S. Paschalis Baylon Confessoris

Nocturn 1

Ant. The Lord raised up * a testimony in Jacob: and appointed a law in Israel.

Psalm 77(1-8)

77:1 O my people, attend to my law: * incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
77:2 I will open my mouth in parables: * I will speak about concepts that are from the beginning.
77:3 We have heard and known such great things: * and our fathers have described them to us.
77:4 These things have not been hidden from their sons: * in any generation.
77:4 Declaring the praises of the Lord, and his virtues: * and the wonders that he has done.
77:5 And he has received testimony with Jacob: * and he has set a law within Israel.
77:5 Such great things, he has commanded our fathers, so as to make these things known to their sons: * so that another generation might know them.
77:6 Sons who will be born and will grow up, * and will describe them to their sons.
77:7 So then, may they put their hope in God, and may they not forget the works of God: * and may they seek his commandments.
77:8 May they not become like their fathers: * a perverse and exasperating generation.
77:8 A generation that does not straighten their heart: * and whose spirit is not trustworthy with 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. The Lord raised up a testimony in Jacob: and appointed a law in Israel.

Ant. Before their fathers * God worked wonders.

Psalm 77(9-16)

77:9 The sons of Ephraim, who bend and shoot the bow: * have been turned back in the day of battle.
77:10 They have not kept the covenant of God: * and they were not willing to walk in his law.
77:11 And they have been forgetful of his benefits: * and of his miracle, which he revealed to them.
77:12 He performed miracles in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt: * in the field of Tanis.
77:13 He broke the sea and he led them through: * and he stationed the waters, as if in a vessel.
77:14 And he led them with a cloud by day: * and with illumination by fire throughout the night.
77:15 He broke through the rock in the wasteland: * and he gave them to drink, as if from the great abyss.
77:16 He brought forth water from the rock: * and he conducted the waters, as if they were rivers.

℣ 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. Before their fathers God worked wonders.

Ant. The Lord opened * the gates of heaven, and rained down manna upon them to eat.

Psalm 77(17-31)

77:17 And yet, they continued to sin against him: * in a waterless place, they provoked the Most High with resentment.
77:18 And they tempted God in their hearts, * by asking for food according to their desires.
77:19 And they spoke badly about God: * they said, Would God be able to prepare a table in the desert?
77:20 He struck the rock, and so waters flowed, and the torrents flooded: * but would even he be able to provide bread,
77:20 or provide a table * for his people?
77:21 Therefore, the Lord heard, and he was dismayed: * and a fire was kindled within Jacob, and an anger ascended into Israel.
77:22 For they neither put their trust in God: * nor did they hope in his salvation:
77:23 And he commanded the clouds from above: * and he opened the doors of heaven.
77:24 And he rained down manna upon them to eat: * and he gave them the bread of heaven.
77:25 Man ate the bread of Angels, * he sent them provisions in abundance.
77:26 He transferred the south wind from heaven: * and in his virtue, he brought in the Southwest wind.
77:27 And he rained down flesh upon them, as if it were dust: * and feathered birds, as if they were the sand of the sea.
77:28 And they fell down in the midst of their camp: * encircling their tabernacles.
77:29 And they ate until they were greatly satisfied, and he brought to them according to their desires: * they were not cheated out of what they wanted.
77:30 Their food was still in their mouth: * and then the wrath of God came upon them.
77:31 And he slew the fat ones among them, * and he impeded the elect of Israel.

℣ 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 Lord opened the gates of heaven, and rained down manna upon them to eat.

℣ God struck the rock and waters flowed.

℟ And the torrents overflowed.

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

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are beloved in God the Father, and who are guarded and called in Jesus Christ:
2 May mercy, and peace, and love be fulfilled in you.
3 Most beloved, taking all care to write to you about your common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you in order to beg you to contend earnestly for the faith that was handed down once to the saints.
4 For certain men entered unnoticed, who were written of beforehand unto this judgment: impious persons who are transforming the grace of our God into self-indulgence, and who are denying both the sole Ruler and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here begins the First Epistle of the blessed Apostle John

1 Ioannes 1:1-5

℟ After his Passion, appearing to them for forty days and speaking of the Kingdom of God, alleluia:

And, as they looked on, he was lifted up, alleluia; and a cloud received him from their sight, alleluia.

℣ And eating with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father.

℟ And, as they looked on, he was lifted up, alleluia; and a cloud received him from their sight, alleluia.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 2

Jude 1:5-8

5 So I want to caution you. Those who once knew everything that Jesus did, in saving the people from the land of Egypt, afterwards perished because they did not believe.
6 And truly, the Angels, who did not keep to their first place, but instead abandoned their own domiciles, he has reserved with perpetual chains under darkness, unto the great day of judgment.
7 And also Sodom and Gomorrah, and the adjoining cities, in similar ways, having given themselves over to fornication and to the pursuing of other flesh, were made an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
8 Similarly also, these ones certainly defile the flesh, and they despise proper authority, and they blaspheme against majesty.

℟ All the beauty of the Lord is exalted above the stars:

His glory is in the clouds of heaven, and his name endures for ever, alleluia.

℣ From the heights of heaven is his going forth, and his meeting even unto the summit thereof.

℟ His glory is in the clouds of heaven, and his name endures for ever, alleluia.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 3

Jude 1:9-13

9 When Michael the Archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring against him a judgment of blasphemy, so instead he said: 'The Lord commands you.'
10 But these men certainly blaspheme against whatever they do not understand. And yet, whatever they, like mute animals, know from nature, in these things they are corrupted.
11 Woe to them! For they have gone after the way of Cain, and they have poured out the error of Balaam for profit, and they have perished in the sedition of Korah.
12 These ones are defiled within their banquets, enjoying themselves and feeding themselves without fear; waterless clouds, which are tossed about by winds; autumn trees, unfruitful, twice dead, uprooted;
13 raging waves of the sea, foaming from their own confusion; wandering stars, for whom the whirlwind of darkness has been reserved forever!

℟ Be exalted, O Lord, alleluia,

In your power, alleluia.

℣ Your majesty is exalted above the heavens, O God.

℟ In your power, alleluia.

℣ 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.

℟ In your power, alleluia.

Nocturn 2

Ant. God * is their helper: and the Most High is their redeemer.

Psalm 77(32-41)

77:32 In all these things, they continued to sin: * and they were not trustworthy with his miracles.
77:33 And their days faded away into vanity: * and their years with haste.
77:34 When he slew them, then they sought him: * and they returned, and they drew near to him in the early morning.
77:35 And they were mindful that God is their helper: * and that the Most High God is their redeemer.
77:36 And they chose him with their mouth, * and then they lied to him with their tongue.
77:37 For their heart was not upright with him: * nor have they been living faithfully in his covenant.
77:38 Yet he is merciful, and he will pardon their sins: * and he will not destroy them.
77:38 And he has abundantly turned aside his own wrath: * and he did not enflame his wrath entirely:
77:39 And he remembered that they are flesh: * a spirit that goes forth and does not return.
77:40 How often did they provoke him in the desert, * and stir him to wrath in a waterless place?
77:41 And they turned back and tempted God: * and they exasperated the Holy One of Israel.

℣ 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 their helper: and the Most High is their redeemer.

Ant. The Lord * redeemed them from the hand of the one who afflicted them.

Psalm 77(42-58)

77:42 They did not remember his hand, * in the day that he redeemed them from the hand of the one troubling them.
77:43 Thus he positioned his signs in Egypt, * and his wonders in the field of Tanis.
77:44 And he turned their rivers into blood, * along with their rain showers, so that they could not drink.
77:45 He sent among them the common fly, and it devoured them, * and the frog, and it scattered them.
77:46 And he gave up their fruits to mold, * and their labors to the locust.
77:47 And he slew their vineyards with hail, * and their mulberry trees with severe frost.
77:48 And he delivered their cattle to the hail, * and their possessions to fire.
77:49 And he sent the wrath of his indignation among them: * indignation and wrath and tribulation, sent forth by evil angels.
77:50 He made way for the path of his anger; he did not spare their souls from death: * and he enclosed their beasts of burden in death.
77:51 And he struck all the first-born in the land of Egypt: * the first-fruits of all their labor in the tabernacles of Ham.
77:52 And he took away his own people like sheep, * and he led them through the wilderness like a flock.
77:53 And he led them out in hope, and they did not fear: * and the sea covered their enemies.
77:54 And he led them to the mountain of his sanctification: * the mountain that his right hand had acquired.
77:54 And he cast out the Gentiles before their face: * and he divided their land by lot to them, with a line of distribution.
77:55 And he caused them to dwell in their tabernacles: * the tribes of Israel.
77:56 Yet they tempted and aggravated God Most High: * and they did not keep his testaments.
77:57 And they turned themselves aside, and they did not serve the covenant: * just as their fathers, they were turned backwards like a crooked bow.
77:58 They impelled him to anger on their hills: * and they provoked him to rivalry with their graven images.

℣ 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 Lord redeemed them from the hand of the one who afflicted them.

Ant. God * built his sanctuary on earth.

Psalm 77(59-72)

77:59 God listened, and he spurned them: * and he reduced Israel greatly, almost to nothing.
77:60 And he rejected the tabernacle of Shiloh: * his tabernacle where he had dwelt among men.
77:61 And he delivered their virtue into captivity: * and their beauty into the hands of the enemy.
77:62 And he enclosed his people with the sword: * and he spurned his inheritance.
77:63 Fire consumed their young men: * and their virgins were not lamented.
77:64 Their priests fell by the sword: * and their widows did not weep.
77:65 And the Lord was awakened, as if out of sleep: * and like a powerful man impaired by wine.
77:66 And he struck his enemies on the back: * he gave them over to everlasting disgrace.
77:67 And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph: * and he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
77:68 But he chose the tribe of Judah: * mount Zion, which he loved.
77:69 And he built up his sanctuary like a single-horned beast in the land, * which he founded for all ages.
77:70 And he chose his servant David, and he took him from the flocks of the sheep: * he received him from following the ewes with their young,
77:71 in order to pasture Jacob his servant, * and Israel his inheritance.
77:72 And he fed them with the innocence of his heart: * and he led them with the understanding of his hands.

℣ 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 built his sanctuary on earth.

℣ 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

Paschal Baylon, born of poor and devout parents in the town of Torre Hermosa in the diocese of Sigüenza in Aragon, gave many signs of future holiness from his tenderest years. Blessed with a good soul and supremely devoted to heavenly things, he spent his childhood and youth in the care of flocks — a way of life he loved especially because he judged it most useful and fitting for fostering humility and preserving innocence. He was moderate in food, assiduous in prayer, and so flourished in authority and grace among those of his own age and his companions that, settling their disputes, correcting their errors, instructing their ignorance, and stirring up their sloth, he was cultivated and loved with the greatest devotion as a kind of parent and teacher of them all, and was even then called blessed by many.

℟ The Lord made him honorable, and guarded him from his enemies, and protected him from those who would lead him astray:

And gave him everlasting glory.

℣ The Lord led the just man by straight paths, and showed him the kingdom of God.

℟ And gave him everlasting glory.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 5

He who, in the world—that is, in a dry and waterless land—had flourished so happily, a flower of the valleys planted in the house of the Lord, spread everywhere the wondrous fragrance of holiness. And so Paschal, having embraced the way of a stricter life and been admitted into the Order of Friars Minor of the stricter observance of the Discalced, exulted like a giant to run his course; and giving himself wholly to the Lord to be cultivated, he pondered day and night in what way he might more and more conform himself to him. Thus it quickly came about that even those more advanced in the spiritual life proposed him as a model of seraphic perfection to be imitated. Placed in the humble rank of the servants, regarding himself as the offscouring of all, he embraced with the greatest cheerfulness every arduous and lowly service of the house, as though owed to him by some special right, and exercised them with equal humility and patience. He afflicted with constant mortification the flesh that at times strove to resist the spirit, and reduced it to subjection; while the spirit, through continual self-denial, he stretched forward more fervently day by day toward what lies ahead.

℟ The Lord loved him and adorned him: he clothed him with a robe of glory,

And at the gates of paradise he crowned him.

℣ The Lord clothed him with the breastplate of faith, and adorned him.

℟ And at the gates of paradise he crowned him.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 6

The Virgin Mother of God, to whose service he had dedicated himself from his earliest years, he honored as a mother with daily acts of devotion and implored with filial confidence. Moreover, it is difficult to say with what ardent affection he was held toward the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist; an affection which he seemed to retain even after death in his corpse, for as he lay on the bier, he twice opened and closed his eyes at the elevation of the sacred Host, to the great wonder of all who were present. Having publicly and openly professed the truth of this same Sacrament among heretics, he suffered much and greatly on that account; and frequently sought for death, yet was snatched from the hands of the impious by the singular providence of God. Often in prayer he was deprived of all his senses and languished in a sweet swoon of love; in which time he is believed to have drawn that heavenly knowledge by which, though an unlearned and illiterate man, he was able to answer concerning the most difficult mysteries of the faith, and even to write several books. Finally, full of merits, at the very hour he had foretold, he passed happily to the Lord in the year of salvation fifteen hundred and ninety-two, on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of June, on the same feast of Pentecost on which he had been born, being in his fifty-second year. Pope Paul V, acknowledging him distinguished by these and other virtues, and illustrious by miracles both in life and after death, declared him Blessed; Alexander VIII enrolled him in the catalogue of Saints; and finally Leo XIII declared and established him as the heavenly patron of Eucharistic gatherings and of all societies of the Most Holy Eucharist, whether existing or to come.

℟ This man fulfilled all that God spoke to him, and God said to him: Enter into my rest:

For I have seen you to be just before me among all the nations.

℣ This is he who despised the life of the world, and attained the heavenly kingdoms.

℟ For I have seen you to be just before me among all the nations.

℣ 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.

℟ For I have seen you to be just before me among all the nations.

Nocturn 3

Ant. Help us, * O God, our salvation: and be gracious toward our sins.

Psalm 78

78:1 O God, the Gentiles have entered into your inheritance; they have polluted your holy temple: * they have set Jerusalem as a place to keep an orchard.
78:2 They have placed the dead bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the sky: * the flesh of your saints for the beasts of the earth.
78:3 They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem: * and there was no one who would bury them.
78:4 We have become a disgrace to our neighbors: * a mockery and a derision to those who are around us.
78:5 How long, O Lord? Will you be angry until the end? * Will your zeal be kindled like a fire?
78:6 Pour out your wrath among the Gentiles who have not known you: * and upon the kingdoms that have not invoked your name.
78:7 For they have devoured Jacob: * and they have desolated his place.
78:8 Do not remember our iniquities of the past; may your mercies quickly intercept us: * for we have been made greatly poor.
78:9 Help us, O God, our Savior; and free us, Lord, for the glory of your name: * and be merciful to our sins, for the sake of your name.
78:10 Let them not say among the Gentiles: Where is their God? * and may it become known among the nations before our eyes.
78:10 May the vengeance of the blood of your servants that has been poured out * enter before you as the groaning of those in chains.
78:11 According to the greatness of your arm, * take possession of the sons of those who have been put to death.
78:12 And repay our neighbors sevenfold within their sinews: * the reproach with which they have reproached you, O Lord.
78:13 But we are your people and the sheep of your pasture: * we will give thanks to you in all ages.
78:13 From generation to generation * we will declare your praise.

℣ 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. Help us, O God, our salvation: and be gracious toward our sins.

Ant. I am the Lord * your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Psalm 80

80:2 Exult before God our helper: * sing joyfully to the God of Jacob.
80:3 Take up a psalm, and bring forth the timbrel: * a pleasing Psalter with stringed instruments.
80:4 Sound the trumpet at the new moon, * on the noteworthy day of your solemnity.
80:5 For it is a precept in Israel: * and a judgment for the God of Jacob.
80:6 He set it as a testimony in Joseph, when he came out of the land of Egypt: * he heard a tongue that he knew not.
80:7 He turned his back from the burdens: * his hands had served in the basket.
80:8 In tribulation you called upon me, and I delivered you: * I heard you in the secret place of the storm; I proved you at the waters of contradiction.
80:9 Hear, O my people, and I will testify to you: * O Israel, if you will hear me, there shall be no new god among you, nor shall you adore a foreign god.
80:11 For I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt: * open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
80:12 But my people did not hear my voice: * and Israel did not heed me.
80:13 So I dismissed them according to the desires of their heart: * they shall walk in their own devices.
80:14 If my people had heard me: * if Israel had walked in my ways:
80:15 I would have humbled their enemies as nothing: * and I would have stretched forth my hand upon those who troubled them.
80:16 The enemies of the Lord have lied to him: * and their time shall be for ever.
80:17 And he fed them with the fat of wheat: * and filled them with honey from the rock.

℣ 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. I am the Lord your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Ant. Be not silent, O God, * for your enemies have lifted up their head.

Psalm 82

82:2 O God, who shall be like you? * Be not silent, neither be still, O God.
82:3 For behold, your enemies have made a noise: * and they who hate you have lifted up their head.
82:4 They have devised a malicious counsel against your people: * and they have plotted against your holy ones.
82:5 They have said: Come, and let us destroy them as a nation: * and let the name of Israel be remembered no more.
82:6 For they have plotted together with one accord: * they have made a covenant against you— the tents of the Edomites and the Ishmaelites:
82:8 Moab and the Hagarenes, Gebal and Ammon and Amalek: * the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre.
82:9 And Assyria also has come with them: * they have become a help for the sons of Lot.
82:10 Do to them as you did to Midian and to Sisera: * as to Jabin at the torrent of Kishon.
82:11 They perished at Endor: * they became as dung upon the earth.
82:12 Make their princes as Oreb and Zeb, * and Zebah and Zalmunna:
82:13 All their princes: * who have said: Let us possess the sanctuary of God as our inheritance.
82:14 O my God, make them like a wheel, * and like stubble before the face of the wind.
82:15 As fire that burns a forest: * and as a flame burning mountains:
82:16 So shall you pursue them in your storm: * and in your anger you shall trouble them.
82:17 Fill their faces with shame: * and they shall seek your name, O Lord.
82:18 Let them be ashamed and troubled for ever and ever: * and let them be confounded and perish.
82:19 And let them know that the Lord is your name: * you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

℣ 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. Be not silent, O God, for your enemies have lifted up their head.

℣ 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 John

Ioannes 15:26-27; 16:1-4

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: When the Paraclete comes, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness of me. And so forth.

A Homily of Saint Augustine the Bishop

Tract. 92 in Ioann., circa medium

The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost upon a hundred and twenty people gathered together, among whom were all the Apostles. Filled with him, when they spoke in the tongues of all nations, many of those who were present were amazed at so great a miracle — since they saw that, while Peter was speaking, such great and divine testimony was borne to Christ, that he who had been killed by them and numbered among the dead was proved to have risen and to be living. Struck to the heart, they were converted, and received pardon for so much blood, so impiously and savagely shed — redeemed by the very blood they had shed.

℟ This is he who before God worked great deeds of power, and with his whole heart praised the Lord:

May he intercede for the sins of all peoples.

℣ Behold a man without complaint, a true worshiper of God, abstaining from every evil work, and remaining in his innocence.

℟ May he intercede for the sins of all peoples.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benedictio. May the divine assistance remain always with us.

Reading 8

For the blood of Christ was poured out for the remission of all sins in such a way that it could even wipe out the very sin by which it was poured out. Beholding this, the Lord was saying: They have hated me without cause. But when the Advocate comes, he will bear witness about me. As if to say: They hated me and slew me when they saw me; but the Advocate will bear such witness about me as to make them believe in me when they do not see me. And you, he says, will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. The Holy Spirit will bear witness, and you will bear witness. For because you have been with me from the beginning, you are able to proclaim what you know; but in order that you may not be doing this now, the fullness of that Spirit is not yet present in you.

℟ For if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

But when he comes, he will teach you all truth, alleluia.

℣ For he will not speak of himself: but whatever he hears, he will speak: and the things that are to come, he will announce to you.

℟ But when he comes, he will teach you all truth, alleluia.

℣ 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.

℟ But when he comes, he will teach you all truth, alleluia.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 9

He therefore will bear witness of me, and you also will bear witness: for the charity of God, poured out in your hearts by the Holy Spirit who will be given to you, will give you the confidence to bear witness. This confidence was still lacking to Peter when, terrified by the questioning of a serving maidservant, he could not bear true witness, but was compelled by great fear, contrary to his own promise, to deny him three times. But that fear is not in charity: for perfect charity casts out fear. Indeed, before the Lord's Passion, his servile fear was put to the test by a woman in bondage; but after the Lord's Resurrection, his free love was put to the test by the Prince of freedom himself: and therefore there he was troubled, here he was at peace; there he denied the one he had loved; here he loved the one he had denied. But even then that love itself was still weak and narrow, until the Holy Spirit strengthened and enlarged it.

Te Deum

O God, we praise you; * O Lord, we acclaim you.
Eternal Father, * all the earth reveres you.
To you all the Angels, * the heavens and all the Powers of heaven:
To you the Cherubim and Seraphim * cry out in endless praise:
(A bow is made) Holy, Holy, Holy * Lord God of hosts;
Heaven and earth are filled * with the majesty of your glory.
The glorious choir of Apostles * sings to you,
the noble company of Prophets * praises you,
the white-robed army of Martyrs * glorifies you.
Holy Church throughout the earth * proclaims you,
the Father * of boundless majesty;
your true and only Son, * worthy of adoration;
and the Holy Spirit, * the Paraclete.
You, O Christ, * are the King of glory.
You are * the Father's everlasting Son.
(A bow is made) When you resolved to save the human race, * you did not spurn the Virgin's womb.
When you resolved to save the human race, * you did not spurn the Virgin's womb.
You overcame the sting of death * and opened the Kingdom of Heaven to those who put their faith in you.
You are seated at the right hand of God * in the glory of the Father.
We believe you are the Judge * who is to come.

(The following verse is said kneeling)

(Brethren, when they begin 'Te ergo quaesumus,' departing from the Stalls, let them reverently bow at the words 'Quos pretioso' and the rest)

And so we beg you, help your servants, * redeemed by your most precious blood.
Number them * among your Saints in eternal glory.
Number them * among your Saints in eternal glory.
Save your people, Lord, * and bless your inheritance.
Shepherd them * and raise them to eternal life.
Day by day * we bless you,
(A bow is made, according to custom) and we praise your name * for endless ages evermore.
and we praise your name * for endless ages evermore.
Be gracious, Lord, on this day, * and keep us from all sin.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, * have mercy.
May your mercy be upon us, Lord, * as we place our trust in you.
In you, O Lord, I rest my hope: * let me never be put to shame.