Catholic devotions for 19th June

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Saint of the Day/ Feast
Reading of the Martyrology
Dedication of the Month
Dedication of the Day
Rosary
Five Wounds Rosary in Latin
Seven Sorrows Rosary in English
Latin Monastic Office
Reading of the Rule of Saint Benedict
Celebration of Mass
Reading from the School of Jesus Crucified

Feast of Corpus Christi
This feast is celebrated in the Latin Church on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday to solemnly commemorate the institution of the Holy Eucharist. Of Maundy Thursday, which commemorates this great event, mention is made as Natalis Calicis (Birth of the Chalice) in the Calendar of Polemius (448) for the 24th of March, the 25th of March being in some places considered as the day of the death of Christ. This day, however, was in Holy Week, a season of sadness, during which the minds of the faithful are expected to be occupied with thoughts of the Lord's Passion. Moreover, so many other functions took place on this day that the principal event was almost lost sight of. This is mentioned as the chief reason for the introduction of the new feast, in the Bull "Transiturus." 

The instrument in the hand of Divine Providence was St. Juliana of Mont Cornillon, in Belgium. She was born in 1193 at Retines near Liège. Orphaned at an early age, she was educated by the Augustinian nuns of Mont Cornillon. Here she in time made her religious profession and later became superioress. Intrigues of various kinds several times drove her from her convent. She died 5 April, 1258, at the House of the Cistercian nuns at Fosses, and was buried at Villiers. Juliana, from her early youth, had a great veneration for the Blessed Sacrament, and always longed for a special feast in its honour. This desire is said to have been increased by a vision of the Church under the appearance of the full moon having one dark spot, which signified the absence of such a solemnity. She made known her ideas to Robert de Thorete, then Bishop of Liège, to the learned Dominican Hugh, later cardinal legate in the Netherlands, and to Jacques Pantaléon, at that time Archdeacon of Liège, afterwards Bishop of Verdun, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and finally Pope Urban IV. Bishop Robert was favourably impressed, and, since bishops as yet had the right of ordering feasts for their dioceses, he called a synod in 1246 and ordered the celebration to be held in the following year, also, that a monk named John should write the Office for the occasion. The decree is preserved in Binterim (Denkwürdigkeiten, V, 1, 276), together with parts of the Office. 

Bishop Robert did not live to see the execution of his order, for he died 16 October, 1246; but the feast was celebrated for the first time by the canons of St. Martin at Liège. Jacques Pantaléon became pope 29 August, 1261. The recluse Eve, with whom Juliana had spent some time, and who was also a fervent adorer of the Holy Eucharist, now urged Henry of Guelders, Bishop of Liège, to request the pope to extend the celebration to the entire world. Urban IV, always an admirer of the feast, published the Bull "Transiturus" (8 September, 1264), in which, after having extolled the love of Our Saviour as expressed in the Holy Eucharist, he ordered the annual celebration of Corpus Christi in the Thursday next after Trinity Sunday, at the same time granting many indulgences to the faithful for the attendance at Mass and at the Office. This Office, composed at the request of the pope by the Angelic Doctor St. Thomas Aquinas, is one of the most beautiful in the Roman Breviary and has been admired even by Protestants. 

The death of Pope Urban IV (2 October, 1264), shortly after the publication of the decree, somewhat impeded the spread of the festival. Clement V again took the matter in hand and, at the General Council of Vienne (1311), once more ordered the adoption of the feast. He published a new decree which embodied that of Urban IV. John XXII, successor of Clement V, urged its observance. Neither decree speaks of the theophoric procession as a feature of the celebration. This procession, already held in some places, was endowed with indulgences by Popes Martin V and Eugene IV. The feast had been accepted in 1306 at Cologne; Worms adopted it in 1315; Strasburg in 1316. In England it was introduced from Belgium between 1320 and 1325. In the United States and some other countries the solemnity is held on the Sunday after Trinity. In the Greek Church the feast of Corpus Christi is known in the calendars of the Syrians, Armenians, Copts, Melchites, and the Ruthenians of Galicia, Calabria, and Sicily.
The Reading from the Martyrology

This Day, the Nineteenth Day of June

At Florence, St. Juliana Falconieri, virgin, foundress of the Sisters of the Order of the Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was placed among the holy virgins by the Sovereign Pontiff, ClementXII.

At Milan, the holy martyrs Gervasius and Protasius, brothers. The former, by order of the judge Astasius, was so long scourged with leaded whips, that he expired. The latter, after being scourged with rods, was beheaded. Through divine revelation their bodies were found by St. Ambrose. They were partly covered with blood, and as free from corruption as if they had been put to death that very day. When the translation took place, a blind man recovered his sight by touching their relics, and many persons possessed by demons were delivered.

At Ravenna, St. Ursicinus, martyr, who remained firm through many torments in the confession of the Lord, and consummated his martyrdom by capital punishment, under the judge Paulinus.

At Sozopolis, under the governor Domitian, during the persecution of Trajan, St. Zosimus, martyr, who suffered bitter tortures, was beheaded, and thus triumphantly went to Heaven.

At Arezzo, in Tuscany, the holy martyrs Gaudentius, bishop, and Culmatius, deacon, who were murdered by the furious Gentiles, during the reign of Valentinian.

The same day, St. Boniface, martyr, a disciple of blessed Romuald, who was sent by the Roman Pontiff to preach the Gospel in Russia. Having passed through fire uninjured, and baptized the king and his people, he was killed by the enraged brother of the king, and thus gained the palm of martyrdom which he ardently desired.

At Ravenna, St. Romuald, anchoret, founder of the monks of Carnaldoli, who restored and greatly extended monastic discipline, which was much relaxed in Italy. He is also mentioned on the 7th of February.



And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.


Omnes sancti Mártyres, oráte pro nobis
("All ye Holy Martyrs, pray for us", from the Litaniae Sanctorum, the Litany of the Saints)


June is the Month of the Sacred Heart



O most merciful Jesus, lover of souls, I beseech Thee, through the agony of Thy most holy Heart and through the sorrows of Thy Immaculate Mother, wash in Thy Blood the sinners of the whole world who are now in their agony and will die today.

Amen.

V. Heart of Jesus once in agony.

R. Pity the dying.

(300 days every time said. Plenary indulgence under the usual conditions if said thrice daily'but at three distinct times during the day'for a month)

(a) V. Praised be Jesus Christ.

R. Amen'or'Forever.

(b) V. Praised be Jesus and Mary.

R. Today and forever.

(c) V. Glory to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

R. Glory to the immaculate heart of Mary.

(300 days every time any one of the foregoing is said as salutation and answer)*

Graciously grant, O Lord, peace in our times, that, aided by the help of Thy mercy, we may always be free from sin and secure from all disturbance. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

(3 years every time said)*

Burn, O Lord, our loins and our hearts with the fire of the Holy Ghost, that we may serve Thee with a chaste body and please Thee with a pure heart. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

(3 years every time said)*


Thursday is the Day dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament 

On Thursdays, many Catholics make "Holy Hour," that is, they spend an hour in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as an aspect of devotion to the Sacred Heart. On the fifteen consecutive Thursdays before the May 22, many Catholics make the "Fifteen Thursdays of St. Rita" devotion, which can be read about from the page about The Feast of St. Rita of Cascia.


Corpus Christi at Hallstatt in Austria


The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary are prayed on Thursday

"I would like to remind you that the Rosary is a biblical prayer, all filled with the Holy Scriptures." It is a prayer from the heart, in which the repetition of the Ave Maria directs the thought and affection towards Christ, and thus is made a confident prayer to Him and our Mother. It is a prayer that helps to meditate on the Word of God and assimilate the Eucharistic Communion, on the model of Mary who kept in her heart everything Jesus did and said and even His Presence. " Pope Benedict XVI

The Rosary in Latin

Chaplet of the Five Holy Wounds of Christ in Latin
 

Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady in English





The Reading of the Rule of Saint Benedict for June 19


XV ALLELUIA QUIBUS TEMPORIBUS DICATUR

1 A sanctum Pascha usque Pentecosten, sine intermissione dicatur alleluia, tam in psalmis quam in responsoriis. 
2 A Pentecosten autem usque caput quadragesimae, omnibus noctibus, cum sex posterioribus psalmis tantum ad nocturnos dicatur. 
3 Omni vero dominica extra quadragesima, cantica, matutinos, prima, tertia, sexta nonaque cum alleluia dicatur, vespera vero iam antiphona. 
4 Responsoria vero numquam dicantur cum alleluia, nisi a Pascha usque Pentecosten.


CHAPTER 15: AT WHAT TIMES “ALLELUIA” IS SAID

1 From holy Easter until Pentecost, without interruption, “alleluia” is said both with the psalms and the responsories. 
2 From Pentecost until the beginning of Lent, it is to be said every night, only with the second six psalms of Vigils. 
3 On every Sunday outside of Lent, the canticles, Vigils, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext and None are said with “alleluia”, but at Vespers a refrain is used. 
4 Responsories, however, are never to be said with “alleluia”, except from Easter to Pentecost.


Today's Celebration of the Mass





Saint Juliana Falconieri
also today

Jesus XPI Passio sit semper in cordibus nostris

May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts


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