[Rank]
Sts. John and Paul, Martyrs;;Duplex;;3;;vide C3

[Rank] (rubrica 1570)
Sts. John and Paul Martyrs;;Semiduplex;;2;;vide C3

[Ant 1]
The righteous stand * in the Presence of the Lord, and are not divided the one from the other; they drank of the Lord's Cup, and they are called Friends of God.

[Oratio]
Almighty God, fill us, we beseech thee, with the twofold gladness which doth flow down upon this bright day from the glory of thy blessed servants John and Paul, whom one faith and one suffering made to be brothers indeed.
$Per Dominum

[Lectio4]
John and Paul were two Roman brethren, the godly and trustworthy servants of Constantia, daughter of Constantine. At her death they spent in feeding Christ's poor the property which she left them. Julian the Apostate asked them to enter his household, but they bravely answered that they would not be servants to one who had run away from the service of Jesus Christ. Julian gave them ten days to consider on their choice, whether, at the end of that time, they would cleave to him, and sacrifice to Jupiter, or most surely die.

[Responsory4]
R. These are two men full of mercy, who stand in the presence of the Lord,
* The Lord of the whole earth.
V. These are two olive trees, and two candlesticks, giving light in the presence of the Lord.
R. The Lord of the whole earth.

[Lectio5]
This interval they spent in distributing to poor creatures all that remained of their goods, that they might be quite free to depart hence to the Lord, and so succoured many by whom they have long since been received into everlasting habitations. On the tenth day Terentian, Prefect of the Praetorian Cohort, was sent to them, bringing with him the image of Jupiter. He explained to them the command of the Emperor, that they should worship the said image or die. They were engaged in prayer, but answered him that for their loyalty to Christ, Whom their understanding acknowledged and their mouths confessed to be God, they felt no hesitation in choosing to suffer death.

[Responsory5]
R. I saw men standing together clad in shining raiment; and the Angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying: 
* These men are holy, for they are the friends of God.
V. And I beheld a mighty Angel of God, flying through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, and saying:
R. These men are holy, for they are the friends of God.

[Lectio6]
Terentian, to avoid the uproar, which might have been caused by their public execution, caused their heads to be cut off at home where they then were. They lifted up their last earthly testimony upon the 26th day of June, (in the year of our Lord 362.) They were privately buried, and a story set about that they had been sent into exile. The fact of their death was made generally known by the unclean spirits by whom the bodies of many were tormented, and among others that of Terentian's own son, who was possessed with a devil, and delivered by being brought to the grave of the Martyrs. By this miracle he was led to believe in Christ, and so likewise was his father Terentian, who is said to have been the writer of the life of these blessed Martyrs.

[Lectio94]
The Roman brothers John and Paul distributed to the poor the wealth they had been left by Constantia, the daughter of Constantine, whom they had served justly and faithfully. Invited by Julian the Apostate to join the members of his household, they boldly declared that they did not wish to live in the house of a man who had abandoned Jesus Christ. They were therefore given ten days in which to be persuaded to sacrifice to Jupiter. As they steadfastly refused to commit this sin, they were beheaded in their home, at the command of Terentian the judge, thus meriting the palm of martyrdom. The news of their glorious death was spread abroad by unclean spirits, who began tormenting the bodies of many persons, among them the son of Terentian. He was freed of his diabolical tormentor at the tomb of the Martyrs. This miracle led both him and his father, Terentian, to believe in Christ; and the latter is said to have written the life of the holy Martyrs.
&teDeum

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke
!Luke 12:1-8
At that time: Jesus said unto His disciples Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. And so on.
_
Homily by the Venerable Bede, Priest at Jarrow and Doctor of the Church.
!Bk. iv. on Luke, Cap. Hi.
Touching this leaven the Apostle warneth us Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (i Cor. v. 8.) For even as a little leaven doth infect the whole lump wherein it is put, and the savour thereof doth spread all abroad therein, so doth hypocrisy, when once it hath tainted the soul, drive out from it all sincerity and truth. The meaning, therefore, of this passage is this Beware, lest ye be as the hypocrites, for yet a little while, and all men shall see that ye are good, and they are evil.

[Lectio8]
As touching what followeth, for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light. These words are true, not only as concerning the world which is to come, wherein the secrets of all hearts shall be made manifest, but even as concerning this present world, since now that which the Apostles spake and suffered in the darkness of persecution, and the gloom of dungeons, is, since that the Church is glorified, told of them for a memorial of them, wherever their acts are read throughout the whole world. Be not afraid of them that kill the body, for they that persecute the righteous, when they have killed the body, after that, have no more that they can do. Truly, it is a childish folly which maketh such men to cast the dead limbs of the martyrs to birds and beasts, while yet they have no strength to withstand the Almight of God, whereby He will surely quicken the same limbs and raise them up again.

[Lectio9]
If persecutors there are two kinds first, of such as do openly rage in cruelty against us and, secondly, of such as do seek, by cunning wiliness and lying, to beguile us. Against both these the Saviour willeth to guard and strengthen us, in one place warning us to be not afraid of them that kill the body, and, in another place, to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees since, when we are dead, neither the cruelty of the one class, nor the falsehood of the other, will be able any more to touch us. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? If God, saith the Lord, if God cannot forget the least of the works of His hands that hath life, the little birds that fly hither and thither in the air, if He cannot forget them, wherefore should ye, who are made in the image and likeness of your Maker, wherefore should ye be afraid of them that kill the body? He that is the careful Lord of the beasts, which think not, how much more shall He be careful of man which hath a reasonable soul?
&teDeum

[Ant Laudes]
Paul and John * said unto Julian: We worship One God, Who hath made heaven and earth.
Paul and John * said unto Terentian: If thy Lord be Julian, keep thou at peace with him, but as for us, we have no other Lord but the Lord Jesus Christ.
John and Paul, * when they had heard the tyrannous command of Julian, began to disperse abroad their goods among the poor.
O ye holy Spirits and Souls of the righteous, bless ye the Lord. Alleluia.
John and Paul * said unto Gallican: Make thy vow unto the God of heaven, and thou shalt be yet a greater conqueror than ever thou hast been heretofore.

[Ant 2]
These are the holy ones * who for the love of Christ, recked nothing of the threats of men. In the kingdom of heaven the holy martyrs are filled with joy in the company of Angels. O how precious in the sight of the Lord was the death of these His saints who now stand day and night in His presence and are not divided the one from the other.

[Ant Vespera 3]
Paul and John * said unto Julian: We worship One God, Who hath made heaven and earth.;;109
Paul and John * said unto Terentian: If thy Lord be Julian, keep thou at peace with him, but as for us, we have no other Lord but the Lord Jesus Christ.;;110
John and Paul, * when they had heard the tyrannous command of Julian, began to disperse abroad their goods among the poor.;;111
O ye holy Spirits and Souls of the righteous, bless ye the Lord. Alleluia.;;112
John and Paul * said unto Gallican: Make thy vow unto the God of heaven, and thou shalt be yet a greater conqueror than ever thou hast been heretofore.;;116

[Ant 3]
These are two olive trees * and two candlesticks, giving light in the presence of the Lord; these have power to shut heaven with clouds, and have power again to open the gates thereof, for their tongues are become keys of heaven.