S. Philippi Benitii Confessoris

Nocturn 1

Ant. The Lord our God has been mindful * for ever of his covenant.

Psalm 104(1-15)

104:1 Give praise to the Lord and call upon his name: * declare his works among the nations.
104:2 Sing to him, and sing praise to him: * tell all his wondrous works.
104:3 Be praised in his holy name: * let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
104:4 Seek the Lord, and be confirmed: * seek his face always.
104:5 Remember his miracles, which he has done: * his portents, and the judgments of his mouth:
104:6 You offspring of Abraham his servant: * you sons of Jacob, his elect.
104:7 He is the Lord our God: * his judgments are throughout the entire earth.
104:8 He has remembered his covenant for all ages: * the word that he entrusted to a thousand generations,
104:9 which he assigned to Abraham: * and his oath to Isaac:
104:10 And he stationed the same for Jacob with a precept: * and for Israel with an eternal testament:
104:11 saying: To you I will give the land of Canaan, * the allotment of your inheritance.
104:12 Though they may have been but a small number, * very few, and foreigners there:
104:13 and though they passed from nation to nation, * and from one kingdom to another people.
104:14 He allowed no man to harm them: * and he reproved kings on their behalf.
104:15 Do not be willing to touch my anointed ones: * and do not be willing to malign my prophets.

℣ 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 our God has been mindful for ever of his covenant.

Ant. The Lord increased * his people: and strengthened them against their enemies.

Psalm 104(16-27)

104:16 And he called a famine upon the land: * and he crushed every foundation of the bread.
104:17 He sent a man before them: * Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.
104:18 They humbled his feet in shackles; the iron pierced his soul, * until his word arrived.
104:19 The eloquence of the Lord inflamed him: * the king sent, and released him; the ruler of the peoples, and he dismissed him.
104:21 He established him as master of his house: * and ruler of all his possessions:
104:22 so that he might instruct his princes as himself: * and teach his elders prudence.
104:23 And Israel entered into Egypt: * and Jacob became a sojourner in the land of Ham.
104:24 And he helped his people greatly: * and he strengthened them over their enemies.
104:25 He turned their heart to hate his people: * and to deal deceitfully with his servants.
104:26 He sent Moses, his servant: * and Aaron, the one whom he chose.
104:27 He placed with them signs of his word: * and portents in the land of Ham.

℣ 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 increased his people: and strengthened them against their enemies.

Ant. God led out * his people in exultation, and his chosen ones in gladness.

Psalm 104(28-45)

104:28 He sent darkness and made it conceal: * and he did not afflict them with his speech.
104:29 He turned their waters into blood: * and he slaughtered their fish.
104:30 Their land brought forth frogs: * even in the inner chambers of their kings.
104:31 He spoke, and there came forth common flies: * and gnats, in every region.
104:32 He gave them a shower of hail: * and a burning fire, in the same land.
104:33 And he struck their vineyards and their fig trees: * and he crushed the trees of their region.
104:34 He spoke, and the locust came forth, and the caterpillar, * of which there was no number:
104:35 And it devoured all the grass in their land: * and it consumed all the fruit of their land.
104:36 And he struck all the first-born in their land: * the first-fruits of all their labor.
104:37 And he led them out with silver and gold: * and there was not an infirm one among their tribes.
104:38 Egypt was joyful at their departure: * for the fear of them lay heavy upon them.
104:39 He spread a cloud for their protection: * and a fire, to give them light through the night.
104:40 They petitioned, and the quail came: * and he satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
104:41 He ruptured the rock and the waters flowed: * rivers gushed in the dry land;
104:42 For he had called to mind his holy word: * which he kept near to his servant Abraham.
104:43 And he led forth his people in exultation, * and his elect in rejoicing.
104:44 And he gave them the regions of the Gentiles: * and they possessed the labors of the peoples:
104:45 So that they might observe his justifications, * and inquire about his law.

℣ 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 led out his people in exultation, and his chosen ones in gladness.

℣ The Lord was mindful of his holy word.

℟ Which he spoke to Abraham, his servant.

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

From the Book of Wisdom

Sap 15:1-3

1 But you, our God, are gracious and true, patient, and in mercy ordering all things.
2 And, indeed, if we sin, we are yours, knowing your greatness; and, if we do not sin, we know that we are counted with you.
3 For to have known you is perfect justice, and to know justice and your virtue is the root of immortality.

℟ O Lord, Father and God of my life, do not abandon me to an evil thought; do not give me haughtiness of eyes, and turn away from me evil desire, O Lord; take from me concupiscence,

And do not deliver me over to a shameless and unruly soul, O Lord.

℣ Do not abandon me, O Lord, lest my ignorances increase, and my offenses be multiplied.

℟ And do not deliver me over to a shameless and unruly soul, O Lord.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 2

Sap 15:4-6

4 For the skillful planning of evil men has not led us into error, nor the shadow of a picture, a fruitless labor, an image having been sculpted through the use of diverse colors,
5 the sight of which gives desire to the foolish, and he loves the likeness of a lifeless image without a soul.
6 Deserving are the lovers of evil, those who hope in such things, and those who make them, and those who love them, and those who promote them.

℟ For your judgments are great, O Lord, and your words are beyond telling:

you have glorified your people and honored them.

℣ You brought them through the Red Sea and carried them across the great waters.

℟ you have glorified your people and honored them.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 3

Sap 15:7-8

7 But even the potter, pressing laboriously, molds the soft earth into vessels, each one for our use. And from the same clay he molds vessels, those which are for clean use, and similarly, those which are for the opposite. But, as to what is the use of a vessel, the potter is the judge.
8 And with effort he molds an empty god of the same clay, he who a little before had been made from the earth, and, after brief time, he himself returns from whence he came, to be claimed by he who holds the debt of his soul.

℟ The things that are in the hearts of men, your eyes behold, O Lord, and all things shall be written in your book:

Man looks upon the face, but God looks upon the heart.

℣ For he searches all hearts and understands all the thoughts of minds.

℟ Man looks upon the face, but God looks upon the heart.

℣ 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.

℟ Man looks upon the face, but God looks upon the heart.

Nocturn 2

Ant. The Lord saved them * for his name's sake.

Psalm 105(1-15)

105:1 Confess to the Lord, for he is good: * for his mercy is with every generation.
105:2 Who will declare the powers of the Lord, * who will make a hearing for all his praises?
105:3 Blessed are those who keep judgment, * and who do justice at all times.
105:4 Remember us, O Lord, with good will for your people: * visit us with your salvation:
105:5 so that we may see the goodness of your elect, so that we may rejoice in the joy of your nation: * so that you may be praised along with your inheritance.
105:6 We have sinned, as have our fathers: * we have acted unjustly; we have wrought iniquity.
105:7 Our fathers did not understand your miracles in Egypt: * they did not remember the multitude of your mercies.
105:7 And they provoked you, while going up to the sea, * the Red Sea.
105:8 And he saved them for the sake of his name: * so that he might make known his power.
105:9 And he rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up, * and he led them into the abyss, as if into a desert.
105:10 And he saved them from the hand of those who hated them: * and he redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
105:11 And the water covered those who troubled them: * not one of them remained.
105:12 And they believed his words: * and they sang his praises.
105:13 As soon as they had finished, they forgot his works: * and they would not endure his counsel.
105:14 And they coveted their desire in the desert: * and they tempted God in a waterless place.
105:15 And he granted to them their request: * and he sent abundance into their souls.

℣ 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 saved them for his name's sake.

Ant. They forgot God * who saved them.

Psalm 105(16-31)

105:16 And they provoked Moses in the camp: * and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.
105:17 The earth opened and swallowed Dathan: * and it covered the congregation of Abiram.
105:18 And a fire broke out in their congregation: * a flame burned up the sinners.
105:19 And they fashioned a calf at Horeb, * and they adored a graven image.
105:20 And they exchanged their glory * for the likeness of a calf that eats hay.
105:21 They forgot God, who saved them, * who did great things in Egypt, wonders in the land of Ham, and terrible things at the Red Sea.
105:23 And he said that he would destroy them: * yet Moses, his elect, stood firm before him in the breach,
105:24 in order to avert his wrath, lest he destroy them: * and they held the desirable land to be nothing.
105:25 They did not trust in his word, and they murmured in their tabernacles: * they did not heed the voice of the Lord.
105:26 And he lifted up his hand over them: * in order to prostrate them in the desert:
105:27 and in order to cast their offspring among the nations: * and to scatter them among the regions.
105:28 And they were initiated into Baal of Peor: * and they ate the sacrifices of the dead.
105:29 And they provoked him with their inventions: * and ruination was multiplied in them.
105:30 Then Phinehas stood up and placated him: * and so the violent disturbance ceased.
105:31 And it was reputed to him unto justice: * from generation to generation, even 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. They forgot God who saved them.

Ant. When they were in tribulation * the Lord saw them: and heard their prayer.

Psalm 105(32-48)

105:32 And they provoked him at the Waters of Contradiction: * and Moses was afflicted because of them,
105:33 for they exasperated his spirit: * and so he divided them with his lips.
105:35 And they were mixed among the Gentiles, and they learned their works; and they served their graven images: * and it became a scandal to them.
105:37 And they sacrificed their sons, * and their daughters, to demons.
105:38 And they shed innocent blood: * the blood of their sons and of their daughters, which they sacrificed to the graven images of Canaan.
105:39 And the land was infected with bloodshed, and was contaminated with their works: * and they fornicated according to their own inventions.
105:40 And the Lord became furiously angry with his people: * and he abhorred his inheritance.
105:41 And he handed them over into the hands of the nations: * and those who hated them held dominion over them.
105:42 And their enemies afflicted them, and they were humbled under their hands: * many times he delivered them.
105:43 But they provoked him with their counsel: * and they were brought low by their iniquities.
105:44 And he saw, when they were in tribulation: * and he heard their prayer.
105:45 And he was mindful of his covenant: * and he repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
105:46 And he provided for them with mercies * in the sight of all those who had seized them.
105:47 Save us, O Lord our God: * and gather us from the nations:
105:47 That we may give thanks to your holy name: * and glory in your praise.
105:48 Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, from age to age: * and let all the people say: Amen. Amen.

℣ 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. When they were in tribulation the Lord saw them: and heard their prayer.

℣ 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

Philip, born of the noble Benizi family at Florence, gave signs of his future holiness even from the cradle. For scarcely had he entered the fifth month of his age when he loosed his tongue into speech in a wondrous manner and urged his mother to give alms to the Servants of the Mother of God. As a young man, while at Paris he joined the ardor of piety to his literary studies, he inflamed very many with a longing for the heavenly homeland. Having returned to his homeland, and called by a singular vision by the most Blessed Virgin into the family of her Servants recently founded, he withdrew into a cave of Mount Senario, where he led a life austere indeed through continual bodily mortification, but made sweet by meditation on the sufferings of Christ the Lord: and thence through nearly all of Europe and a great part of Asia, which he traversed with evangelical preaching, he founded brotherhoods of the Seven Sorrows of the Mother of God, and propagated his Order by outstanding example of virtues.

℟ Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands:

For the hand of the Lord was with him; he struck down the Philistine, and took away the reproach from Israel.

℣ Is not this David, of whom they sang in the chorus, saying: Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

℟ For the hand of the Lord was with him; he struck down the Philistine, and took away the reproach from Israel.

℟ O mountains of Gilboa, let neither dew nor rain fall upon you,

where the mighty of Israel have fallen.

℣ May the Lord visit all the mountains that surround it: but from Gilboa may he pass away.

℟ where the mighty of Israel have fallen.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 5

Ardently enkindled with the desire to spread divine charity and the Catholic faith, he was named General of his order, reluctantly and against his will, and sent brothers to preach the Gospel of Christ in Scythia; while he himself, traveling through many cities of Italy, composed the growing civil discords among them and recalled many to obedience to the Roman Pontiff; and omitting nothing that pertained to the salvation of others, he led the most abandoned men out of the mire of vices to penance and to the love of Jesus Christ. Devoted most earnestly to prayer, he was often seen to be rapt in ecstasy. He cultivated virginity to such a degree that he preserved it unimpaired by voluntary and most severe mortifications to the very last breath of his life.

℟ O mountains of Gilboa, let neither dew nor rain fall upon you,

where the mighty of Israel have fallen.

℣ May the Lord visit all the mountains that surround it: but from Gilboa may he pass away.

℟ where the mighty of Israel have fallen.

℟ You have heard, O Lord, the prayer of your servant, that I should build a temple for your name:

Bless and sanctify this house for evermore, O God of Israel.

℣ O Lord, who keep your covenant with your servants who walk before you with their whole heart.

℟ Bless and sanctify this house for evermore, O God of Israel.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 6

In him there bloomed continually a singular mercy toward the poor, but especially when at Camillano, a village in the territory of Siena, he gave to a naked leper who was begging alms his own garment in which he was clothed; and when the leper was covered with it, he was immediately cleansed of his leprosy. When the fame of this miracle had spread far and wide, some of the cardinals who had gathered at Viterbo after the death of Clement IV to choose a successor fixed their gaze on Philip, whose heavenly wisdom they also had come to know well. When the man of God became aware of this, lest he should be compelled to take up the burden of pastoral governance, he lay hidden near Mount Tuniato until Gregory X had been declared Sovereign Pontiff; where at the baths, still called the Baths of Saint Philip even today, he obtained by his prayers the power of healing illnesses. Finally, at Todi, in the year twelve hundred and eighty-five, in the embrace of Christ the Lord hanging on the Cross — whom he called his book — he departed most holily from this life. At his tomb the blind received sight, the lame recovered their gait, the dead recovered life. Clement X, Sovereign Pontiff, enrolled him, who shone with these and very many other signs, in the number of the Saints.

℟ I took you from your father's house, says the Lord, and I set you to shepherd the flock of my people:

And I was with you in all things, wherever you walked, establishing your kingdom for ever.

℣ And I made you a great name, after the name of the great ones who are on the earth; and I gave you rest from all your enemies.

℟ And I was with you in all things, wherever you walked, establishing your kingdom for 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.

℟ And I was with you in all things, wherever you walked, establishing your kingdom for ever.

℟ Lord, if your people have turned back and have prayed toward your sanctuary:

You will hear in heaven, O Lord, and deliver them from the hands of their enemies.

℣ If your people sin against you, and, having turned back, do penance, and come and pray in this place.

℟ You will hear from heaven, O Lord, and deliver them from the hands of their enemies.

Nocturn 3

Ant. They cried out to the Lord * and he delivered them from their distress.

Psalm 106(1-14)

106:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good: * for his mercy endures for ever.
106:2 Let those who have been redeemed by the Lord say so, those whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemy: * and gathered them from the regions:
106:3 From the rising of the sun and its setting: * from the north and from the sea.
106:4 They wandered in solitude in a waterless place: * they did not find the way to a city of habitation.
106:5 Hungry and thirsty: * their soul fainted within them.
106:6 And they cried out to the Lord in their tribulation: * and he rescued them from their necessity.
106:7 And he led them in the right way: * that they might go forth to a city of habitation.
106:8 Let them confess to the Lord his mercies: * and his wonders to the sons of men.
106:9 For he has satisfied the empty soul: * and the hungry soul he has filled with good things.
106:10 Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death: * shackled in poverty and in iron.
106:11 For they had provoked the words of God: * and had spurned the counsel of the Most High.
106:12 And their heart was brought low with hardships: * they were weakened, and there was no one to help them.
106:13 And they cried out to the Lord in their tribulation: * and he freed them from their distress.
106:14 And he led them out of darkness and the shadow of death: * and he broke apart their chains.

℣ 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. They cried out to the Lord and he delivered them from their distress.

Ant. They themselves saw * the works of God and his wonders.

Psalm 106(15-30)

106:15 Let them confess to the Lord his mercies: * and his wonders to the sons of men.
106:16 For he has crushed the gates of brass: * and broken the iron bars.
106:17 He has taken them up from the way of their iniquity: * for they were brought low because of their injustices.
106:18 Their soul abhorred all food: * and they drew near even to the gates of death.
106:19 And they cried out to the Lord in their tribulation: * and he delivered them from their necessity.
106:20 He sent his word, and healed them: * and rescued them from their utter destruction.
106:21 Let them confess to the Lord his mercies: * and his wonders to the sons of men.
106:22 And let them offer sacrifice with the sacrifice of praise: * and declare his works in exultation.
106:23 Those who descend to the sea in ships, * making their livelihood in the great waters:
106:24 These have seen the works of the Lord, * and his wonders in the deep.
106:25 He spoke, and a windstorm arose: * and its waves were exalted.
106:26 They ascend even to the heavens, and descend even to the abyss: * their soul wasted away in distress.
106:27 They were troubled and moved like a drunkard: * and all their wisdom was consumed.
106:28 And they cried out to the Lord in their tribulation: * and he led them out of their distress.
106:29 And he replaced the storm with a breeze: * and its waves were stilled.
106:30 And they rejoiced that it was stilled: * and he led them into the haven they desired.

℣ 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. They themselves saw the works of God and his wonders.

Ant. The righteous shall see * and rejoice, and shall understand the mercies of the Lord.

Psalm 106(31-43)

106:31 Let them confess to the Lord his mercies: * and his wonders to the sons of men.
106:32 And let them exalt him in the assembly of the people: * and praise him in the chair of the elders.
106:33 He has placed rivers in the desert: * and sources of water in a waterless land.
106:34 A fruit-bearing land into brine: * because of the malice of those who dwell in it.
106:35 He has placed the desert in pools of water: * and a land without water in sources of water.
106:36 And he has gathered the hungry there: * and they have built a city of habitation.
106:37 And they sowed fields and planted vineyards: * and they yielded the fruit of their increase.
106:38 And he blessed them, and they were multiplied exceedingly: * and their cattle he did not diminish.
106:39 And they became few: * and were afflicted by the tribulation of evils and sorrow.
106:40 Contempt was poured out upon their leaders: * and he caused them to wander in trackless places and not on the way.
106:41 And he helped the poor man out of destitution: * and set families like flocks.
106:42 The upright will see and rejoice: * and every iniquity will stop its mouth.
106:43 Who is wise and will keep these things? * And who will understand the mercies of the Lord?

℣ 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 righteous shall see and rejoice, and shall understand the mercies of the 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 Luke

Luc 12:32-34

In that time: Jesus said to his disciples: Fear not, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. Et cetera.

A Homily of Saint Bede the Venerable, Priest.

Lib. 4, Cap. 54, in Luc. 12

He calls the flock of the chosen a little flock, either in comparison with the greater number of the reprobate, or rather on account of the devotion of humility: because he clearly wills that his Church, however greatly it may have already expanded in multitude, should nevertheless continue to grow in humility until the end of the world, and by humility to attain the promised kingdom. And so, having gently consoled its labors, he promises with gracious and pleasing kindness the same kingdom to be given by the Father to those whom he commands to seek only the Kingdom of God.

℟ I have sinned beyond the number of the sands of the sea, and my sins have been multiplied; and I am not worthy to look up to the height of heaven because of the multitude of my iniquity, for I have provoked your anger,

And have done evil before you.

℣ For I acknowledge my iniquity, and my transgression is ever before me; because against you only have I sinned.

℟ And have done evil before you.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benedictio. May the divine assistance remain always with us.

Reading 8

Sell what you possess and give alms. Do not fear, he says, lest the necessities of this life be lacking to those who fight for the Kingdom of God: indeed, sell even your possessions for the sake of almsgiving. This is worthily done when someone, having once despised all his goods for the Lord's sake, nonetheless afterwards works with the labor of his hands, so that he may both earn a livelihood and be able to give alms. Hence the Apostle boasts, saying: I have coveted no man's silver, gold, or garments: you yourselves know that for my needs and those who are with me, these hands have ministered. I have shown you all things, that so laboring you ought to support

℟ Two Seraphim cried out one to the other:

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts: * all the earth is filled with his glory.

℣ For there are Three who give testimony in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. And these Three are One.

℟ Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts.

℣ 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.

℟ All the earth is filled with his glory.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 9

Make for yourselves purses that grow not old — namely, by performing works of almsgiving whose reward may endure forever. This commandment is not to be understood as meaning that the saints should keep no money, either for their own use or to supply the needs of the poor; since the Lord himself, for whom Angels ministered, is yet recorded, in order to form his Church, to have had a purse, preserving what was offered by the faithful and distributing it to the needs of his own and to others in want; but rather that God should not be served for the sake of these things, nor that justice should be abandoned out of fear of want.

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.