S. Gabrielis a Virgine Perdolente Confessoris

Nocturn 1

Ant. Fairest in form * above the sons of men, grace has been poured upon your lips.

Psalm 44(2a-10b)

44:2a My heart has uttered a good word: * I speak of my works to the King.
44:2b My tongue is like the pen of a scribe: * who writes quickly.
44:3 You are a brilliant form before the sons of men, † grace has been poured freely into your lips: * because of this, God has blessed you in eternity.
44:4 Fasten your sword to your thigh, * O most powerful one.
44:5a With your splendor and your excellence: * proceed prosperously, and reign.
44:5b For the sake of truth and meekness and justice: * and so will your right hand lead you wondrously.
44:6 Your arrows are sharp; the people will fall under you: * with the hearts of the enemies of the King.
44:7 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever: * the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of true aim.
44:8 You have loved justice and hated iniquity: * because of this, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness before your co-heirs.
44:9 Myrrh and balsam and cinnamon perfume your garments, from the houses of ivory: * from these, they have delighted you, (10a) the daughters of kings in your honor.
44:10b The queen assisted at your right hand in clothing of gold: * encircled with diversity.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. Fairest in form above the sons of men, grace has been poured upon your lips.

Ant. The peoples will praise you, * O God, for ever.

Psalm 44(11-18b)

44:11 Listen, daughter, and see, and incline your ear: * and forget your people and your father's house.
44:12 And the king will desire your beauty: * for he is the Lord your God, and they will adore him.
44:13 And the daughters of Tyre with gifts * will entreat your countenance: all the rich men of the people.
44:14 All the glory of the daughter of the King is inside, * in golden fringes, (15a) clothed all around with diversities.
44:15b After her, virgins will be led to the King: * her neighbors will be brought to you.
44:16 They will be brought with gladness and exultation: * they will be led into the temple of the King.
44:17 For your fathers, sons have been born to you: * you will establish them as leaders over all the earth.
44:18a They will remember your name always: * for generation after generation.
44:18b Because of this, peoples will confess to you in eternity: * and forever and ever.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. The peoples will praise you, O God, for ever.

Ant. God is our helper * in tribulations.

Psalm 45

45:2 Our God is our refuge and strength: * a helper in the tribulations that have greatly overwhelmed us.
45:3 Because of this, we will not be afraid when the earth will be turbulent: * and the mountains will be transferred into the heart of the sea.
45:4 They thundered, and the waters were stirred up among them: * the mountains have been disturbed by his strength.
45:5 The frenzy of the river rejoices the city of God: * the Most High has sanctified his tabernacle.
45:6 God is in its midst; it will not be shaken: * God will assist it in the early morning.
45:7 The peoples have been disturbed, and the kingdoms have been bowed down: * he uttered his voice, the earth has been moved.
45:8 The Lord of hosts is with us: * the God of Jacob is our supporter.
45:9 Draw near and behold the works of the Lord, what portents he has set upon the earth: * carrying away wars even to the end of the earth.
45:10 He will crush the bow and break the weapons: * and he will burn the shield with fire.
45:11 Be still, and see that I am God: * I will be exalted among the peoples, and I will be exalted upon the earth.
45:12 The Lord of hosts is with us: * the God of Jacob is our supporter.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. God is our helper in tribulations.

℣ The Lord of hosts is with us.

℟ Our protector is the God of Jacob.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name: thy kingdom come: thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread: and forgive us our trespasses, as we also forgive those who trespass against us:

℣ And lead us not into temptation:

℟ But deliver us from evil.

Absolutio. Hear us, Lord Jesus Christ, and have mercy on your servants: You who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benedictio. May the eternal Father bless us with his everlasting blessing.

Reading 1

A Reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Matt 20:17-28

At that time: Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart and said to them: Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death. And so forth.

A Homily of Saint Ambrose, Bishop

Lib. 5 de Fide ad Gratianum, cap. 2, post initium

Consider what the mother of the sons of Zebedee asks together with her sons and on behalf of her sons. She is a mother, certainly, for whom, anxious as she is for the honor of her children, the measure of her desire is immoderate, yet nonetheless deserving of pardon. And she is a mother advanced in years, devout in zeal, deprived of consolation, who at that very time when she ought to have been aided and supported by the help of a robust offspring, endured the absence of her children and had placed the reward of her sons' following Christ before her own pleasure. They, at the first call of the Lord—as we read—having left their nets and their father, followed him.

℟ The Angel said to Jacob:

Let me go, for it is dawn. He answered him: I will not let you go unless you bless me. And he blessed him in that same place.

℣ When Jacob had risen, behold a man wrestled with him until morning: and when he saw that he could not overcome him, he said to him.

℟ Let me go, for it is dawn. He answered him: I will not let you go unless you bless me. And he blessed him in that same place.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benedictio. May the Only Begotten Son of God be pleased to bless and assist us.

Reading 2

This woman, therefore, with the eagerness of motherly devotion, was somewhat indulgent in her request, beseeching the Savior and saying: Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and the other at your left, in your Kingdom. Even if it is an error, it is nonetheless an error of love. For a mother's heart does not know patience: though greedy in its desire, it is a pardonable longing — one that covets not money but grace. Nor is the petition without modesty, since it sought not for herself but for her children. Consider the mother; reflect on the mother.

℟ I saw the Lord face to face:

And my soul was saved.

℣ And he said to me: You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.

℟ And my soul was saved.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benedictio. May the mercy of Christ lead us to the joys of paradise.

Reading 3

Christ was considering his mother's love, who was consoling herself in her advanced old age with the reward of her children — and though weary with a mother's longings, she was bearing the absence of her most beloved pledges. Consider also a woman — that is, the frailer sex — whom the Lord had not yet confirmed by his own Passion. Consider, I say, the heir of that first woman Eve, falling through the succession of immoderate desire poured out into all; whom the Lord had not yet redeemed by his own blood, nor had Christ yet by his own gore washed away the inborn craving, contrary to sacred order, for immoderate honor which had taken root in all feelings. The woman was sinning, therefore, through an inherited failing.

℟ When Jacob heard that Esau was coming against him, he divided his sons and wives, saying: If Esau strikes one company, the other shall be saved.

Deliver me, O Lord, who said to me: * I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven and like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for their multitude.

℣ O Lord, who said to me, Return to the land of your birth: O Lord, who have fed me from my youth.

℟ Deliver me, O Lord, who said to me.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

℟ I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven and like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for their multitude.

Nocturn 2

Ant. Great is the Lord * and greatly to be praised in the city of our God.

Psalm 47

47:2 The Lord is great and exceedingly praiseworthy * in the city of our God, on his holy mountain.
47:3 Mount Zion is being founded with the exultation of the whole earth, * on the north side, the city of the great King.
47:4 In her houses, God will be known: * since he will support her.
47:5 For behold, the kings of the earth have been gathered together: * they have convened as one.
47:6 Such did they see, and they were astonished; they were disturbed, they were moved: * trembling took hold of them.
47:7 In that place, their pains were that of a woman in labor: * with a vehement spirit, you will crush the ships of Tarshish.
47:9 As we have heard, so we have seen, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: * God has founded her in eternity.
47:10 We have received your mercy, O God, * in the midst of your temple.
47:11 According to your name, O God, so does your praise reach to the ends of the earth: * your right hand is full of justice.
47:12 Let mount Zion rejoice, and let the daughters of Judah exult: * because of your judgments, O Lord.
47:13 Encircle Zion and embrace her: * discourse in her towers.
47:14 Set your hearts on her virtue: * and distribute her houses, so that you may discourse of it in another generation.
47:15 For this is God, our God, in eternity and forever and ever: * he will rule us forever.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God.

Ant. My mouth will speak * wisdom: and the meditation of my heart, understanding.

Psalm 48(2-13)

48:2 Hear these things, all nations: * pay attention, all you who inhabit the world:
48:3 whoever is earth-born, and you sons of men: * together as one, the rich and the poor.
48:4 My mouth will speak wisdom: * and the meditation of my heart will speak prudence.
48:5 I will incline my ear to a parable: * I will open my case with the psaltery.
48:6 Why should I fear in the evil day? * the iniquity at my heel will surround me:
48:7 Those who trust in their own strength: * and who glory in the multitude of their riches.
48:8 No brother redeems, nor will man buy back: * he will not give to God his appeasement.
48:9 Nor the price for the redemption of his soul: * and he will labor continuously, and still live until the end.
48:11 He will not see death, when he sees the wise dying: * the foolish and the senseless will perish together.
48:11 And they will leave their riches to strangers: * and their sepulchers will be their houses forever.
48:12 Their tabernacles from generation to generation: * they have called their names in their own lands.
48:13 And man, when he was held in honor, did not understand: * he has been compared to the senseless beasts, and he has become like them.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. My mouth will speak wisdom: and the meditation of my heart, understanding.

Ant. Do not fear * when a rich man dies; his glory will not descend into the tomb with him.

Psalm 48(14-21)

48:14 This way of theirs is a scandal to them: * and afterwards, they will delight in their mouth.
48:15 They have been placed in Hell like sheep: * death will feed on them.
48:15 And the just will have dominion over them in the morning: * and their help will grow old in Hell for their glory.
48:16 Even so, truly God will redeem my soul from the hand of Hell: * when he will receive me.
48:17 Do not be afraid, when a man will have been made rich: * and when the glory of his house will have been multiplied.
48:18 For when he dies, he will take nothing away: * and his glory will not descend with him.
48:19 For his soul will be blessed in his lifetime: * and he will admit to you when you do good to him.
48:20 He will even enter with the progeny of his fathers: * and even in eternity, he will not see the light.
48:21 Man, when he was in honor, did not understand: * he has been compared to the senseless beasts, and he has become like them.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. Do not fear when a rich man dies; his glory will not descend into the tomb with him.

℣ The mouth of the just man shall meditate wisdom.

℟ And his tongue shall speak judgment.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name: thy kingdom come: thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread: and forgive us our trespasses, as we also forgive those who trespass against us:

℣ And lead us not into temptation:

℟ But deliver us from evil.

Absolutio. May his loving kindness and mercy assist us, he who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benedictio. May God the almighty Father be gracious and merciful to us.

Reading 4

Gabriel, born at Assisi in Umbria of an honorable family, and called Francis in memory of that city's seraphic citizen, showed a distinguished character of soul from boyhood. As a young man, when he was studying letters at Spoleto, he seemed to have been drawn somewhat by the empty appearance and pomp of the world. But by the gift of a merciful God, who had long been calling him to the perfection of the Christian life, when he fell ill, he began to be disgusted with the vanity of the world and to desire only immortal goods. In order that he might the sooner obey God who was calling him, it came about that, upon beholding the renowned icon of the most Blessed Virgin being carried in solemn procession outside the precincts of the church of Spoleto, he conceived a flame of divine love, and at the same time resolved to embrace the Institute of the Clerics of the Passion of Jesus. And so, having overcome no slight difficulties, in the retreat of Morrovalle he gladly put on the mourning habit, and preferred to be called Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin, in order to keep perpetually fresh the memory of her joys and sorrows.

℟ As Jacob went out from his own land, he saw the glory of God, and said: How terrible is this place!

This is none other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven.

℣ Truly God is in this place, and I did not know it.

℟ This is none other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benedictio. May Christ grant us the joys of eternal life.

Reading 5

For throughout the whole Church, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" is spoken by Peter every day; and every tongue that confesses the Lord is imbued by the teaching of this voice. This faith conquers the devil and loosens the chains of his captives. This faith, drawing men out of the world, inserts them into heaven, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. For it has been so divinely fortified with solidity that neither the depravity of heresy has ever been able to corrupt it, nor the perfidy of paganism overcome it. In these ways therefore, most beloved, let the festival of this day be celebrated with reasonable worship: so that in the person of my humility he may be understood, he may be honored, in whom the solicitude of all pastors together with the keeping of the flocks committed to their charge perseveres, and whose dignity does not fail even in an unworthy heir.

℟ If the Lord my God is with me on this journey, by which I travel, and watches over me, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and brings me back in safety:

The Lord will be my refuge, and this stone will be a sign.

℣ So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone which he had placed under his head, and set it up as a pillar, and pouring oil upon it from above, he said.

℟ The Lord will be my refuge, and this stone will be a sign.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benedictio. May God kindle the fire of his love in our hearts.

Reading 6

Among these, through the kingdom of Castile and León, in which he had succeeded his father Alfonso, he gathered large armies and undertook annual expeditions against the Saracens, enemies of the Christian name. In these campaigns, that he might always be victorious, the chief forces were the prayers which the most devout king poured out to God, and the fact that before battle, to make God favorable to him, he would scourge himself with whips and fortify his body with a harsh hair-shirt; and so he won remarkable victories against vast Moorish armies, and restored several cities to Christian observance and dominion; and having seized the kingdoms of Jaén, Córdoba, and Murcia, and made Granada tributary, he transferred his victorious standards to the assault of Seville, the chief city of Baetica, urged on — as it is related — in a vision by the blessed Isidore, once bishop of that city. In that siege, as it is told, he had present divine assistance: for an iron chain stretched across the Guadalquivir as a barrier for the Mohammedans was broken by a stronger wind arising, by one of the royal ships carried there at the king's command with such force that, passing far beyond, it broke also the wooden bridge and at the same time shattered the hopes of the Moors and compelled them to surrender.

℟ The Lord shall be my God, and this stone which I have set up as a monument shall be called the house of God; and of all things that you shall give me,

I will offer you tithes and peace offerings.

℣ If I return prosperously to my father's house.

℟ I will offer you tithes and peace offerings.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

℟ I will offer you tithes and peace offerings.

Nocturn 3

Ant. God of gods, * the Lord has spoken.

Psalm 49(1-15)

49:1 The God of gods, the Lord has spoken: * and he has called the earth,
49:1 From the rising of the sun to its setting: * the beauty of his glory shines forth from Zion.
49:3 God will come manifestly: * our God and he will not be silent.
49:3 Fire will blaze before him: * and around him a mighty tempest.
49:4 He will call to heaven above: * and to the earth, to judge his people.
49:5 Gather to him his holy ones: * those who ratify his covenant over sacrifices.
49:6 And the heavens will proclaim his justice: * for God is judge.
49:7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak: O Israel, and I will testify against you: * I am God, your God.
49:8 I will not reprove you for your sacrifices: * your burnt offerings are always before me.
49:9 I will not accept calves from your house: * nor he-goats from your flocks.
49:10 For all the wild beasts of the forest are mine: * the cattle on the mountains and the oxen.
49:11 I know all the birds of the air: * and the beauty of the field is with me.
49:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you: * for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof.
49:13 Shall I eat the flesh of bulls? * Or drink the blood of goats?
49:14 Offer to God a sacrifice of praise: * and pay your vows to the Most High.
49:15 And call upon me in the day of tribulation: * I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. God of gods, the Lord has spoken.

Ant. Understand, * you who forget God.

Psalm 49(16-23)

49:16 But to the sinner God has said: * Why do you recite my commandments, and take my covenant upon your lips?
49:17 Yet you have hated discipline: * and have cast my words behind you.
49:18 If you saw a thief, you ran with him: * and with adulterers you cast your lot.
49:19 Your mouth has abounded in malice: * and your tongue fashioned deceits.
49:20 Sitting, you spoke against your brother, and against the son of your mother you laid a stumbling block: * these things you did, and I was silent.
49:21 You thought, O wicked one, that I would be like you: * I will reprove you and set the charge before your face.
49:22 Understand these things, you who forget God: * lest he seize you, and there be none to deliver you.
49:23 A sacrifice of praise will honor me: * and there is the way by which I will show him the salvation of God.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. Understand, you who forget God.

Ant. You will accept a sacrifice * of justice upon your altar, O Lord.

Psalm 50

50:3a Have mercy on me, O God, * according to your great mercy.
50:3b And according to the multitude of your tender mercies, * blot out my iniquity.
50:4 Wash me more thoroughly from my iniquity: * and cleanse me from my sin.
50:5 For I acknowledge my iniquity: * and my sin is always before me.
50:6 Against you only have I sinned, and have done evil in your sight: * that you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.
50:7 For behold, I was conceived in iniquities: * and in sins did my mother conceive me.
50:8 For behold, you have loved truth: * the uncertain and hidden things of your wisdom you have made manifest to me.
50:9 You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: * you will wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
50:10 To my hearing you will give joy and gladness: * and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.
50:11 Turn away your face from my sins: * and blot out all my iniquities.
50:12 Create a clean heart in me, O God: * and renew a right spirit within my inmost parts.
50:13 Cast me not away from your face: * and take not your holy spirit from me.
50:14 Restore to me the joy of your salvation: * and strengthen me with a sovereign spirit.
50:15 I will teach the unjust your ways: * and the wicked shall be converted to you.
50:16 Deliver me from blood, O God, God of my salvation: * and my tongue shall extol your justice.
50:17 O Lord, you will open my lips: * and my mouth shall declare your praise.
50:18 For if you had desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: * with burnt offerings you will not be delighted.
50:19 A sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit: * a contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise.
50:20 Deal favorably, O Lord, with your good will toward Sion: * that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.
50:21 Then shall you accept a sacrifice of justice, oblations, and burnt offerings: * then shall they lay calves upon your altar.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. You will accept a sacrifice of justice upon your altar, O Lord.

℣ The law of his God is in his heart.

℟ And his steps shall not be overthrown.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name: thy kingdom come: thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread: and forgive us our trespasses, as we also forgive those who trespass against us:

℣ And lead us not into temptation:

℟ But deliver us from evil.

Absolutio. May the almighty and merciful Lord absolve us from the bonds of our sins.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benedictio. May he bless us who lives and reigns without end.

Reading 7

A Reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark.

Marc 10:13-21

In that time: They were bringing little children to Jesus, that he might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Et cetera.

A Homily of Saint Bede the Venerable, Priest.

Commentárium in Marcum 10:13-21

Jesus says to his disciples: Suffer the little children to come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the Kingdom of God. He said significantly: Of such; not: Of these; to show that it is not age that reigns, but conduct; and that the reward is promised to those who have like innocence and simplicity — the Apostle also agreeing in the same sense: Brethren, do not be children in understanding; but in malice be as little children, yet in understanding be mature. Amen, I say to you: whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will not enter into it. As a child does not persist in anger, does not remember being hurt, is not delighted when he sees a beautiful woman, does not think one thing and say another; so you also, unless you have such innocence and purity of soul, will not be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In another sense, we are commanded to receive the Kingdom of God — that is, the teaching of the Gospel — as little children; because just as a little child in learning does not contradict the teachers, nor compose arguments and words against them in resistance, but faithfully receives what is taught and with reverence obeys and is still; so also we ought to do in obeying the words of the Lord simply and without any wavering. And he embraced them and laid his hands upon them and blessed them. He embraces and blesses the little ones, to signify that the humble in spirit are worthy of his blessing, his grace, and his love.

℟ The Angel said to Jacob:

Let me go, for it is dawn. He answered him: I will not let you go unless you bless me. And he blessed him in that same place.

℣ When Jacob had risen, behold a man wrestled with him until morning: and when he saw that he could not overcome him, he said to him.

℟ Let me go, for it is dawn. He answered him: I will not let you go unless you bless me. And he blessed him in that same place.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benedictio. May the divine assistance remain always with us.

Reading 8

And as he was going out onto the road, a certain man running up, kneeling before him, asked him: Good Master, what shall I do that I may receive eternal life? I believe this seeker of eternal life had heard from the Lord that only those who wished to be like little children are worthy of entry into the Kingdom of Heaven; and therefore, desiring a more certain treatment, he asks to have explained to him not through parables but openly by what merits of works eternal life can be attained. But Jesus said to him: You know the commandments. This is the chastity of childlike innocence, which is set before us to imitate if we wish to enter the Kingdom of God. But he answering said to him: Master, all these have I observed from my youth. This man is not to be thought to have questioned the Lord either out of the intention of one who tempts (as some have supposed), nor to have lied about his life when he said he had kept the commandments of the law; but, simply, to have confessed how he had lived. For if he had been guilty of the fault of lying or pretense, Jesus would never, looking upon the secrets of his heart, have been said to love him.

℟ I saw the Lord face to face:

And my soul was saved.

℣ And he said to me: You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.

℟ And my soul was saved.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benedictio. May the King of Angels lead us to the company of the citizens on high.

Reading 9

For the Lord loves those who keep the commandments of the law, even the lesser ones: but nonetheless, what had been lacking in the law, he shows to those who desire to be perfect, because he came not to abolish the law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them. To this fulfillment belongs indeed what is added next in order: Go, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me. Whoever wishes to be perfect must sell what he has; and not sell only in part, as Ananias and Sapphira, but sell all: and when he has sold, give everything to the poor, and so prepare for himself a treasure in the Kingdom of Heaven. Nor does this suffice for perfection, unless, after despising riches, he follows the Savior; that is, having left evil things behind, he does good. For the world is more easily despised than one's own will. Many who leave behind riches do not follow the Lord. But he follows the Lord who is an imitator of him and walks in his footsteps. For he who says he believes in Christ ought, as he walked, himself also to walk.

℟ When Jacob heard that Esau was coming against him, he divided his sons and wives, saying: If Esau strikes one company, the other shall be saved.

Deliver me, O Lord, who said to me: * I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven and like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for their multitude.

℣ O Lord, who said to me, Return to the land of your birth: O Lord, who have fed me from my youth.

℟ Deliver me, O Lord, who said to me.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

℟ I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven and like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for their multitude.