June 28—July 4
SUN. JUNE 28. 5th Sunday after Pentecost. sd. Comm. of St. Irenaeus and Oct. of St. John the Baptist. Creed. Pref. of Trinity. (In Westminster, Dedication of the Cathedral. d. I el. with Oct.) (Green) THE liturgy of this Sunday is optimistic and consoling, with its emphasis on love, "the good things unseen for those who love God." This love is tested by love to one's neighbours in the Epistle, while the Gospel is a stern warning against those who live by the letter of justice and hypocritical righteousness rather than the spirit of love.
MON. JUNE 29. SS. Peter and Paul. d. 1 el., with Oct. Creed. Pref. of Apostles. (Red) THIS feast. universally kept in the whole Church, was fixed for this day probably because it was the day of the translation of the Apostles' relics. According to tradition, they were martyred on the same day during the persecution of Nero. Peter was crucified head downwards on the Vatican Hill, while Paul was killed by the sword near the Osten Way.
TUES. JUNE 30. Commemorathm of St. Paul. dm. Comm. of St Peter and Oct. of St. John the Baptist. Creed. Pref. of Apostles. (Red)
TN every Mass of St. Peter a comImemoration is made of St. Paul and vice versa.
In Monday's feast, the two saints are commemorated together, but inevitably the greater emphasis is on St. Peter. To compensate for this, the Western Church has dedicated the next day to an office especially in honour of St. Paul.
WED. JULY 1. The Most Precious Blood. d. 1 cl. Comm. of Oct. of St. John the Baptist. Creed. Pref. of the Cross. (Red) FROM the beginning of the Church I 'Our I.ord's Precious Blood has been thought of as a symbol of the Redemption. With the devotion to the Sacred Heart, the devotion to the Precious Blood is central to the liturgy and consequently universal in the Church.
At various times, other devotions to parts of the Sacred Person of Our 1.ord have been preached. There is a feast. not universally kept, of the Five Sacred Wounds. But the Church has set very definite limits to the spreading of devotions to Our Lord in or through parts of Our Lord's Body.
THURS. JULY 2. The Visitation of Our Lady. d. 2 el. Comm. of SS. Proccssus and Martinianus. Creed. Pref. of Our Lady. (White) IHE account of the Visitation paid by Our Lady to her cousin St. Elizabeth (of whom otherwise we know nothing) is given by St. Luke, I, 39-57. The feast is an old one and kept throughout the Western Church.
FRI. JULY 3. St. Leo, Pope. sd. Comm. of Oct. of SS. Peter and Paul. Creed. Va.st Gospel "Ecce Nos Relit/Minus Ompria." ( PVaire) THIS is Pope Leo II. a Sicilian who became Pope in 681 and died two years later. St. Leo is involved in the famous case of Pope Honorius I, who is accused, outside the Church, of exercising Papal Infallibility in a fallible way. He did not condemn outright the Monothelite heresy which held that there was only one will in Christ, but "hedged." Pope Honorius's judgment was not a case of Papal Infallibility at all, and St. Leo in condemning the heresy only censured his predecessor for this "hedging."
SAT. JULY 4. Of the Octave of SS. Peter and Paul. sd. 2 Prayer Concede, 3 Prayer for the Church or Pope. Pref. of the Apostles. (Red)