Thursday, 27 December, 2007
3rd Day in the octave of Christmas (II)
St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
"St John is the virgin Apostle, crowned with the halo of those who knew how to conquer their flesh; for this reason he became ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved.’ Thanks to his angelic purity, he imbibed that wholesome wisdom of which the Epistle of the Mass speaks and which has given to him the halo of the Doctors. Finally he received the halo of the Martyrs, since he barely escaped a violent death. It is to St. John, who wrote a Gospel, three Epistles and the Apocalypse, that we owe the most beautiful pages on the Divinity of the Word made flesh, and it is for this reason that the virgin Apostle is symbolised by the eagle. His name is mentioned with the other Apostles’ names in the Canon of the Mass. St. John the Evangelist departed this life at Ephesus (d.101).”

Collect: Of Thy goodness, O Lord, shine upon Thy Church, that, enlightened by the teachings of blessed John, Thine Apostle and Evangelist, she may attain to everlasting gifts. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end.
Lesson: From the Book of Ecclesiasticus, 15:1-6.
Gospel: Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. John, 21:19-24.

Remarks are abstracted from The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual, from Editio Typica of the Roman Missal and Breviary, 1962
(Baronius Press Limited, London, 2004, in conjunction with the Fraternal Society of St. Peter, www.baroniuspress.com)