage of the apparition). (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
DOUBLE / RED
In the year 304
Januarius, bishop of Benevento, three deacons, a lector, and two laymen
were beheaded at Pozzuoli, Italy, under Emperor Diocletian. The courage
of Bishop Januarius in facing death brought about the conversion of
many pagan onlookers. His body was eventually taken to Naples, of which
city he has become the patron saint. According to reliable records,
some of his blood preserved in a phial has miraculously liquefied at
regular intervals during the past four hundred years.
Mass of
SEVERAL MARTYRS, except
Introit
Ps 36:39
The salvation of the just is from the Lord; He is their refuge in time of distress.
Ps 36:1
Be not vexed over evildoers, nor jealous of those who do wrong.
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 salvation of the just is from the Lord; He is their refuge in time of distress.
COLLECT
We are made happy, O God, by the annual
feast of Your holy martyrs Januarius and his companions. As we
joyously remember the merits of these saints, may we also be inspired
by their example. Through our Lord . . .
Commemoration of SAINT THEODORE
St. Theodore, a Greek, was sent by Pope Adrian I to the English mission. He became the seventh Bishop of Canterbury, restored ecclesiastical discipline and trained bishops like St. Cuthbert, St. Chad, St. Erkenwald, St. John of Beverley, etc. He rendered inestimable services to the English Church and died on September 19, A.D. 690.
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that the solemn feast of blessed Theodore, Thy Confessor and Bishop, may both increase our devotion and advance our salvation. Through our Lord . . .
Lesson
Lesson from the letter of St Paul the Apostle to the Jews
Heb 10:32-38
Brethren:
Call to mind the days gone by, in which, after you had been
enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings; partly by being
made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly
by making common cause with those who fared thus. For you both have had
compassion on those in prison and have joyfully accepted the plundering
of your own goods, knowing that you have a better possession and a
lasting one. Do not, therefore, lose your confidence, which has a great
reward. For you have need of patience that,
doing the will of God, you may receive the promise: For yet a very
little while, and He Who is to come, will come, and will not delay. Now My just one lives by faith.
R. Thanks be to God.
Gradual
Ps 39:18-19
When the just cry out the Lord hears them, and from all their distress He rescues them.
V. The Lord is close to those who are contrite of heart; and those who are humble of spirit He saves. Alleluia, alleluia.
V. The white-robed army of Martyrs praises You, O Lord. Alleluia.
GOSPEL Matt. 24:3-13
At
that time, as Jesus was sitting on mount Olivet, the disciples came to
him privately, saying: "Tell us when shall these things be? And what
shall be the sign of thy coming and of the consummation of the world?"
And Jesus answering, said to them: "Take
heed that no man seduce you. For many will come in my name saying, I
am Christ. And they will seduce many. And you shall hear of wars and
rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come
to pass: but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom: And there shall be pestilences and
famines and earthquakes in places. Now all these are the beginnings of
sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall put
you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
And then shall many be scandalized and shall betray one another and
shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and shall
seduce many. And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many
shall grow cold. But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be
saved."
Offertory
Wis 3:1-3
The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch
them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead: but they are
in peace, alleluia.
SECRET
O
Lord, be moved to compassion by our offerings and shield us from all
danger through the prayers of Your holy Martyrs Januarius and his
companions. Through our Lord . . .
Commemoration of SAINT THEODORE
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 . . .
Communion
Matt 10:27
What I tell you in darkness, speak it in the light, says the Lord; and what you hear whispered, preach it on the housetops.
POSTCOMMUNION
We
have been nourished by the Sacrament of Salvation, O Lord. May we be
aided also by the prayers of Your Saints whom we honor this day. Through
our Lord . . .
Commemoration of SAINT THEODORE
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that, we who give thanks for the gifts which we have received, may through the intercession of blessed Theodore, Thy Confessor and Bishop, obtain still greater blessings. Through our Lord . . .
Our Lady of La Salette
And on the 19th of September 1846, the feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows, the Virgin Mary appeared again; this time in a small village called La Salette. Near Corps, 1.800 metres above sea level and about 35 kilometres from Grenoble in France. She appeared in La Salette to two small children who were looking after the cattle. They were Melanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud aged 15 and 11 years who had only known each other for two days. The two children clomb the slopes of the Mont sous-les-Baisses, each urging four cows up the mountain. Melanie tells us: “I had seen from a hill that ours cows were lying down placidly chewing the cud. I went down and Maximin started to climb upwards. Suddenly I saw a beautiful light, much brighter than the sun and felt full of tremendous loving wonder and respect. In that light I saw a very beautiful woman with her head resting in her hands. The lady stood up and said; come nearer children, do not be afraid “I am here to tell you great news.”
The children were amazed to see that The Lady looked very sad and had tears streaming down her cheeks. She folded her arms over her breast. At first she spoke to the children in French but quickly started to speak to them in their own local dialect. Our Blessed Lady spoke over people swearing, not keeping the Sunday has a day of rest and disobeying Gods laws. Her words were very important and impressive: “If My people do not obey God, I shall be forced to let go of My Sons Hand”. This statement points to the last days of the world. Our Blessed Lady's sad expression, her tears and words show us Her very real care for and sympathy with all people. “……. you’ll never be able to repay Me for what I have done for you. Our Lady asked us to pray a lot to save the world. She asked us all to confess our sins, turn away from our evil ways, do penance and pray. In La Salette Mary pointed out the great blessings and mercy of the holy rosary and begged us: “be reconciled with God”. During the period of time when she was appearing to both of the children, they were each individually given a secret. Maximin received his secret first and then Our Lady told a secret to Melanie. Whilst Our Blessed Lady was talking to Maximin, Melanie saw her lips moving, but could not understand what She was saying.
Melanie says that both secrets were written down and were handed to Pope Pius 1X in 1851. Maximin never published the secret given to him, as he died before so doing. Cardinal Antonelli did give a copy of this secret to the Countess of Clermont-Tonnerre. A. Peladin in the “Annales du Surnaturel” published it in 1888.
Below you can read some of this secret:
- three quarters of the population of France shall lose their Faith
- a protestant nation in the North will repent and proclaim their Faith. Because of this other nations shall return to God in faith.
- the Church shall grow and bloom once more:
- after this peace will be greatly disturbed by the ‘monster’! The (great) monster shall come at the end of the 19th century or at the latest at the beginning of the 20th century.
The prophetic language used by Our Blessed Mother, the painful truths She told and her announcement of Godly righteousness pending. People took these things very much to heart. Mary warned that faith would be lost on a large scale, leaving room for materialism, false teaching (Karl Marx published his communist manifest in 1848), spiritualism and many other sins. She continues: “all those who persecute the Church of Jesus Christ and all those people who have surrendered themselves to sin, will die and the earth will be like a desert. Then there shall be Peace, the reconciliation between God and man” (thus there will be people alive).
Whilst these apparition of Our Lady took place 153 years ago, these words are extremely relevant today. The given secrets are important to the entire development of the Church and the world until the end of the period of time. She asked the children to pray morning and night and if time was a problem, to at least say an Our Father and a Hail Mary. Finally Our Lady said;” you’ll tell this to all my people”. This She repeated again.
When Our Blessed Lady talks of Her people, She means everybody in the entire world who believes in Jesus Christ, Her Son. She spoke has The Queen of the World/ Queen of all Nations. Maximin tells us that the Lady was beautiful, great, a wonderful shining brilliant light, she wore a white cloak, a bright yellow apron and her white shoes were decorated with roses of many colours. Roses were also clearly visible on Her crown. Around Her neck She wore a chain on which was hanging a large cross with a hammer and pliers on the cross bar.
Maximin also describes how they saw The Lady disappear. First she was elevated to about one and a half metre high and then She faded and vanished before our eyes. Melanie said: “She must be a great Saint, if we had known that we would have ask her to take us with her”. The children were horribly victimized, with threats, teasing, bribes and very mean tricks. But despite all this their stories remained exactly the same time and again. Finally after a long and stringent examination of the facts, the Bishops formally recognized that Our Blessed Mother did appear to the children in La Salette. This was in 1851.
Maximin died on the first of March 1875 at just 40 years of age. Melanie lived for many years in various convents in France, England and Italy. She died 15 December 1904 and was put to rest in Altamura (Italy).
The Real Meaning of the Messages of La Salette:
Having told us the reasons for God’s anger, all our sins, disobedience, impurities, materialism and pride. (St Maria Goretti is an example of purity), Our Lady implores us to change our ways and turn from sin to GOD.
"This apparition in La Salette is fully approved by the Holy See: November 16th, 1851"
From http://www.marypages.com/
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