Clamaverunt justi, et Dominus exaudivit eos: et ex omnibus tribulationibus eorum liberavit eos. * Benedicam Dominum in omni tempore: semper laus ejus in ore meo.
The just cried, and the Lord heard them: and delivered them out of all their troubles.* I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall be always in my mouth.
(Psalm 33:18,2 from the Introit of Mass)
Fraterna nos, Domine, Martyrum tuorum corona laetificet: quae et fidei nostrae praebeat incrementa virtutum; et multiplici nos suffragio consoletur.
Be it ours, O Lord, to rejoice in the triumph of the holy brethren, Thy martyrs: on our faith may it bestow a crown of virtues, and may it be our comfort, that it has added many saints to the number of our advocates.
(Collect)
Here is the Breviary reading for the Holy Machabees. It is taken from Discourse 20 on the Machabees from St Gregory Nazianzen.
Sermon of St Gregory Nazianzen.
What of the Machabees? For this festal day is celebrated in their name by this present assembly. Although by many they are not held in honour, because they did not enter on the conflict after Christ, yet they are worthy to be honoured by all, because they showed courage and constancy in defence of the the laws and institutions of their fathers. For if they suffered martyrdom before the Passion of Christ, what would they have done, if they had suffered persecution after Christ, and if they had had, as a model to be imitated, His death, which He accepted for our salvation? For if they showed such and so great a courage, when they had no example before them, would they not have been even more courageous in the battle, if they had had that example before their eyes? There is even a certain mystical and hidden reason, which seems highly probable to me, and to all who love God, that none of them who suffered martydom before the coming of Christ could have attained to it without faith in Christ.
Here is the Breviary reading for the Holy Machabees. It is taken from Discourse 20 on the Machabees from St Gregory Nazianzen.
Sermon of St Gregory Nazianzen.
What of the Machabees? For this festal day is celebrated in their name by this present assembly. Although by many they are not held in honour, because they did not enter on the conflict after Christ, yet they are worthy to be honoured by all, because they showed courage and constancy in defence of the the laws and institutions of their fathers. For if they suffered martyrdom before the Passion of Christ, what would they have done, if they had suffered persecution after Christ, and if they had had, as a model to be imitated, His death, which He accepted for our salvation? For if they showed such and so great a courage, when they had no example before them, would they not have been even more courageous in the battle, if they had had that example before their eyes? There is even a certain mystical and hidden reason, which seems highly probable to me, and to all who love God, that none of them who suffered martydom before the coming of Christ could have attained to it without faith in Christ.
From the Catholic Encyclopaedia: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09493b.htm
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