SAINT ROMANUS OF CONDAT
Psalter I | VIOLET
At the age of thirty-five, he felt called to leave the noise of society behind and become a hermit in the mountains of eastern France. There, he immersed himself in silence and built an inner monastery.
Entrance Antiphon: Cf. Ps 18:8
The law of the Lord is perfect; it revives the soul. The decrees of the Lord are steadfast; they give wisdom to the simple.
Collect
Turn our hearts to you, eternal Father, and grant that, seeking always the one thing necessary and carrying out works of charity, we may be dedicated to your worship. 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: Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Moses spoke to the people, saying: “This day the Lord, your God, commands you to observe these statutes and decrees. Be careful, then, to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. Today you are making this agreement with the Lord: he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees, and to hearken to his voice. And today the Lord is making this agreement with you: you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you; and provided you keep all his commandments, he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations he has made, and you will be a people sacred to the Lord, your God, as he promised.”
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8
R/ Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
- Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart.
- You have commanded that your precepts be diligently kept. Oh, that I might be firm in the ways of keeping your statutes!
- I will give you thanks with an upright heart, when I have learned your just ordinances. I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.
Saint Biography
At the age of thirty-five, he felt called to leave the noise of society behind and become a hermit in the mountains of eastern France. There, he immersed himself in silence and built an inner monastery.
Gospel Acclamation: 2 Corinthians 6:2b
Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Gospel: Matthew 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Prayer over the Offerings
May these blessed mysteries by which we are restored, O Lord, we pray, make us worthy of the gift they bestow. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Mt 5:48
Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect, says the Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Show unceasing favour, O Lord, to those you refresh with this divine mystery, and accompany with salutary consolations those you have imbued with heavenly teaching. Through Christ our Lord.
Prayer over the People
May the blessing for which they have longed strengthen your faithful, O God, so that, never straying from your will, they may always rejoice in your benefits. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” This command seems to defy all logic. How can I love an enemy and pray for a person who makes my life miserable? In fact, the command goes against the logic of the world and invites us to embrace the logic of God. God shows love and mercy to all people, including those who reject him; he gives life, health and success to sinners as well as to the righteous. We have to be perfect like our heavenly Father, and this means acting like him. When we hate those who hate us and persecute those who persecute us, we end up becoming like them; we become haters, persecutors and evildoers. But our vocation as Christians is to set ourselves apart and show the world a different way of living. As difficult as it may be, we must learn to show concern for those who do not care about us, to be fair with those who are unjust to us, to be honest with those who are dishonest with us, to be sincere with those who are hypocrites. It is only in this way that we can show them that we are different from them because we have Christ.