Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

Thursday 31 December 2015

Te Deum. A Plenary Indulgence Is Granted, Under The Usual Conditions, To Those Who Recite It In Public On New Year's Eve.


Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.




Te Deum Stained-Glass Window,
by Christopher Whall.
Saint Mary-The-Virgin,
Ware, Hertfordshire, England.
Author: Barking Tigs
(Wikimedia Commons)





"Te Deum".
5th-Century A.D.,
Solemn Monastic Chant.
Available on YouTube at




The Latin and English Lyrics,
of the Te Deum, below, are from


Te Deum laudámus:
te Dominum confitémur.

Te ætérnum Patrem
omnis terra venerátur.
Tibi omnes Angeli;
tibi cæli et univérsae potestátes.

Tibi Chérubim et Séraphim
incessábili voce proclámant:

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Dóminus Deus Sábaoth.
Pleni sunt cæli et terra
majestátis glóriæ tuæ.

Te gloriósus
Apostolórum chorus;
Te Prophetárum
laudábilis númerus;
Te Mártyrum
candidátus laudat exércitus.
Te per orbem terrárum
sancta confitétur Ecclésia:

Patrem
imménsæ majestátis;
Venerándum tuum verum
et únicum Fílium;
Sanctum quoque
Paráclitum Spíritum.
Tu Rex glóriæ,
Christe.

Tu Patris
sempitérnus es Fílius.
Tu ad liberándum susceptúrus hóminem,
non horruísti Vírginis úterum.
Tu, devícto mortis acúleo,
aperuísti credéntibus regna cælórum.

Tu ad déxteram Dei sedes,
in glória Patris.
Judex créderis
esse ventúrus.
Te ergo quǽsumus, tuis fámulis súbveni,
quos pretióso sánguine redemísti.

Ætérna fac cum sanctis tuis
in glória numerári.

[added later, mainly from Psalm verses:]

Salvum fac pópulum tuum, Dómine,
et bénedic hæreditáti tuæ.
Et rege eos,
et extólle illos usque in ætérnum.
Per síngulos dies
benedícimus te.
Et laudámus nomen tuum in sǽculum,
et in sǽculum sǽculi.
Dignáre, Dómine, die isto
sine peccáto nos custodíre.
Miserére nostri, Dómine,
miserére nostri.
Fiat misericórdia tua, Dómine, super nos,
quemádmodum sperávimus in te.
In te, Dómine, sperávi:
non confúndar in ætérnum.





during the celebration of Independence Day 2009 .
durante la celebración de las Fiestas Patrias 2009.
Date: 18 September 2009.
Source: originally posted to Flickr as Eduardo Frei en Te Deum Ecuménico
(Wikimedia Commons)



O GOD, we praise Thee: we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.
Everlasting Father, all the earth doth worship Thee.
To Thee all the Angels, the Heavens and all the Powers,
all the Cherubim and Seraphim, unceasingly proclaim:

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts!
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of Thy glory.

The glorious choir of the Apostles,
the wonderful company of Prophets,
the white-robed army of Martyrs, praise Thee.
Holy Church throughout the world doth acknowledge Thee:

the Father of infinite Majesty;
Thy adorable, true and only Son;
and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.
O Christ, Thou art the King of glory!
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.

Thou, having taken it upon Thyself to deliver man, didst not disdain the Virgin's womb.
Thou overcame the sting of death and hast opened to believers the Kingdom of Heaven.
Thou sitest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.
We believe that Thou shalt come to be our Judge.

We beseech Thee, therefore, to help Thy servants
whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy Precious Blood.
Make them to be numbered with Thy Saints in everlasting glory.

V. Save Thy people, O Lord, and bless Thine inheritance!
R. Govern them, and raise them up forever.

V. Every day we thank Thee.
R. And we praise Thy Name forever, yea, forever and ever.

V. O Lord, deign to keep us from sin this day.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

V. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, for we have hoped in Thee.
R. O Lord, in Thee I have hoped; let me never be put to shame.




"Te Deum laudamus", 
Chorbogen, 1901.
Source: Abbildung in: Die Christliche Kunst, 6. Jg. 1909–1910, VI. Heft (Februar 1910), http://www.archive.org/details/diechristlicheku06geseuoft ,
Author: Gebhard Fugel (1863–1939).
(Wikimedia Commons)




Monks of one of the Abbeys of The Solesmes Congregation sing this beautiful Chant. The Te Deum is attributed to two Fathers and Doctors of The Church, Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine and is one of the most majestic Chants in The Liturgy of The Church.

It is sung in Traditional Seminaries and Monastic Houses at The Divine Office and for Double Feasts of The First-Class, The Nativity, Easter, Corpus Christi, Epiphany, Pentecost and those Feasts which have an Octave. The Solemn Te Deum is sung on all occasions of public Church rejoicing (in Traditional Catholic Churches).





Lithograph of a Te Deum,
Celebrated by Arch-Priest Gratinskij,
Knights Guards Regiment, Moscow,
in the presence of French soldiers.
Paroisse St Evpla.
15 September 1812 (Julian Calendar).
Source: Lithographie ancienne en ma possession, non datée.
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)



The Te Deum (also known as Ambrosian Hymn or A Song of The Church) is an Early-Christian Hymn of Praise. The Title is taken from its opening Latin words, Te Deum laudamus, rendered as "Thee, O God, we Praise".

The Hymn remains in regular use in The Catholic Church in The Office of Readings, found in The Liturgy of The Hours, and In Thanksgiving to God for a special Blessing, such as the Election of a Pope, the Consecration of a Bishop, the Canonisation of a Saint, a Religious Profession, the publication of a Treaty of Peace, a Royal Coronation, etc. It is sung either after Mass or The Divine Office or as a separate Religious Ceremony. The Hymn also remains in use in The Anglican Communion and some Lutheran Churches in similar settings.

In The Traditional Office, The Te Deum is sung at the end of Matins on all days when the Gloria is said at Mass; those days are all Sundays outside Advent, Septuagesima, Lent, and Passiontide; on all Feasts (except The Triduum) and on all Ferias during Eastertide. Before the 1962 reforms, neither the Gloria nor the Te Deum were said on The Feast of The Holy Innocents, unless it fell on Sunday, as they were Martyred before The Death of Christ and, therefore, could not immediately attain The Beatific Vision. A Plenary Indulgence is granted, under the usual conditions, to those who recite it in public on New Year's Eve.

In The Liturgy of The Hours, of Pope Paul VI, The Te Deum is sung at the end of The Office of Readings on all Sundays, except those of Lent, on all Solemnities, on The Octaves of Easter and Christmas, and on all Feasts. It is also used, together with the standard Canticles in Morning Prayer, as prescribed in The Anglican Book of Common Prayer, in Matins, for Lutherans, and is retained by many Churches of The Reformed Tradition.

Saint Sylvester. Pope And Confessor. Feast Day, Today, 31 December.


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

Saint Sylvester I.
Pope and Confessor.
Feast Day 31 December.

Double.

White Vestments.


File:Sylvester I and Constantine.jpg

English: Pope Saint Sylvester I and Emperor Constantine.
San Silvestro Chapel at Santi Quattro Coronati, Rome, Italy.
עברית: דוד שי מאשדוד הוא היה הסילבסטר הוא היה מרביץ ליהודים ושובר להם את הרגליים
Date: 1247.
Author: Unknown Mediaeval artist in Rome, Italy.
(Wikimedia Commons)


If 31 December falls on a Sunday, The Mass of The Sunday within The Octave of The Nativity of Our Lord is said, with a Commemoration of Saint Sylvester.

The Church reproduces in her Liturgy all phases of The Life of her Divine Founder.

When only just born, The Infant God is persecuted by Herod: The Church, still in her cradle, sends to Heaven her First Martyr in the person of the Deacon, Stephen, and her First Twenty-Five Popes die Martyrs.


File:Celio - ss Quattro - oratorio s Silvestro 1070924.JPG

English: The Oratory of Saint Sylvester,
at the Basilica Santi Quattro Coronati, Rome, Italy.
Italiano: Roma, Santi Quattro Coronati: oratorio di S. Silvestro.
Photo: 21 May 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Lalupa.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Returned from Egypt, Jesus grows in age and wisdom at Nazareth, where the years pass in quietness: Under the Pontificate of Sylvester I (314 A.D. - 345 A.D.), The Church, after three hundred years of Persecution, begins to enjoy liberty, which is her greatest boon.

She spreads in The Roman Empire, and The Council of Nicea (325 A.D.) establishes triumphantly, against Arius, The Doctrine of The Divinity of The Saviour, of which The Liturgy of The Season of Christmas is full.

At The First Council of Nicea, The Breviary tells us, The Catholic Faith on the subject of The Divinity of Christ was explained by three hundred and eighteen Bishops; Arius and his sect being condemned. At the request of The Fathers, Sylvester confirmed again this Council in a Synod held at Rome, and in which Arius was condemned again.


File:Celio - ss Quattro - oratorio s Silvestro 1070928.JPG

English: Christ in Glory fresco 
in the Oratory of Saint Sylvester,
at the Basilica Santi Quattro Coronati, Rome, Italy.
Italiano: Roma, Santi Quattro Coronati: oratorio di S. Silvestro - 
storie di Costantino e Silvestro (XIII sec.).
Photo: 21 May 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Lalupa.
(Wikimedia Commons)


According to the legend of The Breviary, Sylvester decreed also that the Bishop alone should consecrate the Chrism; that, in the administration of Baptism, the Priest should anoint with The Holy Oils the crown of the head of the person being Baptised; that Deacons should wear the Dalmatic and have a Maniple of linen on the left arm; and, finally, that The Sacrifice of The Mass should be offered up upon an Altar Cloth of linen.

He fixed also a certain period for those who should receive Holy Orders, during which they must exercise successively their Order in The Church, before being raised to a higher degree.

Sylvester ruled The Church twenty-one and a half years. He was buried in the Cemetery of Priscilla on The Salarian Way.

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


File:Costantino sogna pietro e paolo.jpg

English: Emperor Constantine, suffering from leprosy, 
dreams of Saints Peter and Paul. 
Fresco in The Oratory of Saint Sylvester, 
at the Basilica Santi Quattro Coronati, Rome, Italy.
Italiano: Roma, Santi Quattro Coronati, oratorio di S. Silvestro: 
Costantino, colpito da lebbra, sogna i santi Pietro e Paolo.
Photo: 21 May 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Lalupa.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Pope Sylvester I (died 31 December 335 A.D.), whose name is also spelled "Silvester", was the Head of The Catholic Church from 31 January 314 A.D., to his death in 335 A.D. He succeeded Pope Miltiades. He filled The See of Rome at an important era in the history of The Catholic Church, yet very little is known of him.

The accounts of his Papacy, preserved in The Liber Pontificalis (7th- or 8th-Century A.D.), contain little more than a record of the gifts said to have been conferred on The Church by Emperor Constantine I, but it does say that he was the son of a Roman, named Rufinus.During his Pontificate were built the great Churches founded at Rome by Constantine, e.g. the Basilica of Saint John LateranSanta Croce in GerusalemmeSaint Peter's Basilica, and several Cemeterial Churches over the graves of Martyrs.

Sylvester did not attend The First Council of Nicaea, in 325 A.D., but he was represented by two Legates, Vitus and Vincentius, and he approved The Council's decision.

Mass: Sacerdótes tui, Dómine.
Second Collect: Of The Octave of The Nativity of Our Lord.
Epistle: Testificor.
Gospel: Sint lumbi.
Creed.
Preface: For Christmas.
Communicantes: For Christmas.

Wednesday 30 December 2015

Fr Finigan Has A Heart Operation, Tomorrow. The Hermeneutic Of Continuity Requests Your Prayers, Today.



Illustration: PINTEREST



Fr Finigan opens his Leaving Present
("Build Your Own Minor Basilica")
prior to leaving Blackfen in 2014.
Author: Zephyrinus.

Sunday Within The Octave Of The Nativity Of Our Lord.


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


Sunday within The Octave of The Nativity of Our Lord.


Semi-Double.


White Vestments.



The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.
Artist: Rene de Cramer.
“Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium”.
Used with Permission.


This Mass is said on the Sunday, if this falls on 29 December, 30 December, or 31 December. In this case, every Parish Priest Celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.

It is said on 30 December (a weekday), if the Sunday falls on 25, 26, 27, or 28 December.

The Mass tells us that "The Word that came down from Heaven during the night" (Introit) of Christmas is "The Son of God Who has come that we might participate of His heritage and receive the adoption of sons" (Epistle).

Before His coming, man was as "a child, who, during his minority, differeth nothing from a servant" (Epistle). On the contrary, now that The New Law has emancipated him from the tutorship of The Old Law, he is no longer a servant, but a son" (Epistle).




In revealing to us this supernatural filiation of Christ, which affects our Souls more especially at this Season of Christmas, The Liturgy makes The Divinity, under the aspect of Paternity, resplendent in our eyes. Also, the Worship of the sons of God is summed up in that word that was spoken with Jesus, "Father ! " (Epistle).

The Gospel also discloses to us the glorious  mission which the future has in store for this Child, the manifestation of which begins today in the Temple.

"It is the King" (Gradual), "Whose Reign" (Alleluia) "will reach the very depths of the heart" (Gospel). For all, it will be a touchstone, a stumbling block for those who will persecute Him (Communion), a cornerstone "for many in Israel" (Gospel).

Mass: Dum médium.
Second Collect: Of The Octave of The Nativity.
Preface: For Christmas.
Communicantes: For Christmas (during The Octave).

Tuesday 29 December 2015

Saint Thomas Of Canterbury. Bishop And Martyr. Feast Day 29 December.


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

Saint Thomas of Canterbury.
Bishop and Martyr.
Feast Day 29 December.

Double.

Red Vestments.



This miniature, from an English Psalter, presents an account of the murder of Saint Thomas of Canterbury. Three of the four Knights attack the Archbishop, who is kneeling in Prayer before the Altar. One of the Knights kicks Saint Thomas to the floor, and sends his Mitre flying.
Artist: Anonymous.
Date: Circa 1250.
Current location: Walters Art Museum,
Baltimore, Maryland,
United States of America.
Credit line: Acquired by Henry Walters.
Source/Photographer: Walters Art Museum.
(Wikimedia Commons)


If 29 December falls on a Sunday, The Mass of The Sunday within The Octave of The Nativity is said, with a Commemoration of Saint Thomas.

The Season of Christmas, by manifesting to us The Divine Filiation of The Child in The Crib, as the Epistle of The Day reminds us, shows that He is a Priest. His Priesthood consists in making The Life of God penetrate our Souls and in defending, even at the cost of His Life, The Divine Rights of this Beloved Spouse.

The Feast of Saint Thomas Becket shows us that, in participating in The Dignity of The Christ Priest, as Archbishop of Canterbury, he knew how to prove himself, like Christ, The Shepherd, who defends His flock against the ravages of the wolf (Gospel).




Seal of The Abbot of Arbroath, Scotland, showing the murder of Saint Thomas Becket.
Arbroath Abbey was Founded eight years after the death of Saint Thomas and Dedicated to him. Arbroath Abbey became the wealthiest Abbey in Scotland.
Date: Mediaeval Seal. Photo from the 1850s.
Source: Cosmo Innes and Patrick Chalmers (eds.), Liber S. Thome De Aberbrothoc; Registrorum Abbacie De Aberbrothoc, Volume 2, Edinburgi (Bannatyne Club) 1848-1856, front.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Henry II, King of England, wished him (Thomas) to sanction customs contrary to the liberties of The Church. Saint Thomas knew that to make this Divine Society subservient to the secular power would be to violate her very constitution, and so he declared that "as a Priest of Jesus Christ, he would willingly suffer death in defence of The Church of God".

He was slain in his Cathedral by the King's soldiers on 29 December 1170.

Against those who seek to enslave The Church, let us neither employ the craft of politics nor the weapons of warfare, but, after the example "of the glorious Thomas, who fell by the swords of the wicked in the defence of The Church" (Collect), let us know how to withstand them resolutely with all the moral strength that the defence of The Rights of God inspires.


Mass: Gaudeámus omnes in Dómino.

Second Collect: Of The Octave of The Nativity.
Preface: For Christmas.
Communicantes: For Christmas.


Monday 28 December 2015

The Holy Innocents. Martyrs. Feast Day, Today, 28 December.



"The Coventry Carol".
The Carol refers to
The Massacre of The Innocents.
Sung by Charlotte Church.
Available on YouTube at


From The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

The Holy Innocents.
Martyrs.
Feast Day 28 December.

Station at Saint Paul-without-the Walls.


(Indulgence of 30 years and 30 Quarantines).

Double of The Second-Class
   with Simple Octave.

Violet Vestments.
(If Sunday; Red).



File:Matteo di Giovanni 002.jpg

Massacre of The Innocents.
Artist: Matteo di Giovanni (1435–1495).
Date: 1488.
Current location: National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples, Italy.
Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. 
ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
Permission: [1].
(Wikimedia Commons)


File:0 Le Massacre des Innocents d'après P.P. Rubens - Musées royaux des beaux-arts de Belgique (2).JPG

The Massacre of The Innocents.
Artist: Workshop of Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).
photographiée lors de l’exposition temporaire 
« L'Europe de Rubens » au musée du Louvre-Lens.
English: Photographed during the exhibition "L'Europe de Rubens" 
(The Europe of Rubens) in the Louvre-Lens.
Deutsch: während der Ausstellung "L'Europe de Rubens" 
(Das Europa Rubens) im Louvre-Lens fotografiert.
Nederlands: gefotografeerd tijdens de tentoonstelling " 
"L'Europe de Rubens" (Rubens en zijn Tijd) in de Louvre-Lens.
Source/Photographer: User:Jean-Pol GRANDMONT (2013).
(Wikimedia Commons)


The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

The Massacre of the Innocents is the Biblical narrative of Infanticide, by Herod the Great, the Roman-appointed King of the Jews. According to the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the "Vicinity of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews, whose birth had been announced to him by the Magi.

In typical Matthean style, it is understood as the fulfillment of an Old Testament Prophecy: "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah, the Prophet, saying: "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more."

The number of infants killed is not stated, however, The Holy Innocents, although not Christians, have been claimed as Martyrs for Christianity.

In Saint Matthew's account, Magi from the East go to Judea in search of the newborn King of the Jews, having "seen His star in the East". The King, Herod the Great, directs them to Bethlehem, and asks them to let him know who this King is when they find Him. They find Jesus and honour Him, but an Angel tells them not to alert Herod, and they return home by another way. The Massacre of the Innocents is at Matthew 2:1618, although the preceding verses form the context:


File:Matteo di Giovanni 002.jpg


When [the Magi] had gone, an Angel of The Lord appeared to Joseph, in a dream"Get up", he said, "take the child and His mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill Him".
So, he got up, took the child and His mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what The Lord had said through the Prophet: "Out of Egypt I called My Son."
When Herod realised that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem, and its vicinity, who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
Then what was said through the Prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."


File:Matteo di Giovanni 002.jpg


The story's first appearance in any source other than Matthew is in the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James of circa 150 A.D., which excludes the Flight into Egypt and switches the attention of the story to the infant, John the Baptist:

"And when Herod knew that he had been mocked by the Magi, in a rage he sent murderers, saying to them: Slay the children from two years old and under. And Mary, having heard that the children were being killed, was afraid, and took the infant and swaddled Him, and put Him into an ox-stall.
And Elizabeth, having heard that they were searching for John, took him and went up into the hill-country, and kept looking where to conceal him. And there was no place of concealment.
And Elizabeth, groaning with a loud voice, says: O mountain of God, receive mother and child. And immediately the mountain was cleft, and received her. And a light shone about them, for an Angel of The Lord was with them, watching over them."


File:Matteo di Giovanni 002.jpg


The first non-Christian reference to The Massacre is recorded four Centuries later, by Macrobius (lived 395 A.D. - 423 A.D.), who writes in his Saturnalia:
"When he [Emperor Augustus] heard that, among the boys in Syria under two years old whom Herod, king of the Jews, had ordered to kill, his [Editor: Herod's] own son was also killed, he said: 'It is better to be Herod's pig, than his son'."
The "Coventry Carol" is a Christmas Carol dating from the 16th-Century. The Carol was performed in CoventryEngland, as part of a Mystery Play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The Play depicts the Christmas Story from Chapter Two in the Gospel of Matthew.


File:Matteo di Giovanni 002.jpg


The Carol refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, in which Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two, in Bethlehem, to be killed. The lyrics of this haunting Carol represent a mother's lament for her doomed child. It is the only Carol that has survived from this Play. The author is unknown. The oldest known text was written down by Robert Croo, in 1534, and the oldest known printing of the melody dates from 1591. The Carol is traditionally sung a cappella.

Mediaeval Liturgical Drama recounted Biblical events, including Herod's Slaughter of the Innocents. The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors, performed in Coventry, England, included a haunting song about the episode, now known as the Coventry Carol.

The Ordo Rachelis tradition of four Plays includes the Flight into Egypt, Herod's succession by Archelaus, the Return from Egypt, as well as the Massacre, all centred on Rachel weeping, in fulfillment of Jeremiah's Prophecy. These events were, likewise, in one of the Mediaeval N-Town Plays.


File:Matteo di Giovanni 002.jpg


The theme of the "Massacre of the Innocents" has provided artists of many nationalities with opportunities to compose complicated depictions of massed bodies in violent action. It was an alternative to the Flight into Egypt in Cycles of the Life of the Virgin. It decreased in popularity in Gothic art, but revived in the larger works of the Renaissance, when artists took inspiration for their "Massacres" from Roman reliefs of the battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs, to the extent that they showed the figures heroically nude.

The horrific subject matter, of the Massacre of the Innocents, also provided a comparison of ancient brutalities with early modern ones during the period of Religious Wars that followed the Reformation - Bruegel's versions show the soldiers carrying banners with the Habsburg Double-Headed Eagle (often used at the time for Ancient Roman soldiers).

The 1590 version, by Cornelis van Haarlem, also seems to reflect the violence of the Dutch RevoltGuido Reni's early (1611) Massacre of the Innocents, in an unusual vertical format, is at Bologna. The Flemish painter, Peter Paul Rubens, painted the theme more than once. One version, now in Munich, was engraved and reproduced as a painting as far away as colonial Peru. Another, his grand Massacre of the Innocents, is now at the Art Gallery of Ontario, in Toronto, Canada. The French painter, Nicolas Poussin, painted The Massacre of the Innocents (1634) at the height of the Thirty Years' War. The Massacre is the opening Plot used in the 2006 movie, The Nativity Story.


File:Matteo di Giovanni 002.jpg


The Commemoration of the Massacre of these "Holy Innocents" — considered by some Christians as the first Martyrs for Christ — first appears as a Feast of the Western Church in the Leonine Sacramentary, dating from about 485 A.D. The earliest Commemorations were connected with the Feast of the Epiphany, 6 January: Prudentius mentions the Innocents in his Hymn on the Epiphany; Leo, in his Homilies on the Epiphany, speaks of the Innocents; Fulgentius of Ruspe (6th-Century) gives a Homily "De Epiphania, deque Innocentum nece et muneribus magorum" ("On Epiphany, and on the Murder of the Innocents and the Gifts of the Magi").

Today, the date of Holy Innocents' Day, also called The Innocents' Day, or Childermass, or Children's Mass, varies. 27 December is the date for West Syrians (Syriac Orthodox ChurchSyro-Malankara Catholic Church, and Maronite Church) and East Syrians (Chaldeans and Syro-Malabar Catholic Church). 28 December is the date in the Church of England, the Lutheran Church and the Roman Catholic Church (in which, except on Sunday, Violet Vestments were worn before 1961, instead of Red Vestments, the normal Liturgical Colour for Martyrs). The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the Feast Day on 29 December.

In the 1962 Roman Catholic Calendar, the Violet Vestments for Holy Innocents were eliminated (Red Vestments used, instead), and if 28 December fell on a Sunday, this Feast was Commemorated on the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas. This was changed in a later revision of the Church Calendar.

File:Matteo di Giovanni 002.jpg


In SpainHispanic America and the Philippines, 28 December is a day for pranksequivalent to April Fool's Day in many countries. One of the more famous of these traditions is the annual "Els Enfarinats" Festival of Ibi, in Alicante, where the inocentadas dress up in full military dress and incite a flour fight. Various Catholic countries had a tradition (no longer widely observed) of role reversal between children and their adult educators, including Boy Bishops, perhaps a Christianised version of the Roman annual feast of the Saturnalia (when even slaves played "masters" for a day). In some cultures, such as Mediaeval England and France, it was said to be an unlucky day, when no new project should be started.

In addition, there was a Mediaeval custom of refraining, where possible, from work on the day of the week on which the Feast of "Innocents Day" had fallen, for the whole of the following year until the next Innocents Day. This was presumably mainly observed by the better-off. Philippe de Commynes, the Minister of King Louis XI of France, tells in his memoirs how the King observed this custom, and describes the trepidation he felt when he had to inform the King of an emergency on the day.


File:Matteo di Giovanni 002.jpg


The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

The Feast of The Holy Innocents dates back to about the 5th-Century. The massacre of these infants manifests the Royal Character of Jesus. It is because Herod believed the words of the Magi, and those of the High Priests, whom he consulted, that he sees a rival in the Infant of Bethlehem and jealously pursues Him "that is born King of the Jews" [Gospel of the Epiphany].

But, as the Church sings, "O cruel Herod, why thus fear, Thy King and God Who comes below ? No Earthly crown comes He to take, Who Heavenly kingdoms doth bestow" [Hymn for Vespers of the Epiphany].

It is this God-King that "the Innocents, by dying, confess" (Collect). "Their passion is the exaltation of Christ" [Third Nocturn of Matins]. And the praise that they render to God is a subject of confusion in the enemies of Jesus (Introit), for, far from attaining their object, they only served to fulfil the saying of the Prophet "out of Egypt have I called My Son" (Gospel), and that at Bethlehem would be heard the lamentations of the mothers mourning for their children.


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To picture their desolation in more vivid colours, Jeremias recalls Rachel, whose lamentations are heard in Rama [a town situated two hours to the North of Jerusalem, in the old territory of Benjamin, son of Rachel], bewailing her children because they are not.

Like a compassionate mother, The Church robes her Priests, today, in Vestments of mourning, and suppresses the Gloria and Alleluia.

This Feast is Celebrated at Saint Paul's-without-the-Walls, because the bodies of several of those Holy Martyrs are Venerated there.

Let us show forth in holiness of life, The Divinity of Christ, that was confessed by the death of these innocent Souls of the children.

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

Mass: Ex ore infántium.
The Gloria in excelsis, The Alleluia, and the Ite Missa est are said only if The Feast falls on a Sunday, and on The Octave Day of The Feast (4 January).
Second Collect: Of The Octave of The Nativity of Our Lord.
Preface: For Christmas.
Communicantes: For Christmas.

Sunday 27 December 2015

Saint John. Apostle And Evangelist. Feast Day, Today, 27 December.


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

Saint John.
Apostle and Evangelist.
Feast Day 27 December.

Station at Saint Mary Major.

Indulgence of 30 Years and 30 Quarantines.

Double of The Second-Class
   with Simple Octave.

White Vestments.



Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist.
Illustration: LITURGIA LATINA



Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist.
Available on YouTube at


The Station was held at Saint Mary Major in honour of her to whom Jesus, on The Cross, entrusted Saint John: "Woman, behold thy son".

It is God Whom we Adore at Bethlehem (Editor: In Hebrew, Bethlehem means "House of Bread"] during Christmastide. Thus, it was natural that Saint John, the chief Evangelist of The Divinity of Christ, should be found beside The Crib, to disclose The Greatness of The Infant Who reposes therein.

It is to him that Jesus wishes to entrust His Mother, when Joseph will have passed away. The Liturgy, therefore, loves to show together, beside The Child and His Mother, him whom the Gospel calls the Apostle "The Just Man" ["Joseph, her husband, being a Just Man." (Matt. i. 19.)], and whom The Church today honours with the same Title (Offertory).




The Infant God in The Crib gathers around Him pure Souls: Mary is The Blessed Virgin; Joseph The Chaste Spouse; Saint Stephen The First Martyr who washes his robe in The Blood of The Lamb. Now behold Saint John, The Virgin Apostle. Crowned with the halo of those who knew how to conquer their flesh, for this reason he became "The Disciple whom Jesus loved, and who also leaned on His breast at supper" (Gospel).

Thanks to his Angelic Purity, he imbibed that wholesome wisdom of which the Epistle speaks and which won for him the halo of Doctor. The Introit of his Mass is the one The Church uses in "The Common of Doctors".

It is to Saint John , who wrote a Gospel, three Epistles, and The Apocalypse, that we owe the most beautiful pages on The Divinity of The Word Made Flesh; and it is for this reason that he is symbolised by The Eagle, which soars in the heights.




Finally, he received the halo of Martyr, since he only escaped a violent death by that special protection of which the Gospel speaks and which made many believe that The Beloved Disciple would not die. Actually, he did not depart this life until all the other Apostles had passed away.

His name is mentioned with their names in The Canon of The Mass (First List).

The desire to connect the great Saints with The Feast of The Nativity was the cause of Celebrating on this day, except at Rome, The Feast of Saint James, brother of Saint John, and, on 28 December, that of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

"On this day, wine offered by The Faithful is Blessed in remembrance  and in honour of Saint John, who, without any ill effects, drank a cup of poisoned wine" (Roman Ritual).

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

Mass: In médio Ecclésiae.
Second Collect: Of The Octave of The Nativity of Our Lord.
Preface: For Christmas.
Communicantes: For Christmas.

Saturday 26 December 2015

Saint Stephen. First Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 26 December.


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

Saint Stephen.
First Martyr.
Feast Day 26 December.

Station at Saint Stephen's-on-the-Coelian Hill.

Indulgence of 30 Years and 30 Quarantines.

Double of The Second-Class
   with Simple Octave.

Red Vestments.


The Martyrdom of Saint Stephan.
Artist: Rene de Cramer.
“Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium”.
Used with Permission.


The Church was still in her infancy when Stephen, renowned for his virtues, received from The Apostles the mission to organise the meals where the Poor were fed in common. He worked such "great wonders and signs among the people" (Epistle) that the Jews from five different synagogues became alarmed and summoned him before the Sanhedrin (Introit).

Jesus had upbraided the Jews "for having killed and stoned the Prophets" (Gospel); Stephen, in his turn, addressing his judges declared that in crucifying Christ they had shown themselves worthy of their fathers who put to death the messengers of God. The Holy Deacon then lifting his eyes to Heaven said that "he saw The Son of God standing on the Right-Hand of God" (Gospel). What a splendid testimony to The Divinity of this Child Whom we Venerate in The Crib.




English: Basilica of Saint Stephen-in-the-Round on The Coelian Hill.
Italiano: Basilica di Santo Stefano al Monte Celio.
Latin: Basilica S. Stephani in Caelio Monte.
Basilica of Santo Stefano Rotondo in a 19th-Century painting.
Artist: Ettore Roesler Franz (1845–1907).
Date: Circa 1880.
(Wikimedia Commons)



On hearing these words, the Jews, fulfilling once more the words of The Master (Gospel), "with one accord ran violently upon Stephen and stoned him,", who, falling on his knees, commended his Soul to Jesus (Epistle) and asked pardon for his executioners (Collect).

Stephen is the first of the witnesses of Christ, it is therefore only right that he should appear first in the glorious procession of Saints who surround The Cradle of The Saviour. It is a tendency noticeable in a Greek Martyrology of the 4th-Century A.D., to connect the greatest of The New Testament Saints with The Feast of The Nativity. His name is inscribed in The Canon of The Mass (Second List).

Following after the example of Stephen, may we "love by Charity even those who wrong us" (Collect), and be ever ready to surrender our life for Christ.

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

Mass: Sedérunt principes.

Friday 25 December 2015

Thank God For Little Children.




The Virgin of the Lilies (La Vierge au lys).
Artist: William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905).
Date: 1899.
Source: PaintingHere.com
Author: William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905).
(Wikimedia Commons)






Zephyrinus wishes a Very Happy,
Holy, and Peaceful Christmas
to all Readers.


A Very Happy, Holy, And Peaceful, Christmas To All Readers.



The Adoration of the Shepherds.
Artist: Gerard van Honthorst (1590–1656).
Date: 25 December 1622.
Current location: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum,
Cologne, Germany.
Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.
DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202.
Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Zephyrinus Wishes 
Very HappyHolyAnd PeacefulChristmas 
To All Readers.

"O, Holy Night."


File:Bouguereau The Virgin With Angels.jpg

Title: "The Virgin With Angels".
Artist: William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905).
Date: 1900.
Current location: Petit PalaisParis, France.
Source/Photographer: Art Renewal Center image.
Copied from the English Wikipedia to Commons.
Author: William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905).
(Wikimedia Commons)



"O, Holy Night."
Sung by Celine Dion.
Available on YouTube at


The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

"O Holy Night" ("Cantique de Noël") is a well-known Christmas Carol, composed by Adolphe Adam, in 1847, to the French poem "Minuit, Chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians), by a wine merchant and poet, Placide Cappeau (1808–1877).

In Roquemaure, France, at the end of 1843, the Church Organ was renovated. To celebrate the event, the Parish Priest asked Cappeau, a native of Roquemaure, to write a Christmas poem. Cappeau did it, although being a professed Anti-Cleric and Atheist.

Soon after, Adam wrote the music. The Carol was premiered in Roquemaure, in 1847, by the Opera Singer Emily Laurey.

Unitarian Minister John Sullivan Dwight, Editor of "Dwight's Journal of Music", created a singing edition, based on Cappeau's French Text, in 1855. In both the French original, and in the two familiar English versions of the Carol, the Text reflects on The Birth of Jesus and of Humanity's Redemption.

The Nativity Of Our Lord. 25 December. The First Mass At Midnight.


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

The Nativity of Our Lord.
25 December.
First Mass at Midnight.

Station at Saint Mary Major
   at The Altar of The Crib.

Indulgence of 15 Years and 15 Quarantines.

Double of The First-Class
   with Privileged Octave
      of Third Order.

White Vestments.




The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.
Artist: Rene de Cramer.
“Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium”.
Used with Permission.



The Word, begotten from all Eternity by The Father, has raised into personal union with Himself The Blessed Fruit of The Virginal Womb of Mary; in other words, the human and Divine natures are joined in Our Lord in the unity of a single Person - The Second Person of The Blessed Trinity.

Further, since when we speak of a son we mean a person, Jesus must be called The Son of God, because, as The Son of God, He is a Divine Person. From this it follows, that Our Lady is called The Mother of God; not that she has begotten The Word, but because from her is derived the humanity that The Word has united to Himself in The Mystery of The Incarnation.

Of this Mystery, the first manifestation to the World was The Birth of Our Lord at Bethlehem [Editor: In Hebrew, Bethlehem means "House of Bread"]. Whence, we see the reason why, every year at Christmas, The Church says "Puer natus est nobis et Filius datus est nobis". "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given." [Introit, Alleluia.]




It is The Son of God, God begotten of The Father in the one day of Eternity (Ego hodie genui te), Who is now begotten of The Father as Man in the day of The Incarnation; Ego hodie genui te. "By the taking of the Manhood into God," says Saint Athanasius, The Son of Mary is born to The Divine Life. As it was as Midnight that Our Lady brought her first-born Son into the World and laid Him in a cradle, so Mass is Celebrated at Midnight in Saint Mary Major, Rome, where the Relics of The Crib are kept.

"With great Devotion," says Saint Leo, "has The Incarnate Word given Himself to win for us the fight against Satan, for not in His Divine Majesty, but in the weakness of our flesh, He waged war against this cruel enemy." [Fifth Lesson.] The Victory which He has gained, in spite of His weakness, shows Him to be God.

It is "God of God, Light of Light," (Credo) Who disperses the darkness of sin. "Christ is The True Light Who comes to enlighten the World, plunged in darkness" (Collect). "By The Mystery of The Word made Flesh," says the Preface, "the light of Thy Glory hath shone anew upon the eyes of our mind; so that, while we acknowledge Him as God seen by men, we may be drawn by Him to the love of things unseen."




"The Grace of God Our Saviour hath appeared to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness ad worldly desires . . . that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and might cleanse to Himself a people acceptable, and zealous in good works" (Epistle).

He is made like unto us that we may become like unto Him (Secret), and by His example may be enabled to live a holy life (Postcommunion). Thus, shall we "live soberly, justly, and godly in this World, looking for the Blessed hope and coming of the Glory of The Great God and Our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Epistle).

As we saw in Advent, The First Coming of Our Lord prepares us for the Second.

Mass: Dóminus dixit ad me.



Beautiful illustration by
Illustration: FLICKR

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