Today’s Station: San Martino ai Monti

Missa:
AETETUR Cor

INTROIT: Psalm 104:3-4
Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord: seek ye the Lord, and be strengthened: seek His face evermore. Psalm 104:1 Give glory to the Lord, and call upon His name: declare His deeds among the nations. V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

COLLECT:
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God: that we, who are chastised by fasting, may rejoice with holy devotion, and that our earthly affections being weakened, we may more easily understand the things of heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

EPISTLE: 4 Kings 4:25-38
In those days a Sunamite woman came to Eliseus to Mount Carmel: and when the man of God saw her coming towards, he said to Giezi, his servant: Behold that Sunamitess. Go, therefore, to meet her, and say to her: Is all well with thee, and with thy husband, and with thy son? And she answered: Well. And when she came to the man of God, to the mount, she caught hold on his feet: and Giezi came to remove her. And the man of God said: Let her alone for her soul is in anguish, and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. And she said to him: Did I ask a son of my lord? did I not say to thee: Do not deceive me? Then he said to Giezi: Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go. If any man meet thee, salute him not: and if any man salute thee, answer him not: and lay my staff upon the face of the child. But the mother of the child said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. He arose, therefore, and followed her. But Giezi was gone before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child, and there was no voice nor sense: and he returned to meet him, and told him, saying: The child is not risen. Eliseus, therefore, went into the house, and behold the child lay dead on his bed: And going in, he shut the door upon him, and upon the child, and prayed to the Lord. And he went up, and lay upon the child: and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he bowed himself upon him, and the child’s flesh grew warm. Then he returned and walked in the house, once to and fro: and he went up, and lay upon him: and the child gaped seven times, and opened his eyes. And he called Giezi, and said to him: Call this Sunamitess. And she being called, went in to him: and he said: Take up thy son. She came and fell at his feet, and worshipped upon the ground: and took up her son, and went out. And Eliseus returned to Galgal.

GRADUAL: Psalm 73:20, 19, 22
have regard, O Lord, to Thy covenant: forget not to the end the souls of Thy poor. V. Arise, O Lord, judge Thy own cause; remember the reproaches of Thy servants.

GOSPEL: Luke 7:11-16
At that time Jesus went into a city that is called Naim: and there went with him his disciples and a great multitude. And when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother: and she was a widow. And a great multitude of the city was with her. Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, he said to her: Weep not. And he came near and touched the bier. And they that carried it stood still. And he said: Young man, I say to thee, arise. And he that was dead sat up and begun to speak. And he gave him to his mother. And there came a fear upon them all: and they glorified God saying: A great prophet is risen up among us: and, God hath visited his people.

A Homily on the Gospel Passage From Matins for the Day
by St Ambrose the Bishop

This passage runneth over with a double portion of grace, the one from the literal, the other from the mystical interpretation thereof. From the former, we see how quickly the divine compassion was moved at the sorrow of this mother, who was a widow ; and not only that, but she was a widow broken down by both the sufferings and the death of her only son, and one also whose worthiness is borne witness to by this : Much people of the city was with her. From a mystical interpretation, however, this widow, encompassed with a multitude, is something more than a poor woman whose tears won from the Lord the resurrection of the young man, her only son. For she is a type of our holy Mother the Church, who calleth back many of her children to life from the very funeral procession of spiritual death, or even from the pomps which be the burial rites of sin. For the Lord regardeth her tears, which same it is lawful for her to shed only for sinners, and not for them that will rise again.

This man then being dead, was carried out on a bier to the grave by four bearers, even as the sinner is borne to destruction by the four elements whereof carnal things be composed. But he had hope of rising again, for that whereon he was carried was of wood. And wood, albeit of little profit to us before, is now become for us a means of life, since Jesus touched it, being thus a figure of the Tree of the Cross, wherefrom salvation floweth unto all people. Wherefrom, when those grim bearers, who were hastening the body along the deadly course of carnal nature, heard the Word of God, they stood still. And is not our case even as that of the widow’s son when we lie, as it were, lifeless on the soul’s death-bier, waiting for final burial underneath our sins? Such we are if we be consumed by the fever of inordinate desire, or frozen by bodily sloth, or starved from sinful neglect of the bright food of the soul. For these four hasten us on in the burial rites of sin.

But even at the last hour, when hope of life hath been utterly extinguished, and deadened souls are at the brink of the grave, by the Word of God the dead live again, yea, arise and speak. Thus is the son restored to his mother, called back from the grave, snatched from the tomb. What is the grave of the soul but a bad life? Sinner, thy grave is faithlessness, and thy throat is an open sepulchre whence pestilential words come forth, as it is written : Their inward parts are very wickedness ; their throat is an open sepulchre. But lo, Christ taketh thee from that sepulchre! If only thou wilt hear the Word of God, thou shalt yet arise from that grave! Yea, though thy sin be exceeding weighty, so that the tears of thine own sorrow cannot wash it away, let thy Mother the Church weep for thee, for she pleadeth for each one of her children, even as a widowed mother for her only son. Her spiritual anguish is keen like the anguish of nature, when she seeth her children borne on to death by deadly sin.

OFFERTORY: Psalm 69:2-4
O Lord, make hast to help me: let all those be confounded that desire evils to Thy servants.

SECRET:
Purify us, O merciful God: that the prayers of Thy Church, which are pleasing to Thee, being offered with true devotion, may become yet more pleasing by the purity of our hearts. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

COMMUNION: O Lord, I will be mindful of Thy justice alone: Thou hast taught me from my youth: and unto old age and grey hairs, O God, forsake me not.

POSTCOMMUNION:
Suffer not, O Lord, Thy heavenly gifts, which Thou hast provided as a remedy for Thy faithful, to turn to the judgement of those who receive them. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE:
O God, the Creator and Ruler of Thy people, drive away the sins which beset them, that being ever pleasing unto Thee, they may be secure under Thy protection. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

Note the parts that are repeated daily on the Ash Wednesday Post

Today’s Station: San Paolo fuori le Mura

Missa:
UM Sanctificátus

INTROIT: Ezekiel 36:23-26
When I shall be sanctified in you, I will gather you from every land: and I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness: and I will give you a new spirit. (Ps. 33: 2) I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall be ever in my mouth. v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

COLLECT:
God, Who dost vouchsafe to the just the reward of their merits, and to sinners pardon through fasting, have mercy upon Thy suppliants, that the confession of our guilt may have power to obtain for us forgiveness of our misdoings. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

LESSON: Ezechiel 36: 23-28
Thus saith the Lord God, I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the gentiles which you have profaned in the midst of them; that the gentiles may know that I am the lord, saith the Lord of hosts, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the gentiles, and will gather you together out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land; and I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness, and I will cleanse you from all your idols, and will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My spirit in the midst of you, and I will cause you to walk in My commandments, and to keep My judgments, and do them, and you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers, and you shall be My people, and I will be your God; saith the Lord almighty.

GRADUAL: Psalm 33: 12, 6
Come, children, harken to me: I will teach the fear of the Lord. V. Come ye to Him, and be enlightened; and your faces shall not be confounded.

COLLECT:
Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that we who have undertaken to chastise our bodies by fasting may, even in this devotion, find cause for rejoicing: forasmuch as earthly passions being thereby subdued, we are the better able to fix our hopes on the delights of Heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God. World without end. Amen.

EPISTLE Isaias 1: 16-19
Thus saith the Lord God, Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from My eyes; cease to do perversely, learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the op­pressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow, and then come, and accuse Me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. If you be willing and will harken to Me, you shall eat the good things of the land; saith the Lord almighty

GRADUAL: Psalm 32: 12, 6
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord: the people whom He hath chosen for His inheritance. V. By the word of the Lord the heavens were established; and all the power of them by the spirit of His mouth.

TRACT: Psalm 120: 10
O Lord, repay us not according to the sins we have committed, nor according to our iniquities. V. (Ps. 78: 8-9) O Lord, remember not our former iniquities: let Thy mercies speedily prevent us, for we are become exceeding poor.
(Here all kneel down) Help Us, O Lord our Saviour: and for the glory of Thy name, O Lord, deliver us: and forgive us our sins for Thy name’s sake.

GOSPEL: John 9: 1-38
At that time, Jesus passing by, saw a man who was blind from his birth: and His disciples asked Him, Rabbi who hath sinned, this man of his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, “Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of Him that sent Me, whilst it is day; the night cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world.” When He had said these things, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and spread the clay upon his eyes, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloe,” (which is interpreted, Sent). He went therefore, and washed, and he came seeing. The neighbors therefore and they who had seen him before that he was a beggar said, Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said, This is he. But others said, No, but he is like him. But he said, I am he. They said therefore to him How were thy eyes opened? He answered, That man that is called Jesus, made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, Go to the pool of Siloe, and wash: and I went, I washed, and I see. And they said to him, Where is He? He saith, I know not. They bring him that had been blind to the pharisees. Now it was the Sabbath when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. Again therefore the pharisees asked him how he had received his sight. But he said to them, He put clay upon my eyes, and I washed, and I see. Some therefore of the pharisees said, This man is not of God, who keepeth not the Sabbath. But others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. They say therefore to the blind man again, What sayest thou of Him that hath opened thy eyes? And he said, He is a prophet. The Jews then did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight and asked them, saying, Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then doth he now see? His parents answered them and said, We know that he is our son, and that he was born blind: but how he seeth we know not, or who hath opened his eyes we know not: ask himself; he is of age, let him speak for himself. These things his parents said, be cause they feared the Jews: for the Jews had already agreed among themselves, that if any man should confess Him to to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore did his parents say, He is of age, ask him. They therefore called the man again that had been blind, and said to him, Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. He said therefore to them, If He be a sinner, I know not; one thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see. They then said to him, What did He to thee? How did He open thine eyes? He answered them, I have told you already and you have heard; why would you hear it again? will you also be come His disciples? They reviled him therefore, and said, Be thou His disciple: but we are the disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses; but as to this man, we know not from whence He is. The man answered and said to them, Why, herein is a wonderful thing that you know not from whence He is, and He hath opened my eyes. Now we know that God doth not hear sinners; but if a man be a server of God, and doth His will, him He heareth. From the beginning of the world it hath not been heard, that any man hath opened the eyes of one born blind. Unless this man were of God, He could not do anything. They answered and said to him, Thou wast wholly born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Dost thou believe in the Son of God?” He answered and said, Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him? And Jesus said to him, “Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee.” And he said, I believe, Lord: (Here all kneel down) and falling down he adored Him.

A Homily on the Gospel Passage From Matins for the Day
by St. Augustine the Bishop

Dreadful and wondrous are all the things which our Lord Jesus Christ did. They are at one and the same time both works and words : works, because they are wrought out of his might ; words, because they are signs of his wisdom. If, therefore, we consider the signification of this work of his, we see in the man blind from birth a figure of mankind. This blindness fell on the first man by reason of sin, from which we trace the origin, not only of death, but of evil also. For if blindness be unbelief, and if faith be enlightenment, whom did Christ find, at his first coming, that he could account as faithful? Yea, even the Apostle, who was himself born of the race of the Prophets, saith : We also were by nature children of wrath, even as others. And if children of wrath, then also children of vengeance, children of damnation, children of hell-fire. And how is it said : By nature : unless it be that the first man, by sinning, brought this infliction on human nature? And if he brought this penalty on all human nature, then all men, so far as their spirit is concerned, are born blind.

The Lord passed by. And then what did he? He set forth a great mystery. He spat on the ground, and made clay out of his spittle. And he who was himself the Word made flesh, thus made ointment of his spittle, and anointed the eyes of the blind. But albeit the blind was thus anointed, yet at first he saw not. Wherefore the Lord sent him unto the pool which is called Siloam. Now the Evangelist was concerned to impress upon us the name of this pool, and therefore he said : Siloam, which is, by interpretation, Sent. Ye well know who is signified by this word, Sent, for had this same not been sent, we ourselves never would have been set free from sin. Accordingly the blind man went his way, and washed his eyes in that pool, which is, by interpretation, Sent. In other words, we see in this a figure of Baptism into Christ. When, therefore, he was thus figurátively baptized into him that the Father hath sent, he came seeing. If this be so, it may also be said that the anointing which he received before he went to the pool made him first of all a figure of a catechumen.

We have heard a great mystery. Ask of a man : Art thou a Christian? And if he answereth thee : I am not : then thou dost ask him : Art thou a pagan, or a Jew? And if he still saith unto thee, Nay ; dost thou then not say : Art thou then a catechumen, though not yet one of the faithful? And if he saith : Yea, a catechumen : then thou dost there behold a man anointed but not yet washed. With what hath he been anointed? Ask of him, and he will tell thee. Ask of him in whom he believeth, and, being a catechumen, he will say : In Christ. But, behold, I am now speaking in the presence of the faithful, and of catechumens also. Mark ye what I said concerning the spittle and the clay? I said : The Word was made flesh. This much even the catechumens have been taught : but it is not enough for them merely to be anointed unto this preliminary teaching. They must make haste to the washing, if they would have their eyes opened

OFFERTORY: Psalm 65: 8, 9, 20
O ye gentiles, bless the Lord our God, and make the voice of His praise to be heard; Who hath set my soul to live, and hath not suffered my feet to be moved: blessed be the Lord, Who hath not turned away my prayer nor His mercy from me.

SECRET:
We humbly entreat Thee, O almighty God, that our sins may be purged by these sacrifices; for so dost Thou grant us health of body and soul. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

COMMUNION: John 9: 11
The Lord made clay of spittle, and anointed my eyes; and I went, and I washed, and I saw, and I have believed in God.

POSTCOMMUNION:
May the sacrament we have received, O Lord, our God, both fill us with spiritual nourishment and keep us with bodily assistance. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE:
May the ears of Thy mercy, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Thy suppliants, and, that Thou mayest grant their desires to them that seek Thee, make them to ask the things that are pleasing to Thee. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

Today’s Station: San Lorenzo in Damaso

Missa:
XAUDI DEUS

INTROIT: Psalm 54: 2-3
Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my supplication: Be attentive to me and hear me. I am grieved in my exercise; and am troubled ; V. At the voice of the enemy, and at the tribulation of the sinner. For they have cast iniquities upon me: and in wrath they were troublesome to me. v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

COLLECT:
We beseech Thee, O Lord, that the fasts of this holy observance may procure for us an increase of piety and the continual help of Thy mercy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

EPISTLE: Exodus 32: 7-14
In those days the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Go, get thee down: thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, hath sinned. They have quickly strayed from the way which thou didst shew them: and they have made to themselves a molten calf, and have adored it, and sacrificing victims to it, have said: These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt. And again the Lord said to Moses: I see that this people is stiffnecked: Let me alone, that my wrath may be kindled against them, and that I may destroy them, and I will make of thee a great nation. But Moses besought the Lord his God, saying: Why, O Lord, is thy indignation enkindled against thy people, whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand? Let not the Egyptians say, I beseech Thee: He craftily brought them out, that He might kill them in the mountains, and destroy them from the earth: let Thy anger cease, and be appeased upon the wickedness of Thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou sworest by Thy own self, saying: I will multiply your seed as the stars of Heaven: and this whole land that I have spoken of, I will give to your seed, and you shall possess it for ever: And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which He had spoken against His people.

GRADUAL: Psalm 43: 26, 2
Arise, O Lord, help us and redeem us for thy name’s sake. (Psalm 43: 2). We have heard, O God, with our ears: our fathers have declared to us, The work thou hast wrought in their days, and in the days of old.

GOSPEL: John 7: 14-31
At that time about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews wondered, saying: How doth this man know letters, having never learned? 16 Jesus answered them and said: “My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me. If any man will do the will of Him, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh the glory of Him that sent him, he is true and there is no injustice in him. Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why seek you to kill Me?” The multitude answered and said: Thou hast a devil. Who seeketh to kill Thee? Jesus answered and said to them: “One work I have done: and you all wonder. Therefore, Moses gave you circumcision (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers): and on the sabbath day you circumcise a man. If a man receive circumcision on the sabbath day, that the law of Moses may not be broken: are you angry at Me, because I have healed the whole man on the sabbath day? Judge not according to the appearance: but judge just judgment.” Some therefore of Jerusalem said: Is not this he whom they seek to kill? And behold, he speaketh openly: and they say nothing to Him. Have the rulers known for a truth that this is the Christ? But we know this man, whence He is: but when the Christ cometh, no man knoweth, whence He is. Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying: “You both know Me, and you know whence I am. And I am not come of Myself: but He that sent Me is true, Whom you know not. I know Him, because I am from Him: and He hath sent Me.” They sought therefore to apprehend Him: and no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come. But of the people many believed in Him and said: When the Christ cometh, shall He do more miracles than this man doth?

A Homily on the Gospel Passage From Matins for the Day
by St. Augustine the Bishop

Jesus, who had gone up unto the feast, as it is written : Not openly, but as it were in secret : now began to teach and speak openly, and no man laid hands upon him. When he hid himself, it was an example unto us, but when he manifested himself openly, it was a sign of his power. Be that as it may, when he taught, the Jews marvelled. I suppose that they marvelled, one and all. Yet not all of them were converted. And wherefore did they marvel? Because many of them knew where he was born, and how he was brought up, and they had never seen him learn letters. But they heard him dispute concerning the Law, and bring forth proofs from the same, as no man could do who had not read it. And no man can read unless he learn his letters, and therefore they marvelled. But their marvelling served the Master as an occasion for imparting a deeper truth unto them.

Yea, their marvelling and their whispering gave the Lord an occasion to utter a certain deep thing, a thing worthy of very careful thought and discussion. Now what was this thing? It was that which the Lord gave for an answer to such as marvelled that he knew letters, having never learned : Jesus answered them, and said : My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. Here is the first depth, for he seemeth even in these few words to put forth contraries. He saith not : This doctrine is not mine, but : My doctrine is not mine. If it be not thine, O Lord, wherefore dost thou call it thine? On the other hand, if it be thine, wherefore sayest thou that it is not thine? For thou sayest both things, to wit : My doctrine : and : Not mine.

Let them give careful heed to what this same holy Evangelist saith in the prologue of his Gospel, and we shall find there the solution of this difficulty, to wit : In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Mark how he said that this doctrine is the doctrine of the Father that sent him. And what is the doctrine of the Father but the Word of the Father? If Christ therefore be the Word of the Father, he is the doctrine of the Father. But a word cannot be of no one, but must needs, if it be a word, have someone whose word it is. Christ, therefore, saith that his doctrine is himself, and therefore not his, forasmuch as he is the Word of the Father. What hast thou that is so much thine own as thyself? Or what is there that is so little thine own as thyself, if that which thou art is another’s?

OFFERTORY: Psalm 39: 2-4
With expectation I have waited for the Lord, and he was attentive to me. And he heard my prayers, and brought me out of the pit of misery and the mire of dregs. And he set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps. And he put a new canticle into my mouth, a song to our God. Many shall see, and shall fear: and they shall hope in the Lord.

SECRET:
May this victim, we beseech Thee, o Lord, cleanse away our sins : and sanctify the bodies and minds of Thy servants, that we may offer worthily this sacrifice. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

COMMUNION: Psalm 19: 6
We will rejoice in thy salvation; and in the name of our God we shall be exalted

POSTCOMMUNION:
May the reception of this sacrament, O Lord, cleanse us from sin and lead us to the heavenly kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
Have mercy, O Lord, on Thy people, and mercifully grant them relief, who labor amidst continual tribulations. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

Today’s Station: Santi Quattro Coronati al Celio

Missa:
EUS IN Nomine Tuo

INTROIT: Psalm 53:3-4
Save me, O God, in Thy name and in Thy strength deliver me: O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth. (Psalm 53:5) For strangers have risen up against me: and the mighty have sought after my soul. V. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

COLLECT:
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that as we keep with devotion year by year this holy fast, we may please Thee both in body and soul. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

EPISTLE: 3 Kings 3:16-28
Then there came two women that were harlots, to the king, and stood before him. And one of them said: I beseech thee, my lord, I and this woman dwelt in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in the chamber. And the third day after I was delivered, she also was delivered; and we were together, and no other person with us in the house; only we two. And this woman’s child died in the night: for in her sleep she overlaid him. And rising in the dead time of the night, she took my child from my side, while I, thy handmaid, was asleep, and laid it in her bosom: and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I arose in the morning, to give my child suck, behold it was dead: but considering him more diligently, when it was clear day, I found that it was not mine which I bore. And the other woman answered: It is not so as thou sayst, but thy child is dead, and mine is alive. On the contrary, she said; Thou liest: for my child liveth, and thy child is dead. And in this manner they strove before the king. Then said the king: The one saith, My child is alive, and thy child is dead. And the other answereth: Nay; but thy child is dead, and mine liveth. The king therefore said: Bring me a sword. And when they had brought a sword before the king, Divide, said he, the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other. But the woman, whose child was alive, said to the king; (for her bowels were moved upon her child) I beseech thee, my lord, give her the child alive, and do not kill it. But the other said: Let it be neither mine nor thine; but divide it. The king answered, and said: Give the living child to this woman, and let it not be killed; for she is the mother thereof. And all Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king, seeing that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment.

GRADUAL: Psalm 30:3
Be Thou unto me a God, a protector and a place of refuge, to save me. V. O God in Thee have I hoped: O, Lord let me never be confounded.

TRACT: Psalm 120: 10
O Lord, repay us not according to the sins we have committed, nor according to our iniquities. V. (Ps. 78: 8-9) O Lord, remember not our former iniquities: let Thy mercies speedily prevent us, for we are become exceeding poor.
(Here all kneel down) Help Us, O Lord our Saviour: and for the glory of Thy name, O Lord, deliver us: and forgive us our sins for Thy name’s sake.

GOSPEL: John 2:13-25
And the pasch of the Jews was at hand: and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And he found in the temple them that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And when he had made, as it were, a scourge of little cords, he drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen: and the money of the changers he poured out, and the tables he overthrew. And to them that sold doves he said: Take these things hence, and make not the house of my Father a house of traffic. And his disciples remembered, that it was written: The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up. The Jews, therefore, answered, and said to him: What sign dost thou shew unto us, seeing thou dost these things? Jesus answered and said to them: Destroy this temple; and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said: Six and forty years was this temple in building; and wilt thou raise it up in three days? But he spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen again from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this: and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had said. Now when he was at Jerusalem, at the pasch, upon the festival day, many believed in his name, seeing his signs which he did. But Jesus did not trust himself unto them: for that he knew all men, And because he needed not that any should give testimony of man: for he knew what was in man.

A Homily on the Gospel Passage From Matins for the Day
by St. Augustine the Bishop

What things are these, my brethren, which we have just heard? Mark ye! This temple was no more than a figure of the Church which was yet to be. Nonetheless the Lord drove out from thence all them that sought their own advantage, and such as were come to deal in merchandise. And what was it that they sold therein? Only such things as were needful for the sacrifices that then were. For ye know, dearly beloved, what kind of sacrifices were given to God’s people in those days ; and how that by reason of their carnal-mindedness, and because their hearts were yet stony, there was commanded unto them to offer such sacrifices as would hold them back from idolatry. Accordingly they offered up oxen and sheep and doves. This ye know, for ye have read the Scriptures.

Surely it is no great sin if they sold in the temple what men were wont to buy with the intent of offering same in the temple. Nonetheless he drove these sellers out. Wherefore, if the Lord drove out them which sold such things as be lawful, and not contrary to righteousness (for things which may be honestly bought are not unlawfully sold), and suffered not the house of prayer to be made an house of merchandise, what would he have done if he had found drunkards in his temple?

If the house of God ought not to be made an house of buying and selling, ought it then to be made an house of drinking? But when we speak thus, there be some that gnash upon us with their teeth. Yet we are comforted by that Psalm which ye have just now heard : They gnashed upon me with their teeth. Yea, from the words of this Psalm we know whence cometh our healing ; even from Christ, upon whom the scourges fell over and over again, because he had scourged them by his words : for this Psalm putteth such a saying into the mouth of the Lord : Scourgings came together against me plentifully, but they were unaware thereof. He was scourged by the scourges of the Jews. He is scourged afresh by the blasphemies of false Christians. These latter multiply scourgings upon the Lord their God, and are unaware of what they do. As for us, let us do according to what he saith in this Psalm, which same he will help us to do, to wit : But as for me, when they troubled me, I put on sackcloth, and humbled my soul with fasting.

OFFERTORY: Psalm 99:1-2
Sing joyfully to God all the earth, serve ye the Lord with gladness: come in before His presence with exceeding great joy: for the Lord, He is God.

SECRET:
May the sacrifice we offer to Thee, O Lord, ever refresh and defend us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

COMMUNION: Psalm: 18:13-14
From my secrete sins cleanse me, O Lord: and from those of others spare Thy servant.

POSTCOMMUNION:
Having received Thy saving sacraments, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that they may help us to the advancement of our eternal redemption. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
Mercifully hear our prayer, O Lord, we beseech Thee: and to those whom Thou givest a desire to prayer, do Thou grant also the help of Thy protection. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen.

Today’s Station: Santa Croce in Gerusalemme

Missa:
ÆTARE

INTROIT: Isais 66: 10-11; Psalm 121: 1
Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and come together all you that love her; rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation. V. I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord. V. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

COLLECT:
Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds justly deserve to be punished, by the comfort of Thy grace may mercifully be relieved. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

EPISTLE: Galatians 4: 22-31
Brethren: it is written that Abraham had two sons; the one by a bond-woman, and the other by a free-woman. But he who was of the bond-woman was born according to the flesh; but he of the free-woman was by promise. Which things are said by an allegory. For these are the two testaments; the one from Mount Sina, engendering unto bondage, which is Agar: for Sina is a mountain in Arabia, which hath affinity to that Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children: but that Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that hath a husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born according to the flesh persecuted him that was after the spirit, so also it is now. But what saith the Scriptures? : Cast out the bond-woman and her son; for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman. So then, brethren, we are not the children of the bond-woman, but of the free; by the freedom wherewith Christ hath made us free.

GRADUAL: Psalm 121: 1, 7
I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord. Let peace be in Thy strength, and abundance in Thy towers.

TRACT: Psalm 124: 1-2
They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion: he shall not be moved forever that dwelleth in Jerusalem. Mountains are round about it: so the Lord is round about his people, from henceforth now and for ever.

GOSPEL: John 6: 1-15
At that time, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee which is that of Tiberias; and a great multitude followed Him, because they saw the miracles which He did on them that were diseased. Jesus therefore went up into a mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. Now the pasch, the festival day of the Jews, was near at hand. When Jesus therefore had lifted up His eyes, and seen that a very great multitude cometh to Him, He said to Philip, “Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?” And this He said to try him; for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered Him, Two hundred penny-worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little. One of His disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, saith to Him, There is a boy here that hath five barley loaves and two fishes; but what are these among so many? Then Jesus said: “Make the men sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. The men therefore sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when He had given thanks, He distributed to them that were set down. In like manner also of the fishes, as much as they would. And when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, lest they be lost.” They gathered up therefore, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above to them that had eaten. Now those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had done, said, This is of a truth the prophet that is to come into the world. Jesus therefore, when He knew that they would come to take Him by force and make Him king, fled again into the mountain Himself alone.

A Homily on the Gospel Passage From Matins for the Day
by St. Augustine the Bishop

The miracles wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ were verily divine works, and they stir up the mind of man to rise by a perception of what is seen by the eye unto an apprehension of God himself. For God is of such substance as eye cannot see, and the many miracles which he doth work in his continual rule of the whole universe, and in his providential care of everything which he hath made, are by use become so common that scarce anyone permitteth himself to perceive the same, as for example, what wondrous and amazing works of God there be in every grain of seed. Wherefore his mercy hath constrained him to keep some works to be done only at some convenient time, as it were, out of the common course and order of nature, to the intent that men may see them and wonder, not because they be greater, but because they be rarer, than those which they so lightly esteem by reason of their daily occurrence.

For to govern the whole universe is surely a greater miracle than to satisfy five thousand men with five loaves of bread. At the former works no man doth marvel, yet at the feeding of the five thousand, all men do marvel, not because it is a greater miracle than the other, but because it is a rarer one. For who is he that now feedeth the whole world? Is it not the same who, from a little grain that is sown, maketh the fulness of the harvest? God worketh in both cases in one and the same manner. He that of the sowing maketh to come the harvest, is the same that took in his hands the five barley loaves, and of them made bread to feed five thousand men. For the hands of Christ have power to do both the one and the other. He that multiplieth the grains of corn is the same that multiplied the loaves, save only that in this latter case he committed them not unto the earth whereof he is himself the Maker.

Therefore this miracle is done outwardly before us, that our souls inwardly may thereby be quickened. The same is shewn to our eyes to furnish food for thought. Thus by means of those of his works which are seen, we may come to feel awe toward him that cannot be seen. Perchance we may thereby be roused up to believe, and if we attain unto belief, we shall be purified to such good purpose that we shall begin to long to see him. Wherefore, in such wise, through the things which are seen, we may come to know him that cannot be seen. Yet it sufficeth not if we perceive only this one meaning in Christ’s miracles. Rather let us ask of the miracles themselves what they have to tell us concerning Christ ; for in all truth they speak with a tongue of their own, if only we have good will to understand the same. For Christ is the Word of God, and each and every work of the Word speaketh a word unto us.

OFFERTORY: Psalm 134: 3, 6
Praise ye the Lord, for He is good: sing ye to His name, for He is sweet: whatsoever He pleased He hath done in Heaven and in earth.

SECRET:
May this victim, we beseech Thee, O Lord, cleanse away our sins, sanctifying Thy servants in both soul and body for the celebration of this sacrifice. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

COMMUNION: Psalm 121: 3-4
Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together: for thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to praise Thy name, O Lord.

POSTCOMMUNION:
Merciful God, who ceasest not to lavish upon us the riches of Thy sacraments; grant that we may ever draw near to Thine Altar with deepest reverence and with faith unwavering. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

Today’s Station: Santa Susanna

Missa: VERBA MEA Auribus

INTROIT: Psalm 5: 2-4
Give ear, O Lord, to my words, understand my cry. Hearken to the voice of my prayer, O my King and my God. For to thee will I pray: O Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear my voice. v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Repeat The law of the Lord…

COLLECT:
Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that they who mortify the flesh by abstaining from food, may follow justice by fasting from sin. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

EPISTLE: Daniel 13: 1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 (please note: because this passage is from the Apocryphal books, it is not available from my usual preferred translation.)
In those days there was a man that dwelt in Babylon, and his name was Joakim: And he took a wife whose name was Susanna, the daughter of Helcias, a very beautiful woman, and one that feared God. For her parents being just, had instructed their daughter according to the law of Moses. Now Joakim was very rich, and had an orchard near his house: and the Jews resorted to him, because he was the most honourable of them all. And there were two of the ancients of the people appointed judges that year, of whom the Lord said: Iniquity came out from Babylon from the ancient judges, that seemed to govern the people. These men frequented the house of Joakim, and all that had any matters of judgment came to them. And when the people departed away at noon, Susanna went in, and walked in her husband’s orchard. And the old men saw her going in every day, and walking: and they were inflamed with lust towards her: And they perverted their own mind and turned away their eyes that they might not look unto heaven, nor remember just judgments. And it fell out, as they watched a fit day, she went in on a time, as yesterday and the day before, with two maids only, and was desirous to wash herself in the orchard: for it was hot weather. And there was nobody there, but the two old men that had hid themselves and were beholding her. So she said to the maids: Bring me oil, and washing balls, and shut the doors of the orchard, that I may wash me. Now when the maids were gone forth, the two elders arose, and ran to her, and said: Behold the doors of the orchard are shut, and nobody seeth us, and we are in love with thee: wherefore consent to us, and lie with us. But if thou wilt not, we will bear witness against thee, that a young man was with thee, and therefore thou didst send away thy maids from thee. Susanna sighed, and said: I am straitened on every side: for if I do this thing, it is death to me: and if I do it not, I shall not escape your hands. But it is better for me to fall into your hands without doing it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord. With that Susanna cried out with a loud voice: and the elders also cried out against her. And one of them ran to the door of the orchard, and opened it. So when the servants of the house heard the cry in the orchard, they rushed in by the back door to see what was the matter. But after the old men had spoken, the servants were greatly ashamed: for never had there been any such word said of Susanna. And on the next day, When the people were come to Joakim her husband, the two elders also came full of wicked device against Susanna, to put her to death. And they said before the people: Send to Susanna daughter of Helcias the wife of Joakim. And presently they sent. . And she came with her parents, and children, and all her kindred. Therefore her friends and all her acquaintance wept. But the two elders rising up in the midst of the people, laid their hands upon her head. And she weeping looked up to heaven, for her heart had confidence in the Lord. And the elders said: As we walked in the orchard alone, this woman came in with two maids, and shut the doors of the orchard, and sent away the maids from her. Then a young man that was there hid came to her, and lay with her. But we that were in a corner of the orchard, seeing this wickedness, ran up to them, and we saw them lie together. And him indeed we could not take, because he was stronger than us, and opening the doors be leaped out: But having taken this woman, we asked who the young man was, but she would not tell us: of this thing we are witnesses. The multitude believed them as being the elders and the judges of the people, and they condemned her to death. Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice, and said: O eternal God, who knowest hidden things, who knowest all things before they come to pass, Thou knowest that they have borne false witness against me: and behold I must die, whereas I have done none of these things, which these men have maliciously forged against me. And the Lord heard her voice. And when she was led to be put to death, the Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young boy, whose name was Daniel. And he cried out with a loud voice I am clear from the blood of this woman. Then all the people turning themselves towards him, said: What meaneth this word that thou hast spoken? But he standing in the midst of them, said: Are ye so foolish, ye children of Israel, that without examination or knowledge of the truth, you have condemned a daughter of Israel? Return to judgment, for they have borne false witness against her. So all the people turned again in haste, and the old men said to him: Come, and sit thou down among us, and shew it as: seeing God hath given thee the honour of old age. And Daniel said to the people: Separate these two far from one another, and I will examine them. So when they were put asunder one from the other, he called one of them, and said to him: O thou that art grown old in evil days, now are thy sins come out, which thou hast committed before: In judging unjust judgments, oppressing the innocent, and letting the guilty to go free, whereas the Lord saith: I The innocent and the just thou shalt not kill. Now then, if thou sawest her, tell me under what tree thou sawest them conversing together. He said: Under a mastic tree. And Daniel said: Well hast thou lied against thy own head: for behold the angel of God having received the sentence of him, shall cut thee in two. And having put him aside, he commanded that the other should come, and he said to him: O thou seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda, beauty hath deceived thee, and lust hath perverted thy heart: Thus did you do to the daughters of Israel, and they for fear conversed with you: but a daughter of Juda would not abide your wickedness. Now therefore tell me, under what tree didst thou take them conversing together. And he answered: Under a holm tree. And Daniel said to him: Well hast thou also lied against thy own head: for the angel of the Lord waiteth with a sword to cut thee in two, and to destroy you. With that all the assembly cried out with a loud voice, and they blessed God, who saveth them that trust in him. And they rose up against the two elders, (for Daniel had convicted them of false witness by their own mouth,) and they did to them as they had maliciously dealt against their neighbour, To fulfill the law of Moses: and they put them to death, and innocent blood was saved in that day.

GRADUAL: Psalm 22: 4
For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me. V. Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.

GOSPEL: John 8: 1-11
At that time Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak, he appeared again in the Temple Court, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim brought in a woman who had been caught committing adultery and made her stand in the center of the group. Then they said to him, “Rabbi, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in our Torah, Moshe commanded that such a woman be stoned to death. What do you say about it?” They said this to trap him, so that they might have ground for bringing charges against him; but Yeshua bent down and began writing in the dust with his finger. When they kept questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “The one of you who is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then he bent down and wrote in the dust again. On hearing this, they began to leave, one by one, the older ones first, until he was left alone, with the woman still there. Standing up, Yeshua said to her, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” Yeshua said, “Neither do I condemn you. Now go, and don’t sin any more.”

A Homily on the Gospel Passage From Matins for the Day
by St Augustine the Bishop

Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives, that is to say, by interpretation, unto the fruitful mount, the mount of anointing, the mount of chrism. Where else could Christ so meetly teach as on the Mount of Olives? For the Name Christ is derived from chrism, and chrism in Greek is the same word as ointment in Latin. Yea, Christ our unction hath anointed us because we are to be wrestlers with the devil. And early in the morning, he came again unto the temple, and all the people came unto him ; and he sat down, and taught them. But so far no man laid hands on him, because as yet it pleased him not to suffer. But now give heed, and see how the Lord’s meekness is tried by his enemies.

And the Scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery ; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto him : Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act : now, Moses in the Law commanded that such should be stoned ; but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, thath they might have to accuse him. And when had they anything whereof to accuse him? Had they taken him in any sin? Or could this be said in any way to pértain unto him?

We must understand, my brethren, the wondrous meekness which was in the Lord. They had marked that he was exceeding gentle, exceeding meek. For verily of him had they foretold : Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou Most Mighty, according to thy worship, and renown : good luck have thou with thine honour : ride on, because of the word of truth, of meekness, and righteousness. He came bringing truth because he was the Teacher, meekness because he was the Deliverer, and righteousness because he was the Judge. By reason of these three virtues it was that the prophetical Psalmist declared in the Holy Ghost, that he was to ride on as conqueror. When he spake, truth shone forth. When he was provoked not to wrath against his enemies, meekness was made glorious. So it came to pass that his enemies, because of these two virtues, to wit, his truth and his meekness, were tormented with spite and envy, and put a stumbling block before him in the third, to wit, his righteousness. Wherefore they plotted among themselves that because he was accounted a man of truth and meekness, accusation must be sought against him in respect of righteousness. Thus if he did accept as truth what is written in the Law, to wit, that the woman taken in adultery be stoned, the would have failed in meekness ; but if he consented to let her go, he would not have kept righteousness.

OFFERTORY: Psalm 118: 133
Direct my steps according to thy word: and let no iniquity have dominion over me.

SECRET:
Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that the gift of this sacrifice which we offer, may ever purify and preserve our frailty from all evil. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

COMMUNION: John 8: 10-11
Then Jesus lifting up himself, said to her: Woman, where are they that accused thee? Hath no man condemned thee?

POSTCOMMUNION:
We beseech Thee, almighty God, to number us among His members, whose Body and Blood we have received in communion. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE:
Extend, O Lord, to Thy faithful the right hand of heavenly aid, that they may seek Thee with their whole heart, and be made worthy to obtain that for which they rightly ask. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

Today’s Station: San Lorenzo in Lucina

Missa:FAC MECUM

INTROIT: Psalm 85:17
Show me, O Lord, a token for good: that they who hate me may see, and be confounded: because Thou, O Lord, hast helped me, and hast comforted me. V: (Psalm 85:1) Incline Thy ear, O Lord, and hear me: for I am needy and poor. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

COLLECT:
Look down with merciful approval on our fasts, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that even as our bodies abstain from food, so too may we fast from vice in our minds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

EPISTLE: Numbers 20:1, 3, 6-13
The people of Isra’el, the whole community, entered the Tzin Desert in the first month, and they stayed in Kadesh. There Miryam died, and there she was buried. The people quarreled with Moshe and said, “We wish we had died when our brothers died before ADONAI. Moshe and Aharon left the assembly, went to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces; and the glory of ADONAI appeared to them. ADONAI said to Moshe, “Take the staff, assemble the community, you and Aharon your brother; and before their eyes, tell the rock to produce its water. You will bring them water out of the rock and thus enable the community and their livestock to drink.” Moshe took the staff from the presence of ADONAI, as he had ordered him. But after Moshe and Aharon had assembled the community in front of the rock, he said to them, “Listen here, you rebels! Are we supposed to bring you water from this rock?” Then Moshe raised his hand and hit the rock twice with his staff. Water flowed out in abundance, and the community and their livestock drank. But ADONAI said to Moshe and Aharon, “Because you did not trust in me, so as to cause me to be regarded as holy by the people of Isra’el, you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.” This is M’rivah Spring [Disputation Spring], where the people of Isra’el disputed with ADONAI, and he was caused to be regarded as holy by them.

GRADUAL: Psalm 27:7, 1
In God hath my heart confided, and I have been helped: and my flesh hath flourished again, and with my will I will give praise to Him. V. Unto Thee will I cry, O Lord: O my God, be not Thou silent nor depart from me.

TRACT: Psalm 120: 10
O Lord, repay us not according to the sins we have committed, nor according to our iniquities. V. (Ps. 78: 8-9) O Lord, remember not our former iniquities: let Thy mercies speedily prevent us, for we are become exceeding poor.
(Here all kneel down) Help Us, O Lord our Saviour: and for the glory of Thy name, O Lord, deliver us: and forgive us our sins for Thy name’s sake.

GOSPEL: John 4: 5-42
He came to a town in Shomron called Sh’khem, near the field Ya`akov had given to his son Yosef. Ya`akov’s Well was there; so Yeshua, exhausted from his travel, sat down by the well; it was about noon. A woman from Shomron came to draw some water; and Yeshua said to her, “Give me a drink of water.” (His talmidim had gone into town to buy food.) The woman from Shomron said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for water from me, a woman of Shomron?” (For Jews don’t associate with people from Shomron.) Yeshua answered her, “If you knew God’s gift, that is, who it is saying to you, `Give me a drink of water,’ then you would have asked him; and he would have given you living water.” She said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket, and the well is deep; so where do you get this `living water’? You aren’t greater than our father Ya`akov, are you? He gave us this well and drank from it, and so did his sons and his cattle.” Yeshua answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty again! On the contrary, the water I give him will become a spring of water inside him, welling up into eternal life!” “Sir, give me this water,” the woman said to him, “so that I won’t have to be thirsty and keep coming here to draw water.” He said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” She answered, “I don’t have a husband.” Yeshua said to her, “You’re right, you don’t have a husband! You’ve had five husbands in the past, and you’re not married to the man you’re living with now! You’ve spoken the truth!” “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet,” the woman replied. “Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you people say that the place where one has to worship is in Yerushalayim.” Yeshua said, “Lady, believe me, the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Yerushalayim. You people don’t know what you are worshipping; we worship what we do know, because salvation comes from the Jews. But the time is coming — indeed, it’s here now — when the true worshippers will worship the Father spiritually and truly, for these are the kind of people the Father wants worshipping him. God is spirit; and worshippers must worship him spiritually and truly.” The woman replied, “I know that Mashiach is coming” (that is, “the one who has been anointed”). “When he comes, he will tell us everything.” Yeshua said to her, “I, the person speaking to you, am he.” Just then, his talmidim arrived. They were amazed that he was talking with a woman; but none of them said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water-jar, went back to the town and said to the people there, “Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could it be that this is the Messiah?” They left the town and began coming toward him. Meanwhile, the talmidim were urging Yeshua, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he answered, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” At this, the talmidim asked one another, “Could someone have brought him food?” Yeshua said to them, “My food is to do what the one who sent me wants and to bring his work to completion. Don’t you have a saying, `Four more months and then the harvest’? Well, what I say to you is: open your eyes and look at the fields! They’re already ripe for harvest! The one who reaps receives his wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that the reaper and the sower may be glad together — for in this matter, the proverb, `One sows and another reaps,’ holds true. I sent you to reap what you haven’t worked for. Others have done the hard labor, and you have benefited from their work.” Many people from that town in Shomron put their trust in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all the things I did.” So when these people from Shomron came to him, they asked him to stay with them. He stayed two days, and many more came to trust because of what he said. They said to the woman, “We no longer trust because of what you said, because we have heard for ourselves. We know indeed that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

A Homily on the Gospel Passage From Matins for the Day
by St. Augustine the Bishop

Thus now are mysteries beginning. For Jesus is not wearied for nought. Nay verily. Nor for nought is God’s Mighty One wearied. Nor for nought is he wearied, by whom the weary are refreshed. Nor for nought is he wearied, whose absence causeth prostration, and whose presence maketh us strong. Nonetheless, Jesus is wearied. Nay more, he is wearied with his journey. More than this, he is fain to sit down and rest. More even than this, he sitteth down on the well. More even yet, he sitteth thus in weariness, about the sixth hour. There is a depth in all these little matters. They all have something to say to such as will learn. They excite our scrutiny. They exhort us to knock. O that he himself may open these matters to us and to you, even he who was pleased to exhort us and say : Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

It is for thy sake that Jesus was wearied with his journey. We find a Jesus who is strong, and we find a Jesus who is weak. Yea, both strong and weak! Strong ; for in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Wouldst thou know how strong this Son of God is? All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made. And when he thus made all things, he made them without labour. Now who can be stronger than one that without labour made all things? Wouldst thou know how weak he is? The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. The might of Christ created thee. The weakness of Christ re-created thee. The might of Christ made that to be which beforehand had no existence. The weakness of Christ so wrought, that, what was thus in existence, should not perish. In his strength he made us. In his weakness he saved us.

He therefore, being himself held in the bondage of weakness, nourisheth the weak, as doth a hen her chickens ; for he said that he himself was like to a hen. How often, saith he to Jerusalem, would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Consider now, my brethren, by what bondage of weakness a hen is held to her chickens. For in no other bird is motherhood so unmistakeable at first sight. We may watch the sparrows building their nests, or daily we me may see swallows, or even storks or doves, busy at such building. Yet unless we see them in their very nests, we know not if they have little ones. But the hen’s motherhood is so much a part of herself, by reason of her bondage of tender weakness toward her brood, that even when the little chickens are not following after her, even if we see not her children, nevertheless we see by her ways whether or not she is a mother. In such like fashion was Jesus.

OFFERTORY: Psalm 5:3-4
Hearken to the voice of my prayer, O my King, and my God: for to Thee will I pray, O Lord.

SECRET:
Look graciously, we beseech Thee, O Lord, upon the offerings we consecrate: that they may be pleasing unto Thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

COMMUNION: John 4:13
He that shall drink of the water that I will give him, saith the Lord, it shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting.

POSTCOMMUNION:
May the reception of this sacrament, O Lord, cleanse us from sin, and guide us to the kingdom of heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that we who trust in Thy protection, may by Thy help overcome all things standing in our way. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

Today’s Station: Santi Cosma e Damiano

The Missal notes that to-day is mid-Lent Thursday. The Gospel relating several miraculous cures, was chosen in connexion with the stational church: St Cosmas and St Damian were physicians.

Missa: SALUS POPULI Ego sum

INTROIT:
I am the salvation of the people, saith the Lord: from whatever tribulation they shall cry to Me, I will hear them; and I will be their Lord forever. (Ps. 77: 1) Attend, O My people, to My law; incline your ear to the words of My mouth v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

COLLECT:
Let the blessed feast of Thy saints, Cosmas and Damian, magnify Thee, O Lord, for on this day Thou didst, in Thine ineffable providence, confer on them everlasting glory, and on us the resource of their help. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen.

EPISTLE: Jeremias 7:1-17
In those days, this word came to Yirmeyahu from ADONAI: “Stand at the gate of the house of ADONAI and proclaim this word: ‘Listen to the word of ADONAI, all you from Y’hudah who enter these gates to worship ADONAI! Here is what ADONAI-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: “Improve your ways and actions, and I will let you stay in this place. Don’t rely on that deceitful slogan, ‘The temple of ADONAI, the temple of ADONAI – these [buildings] are the temple of ADONAI.’ No, but if you really improve your ways and actions; if you really administer justice between people; if you stop oppressing foreigners, orphans and widows; if you stop shedding innocent blood in this place; and if you stop following other gods, to your own harm; then I will let you stay in this place, in the land I gave to your ancestors forever and ever. Look! You are relying on deceitful words that can’t do you any good. First you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, offer to Ba’al and go after other gods that you haven’t known. Then you come and stand before me in this house that bears my name and say, ‘We are saved’ – so that you can go on doing these abominations! Do you regard this house, which bears my name, as a cave for bandits? I can see for myself what’s going on,” says ADONAI. “Go to the place in Shiloh that used to be mine, that used to bear my name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Isra’el. I spoke to you again and again, but you wouldn’t listen. I called you, but you wouldn’t answer. Now,” says ADONAI, “because you have done all these things, I will do to the house that bears my name, on which you rely, and to the place I gave you and your ancestors, what I did to Shiloh; and I will drive you out of my presence, just as I drove out all your kinsmen, all the descendants of Efrayim.”‘ “So you, [Yirmeyahu,] don’t pray for this people! Don’t cry, pray or intercede on their behalf with me; because I won’t listen to you. Don’t you see what they are doing in the cities of Y’hudah and in the streets of Yerushalayim?

GRADUAL: Psalm 144:15-16
The eyes of all hope in Thee, O Lord; and Thou givest them meat in due season. V. Thou openest Thy hand, and fillest every living creature with blessing.

GOSPEL: Luke 4:38-44
At that time, leaving the synagogue, he went to Shim`on’s house. Shim`on’s mother-inlaw was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him to do something for her. So, standing over her, he rebuked the fever; and it left her. She immediately got up and began helping them. After sunset, all those who had people sick with various diseases brought them to Yeshua, and he put his hands on each one of them and healed them; also demons came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But, rebuking them, he did not permit them to say that they knew he was the Messiah. When day had come, he left and went away to a lonely spot. The people looked for him, came to him and would have kept him from leaving them. But he said to them, “I must announce the Good News of the Kingdom of God to the other towns too — this is why I was sent.” He also spent time preaching in the synagogues of Y’hudah.

A Homily on the Gospel Passage From Matins for the Day
by St. Ambrose the Bishop

See how long-suffering is the Lord our Saviour! His displeasure moved him not at all to desert Jewry, even though he was vexed by their guilt, and outraged by their insults. Nay, unmindful of insults, and remembering mercy only, he strove to soften their hard and unbelieving hearts, sometimes by his teaching, sometimes by freeing them from sin, sometimes by healing them. Rightly doth Luke first speak of a man who was delivered from an unclean spirit, and afterwards of the healing of a woman. For the Lord came to heal male and female both ; but that is fitly healed first which was created first ; and then must not woman be passed over, for we should remember that her first sin arose rather from permitting the serpent to deceive her than from malice in her heart.

That the Lord began to heal on the Sabbath Day sheweth in a figure how the new creation beginneth where the old ended. It sheweth, moreover, that the Son of God, who is come not to destroy the Law, but to fulfil, is not under, but above, the Law. For the world was not made by the Law, but by the Word, as it is written : By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made. Wherefore, the Law is not destroyed, but fulfilled, in the redemption of fallen man. Whence also the Apostle saith : Put off, concerning the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind ; and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Rightly then doth he begin to heal on the Sabbath Day, that so he may shew himself to be the Creator. He carrieth out his works in due order and succession. Wherefore he continueth what he had already begun ; even as a workman, setting out to repair a house, beginneth not to remove that which is old from the foundations, but from the roof. Thus doth the Lord begin to lay-to his hand again, in that place whence last he left off. He beginneth with things lesser, that he may go on to things greater. Even men are able to cast out evil spirits by the Word of God. But to command the dead to rise again is for God’s power alone. Perchance, also, this woman, the mother-in-law of Simon and Andrew, was a type of our nature, stricken down with the great fever of sin, and burning with unlawful lusts after divers objects. Nor would I say that the fever of passion is a lesser thing than bodily fever. Avarice and lust and luxury and ambition and anger : these be our fevers.

OFFERTORY: Psalm 137: 7
If I shall walk In, the midst of tribulation, Thou wilt quicken me, O Lord: and Thou wilt stretch forth Thy hand against the wrath of my enemies; and Thy right hand shall save me.

SECRET:
We offer Thee, O Lord, in the meritorious death of Thy saints, this sacrifice, from which alone martyrdom hath sprung. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

COMMUNION: Psalm 118: 4-5
Thou hast commanded Thy commandments to be kept exceedingly: O that my ways may be directed to keep Thy justifications.

POSTCOMMUNION:
May we be allotted, O Lord, the salvation pledged by Thy sacrament, which we implore by the merits of Thy blessed martyrs Cosmas and Damian. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
May heavenly favor increase the people that is subject to Thee, O Lord, and ever make it to serve Thy bidding. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen.

Today’s Station: San Sisto Vecchio

Missa: EGO AUTEM

INTROIT: Psalm 30:7-8
But I will hope in the Lord: I will be glad and rejoice in Thy mercy: for Thou hast regarded my humility. Ps. In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded: deliver me in Thy justice and rescue me. V. Glory be to the Father.

COLLECT:
Grant us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that disciplined by wholesome fasting, and abstaining from all vices, we may more easily gain forgiveness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

(Other Collects on the Ash Wednesday Post)

EPISTLE: Exodus 20:12-24
Thus saith the Lord God: Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land which ADONAI your God is giving you. “Do not murder. “Do not commit adultery. “Do not steal. “Do not give false evidence against your neighbor. “Do not covet your neighbor’s house; do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” All the people experienced the thunder, the lightning, the sound of the shofar, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled. Standing at a distance, they said to Moshe, “You, speak with us; and we will listen. But don’t let God speak with us, or we will die.” Moshe answered the people, “Don’t be afraid, because God has come only to test you and make you fear him, so that you won’t commit sins.” So the people stood at a distance, but Moshe approached the thick darkness where God was. ADONAI said to Moshe, “Here is what you are to say to the people of Isra’el: ‘You yourselves have seen that I spoke with you from heaven. You are not to make with me gods of silver, nor are you to make gods of gold for yourselves. For me you need make only an altar of earth; on it you will sacrifice your burnt offerings, peace offerings, sheep, goats and cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be mentioned, I will come to you and bless you.

GRADUAL: Psalm 6:3-4
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak: heal me, O Lord. V. All my bones are troubled: and my soul is troubled exceedingly.

TRACT: Psalm 120: 10
O Lord, repay us not according to the sins we have committed, nor according to our iniquities. V. (Ps. 78: 8-9) O Lord, remember not our former iniquities: let Thy mercies speedily prevent us, for we are become exceeding poor.
(Here all kneel down) Help Us, O Lord our Saviour: and for the glory of Thy name, O Lord, deliver us: and forgive us our sins for Thy name’s sake.

GOSPEL: Matthew 15:1-20
At that time some P’rushim and Torah-teachers from Yerushalayim came to Yeshua and asked him, “Why is it that your talmidim break the Tradition of the Elders? They don’t do n’tilat-yadayim before they eat!” He answered, “Indeed, why do you break the command of God by your tradition? For God said, `Honor your father and mother,’ and `Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say, `If anyone says to his father or mother, “I have promised to give to God what I might have used to help you,” then he is rid of his duty to honor his father or mother.’ Thus by your tradition you make null and void the word of God! You hypocrites! Yesha`yahu was right when he prophesied about you, `These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me. Their worship of me is useless, because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.’” Then he called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand this! What makes a person unclean is not what goes into his mouth; rather, what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean!” The talmidim came to him and said, “Do you know that the P’rushim were offended by what you said?” He replied, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Let them be. They are blind guides. When a blind man guides another blind man, both will fall in a pit.” Kefa said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” So he said, “Don’t you under stand even now? Don’t you see that anything that enters the mouth goes into the stomach and passes out into the latrine? But what comes out of your mouth is actually coming from your heart, and that is what makes a person unclean. For out of the heart come forth wicked thoughts, murder, adultery and other kinds of sexual immorality, theft, lies, slanders… These are what really make a person unclean, but eating without doing n’tilat-yadayim does not make a person unclean.”

A Homily on the Gospel Passage From Matins for the Day
by St. Jerome the Priest

Wondrous stupidity of the scribes and Pharisees! They rebuke the Son of God because he doth not observe the traditions and commandments of men, saying of his disciples : They wash not their hands when they eat bread. It behoveth us to cleanse, not the hands of the body, but the hands of the soul, namely, our works, that the word of God may be fulfilled in them. But he answered and said unto them : Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your Tradition? Thus he meeteth here their false accusation by a true. It is as if he had said : Ye who pass over the commandments of God, in order to keep to the traditions of men, ought not to rebuke my disciples, because they deem the Tradition of the elders of little moment in comparison with the doing of what they know to be the will of God.

For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and thy mother : and, He that curseth his father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother : It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me : and honour not his father of his mother, he shall be free. The word Honour is used in Scripture, not so much in the sense of rendering courtesies and services, as in that of giving alms and gifts. Honour widows, saith the Apostle, which are widows indeed. And here honour signifieth support. So again, Let the presbyters that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the Word and doctrine ; for the Scripture saith : Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn : and : The labourer is worthy of his hire.

The Lord, being mindful of the helplessness or old age or poverty of parents, gave commandment that children are to honour them by ministering to their necessities. The scribes and Pharisees scrupled not to make of none effect this prudent law, and to encourage ungodliness under the form of godliness. For they taught, for the benefit of unnatural children, that if any were to vow unto God (who is our true Father in heaven) the wherewithal of support to his parents, the duty of discharging his debt to his heavenly Father ought to come before that which he owed to his earthly father ; or, at least, that parents in such case incurred the guilt of sacrilege by taking for themselves what they knew had been made a gift to God. And so parents were left unsuccoured, and the offerings of such children, under pretence of being given to God and his temple, became the gain of the priests.

OFFERTORY: Psalm 103:21
O Lord, be merciful to me for Thy name’s sake: because Thy mercy is sweet.

SECRET:
Receive, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the prayers of Thy people with the oblation of sacrifice: and defend us from all dangers, we who celebrate Thy mysteries. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

(Other Secrets on the Ash Wednesday Post)

The PREFACE for Lent is found on the Ash Wednesday Post

COMMUNION: Psalm 15:11
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life: Thou shalt fill me with joy with Thy countenance, O Lord.

POSTCOMMUNION:
May the heavenly table of which we have partaken, sanctify us, O Lord, and purifying us from all errors, render us worthy of heavenly promises. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

(Other Postcommunion Prayers on the Ash Wednesday Post)

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that we who seek the grace of Thy protection, being delivered from all evils, may serve Thee with a quiet mind. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

Today’s Station: Santa Pudenziana

Missa:
GO CLAMAVI

INTROIT: Psalm 16:6, 8
I have cried to thee, for thou, O God, hast heard me: O incline thy ear unto me, and hear my words. Shew forth thy wonderful mercies; thou who savest them that trust in thee. From them that resist thy right hand keep me, as the apple of thy eye. Protect me under the shadow of thy wings. v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

COLLECT:
Graciously hear us, O almighty and merciful God : and favorably grant to us the gifts of wholesome self-denial. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

EPISTLE: 4 Kings 4:1-7
In those days a certain woman of the wives of the prophets cried to Eliseus, saying: Thy servant my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant was one that feared God, and behold the creditor is come to take away my two sons to serve him. And Eliseus said to her: What wilt thou have me to do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in thy house? And she answered: I thy handmaid have nothing in my house but a little oil, to anoint me. And he said to her: Go, borrow of all thy neighbors empty vessels not a few. And go in, and shut thy door, when thou art within, and thy sons: and pour out thereof into all those vessels: and when they are full take them away. So the woman went, and shut the door upon her, and upon her sons: they brought her the vessels, and she poured in. And when the vessels were full, she said to her son: Bring me yet a vessel. And he answered: I have no more. And the oil stood. And she came, and told the man of God. And he said: Go, sell the oil, and pay thy creditor: and thou and thy sons live of the rest.

GRADUAL: Psalm 18:13-14
From my secret sins, cleanse me, O Lord: and fro those of others spare Thy servant. V. If they shall have no dominion over me, then shall I be without spot: and I shall be cleansed from the greatest sin.

GOSPEL: Matthew 18:15-22
At that time Jesus said to His disciples: “But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand. And if he will not hear them: tell the Church. And if he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican. Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in Heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in Heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning anything whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father Who is in Heaven. For where there are two or three gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Then came Peter unto him and said: “Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” Jesus saith to him: “I say not to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven times.”

A Homily on the Gospel Passage From Matins for the Day
by St. Augustine the Bishop

Why tell him his fault? Is it because he hath made thee to smart by trespassing against thee? God forbid. For if out of love for thyself thou dost tell him his fault, thou hast done nothing of any worth. But if only out of love for him, thou dost tell him his fault, then thou hast done exceedingly well. Hear now, from the very words of the Gospel, for whose sake thou oughtest to do this thing, whether from love of thyself, or from love of him. The Lord saith : If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. Wherefore charge theyself always to do such a thing rather for his sake than for thine own, to the end that thou mayest gain him. If thou doest this thing on this wise, perchance thou mayest attain this great end, to wit, of gaining him. Whereas, if thou doest otherwise, perchance, he may perish. Why then are there so many who do reckon but lightly such a trespass against their brother, and say : I have done no great offence, for I have sinned only against my fellow-man? Deem it not a light offence. For thou hast surely sinned in that thou hast sinned against thy fellow-man.

Couldest thou know how that sinning against thy brother doth cause thee to perish? If he against whom thou hast sinned doth tell thee thy fault between himself and thee alone, and thou hear him, he hath gained thee. Note this well, He hath gained thee! What signify these words, He hath gained thee, save that thou wouldst have perished, if he had not gained thee? For if thou wouldst not have perished, in what sense can he be said to have gained thee? Wherefore let none deem it is a light thing when he sinneth against his brother. For the Apostle saith in a certain place : When ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. How then canst thou fail to sin against Christ, when thou sinnest against one of the members of Christ?

Therefore let none say : I have not sinned against God, but against a brother : in that I have sinned against man, and not against God, the sin is light, or mayhap is no sin at all. Perchance thou dost argue that it is a light offence because it is quickly mended. If thou hast sinned against thy brother, and canst straightway make satisfaction, and be right again, nonetheless thou hast done a deadly thing and done it quickly, and hast but quickly found a remedy. O my brethren, which of us can hope for the kingdom of heaven, seeing that the Gospel saith : Whoseoever shall say to his brother, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire? This indeed is a thought full of dread! But in the same place behold the remedy : If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way ; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. God is not wroth that thou delayest to offer thy gift. For God desireth thyself more than thy gift.

OFFERTORY: Psalm 117:16-17
The right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength: the right hand of the Lord hath exalted me: the right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength. I shall not die, but live: and shall declare the works of the Lord.

SECRET:
May the effect of our redemption be applied unto us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, by means of this sacrament, eve restraining us from human escesses and conducting us to the gift of salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

COMMUNION: Psalm 14: 1-2
Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? or who shall rest in thy holy hill? He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice.

POSTCOMMUNION:
Being purified by these holy mysteries, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that we may obtain both pardon and grace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
Defend us, O Lord, by Thy protection, and ever preserve us from all iniquity. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen