FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

An Enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat

  (Parable of the sower and the cockle)

   

     FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

          An enemy hath done this!

                  

                                     

                         St. Agatha

                  Virgin and Martyr

                 (231 AD – 251 AD)

St. Agatha was born in Sicily, of rich and noble parents. A child of benediction from the first, for she was promised to her parents before her birth, and consecrated from her earliest infancy to God. In the midst of dangers and temptations she served Christ in purity of body and soul, and she died for the love of chastity. Quintanus, who governed Sicily under the Emperor Decius, had heard the rumor of her beauty and wealth, and he made the laws against the Christians a pretext for summoning her from Palermo to Catania, where he was at the time. "O Jesus Christ!" she cried, as she set out on this dreaded journey, "all that I am is Thine; preserve me against the tyrant."

And Our Lord did indeed preserve one who had given herself so utterly to Him. He kept her pure and undefiled while she was imprisoned for a whole month under charge of an evil woman. He gave her strength to reply to the offer of her life and safety, if she would but consent to sin, "Christ alone is my life and my salvation." When Quintanus turned from passion to cruelty, and cut off her breasts. Our Lord sent the Prince of His apostles to heal her. And when, after she had been rolled naked upon potsherds, she asked that her torments might be ended, her Spouse heard her prayer and took her to Himself. St. Agatha gave herself without reserve to Jesus Christ; she followed Him in virginal purity, and then looked to Him for protection. And down to this day Christ has shown His tender regard for the very body of St. Agatha. Again and again, during the eruptions of Mount Etna, the people of Catania have exposed her veil for public veneration, and found safety by this means; and in modern times, on opening the tomb in which her body lies waiting for the resurrection, they beheld the skin still entire, and felt the sweet fragrance which issued from this temple of the Holy Ghost.

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

   SEMI-DOUBLE     GREEN VESTMENTS

     Commemoration of St. Agatha

             Missa ‘Adorate Deum’

Commentary by Abbot Dom Guéranger 

                 INTROITUS

Adorate Deum, omnes Angeli ejus: audívit, et lætáta est Sion: et exsultavérunt fíliæ Judæ.

Ps. 96. 1. Dóminus regnávit, exsúltet terra: læténtur ínsulæ multæ. V. Glória Patri.

          

                   INTROIT

Adore God, all you His Angels: Sion heard, and was glad: and the daughters of Juda rejoiced.

Ps. The Lord hath reigned, let the earth rejoice: let many islands be glad.

V. Glory be to the Father.

                 COLLECT

In Thine infinite goodness, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to watch over Thy household, that even as it relies solely upon the hope of Thy heavenly grace, so it may ever be defended by Thy protection. Through our Lord.

           SECOND COLLECT

              ST. AGATHA

O God, who among other miracles of Thy power, hast granted even to the weaker sex the victory of martyrdom, grant, we beseech Thee, that we who celebrate the festival of blessed Agatha, Thy Virgin and Martyr, may draw nearer to Thee by her example. Through our Lord.

                   EPISTLE

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Colossians.

Brethren: Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience: bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another: even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection: and let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body: and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Christian, trained as he has been in the school of the Man-God who deigned to dwell upon this earth, should ever show mercy towards his fellow-men. This world which has been purified by the presence of the Incarnate Word, would become an abode of peace, if we were but to live in such manner as to merit the titles, given us by the apostle, of elect of God, holy, and beloved. The peace here spoken of should, first of all, fill the heart of every Christian, and give it an uninterrupted joy, which would be ever pouring itself forth in singing the praises of God. But it is mainly on the Sundays, that the faithful, by taking part with the Church in her psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, fulfil this duty so dear to their hearts. Let us, moreover, in our every-day life, practice the advice given us by the apostle, of doing all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in order that we may, in all things, find favour with our heavenly Father.

                GRADUAL

The Gentiles shall fear Thy name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory.

V. For the Lord hath built up Sion: and He shall be seen in His glory.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. The Lord hath reigned, let the earth rejoice: let many islands be glad. Alleluia.

     

                 GOSPEL

Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew.

At that time Jesus spoke this parable to the multitudes: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat, and went his way. And when the blade was sprung up and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. And the servants of the good man of the house coming, said to him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field Whence then hath it cockle? And he said to them: An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him: Wilt thou that we go and gather it up? And he said: No, lest perhaps, gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn.

The kingdom of heaven, here spoken of by our Lord, is the Church militant, the society of them that believe in Him. And yet, the field He has tilled with so much care is oversown with cockle; heresies have crept in, scandals have abounded; are we, on that account, to have misgivings about the foresight of the Master, who knows all things, and without whose permission nothing happens? Far from us be such a thought! He Himself tells us that these things must needs be. Man has been gifted with free-will; it is for him to choose between good and evil; but God will turn all to His own greater glory. Heresies, then, like weeds in a field, may spring up in the Church; but the day must come when they will be uprooted; some of them will wither on the parent, stems, but the whole cockle shall be gathered into bundles to burn. Where

are now the heresies that sprang up in the first ages of the Church? And in another hundred years, what will have become of the heresy, which, under the pretentious name of ‘the reformation,’ has caused incalculable evil? It is the same with the scandals which rise up within the pale of the Church: they are a hard trial; but trials must 'come. The divine Husbandman wills not that this cockle be torn up, lest the wheat should suffer injury. First of all, the mixture of good and bad is an advantage; it teaches the good not to put their hopes in man, but in God. Then, too, the mercy of our Lord is so great, that at times the very cockle is converted, by divine grace, into wheat. We must therefore have patience. But, whereas it is while the men are asleep that the enemy oversows the field with cockle, it behoves us to pray for pastors, and ask their divine Master to bless them with that vigilance, which is the primary condition of the flock being safe, and is so essential a quality in every bishop, that his very name is ‘one who watches.’

                OFFERTORY

The right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength: the right hand of the Lord hath exalted me: I shall not die, but live, and shall declare the works of the Lord.

                  SECRET

We offer unto Thee, O Lord, the sacrifice of propitiation, that Thou mayest of Thy mercy, absolve us from our sins, and Thyself direct our inconstant hearts. Through our Lord.

The Martyrdom of St Agatha by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

             SECOND SECRET

               ST. AGATHA

Receive, O Lord, the offerings we bring Thee on the solemn festival of Thy blessed Virgin and Martyr, Agatha; by whose intercession we hope for deliverance. Through our Lord.

  PREFACE OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

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: Who, together with Thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, are one God, one Lord: not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance. For what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim do praise: who cease not daily to cry out with one voice saying:

           

             COMMUNION

All wondered at these things which proceeded from the mouth of God.

          POSTCOMMUNION

We beseech Thee, O almighty God, that we may obtain the effect of that salvation, the pledge of which we have received in these mysteries. Through our Lord.

  SECOND POSTCOMMUNION

              ST. AGATHA

May we be helped, O Lord, by the mysteries we have received; and blessed Agatha, Thy Virgin and Martyr, interceding for us, may they strengthen us with everlasting protection. Through the Lord.