EMBER WEDNESDAY IN SEPTEMBER; SAINT EUSTACE AND COMPANIONS (118 A.D.) MARTYRS

 

EMBER WEDNESDAY IN SEPTEMBER

The Vision of St. Eustace (c.1436) by Pisanello (Antonio or Vittore Pisano; c.1395-1455)

SAINT EUSTACE AND
HIS COMPANIONS
Martyrs

SIMPLE/RED
Introit
Ps 80:2-5
Sing joyfully to God our strength; acclaim the God of Jacob. Take up a pleasant psalm with the harp; blow the trumpet in the beginning of the month; for it is a statute in Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
Ps 80:6
He made it a decree for Joseph, when he came forth from the land of Egypt: he heard an unfamiliar speech.
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.
Sing joyfully to God our strength; acclaim the God of Jacob. Take up a pleasant psalm with the harp; blow the trumpet in the beginning of the month; for it is a statute in Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

Collect
Let us pray.
V. Let us kneel.
R. Arise.
May our frailty, we beseech You, O Lord, find support in the help of Your mercy; so that what is marred by its own nature may be restored by Your grace.
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.
R. Amen.

Lesson
Amos 9:13-15
Thus says the Lord God: Yes, days are coming, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the vintager, him who sows the seed; the juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains, and all the hills shall run with it. I will bring about the restoration of My people Israel; they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink the wine, set out gardens and eat the fruits. I will plant them upon their own ground; never again shall they be plucked from the land I have given them, say I, the Lord, your God.
R. Thanks be to God.

Gradual
Ps 112:5-7
Who is like the Lord, our God, Who is enthroned on high and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?
V. He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill He lifts up the poor. 

Collect
O Lord, we beseech You, grant to Your praying household that, as they fast from bodily food, they may also abstain mentally from sin.
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.
R. Amen.

 
Commemoration of SAINT EUSTACE AND COMPANIONS
According to legend, Eustace was a distinguished Roman officer. He owed his conversion to the vision of a stag with a crucifix between its antlers, seen by him while he was hunting. His wife and their two sons became Christians at the same time. In about the year 118 Eustace and his family were martyred for having refused to offer sacrifice to false gods.

O God, who granted us the grace to celebrate the birthday of Your blessed martyrs Eustace and companions, grant that we may also share their eternal happiness in heaven. Through our Lord . . . 

Lesson
Lesson from the book of Esdra
2 Esd. 8:1-10
In those days, all the people were gathered together as one man, to the street which is before the water-gate, and they spoke to Esdras the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel. Then Esdras the priest brought the law before the multitude of men and women, and all those that could understand, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read it plainly in the street that was before the water-gate, from the morning until midday, before the men and the women and all those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book. And Esdras the scribe stood upon a step of wood, which he made to speak upon. And he opened the book before all the people, for he was above all the people; and when he had opened it, all the people stood. And Esdras blessed the Lord the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, lifting up their hands: and they bowed down, and adored God, with their faces to the ground. Now the Levites made silence among the people to hear the law; and the people stood in their place: and they read in the book of the law of God distinctly and plainly to be understood; and they understood when it was read. And Nehemias, and Esdras the priest and scribe, and the Levites who interpreted to all the people, said, This is a holy day to the Lord our God; do not mourn nor weep. And he said to them, Go, eat fat meats and drink sweet wine, and send portions to them that have not prepared for themselves; because it is the holy day of the Lord, and be not sad, for the joy of the Lord is our strength.


Gradual
Ps 32:12, 6.
Happy the nation whose God is the Lord, the people the Lord has chosen for His own inheritance.
V. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made; by the breath of His mouth all their host.  

GOSPEL
Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Mark
R. Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
Mark 9:16-28
At that time, one of the crowd answering, said to Jesus, Master, I have brought to You my son, who has a dumb spirit; and wherever it seizes him it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth; and he is wasting away. And I told Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not. And He answered and said to the, O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me. And they brought him to Him; and the spirit, when it saw Jesus, immediately threw the boy into convulsions, and he fell down on the ground, and rolled about foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, How long is it since this has come upon him? And he said, From his infancy. Oftentimes it has thrown him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. But Jesus said to him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. At once the father of the boy cried out, and said with tears, I do believe; help my unbelief. Now when Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering. He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, go out of him and enter him no more. And crying out and violently convulsing him, it went out of him, and he became like one dead, so that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised him and he stood up. And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, Why could not we cast it out? And He said to them, This kind can be cast out in no way except by prayer and fasting.

Secret
May this offering, O Lord, we beseech You, wipe away our transgressions, and make holy the minds and bodies of Your servants for celebrating this sacrifice.
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.
R. Amen.

 

Communion
2 Esd. 8:10
Eat fat meats, and drink sweet wine, and send portions to those who have not prepared for themselves: because it is the holy day of the Lord, be not sad, for the joy of the Lord is our strength.

 

Commemoration of SAINT EUSTACE AND COMPANIONS
We offer these gifts to You in sacrifice, O Lord. May the honor we pay to Your Saints please You, and may these offerings, through Your mercy, bring us closer to our salvation. Through our Lord . . .

  Post Communion
In partaking of Your heavenly gifts, we humbly entreat You, O Lord, that by Your grace we may receive what, through Your bounty, we perform in diligent service.
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.
R. Amen.

 

Commemoration of SAINT EUSTACE AND COMPANIONS
May the intercession of Your holy Martyrs Eustace and Companions help us to cherish with pure hearts the Sacrament we have received upon our lips. Through our Lord . . .