Readings for the Memorial of Saint Blaise

Readings
for the Memorial of

ST BLAISE
Bishop and Martyr
February 3

MASS

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

COLLECT
Exaudi, Domine, populum tuum, cum beati Blasii martyris patrocinio supplicantem, ut et temporalis vitae nos tribuas pace gaudere, et aeternae reperire subsidium.
Hear, O Lord, the supplications your people make
under the patronage of the Martyr Saint Blaise,
and grant that they may rejoice in peace in this present life,
and find help for life eternal.
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          Romans 5:1-5
Brothers and sisters:
Since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have gained access by faith
to this grace in which we stand,
and we boast in hope of the glory of God.
Not only that, but we even boast of onr afflictions,
knowing that affliction produces endurance,
and endurance, proven character,
and proven character, hope,
and hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps. 103:1-2, 13-14, 17-18
Eúntes in mundum univérsum, prædícate Evangélium.

R. (Mark 16:15) Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
For steadfast is his kindness for us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

ALLELUIA          Mt 29:19a, 20b
Eúntes docéte omnes gentes, dicit Dóminus: ego vobíscum sum ómnibus diébus usque ad consummatiónem sæculi.
Go and teach all nations, says the Lord;
I am with you always, until the end of the world.

GOSPEL          Mark 16:15-20
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:
"Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

Liturgy of the Hours
Blaise

From the Common of One Martyr or of Pastors, except the following:

Office of Readings

From a sermon by St. Augustine, bishop
(Sermo Guelferbytanus 32, de ordinatione episcopi; PLS 2, 639-640)

Suffer for My Sheep

The Son of man has come not to be served, but to serve, and to give his own life as a ransom for many. Consider how the Lord served, and see what kind of servants he bids us to be. He gave his own life as a ransom for many; he ransomed us.

But who of us is fit to ransom anyone? By his blood, by his death we were ransomed from death; and we who lay prostrate were raised up by his humiliation. And yet we, too, have a duty to contribute our meager offerings to his members, for we have become his members. He is the head; we are the body.

In his letter, the apostle John holds up the Lord as our model. Jesus said: Whoever wishes to be the greater among you will be your servant, just as the Son of Man has come not to be served but to serve and to give his own life as ransom for many. So in his exhortation to us to act likewise, John says: Christ laid down his life for us; so we, too, ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

After his resurrection our Lord asked: Peter, do you love me? and Peter replied: I do love you. The question and the answer were repeated three times. And each time the Lord added: Feed my sheep. In other words, if you want to show that you love me, then feed my sheep. What will you give me if you love me, since you look for everything to come from me? Now you know what you are to do if you love me: Feed my sheep. Thus we have the same question and answer once, twice, three times. Do you love me? I do love you. Feed my sheep. Three times Peter had denied in fear; three times he confessed out of love. By his replies and his profession of love, Peter condemned and wiped out his former fear. And so the Lord, after entrusting his sheep to him for the third time, immediately added: When you were a young man, you would gird yourself and go wherever you wished. But when you are old, another will gird you and take you where you do not wish to go. This he spoke signifying by what death he was about to glorify God. Thus he foretold Peter’s own sufferings and crucifixion. By this the Lord suggested that feed my sheep meant suffer for my sheep.

RESPONSORY Philippians 1:20; Psalm 69:21
Nothing can make me ashamed;
- I have utter confidence in Christ that through my life or through my death,
he will use my mortal body for his glory.
Contempt has broken my heart and all my strength is gone.
- I have utter confidence in Christ that through my life or through my death,
he will use my mortal body for his glory.

COLLECT
Hear, O Lord, the supplications your people make
under the patronage of the Martyr Saint Blaise,
and grant that they may rejoice in peace in this present life,
and find help for life eternal.
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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