Thursday, June 2, 2016

SS Marcellius and Peter (memorial)

C4th from the catacomb of Marcellinus and Peter,
,showing Christ between Peter and Paul, and below them
the martyrs Gorgonius, Peter, Marcellinus, and Tiburtius
Today the calendar marks the feast of two martyrs from the persecution of Diocletian, who died around 304 AD.  The martyrology entry goes as follows:
At Rome, the birthday of the holy martyr Marcellinus, priest, and Peter, exorcist, who instructed in the faith many persons detained in prison. Under Diocletian, they were loaded with chains, and, after enduring many torments, were beheaded by the judge Serenus, in a place which was then called the Black Forest, but which was in their honor afterwards known as the White Forest. Their bodies were buried in a crypt near St. Tiburtius, and Pope St. Damasus composed for their tomb an epitaph in verse. 
As noted in the entry above, their cult was originally fostered by Pope Damasus I, who learnt thier story from their executioner, who became a Christian after their deaths. 

Pope Damasus states that they were killed at an out-of-the-way spot by the magistrate Severus or Serenus so that other Christians would not have a chance to bury and venerate their bodies. The two saints happily cleared the spot chosen for their death: a thicket overgrown with thorns, brambles, and briers three miles from Rome. They were beheaded and buried in that spot.  Two women, Lucilla and Firmina, assisted by divine revelation, found the bodies, however, and had them properly buried. They buried their bodies near the body of St. Tiburtius on the Via Labicana in what became known as the Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter.

Constantine the Great built a church in honor of them as the earlier church built by Pope Damasus had been destroyed, and had his mother St. Helena buried there.  Their relics were subsequently transferred to Germany in the ninth century under the monk Eginhard, who had previously been Charlemagne's secretary.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Saints and feasts of June

You can find links to notes on some of the feasts that occur in June below.

June 1

St Inigo OSB

June 2

SS Marcellius and Peter

June 5

St Boniface OSB

June 6

St Norbert

June 9

SS Primus and Felician

June 11

St Barnabas

June 13

St Anthony of Padua

June 14

St Basil the Great (Class III)

June 15

St Vitus (memorial)

June 18

SS Ephrem, Mark and Marcellianus (memorials)
St Ephrem Syrus, comm of Mark and Marcellianus

June 19

St Romuald OSB
SS Gervase and Protase (memorial)

June 21

St Aloysius Gonzaga

June 23

Vigil of St John the Baptist

June 24

Birthday of St John the Baptist

June 25

St William of Monte Virgine OSB

June 26

SS John and Paul

June 28

Vigil of SS Peter and Paul

June 29

SS Peter and Paul

June 30

Commemoration of St Paul

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Notes on the feasts of February

1 February  - St Ignatius (Class III)

St Ignatius of Antioch - Pope Benedict General AudienceMatins reading

St Brigid

2 February - Purification of the BVM (Class II)

Candlemas aka Feast of the Purification
Feast of the Purification/2

3 February – St Blase (Memorial)

St Blaise and the blessing of throats
St Blaise in the martyrology

4 February 

St Gilbert of Sempringham
St Rabanus Maurus OSB

5 February  – St Agatha (Class III)

St Agatha

6 February  

St Dorothy

7 February – St Romuald (Class III)

St Romuald OSB
St Romauald - Butler's lives

8 February

9 February 

10 February  - St Scholastica, sister of St Benedict (Class II; Class I for nuns)

St Scholastica
St Scholastica/2
St Scholastica (Martyrology entry)

11 February

St Benedict of Aniane OSB

12 February 

13 February 

14 February – St Valentine, memorial [in Europe: SS Cyril and Methodius]

St Valentine
St Antoinine of Sorrento OSB

15 February 

16 February 

17 February 

18 February 

19 February 

20 February

21 February 

St Peter Mavimenus (martyrology)

22 February  – Chair of St Peter, Class III

St Peter's Chair

23 February  - St Peter Damian, memorial  

St Peter Damian OSB

24 February or 25 Feb in leap year - St Matthias, Class II

St Matthias

25 February  - (in some places St Walburga, Class I)

St Walburga OSB

26 February  

27 February 

St Porphyrius (martyrology)

28 February 

St Florentina (from the martyrology)

29 February

St Romanus of Lyon

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Happy New year!



Rule of St Benedict
Codex Sangallensis
I'd like to wish all readers a happy and holy new year - and a reminder to join in the public recitation of the Te Deum in thanksgiving for the year on December 31, and the Veni Creator on January 1 to gain the plenary indulgences attached to them (partial if said privately).

I'd also like to let you know about a couple of projects that I've already started on, but will hopefully push along further in the new year, and am posting elsewhere, that may be of interest.

Matins readings

First, over at my Lectio Divina blog I'm in the process of compiling lists of all the Matins readings for the Benedictine Office, grouped by liturgical season (and there will be a separate post for major feasts of saints).

I'll put indexes of links (masterposts) in the sidebar for future reference, though at the moment I'm also posting weekly lists that also show the readings for any feasts that interrupt the normal seasonal cycle (you can subscribe to these by email through the link on the blog).

In the past over there I've posted English translations of most of the Sunday Gospels, and Third Nocturn readings on them; links to past posts can be found in the masterposts.  Over the course of 2016 I'll try to fill in the gpas, as well as go back and fill in the first and second nocturn readings for the Sunday cycle (where I can find an online version of them).

Lectio divina around the liturgical cycle of readings

I've also previously posted notes over at the Lectio Divina blog on each of the Gospels, spread over a three month cycle (so you can read all of them in a year).  I've put up a masterpost for the notes on St Matthew, and plan to fill out gaps in them over the next quarter.  I'll also try and make the notes on the other Gospels more accessible in the same way, as well as provide brief notes on the books of the Bible being read in the Office (at Matins).

Reading the Rule of St Benedict

Thirdly, I'm planning a series, starting in the new year, offering some reading notes on the Rule of St Benedict, and you find these over at my new Lectio Regula blog (it is easier to keep topics separate rather than clog up this one I think).

Each day I'll provide both the English and the Latin, divided up over four months in the traditional arrangement.  I'll also try and provide some notes of my own on it (though no guarantees that I'll comment on every part of the Rule, though I will certainly do my best).

I'm not planning to provide a complete or polished commentary on the Rule, but rather to focus in on some particular aspects of it, mostly around the way that St Benedict uses Scripture, and the links between the Rule and the shape of the Benedictine Office.  I've written a post that sets out some of the main themes I plan to focus on that you can read here.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Notes on the saints and feasts (and former feasts) of January

Some time ago I put together summary pages of my notes on assorted feasts and saints for each month of the year.  The old posts are rather out of date though, so herewith an updated version.


Octave Day of Christmas/Circumcision of Our Lord

Monastic saints whose feasts fall on this day:




2 JANUARY


Pre-1960 calendar



3 January  

Pre-1960 calendar

St Elizabeth Anne Seton (in some places)

Octave Day of the Holy Innocents

5 January 

St John Neumann (in some places)

Pre 1960 calendar:


Monastic saints of note:

St Peter Orseleo OSB

St Gregory of Nyssa  (Benedictine Confederation 1975 calendar)

11 January 

Pre-1960: Not the sixth day in the Octave of the Epiphany

12 January

Monastic saints of note:

St Benedict Biscop OSB - English Congregation



St Margaret Bourgeoys (Canada)

13 January

Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord Class II

14 January

St Hilary of Poitiers, bishop and doctor (Memorial)

St Felix Nola (memorial)

15 January 

Pre-1960/in some places: St Maurus

Our Lady of Prompt Succor (in some places)

SS Maurus and Placid, disciples of St Benedict (Benedictine Confederation 1975 calendar; 5 October in the 1962 calendar)

16 January 

St Marcellus I (Memorial)

Monastic saints of note:

St Honorius of Fondi


17 January 



St Antony, abbot (Cl III)

18 January 

Pre-1960: St Prisca

19 January 

SS Marius, Martha, Audifax and Abachum, martyrs (Memorial)

St Wulfstan OSB (wiki) (English Congregation)

20 January 

St Fabian (Pope) and St Sebastian, martyrs Cl III

21 January

St Agnes virgin and martyr  (Class II/III)

St Meinrad OSB (in some places)

22 January 

St Vincent of Saragosa (memorial) and St Anastasius

St Peter's Chair (in some places)

23 January 

St Emerenthiana (memorial)

24 January 

St Timothy, bishop & martyr (Memorial)

25 January 

Conversion of St Paul (Class III)

From the martyrology: St Poppo OSB

26 January 

St Polycarp, bishop and martyr (Memorial)

St Bathildis (wiki)Queen of France (Le Barroux)

From the martyrology: St Paula

St. Robert, St. Alberic and St. Stephen, Abbots of Citeaux (New Clairvaux website) - Optional Memorial (Benedictine Confederation 1975 calendar)

27 January 

St John Chrysostom, bishop, confessor & doctor Matins reading on the saint Cl III

28 January 

St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop, confessor, doctor Matins reading (Memorial)

29 January

St Frances de Sales, bishop, confessor, doctor Matins reading (Roman Office) (Memorial)

30 January 

St Adelgundis OSB 

Blessed Columba Marmion OSB

31 January

St John Bosco (memorial)

St Alban Roe OSB, priest and martyr  (English Congregation)