S. Joannis Leonardi Confessoris ~ Duplex

Commemoratio: S. Dionysii Epíscopi, Rustici et Eleutherii Martyrum

Fri, 10/9/26: Today is the feast of St. John Leonardi, C, under the 1954 (double) and 1962 (III class) rubrics. Mass: Proper Mass. White. Gloria. Gradual/Alleluia. Omit Credo. Common Preface. Ite. Commemoration of Ss. Denis, B, Rusticus and Eleutherius, Mm, at all Masses (1954)/conventual and low Mass only (1962.)

Introitus
Eccli 42:15-16.
In sermónibus Dómini ópera ejus: sol illúminans per ómnia respéxit, et glória Dómini plenum est opus ejus.
Ps 95:1
Cantáte Dómino cánticum novum: cantáte Dómino, omnis terra.
℣. Glória Patri, …

Collect
℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
O God, Who in a wondrous way graciously urged blessed John, Your Confessor, to propagate Your faith among the pagans, and through him brought together a new religious family in Your Church for the education of the faithful, grant Your servants so to profit by his teaching that we may reach everlasting rewards.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
℟. Amen.

Let us pray.
Commemoration Sts. Denis, Bishop, Rusticus et Eleutherius, Martyrs
O God, Who on this day strengthened blessed Dionysius, Your Martyr and Bishop, with the power to be steadfast in his suffering, and were pleased to join with him Rusticus and Eleutherius to preach Your glory to the pagans, grant us, we beseech You, out of love for You, to despise the favors of this world and to fear not its enmity.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
℟. Amen.

From the Holy Gospel according to Luke
Luke 10:1-9
At that time, the Lord appointed other seventy-two also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come. And so on.

Homily by Pope St. Gregory the Great.
17th Homily on the Gospels
Dearly beloved brethren, our Lord and Saviour doth sometimes admonish us by words, and sometimes by works. Yea, His very works do themselves teach us for that which He doth silently His example still moveth us to copy. Behold how He sendeth forth His disciples to preach by two and two since there are two commandments to love, that is, a commandment to love God, and a commandment to love our neighbour and where there are not two, the one, being alone, hath not whereon to do the Lord's commandment. And no man can properly be said to love himself: for love tendeth outward toward our neighbour, if it be the love whereto the Gospel doth oblige us.

Communion
Phil 3:7
The things that were gain to me, these, for the sake of Christ, I have counted loss.

Post Communion
P. The Lord be with you.
S. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
Refreshed by the holy sacrament of Your precious Body and Blood, we beseech You, O Lord, that, following the example of blessed John, Your Confessor, may we strive to profess what he believed and in our actions put into practice what he taught.
Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.
℟. Amen

Let us pray.
Commemoration Sts. Denis, Bishop, Rusticus et Eleutherius, Martyrs
We who have received Your sacrament beseech You, Lord, that through the intercession of Your blessed Martyrs, Dionysius, Rusticus, and Eleutherius, we may profit unto an increase of eternal 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.
℟. Amen.

From the Breviarium Romanum:

John Leonard was born of pious and respectable parents in the town of Diecimo, not far from the city of Lucca. From very early boyhood he shewed himself mature and serious, with an inclination to solitude and prayer. When he was twenty-six years old God called him to enlist among the soldiers of the Church. John renounced immediately all his worldly interests. At first he had to study elementary Latin with little boys, but he soon advanced in a knowledge of literature, philosophy and theology. After a scant four years, at the command of his superior, he was ordained to the priesthood. Soon afterward he and a group of noble youths, alike inflamed with high ideals, earnestly set about attaining perfection in virtue. The following year they formed the Congregation of the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God, a name chosen because of their intense devotion to her. John and his companions laboured with such diligence in their care of souls, that before long a change of attitude was brought about. In the city state of Lucca, where through the perfidious wiles of the heretics, hateful passion turned fiercely among the citizens, where morals were corrupted, in a very short space of time the primitive piety of the Christians seemed to revive.

In his work for the salvation of souls John met most bitter insults from wicked men who tried in every way to destroy the newly gathered family. But the man of God, bearing all things cheerfully and serenely, defended pertinaciously the fruit of his apostolic labours by securing from the Supreme Pontiff, Gregory XIII, papal approbation of his Congregation. Many bishops about to undertake difficult enterprises sought his advice and aid. Even the Holy Father delegated to him the solution of intricate litigation and the reform of religious societies. He stood in support of Saint Joseph Calasanctius when his society was on the verge of collapse. Scarcely less arduous were the hours John devoted to the affairs of the Hospital of the Holy Spirit in the English section of Rome, and to those of the convent of Saint Frances of Rome.

Greatly saddened that so many peoples in far distant places were without the light of the Gospel, John burned with a desire to journey to those countries to spread the light of the true Faith. But when Saint Philip Neri, who called John a true reformer, showed him that he and his Congregation were destined to educate the Italian people, John acquiesced to the will of God. He did not, however, refrain so completely that he did not try to do some work for the infidels. He is therefore, very rightly credited along with the pioneer Vives with being the founder of the movement among the bishops to send well-qualified young men to distant, alien lands to propagate the faith. Wherefore he is very properly regarded as the author of that most illustrious institute which augments the work of the Sovereign Pontiffs and serves to spread the Catholic faith throughout the world. John wrote many works on theology and morality, well adapted to the men of that day. Finally, in sackcloth and ashes, lacking nothing in his sacred ministry, he passed to the Lord in Rome on the 9th day of October, 1609, at the age of sixty-six. He was so famous for sanctity and miracles that Pius IX, the Supreme Pontiff, named him on the calendar of the Blessed. In 1938 on the solemn Feast of Easter, Pius XI enrolled him among the Saints.