From the Breviary according to the use of the Roman Curia, 1529, the continuation of the sermon for the second day in the Octave of All Saints.
But now let us turn to those in the New Testament whom the waters of baptism and the shedding of the Christ’s Blood washed clean from the error of their fathers’ sin, and from the squalor of the ancient manner of the gentiles, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Blessed are the eyes of those who merited to see Christ coming in the flesh (Luke 10, 23). The blessed Apostles and disciples had their share in this happy vision and the redemption that was wrought by the precious blood, and imparted it to others. As princes of the Church and founders of the faith, models of the saints and judges of the earth, they have illuminated the whole world with the holiness, their teaching, and their miracles. So great did they show themselves to the world in their holiness, their miracles and their suffering, that they drew every sort of men to hear and wonder at them.
Christ washing the feet of the Apostles at the Last Supper, mosaic in the cathedral of Monreale, Sicily, ca. 1180.
