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Saint Pancratius

"The training of Youth: If they whom God has charged with directing youth, took care to form the heart rather than the intelligence, virtue would not have to wait for ripeness of years in order to manifest itself fully. If instruction be of great account in a worldly sense, education is more precious still from the Christian point of view, for this it is which forms saints.

Youth is seldom thought capable of great virtues; the error is a grave one, however, as might be shown by manifold instances. The following will suffice for the purpose. Pancras was only fourteen years old when the persecution of Dioclesian broke out. Easy would it have been for him to dissemble as to his religious belief, or to guarantee his life by a falsehood; but he belonged to a Christian race. His uncle Denys was in bonds for the faith; the example and words of the old man kindled the courage of the child. He was the first to encounter martyrdom by decapitation, gathering in the prime of youth the palm destined for the labors of a lengthened life.

Moral reflection: "The just that is dead condemneth the wicked that are living, and youth soon ended, the long life of the unjust." Wisdom 4. 16". Pictorial half hours with the Saints, Abbe Lecanu 1865

Prayer:

"Divine Grace, which called you to the crown of martyrdom, selected you, O Pancras, from the distant land of Phrygia, and led you to the Capital of the Empire — the center of every vice and every error of paganism. Your name, like that of millions of others who were better known to the world, had else been quite forgotten. But now, though your earthly career was soon ended, the name of Pancras is loved and venerated throughout the whole Earth: it is breathed at the altar in the prayers which accompany the Sacrifice of the Lamb. How came you, dear youthful martyr, by this celebrity which will last to the end of the world? It was because having imitated Jesus’ Death by suffering and shedding your blood for His Name, you have been made a sharer in the glory of His immortality. In return for the honor we pay you, deign to aid us by your protection. Speak of us to Jesus who is our Divine Master, as He was yours. In this valley of our exile, we sing our Alleluia for His Resurrection which has filled us with hope. Obtain for us, by your prayers, that we may sing Alleluia with you in Heaven where it will be eternal, and be prompted not by the gladness of hope, but by the bliss of possession." Dom Prosper Guéranger

"O glorious Saint Pancratius, who, in the flower of youth, which for thee was especially rich in the promises of the world didst renounce all, with true greatness of mind, to embrace the faith and to serve our Lord Jesus Christ in a spirit of burning love and profound humility; and who didst joyfully offer thy live for Him in a sublime martyrdom: now that thou art all-powerful with Him hear our prayers. Obtain for us a lively faith that shall be a shining light upon our earthly path, and ardent love of God above all things and of our neighbor as ourselves; a spirit of detachment form the good things of earth and a contempt for the vanities of this world; the grace of true humility in the exemplary profession of the Christian life.

We pray thee in especial manner for all young men. Remember that thou art the patron of youth; do thou therefore by thine intercession, make all young men clean of heart and fervent in piety, and bring them safe to our Lord. Do thou obtain for all of us the happiness of heaven. Amen." The Raccolta

• The Feast of Saint Pancratius (New Liturgical Movement)