Catholic Culture
Collect: Direct your faithful, Lord, in the way of eternal salvation, which the Bishop Saint Apollinaris showed by his teaching and martyrdom, and grant, through, his intercession, that we may so persevere in keeping your commandments as to merit being crowned with him. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
o Moussaka
o Fourteen Holy Helpers
o Litany of the Fourteen Holy Helpers
o Novena to St. Anne
Ordinary Time: July 20th
Optional Memorial of St. Apollinaris, bishop and martyr
Old Calendar: St. Jerome Emiliani, confessor; St. Margaret of Antioch, virgin and martyr; Ellias the Prophet (Eastern Church and Carmelite Order)
Early accounts report that Saint Apollinaris was ordained Bishop by Saint Peter himself and sent as a missionary bishop to Ravenna during the reign of the emperor Claudius. Renowned for his powers to heal in the name of Christ, he was frequently exiled, tortured and imprisoned for the faith, and finally martyred.
This optional memorial is new to the USA liturgical calendar and will be inscribed on July 20. It was dropped from the General Roman Calendar in 1968, at that time this feast was celebrated on July 23. This was the feast of St. Jerome Emiliani whose optional memorial is now celebrated on February 8. Today was also the commemoration of St. Margaret of Antioch, probably a virgin martyr of the third century. Her veneration spread from the East to the West at the time of the crusades. She is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
Elias the Prophet's feast is celebrated today by the Eastern Church. He is revered as the spiritual Father and traditional founder of the Catholic religious Order of Carmelites. In addition to taking their name from Mt. Carmel where the first hermits of the order established themselves, the Calced Carmelite and Discalced Carmelite traditions pertaining to Elijah focus upon the prophet’s withdrawal from public life.[33][34] The medieval Carmelite Book of the First Monks offers some insight into the heart of the Orders' contemplative vocation and reverence for the prophet.
St. Apollinaris
Apollinaris came to Rome from Antioch with the prince of the apostles, by whom he was consecrated bishop, and sent to Ravenna to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He converted many to the faith of Christ, for which reason he was seized by the priests of the idols and severely beaten. At his prayer, a nobleman named Boniface, who had long been dumb, recovered the power of speech, and his daughter was delivered from an unclean spirit; on this account a fresh sedition was raised against Apollinaris. He was beaten with rods, and made to walk barefoot over burning coals; but as the fire did him no injury, he was driven from the city.
He lay hidden some time in the house of certain Christians, and then went to Aemilia. Here he raised from the dead the daughter of Rufinus, a patrician, whose whole family thereupon believed in Jesus Christ. The prefect was greatly angered by this conversion, and sending for Apollinaris he sternly commanded him to give over propagating the faith of Christ in the city. But as Apollinaris paid no attention to his commands, he was tortured on the rack, boiling water was poured upon his wounds, and his mouth was bruised and broken with a stone; finally he was loaded with irons, and shut up in prison. Four days afterwards he was put on board ship and sent into exile; but the boat was wrecked, and Apollinaris arrived in Mysia, whence he passed to the banks of the Danube and into Thrace.
In the temple of Serapis the demon refused to utter his oracles so long as the disciple of the apostle Peter remained there. Search was made for some time, and then Apollinaris was discovered and commanded to depart by sea. Thus he returned to Ravenna; but on the accusation of the same priests of the idols, he was placed in the custody of a centurion. As this man, however, worshipped Christ in secret, Apollinaris was allowed to escape by night. When this became known, he was pursued and overtaken by the guards, who loaded him with blows and left him, as they thought, dead. He was carried away by the Christians, and seven days after, while exhorting them to constancy in the faith, he passed away from this life, to be crowned with the glory of martyrdom. His body was buried near the city walls.
Excerpted from Roman Martyrology
Patron: Ravenna, Italy.
Symbols: White vestments and black cross; club; hot coals; raven; crown; stones; cauldron of boiling water; chains; sword.
Often Portrayed As: Bishop with a club; standing or seated on hot coals; bearded, in a chasuble and pallium, with sheep around him; preaching to sheep.
Things to Do:
St. Margaret of Antioch, Virgin and Martyr
St. Margaret's feast has been supressed because there is not much historical information about her life. There was great devotion to this saint, especially during the Middle Ages. She is one of the "Fourteen Holy Helpers" and one of the saints that appeared and spoke to St. Joan of Arc.
"This same day brings before us a rival of the warrior-martyr, St. George: Margaret, like him victorious over the dragon, and like him called in the Menaea of the Greeks, the Great Martyr. The cross was her weapon; and, like the soldier, the virgin, too, consummated her trial in her blood. They were equally renowned in those chivalrous times when valor and faith fought hand in hand for Christ beneath the standard of the saints. So early as the seventh century our Western island rivaled the East in honoring the pearl drawn from the abyss of infidelity. Before the disastrous schism brought about by Henry VIII, the Island of Saints celebrated this feast as a double of the second class; women alone were obliged to rest from servile work, in gratitude for the protection afforded them by St. Margaret at the moment of childbirth—a favor which ranked her among the saints called in the Middle Ages auxiliaries or helpers. But it was not in England alone that Margaret was invoked, as history proves by the many and illustrious persons of all countries who have borne her blessed name."
Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.
Patron: against sterility; childbirth; dying; escape from devils; exiles; expectant mothers; falsely accused people; kidney disease; loss of milk by nursing mothers; Lowestoft, Suffolk, England; martyrs; nurses; peasants; people in exile; Queens College Cambridge; women; women in labour.
Symbols: Chained dragon; dragon burst asunder; girdle; sheep; garland of pearls; daisy; wreath of marguerites; long cross; crown.
Often Portrayed As: shepherdess; woman carrying a small cross in her hand; woman carrying a small girdle in her hand; woman leading a chained dragon; woman standing next to a cauldron or large vessel; woman standing with, on, or beside a dead dragon.
14. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.
15. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;
16. And charged them that they should not make him known:
17. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
18. Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles.
19. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
20. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking hex shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment to victory.
21. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
HILARY; The Pharisees are moved with jealousy at what had been done; because beholding the outward body of a man, they did not recognize the God in His works; The Pharisees went out and sought counsel against him, how they might destroy him.
RABAN; He says, went out because their mind was alien from the Lord. They took counsel how they might destroy life, not how themselves might find life.
HILARY; And He knowing their plots withdrew, that He might be far from the counsels Of the evil hearted, as it follows, Jesus knowing it departed thence.
JEROME; Knowing, that is, their designs against Him, He withdrew Himself, that He might remove from the Pharisees all opportunity of sin.
REMIG; Or; He withdrew from thence as avoiding the designs of His own when they persecuted Him; or because that was not the time or place for Him to suffer, for It cannot be that a Prophet should perish out of Jerusalem, as He Himself spoke. The Lord also shunned those who persecuted Him through hatred, and went thither where He found many who were attached to Him from affection, whence it follows, And there followed him many. Him whom the Pharisees with one consent plotted against to destroy, the untaught multitude with one consent love and follow; whence they soon received the fulfillment of their desires, for it follows, And he healed them all.
HILARY; On those whom He healed He enjoined silence, whence it follows, And he charged them that they should not make him known. For his restored health was a witness to each man. And by commanding them to hold their peace, He avoids all ostentation of Himself, and at the same time notwithstanding affords a knowledge of Himself in that very admonition to hold their peace; for the observance of silence proceeds from that very thing which is to be kept silent.
RABAN; In this also He instructs us, that when we have done any thing great we are not to seek praise abroad.
REMIG; And He also gives them command that they should not make Him known, that they might not by persecuting Him be put into a worse state.
CHRYS; And that you may not be troubled at those things which are done, and at the incredible madness of the Pharisees, He introduces the Prophet's words. For such was the carefulness of the Prophets, that they had not omitted even this, but had noted all His ways and movements, and the meaning with which He did this; that you might learn that He spoke all things by the Holy Spirit; for if it be impossible to know the thoughts of men, much more to know the meaning of Christ, Unless the Holy Spirit revealed it. Therefore it follows, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the Prophet, saying, Behold my servant whom I have chosen.
REMIG; The Lord Jesus Christ is called the servant of the Almighty God, not in respect of His divinity, but in respect of the dispensation of the flesh which He took upon Him, because by the cooperation of the Holy Spirit He took flesh of the Virgin without stain of sin. Some books have, Elect, whom I have chosen, for He was chosen by God the Father, that is, predestined that He should be the Son of God, proper, not adopted.
RABAN; Whom I have chosen, he says, for a work which none else has done, that He should redeem the human race, and make peace between God and the world. It follows, My beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased, for He alone is the Lamb without spot of sin, of whom the Father speaks, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
REMIG; That he says, My soul, is not to be understood as though God the Father had a soul, but by way of adaptation, showing how God is disposed towards Him. And it is no wonder that a soul is ascribed to God in this manner, seeing that all other members of the body are likewise.
CHRYS; This the Prophet puts in the beginning, that you might learn that that which is here said was according to the counsel of the Father. For he that is beloved does according to his will who loves him. And again, he that is chosen, does not as an enemy break the law, nor as one being an adversary of the legislator, but as one in agreement with Him. Because therefore He is beloved, I will put my Spirit upon him.
REMIG; Then also God the Father put His Spirit upon Him, when by the working of the Holy Spirit He took flesh of the Virgin; and as soon as He became man, He took the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
JEROME; But the Holy Spirit is put, not on the Word of God, but on the Only-Begotten, who came forth from the bosom of the Father; on Him, that is, of whom it is said, Behold my servant. And what He will do by Him He adds, And he shall declare judgment to the Gentiles.
AUG; Seeing He preached the judgment to come which was hidden from the Gentiles.
CHRYS; Further, to show His lowliness, He says, He shall not strive; and so He was offered up as the Father had willed, and gave Himself willingly into the hands of His persecutors. Neither shall he cry; so He was dumb as a lamb before his shearer. Nor shall any hear his voice in the streets.
JEROME; For the way is broad and wide which leads to destruction, and many walk in it; and being many, they will not hear the voice of the Savior, because they are not in the narrow but in the broad way.
REMIG; The Greek is in Latin called 'latitudo.' No one therefore has heard His voice in the streets, because He has not promised pleasant things in this world to those that love Him, but hardships.
CHRYS; The Lord sought to heal the Jews by this mildness. But though they rejected Him, yet He did not resist them by destroying them; whence the Prophet, displaying His power and their weakness, says, A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoking flax he shall not quench.
JEROME; He that holds not out his hand to a sinner, nor bears his brother's burden, he breaks a bruised reed; and he who despises a weak spark of faith in a little one, he quenches a smoking flax.
AUG; So He neither bruised nor quenched the Jewish persecutors, who are here likened to a bruised reed which has lost its wholeness, and to a smoking flax which has lost its flame; but He spared them because He was not come to judge them, but to be judged by them.
ID; In the smoking flax it is observed, that when the flame is out it causes a stink.
CHRYS; Or this, He shall not break a bruised reed, shows that it was as easy for Him to break them all, as to break a reed, and that a bruised reed. And, He shall not quench a smoking flax, shows that their rage was fired, and that the power of Christ was strong to quench such rage with all readiness; hence in this is shown the great mercy of Christ.
HILARY; Or, he means this bruised reed that is not broken, to show that the perishing and bruised bodies of the Gentiles, are not to be broken, but are rather reserved for salvation. He shall not quench a smoking flax; shows the feebleness of that spark which though not quenched, only molders in the flax, and that among the remnants of that ancient grace, the Spirit is yet not quite taken away from Israel, but power still remains to them of resuming the whole flame thereof in a day of penitence.
JEROME; Or, the reverse; He calls the Jews a bruised reed, whom tossed by the wind and shaken from one another, the Lord did not immediately condemn, but patiently endured; and the smoking flax He calls the people gathered out of the Gentiles, who, having extinguished the light of the natural law, were involved in the wandering mazes of thick darkness of smoke, bitter and hurtful to the eyes; this He not only did not extinguish, by reducing them to ashes, but on the contrary from a small spark and one almost dead He raised a mighty flame.
CHRYS; But one might say, What then shall these things be always thus? Will He endure for even those who thus lay snares, and are mad against Him? Far from it; when His own work shall be all complete, then shall He work these things also. And this He signifies saying, Until he shall send forth judgment to victory, as much as to say, When He shall have accomplished all things which are of Himself, then shall He bring in perfect vengeance; then shall they receive punishment when He has made his victory illustrious, that there be not left to them any irreverent opportunity of contradiction.
HILARY; Or, Until he shall send forth judgment to victory, that is, Until He shall take away the power of death, and bring in judgment and the return of His splendor.
RABAN; Or, Until that judgment which was being done in Him should come forth to victory. For after that by His resurrection He has overcome death, and driven forth the prince of this world He returned as conqueror to His kingdom to sit on the right hand of the Father, until He shall put all His enemies under His feet.
CHRYS; But the things of this dispensation will not rest in this only, that they who have not believed should be punished, but He will also draw the world to Him, whence it follows, And in his name shall the Gentiles hope.
AUG; This last we now see fulfilled; and thus this which cannot be denied establishes the truth of that which some have denied through ignorance, the last judgment namely, which He will hold upon earth, when He Himself shall come from heaven. Fur who could have expected that the Gentiles would have hope in Christ's name, when He was in the hands of His enemies, when He was bound, scourged, set at nothing, and crucified; when even His disciples had lost that hope which they had begun to have in Him? That which one thief hardly hoped on the cross, the nations scattered far and wide now hope. And that they may not die forever, they are marked with that very cross on which He died. Let none then doubt that the last judgment will be by Christ Himself.
REMIG; And it should be known, that the meaning not only of this passage, but of many others also, is supported by this testimony from the Prophet. The words, Behold my servant, may be referred to the place in which the Father had said above, This is my Son. The words, I will put my Spirit upon him is referred to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Lord at His baptism; He shall declare judgment to the Gentiles, to that which He says below When the Son of Man shall sit in the seat of his Majesty. What He adds, He shall not strive nor cry, refers to the Lord how He answered but little to the Chief priests, and to Pilate, but to Herod nothing at all. He shall not break the bruised reed, refers to His shunning His persecutors that they might not be made worse; and that In his name shall the Gentiles hope, refers to what Himself says below, Go and teach all nations.
Catena Aurea Matthew 12
