De sancto Sixto
The Martyrdom of Saint Sixtus
Pope Sixtus is arrested and martyred, leaving his deacon Lawrence with instructions to distribute the Church's treasures.
Sixtus is said to come from Sios, which means God, and status, meaning a divine-like state; or Sixtus comes from sisto, sistis, as if fixed and firm in faith, or in passion, and in good works. 3. Pope Sixtus, an Athenian by birth, was first a philosopher, but later became a disciple of Christ and was elected Supreme Pontiff; he was presented to Decius and Valerian along with his two deacons, Felicissimus and Agapitus. When Decius couldn't sway him with any arguments, he had him taken to the temple of Mars, so that he would either offer sacrifice or be held in the Mamertine prison; but because he refused to sacrifice, he was led into custody. Blessed Lawrence followed him, crying out, "Where are you going without your son, Father?" "Where are you hurrying, holy priest, without your minister?" Sixtus replied to him, "I am not deserting you, my son, nor am I leaving you behind; rather, greater struggles for the faith of Christ are owed to you. After three days you will follow me, the priest, as a deacon. In the meantime, take the treasures of the Church and distribute them to whomever you see fit." When he had distributed these to the Christian poor, the prefect Valerian decreed that Sixtus should be taken to the temple of Mars to offer sacrifice, and if he refused, he was to be beheaded on the spot. As he was being led away, blessed Lawrence called out to him, "Don't leave me behind, holy father, for I have already spent the treasures you entrusted to me." Hearing him mention treasures, the soldiers seized Lawrence, but they beheaded Sixtus right there along with Felicissimus and Agapitus.
The Mystery of the Transfiguration and the New Wine
An explanation of the liturgical customs surrounding the feast of the Transfiguration and the symbolic use of new wine.
This day is the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord and of the Blood of Christ from new wine; if it's possible to find it, it's prepared in some churches, or at least a little bit is pressed from a ripe grape into the chalice, and on this day clusters of grapes are also blessed and the people receive Communion from them. The reason for this is that the Lord said to his disciples on the day of the Supper: 'I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on, until I drink it new in the kingdom of my Father.' That Transfiguration, and what he said about the new wine, represents the glorious renewal that Christ experienced after the Resurrection; and that is why new wine is required on this day of the Transfiguration, which represents the Resurrection—not because the Transfiguration actually happened on this day, as some claim, but because it was made known by the apostles on this day. For the Transfiguration is said to have taken place around the beginning of spring, but the disciples kept it hidden for so long because of the prohibition given to them, and they made it known on this day. So it is written in the book called the Mitrale.
Read the original Latin
Sixtus dicitur a Sios, quod est Deus, et status, quasidivinus status, vel Sixtus a sisto, sistis, quasi fixus et firmus in fide vel passione et bona operatione. 7 3. Sixtus papa Atheniensis natione primo quidem philosophus, sed postea Christi discipulus et pontifex summus electus Decio et Valeriano cum duobus dyaconibus suis Felicissimo et Agapito praesentatus est. Quem cum Decius nullis posset persuasionibus inclinare, fecit eum duci ad templum Martis, ut aut saerificaret aut in custodia Mamertini reciperetur, sed cpm sacrificare renueret, in custodiam duceretur. Beatus Laurentius post eum clamans ibat et dicebat: quo progrederis sine filio, pater? quo, sacerdos sancte, sine ministro properas? Cui Sixtus: non ego te desero, fili, neque derelinquo, sed majora tibi debentur pro fide Christi certamina, post triduum me sequeris sacerdotem levita, interim ergo thesauros ecclesiae accipe et, quibus tibi videtur, divide. Quos cum ille christianis pauperibus distribuisset, Valerianus praefectus decrevit, ut Sixtus ad templum Martis sacrificaturus duceretur, quodsi renueret, ibidem capite truncaretur.
Quo cum duceretur, beatus Laurentius post eum clamare coepit ac dicere: noli me derelinquere, pater sancte, quia thesauros tuos jam expendi, quos tradidisti mihi. Tunc uilites audientes thesauros nominare Laurentium tenuerunt, Sixtum vero cum Felicissimo et Agapito ibidem decollaverunt.
In hac die est festum transfigurationis domini et sangüinis Christi de novo vino, 31 + si fieri potest et inveniri, in aliquibus ecclesiis conficitur vel saltem de matura uva aliquantulum in calice eliquatur,In hae die etiam racemi benedicuntur et populus inde communicat. Ratio autem hnjus est ex eo, quod dominus discipulis suis dixit in die coenae: non bibam amodo de hoc genimine vitis, donec bibam illud novum in regno palris mei. lla vero transfiguratio et, quod dixit, novum vinum, repraesentat gloriosam innovationem, quam Christus post resurrectionem habuit, et ideo in hac die transfigurationis, qui resürrectionem repraesentat, vinum novum requiritur, et non quod in hac die, ut quidam ajunt, transfiguratio sit facta, sed in hac die ab apostolis manifestata. Transfizuratio enim facta dicitur fuisse circa principium veris, discipuli autem propter prohibitionem iis factam ipsam tamdiu celaverunt et in hac die manifestaverunt. Sic legitur in libro, quod dicitur ) mitrale.
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