St. Basil the Great, Confessor & Doctor of the Church: Missa “In medio Ecclesiae“
St. Basil the Great was born at Caesarea of Cappadocia in 330. He was one of ten children of St. Basil the Elder and St. Emmelia. Several of his brothers and sisters are honoured among the saints. He attended school in Caesarea, as well as Constantinople and Athens, where he became acquainted with St. Gregory Nazianzen in 352. A little later, he opened a school of oratory in Caesarea and practiced law. Eventually he decided to become a monk and found a monastery in Pontus which he directed for five years. He wrote a famous monastic rule which has proved the most lasting of those in the East. He is author of a monastic rule from which St. Benedict derived many points, and which is still observed by the monks of the East. After founding several other monasteries, he was ordained and, in 370, made bishop of Caesaria. In this post until his death in 379, he continued to be a man of vast learning and constant activity, genuine eloquence and immense charity. This earned for him the title of “Great” during his life and Doctor of the Church after his death. Basil was one of the giants of the early Church. He was responsible for the victory of Nicene orthodoxy over Arianism in the Byzantine East, and the denunciation of Arianism at the Council of Constantinople in 381-82 was in large measure due to his efforts. Basil fought simony, aided the victims of drought and famine, strove for a better clergy, insisted on a rigid clerical discipline, fearlessly denounced evil wherever he detected it, and excommunicated those involved in the widespread prostitution traffic in Cappadocia. He was learned, accomplished in statesmanship, a man of great personal holiness, and one of the great orators of Christianity. During his lifetime he was called a vessel of election by St. Ephrem. He died on January 1, 379.
St. Paul admonishes Timothy to hold firm the sound doctrine of the Gospel. The Doctors of the Church were also renowned for their orthodoxy and their theological learning.
INTROIT Ecclesiasticus 15: 5
In the midst of the Church the Lord opened his mouth: and filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding: He clothed him with a robe of glory.. (Ps. 91: 2) It is good to give praise to the Lord: and to sing to Thy Name, O Most High. v. Glory be…etc
COLLECT
Give ear we beseech Thee, O Lord, unto our prayers, which we offer on the solemnity of blessed Basil, Thy confessor and bishop, and by the interceding merits of him who had the grace to serve Thee worthily, free us from all our sins. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. R. Amen.
Commemoration Dominica III Post Pentecosten
O God, protector of all who hope in You, without Whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, increase Your mercy toward us, that, with Your guidance and direction we may so pass through the things of this temporal life as not to lose those of life eternal. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.
Commemoration of the Octave of the Sacred Heart
We beseech you, Almighty God: that we who, glorying in the most sacred Heart of thy well-beloved Son, do call to mind the excellent benefits of his love towards us, may forever rejoice in its work within us and in bringing forth the fruits of the same. Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.
EPISTLE 2 Timothy 4: 1-8
Lesson from the Epistle of blessed Paul the Apostle to Timothy. Dearly beloved, I charge thee before God and Jesus Christ, Who shall judge the living and the dead, by His coming, and His Kingdom. Preach the word: be instant in season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience, and doctrine. For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but according to their own desires they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry. Be sober. For I am even now ready to be sacrificed; and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the Faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just Judge, will render to me in that day; and not only to me, but to them also that love His coming.
GRADUAL Psalm 36: 30, 31
The mouth of the just man shall meditate wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment. V. The law of his God is in his heart; and his steps shall not be supplanted. Alleluia, alleluia. V. (Ecclus. 45: 9) The Lord loved him and adorned him: he clothed with a robe of glory. Alleluia.
GOSPEL Luke 14: 26-33
At that time, Jesus said to the multitudes: “If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth not carry his cross, and come after Me, can not be My disciple. For which of you having a mind to build a tower, doth not first sit down and reckon the charges that are necessary, whether he have wherewithal to finish it; lest after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that see it begin to mock him, saying. This man began to build, and was not able to finish? Or what king about to go and make war against another king, doth not first sit down and think whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that with twenty thousand cometh against him? Or else, whilst the other is yet afar off, sending an embassy, he desireth conditions of peace. So likewise every one of you that doth not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be My disciple. Salt is good: but if the salt shall lose its savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither profitable for the land, nor for the dunghill, but shall be cast out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Psalm 88: 25
My truth and my mercy shall be with him; and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
SECRET
May the annual festival of blessed Basil, Thy confessor and pontiff, we beseech Thee, O Lord, render us acceptable to Thy loving kindness, that through these offices of pious atonement a blessed reward may attend him and he may win for us the gifts of Thy grace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
Commemoration Dominica III Post Pentecosten
Look favorably, O Lord, upon the offerings of Your prayerful Church and grant that those who believe may, in continual holiness, partake of them for their salvation. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.
Commemoration of the Octave of the Sacred Heart
Defend us, O Lord, we pray you, who present this sacrifice unto you : and to the intent that our hearts may be made ready more earnestly to offer the same, vouchsafe to kindle them with the fires of your heavenly charity. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.
R. Amen
PREFACE of the Holy Trinity
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who, together with Thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord: not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance. For what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim do praise: who cease not daily to cry out, with one voice saying: HOLY, HOLY, HOLY…
ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
Oh my Jesus,
I believe that Thou art present in the Blessed Sacrament.
I love Thee above all things, and I desire Thee in my soul.
Since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
As though Thou were already there,
I embrace Thee and unite myself wholly to Thee.
Permit not that I should ever be separated from Thee. Amen.
COMMUNION ANTIPHON Luke 12: 42
A faithful and wise steward, whom the Lord set over His family; to give them their measure of wheat in due season.
POSTCOMMUNION
O God, the rewarder of faithful souls, grant that, through the prayers of blessed Basil, Thy confessor and bishop, whose august solemnity we celebrate, we may obtain pardon of our sins. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. R. Amen.
Commemoration Dominica III Post Pentecosten
May the holy things of which we have partaken bring us to life and prepare for Your everlasting mercy those whom You have cleansed from sin. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.
Commemoration of the Octave of the Sacred Heart
O Lord our God, who has vouchsafed to feed us with the banquet of our peace, and the sacraments of our salvation: we humbly beseech you; that as you are meek and lowly of heart, so we, being cleansed from the stains of our vices, may learn more earnestly to forsake the pride and vanities of the world. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.
R. Amen
PROPER LAST GOSPEL Commemoration Dominica III Post Pentecosten
Luke 15:1-10
At that time, the publicans and sinners were drawing near to Him to listen to Him. And the Pharisees and the Scribes murmured, saying, This man welcomes sinners and eats with them. But He spoke to them this parable, saying, What man of you having a hundred sheep, and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it upon his shoulders rejoicing. And on coming home he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ I say to you that, even so, there will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, more then over ninety-nine just who have no need of repentance. Or what woman, having ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma that I had lost.’ Even so, I say to you, there will be joy among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
R. Thanks be to God.
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