O King of the Gentiles
O King of the Gentiles and the desired of them, Thou cornerstone that makes both one, come and deliver man, whom Thou didst form out of the dust of the earth.
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12 - December
O Emmanuel
O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the expected of the nations and their Savor, Come to save us, O Lord our God.
Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord
The liturgy of Christmas is redolent of holy joy; were it not for the violet vestments it would seem that the feast had already begun. The Hodie scietis, “This day you shall know” is a recurrent them, repeated time and again, insistently, which expresses the Church’s joy: the great event that she is making ready…
The Feast of Christmas
On this Christmas night the Church celebrates the human birth of Jesus, the Son of God, Savior of the world, at Bethlehem. The Word begotten from all eternity by the Father in heaven, took our human nature in the womb of the Virgin Mary who really gave Him His body; and He was born in…
St. Stephen
The deacon Stephen, stoned in Jerusalem two years after the death of Christ, has always been the object of very special veneration by the faithful. The account in the Acts of the Apostles relating his arrest and the accusations brought against him emphasizes the parallel with our Savior’s trial. Stephen belongs to the group of…
St. John
Pre-eminently the Evangelist of the divinity of Christ, St. John is well placed near the crib to teach us of the hidden grandeurs of the Infant God. He was the author of the fourth Gospel, three Epistles and of the Apocalypse. His passages on the pre-existence of the Word, who by His Incarnation became the…
Holy Innocents
During the octave of Christmas the Church celebrates the memory of the small children of the neighborhood of Bethlehem put to death by Herod. Our Christmas joy is tempered today by a feeling of sadness. The thought of the Church goes principally to the glory of the children of these innocent victims, whom she shows…
St. Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket, born in London in 1117, studied at the University of Paris, was ordained and quickly became a leading figure among the English clergy. On being made Archbishop of Canterbury he was called on to defend the freedom of the Church against the encroachments of Henry II whom he had served for eight years…
St. Anysia
Orphaned by her noble parents, in the year 304, young St. Anysia resolved to go to the assembly of the faithful. As she passed by the emperor’s gate, one of the guards was taken with her beauty and stepping before her said, “Stay, whither are you going?” She replied, “I am a servant of Jesus…
St. Sylvester I
Soon after the peace of Constantine which set free the Church from her shackles (313), Pope Sylvester governed her for more than twenty years (314-35). The organization of worship in the first great Roman basilicas, the assembling of the first ecumenical Council at Nicea at which the Arian heresy was condemned, are the principal events…