Saturday, December 26, 2015

FEAST OF SAINT STEPHEN, FIRST MARTYR - MASS PROPERS

         Estienne Chevalier with St. Stephen

               December 26
SAINT STEPHEN, THE FIRST MARTYR

Dom Guéranger – The Liturgical Year
St. Peter Damian thus begins his Sermon for this Feast: We are holding in our arms the Son of the Virgin, and are honouring, with our caresses, this our Infant God. The holy Virgin has led us to the dear Crib. The most beautiful of the Daughters of men has brought us to the most beautiful among the Sons of men, and the Blessed among women to Him that is Blessed above all. She tell us that now the veils of prophecy are drawn aside, and the counsel of God is accomplished.  Is there anything capable of distracting us from this sweet Birth? On what else shall we fix our eyes? Lo! whilst Jesus is permitting us thus to caress him; whilst he is overwhelming us with the greatness of these mysteries, and our hearts are riveted in admiration there comes before us Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, doing great wonders and signs among the people? Is it right, that we turn from our King, to look on Stephen, his soldier? No unless the King himself bid us do so. This our King, who is Son of the King, rises to assist at the glorious combat of his servant.  Let us go with him, and contemplate this standard-bearer of the Martyrs. The Church gives us, in today's Office, this opening of a Sermon of St. Fulgentius for the Feast of St. Stephen: Yesterday, we celebrated the temporal Birth of our eternal King: today, we celebrate the triumphant passion of his Soldier. Yesterday, our King, having put on the garb of our flesh, came from the sanctuary of his Mother's virginal womb, and mercifully visited the earth: today, his Soldier, quitting his earthly tabernacle, entered triumphantly into heaven. Jesus, whilst still continuing to be the eternal God, assumed to himself the lowly raiment of flesh, and entered the battle-field of this world: Stephen, laying aside the perishable garment of the body, ascended to the palace of heaven, there to reign for ever. Jesus descended veiled in our flesh: Stephen ascended wreathed with a martyr's laurels. Stephen ascended to heaven amidst the shower of stones, because Jesus had descended on earth midst the singing of Angels. Yesterday, the holy Angels exultingly sang, Glory be to God in the highest; today, they joyously received Stephen into their company Yesterday, was Jesus wrapped, for our sakes, in swaddling-clothes: today, was Stephen clothed with the robe of immortal glory. Yesterday, a narrow crib contained the Infant Jesus: today, the immensity of the heavenly court received the triumphant Stephen.
     Thus does the sacred Liturgy blend the joy of our Lord's Nativity with the gladness she feels at the triumph of the first of her Martyrs. Nor will Stephen be the only one admitted to share the honors of this glorious Octave. After him, we shall have John, the Beloved Disciple; the Innocents of Bethlehem; Thomas, the Martyr of the Liberties of the Church; and Sylvester, the Pontiff of Peace. But, the place of honour amidst all who stand round the Crib of the new-born King, belongs to Stephen, the Protomartyr, who, as the Church sings of him, was the first to pay back to the Saviour, the Death suffered by the Saviour. It was just, that this honour should be shown to Martyrdom; for,
Martyrdom is the Creature's testimony, and return to his Creator for all the favors bestowed on him: it is Man's testifying, even by shedding his blood, to the truths which God has revealed to the world.
     In order to understand this, let us consider what is the plan of God, in the salvation he has given to man? The Son of God is sent to instruct mankind; he sows the seed of his divine word; and his works give testimony to his divinity. But, after his sacrifice on the cross, he again ascends to the right hand of his Father; so that his own testimony of himself has need of a second testimony, in order to its being received by them that have neither seen nor heard Jesus himself. Now, it is the Martyrs who are to provide this second testimony; and this they will do, not only by confessing Jesus with their lips, but by shedding their blood for him. The Church, then, is to be founded by the Word and the Blood of Jesus, the Son of God; but she will be upheld, she will continue throughout all ages, she will triumph over all obstacles, by the blood of her Martyrs, the members of Christ: this their blood will mingle with that of their Divine Head, and their sacrifice be united to his.
     The Martyrs shall bear the closest resemblance to their Lord and King. They shall be, as he said, like lambs among wolves. The world shall be strong, and they shall be weak and defenseless: so much the grander will be the victory of the Martyrs, and the greater the glory of God who gives them to conquer. The Apostle tells us, that Christ crucified is the power and the wisdom of God; the Martyrs, immolated, and yet conquerors of the world, will prove, and with a testimony which even the world itself will understand, that the Christ whom they confessed, and who gave them constancy and victory, is in very deed the power and the wisdom of God. We repeat, then — it is just, that the Martyrs should share in all the triumphs of the Man-God, and that the liturgical cycle should glorify them as does the Church herself, who puts their sacred Relics in her altar-stones; for, thus, the Sacrifice of their glorified Lord and Head is never celebrated, without they themselves being offered together with him, in the unity of his mystical Body.
     Now, the glorious Martyr- band of Christ is headed by St. Stephen. His name signifies the Crowned; a conqueror like him could not be better named. He marshals, in the name of Christ, the white-robed army, as the Church calls the Martyrs; for, he was the first, even before the Apostles themselves, to receive the summons, and right nobly did he answer it. Stephen courageously bore witness, in the presence of the Jewish Synagogue, to the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth; by thus proclaiming the Truth, he offended the ears of the unbelievers; the enemies of God, became the enemies of Stephen, and, rushing upon him, they stone him to death. Amidst the pelting of the blood-drawing missives, he, like a true soldier, flinches not, but stands, (as St. Gregory of Nyssa so beautifully describes it,) as though snowflakes were falling on him, or roses were covering him with the shower of their kisses. Through the cloud of stones, he sees the glory of God; Jesus, for whom he was laying down his life, showed himself to his Martyr, and the Martyr again rendered testimony to the divinity of our Emmanuel, but with all the energy of a last act of love. Then, to make his sacrifice complete, he imitates his divine Master, and prays for his executioners: falling on his knees, he begs that this sin be not laid to their charge. Thus, all is consummated the glorious type of Martyrdom is created, and shown to the world, that it may be imitated, by every generation, to the end of time, until the number of the Martyrs of Christ shall be filled up. Stephen sleeps in the Lord, and is buried in peace in pace until his sacred Tomb shall be discovered, and his glory be celebrated a second time in the whole Church, by that anticipated Resurrection of the miraculous Invention of his Relics.

      Stephen, then, deserves to stand near the Crib of his King, as leader of those brave champions, the Martyrs, who died for the Divinity of that Babe, whom we adore. Let us join the Church in praying to our Saint, that he help us to come to our Sovereign Lord, now lying on his humble throne in Bethlehem. Let us ask him to initiate us into the mystery of that divine Infancy, which we are all bound to know and imitate. It was from the simplicity he had learnt from that Mystery, that he heeded not the number of the enemies he had to fight against, nor trembled at their angry passion, nor winced under their blows, nor hid from them the Truth and their crimes, nor forgot to pardon them and pray for them. What a faithful imitator of the Babe of Bethlehem! Our Jesus did not send his Angels to chastise those unhappy Bethlehemites, who refused a shelter to the Virgin-Mother, who in a few hours was to give birth to Him, the Son of David. He stays not the fury of Herod, who plots his Death but meekly flees into Egypt, like some helpless bondsman, escaping the threats of a tyrant lordling. But, it is under such apparent weakness as this, that he will show his Divinity to men, and He the Infant-God prove himself the Strong God. Herod will pass away, so will his tyranny; Jesus will live, greater in his Crib, where he makes a King tremble, than is, under his borrowed majesty, this prince-tributary of Rome; nay, than Caesar Augustus himself, whose world-wide empire has no other destiny than this to serve as handmaid to the Church, which is to be founded by this Babe, whose name stands humbly written in the official registry of Bethlehem.



                   MASS
             December 26
Saturday within the Octave of Christmas
                   St. Stephen
       Deacon and Protomartyr
     Double of the Second Class
  Simple Octave – Red Vestments
         Missa ‘Sederunt principes’
Station at St. Stephen’s on the Coelian Hill
(Indulgence of 30 years and 30 quarantines)

The Introit is composed of the words of the holy Martyr, who, in the language of the Royal Psalmist, tells us of the plot formed against him by the wicked, and of his own humble confidence in God, whereby he triumphed over their persecutions. From the murder of the innocent Abel to the future Martyrs, who are to shed their blood in the days of Antichrist — the Church is always under persecution; in some one country, she is ever shedding her blood; but, her strength lies in her fidelity to Jesus her Spouse, and in the simplicity, which the Babe of Bethlehem is come to teach her by his own example.

INTROIT - Psalm 118: 23, 86, 1
Sederunt principes, et adversum me loquebantur: et iniqui persecuti sunt me: adjuva me, Domine Deus meus, quia servus tuus exercebatur in tuis justificationibus. Ps. Beati immaculati in via, qui ambulant in lege Domini. Gloria Patri.

Princes sat, and spoke against me: and the wicked persecuted me: help me, O Lord my God, for Thy servant was employed in Thy justifications. Ps. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Glory be to the Father.

In the Collect, the Church asks, for both herself and her children, that divine vigour, which makes the holy Martyrs forgive their persecutors, and perfects, not only their testimony to the truth, but also their imitation of Jesus Christ. It speaks the praise of St. Stephen, who was the first to follow our Saviour's example.

COLLECT
Grant us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, so to imitate what we revere, that we may learn to love even our enemies: for we celebrate the heavenly birthday of him who knew how to pray for his very persecutors to our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son: Who liveth and reigneth.

COMMEMORATION FOR OCTAVE OF THE NATIVITY 
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that the new birth of Thine only-begotten Son in the flesh may set us free, who are held by the old bondage under the yoke of sin. Through the same our Lord.

       Saul Present at the Martyrdom of St. Stephen

EPISTLE - Acts 6: 8-10; 7: 54-59
In those days Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, did great wonders and signs among the people. Now there arose some, of that which is called the synagogue of the Libertines and of the Cyrenians and of the Alexandrians and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen; and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit that spoke. Now, hearing these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed with their teeth at him. But Stephen being full of the Holy Ghost, looking up steadfastly to heaven, saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And he said: Behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. And they crying out with a loud voice stopped their ears, and with one accord ran violently upon him. And casting him forth without the city, they stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, invoking and saying: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling on his knees he cried with a loud voice, saying: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep in the Lord.

Thus, O glorious Prince of Martyrs! thou wast led outside the gates of the City for thy sacrifice, and thy punishment was that of blasphemers. The Disciple was to be like to his Master, in all things. But neither the ignominy of such a death, nor its cruelty, could daunt thy great soul: thou didst carry Jesus in thy heart, and, with Him, thou wast stronger than all thy enemies. And what was thy joy, when thou sawest the heavens open, and this same Jesus in his glorified Humanity, standing at the right hand of God, and looking upon thee with love! A God looking complacently on the creature that is going to die for him, and the creature permitted to behold the God for whom he is dying — truly, this was more than enough to encourage thee! Let thine enemies cast their stones against thee, and bruise and tear thy flesh, as they please: nothing can distract thee from this sight of the Eternal King, who raised himself from his throne to applaud thee, and deck thee with the Crown, which he had prepared for thee from all eternity! Now that thou art reigning in the kingdom of heaven, pray for us, that we also may be faithful, and faithful even unto death, to this same Jesus, who not only left his throne, but even came down among us as a Little Child.


GRADUAL - Psalm 118: 23, 86, 117 
Princes sat, and spoke against me: and the wicked persecuted me. Help me, O Lord my God: save me for Thy mercy's sake.

ALLELUIA - Acts 7: 56
Alleluia, alleluia. I see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing on the right hand of the power of God. Alleluia.

GOSPEL - Matthew 23: 34-39
At that time Jesus said to the Scribes and Pharisees: Behold I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them you will put to death and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: that upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Bacharias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. Amen I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not? Behold your house shall be left to you desolate. For I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth, till you say: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.

The Stoning of St. Stephen by Paolo Uccello

The Martyrs are given to the world that they may continue the ministry of Christ on the earth, by bearing testimony to his word, and by confirming this testimony by their blood. The world has despised them; like their divine Master, they have shone in the darkness, and darkness has not understood their light. Nevertheless, many have received their testimony, and the seed of the Martyrs' blood has brought forth in them the rich fruit of Faith. The Synagogue was cast off by God for its having shed the blood of Stephen, after having imbrued its hands in that of Jesus. Unhappy, they who cannot appreciate the Martyrs! Let us, who are Christians, take in the sublime lessons taught us by their generous sacrifice; and let our respect and love for them testify, that we are grateful for the noble ministry they have fulfilled in the Church, and are still fulfilling. The Church is never without Martyrs, just as she is never without Miracles: it is the twofold testimony that she will give to the end of time, and by which she evidences the divine life she has received from her almighty Founder.

OFFERTORY Acts 6: 5; 7: 58 
The Apostles chose Stephen to be a Levite, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost: whom the Jews stoned, invoking and saying: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Alleluia.

SECRET
United by Holy Communion to her divine Spouse, the Church, too, sees the heavens opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. She sends up to this Incarnate Word the yearnings of her intense love, and derives from the heavenly Food she has received that meekness, which makes her bear with the injuries and insults put upon her by her enemies, in order that she may win them all to the faith and love of Jesus Christ. It was by partaking of this same heavenly Food, that Stephen got the superhuman strength, whereby he won his victory and Crown.

COMMEMORATION FOR OCTAVE OF THE NATIVITY 
Receive, O Lord, our gifts, in commemoration of Thy Saints: that as suffering made them glorious, so our devotion may render us innocent. Through our Lord.

CHRISTMAS PREFACE
It is truly meet and just, right and availing unto salvation that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty and everlasting God.  Because by the mystery of the Word made flesh the light of Thy glory hath shone anew upon the eyes of our mind: that while we acknowledge Him to be God seen by men, we may be drawn by Him to the love of things unseen. And therefore with angels and archangels, with thrones and dominions, and with all the heavenly hosts, we sing a hymn to Thy glory, saying without ceasing:



Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dóminus Deus Sábaoth. Pleni sunt cæli et terra glória tua. Hosánna in excélsis. Benedíctus qui venit in nómine Dómini. Hosánna in excélsis.

COMMUNION - Acts 7: 55, 58, 59
I see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing on the right hand of the power of God: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, and lay not this sin to their charge.

Virgin in Glory with Sts. John the Baptist and Stephen by Michelangelo Anselmi

POSTCOMMUNION
May the mysteries we have received, O Lord, help us, and through the intercession of blessed Stephen, Thy Martyr, establish us by Thine everlasting protection. Through our Lord.

COMMEMORATION FOR OCTAVE OF THE NATIVITY 
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that as the Saviour of the world, born on this day, is the Author of our heavenly birth, so He may also be to us the Giver of immortality: Who with Thee liveth and reigneth.






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