The Octave Day of Corpus Christi; Commemoration of SS. John & Paul , Martyrs: 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.
The Church, ever venerating her heroic sons, sets aside this day to commemorate Saints John and Paul, two brothers in the flesh and in the faith, united in life, in martyrdom, and in eternal glory. Their very names have been joined by Providence and perpetuated in the sacred Canon of the Mass, a testimony to their early and universal veneration.
These holy martyrs, formerly officers in the household of the Christian empress Constantia—daughter of Constantine the Great—lived under the shadow of persecution once Julian the Apostate seized power. Refusing to apostatize or honour the false gods of Rome, John and Paul chose rather to die than to betray Christ their King. They were slain in secret, within their own house on the Caelian Hill, by imperial agents, lest their public execution stir the faithful to zeal and protest. Their bodies were buried in the very place where they were killed, and that spot, consecrated by their blood, would become the famed Basilica of Saints John and Paul (Santi Giovanni e Paolo), built by the senator Pammachius and one of the oldest tituli in the city of Rome.
Liturgical and Theological Significance
The Proper of the Mass on this day is suffused with the noble dignity of Christian martyrdom. The Introit, Mihi autem nimis honorati sunt amici tui, Deus—”To me, Thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable”—echoes the Psalmist’s admiration of those who belong most intimately to God through the witness of their blood. The Epistle from Wisdom (Wis. 3:1–8) exalts the just whose souls are in the hands of God, untouched by torment, radiant as sparks through the stubble, chosen to judge nations. The Gospel, taken from St. Luke (12:1–8), calls the faithful to fear not those who kill the body but to confess Christ boldly before men—a charge Saints John and Paul fulfilled to perfection.
The collect, brief and poignant, beseeches God that the faithful may grow in piety through the intercession of the saints in whose solemnity they rejoice. The Church, thus, invites us not merely to admire these martyrs, but to imitate them—to live in fidelity, to confess Christ without compromise, and to prefer death to infidelity.
A Witness for Our Times
In an age increasingly hostile to supernatural truth, the memory of Saints John and Paul is a rebuke to the lukewarm and the worldly. Their martyrdom was not the consequence of dramatic missionary journeys or public miracles, but the quiet, consistent refusal to compromise with apostasy, idolatry, or the seductions of imperial favour. Their house became their altar. Their fidelity was their crown.
These holy martyrs stand as patrons not only of Rome but of all those called to suffer in quiet fidelity—of Christian households under siege, of laypersons resisting subtle but deadly pressures to conform to the spirit of the age. They teach us that martyrdom may come, not always with swords and tribunals, but in the patient and courageous witness of daily fidelity.
Conclusion
Let us, then, beg Saints John and Paul to intercede for us in our trials: that we may stand firm in the profession of our faith, that our homes may be sanctified as their house was sanctified, and that, united to the sacrifice of the Lamb, we may be found worthy of the heavenly crown promised to those who overcome.
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 Sts. John and Paul, Martyrs
We beseech You, almighty God, that on this feast-day we may have the double joy of celebrating blessed John and Paul, true brothers who obtained eternal glory through one faith and one martyrdom.
Commemoration Third Day of the Octave of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist
O God, Who made this a day most worthy of our celebration because of blessed John; grant Your people the grace of spiritual joys and direct the minds of all the faithful into the path of eternal salvation. 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” (At the celebrant’s discretion)
Sion, lift up thy voice and sing:
Praise thy Savior and thy King,
Praise with hymns thy shepherd true.
All thou canst, do thou endeavor,
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 Sts. John and Paul, Martyrs
O Lord, graciously accept, through the merits of Your holy Martyrs John and Paul, the sacrificial gifts dedicated to You, and grant they may prove to be for us a lasting help.
Commemoration Third Day of the Octave of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist
We heap Your altar with gifts, O Lord, celebrating the birth of him who announced the coming of the Saviour of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, and made His presence known. 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 Archangesl, 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 Sts. John and Paul, Martyrs
We have partaken of the heavenly sacrament, O Lord, as we celebrate the feast of Your holy Martyrs John and Paul; grant, we beseech You, that what we do in time we may reap in joy in eternity.
Commemoration Third Day of the Octave of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist
May Your Church, O God, rejoice at the birth of blessed John the Baptist, through whom she knew the author of her own rebirth, Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. R. Amen
PROPER LAST GOSPEL: Luke 12:1-8
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. But there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. For what you have said in darkness will be said in the light; and what you have whispered in the inner chambers will be preached on the housetops. But I say to you, My friends: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will show you Whom you shall be afraid of; be afraid of Him Who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell. Yes, I say to you, be afraid of Him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? And yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Yes, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not be afraid, you are of more value than many sparrows. And I say to you, everyone who acknowledges Me before men, him will the Son of Man also acknowledge before the angels of God.
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