Episode Details

A meditation for the Feast of Saints Tiburtius and Susanna, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume IV of the Time after Pentecost.Saints Tiburtius and Susanna were early Christian martyrs of Rome who suffered during the persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian. St. Tiburtius, traditionally said to have been the son of the Roman prefect Chromatius, was converted to Christianity through the influence of his brother Valerian, the husband of St. Cecilia, and became known for his charity and zeal for the faith. According to tradition, he was arrested and condemned to death after refusing to sacrifice to the pagan gods, and was martyred by being forced to walk barefoot over burning coals, remaining miraculously unharmed until he was finally beheaded. St. Susanna, a noble Roman virgin, was related to the Emperor Diocletian and was renowned for her consecrated virginity and steadfast Christian faith. When she refused marriage to a pagan relative of the emperor and would not renounce Christ, she was denounced and ultimately beheaded in her own home. Their courage in preferring death to apostasy made them enduring witnesses to the triumph of Christian faith over the power of the Roman Empire.Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year, a monumental fifteen-volume work, offers a comprehensive exploration of the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, guiding readers through the spiritual and historical richness of the Church’s worship. Written in the 19th century, the series provides daily meditations, historical context, and liturgical texts for the Mass and Divine Office, covering the entire cycle of seasons—Advent, Christmas, Lent, Passiontide, Easter, and the Time after Pentecost—as well as feast days of saints. Guéranger’s work, rooted in a deep contemplative spirit, aims to immerse the faithful in the Church’s prayerful life, emphasizing the unity of faith through the axiom lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of prayer is the law of belief"), and remains a cherished resource for Catholics seeking to deepen their spiritual lives. Dom Prosper Guéranger (1805–1875) was a French Benedictine monk, liturgical scholar, and founder of the Solesmes Abbey, renowned for his pivotal role in reviving the Benedictine Order in France and restoring the Roman liturgy after the disruptions of the French Revolution. Born in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, he entered the priesthood in 1827 and, inspired by a vision to restore monastic life, reestablished the Benedictine community at Solesmes in 1833, becoming its first abbot. A staunch defender of ultramontanism and traditional Catholic worship, he also championed the revival of Gregorian chant, significantly influencing the liturgical renewal movement.Link to the Dom Guéranger's Liturgical Year playlist (updated daily): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZKdyYnV_bkh7rH6piW0ShgsdcefFoOvJIf you would like to support this channel:  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/InprincipioPodcast PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=U5EZ9X2CE2V7W Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/InPrincipioPodcast Zelle: inprincipiopodcast@gmail.com; or search for Zelle tag “inprincipiopodcast”  Checks may be written out to ‘InPrincipio Podcast’ and mailed to: P.O. Box 117 Cedar Ridge, CA 95924Sincere thanks to all who are able to contribute, by your prayers, your patronage, or otherwise. Your support sustains this work and helps make these readings available to others.Artwork: St. Tiburtius engraving by Diodore Rahoult, Italy 1886; and 19th century colored French lithograph of St. SusannaMusic: Ave Maria (Gregorian chant)From Vesperae de Confessore non Pontifice in honor of Saint Vincent PallottiPerformed by Schola Gregoriana, Pallottine Seminary (Ołtarzew, Poland)Conductor: Fr. Dariusz SmolarekLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/Changes: noneExcept where otherwise noted, original content © InPrincipio Podcast.