October 31st Ferial day, Vigil of All Saints, St. Wolfgang (994 A.D.), St. Quentin (287 A.D.)

 

FERIAL DAY

(Mass of preceding Sunday)

[Requiem or Votive Mass allowed]

VIGIL OF ALL SAINTS

SAINT WOLFGANG

SAINT QUENTIN

Introit
Ps 129:3-4
If You, O Lord, mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand? But with You is forgiveness, O God of Israel.
Ps 129:1-2
Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice!
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.
If You, O Lord, mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand? But with You is forgiveness, O God of Israel.

Lesson
Lesson from the letter of St. Paul the Apostle to the Philippians
Phil 1:6-11
Brethren: We are confident in the Lord Jesus that He Who has begun a good work in you will bring it to perfection until the day of Christ Jesus. And I have the right to feel so about you all, because I have you in my heart, all of you, alike in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel, as sharers in my joy. For God is my witness how I long for you all in the heart of Christ Jesus. And this I pray, that your charity may more and more abound in knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the better things, that you may be upright and without offense unto the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of justice, through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Gradual
Ps 132:1-2
Behold how good it is, and how pleasant where brethren dwell as one!
V. It is as when the precious ointment upon the head runs down over the beard, the beard of Aaron.

Gospel
Continuation ✠ of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
R. Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
Matt 22:15-21
At that time, the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might trap Jesus in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that You are truthful, and that You teach the way of God in truth, and that You care naught for any man; for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said, Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the coin of the tribute. So they offered Him a denarius. Then Jesus said to them, Whose are this image and the inscription? They said to Him, Caesar’s. Then He said to them, Render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.
R. Praise be to Thee, O Christ.

Offertory
Esther 14:12-13
Remember me, O Lord, You Who rule above all power: and give a well-ordered speech in my mouth, that my words may be pleasing in the sight of the prince.

Secret
Grant, O merciful God, that this saving sacrifice may always free us from sin, and protect us from all that works against us.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.

Communion
Ps 16:6
I call upon You, for You will answer me, O God; incline Your ear to me; hear my word.

Post Communion
We who have received the gift of Your blessed sacrament, O Lord, humbly pray that what You have taught us to do in commemoration of You, may profit and help us in our weakness.
Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.

Image via Wikipedia

Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg

Bishop (924-994 A.D.)

[Historical]

Wolfgang (d. 994) + Bishop and reformer. Born in Swabia, Germany, he studied at Reichenau under the Benedictines and at Wurzburg before serving as a teacher in the cathedral school of Trier. He soon entered the Benedictines at Einsiedeln (964) and was appointed head of the monastery school, receiving ordination in 971. He then set out with a group of monks to preach among the Magyars of Hungary, but the following year (972) was named bishop of Regensburg by Emperor Otto II (r. 973-983). As bishop, he distinguished himself brilliantly for his reforming zeal and his skills as a statesman. He brought the clergy of the diocese into his reforms, restored monasteries, promoted education, preached enthusiastically, and was renowned for his charity and aid to the poor, receiving the title Eleemosynarius Major (Grand Almoner). He also served as tutor to Emperor Henry II (r. 1014-1024) while he was still king. Wolfgang died at Puppingen near Linz, Austria. He was canonized in 1052 by Pope St. Leo IX (r. 1049-1054). Feast day: October 31.

SAINT QUENTIN
Apostle of Amiens, Martyr at Rome
(†287)

Saint Quentin was a Roman, descended from a senatorial family. Full of zeal for the kingdom of Jesus Christ, he left his country and went into Gaul, accompanied by eleven other apostles sent from Rome. They separated to extend their campaign of evangelization to the various regions of France. Saint Quentin remained at Amiens and endeavored by his prayers and labors to make that region part of Our Lord’s inheritance. By the force of his words and works he preluded the glory of his martyrdom. He gave sight to the blind, vigor to paralytics, hearing to the deaf, and agility to the infirm, in the name of Our Lord, simply by the sign of the Cross. At all hours of the day he invoked his God in fervent supplications.

But this apostolate could not escape the notice of Rictiovarus, the Roman prosecutor who at that time represented Maximian Herculeus in Gaul. Saint Quentin was seized at Amiens, thrown into prison, and loaded with chains. Rictiovarus asked him: “How does it happen that you, of such high nobility and the son of so distinguished a father, have given yourself up to so superstitious a religion, a folly, and that you adore an unfortunate man crucified by other men?” Saint Quentin replied: “It is sovereign nobility to adore the Creator of heaven and earth, and to obey willingly His divine commandments. What you call folly is supreme wisdom. What is there that is wiser than to recognize the unique true God, and to reject with disdain the counterfeits, which are mute, false and deceiving?”

When the holy preacher was found to be invulnerable to either promises or threats, the prosecutor condemned him to the most barbarous torture. He was stretched on the rack and flogged. He prayed for strength, for the honor and glory of the name of God, forever blessed. He was returned to the prison when the executioners who were striking him fell over backwards, and told Rictiovarus they were unable to stand up, and could scarcely speak. An Angel released the prisoner during the night, telling him to go and preach in the city, and that the persecutor would soon fall before the justice of God.* His sermon, a commented paraphrase of the Apostles’ Creed, has been conserved. To his profession of faith in the Holy Trinity, he added that Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he adored, “gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, health to the sick and even life to the dead. At His voice, the lame leaped up and ran, paralytics walked, and water was changed into wine... He has promised to be forever with those who hope in Him, and He never abandons those who place their hope in Him; by His omnipotence He delivers them, whenever it pleases Him, from all their tribulations.” His guardians discovered that he had disappeared, though all doors were barred, and found him in the city preaching. They were converted by the prodigy. But Rictiovarus was furious and said to them: “You, too, have become magicians?”

Brought back before the tribunal as a sorcerer, Saint Quentin said: “If by persevering in my faith, I am put to death by you, I will not cease to live in Jesus Christ; this is my hope, I maintain it with confidence.” He was again placed on the rack and beaten, and tortured with other demoniacal means; his flesh pierced with two iron wires from the shoulders to the thighs, and iron nails were thrust into his fingers, his skull and body. Finally, this glorious martyr was decapitated, after praying and saying: “O Lord Jesus, God of God, Light of Light..., for love of whom I have given up my body to all the torments... ah! I implore Thee, in Thy holy mercy, receive my spirit and soul, which I offer Thee with all the ardor of my desires. Do not abandon me, O most kind King, most clement King, who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever!” His death occurred on October 31, 287.

His body was twice buried secretly, and twice it was rediscovered miraculously — in the years 338 and 641, first by Saint Eusebie of Rome, on a marshy island, where it had remained intact; later near the city of Augusta, by Saint Eloi. Saint Quentin remains in great honor in France above all, where more than fifty-two churches and as many localities were, at the beginning of the 20^th century, dedicated to his memory; he is honored also in Belgium and in Italy. Charlemagne and the kings of France have gone to venerate the relics of Saint Quentin.

 Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 13.