The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Year: C(I). Psalm week: 2. Liturgical Colour: White.
St Eusebius of Vercelli (283 - 371)
He was born in Sardinia and brought up in Rome, and later (in around 340) was made the first bishop of Vercelli in Piedmont. He lived in a community with his diocesan priests, the first bishop ever to do so.
He was a strong supporter of orthodoxy, and in 355 was sent into exile by the Emperor for refusing to sign the condemnation of St Athanasius which had been passed by the Council of Milan. He was in exile for six years, harshly treated by those who had charge of him. On his release he worked hard for unity, but in vain.
He co-operated with St Hilary in fighting Arianism, and eventually died peacefully in Vercelli, where a manuscript of the Gospels in his handwriting is preserved.
St Peter Julian Eymard (1811 - 1868)
He was born in the town of La Mure, France in the year 1811. Ordained a priest and engaged in pastoral work for some time, he later entered the Society of Mary. A fervent disciple of the Eucharistic Mystery, he established two congregations, one for men, the other for women, dedicated to the worship of the Eucharist. He was also the initiator of many other apostolates, aptly chosen to arouse love for the Holy Eucharist among the faithful. He died on August 1, 1868 in the town in which he was born.
Other saints: Saint Peter Faber (1506-1546)
2 Aug (where celebrated)
Peter Faber (1506-1546) was born in Savoy, France. In 1525, he enrolled at the University of Paris. He was ordained a priest in May 1534. While in Paris, he was among the group of six students who under the leadership of Ignatius of Loyola would form the nucleus of the Society of Jesus. Renowned as a religious scholar, spiritual guide and talented mediator, Faber was tasked with missionary work and other important tasks throughout Europe. He was a pioneer of ecumenism. He died in Rome in August 1546. Pope Francis, by a decree of confirmation of cult, also known as equipollent canonization, inscribed Faber in the Church’s universal calendar in 2013.
About the author of the Second Reading in today's Office of Readings:
Second Reading: Didymus of Alexandria (c.310-395)
Didymus, known as “Didymus the Blind” because he went blind at the age of four, was the head of the famous catechetical school of Alexandria for over fifty years. He remained always a layman, and was one of the most learned and widely respective ascetics of his time: St Jerome once stayed with him for a month, to have his doubts resolved on difficult passages in Scripture, and referred to him as “the Seer” rather than “the Blind”.
Didymus was a leading opponent of Arianism, which held that Christ is not truly divine but a created being. He was, however, also a follower of Origen and took on some of his errors, so that, although he was not condemned by name at the time that Origenism as a whole was condemned, his works fell out of fashion and, as they were not copied, gradually disappeared over the centuries.
Didymus’ Trinitarian and Christological doctrine is, however, perfectly orthodox. He was a pioneer in expressing the doctrine of the Trinity in a way that was clear and unambiguous and could not be misunderstood. This was a delicate business requiring a careful choice of terms, especially in Greek, which lacked a direct equivalent of straightforward Latin words such as persona. “On the Trinity”, which is used in the Office of Readings, is his most important work.
Liturgical colour: white
White is the colour of heaven. Liturgically, it is used to celebrate feasts of the Lord; Christmas and Easter, the great seasons of the Lord; and the saints. Not that you will always see white in church, because if something more splendid, such as gold, is available, that can and should be used instead. We are, after all, celebrating.
In the earliest centuries all vestments were white – the white of baptismal purity and of the robes worn by the armies of the redeemed in the Apocalypse, washed white in the blood of the Lamb. As the Church grew secure enough to be able to plan her liturgy, she began to use colour so that our sense of sight could deepen our experience of the mysteries of salvation, just as incense recruits our sense of smell and music that of hearing. Over the centuries various schemes of colour for feasts and seasons were worked out, and it is only as late as the 19th century that they were harmonized into their present form.
| Mid-morning reading (Terce) | (Apocalypse 1:17-18) © |
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I saw the Son of Man, and he said to me, ‘Have no fear! I am the First and the Last. I was dead and now I am to live for ever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of the underworld.’
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| Noon reading (Sext) | Colossians 2:9,12 © |
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In Christ lives the fullness of divinity, and in him you too find your own fulfilment. You have been buried with him, when you were baptised; and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead.
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| Afternoon reading (None) | 2 Timothy 2:8,11 © |
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Remember the Good News that I carry, ‘Jesus Christ risen from the dead, sprung from the race of David’. Here is a saying that you can rely on: ‘If we have died with him, then we shall live with him.’
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