Catholic devotions for 18th August
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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 Saint Helena, Empress
The Conversion of the Emperor Constantine
This blessed cross was put in the earth, and hid by the space of a hundred years and more, but the mother of the emperor, which was named Helena, found it in this manner. For Constantine came with a great multitude of barbarians nigh unto the river of the Danube, which would have gone over for to have destroyed all the country. And when Constantine had assembled his host he went and set them against that other party, but as soon as he began to pass the river he was much afeard because he should on the morn have battle. And in the night, as he slept in his bed, an angel awoke him, and showed to him the sign of the cross in heaven, and said to him: Behold on high in heaven.
Then saw he the cross made of right clear light, and was written thereupon with letters of gold: In this sign thou shalt overcome the battle.
Then was he all comforted of this vision and on the morn he put in his banner the cross and made it to be borne tofore him and his host, and after, smote in the host of his enemies and slew and chased great plenty.
After this he did do call the bishops of the idols, and demanded them to what God the sign of the cross appertained. And when they could not answer, some Christian men that were there told to him the mystery of the cross, and informed him in the faith of the Trinity. Then anon he believed perfectly in God and did do baptize him.
St. Helena Finds the Holy Cross
And after it happed that Constantine his son remembered the victory of his father, and sent to Helena his mother for to find the holy cross. Then Helena went in to Jerusalem and did do assemble all the wise men of the country, and when they were assembled they would fain know wherefore they were called. Then one Judas said to them: I wot well that she will know of us where the cross of Jesu Christ was laid, but beware you all that none of you tell her, for I wot well, then shall our law be destroyed. For Zacheus, mine old father, said to Simon my father, and my father said to me at his death: "Be well ware that for no torment that ye may suffer, tell not where the cross of Jesu Christ was laid, for after that it shall be found the Jews shall reign no more, but the Christian men that worshipped the cross shall then reign; and verily this Jesus was the son of God." Then demanded I my father wherefore had they hanged him on the cross sith it was known that he was the son of God. Then he said to me: "Fair son, I never accorded thereto, but gainsaid it always, but the Pharisees did it because he reproved their vices; but he arose on the third day and, his disciples seeing, he ascended into heaven; then because that Stephen, thy brother, believed in him the Jews stoned him to death."
Then, when Judas had said these words to his fellows, they answered: We never heard of such things, nevertheless keep thee well, if the queen demand thee thereof, that thou say no thing to her.
When the queen had called them and demanded them the place where our Lord Jesu Christ had been crucified, they would never tell ne enseign her. Then commanded she to burn them all, but then they doubted and were afraid, and delivered Judas to her and said: Lady, this man is the son of a prophet and of a just man, and knoweth right well the law, and can tell to you all things that ye shall demand him.
Then the queen let all the others go and retained Judas without more. Then she showed to him his life and death, and bade him choose which he would. Show to me, said she, the place named Golgotha where our Lord was crucified, because and to the end that we may find the cross.
Then said Judas: It is two hundred years passed and more, and I was not then yet born.
Then said to him the lady: By him that was crucified, I shall make thee perish for hunger if thou tell not to me the truth.
Then made she him to be cast into a dry pit and there tormented him by hunger and evil rest. When he had been seven days in that pit, then said he: If I might be drawn out, I should say the truth. Then he was drawn out, and when he came to the place, anon the earth moved, and a fume of great sweetness was felt, in such wise that Judas smote his hands together for joy, and said: In truth, Jesu Christ, thou art the Saviour of the world.
It was so that Adrian the emperor had do make, in the same place where the cross lay, a temple of a goddess, because that all they that came in that place should adore that goddess, but the queen did do destroy the temple. Then Judas made him ready and began to dig, and when he came to twenty paces deep he found three crosses and brought them to the queen, and because he knew not which was the cross of our Lord, he laid them in the middle of the city and abode the demonstrance of God; and about the hour of noon there was the corps of a young man brought to be buried. Judas retained the bier, and laid upon it one of the crosses, and after the second, and when he laid on it the third, anon the body that was dead came again to life.
Then cried the devil in the air: Judas, what hast thou done? Thou hast done the contrary that the other Judas did, for by him I have won many souls, and by thee I shall lose many, by him I reigned on the people, and by thee I have lost my realm, nevertheless I shall yield to thee this bounty, for I shall send one that shall punish thee. And that was accomplished by Julian the Apostate, which tormented him afterward, when he was bishop of Jerusalem. And when Judas heard him, he cursed the devil and said to him: Jesu Christ damn thee in fire perdurable. After this Judas was baptized and was named Quiriacus, and after was made bishop of Jerusalem.
When Helena had the cross of Jesu Christ, and saw that she had not the nails, then she sent to the bishop Quiriacus that he should go to the place and seek the nails. Then he did dig in the earth so long that he found them shining as gold; then bare he them to the queen, and anon as she saw them she worshipped them with great reverence. Then gave St. Helena a part of the cross to her son and that other part she left in Jerusalem, closed in gold, silver, and precious stones. And her son bare the nails to the emperor, and the emperor did do set them in his bridle and in his helm when he went to battle. This rehearseth Eusebius, which, was bishop of Cæsarea, how be it that others say otherwise
Semen est sanguis Christianorum
The blood of Christians is the seed of the Church
Tertullian, Apologeticum, 50
The Reading from the Martyrology
This Day, the Eighteenth Day of August
At Palestrina, the birthday of the holy martyr Agapitus. Although only fifteen years of age, as he was fervent in the love of Christ, he was arrested by order of the emperor Aurelian, and scourged a long time. Afterwards, under the prefect Antiochus, he endured more severe torments, and being delivered to the lions by the emperor's order without receiving any injury, he was finally struck with the sword, and thus merited his crown.
At Rome, during the persecution of Diocletian, the blessed John and Crispus, priests, who charitably buried the bodies of many saints, and afterwards becoming partakers of their merits, they deserved the joys of eternal life.
In the same city, the holy martyrs Hernias, Serapion, and Polysenus. Being dragged through narrow, stony, and craggy places, they yielded up their souls to God.
In Dalmatia, the holy martyrs Florus and Laurus, stonecutters, who, after the martyrdom of Proculus and Maximus, their employers, were subjected to many torments under the governor Licion, and plunged into a deep well.
At Myra, in Lycia, the holy martyrs Leo and Juliana.
At Metz, in France, St. Firmin, bishop and confessor.
At Rome, on the Lavican road, St. Helena, mother of the pious emperor Constantine the Great, who was the first to set the example to other princes of protecting and extending the Church.
At Monte-Falo, in Umbria, blessed Clare, virgin, nun of the Order of Augustinians, in whom the mysteries of our Lord's passion were renewed, and are venerated with the greatest devotion. Pope Leo XIII solemnly added her to the list of holy virgins.
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)
August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Composed by Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman, shortly after his reception into the One, True Fold of the Redeemer
Prayers for Every Day of the Week
The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary are prayed on Monday
"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
Latin Monastic Office for today from Le Barroux in France Texts also provided
LXIII DE ORDINE CONGREGATIONIS
1 Ordines suos in monasterio ita conservent ut conversationis tempus ut vitae meritum discernit utque abbas constituerit.
2 Qui abbas non conturbet gregem sibi commissum nec, quasi libera utens potestate, iniuste disponat aliquid,
3 sed cogitet semper quia de omnibus iudiciis et operibus suis redditurus est Deo rationem
4 Ergo secundum ordines quos constituerit vel quos habuerint ipsi fratres sic accedant ad pacem, ad communionem, ad psalmum imponendum, in choro standum;
5 et in omnibus omnino locis aetas non discernat ordines nec praeiudicet,
6 quia Samuel et Daniel pueri presbyteros iudicaverunt.
7 Ergo excepto hos quos, ut diximus, altiori consilio abbas praetulerit vel degradaverit certis ex causis, reliqui omnes ut convertuntur ita sint,
8 ut verbi gratia qui secunda hora diei venerit in monasterio iuniorem se noverit illius esse qui prima hora venit diei, cuiuslibet aetatis aut dignitatis sit,
9 pueris per omnia ab omnibus disciplina conservata.
CHAPTER 63: RANK IN THE COMMUNITY
1 They are to keep their rank in the monastery which the time of their entry and the merit of their lives determines, or as the abbot constitutes.
2 For the abbot is not to disturb the flock committed to him, nor, acting as if his power were unlimited, establish anything unjustly: 3 instead he is always to ponder that for all his judgments and deeds he will have to give an account to God (cf .Luke 16:2).
4 It is, therefore, in that order which he has constituted or which the brothers already have in relation to each other that they are to approach for the kiss of peace and Communion, intone psalms, and stand in choir:
5 And in absolutely every place, age is not to decide the order or be prejudicial to it;
6 for Samuel and Daniel were children when they judged the elders (1 Sam 3; Dan 13:44-62)
7 Therefore, with the exception of those whom (as we have said) the abbot, after taking advice promotes, or demotes for certain reasons; all the rest are to have the order of their entry:
8 thus, for example, one who enters the monastery at the second hour of the day must know that he is junior to one who came at the first hour, whatever his age dignity.
9 But children are to be kept under discipline in all matters and by everyone.
Today's Celebration of the Mass
Also today
Saint Hugh of Lincoln
Here seen exorcising a demon
Pilate shows Christ to the people. Ecce Homo
Jesus XPI Passio sit semper in cordibus nostris
May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts
"The Cross is our trophy against the demons, our sword against sin, and the sword Christ used to pierce the serpent. The Cross is the Father's will, the glory of the Only-Begotten, the joy of the Spirit, the pride of the angels, the guarantee of the Church." -St. John Chrysostom
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