SS. Mark & Marcellian, Martyrs: Missa “Salus autem“ Mark and Marcellian (d. c.290), Roman martyrs. These martyrs are commemorated in the ancient Roman sacramentaries; their tomb, with frescoes of them and their companions, has been identified in the catacomb of St. Balbina. For the details of their Lives the only source is the unreliable 5th‐century Acts…
Tag: Introit
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; S. Gregory VII of Rome, Confessor
St Gregory VII of Rome, Confessor: Missa “Sacerdotes tui“ The 10th century and the first half of the 11th were dark days for the Church, partly because the papacy was the pawn of various Roman families. In 1049, things began to change when Pope Leo IX, a reformer, was elected. He brought a young monk…
Carissimi; Today’s Mass: Feria of Easter IV
Feria of Dominica IV Post Pascha: Missa “Cantate” Of all the gifts that come from God, the most excellent is the gospel and regeneration in baptism, by which He has made us His children and heirs of heaven. How great is this honor, and how earnestly we should endeavor to preserve it! To hear the…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; Monthly Requiem
Monthly Requiem Mass: Missa “Requiem aeternam“ The Requiem Mass is an expression of the Communion of Saints, the Church Militant (on earth) prays for the souls of the departed expressing Christian hope that they, the departed, will become members of the Church Triumphant (in heaven). Essentially the Church pleads Christ that His promise to the “repentant thief” at His…
Carissimi; Today’s Mass: Feria II of Easter III
Feria II of Dominica III Post Pascha; Commemoration of St Anicetus, Pope & Martyr: Missa “Jubilate” On this Third Sunday After Easter, the Church rejoices because Christ is risen again and has redeemed us (Alleluia); and so she utters cries of joy (Introit) and sings the praises of God (Offertory). A little while, and now you…
Carissimi; Today’s Mass: St Antoninus of Florence
St Antoninus OP, Bishop & Confessor; comm. SS. Gordian & Epimachus, Martyrs: Missa “Státuit ei Dóminus” (1389-1459) Saint Antoninus, or Little Antony, as he was called from his small stature, was born at Florence in 1389. After a childhood of singular holiness, he begged to be admitted very young into the Dominican house at Fiesole;…
Carissimi; Today’s Mass: St Stanislaus, Bishop & Martyr
St Stanislaus, Bishop & Martyr: Missa “Protexisti” Saint Stanislaus, a Polish martyr, was Bishop of Cracow. King Boleslaw II was outraging the whole kingdom by his acts of lust and cruelty. St. Stanislaus, finding all remonstrances useless, excommunicated him. By order of the king he was cut in pieces at the foot of the altar while…
Carissimi: Today’s Mass; Pope S. Pius V, Confessor
Pope St Pius V, Confessor; commemoration of Good Shepherd Sunday, II Post Pascha: Missa “Sacerdotes tui“ Pope from 1566-1572 and one of the foremost leaders of the Catholic Reformation. Born Antonio Ghislieri in Bosco, Italy, to a poor family, he labored as a shepherd until the age of fourteen and then joined the Dominicans, being…
Carissimi; Today’s Mass: St. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church
St. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church: Missa “In medio” St. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church and Patriarch of Alexandria, one of the most renowned of the Fathers of the Church, was the heroic and successful defender of Catholic doctrine against Arius. After many sufferings in the cause of God’s Church, he died May 2, 373. While…
Carissimi; Today’s Mass: St Mark the Evangelist
St Mark, Evangelist [transferred]; commemoration of St Catherine of Siena: Missa “Protexisti” The feast of St. Mark was not regularly inserted into the Roman Calendar until about the Twelfth Century. This is explained by the original association of the commemorations of the saints with their tombs. Although St. Mark was among the first who with…
Carissimi; Today’s Mass: St George, Martyr, Patron of England
St George, Martyr, Patron of England (transferred): Missa “Protexisti” The feast of St. George is found in the Ethiopian, Coptic, Syriac, and Latin liturgies. The ancient “Georgia” is named after him. He is renowned as the armed defender of the Church, one who carried the trophies of victory over the enemy. Saint George (c. 275/281…
Carissimi; Sunday’s Mass: Low Sunday
Dominica in Albis: Missa “Quasi modo” Station at the Church of St. Pancras in Rome. Low Sunday, so called in order to emphasize the contrast between the great Easter solemnity and the Sunday which ends the Octave, is also known as Quasimodo, from the first words of the Introit. (Not the hunchback of Notre Dame!) In…
