Ordinary Time: August 26th
Tuesday of the Twenty-First Week of Ordinary Time
Other Commemorations: St. Prisca, Virgin and Martyr (RM)
MASS READINGS
August 26, 2008 (Readings on USCCB website)
COLLECT PRAYER
Father, help us to seek the values that will bring us lasting joy in this changing world. In our desire for what you promise make us one in mind and heart. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Before the reform of the General Roman Calendar today was the feast of St. Zephyrinus whose long pontificate was a period marked by the persecution of Septimus Severus, the struggle against heresy and the organization of the Christian community in Rome. In the person of the Pope the Roman Church asserted her claim as the appointed guardian of the true faith.
St. Prisca
Prisca, also known as Priscilla, was a child martyr of the early Roman Church. Born to Christian parents of a noble family, Prisca was raised during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius. While Claudius did not persecute Christians with the same fervor as other emperors, Christians still did not practice their faith openly. In fact, Prisca's parents went to great lengths to conceal their faith, so as not to be suspected of being Christians.
Prisca, however, did not feel the need to take precaution. The young girl openly professed her dedication to Christ, and eventually, she was reported to the emperor. Claudius had her arrested, and commanded her to make a sacrifice to Apollo, the pagan god of the sun.
According to the legend, Prisca refused and was tortured for disobeying. Then, suddenly, a bright, yellow light shone about her, and she appeared to be a little star.
Claudius ordered that Prisca be taken away to prison, in the hopes that she would abandon Christ. When all efforts to change her mind were unsuccessful, she was taken to an amphitheatre and thrown in with a lion.
As the crowd watched, Prisca stood fearless. According to legend, the lion walked toward the barefoot girl, and then gently licked her feet. Disgusted by his thwarted efforts to dissuade Prisca, Claudius had her beheaded.
Seventh-century accounts of the grave sites of Roman martyrs refer to the discovery of an epitaph of a Roman Christian named Priscilla in a large catacomb and identifies her place of interment on the Via Salaria as the Catacomb of Priscilla.
—Excerpted from Ordinary People Extraordinary Lives.
Symbols and Representation: young woman with a one or more lions, an eagle and a sword
Highlights and Things to Do:
- Read more about St. Prisca:
- St. Prisca's relics are in the Church in Rome named after her, Santa Prisca. Wikipedia has a few more details.
