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It has long been the tradition in the Western Church to include honorifics for the epistles and old testament readings, as these writers are speaking (with inspiration, of course) their own words, whereas the gospel is presumably the words and deeds of Our Lord, and hence the name of the writer does not include the title saint. It is for the same reason that we sit to hear the epistles and old testament readings, but stand to hear the gospel. The emphasis for the epistles is more on the authority of the apostles as writers, but for the gospels, the emphasis is on what Our Lord said and did, so the word Saint is not used in the announcement.
In the old Latin Mass (now gloriously available once again to those who ask), the missal says, for example, Lectio Epistolae Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas, which means "A Reading (or Lessson) from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Galatians. Similarly, it says, Lectio Epistolae Beati Petri Apostoli, A Reading from the Epistle of Blessed Peter the Apostle (*first *or second epistle is not mentioned). For what we now commonly call the Book of Revelation, it says, Lectio Apocalypsis Beati Joanni Apostoli, A Reading from the Apocalpyse of Blessed John the Apostle. Note that the terms Blessed and Apostle are used. (Acts of the Apostles is never credited to Luke, as that is not the name of that book).
The gospel was announced, Sequentia Sancti Evangeli Secundum Marcum, the Continuation of the Holy Gospel According to Mark. Notice that there is no Saint included in the announcement. It has been this way for centuries, for the reason mentioned above.
The official Latin version of the missal and lectionary for the current missal of Paul VI (1970) still use these exact same forms, except that the gospel now uses Lectio instead of Sequentia. The word Saint is still not used for the gospels, and *Beati *and Apostoli are still used for the epistles.
The problem is that, like the English translation of the current missal, the current ectionary’s translations are defective. Hence, the announcements for the epistles are simplified. *Lectio Epistolae Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas *is misrendered A Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Galatians. Blessed and Apostle get dropped. Similarly, *Lectio Apocalypsis Beati Joanni Apostoli *gets mangled into A Reading from the Book of Revelation; the name of the disciple whom Jesus loved is not even mentioned, nor is the fact that he is an apostle.
Some missalette pubishers incorrectly insert Saint in the announcement for the epistle, and this carries over into what the lectors actually say. This is wrong, but so are the translations in the lectionary, as the official Latin version remains unchanged.
BTW, the evangelists and other sacred authors are technically not “canonized” saints. It is, of course, completely proper to refer to them as Saint ____, and the Church has always done so, However, as a point a reference, there were no Roman canonization procedures until the middle ages. Prior to that, bishops declared individuals to be venerated, and in the earliest days even this was not a clear or refined process, and many of our earliest saints–the new testament saints included–were considered saints by public acclamation. Gradually bishops, and by the tenth and eleventh centuries, the Pontiff himself, became the authority for the process.
In the old Latin Mass (now gloriously available once again to those who ask), the missal says, for example, Lectio Epistolae Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas, which means "A Reading (or Lessson) from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Galatians. Similarly, it says, Lectio Epistolae Beati Petri Apostoli, A Reading from the Epistle of Blessed Peter the Apostle (*first *or second epistle is not mentioned). For what we now commonly call the Book of Revelation, it says, Lectio Apocalypsis Beati Joanni Apostoli, A Reading from the Apocalpyse of Blessed John the Apostle. Note that the terms Blessed and Apostle are used. (Acts of the Apostles is never credited to Luke, as that is not the name of that book).
The gospel was announced, Sequentia Sancti Evangeli Secundum Marcum, the Continuation of the Holy Gospel According to Mark. Notice that there is no Saint included in the announcement. It has been this way for centuries, for the reason mentioned above.
The official Latin version of the missal and lectionary for the current missal of Paul VI (1970) still use these exact same forms, except that the gospel now uses Lectio instead of Sequentia. The word Saint is still not used for the gospels, and *Beati *and Apostoli are still used for the epistles.
The problem is that, like the English translation of the current missal, the current ectionary’s translations are defective. Hence, the announcements for the epistles are simplified. *Lectio Epistolae Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas *is misrendered A Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Galatians. Blessed and Apostle get dropped. Similarly, *Lectio Apocalypsis Beati Joanni Apostoli *gets mangled into A Reading from the Book of Revelation; the name of the disciple whom Jesus loved is not even mentioned, nor is the fact that he is an apostle.
Some missalette pubishers incorrectly insert Saint in the announcement for the epistle, and this carries over into what the lectors actually say. This is wrong, but so are the translations in the lectionary, as the official Latin version remains unchanged.
BTW, the evangelists and other sacred authors are technically not “canonized” saints. It is, of course, completely proper to refer to them as Saint ____, and the Church has always done so, However, as a point a reference, there were no Roman canonization procedures until the middle ages. Prior to that, bishops declared individuals to be venerated, and in the earliest days even this was not a clear or refined process, and many of our earliest saints–the new testament saints included–were considered saints by public acclamation. Gradually bishops, and by the tenth and eleventh centuries, the Pontiff himself, became the authority for the process.
That helps a lot.