On the Friday before Palm Sunday, and on Sept. 15, the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary are commemorated in the Liturgy. The Sorrowful Mother has always merited within The Church a particular devotion from whence she is called: Queen of Martyrs and Comforter of the Afflicted. The Church commemorates by two Feasts the martyrdom…
Category: Saints
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; The Nativity of Our Lady
The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Missa “Salve, sancta parens” This festival of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary originated in the East where it is mentioned very early. At Rome it was not observed before the reign of Pope Sergius I. As Eve, our first mother, arose from the side of Adam, dazzling…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; St. Giles, Abbot
S. Giles, Abbot; Commemoration of the Twelve Holy Brothers, Martyrs: Missa “Os iusti” ATHENS, in Greece, was the native city of St. Giles. He was of noble parentage, and devoted himself from early youth to piety and learning. After the death of his parents he distributed his rich inheritance to the poor, and to escape the…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Widow
Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Widow; Commemoration of the Dormition of the BVM: Missa “Cognovi, Domine” Saint Jane Frances de Chantal was born in Dijon, France in 1572, the daughter of Benigne Fremyot, president of the parliament in Burgundy, and married at twenty to Baron Christopher de Chantal who died in 1601. Nobility and riches…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; S. John Eudes
S. John Eudes, Confessor, Founder of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Eudists) and the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity (1601-1680) : Missa “Os justi” Saint John Eudes, forerunner of devotion both to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, was born in 1601, some time after France had been torn apart…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; Our Lady of the Snows
Our Lady of the Snows: Missa “Salve, sancta parens” On August 5 the anniversary of the miraculous snow fall, the Feast of Our Lady of Snows is celebrated at the basilica of her name, St Mary Major on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. During this celebration hundreds of white blossoms are showered from the dome of…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; S. Dominic, Priest & Confessor
S. Dominic, Priest & Confessor: Missa “Os justi meditábitur” The Church of France was ravaged by the heresy of the Albigenses who, not satisfied with teaching false doctrine, pillaged the churches and massacred the priests. In 1215, Innocent III saw in a dream the tottering walls of St. John Lateran, held up by the powerful shoulders of…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Confessor
Feast of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church; commemoration of Sunday IX Post Pentecost & Pope St. Stephen I, Martyr: Missa “Spíritus Dómini” St. Alphonsus was born of noble parents near Naples, Italy, in 1696, and died in 1787. In the midst of many evils he appeared with a three-fold mission…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; St. Peter’s Chains & Seven Holy Maccabees
Saint Peter’s Chains; comm. St. Paul Apostle & the Holy Macchabees, Martyrs: Missa “Nunc scio vere“ Today is the Feast of Saint Peter’s Chains. The chains with which Peter the Apostle was fettered from time to time have always been the object of veneration among the faithful. They are preserved in a basilica in Rome, which…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; St Martha, Virgin
St Martha, Virgin; Commemoration of St. Felix and Companion Holy Martyrs: Missa “Dilexísti justítiam” Saint Martha, whose feast we celebrate today, is mentioned by name only in Luke 10:38-42; and John 11, 12, sqq. The Aramaic form occurs in a Nabatæan inscription found at Puteoli, and now in the Naples Museum; it is dated A.D. 5…
Carissimi: Sunday’s Mass; St Anne, Mother of Mary
St Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Commemoration of the VIIIth Sunday Post Pentecost: Missa “Gaudeámus omnes“ What little we know about Saint Anne comes from the apocryphal Gospel of James (ca. 145 AD), also known as the Protoevangelium of James [PJ]. According to tradition, Anne (Hannah in Hebrew) was born in Bethlehem and…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; St. Praxedis Virgin
S. Praxedis Virgin: Missa “Loquébar de testimóniis“ S. Praxedes according to her legend was a Roman maiden, the sister of St. Pudentiana, who, when the Emperor Marcus Antoninus was hunting down Christians, sought them out to relieve them with money, care, comfort and every charitable aid. Some she hid in her house, others she encouraged to…
