[Rank]
S. Joannis a Capistrano Confessoris;;Semiduplex;;2.1;;vide C5

[Rule]
vide C5;mtv
9 lectiones

[Oratio]
O God, Who by Thy blessed servant John didst cause Thy faithful people, through the power of the most Holy Name of Jesus, to prevail against the enemies of His Cross, grant unto us, we beseech Thee, the help of the prayers of the same Thy servant that we may prevail against our ghostly enemies, and may be made worthy to receive from Thee a crown of righteousness.
$Per Dominum eiusdem

[Lectio4]
This John was born at Capistrano, in the Abruzzi. He was educated at Perugia, and became so expert in letters, both sacred and profane, that on account of his eminent knowledge of law, Ladislaus, King of Naples, set him over several cities. He was seeking in righteousness to bring the affairs of these places out of trouble into peace, when he himself was kidnapped and put in chains. From this captivity he marvellously escaped, and then professed himself a Friar Minor under the rule of Francis of Assisi. Here he went forward in the study of divinity, and had as a teacher the holy Bernardine of Sienna, of whom he was one of the most marked followers, especially in spreading abroad the honour paid to the Most Holy Name of Jesus, and to the Mother of God. The bishopric of Aquila was offered to him, but he refused it. He was chiefly known by the hardship of his self-denial, and by the writings which he published in large numbers for the reform of manners.

[Lectio5]
He devoted himself without ceasing to the preaching of the Word of God, in the which work he travelled throughout nearly all Italy, and by the power of eloquence and of miracles not a few, he recalled souls almost countless into the path of salvation. Martin V. appointed him Inquisitor to stamp out the sect of the Fraticelli. Nicolas V. appointed him InquisitorGeneral in Italy against Judaism and Mohammadanism, and he brought many such misbelievers to believe in Christ. He did much good work in the affairs of the Eastern Church, and at the Council of Florence, wherein he shone like a sun, he brought back the Armenians to the Catholic church. The same Pope Nicolas V., at the request of the Emperor Frederick III., sent him into Germany as Nuncio of the Apostolic See, in order that he might bring back the heretics to the Catholic faith and the minds of the princes to peace and agreement. He did a wonderful work for God's glory during the six years that he laboured in Germany and other countries, and by his teaching of the truth and the striking evidence of his miracles brought back to the bosom of the Church almost countless numbers of Hussites, Adamites, Taborites, and Jews.

[Lectio6]
It was mainly at the entreaty of John that Calistus III. proclaimed a Crusade, and John hastened about through Pannonia and other provinces, where by his words and his letters he so roused the minds of princes to that holy war, that in a short while seventy thousand Christian soldiers were enrolled. It was mainly through his advice and by his power that victory was gained at Belgrade, when one hundred and twenty thousand Turks were either slain or put to flight. The news of this victory reached Rome upon the sixth day of August, and Pope Calistus thereupon consecrated that day for ever to the solemn commemoration of the transfiguration of the Lord Christ. As John lay sick unto death at Illak, many princes came to see him, and he exhorted them to protect religion. He gave up his soul in holiness to God, (upon the 23rd day of October,) in the year of salvation 1456. God confirmed his glory by many miracles after his death, and when these had been duly proved Alexander VIII. enrolled his name with those of the saints in the year 1690, and two hundred years after his canonization Leo XIII. extended his Office and Mass to the whole Church.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke
!Luke 9:1-6
At that time: Jesus called the twelve Apostles together and gave power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases. And so on.
_
Homily by St. Bonaventure, (Cardinal) Bishop (of Albano.)
!On Luke ix.
Apostles are so called as a mark of their authority, for this word Apostle signifieth sent, and they were sent out to preach, as it is written: (1 Cor. i. 17,) “Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel.” They were sent to preach not any small thing but a very great thing, even the Kingdom of God, whereby we may understand the teaching of the truth, as it is said, (Matth. xxi. 43,) The Kingdom of God should be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. The Kingdom of God may also be understood to signify the grace of the Holy Ghost, as it is written: (Rom. xiv. 17,) “The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost”; as also it was said: (Luke xvii. 21,) “The Kingdom of God is within you.” The Kingdom of God may also be understood to signify eternal glory, as it is said: (John iii. 5,) “Amen, I say unto thee, except a man be born again of water and of the Holy Ghost he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.”

[Lectio8]
The Apostles were sent to preach the Kingdom of God in all these three senses, that is to say, as the true teaching, as the grace of God, and as eternal glory. In order to invest their teaching with authority He gave them the power to cure diseases, whence where it is written And He sent them to preach the Kingdom of God it is also said And to heal the sick. This power He gave in order to confirm the truth of their preaching, as it is written: (Mark xvi. 20,) “And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs following.” The sign that a preacher is indeed sent forth by the Spirit of God is that they that hear him should be cured of the disease of sin.

[Lectio9]
There are three manifest signs which show whether a preacher hath been sent by the Lord to preach the gospel. The first is that he should be sent by one having authority to do so, such as is a bishop, and above all the Pope, who is in the place of Peter, yea of Jesus Christ. So that he who is sent by him is sent by Christ. The second sign is a love for souls in the person who is sent, so that he seeketh mainly the honour of God and the salvation of souls. The third sign is that his hearers should bring forth fruit and should be converted. By the first sign a preacher is known as being sent by the Father, by the second he is known as being sent by the Son, by the third he is known as being sent by the Holy Ghost. Of the first sign it may be said: (Ps. xliv. 17,) “Instead of Thy Father shall be Thy children”; of the second sign it may be said: (2 Cor. iv. 5,) “We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus our Lord”; of the third sign it may be said, (John xv. 16,) I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain. And he who is thus sent forth can say: (Luke iv. 18,) “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel.”