LOST FEASTS: November 13 - St. Thomas Aquinas - Patron of Catholic Schools

In the annals of the traditional Dominican liturgical calendar, this feast may rank as one of the shortest lived.  In the early 20th century, rather than celebrating the VI Sunday after the Epiphany yesterday, the Order would have celebrated the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas - Patron of Catholic Schools.

One year after his landmark engyclical Aeternis Patris on the philosophical and theological methods of St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope Leo XIII declared:

“We, for the glory of Almighty God and in honor of the Angelic Doctor, for the increase of the sciences, and for the common benefit of human society, declare by Our Supreme Authority , that St. Thomas Aquinas is Patron of Studies in Universities, Colleges, Lyceums, and Catholic Schools; and We desire that he be so held by all…” "Cum hoc sit", Brief of Leo XIII, August 4, 1880.

Beginning with the 1924 Breviarium iuxta ritum sacri ordinis praedicatorum, November 13 was the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas - Patron of Catholic Schools in the Dominican liturgical calendar. Fr. Bonniwell's "History of the Dominican Liturgy" gives no date for when exactly the Order adopted this feast. 

November 13: Anniversary of the Brothers and Sisters

Photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P., Flickr

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we commemorate the Anniversary of the Deceased Brothers and Sisters of our Order. The Ferial  Office is prayed and a commemoration of St. Brice is made at Lauds. The commemoration of our deceased brothers and sisters is made at Pretiosa.

Being a true family, albeit a supernatural one, the members of our Order pray for one another, just as we pray for members of our earthly families. And just as we depend on the intercessory prayers of the Dominican Saints in heaven, so our brothers and sisters in Purgatory depend on our sufferages here on earth. Let us remember our duty in charity to them on this special day set aside in the liturgical calendar of the Order, to offer up prayers for them. What a wonderful consolation, to those of us who, by the grace of almighty God, are members of this holy and venerable Order, to know that once we have departed this life, the entire Order will pause and offer prayers for our poor souls.

November 12: Feast of All Saints of the Dominican Order, II Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of All Saints of the Dominican Order.  The feast is II Class, and since today is a II Class Sunday, the XXIII Sunday after Pentecost is celebrated, and a commemoration is made of the feast. 

How truly humbling it is to be part of a religious Order which includes over 30 saints, 3 Doctor's of the Church, innumerable martyrs and 4 Popes.  Not only are these holy men and women, drawn from every station in life, models of sanctity for us, they are powerful intercessors for us before the heavenly throne of our loving God and Father.  The litany of the Dominican Saints can be downloaded here.

November 5: St. Martin de Pores, C., O.P., III Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of St. Martin de Pores.  The feast is III Class so the Ordinary Office is prayed according to the rubrics.  Like many III Class feasts, the Office contains a set of propers as if it was a II Class feast.  At Lauds, the Psalms of Sunday are prayed. 

From the Martyrology:

At Lima in South America, [Saint] Martin de Porres, a tertiary of the Order of Preachers. Having pronounced his solemn vows to God, he united integrity of life so perfectly with the most severe penances, that both before and after death he merited to become famous for his miracles.

From “Short Lives of the Dominican Saints” (London, Kegan Paul, Trench, and Trübner & Co., Ltd., 1901):

Nov. 2 - Libera me Domine

Last year, New Liturgical Movement wrote a short post on the Dominican Office of the Dead, as it is prayed on the Feast of All Souls.  In particular, the last responsory at Matins.

I find this venerable Dominican tradition to be quite poignant.  Its anxious pleas for mercy and forgiveness stand in stark contrast to the implicit universal salvation that seems to infect most modern liturgical settings for the dead.  This is a wonderful way pray for the Church Suffering, and a true memento mori for those of us who are still members of the Church Militant.

Here is the full text in Latin and English:

R. Líbera me, Dómine, de morte aeterna in die illa tremenda, * Quando caeli movendi sunt et terra, * Dum véneris judicáre sáeculum per ignem. V. j. Dies illa, dies irae, calamitátis et miseriæ, dies magna et amára valde. Dum. V. ij. Tremens factus sum ego et tímeo, dum discussio vénerit atque ventúra ira. Quando. V. iij. Quid ego misérrimus, quid dicam, vel quid faciam, cum nil boni pérferam ante tantum júdicem? Quando. V. iv. Nunc, Christe, te pétimus, miserére, quæsumus; qui venisti redímere pérditos, noli damnáre redemptos. Dum. V. v. Creátor omnium rerum Deus, qui me de limo terrae formasti, et mirabíliter proprio sánguine redemisti, corpusque meum, licet modo putrescat, de sepulchro facies in die judicii resuscitári: exaudi, exaudi me, ut ánimam meam in sinu Abrahae, Patriarchae tui, júbeas collocári. Repetitur R. Líbera me.

R. Deliver me, Lord, from eternal death on that dread da, * when the heavens and the earth shall be shaken, as you come to judge the world by fire. V. j. That day is a day of wrath, a day of ruin and devastation, the great day; and a very bitter one, - When. V. jj. I am seized with trembling and I rear as the judgement draws near and the wrath to come. – As. V. jjj. I am most miserable, what shall I say, or what shall I do, when I have nothing good that I may say in front of such a Judge? – When. V. iv. Therefore, Christ, we ask of you, we beg you, to have mercy; you come to redeem the lost, do not condemn the redeemed. – As. V. v. O God, creator of all things, you formed me from the dust of the earth, and wondrously redeemed me with your own blood.  Although my body may now decay, you will raise it up again from the tomb on the day of judgement.  Hear me; hear me and decree that my soul be gathered into the bosom of your patriarch Abraham. Repeat R. Deliver me.