Thursday in the Third Week of Lent: Missa “Salus pópuli”
Collecta at St. Mark. Station at SS. Cosmas and Damian. Under the high altar of St. Mark’s rest the bodies of the martyrs SS. Abdon, Sennen, and Hermes, transferred thither by Pope Gregory IV (827-44).
The stational Basilica at SS. Cosmas and Damian we have already noted as the place of the collecta on the second Monday in Lent. The Mass refers chiefly to the anniversary of the martyrdom, and the frequent mention of health, sickness, and healing recalls the great popularity of the veneration paid to the holy Anargyri (moneyless) in those early days.
In the Old Testament Lesson, again we are minded that “God is faithful to those faithful to Him” as the keeping of His Law promises His favour to those motivated for love of Him expressed by good deeds towards their neighbour. The healings by Jesus referred to in the Gospel remind us of God’s favour to those who will turn to Him and His eagerness to preach His Gospel reminds us of the haste with which we should heed His Word and seek after His Grace in our lives.
INTROIT Ps. 77.1
I am the salvation of the people, saith the Lord: from whatever tribulation they shall cry to Me, I will hear them: and I will be their Lord for ever. Psalm 77. 1 Attend, O My people, to My law; incline your ears to the words of My mouth. Glory be to the Father. I am the salvation of the people…
COLLECT
May the blessed solemnity of Thy Saints Cosmas and Damian glorify Thee, O Lord: whereby Thou hast both given to them everlasting glory and to us Thine aid in Thine unspeakable providence. Through our Lord…
LESSON Jeremias 7:1-7
In those days the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord: and proclaim there this word, and say: Hear ye the word of the Lord, all ye men of Juda that enter in at these gates, to adore the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Make your ways and your doings good: and I will dwell with you in this place. Trust not in lying words, saying: The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, it is the temple of the Lord. For if you will order well your ways and your doings: if you will execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, and walk not after strange gods to your own hurt; I will dwell with you in this place, in the land which I gave to your fathers from the beginning and for evermore: saith the Lord almighty.
GRADUAL Psalm 144. 15, 1
The eyes of all hope in Thee, O Lord; and Thou givest them meat in due season. V. Thou openest Thy hand, and fillest every living creature with blessing.
GOSPEL Luke 4. 38-4
At that time, Jesus rising up out of the synagogue, went into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought Him for her. And standing over her, He commanded the fever: and it left her. And immediately rising, she ministered to them. And when the sun was down, all they that had any sick with divers diseases, brought them to Him. But He, laying His hands on every one of them, healed them. And devils went out from many, crying out and saying: Thou art the Son of God; and rebuking them, He suffered them not to speak, for they knew that He was Christ. And when it was day, going out He went into a desert place: and the multitudes sought Him, and came unto Him: and they stayed Him that He should not depart from them. To whom He said: To other cities also I must preach the kingdom of God; for therefore am I sent. And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Ps. 137:7
If I shall walk in the midst of tribulation, Thou wilt quicken me, O Lord: and Thou wilt stretch forth Thy hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Thy right hand shall save me.
SECRET
O Lord, in honor of the precious death of Thy righteous ones, we offer to Thee that sacrifice from which all martyrdom has taken its source. Through our Lord…
COMMUNION ANTIPHON Ps. 118:4,5
Thou hast commanded Thy commandments to be kept most diligently: O that my ways may be directed to keep Thy justifications.
POSTCOMMUNION
May Thy Sacrament, O Lord, be to us a sure means of salvation for which we plead by the merits of Thy blessed Martyrs Cosmas and Damian. Through our Lord…
PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
May Thy heavenly mercy increase Thy people who serve Thee, O Lord, we beseech Thee: and make them ever obedient to Thy commandments. Through our Lord…