Readings for the Memorial of St Fidelis of Sigmaringen

Readings
for the Memorial of

St Fidelis of Sigmaringen
Priest and Martyr
April 24
+1622

MASS

From the Common of Martyrs: For One Martyr during Easter Time or from the Common of Pastors: For One Pastor

COLLECT
O God, who were pleased to award
the palm of martyrdom to Saint Fidelis
as, burning with love for you, he propagated the faith,
grant, we pray, through his intercession,
that, grounded in charity,
we may merit to know with him
the power of the Resurrection of Christ.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

FIRST READING          Colossians 1:24-29
Brothers and sisters:
I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ
on behalf of his Body, which is the Church,
of which I am a minister
in accordance with God's stewardship given to me
to bring to completion for you the word of God,
the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.
But now it has been manifested to his holy ones,
to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles;
it is Christ in you, the hope for glory.
It is him whom we proclaim,
admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom,
that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
For this I labor and struggle,
in accord with the exercise of his power working within me.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM          Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11
Ex ómnibus terróribus meis erípuit me Dóminus.

R. The Lord delivered me from all my fears.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
praise shall be always in my mouth.
My soul will glory in the LORD
that the poor may hear and be glad.
R. The Lord delivered me from all my fears.
Magnify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD, who answered me,
delivered me from all my fears.
R. The Lord delivered me from all my fears.
Look to God that you may be radiant with joy
and your faces may not blush for shame.
In my misfortune I called,
the LORD heard and saved me from all distress.
R. The Lord delivered me from all my fears.
The angel of the LORD, who encamps with them,
delivers all who fear God.
Learn to savor how good the LORD is;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
R. The Lord delivered me from all my fears.
Fear the LORD, you holy ones;
nothing is lacking to those who fear him.
The powerful grow poor and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
R. The Lord delivered me from all my fears.

ALLELUIA          Jn 13:34
Mandátum novum do vobis, dicit Dóminus, ut diligátis invícem, sicut diléxi vos.
I give you a new commandment:
love one another as I have loved you.

GOSPEL          John 17:20-26
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:
"Holy Father, I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them."

The Liturgy of the Hours
St Fidelis of Sigmaringen

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

Office of Readings

From a Eulogy for Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr

Faithful in name and in truth

Pope Benedict XIV praised Fidelis as a confessor of the Catholic faith in these words: “He practiced the fullness of charity in bringing consolation and relief to his neighbors as well as strangers. With a father’s love he embraced all those who were in trouble. He supported great numbers of poor people with the alms he had collected from every quarter.

“With wealth collected from the powerful and from princes, he comforted widows and orphans in their loneliness. He was always helping prisoners in their spiritual and bodily needs. He showed constant zeal in visiting and comforting the sick whom he would win back to God and prepare for their last struggle.

“The most outstanding example of this meritorious way of life occurred when the Austrian army, stationed in the area of Raetia, was almost totally destroyed by an epidemic. To show compassion he used to bring food for the weak and the dying.”

In addition to this charity, he was faithful in truth as well as in name. His zeal for defending the Catholic faith was unsurpassed and he preached it tirelessly. A few days before he shed his blood to bear witness to his preaching, he gave his last sermon. These are the words he left as a testament: “O Catholic faith, how solid, how strong you are! How deeply rooted, how firmly founded on a solid rock! Heaven and earth will ass away, but you can never pass away. From the beginning the whole world opposed you, but you mightily triumphed over everything. This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. It has subjected powerful kings to the rule of Christ; it has bound nations to his service.

“What made the holy apostles and martyrs endure fierce agony and bitter torments, except faith, and especially faith in the resurrection?

“What is it that today makes true followers of Christ cast luxuries aside, leave pleasures behind, and endure difficulties and pain? It is living faith that expresses itself through love. It is this that makes us put aside the goods of the present in the hope of future goods. It is because of faith that we exchange the present for the future.”

RESPONSORY 2 Timothy 4:7-8; Phil 3:8-10
I have fought the good fight,
I have run the race to the finish,
I have kept the faith;
- now a crown of holiness awaits me, alleluia.

Nothing has seemed worthwhile to me except to know Christ,
to be one with him in his sufferings,
to bear his death in my body.
- Now a crown of holiness awaits me, alleluia.

COLLECT
O God, who were pleased to award
the palm of martyrdom to Saint Fidelis
as, burning with love for you, he propagated the faith,
grant, we pray, through his intercession,
that, grounded in charity,
we may merit to know with him
the power of the Resurrection of Christ.
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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