Friday in the Octave of Corpus Christi; Com. S. Silvester Pope & Martyr: Missa “Cibávít eos”
The Octave of Corpus Christi being privileged, Feasts are either commemorated only (in which case the appropriate Collect is said after that of the Office) or transferred to after the Octave.
The Feast of Corpus Christi (Latin for Body of Christ), also known as Corpus Domini, is a Latin Rite liturgical solemnity celebrating the tradition and belief in the body and blood of Jesus Christ and his Real Presence in the Eucharist. It emphasizes the joy of the institution of the Eucharist, which was observed on Holy Thursday in the sombre atmosphere of the nearness of Good Friday.
Saint Silverius, sovereign Pontiff and martyr, stands as a noble witness to the immemorial principle that fidelity to Christ and His Church comes at the cost of the world’s favour—even within the precincts of ecclesiastical power.
Born to a saintly father—Pope Hormisdas, himself a widower before entering the sacred ministry—Silverius was of noble Roman stock. His election to the papacy in 536 A.D. was under unusual and politically charged circumstances. At the time, the Gothic King Theodahad exercised great influence in Italy, and Silverius’ appointment was partly the result of Gothic pressure. Nevertheless, once enthroned, Silverius demonstrated his integrity and orthodoxy with remarkable clarity.
It was the heresy of Monophysitism—denying the two natures of Christ, divine and human—that embroiled his papacy in fierce conflict. The Empress Theodora of Constantinople, a vehement supporter of the Monophysite sect, demanded that Silverius reinstate the heretical Patriarch Anthimus of Constantinople. Refusing to yield the Church’s doctrinal purity to imperial intrigue, Silverius stood firm. “What communion hath light with darkness?” (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14) seemed to be the unspoken answer he gave to the empress’s envoys.
But Theodora was not to be defied without consequence. She conspired with the ambitious deacon Vigilius, who coveted the papal throne. Through forged accusations—claiming Silverius was secretly collaborating with the Goths—she had him arrested and deposed. Silverius was exiled first to Patara in Lycia, where the local bishop, moved by the Pope’s innocence and suffering, appealed to the Eastern Emperor Justinian. Yet the empress’ will prevailed. Silverius was brought back not to Rome but to the island of Palmaria near Ponza, where he was subjected to neglect, hunger, and eventual martyrdom in the year 537 or 538.
Thus the Vicar of Christ was cast aside by the political Church and the worldly empire alike, offering his life as a true shepherd “who layeth down his life for his sheep” (John 10:11). His fidelity to the faith against heresy and political pressure marks him as a model for popes, bishops, and all who bear the name of Christ.
His Mass in the traditional rite is that of a Martyr-Pontiff, echoing the refrain of the Introit: “Let the priests of God bless the Lord”—a fitting antiphon for one who blessed the Lord with his suffering unto death.
St. Silverius reminds us that the papacy is not a throne of earthly power, but a cross—a place where the Vicar of Christ must so conform himself to the Crucified as to prefer exile and ignominy to compromise with heresy. His witness refutes the modern temptation to equate unity with appeasement and doctrinal peace with capitulation. He is a saint for our times, especially for an age of episcopal weakness and papal ambiguity. His intercession is powerful for the restoration of clarity and courage in the Church’s hierarchy.
Sancte Silveri, ora pro nobis.
INTROIT Psalm 80: 17
He fed them with the fat of wheat, alleluia; and filled them with honey, out of the rock, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. (Ps. 80: 2) Rejoice in God, our Helper sing aloud to the God of Jacob. v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Repeat He fed them……
COLLECT
O God, Who in a wonderful Sacrament hast left unto us the memorial of Thy Passion; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may so venerate the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood as to experience continually within ourselves the fruit of Thy Redemption. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, Forever and ever. R. Amen.
Commemoration St. Silverius, Pope and Martyr
Be mindful of our weakness, almighty God, and because the burden of our sins weighs heavily upon us, may the glorious intercession of blessed Silverius, Your Martyr and Bishop, sustain us. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
LESSON 1 Corinthians 11: 23-29
Lesson from the First Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. Brethren, I have received of the Lord, that which also I delivered to you that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye and eat, this is My Body which shall be delivered for you; this do for the commemoration of Me. In like manner also the chalice, after He had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in My Blood; this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me. For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink this chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord until He come. Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink of the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and the Blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself; and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord.
GRADUAL/ ALLELUIA Psalm 144: 15, 16
The eyes of all hope in Thee, O Lord, and Thou givest them meat in due season. V. Thou openest Thy hand, and fillest living every creature with Thy blessing. Alleluia, alleluia. V. (John 6: 56) My Flesh is meat indeed and My Blood is drink indeed: he that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. Alleluia.
SEQUENCE “Lauda Sion”
Sion, lift up thy voice and sing:
Praise thy Saviour and thy King,
Praise with hymns thy shepherd true.
All thou canst, do thou endeavour,
Yet thy praise can equal never
Such as merits thy great King.
See today before us laid
The living and life-giving Bread!
Theme for praise and joy profound!
The same which at the sacred board
Was, by our incarnate Lord,
Giv’n to His Apostles round.
Let the praise be loud and high:
Sweet and tranquil be the joy
Felt today in every breast.
On this festival divine
Which records the origin
Of the glorious Eucharist.
On this table of the King,
Our new Paschal offering
Brings to end the olden rite.
Here, for empty shadows fled,
Is reality instead;
Here, instead of darkness, light.
His own act, at supper seated,
Christ ordain’d to be repeated,
In His memory divine;
Wherefore now, with adoration,
We, the Host of our salvation,
Consecrate from bread and wine.
Hear, what holy Church maintaineth,
That the bread its substance changeth
Into Flesh, the wine to Blood.
Doth it pass thy comprehending?
Faith, the law of sight transcending
Leaps to things not understood,
Here beneath these signs are hidden
Priceless things, to sense forbidden
Signs, not things, are all we see.
Flesh, from bread, and Blood from wine,
Yet is Christ in either sign,
All entire, confessed to be.
They, who of Him here partake,
Sever not, nor rend, nor break:
But, entire, their Lord receive
Whether one or thousands eat,
All receive the self-same meat,
Nor the less for others leave,
Both the wicked and the good
eat of this celestial Food;
But with ends how opposite!
Here ‘t is life:
and there ‘t is death:
The same, yet issuing to each
In a difference infinite.
Nor a single doubt retain,
When they break the Host in twain,
But that in each part remains
What was in the whole before;
Since the simple sign alone
Suffers change in state or form
The signified remaining one
And the same for evermore.
Lo! upon the altar lies,
Hidden deep from human eyes,
Bread of Angels from the skies,
Made the food of mortal man;
Children’s meat to dogs denied,
In old types presignified:
In the manna Heaven-supplied
In Isaac, and the Paschal lamb.
Jesu! Shepherd of the sheep!
Thou Thy flock in safety keep,
Living Bread! Thy life supply:
Strengthen us, or else we die:
Fill us with celestial grace!
Thou, who feedest us below!
Source of all we have or know!
Grant that with Thy Saints above,
Sitting at the feast of love,
We may see Thee face to face.
Amen. Alleluia.
GOSPEL St. John 6: 56-59
At that time, Jesus said to the multitude of the Jews: “My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me, the same shall also live by Me. This is the Bread that came down from Heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live forever.”
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Leviticus 21: 6
The priests of the Lord offer incense and loaves to God, and therefore they shall be holy to their God, and shall not defile His Name. Alleluia.
SECRET
Graciously bestow on Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the gifts of unity and peace, which are mystically shown forth in the gifts now offered. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, Forever and ever. R. Amen.
Commemoration St. Silverius, Pope and Martyr
O Lord, graciously accept, through the merits of Your blessed Martyr and Bishop Silverius, the sacrificial gifts dedicated to You, and grant they may prove to be for us a lasting help. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. R. Amen
PREFACE of the Incarnation
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God, for through the Mystery of the Word made flesh, the new light of Thy glory hath shone upon the eyes of our mind, so that while we acknowledge God in visible form, we may through Him be drawn to the love things invisible. And therefore with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the hosts of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of The glory, evermore saying:
COMMUNION ANTIPHON 1 Corinthians 11: 26, 27
As often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show forth the death of the Lord, until He come: therefore whosoever shall eat this Bread or drink the Chalice of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Alleluia
POSTCOMMUNION
Make us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to be filled with the eternal enjoyment of Thy Divinity, which is prefigured by the reception in this life of Thy precious Body and Blood. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, Forever and ever. R. Amen.
Commemoration St. Silverius, Pope and Martyr
Refreshed by partaking of the sacred gift, we beseech You, O Lord our God, that we may enjoy the benefits of the rite we perform through the intercession of blessed Silverius, Your Martyr and Bishop. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
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