Apollinaris

Reading for the Memorial of
St. Apollinaris
Bishop and Martyr
1st Century

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From the Common of Martyrs: For One Martyr, or from the Common of Pastors: For a Bishop.

COLLECT
Dirige fideles tuos, Domine, in viam salutis aeternae, quam beatus Apollinaris episcopus doctrina et martyrio monstravit, et fac nos, eodem intercedente, sic in mandatis tuis perseverare, ut cum ipso coronari mereamur.
Direct your faithful, Lord, in the way of eternal salvation,
which the Bishop Saint Apollinaris showed by his teaching and martyrdom,
and grant, through his intercession,
that we may so persevere in keeping your commandments
as to merit being crowned with him.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

FIRST READING          Ezekiel 34:11-16
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
As a shepherd tends his flock
when he finds himself among his scattered sheep,
so will I tend my sheep.
I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered
when it was cloudy and dark.
I will lead them out from among the peoples
and gather them from the foreign lands;
I will bring them back to their own country
and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel
in the land's ravines and all its inhabited places.
In good pastures will I pasture them,
and on the mountain heights of Israel
shall be their grazing ground.
There they shall lie down on good grazing ground,
and in rich pastures shall they be pastured
on the mountains of Israel.
I myself will pasture my sheep;
I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD.
The lost I will seek out,
the strayed I will bring back,
the injured I will bind up,
the sick I will heal,
but the sleek and the strong I will destroy,
shepherding them rightly.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM          Psalm 23:1-3a,3b-4,5,6

R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.

ALLELUIA          John 10:16
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold
These also I must lead, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.

GOSPEL          John 10:11-18
Jesus said:
“I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father.”

Liturgy of the Hours
St. Apollinaris, Bishop and Martyr

From the Common of One Martyr, except the following:

SECOND READING

From the sermons of St Peter Chrysologus
(Sermo 128, 1-3: CCL 24 A, 789-791)

The martyr reigns and lives

Blessed Apollinaris, the first bishop, alone honoured the church in Ravenna with the glory of martyrdom suffered here. Following the mandate of his God, he lost his life in order to find it again for all eternity. Blessed is he who so finished the race, kept the faith, that he was truly found to occupy the first place among believers. May no one think that his title Confessor is less than that of Martyr: by God’s will he returned the battle often each day. St Paul says “I die each day”. To die only once is very little for those who can gloriously conquer the enemy more often for their king. It is not death so much as faith and dedication that make one a martyr; and just as it is a mark of virtue to fall in battle, in conflict, for the love of the king, so it is a mark of perfect virtue to engage in combat for a long time and to bring it to its conclusion. Therefore, the enemy did not make him a martyr, since he did not inflict death, but he proved him to be a martyr, because he did not remove his faith; the crafty enemy hurled the weapons that he could, and he aimed at him everything he had in his arsenal; nevertheless, he was unable to budge this bravest of leaders, nor could he tarnish his constancy. It is the highest honour, brothers, to despise this present life for the Lord’s sake, if that is necessary, but it is also glorious even while living to scorn and trample underfoot the world and its ruler.

And what else, brothers? She has seen to it, Holy Mother Church has seen to it, that she would in no way be separated from her bishop. Behold, he lives as a good shepherd in the midst of his flock, and he who has gone before us in body is never separated from us in spirit. He has gone before us, I tell you, in his external appearance; nevertheless his body rests among us. The devil is vanquished, the persecutor has given up; but he who wanted to die for his King, lives and reigns.

RESPONSORY Cf. 2 Timothy 4:7-8b; Philippians 1:21
I have fought the good fight, I have run the race, I have kept the faith.*
- Now a crown of justice awaits me, and the Lord, who is a just judge, will give it to me on that day.

For me, life means Christ, death a prize to be won.*
- Now a crown of justice awaits me, and the Lord, who is a just judge, will give it to me on that day.

COLLECT
Direct your faithful, Lord, in the way of eternal salvation,
which the Bishop Saint Apollinaris showed by his teaching and martyrdom,
and grant, through his intercession,
that we may so persevere in keeping your commandments
as to merit being crowned with him.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

The English translation of Psalm Responses, Alleluia Verses, Gospel Verses from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL); the English translation of Antiphons, Invitatories, Responsories, Intercessions, Psalm 95, the Canticle of the Lamb, Psalm Prayers, Non-Biblical Readings from The Liturgy of the Hours © 1973, 1974, 1975, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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