TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY
AFTER PENTECOST

Incorrupt Body of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque 

SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE
Virgin

DOUBLE / GREEN
INTROIT Esth. 13:9, 10-11
All things depend on Your will, O Lord, and there is no one who can resist Your will. For You have made all things, heaven and earth, and all things that are under the canopy of heaven. You are the Lord of all.
Ps. 118:1. Blessed are they who are undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.
V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT
Keep Your family under Your continual care, O Lord. Shelter it with Your protection from all adversity, that it may be zealous in doing good for the honor of Your name. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE

After a girlhood marked by painful illness and even more painful family discord, Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-90) entered the Visitation convent of Paray-le-Monial, France, at the age of 22. She was ignorant, sickly, and clumsy, but she had great charity and humility. Our Lord chose her to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart, at a time when rebellion without (Protestantism) and heresy within (Jansenism) were doing their best to separate Catholics from their faith and their God. "I will make you so poor and vile and abject in your own eyes, and I shall destroy you so utterly in the thought of your own heart, that I shall be able to build Myself up in the void," Jesus Christ said to the lowly nun. After violent opposition, the devotion to the Sacred Heart triumphed and is now one of the most beloved in the Church.

Lord Jesus Christ, You wondrously revealed all the deep treasures of Your Heart to the blessed virgin Margaret Mary. May her merits and example win us the grace to love You above all things and in all things, so that we may make our abode in Your own Sacred Heart; who lives and rules with God the Father . . .

EPISTLE Eph. 6:10-17
Brethren, be strengthened in the Lord and in the might of his power. Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil.
For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.
Therefore, take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day and to stand in all things perfect. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of justice: And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take unto you the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God).

GRADUAL Ps. 89:1-2
O Lord, You have been our refuge through all generation.
V. Before the mountains were made, or the earth was formed, from eternity to eternity You are God.

Alleluia, alleluia! V. Ps. 113:1.
When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob fled from a barbarous people. Alleluia!

GOSPEL Matt. 18:23-35
At that time, Jesus spoke to his disciples this parable: "The kingdom of heaven likened to a king, who would take an account of his servants. And when he had begun to take the account, one as brought to him, that owed him ten thousand talents. And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. But that servant falling down, besought him, saying: 'Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.' And the lord of that servant being moved with pity, let him go and forgave him the debt.
"But when that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow-servants that owed him an hundred pence: and laying hold of him, he throttled him, saying: 'Pay what thou owest.' And his fellow-servant falling down, besought him, saying: 'Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.' And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he paid the debt.
"Now his fellow servants seeing what was done, were very much grieved, and they came, and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him: and said to him: 'Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me: Shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow servant, even as I had compassion on thee?' And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt. So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts."

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Job 1:2
There was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job, simple and upright, and fearing God. Satan asked that he might tempt him, and power was given Satan from the Lord over Job's possessions and his flesh; and Satan destroyed all his substance and his children, and afflicted his body with a grievous ulcer.

SECRET
O Lord, graciously accept this offering which You in Your boundless mercy instituted to atone for our sins and to restore salvation to us. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE

Accept the gifts of Your people, O Lord. Inflame our hearts with the same divine fire that radiated from the Heart of Your Son and burned so brightly in blessed Margaret Mary. Through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord . . .

COMMUNION ANTIPHON Ps. 118:81, 84, 86
My soul looks to Your salvation, and in Your word have I hoped. When will You come in judgment for those who persecute me? The wicked have persecuted me; help me, O Lord my God.

POSTCOMMUNION
We have been seeking the food of immortality and implore Thee, O Lord, that with its savour still on our tongues, we may with pure hearts continue to pursue it. Through our Lord . . .


Commemoration of SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE
May the prayers of the blessed virgin Margaret Mary expel the desire for worldly pleasures from our hearts, which have received the sacrament of Your Body and Blood, so that they may be filled with the meekness and humility of Your own Heart; who lives and rules with God the Father . . .

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

SAINT HEDWIG

Widow

SIMPLE / WHITE
 
Hedwig (c. 1174-1243), the aunt of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, was married at an early age to Henry, Duke of Silesia. After their six children had been born, they both strove to advance in sanctity and to enrich Silesia and Poland with monasteries, hospitals, and leper asylums. When Henry died in 1238, Hedwig took the habit of the Cistercian nuns at Trebnitz (where one of her daughters was the abbess), but retained the administration of her property so that she could give personal relief to the suffering.

Mass of a  HOLY WOMAN, except

COLLECT
O God, You taught blessed Hedwig to turn from the attractions of the world to follow Your cross humbly and devotedly. May her merits and example teach us to spurn the passing pleasures of this earth and overcome all our difficulties by embracing Your cross; who lives and rules with God the Father . . .


SECRET
Accept this gift, O Lord, from a people dedicated to You. We offer it in honor of Your Saints for the help we have received from them when we were in trouble. Through our Lord . . .


POSTCOMMUNION
O Lord, You have feasted Your family with the Food of Heaven. May we always be refreshed through the intercession of Your Saint whose feast we celebrate this day. Through our Lord . . .

"To our great surprise and joy we find it again"

Three years ago, Pope Benedict allowed wider use of the traditional Latin liturgy in his 2007motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum." Six weeks ago, an important liturgical convention was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where Malcolm Ranjith, a thoughtful defender of the old rite, is archbishop. Here, an extraordinary talk delivered at the conference, by the German writer Martin Mosebach...

Image via Wikipedia

By Robert Moynihan, reporting from Rome
=====================================

"Even the Church's enemies recognized that her strength lay in her untimeliness -- that is, not that she was old-fashioned, but that she and her liturgy were not completely identified with any particular period or culture; she always had one foot outside time in every period of history."—Martin Mosebach, a leading German Catholic writer, reflecting on the Church's liturgy in a conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in September

"In this axis year, 1968, reform turned into revolution. It began with the liturgy. And here we can see liturgy's central role in the Church: everything else, theology, the person of the priest, the hierarchical constitution of the Church, the everyday prayers of the faithful, the edifice of Catholic culture, missionary work, and ultimately even the core articles of faith, were intimately connected with the liturgy. With the liturgy they all stood or fell."—Ibid.
 

"We should not allow ourselves to drown in pious routine but seek to rediscover the Church's visible form, learn to love and defend it like a precious treasure that we thought had been lost." —Ibid.

=====================================

As the Synod Continues...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

As the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East continues, with 185 bishops and 70 experts and advisors discussing the life and witness of Christians in that region of the world, it is becoming clear that the Christian presence in the Middle East is in danger.

The emigration of large numbers of Christians from the region means that the ancient Christian communities there may be just a memory in 20 or 30 years.

This is perhaps too catastrophic a vision.

Nevertheless, this much is true: tens of thousands of Christians have left the Middle East because of the difficult circumstances of their lives, and this is weakening the ancient Christian communities of the region.

How can this trend change? Ultimately, only by changing the political and social conditions in the region: the Jewish-Arab conflict in the Holy Land, and the post-Allied invasion Sunni-Shiite conflict now troubling Iraq.

In short... by bringing peace to the Middle East.

But bringing peace to the Middle East is not in the power of the Synod, the Pope, or the Church.

Peace is essential because mothers and fathers wish to raise their children in safe places.

Peace is key to this Synod, and to the future of the Christian communities of the region.

Peace, not walls and wars and weeping.

And also freedom -- freedom of individual conscience, freedom to follow one's own religious conviction, freedom to live as a respected member of society, equal in one's humanity to all the others in that society.

With peace in the Middle East, and with respect for human beings as having equal human dignity, it might be possible for more Christians to stay and live in the Holy Land, and Iraq, and throughout the Middle East, rather than leaving and starting a new life somewhere else, anywhere else...

================================== 

...Reflections on Archbishop Ranjith's gathering of liturgists in Sri Lanka

It is odd, but true, that today some of the most ardent supporters of Catholicism's traditional Latin liturgy are not in Europe, but in Africa and Asia.

The old Roman traditions have been generally abandoned by the Romans and Italians themselves, only to be embraced by far off Africans, Asians, and Americans...

One such far-off supporter of the old traditions is Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka, off the coast of southern India, whom I know well.

Ranjith, named to his post in June 2009, was first concerned to help the peace process in his native country, where a multi-decade civil war between the Singhalese majority and the Tamil minority had caused great pain and suffering.

But he was also concerned to renew his diocese liturgically.

So he called a diocesan-wide "Year of the Eucharist," and to prepare his priests to celebrate this year, he gathered them for three days of intensive study in Colombo.

Ranjith invited two important speakers from Rome: Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship (in charge of liturgical matters), and Fr. Uwe Michael Lang, a member of the same Congregation and an adviser for the office of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations.Sandro Magister is an Italian journalist covering the Vatican. As a young man, he was a seminarian in Milan for a time, some 40 years ago, and some of his fellow seminarians from that time are today in a key spots in the Italian and Vatican hierarchy, so he is well informed. (I saw Magister today in the press office and asked him how he manages to be so right so often about so many things. "I read a lot," he said, laughing.)

Magister has just written a column where he discusses Ranjith's liturgy conference. (Here is a link to the column:http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1345143?eng=y)Magister's report mentions, Martin Mosebach, a prize-winning German writer -- some claim he is the finest German writer of this generation. (I had a dinner with Mosebach some years ago in Frankfurt.)

"In order to offer more insight to his priests during the three days of study," Magister wrote, "Archbishop Ranjith brought in from Germany a Catholic writer of the first rank, Martin Mosebach, the author of a book that has raised a great deal of discussion: The Heresy of Formlessness: The Roman Liturgy and Its Enemy (now out in English from Ignatius Press). And he asked him to speak precisely on the Church's disarray in the liturgical field."

The text of Mosebach's talk is long -- perhaps too long for many of you to get through comfortably.

But... it contains a wealth of clear, deep ideas about our liturgical and cultural situation today.

The text is a marvelous exposition of some of the great issues in the Church's liturgy -- in the Church's life -- today.

Since Mosebach is German, his mind is finely attuned to the thought of another German thinker -- Pope Benedict XVI himself. In order to understand, at least in outline, what Pope Benedict feels happened to the Catholic liturgy, this essay is quite a good place to start.

And, because the title refers to "loss and rediscovery," this essay, in some way, seemed related to the "loss and recovery" of the 33 miners in Chile yesterday(!), so I thought it a fitting follow-up to that story of perseverance and triumph over seemingly insuperable difficulties... 

Continue reading here: http://community.icontact.com/p/insidethevatican/newsletters/christmas/posts/letter-57-2010-mosebach

SAINT TERESA OF AVILA
Virgin, Doctor

DOUBLE / WHITE
When she was seven, Teresa of Avila (1515-82) tried unsuccessfully to run away to seek martyrdom at the hands of the Moors. Following this initial frustration, Teresa spent a normal girlhood, until called to the Carmelite Order in 1533. Twenty years later, when she undertook the reform of her order, she founded many convents of Discalced Carmelites throughout Spain, her principal collaborator being St. John of the Cross. She managed to combine a schedule of heavy administrative responsibility with an intense interior program graced with many mystical blessings and issuing in a group of magnificent writings on the spiritual life. She always had great devotion to Christ the King and to St. Joseph (called the patron of interior souls). And she insisted on prayer for priests as one of the primary duties of her nuns. On account of her invaluable works on mystical Theology, she may be considered one of the greatest Doctors of the Church.

Mass of a VIRGIN, except

COLLECT
Hear our prayer, O God our savior. The feast of the blessed virgin Teresa fills us with joy; may her holy teaching also inspire us, and the example of her virtuous life guide us. Through our Lord . . .


SECRET
Accept this gift, O Lord, from a people dedicated to You. We offer it in honor of Your Saints for the help we have received from them when we were in trouble. Through our Lord . . .


POSTCOMMUNION
O Lord, You have feasted Your family with the Food of Heaven. May we always be refreshed through the intercession of Your Saint whose feast we celebrate this day. Through our Lord . . .

SAINT CALLISTUS I

Pope and Martyr

SIMPLE / WHITE
A Christian slave of Rome, Callistus was ordained by Pope St. Zephyrinus, whom he succeeded as pope in the year 217. As deacon he was guardian of the Christian cemetery on the Appian Way which is still known by his name. While he was vigorously opposed to heresy, his charitable attitude toward repentant sinners incurred the wrath of contemporary rigorists.

Mass of a POPE, except
COLLECT
O God, You see that we fail because of our weakness. Be merciful to us and let the example of Your saints renew our love of You. Through our Lord . . .

SECRET
O Lord, may this sacramental offering help to free us of our sins and bring us to eternal salvation. Through our Lord . . .

POSTCOMMUNION
O Almighty God, let these sacred rites cleanse us, so that through them we may lead holy lives. Through our Lord . . .

SAINT EDWARD
King and Confessor

SIMPLE / WHITE
King Edward the Confessor reigned in England from the end of the Danish rule (1042) to the Norman conquest (1066). His subjects praised his simplicity, gentleness, humility, and purity. He made a practice of standing at his palace gate, speaking kindly to the beggars and lepers who crowded about him, and often he wrought cures among them. England grew prosperous during his rule of almost unbroken peace, and for ages afterward the people spoke with affection of the "laws of good St. Edward."

Mass of a CONFESSOR OF THE FAITH, except
COLLECT
O God, You gave the blessed confessor king Edward a crown of everlasting glory. may we who honor him on earth be worthy to rule with him in heaven. Through our Lord . . .

SECRET 
We offer You, O Lord, this Sacrifice of praise in memory of Your saints. Free us from evil now and in the future through their intercession. Through our Lord . . .

POSTCOMMUNION 
Refreshed with Heavenly Food and Drink, we humbly pray You, our God, that we may be strengthened by the prayers of Your saint in whose memory we have received this Sacrament. Through our Lord . . .

FERIAL DAY

(Mass of preceding Sunday)

[Requiem or Votive Mass allowed]

OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR (36 A.D.)

[Historical]

Our Lady of the Pillar

In the early days of the Church, the ApostleJames the Greater was evangelizing the Gospel in Caesaraugusta, but his mission was making little progress until miraculously, he saw The Blessed Virgin Mary committing him to Jerusalem. In his vision, she was atop a column or pillar, which was being carried by angels. That pillar is believed to be the same one venerated in Zaragoza today. Miraculous healings have been reported at the scene.Our Lady of the Pillar (Spanish: Nuestra Señora del Pilar) is the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary for her appearance in Spain. Her shrine is in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza, by the river Ebro.

MOTHERHOOD OF THE
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

DOUBLE / SECOND CLASS

The dogma of the Divine Motherhood was defined by the Council of Ephesus in 431. In his encyclical proclaiming the present feast, which commemorated the 15th centenary of the council, Pope Pius XI especially requested that we pray to Mary for the return of the separated Churches of the East. For these Churches had united with the Pope and the whole Church at Ephesus in proclaiming her to be Mother of God, and to this day they retain a deep devotion to her. Mary is their Mother, also, for in becoming Mother of our Redeemer she became the spiritual mother of all men.

INTROIT Isa. 7:14

Behold, a virgin shall conceive and shall bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.

Ps. 97:1. Sing to the Lord a new canticle, for He has done wondrous deeds.

V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT

O God, You willed that Your Word should become incarnate in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the time of the angel's announcement. We firmly believe that Mary is truly the Mother of God. We pray that her powerful intercession with You may help us. Through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord . . .

LESSON Eccli. 24:23-31 [Sirach]

As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour: and my flowers are the fruit of honour and riches. I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue. Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits. For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb. My memory is unto everlasting generations. They that eat me, shall yet hunger: and they that drink me, shall yet thirst. He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting.

GRADUAL Isa. 11:1-2

There shall come forth a young branch from the root of Jesse and a flower shall rise up out of his root.

V. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.

Alleluia, alleluia! V.

O Virgin Mother of God, He whom the whole world cannot contain enclosed Himself in your womb and was made man. Alleluia!

GOSPEL Luke 2:43-51

At that time, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem. And his parents knew it not. And thinking that he was in the company, they came a day's journey and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. And not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: "Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing." And he said to them: "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business?" And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them.

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Matt. 1:18

When Mary His Mother had been betrothed to Joseph, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

SECRET

O Lord, through Your mercy and the intercession of the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of Your only-begotten Son, let this offering bring us prosperity and peace now and forever. Through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord . . .

COMMUNION ANTIPHON

Blessed is the womb of the Virgin Mary, which bore the Son of the Eternal God.

POSTCOMMUNION

May this Communion, O Lord, cleanse us from sin, and bestow on us spiritual health from heaven through the intercession of the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord .

 

TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

St. Ignatius Loyola receives St. Francis Borgia as Duke of Gandia

SAINT FRANCIS BORGIA
Confessor

DOUBLE / GREENINTROIT (Dan 3:31, 29, 33)
All that you have done to us, O Lord, you have done in just judgment, because we have disobeyed Your Commandments; but give glory to Your own name and deal with us in accord with Your bounteous mercy.
Ps. 118:1. Blessed are they who are undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.
V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT
Forget Your anger, O Lord, and grant Your faithful pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from their sins and serve You without fear. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT FRANCIS BORGIA
 Francis Borgia (1510-72), who has been called the "second founder of the Jesuits," began his public career as Duke of Gandia and Viceroy of Catalonia at the court of his friend and relative Emperor Charles V. He was the widowed father of eight before he entered the Society of Jesus at the age of 40. Always courteous, humble, and generous, he was given charge of all Jesuit missions abroad, and in 1565 he was elected General of the order. Working always in closest co-operation and friendship with Pope St. Pius V and St. Charles Borromeo, he shares their stature as a great figure of the Catholic Reform. Though he longed to go as an apostle to India, he wrote to another would-be missioner: "You will find your India wherever the Society needs you."


O Lord Jesus Christ, You are the model of true humility and the reward of the humble. Let us share Your contempt for worldly honor, as Your blessed confessor Francis did, so that we may also share with this saint the glory of being Your follower; who lives and rules with God the Father . . .
 

EPISTLE (Eph. 5:15-21)
See therefore, brethren, how you walk circumspectly: not as unwise, But as wise: redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore, become not unwise: but understanding what is the will of God. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury: but be ye filled with the Holy Spirit, Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord: Giving thanks always for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God and the Father: Being subject one to another, in the fear of Christ.
GRADUAL (Ps. 144:15-16)
The eyes of all look hopefully to You, O Lord, and You give them food in due season.
V. You open Your hand, and fill every living creature with blessing.

Alleluia, alleluia! V. Ps. 107:2
My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready; I will sing and praise You, my glory. Alleluia!

GOSPEL (St. John 4:46-53)
He came again therefore into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain ruler, whose son was sick at Capharnaum. He having heard that Jesus was come from Judea into Galilee, sent to him and prayed him to come down and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.
Jesus therefore said to him: "Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not." The ruler saith to him: Lord, come down before that my son die. Jesus saith to him: "Go thy way. Thy son liveth."
The man believed the word which Jesus said to him and went his way. And as he was going down, his servants met him: and they brought word, saying, that his son lived. He asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew better. And they said to him: "Yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him." The father therefore knew that it was at the same hour that Jesus said to him: "Thy son liveth." And himself believed, and his whole house.

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON (Ps. 136:1)
By the streams of Babylon we sat and wept, when we remembered you, O Sion.

SECRET
O Lord, let this sacred rite bring us healing from heaven and cleanse our hearts of all sinfulness. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT FRANCIS BORGIA
May the offerings we lay upon Your sacred altar, O Lord, bring us closer to our salvation through the intercession of the blessed Francis. Through our Lord . . .
 
COMMUNION ANTIPHON (Ps. 118:49-50)
Remember Your promise to Your servant, O Lord, by which You have given me hope. This is my solace in my affliction.

POSTCOMMUNION
O Lord, make us ever obedient to Your Commandments, that we may be deserving of Your heavenly Gifts. 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.

Commemoration of SAINT FRANCIS BORGIA
May the Sacrament we have received and the prayers of the blessed Francis protect us, O Lord. Grant also that we may imitate the virtues of this saint who is our intercessor with You in heaven. Through our Lord . . .

Dallas Diocese's only Latin Mass church, Mater Dei, celebrates opening of Irving sanctuary | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Religion | The Dallas Morning News

Dallas Diocese's only Latin Mass church, Mater Dei, celebrates opening of Irving sanctuary |

Read this story here: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/100910dnmetlatinmass.266adda.html

SAINT JOHN LEONARDI
Confessor

SAINTS DENIS, RUSTICUS, AND ELEUTHERIUS
Martyrs

DOUBLE / WHITE
John Leonardi (1543-1609), a zealous Italian apostle, founded the congregation of the Mother of God, whose priest-members traveled throughout Tuscany urging the people to a stronger interest in their religion. Father John Leonardi longed to convert pagans, but his spiritual director, St. Philip Neri, told him to remain in Italy. So instead he founded in Rome a seminary to train for the priesthood young men from all the mission lands. This seminary developed into the Urban College of Propaganda, which has during succeeding centuries sent forth thousands of priests of all nationalities, to carry the Gospel to their own peoples.

INTROIT Eccli. 42:15-16
By His word the Lord has accomplished His works. The sun in giving light looks down upon all things; and the work of the Lord is full of His glory.
Ps. 95:1. Sing to the Lord a new canticle; sing to the Lord, all the earth.
V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT
O God, You filled the blessed confessor John with a wondrous zeal to spread the faith among pagans, and through him You established in Your Church a new congregation to instruct the faithful. Grand that his teachings may lead us, Your servants, to the reward of eternal life. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINTS DENIS, RUSTICUS, AND ELEUTHERIUS
Denis, a third-century apostle of God, and now one of the "auxiliary saints," became first bishop of Paris. He suffered martyrdom there, together with his priest Rusticus and his deacon Eleutherius.

O God, You sent Rusticus and Eleutherius to join blessed Denis in preaching Your glorious name to the pagans, and on this day You so strengthened this martyr bishop in virtue that he was able to endure martyrdom courageously. May we follow the example of Your saints for love of You and spurn the pleasures of the world, without fearing to face any of its trials. Through our Lord . . .

EPISTLE II Cor. 4:1-6, 15-18
Brethren: Therefore seeing we have this ministration, according as we have obtained mercy, we faint not. But we renounce the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness nor adulterating the word of God: but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience, in the sight of God. And if our gospel be also hid, it is hid to them that are lost,
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of unbelievers, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ our Lord: and ourselves your servants through Jesus. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Christ Jesus.
For all things are for your sakes: that the grace, abounding through many, may abound in thanksgiving unto the glory of God. For which cause we faint not: but though our outward man is corrupted, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us above measure, exceedingly an eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal: but the things which are not seen, are eternal.

GRADUAL Ps. 72:21; 68:10; Isa. 49:2
My heart was inflamed and my emotions were changed to excitement; the zeal for Your house has consumed me.
V. He has made my mouth as a sharp sword. Under the shadow of His hand He has protected me, and has made me a chosen arrow.

Alleluia, alleluia! Ps. 70:7. V.
I have become a matter of wonderment to many, but You are my strength and helper. Alleluia!

GOSPEL Luke 10:1-9
At that time, the Lord appointed also other seventy-two. And he sent them two and two before his face into every city and place whither he himself was to come. And he said to them: "The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he send labourers into his harvest. Go: Behold I send you as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say: Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him: but if not, it shall return to you. And in the same house, remain, eating and drinking such things as they have: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Remove not from house to house. And into what city soever you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick that are therein and say to them: The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you."

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Col. 1:25
I have become a minister of Christ in virtue of the office that God has given me, that I may preach the word of God fully.

SECRET 
Accept the offering of this pure host of salvation, O Lord. May this Sacrifice be presented to You unceasingly throughout the world through the intercession of Your blessed confessor John. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT DENIS AND HIS COMPANIONS
O Lord, graciously accept these gifts which Your people offer in honor of Your saints, that we may be sanctified through their intercession. Through our Lord . . .

COMMUNION ANTIPHON Philipp. 3:7
The things that were gain to me, these, for the sake of Christ, I have counted loss.

POSTCOMMUNION 
We are refreshed, O Lord, by the Sacrament of Your precious Body and Blood. May we imitate Your blessed confessor John, and profess what he believed and practice what he taught, who lives and rules with God the Father . . .

Commemoration of SAINT DENIS AND HIS COMPANIONS
O Lord, may the reception of Your Sacrament bring us ever nearer to our eternal redemption through the prayers of Your blessed martyrs Denis, Rusticus, and Eleutherius. Through our Lord . . .

SAINT BRIDGET
Widow

DOUBLE / WHITE
Patron saint of Sweden, Bridget (1302-73) married a young prince and lived happily with him for 28 years, bearing him eight children. St. Catherine of Sweden was their daughter. After her husband died, Bridget founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior, erecting at Vadstena a double monastery for monks and nuns. Following the guidance of the Holy Spirit, she later went to Rome, where she worked for the return of the Popes from Avignon. This Scandinavian mystic is famous for her Revelations concerning the sufferings of our Redeemer.

Mass of a HOLY WOMAN, except

COLLECT
O Lord our God, Your only-begotten Son revealed the secrets of heaven to blessed Bridget. May the prayers of this saint bring Your servants the joy of one day beholding the revelation of Your eternal glory. Through our Lord . . .

EPISTLE I Tim. 5:3-10
Brethren: Honour widows that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children or grandchildren, let her learn first to govern her own house and to make a return of duty to her parents; for this is acceptable before God. But she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, let her trust in God and continue in supplications and prayers night and day. For she that liveth in pleasures is dead while she is living. And this give in charge, that they may be blameless. But if any man have not care of his own and especially of those of his house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. Let a widow be chosen of no less than threescore years of age, who hath been the wife of one husband. Having testimony for her good works, if she have brought up children, if she have received to harbour, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have ministered to them that suffer tribulation, if she have diligently followed every good work.


SECRET
Accept this gift, O Lord, from a people dedicated to You. We offer it in honor of Your Saints for the help we have received from them when we were in trouble. Through our Lord . . .


POSTCOMMUNION
O Lord, You have feasted Your family with the Food of Heaven. May we always be refreshed through the intercession of Your Saint whose feast we celebrate this day. Through our Lord . . .

OUR LADY OF GOOD REMEDY

Historical

St. John de Matha Mass. Image via Wikipedia

800 years ago Christians were being captured by the Moslems and sold into slavery by the thousands, and nobody knew what to do about it. Then, in the year 1198, a man had an idea. St. John de Matha founded the Trinitarians to go to the slave markets to buy (ransom) the Christian Slaves and set them free.

To carry out this plan, the Trinitarians needed large amounts of money. They placed their fundraising efforts under the patronage of Mary. According to very ancient documents the feast of the Virgin was celebrated solemnly by Trinitarians. Every week since the year 1262, by a special indult, the Trinitarian communities prayed the office of the Virgin. The Trinitarians were moved to show this special devotion to the Virgin because of her relationship with the three persons of the Trinity, because of the great love with which the Virgin collaborated in the redemption of the world and because often, when carrying redemptions of captives, they experienced special help from the Virgin of Remedy. They were so successful that, over the centuries, the Trinitarians were able to free thousands and thousands of people and return them safely home.


All of this contributed to the fact that the Trinitarians became known for their veneration of the Virgin under the title of "Remedy" or "Good Remedy" and that confraternities, altars and images were set up in her honor. By singular graces, the Virgin manifested how pleased she was by this invocation.

Devotion to Mary under this title is widely known in Europe and Latin America. Our Lady of Good Remedy is often depicted as the Virgin Mary handing a bag of money to St. John of Matha.

When in need - for whatever reason, but especially where you have had difficulty obtaining help - invoke the aid of Our Lady of Good Remedy and you will surely experience the power of her intercession.

The feast of Our Lady of Good Remedy is celebrated on October 8.