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Saint Irénée ; Vitraux de Lucien Bégule (1901), Église Saint-Irénée.

"This  Saint  was  born  about  the  year  120.  He  was  a  Grecian, probably  a  native  of  Lesser  Asia.  •  His  parents,  who  were Christians,  placed  him  under  the  care  of  the  great  St.  Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna.  It  was  in  so  holy  a  school  that  he learned  that  sacred  science  which  rendered  him  afterward  a  great ornament  of  the  Church  and  the  terror  of  her  enemies.  St.  Polycarp  cultivated  his  rising  genius,  and  formed  his  mind  to  piety  by precepts  and  example;  and  the  zealous  scholar  was  careful  to reap  all  the  advantages  which  were  offered  him  by  the  happiness of  such  a  master.  Such  was  his  veneration  for  his  tutor's  sanctity that  he  observed  every  action  and  whatever  he  saw  in  that  holy  man, the  better  to  copy  his  example  and  learn  his  spirit.  He  listened to his  instructions  with  an  insatiable  ardor,  and  so  deeply  did  he engrave  them  on  his  heart  that  the  impressions  remained  most lively  even  to  his  old  age.  In  order  to  confute  the  heresies  of  his age,  this  father  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  most  absurd conceits  of  their  philosophers,  by  which  means  he  was  qualified to  trace  up  every  error  to  its  sources  and  set  it  in  its  full  light.
St.  Polycarp  sent  St.  Irenaeus  into  Gaul,  in  company  with  some priest ;  he  was  himself  ordained  priest  of  the  Church  of  Lyons  by St.  Pothinus.  St.  Pothinus  having  glorified  God  by  his  happy death,  in  the  year  177,  our  Saint  was  chosen  the  second  Bishop  of Lyons.  By  his  preaching,  he  in  a  short  time  converted  almost that  whole  country  to  the  faith.    He  wrote  several  works  against heresy,  and  at  last,  with  many  others,  suffered  martyrdom  about the  year  202,  under  the  Emperor  Severus,  at  Lyons. (Pictorial lives of the saints : with reflections for every day of the year, by Shea, John Gilmary, 1824-1892)

"For where is the Church is, there likewise is the Spirit of God. And where the Spirit of God is, there likewise is the Church, there all grace." Against Heresies 3:24:1 St.  Irenaeus

"Woe to them who alienate themselves from her! They suck not in life from the nourishing breasts to which their Mother invites them, they slake not their thirst at the limpid Fount of the Lord's Body: but, afar from the rock of unity, they drink the muddy waters of cisterns dug in fetid slime where there is not a drop of water of truth." The Liturgical Year: Time after Pentecost (v. 11, 3rd ed.) By Prosper Gueranger

"O God, who didst vouchsafe unto blessed Irenaeus, Thy martyr and bishop, by his strenuous teaching of the truth, utterly to confute heresies, and happily to establish peace in Thy Church: grant unto us Thy people, we beseech Thee, to be steadfast in the practice of our holy religion, and in all our days to enjoy that peace which is from Thee."

 God, the author and lover of peace, to know Whom is to live, and to serve Whom is to reign, protect us Thy suppliants from all assaults, that we, who trust in Thy defense, by the intercession of blessed Irenaeus, Thy martyr and bishop, may not fear the arms of any of our foes. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever."

Collect and Post Communion,

"If it is true that by contemplating Christ, sinners learn from Him the “sorrow for sins” needed to bring them back to the Father, this is even more the case for sacred ministers. How can we forget, in this regard, that nothing causes more suffering for the Church, the Body of Christ, than the sins of her pastors, especially the sins of those who become “thieves and robbers” of the sheep (cf. Jn 10:1 ff.), lead them astray by their own private teachings, or ensnare them in the toils of sin and death? Dear priests, the summons to conversion and to trust in God’s mercy also applies to us; we too must humbly, sincerely and unceasingly implore the heart of Jesus to preserve us from the terrifying risk of endangering the very people we are obliged to save." -- Pope Benedict XVI, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 19 June 2009

Prayer for Priests: O Jesus, eternal High Priest, divine Sacrificer, Thou who in an unspeakable burst of love for men, Thy Brethren, didst cause the Christian Priesthood to spring forth from Thy Sacred Heart, vouchsafe to pour forth upon Thy priests continual living streams of infinite love. Live in them, transform them in to Thee; make them, by Thy Grace, fit instruments of Thy mercy; do Thou act in them and through them, and grant, that they may become wholly one with Thee by their faithful imitation of Thy Virtues; and, in Thy name and by the strength of Thy spirit, may they do the works which Thou didst accomplish for the salvation of the world.
Divine Redeemer of souls, behold how great is the multitude of those who still sleep in the darkness of error; reckon up the number of those unfaithful sheep who stray to the edge of the precipice; consider the throngs of the poor, the hungry, the ignorant and the feeble who groan in their abandoned condition.
Return to us in the person of Thy priests; truly live again in them; act through them and pass once more through the world, teaching, forgiving, comforting, sacrificing and renewing the sacred bonds of love between the Heart of God and the heart of man. Amen.St. Pius X (Raccolta 1907, Prayer 614. Rescript in his own hand. March 3, 1905 )

Allegory of the Holy Eucharist by Miguel Cabrera, 1750 pd

"Out of devotion to the Holy Eucharist and the Passion of Christ grew the devotion to the Sacred heart of Jesus with its feast and that of the S. Priesthood of Christ (Octave of Corpus Christi), and the more recent feast (1921) of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus on the Thursday following the third Sunday after Easter. (American Ecclesiastical Review V 68, 1923 page 470)

"This devotion does not substantially differ from the ordinary devotion to the Sacred Heart. It merely emphasizes the act of supreme love of the Heart in bestowing the gift of the Holy Eucharist upon us." The Raccolta

On 9 November 1921, Pope Benedict XV instituted the feast of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus to be celebrated on the Thursday within the Octave of the Sacred Heart with a Proper Mass and Office. The feast continues to be celebrated in some places. In instituting the feast, Pope Benedict XV wrote:  "The chief reason of this feast is to commemorate the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the mystery of the Eucharist. By this means the Church wishes more and more to excite the faithful to approach this sacred mystery with confidence, and to inflame their hearts with that divine charity which consumed the Sacred Heart of Jesus when in His infinite love He instituted the Most Holy Eucharist, wherein the Divine Heart guards and loves them by living with them, as they live and abide in Him. For in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist He offers and gives Himself to us as victim, companion, nourishment, viaticum, and pledge of our future glory."  The Raccolta

"122. It is likewise Our most fervent desire that all who profess themselves Christians and are seriously engaged in the effort to establish the kingdom of Christ on earth will consider the practice of devotion to the Heart of Jesus as the source and symbol of unity, salvation and peace. Let no one think, however, that by such a practice anything is taken from the other forms of piety with which Christian people, under the guidance of the Church, have honored the divine Redeemer. Quite the opposite. Fervent devotional practice towards the Heart of Jesus will beyond all doubt foster and advance devotion to the Holy Cross in particular, and love for the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. We can even assert - as the revelations made by Jesus Christ to St. Gertrude and to St. Margaret Mary clearly show - that no one really ever has a proper understanding of Christ crucified to whom the inner mysteries of His Heart have not been made known. Nor will it be easy to understand the strength of the love which moved Christ to give Himself to us as our spiritual food save by fostering in a special way the devotion to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, the purpose of which is - to use the words of Our predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII - "to call to mind the act of supreme love whereby our Redeemer, pouring forth all the treasures of His Heart in order to remain with us till the end of time, instituted the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist."(122) For "not the least part of the revelation of that Heart is the Eucharist, which He gave to us out of the great charity of His own Heart."(123). (Encyclical Haurietis Aquas Pope Pius XII May 15, 1956).

Proper Prayers for the Mass in the Extraordinary form for the Feast of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus

Prayer:
Heart of Jesus in the Eucharist, sweet companion in our exile, I adore Thee.
Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, I adore Thee.
Heart solitary, I adore Thee.
Heart humiliated, I adore Thee.
Heart abandoned, I adore Thee.
Heart forgotten, I adore Thee.
Heart despised, I adore Thee.
Heart outraged, I adore Thee.
Heart ignored by men, I adore Thee.
Heart, lover of our hearts, I adore Thee.
Heart desirous of being loved, I adore Thee.
Heart patient in waiting for us, I adore Thee.
Heart eager to hear us, I adore Thee.
Heart longing to be prayed to, I adore Thee.
Heart source of new graces, I adore Thee.
Heart wrapped in silence, desiring to speak to souls, I adore Thee.
Heart, the sweet refuge of the hidden life. I adore Thee.
Heart, teacher of the secrets of union with God, I adore Thee.
Heart of Him Who sleeps yet ever watches, I adore Thee.
Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, have pity on us,
Jesus, Victim, I desire to console Thee,
I unite myself to Thee, and sacrifice myself with Thee. I
I annihilate myself in Thy presence. I adore Thee.
I would forget myself to be mindful of Thee.
I would be forgotten and despised for love of Thee.
And be neither understood nor love, except by Thee.
I will silence myself to listen to Thee, I will abandon myself to lose myself in Thee.
Grant that I may thus appease Thy thirst, the thirst for my sanctification and salvation, and that being purified I am bestow on Thee a pure and true love. I would not longer weary Thy patience; take possession of me, I give myself to Thee.

I offer Thee all my actions, my intellect to be illuminated by Thee, my heart to be guided by Thee, my will to be made strong, my soul and body to be nourished, my misery to be lightened. Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, whose blood is the life of my soul, may it be no longer I that live but do thou alone live in me. Amen.  Blessed Sacrament Book Fr. Francis Xavier Lasance. page 676

Resources:

1. The Eucharistic Christ: Reflections and Considerations on the Blessed Sacrament By Fr Albert Tesnière (PDF) 1897
2. The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Readings for the Month of June, by Fr. Albert Tesnière 1928
   
3. A Neglected Gem in the Traditional Roman Missal: The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus by Peter Kwasniewski, PhD

   
   
   

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Rocky Mount NC

Prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Help for the Church and the Supreme Pontiff

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, O sweet protector of Christians, when the enemies of your divine Son were attacking the Church most violently you appeared in Rome as the protective star of the Holy See. Therefore, with as much faith as trust, I place myself at your feet to beg you to defend and protect the holy spouse of Jesus Christ. Show yourself the all-powerful Mother of the Church in these days when she is still threatened by a daring impiety.

Protect the sacred person of the Supreme Pontiff, inspire Christians with the veneration due to the Vicar of Jesus Christ, with submission to his voice, with the love the Father of all the faithful deserves. O Mary, see the bitterness with which his heart is filled, the ineradicable sufferings which make him the visible image of your divine crucified Son. And if, for the glory of God, his martyrdom must be prolonged, console him by increasing the number of faithful Christians, by raising up for your Church apostles and defenders of his rights. Do not allow iniquity to prevail. Strengthen in Rome the charity of St. Peter and bind hearts strongly in Catholic unity. Amen

O Mother of Perpetual Help! Protect the Sovereign Pontiff, defend the Holy Church and strengthen the faith of the faithful.

Translated from the French: Pour l'Eglise et le Souverain Pontiffe (Our Lady of Perpetual Help: According to St. Alphonsus Liguori complete manual of prayer. Rev. Dunoyer)

22. We adore Thee, Amiable Spouse of our souls! And to make reparation for all the lukewarmness and indifference shown by many, particularly in time of Holy Communion, we offer up the Thee the raptures and ecstasies of holy Virgins. Eternal praise and thanksgiving be to the Most Holy and Most Divine Sacrament.

O Queen of heaven and earth, hope of mankind, who adores thy Divine Son incessantly! We entreat thee, that, since we have the honor to be of the number of thy children, thou would interest thyself in our behalf and make satisfaction for us, and in our name, to our Eternal Judge, by rendering to Him the duties which we ourselves are incapable of performing. Amen.

"Two brothers, bred up in the court of Constantine the Great, and by him appointed to serve his daughter Constantia. They were afterwards invited by Julian the Apostate to accept of places under him: but refusing to serve a prince, who had renounced his faith, they were apprehended. Detesting the idols, which they were commanded to worship, their constancy was rewarded with the crown of martyrdom, they being both beheaded in their own house. These saints glorified God by a double victory: they despised the honours of the world, and triumphed over its threats and torments. They saw many wicked men prosper; but they were not dazzled by their example. Pray for those, whose hearts are opened to all the dangers of the court; that amidst the powerful delusions of that state, they may continue faithful to their God. As strict a guard is necessary for keeping a good conscience there, as for the safety of the sovereign. Learn from these saints, not to hazard your soul for interest, or preferment. A private life, with peace of mind, is much more comfortable and Christian, than exposing conscience for the purchase of honour and revenues. It is better to hazard starving than burning. All the evils of this life are much more tolerable than an eternal separation from God. Therefore, in placing out children, or seeking employment or service for yourself or others, consider not only the temporal advantage, but the eternal also; and refuse all offers where there is not as fair a prospect of gaining the next world, as of succeeding in this. How many are eternally lost by tempting God in this way, in putting themselves in circumstances, where having no convenience of performing the duties of their religion, they come by insensible degrees, into a total forgetfulness of God, and thus live on, till death carries them away? It is a misery to be lamented, and one that requires your charity. Pray for remedy, and be watchful that it never comes to be your case." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

Daily Missal with Vespers for Sunday

Prayers in Honor of St. John the Baptist

O Glorious St. John the Baptist, of those born of women the greatest of prophets (Luke vii. 28); thou, though sanctified from thy mother's womb and most innocent, didst nevertheless will to retire into the desert, there to practice austerities and penance; obtain for us from Our Lord the grace to be detached, at least in the affections of our hearts, from all earthly treasure, and to practice Christian mortification with interior recollection and a spirit of holy prayer,
Pater, Ave, and Gloria.

Most zealous apostle, who, without working any miracle on others, but solely by the example of thy life of penance and the power of thy words, didst draw after thee crowds, in order to prepare them to worthily receive the Messiah, and listen to His heavenly teaching; grant that it may be given to us also, by the example of a holy life and the practice of good works, to lead many souls to God and, above all, those who have been enveloped in the darkness of error and ignorance, and led astray by vice.
Pater, Ave, Gloria.

O unconquered martyr, who for the honor of God and the salvation of souls, didst, with heroic constancy, and at the cost of life itself, withstand the impious Herod reproving him openly for his bad and dissolute life; obtain for us a brave and generous heart, so that, overcoming all human respect, we may boldly profess our faith, and follow the teaching of our divine master, Jesus Christ.
Pater, Ave, Gloria.

V. Pray for us, St. John the Baptist.
R.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:
O God, Who hast made this day worthy of honor in the nativity (commemoration) of St. John, grant to thy people the grace of spiritual joys, and direct the minds of all the faithful into the way of eternal salvation through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Pius X, Jan 11, 1904 (Indulgences.) Blessed Sacrament Book by Father Francis Lasance p1131)

"A Prophet of the Most High" (Alleluia), St. John is pre-figured by Isaias and Jeremias (Introit, Epistle, Gradual); still more, he was consecrated before birth to announce Jesus (Secret) and to prepare souls for His coming.
The Gospel narrates the prodigies which accompanied his birth. Zachary gives his child the name which St. Gabriel has brought him from heaven, which signifies: The Lord has pardoned. He immediately recovers his speech and, filled with the Holy Ghost, he foretells the greatness of his son: "He shall walk before the face of the Lord to give unto the people the knowledge of salvation." The angel Gabriel had announced to Zachary that "many would rejoice in the birth of St. John the Baptist".  Indeed, not only “the neighbors and relations of Elizabeth" solemnized the event, but every year, on its anniversary, the whole Church invites her children to share in this holy joy. She knows that the nativity "of this Prophet of the Most High " at this summer Christmas is intimately connected with the Advent of the Messiah.
After the feast of the Nativity of St. John, the days become shorter, while, on the contrary, after the Nativity of the Savior, of which this feast is the prelude, the days become longer. The Precursor must efface himself before Jesus Who is the true light of souls. "He must increase," says St. John," and I must decrease."

The solstices were the occasion of pagan feasts when fires were lighted to honor the orb which gives us light. The Church Christianized these rites seeing in them a symbol of St. John who was a burning and brilliant lamp." Indeed "she encouraged this kind of manifestation which corresponded so well with the character of the feast. The St. John bonfires happily completed the liturgical solemnity; they showed the Church and the earthly city united in one thought." The name of the Precursor is inscribed in the Canon of the Mass at the head of the Second List.

Formerly, on his feast day three masses were celebrated in his honor, and numerous churches were dedicated to him. Parents loved to give his name to their children.

Paul the Deacon, a monk of Monte Cassino and a friend of Charlemagne, had composed, in honor of St. John the Baptist, the hymn: “Ut queant laxis." In the thirteenth century the Benedictine monk Guy of Arezzo noticed that the notes sung on the first syllables formed the sequence of the first six degrees of the scale. He named each degree by the corresponding syllable: (Ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si) and thereby greatly facilitated the study of musical intervals.

"That Thy servants may sing with full voice the marvels of Thy works, purify their sullied lips, O St. John."Immediately Zachary made signs that he wished to call his son John,. he recovered his speech; and lo! a hymn composed in honor of the Prophet, whose voice resounds in the desert, becomes the occasion of a new progress in music. Every Parish Priest celebrates Mass for the welfare spiritual and temporal of his Parishioners." Daily Missal with Vespers page 1436 1925