EMBER WEDNESDAY IN ADVENT; Saints Nicasius and Eutropia; Saint Venantius Fortunatus (605 A.D.) [Historical]

 

EMBER WEDNESDAY
IN ADVENT

Within the Octave; Saints Nicasius and Eutropia; Saint Venantius Fortunatus

 

SIMPLE / PURPLE
Three days of fasting, prayer, and charity consecrate to God each of the four seasons of the year. "Let the abstinence of him that fasts become the meal of the poor man," says St. Leo, reminding us that we fast not only for ourselves but for our neighbors. These are also days of praying and meriting grace for those to be ordained on Saturday. The Epistle in the Mass deals with the promise of the Saviour, and the Gospel with the announcement of His coming. So these Advent Ember Days are, finally, a spiritual preparation for His advent.

INTROIT Isa. 45:8

Drop down dew, you heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just one. Let the earth be opened and bud forth a Saviour.
Ps. 18:2. The heavens show forth the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handiwork.
V. Glory be . . .

PRAYER
V. Let us pray. Let us kneel.
R. Arise

O Almighty God, may the coming feast of our redemption bring us Your help in this life and the reward of everlasting happiness hereafter. Through our Lord . . .

LESSON Isa. 2:2-5
In those days, the prophet Isaias said:
In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go, and say: Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall come forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge the Gentiles, and rebuke many people: and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord our God.

GRADUAL Ps. 23:7, 3, 4
Lift up your gates, O princes, and be lifted, O eternal gates; and the king of glory shall enter in.
V. Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean.

COLLECT
Make haste to come, O Lord, we beg You! Grant us Your heavenly aid, so that those who trust in Your goodness may be consoled by Your coming; who lives and rules with God the Father . . .

LESSON Isa. 7:10-15
In those days, the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying:
"Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above."
And Achaz said: "I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord." And he said: "Hear ye therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel. He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good."

GRADUAL Ps. 144:18, 21
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.
V. My lips shall speak the praise of the Lord; let all men bless His holy name.

GOSPEL Luke 1:26-38
At that time, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." Who having heard, was troubled at his saying and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said to her: "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end."
And Mary said to the angel: "How shall this be done, because I know not man?" And the angel answering, said to her: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren. Because no word shall be impossible with God." And Mary said: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word."

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Isa. 35:4
Take courage, and be afraid no longer. Behold, our God will render justice; He Himself will come and save us.

SECRET
May our fasting be acceptable to You, O Lord. Let it atone for our sins and make us worthy of Your grace, so that we may attain the fulfillment of Your everlasting promises. Through our Lord . . .

COMMUNION ANTIPHON Isa. 7:14
Behold, a virgin shall conceive and shall bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.

POSTCOMMUNION
O Lord, may the banquet of salvation, of which we have partaken with joy, bring us a new life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and rules with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit; one God forever and ever.

SAINTS NICASIUS & EUTROPIA 
Bishop & his Sister (5th C. Historical)

(5th century)

Saint Nicasius and his Companions

In the fifth century an army of Vandal barbarians from Germany, while ravaging part of Gaul, plundered the city of Rheims. Nicasius, its holy bishop, an emissary of peace, justice and charity, had foretold this calamity to his flock; for the city of Rheims, which for a long time had been docile to his word, little by little was seen by the afflicted pastor to be sinking into vice and corruption. He endeavored to waken them to penance: Weep, lament in sackcloth and ashes, unfortunate flock, for God has numbered your iniquities, and if you do not do penance, dreadful punishments are going to come upon you! But his words were unheeded.

When Saint Nicasius saw the enemy at the gates and in the streets, forgetting himself and solicitous only for his spiritual children, he went from door to door encouraging everyone to patience and constancy, and awakening in each breast the most heroic sentiments of piety and religion. By endeavoring to save the lives of his flock, he exposed himself to the sword of the infidels, who indeed slew him, while he was praying on his knees the words of a Psalm: Lord, my soul has been as though fastened to the earth; Lord, give me life, according to Your word! Florens, his deacon, and Jocond, his lector, were massacred by his side. His sister Eutropia, a virtuous and beautiful virgin, fearing she might be reserved for a fate worse than death, boldly cried out to the infidels that it was her unalterable resolution to sacrifice her life rather than her faith or her virtue. In reply, they dispatched her with their cutlasses, and continued their massacre.

Then, suddenly, a strange and terrible noise was heard in the Church of Notre-Dame, and the alarmed barbarians took flight without taking time to pillage the houses or burn the city, or even take the booty they had already amassed.

When the city's inhabitants who had fled to the mountains of the region felt it was safe to return, having seen an unexplained flame above the place of the torment and heard what seemed to be an angelic concert in that area, they went with the intention of piously burying the remains of the slain, and they found there Saint Nicasius, their bishop, his assistants, and Saint Eutropia. Many miracles occurred at their tomb.

SAINT VENANTIUS FORTUNATUS
Bishop (605 A.D. Historical)

Gallic poet and (briefly) serving bishop of Poitiers, France. Known in full as Venantius Clementianus Fortunatus, he was born in Trevise, near Venice, Italy, and studied at Ravenna. He suffered from some ailment of the eye, but thanks to St. Martin of Tours, he was able to embark upon a pilgrimage in 565 which brought him to Mainz, Cologne, and Trier, Gennany, and to Metz and the Moselle, France. He reached the court of King Sigebert (r. sixth century) at Metz in 566 and there was much praise for his poetry, especially his eulogies. Venantius next journeyed to Verdun, Reims, Soissons, Paris, and finaIly Tours, where he prayed at the tomb of St. Martin. Moving on to Poitiers, he entered into the service of Queen Rodegunda who was now living as a nun, acting as her secretary until her death in August 587. Shortly before his death, he was named bishop of Potiers. A brilliant poet, considered a transitional figure in literature between the ancient and medieval periods, Venanhus was a prolific writer: six poems on the Cross, including the two famous works Vexilla Regia and Pange Lzngua Gloijosi; eleven books of poems; a metrical life of St. Martin of Tours; the prose lives of eleven Gallic saints, including the Vita Rodegundis; and the elegy DeExcidie Thui'ingiae.