The Holy Apostles Saint Peter And Saint Paul. Feast Day 29 June.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

The Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.
Feast Day 29 June.

Double of The First-Class
   with an Octave.

Red Vestments.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

Artist: El Greco (1541–1614).

Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Current location: Hermitage Museum,

Source/Photographer; Hermitage Torrent.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Today, the whole Church rejoices, for "God has Consecrated this day by the Martyrdom of The Apostles Peter and Paul" (Collect). In both the Grand Basilicas erected at Rome over the tombs "of these two Princes, who, by The Cross and The Sword, have obtained their seat in The Eternal Senate," [Hymn at Vespers] this double Martyrdom was Celebrated.

Later, on account of the distance which separates the two Churches, the Festival was divided, Saint Peter being more specially honoured on 29 June and Saint Paul on 30 June.

Saint Peter, Bishop of Rome, is the Vicar, that is to say the visible representative of Christ. As is shown in the Preface, Alleluia, Gospel, Offertory and Communion, the Jews had rejected Jesus. They also rejected His successor (Epistle). Displacing the religious centre of the World, Saint Peter then left Jerusalem for Rome, which became The Eternal City and The Seat of The Popes.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

Illustration: UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY

“Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium”.

Used with Permission.

Saint Peter, the first Pope, speaks in the name of Christ, Who has communicated to him His Doctrine of Infallibility. He is not guided by flesh and blood, but by the Heavenly Father, Who does not permit the Gates of Hell to prevail against The Church of which he is the foundation (Gospel).

Saint Peter, on receiving The Keys, is placed at the head of the "Kingdom of Heaven" upon Earth, that is to say The Church, and he reigns in the name of Christ, Who has invested him with His Power and Supreme Authority (Gospel).

The names of Saint Peter and Saint Paul head head the names of The Apostles in The Canon of The Mass (First List).

With "The Church, which did not cease Praying to God for Saint Peter" (Epistle), let us Pray for his successor "the Servant of God, our Holy Father the Pope" (Canon of The Mass).

Every Parish Priest Celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.

Russian Golden Chalice. Commissioned By Catherine The Great In 1791.

This most magnificent piece is a Gold Chalice that Catherine The Great commissioned, as part of a Communion Set, in 1791. It was made in Saint Petersburg, by Iver Windfeldt Buch, of gold, diamonds, chalcedony, bloodstone, nephrite, carnelian, and cast glass.

Illustration: THE DAILY GLEAN

The Vigil. Feast Of Saint Peter And Saint Paul.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

The Vigil of The Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

Simple.

Violet Vestments.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

Artist: El Greco (1541–1614).

Current location: Hermitage Museum,

Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Source/Photographer: Hermitage Torrent.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church celebrates, tomorrow, The Feast of the two Apostles who are the two foundations on which she is solidly established (Collect).

"The rigour to which a people subjects itself by certain days of preparation," writes Dom Guéranger, "is a mark of the Faith which it has preserved, showing that it understands  the greatness of the object proposed by The Holy Liturgy for its Worship." ["The Liturgical Year: Vigil of The Holy Apostles".]

Peter raised to his Cross (Introit, Gospel), like Christ rises above the World. He seals in his blood, his confession of Faith (Gospel of tomorrow) and love (Gospel) in Jesus, and henceforth it will be in His Name (Ibid.) and as His Vicar that he will be King of Souls.

Paul, by sharing his labours and Martyrdom, shares his Kingship and his Triumph.

Saint Irenaeus. Bishop And Martyr. Feast Day 28 June.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Irenaeus.
Bishop and Martyr.
Feast Day 28 June.

Double.

Red Vestments.

An engraving of Saint Irenaeus (circa 130 A.D. - 202 A.D.).

Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul (now Lyons, France).

Source: http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/pics/

saint_Irenaeus_DaVinci_Code.jpg

(Wikipedia)

Towards the end of the Second Century A.D., when Gnostic Sects endeavoured to undermine the basis of The Christian Religion, God raised up Saint Irenaeus to oppose them. "He granted him the Grace to destroy the Heresies by the Truth of his doctrine" (Collect).

Succeeding Saint Pothinus in the See of Lyons, in 177 A.D., Saint Irenaeus "Preached in Season and out of Season", as Saint Paul prescribes (Epistle) and constituted himself defender of Christ (Gospel) and of His Spouse.

"The Church", he declares, "disseminated throughout the World, to the extremities of the Earth, professes The Faith she has received from The Apostles, who themselves received it from The Son of God." This Church has its centre at Rome. "With her, every Church must be in agreement because of her primacy; for, through the succession of Roman Pontiffs, the Apostolic Tradition of The Church has come down to us."

An ardent apologist, Saint Irenaeus was also a profound Theologian. He has been called the Father of the Catholic Theology and the golden link binding the spirit of the Gospel to the Doctrine of The Fathers. With his ears still full of the last echoes of Apostolic Teaching (Alleluia), he was the first to write a reasoned summary of our Faith. His Treatise "False Doctrine Unmasked and Refuted", also called "Against Heresies", gave the death blow to the Gnostic Heresy.

Saint Jerome gives him the glorious title of Martyr. He died, as is believed, during the persecution of Emperor Septimus Severus in 202 A.D. Pope Benedict XV extended his Feast to the Universal Church.

Commemoration of The Octave of Saint John the Baptist.

Commemoration of The Vigil of The Apostles.

Bishop Athanasius Schneider Counsels Catholics On How To Resist Heterodoxy.

This Article is taken from CATHOLIC
the Newspaper of THE TRANSALPINE REDEMPTORISTS

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"Catholic".

The Newspaper of

THE TRANSALPINE REDEMPTORISTS

"Excerpts from the original interview with Bishop Schneider which first appeared on the Web-Site www.onepeterfive.com have been re-printed with the kind permission of the Editor.

"It is a sad truth that we are in a time of great crisis in The Church. God is with us, however. You have asked me what The Faithful can do to combat the errors spreading through The Church. I would like to answer with some suggestions:

"We must create groups of true Catholics, scholars, families, and Clergy, who will spread courageously the full Catholic truth, especially on The Church's teachings on the family, on nature, and the Commandments off God.

"As a means of this aim, we must make use of all the resources that the modern World offers to us. We are not confined to waiting for the Media to spread these messages. We do not have to wait for each individual Pastor to preach them from the Pulpit.

"We should embrace the new Media forms that allow us to spread the Gospel and the teachings of our Holy Mother, The Church.

"We should take our message to the Internet, publish it on Web-Sites, Blogs, and Social Media."

[Zephyrinus Editor: Bishop Fulton Sheen stated that, when The Church was under attack, she would be saved "not by the Bishops, nor by the Priests, but by the people of The Church, The Faithful".]

Exeter Cathedral's Fan-Vaulting.

Exeter Cathedral,

England.

Illustration: FLICKR.COM

Photo by MATT BIGWOOD

Within The Octave Of Saint John The Baptist.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint John the Baptist Preaching.

Artist: Mattia Preti (1613–1699).

Date: Circa 1665.

Current location: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Credit line: Museum purchase, Roscoe and Margaret Oakes Income Fund

and Kathryn Bache Miller Fund.

Source/Photographer: The AMICA Library.

Author: Mattia Preti (1613–1699).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church, honouring The Saints in proportion to the part they played in The Mystery of The Incarnation of The Word, gives to Saint John the Baptist a special place. [The Rubrics, which accompany the Bull Divino Afflatu of Pope Saint Pius X, establish the following order among the Feasts: "The Feasts of The Lord, of The Blessed Virgin Mary, of The Angels, of Saint John the Baptist, of Saint Joseph, of The Holy Apostles".]

Each day in The Mass, as well as at the Confiteor, at the Suscipe and at the Nobis quoque peccatoribus, the name of Saint John the Baptist precedes that of The Apostles. It is the same in The Litany of The Saints. His Feast immediately precedes that of The Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul. By ending the Mission of The Prophets and commencing that of The Apostles, he is the link between The Old Testament and The New Testament.

Let us, also, give to Saint John the Baptist the place of honour which is due to him in our Veneration of The Saints. The Veneration must, indeed, be hierarchically ordered, so that we may never forget that Jesus is The Principal Author of our Redemption, and that The Saints are more or less great, as they are more or less united to Him as secondary instruments.

John the Baptist.

Artist: Bartolomeo Veneto (1470–1531).

Date: 16th-Century.

Source/Photographer: http://www.fineart-china.com/china/oil-painting-picture-

58337-san%20giovanni%20battita-BARTOLOMEO%20VENETO.html

Author: Bartolomeo Veneto (1470–1531).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Feast of The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist falls in the Season when the Cycle shows us The Church, which, as this Saint foretold, was born in the Baptism of The Holy Ghost and of Fire at Pentecost, and goes on continually developing herself. It is, indeed, to The Holy Precursor that she owes it to have known Jesus, The Spouse that makes her the fruitful mother of many Souls.

As with the Jews, a friend was the intermediary between the bride and the spouse and prepared the wedding-feast, Saint John the Baptist is called in the Gospel the "friend of The Spouse". It is he whom God has chosen to prepare for The Lord, by his Preaching and Baptism of Penance, a perfect people. And, after having adorned the bride, he presents The Spouse to her. "John was the man sent as a witness, so that, through him, all should believe in Jesus" [Last Gospel].

English: The Holy Children with a Shell

(Infant Christ Offering a Drink of Water to Saint John).

Spanish: Los Niños de la concha.

Artist: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682).

Date: Circa 1670.

Current location: 

Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain.

Source/Photographer: 

http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/Bartolome-Esteban-Murillo/

Infant-Christ-Offering-A-Drink-Of-Water-To-St-John-1675-80.html.

Author: 

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Jesus comes to him in the waters of The Jordan and, at this Divine Contact, the water acquired the Virtue which, in Baptism, causes our Souls to be born to Supernatural Life. As Saint John the Baptist baptises Christ in The Jordan, he hears The Voice of The Father proclaiming that Jesus is His Well-Beloved Son. He sees The Holy Ghost hovering over Him, in the form of a Dove, and he reveals that Jesus is "The Lamb of God".

Let us remember that, after having baptised The Master, the one who is called John the Baptiser has also presided over our own Christening, for all the Baptistries (particularly that of Saint John Lateran, in Rome) are Dedicated to him, and his image is to be used for the adornment of Baptismal Fonts. Having thus been brought by him to Jesus, let us also through Saint John the Baptist approach The Eucharist, reciting the words of the Agnus Dei, by which he indicated The Saviour.

Mass: As on The Feast-Day.