S. Gabrielis a Virgine Perdolente 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

A Reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Ioannes 5:1-15

At that time: There was a feast day of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And so forth.

A Homily of Saint Augustine the Bishop

Tractatus 17 in Ioannem, post initium

Let us consider what he wished to signify in that one man whom, even then preserving the mystery of unity, he deigned to heal — one man out of so many who were suffering. He found in the man's years a certain number that signified infirmity: he had been thirty-eight years in his sickness. How this number pertains more to infirmity than to health requires a somewhat careful explanation. I want your attention: the Lord will be present, that I may speak fittingly and that you may hear sufficiently. The number forty is commended to us as sacred in a certain perfection; I think your charity knows this well, as the divine Scriptures attest most frequently: you know well that fasting is consecrated by this number. For Moses fasted forty days, and Elijah the same; and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ himself fulfilled this number of fasting. Through Moses the Law is signified, through Elijah the Prophets are signified, through the Lord the Gospel is signified. For this reason those three appeared on that mountain where he showed himself to his disciples in the splendor of his face and garments: for he appeared in the midst between Moses and Elijah, as if the Gospel were to bear witness from the Law and the Prophets.

℟ Let us amend for the better what we have sinned through ignorance; lest, suddenly overtaken by the day of death, we seek a space for repentance and are unable to find it:

Attend, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.

℣ Help us, O God of our salvation, and for the honor of your name, O Lord, deliver us.

℟ Attend, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 2

Whether, therefore, in the Law, or in the Prophets, or in the Gospel, the number forty is commended to us in fasting. Now fasting, in its great and universal sense, is to abstain from iniquities and from the illicit pleasures of the world—which is the perfect fast: That denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly and justly and piously in this present age. What reward does the Apostle add to this fast? He continues and says: Awaiting that blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our blessed God and Savior Jesus Christ. In this present age, then, we celebrate as it were a Lenten fast of abstinence when we live rightly, when we abstain from iniquities and from illicit pleasures: but because this abstinence will not be without its reward, we await that blessed hope and the revelation of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. In that hope, when hope shall have given way to reality, we shall receive as our reward the denarius. For this reward is given to the workers in the vineyard, according to the Gospel, which I believe you remember: for not everything need be recalled as to those who are rude and unlearned. The denarius, which takes its name from the number ten, is paid, and joined to forty makes fifty: hence we celebrate with toil the Lent before Easter; but with joy, as having received our reward, the fifty days after Easter.

℟ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him:

For the Lord our God is good and merciful, and ready to forgive evil.

℣ The Lord does not desire the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live.

℟ For the Lord our God is good and merciful, and ready to forgive evil.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 3

Remember that I have proposed the number of thirty-eight years in the case of that sick man. I wish to explain why that number thirty-eight is a number of sickness rather than of health. Therefore, as I was saying, charity fulfills the Law; to the fullness of the Law in all its works belongs the number forty. Now in charity two commandments are commended to us: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind; and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments the whole Law and the Prophets depend. Rightly did that widow send all her possessions, two mites, as gifts to God; rightly did the innkeeper receive two coins for the healing of that sick man wounded by robbers; rightly did Jesus remain two days among the Samaritans, to strengthen them in charity. When therefore the number two signifies something good, it most especially commends the two-part charity. If then the number forty holds the perfection of the Law, and the Law is fulfilled only in the twofold commandment of charity, why do you wonder that he was sick who lacked two of the forty?

℟ The season of fasting has opened for us the gates of Paradise; let us take it up with prayer and supplication,

That we may glory with the Lord on the day of the Resurrection.

℣ In all things let us show ourselves as ministers of God, in much patience.

℟ That we may glory with the Lord on the day of the Resurrection.

℣ 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.

℟ That we may glory with the Lord on the day of the Resurrection.

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

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.

℟ Let us amend for the better what we have sinned through ignorance; lest, suddenly overtaken by the day of death, we seek a space for repentance and are unable to find it:

Attend, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.

℣ Help us, O God of our salvation, and for the honor of your name, O Lord, deliver us.

℟ Attend, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.

℣ 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.

℟ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him:

For the Lord our God is good and merciful, and ready to forgive evil.

℣ The Lord does not desire the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live.

℟ For the Lord our God is good and merciful, and ready to forgive evil.

℣ 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 season of fasting has opened for us the gates of Paradise; let us take it up with prayer and supplication,

That we may glory with the Lord on the day of the Resurrection.

℣ In all things let us show ourselves as ministers of God, in much patience.

℟ That we may glory with the Lord on the day of the Resurrection.

℣ 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.

℟ That we may glory with the Lord on the day of the Resurrection.

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 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.

℟ Rend your hearts, and not your garments: and turn to the Lord your God:

For he is gracious and merciful.

℣ Let the wicked man forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him.

℟ For he is gracious and merciful.

℣ 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.

℟ Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the needy and the wandering into your house:

Then your light shall break forth like the morning, and your justice shall go before your face.

℣ When you see the naked, cover him, and do not despise your own flesh.

℟ Then your light shall break forth like the morning, and your justice shall go before your face.

℣ 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.

℟ God has given his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways:

They shall bear you in their hands, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.

℣ You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample underfoot the lion and the dragon.

℟ They shall bear you in their hands, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.

℣ 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.

℟ They shall bear you in their hands, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.