SS. Fabian & Sebastian, Martyrs: Missa “Intret in conspéctu tuo” Pope Saint Fabian was a layman when elected pope, a position he held from January 10, 236 until his martyrdom on January 20, 250. St Sebastian died in 288 under Diocletian. From the Roman Breviary: “Fabian was a Roman, and sat as Pope from the reign of the Emperor…
Category: Saints
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; S. Peter’s Chair at Rome
S. Peter’s Chair at Rome; Commemoration of St Prisca, Virgin Martyr; beginning of the Octave of Christian Unity: Missa “Státuit ei Dóminus” Eleven years after the Ascension of our Blessed Lord, Saint Peter who had been appointed the head of the Church on earth by Christ Himself, transferred the seat of the Papacy from Antioch to Rome,…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; Pope St Marcellus I, Martyr
Pope Saint Marcellus I, Martyr: Missa “Statuit ei Dominus” Nothing of Marcellus’ life before his papacy has survived the centuries. He became Pope at the end of the persecutions of Diocletian in aound 308-309. The persecutions had disrupted the Church so much that there had been a gap of over a year with no Pope. Once…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; St Paul Primi Emeriti
St Paul the First Hermit & St Maur, Abbot: Missa “Iustus ut palma florébit“ Today is the feast of Saint Paul the Hermit, father of hermits, who had St. Jerome for his historian. Having become an orphan at the age of fifteen, he gave up his possessions and retired into a desert where a flourishing palm-tree,…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; St Birinus, Bishop & Confessor
St Birinus, Bishop & Confessor; Comm. St Sabbas, Abbot & Feria IV Advent I: Missa “Statuit ei Dominus” In AD 634, Birinus, a Benedictine monk of the Monastery of St Andrew on the Coelian Hill in Rome, was sent by Pope Honorius I to England to convert the West Saxons. He landed on the south coast in…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; S. Francis Xavier, Confessor
St Francis Xavier, Confessor; com. of Advent I: Missa “Loquébar“ Saint Francis Xavier was not born a saint. He had to work at it for in the dangerous days of the Reformation, as young Spanish gentleman, he was making a name for himself as a professor of philosophy at the University of Paris. He was…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; St Bibiana, Virgin Martyr
St Bibiana, Virgin Martyr: Missa “Me expectaverunt“ St. Bibiana, Virgin and Martyr (Feast day – December 2nd) Other than the name, nothing is known for certain about this saint. However, we have the following account from a later tradition. In the year 363, Julian the Apostate made Apronianus Governor of Rome. St. Bibiana suffered in the…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; St Gregory Thaumaturgus
St Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bishop & Confessor: Missa “Statuit ei Dominus” Gregory was born to a distinguished pagan family in Neoceasarea in 213. He became a disciple of Origin, and afterward was appointed Bishop of Neoceasarea. Illustrious for his doctrine and sanctity, he was still more memorable for the number and brilliance of miracles he worked, which earned…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; St Clement, Martyr
St Clement, Pope & Martyr: Missa “Dicit Dominus” Pope Saint Clement I, who was styled by St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians (iv, 3) as his fellow laborer,” succeeded St. Cletus as Pope in the year 90. He is named third in the Canon of the Mass, after the apostles. There is no serious…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; S. Erconwald, Bishop & Confessor
St Erconwald, Bishop & Confessor: Missa “Sacerdotes tui“ Bishop of London, died about 690. He belonged to the princely family of the East Anglian Offa, and devoted a considerable portion of his patrimony to founding two monasteries, one for monks at Chertsey, and the other for nuns at Barking in Essex. Over the latter he…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; St Martin of Tours
St Martin of Tours, Bishop & Confessor; Com. St Mennas, Martyr: Missa “Státuit ei Dóminus” The story and history of Saint Martin of Tours. When a mere boy, Martin became a Christian catechumen against his parents’ wish; and at fifteen was therefore seized by his father, a pagan soldier, and enrolled in the army. One…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; Our Holy Redeemer
Our Holy Redeemer: Missa “Gaudens, gaudebo” The feast is found only in the special calendar of some dioceses and religious orders, and is celebrated with proper Mass and Office either on the third Sunday of July or on 23 October. In Venice this feast has been observed for more than three centuries with great solemnity. Moroni…
