Feria VI Quattuor Temporum in Adventu

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.

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.

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.

℣ Let them know that your name is Lord.

℟ You alone are the Most High over all the earth.

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 Luke

Luc 1:39-47

At that time: Mary, rising up, went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah; and she entered into the house of Zechariah, and greeted Elizabeth. Etc.

A Homily of Saint Ambrose the Bishop

Lib. 2 in Luc. cap. 1 post init.

It is the moral duty of all those who require faith to establish faith by proof. And so the Angel, when announcing hidden things, in order to establish faith by example, announced to the Virgin Mary the conception of an elderly and barren woman: so that he might assert that everything which pleased God was possible for him. When Mary heard this, not as one incredulous at the oracle, nor uncertain about the messenger, nor doubting the example, but as one glad for the promise, devout in duty, hastening for joy, she made her way into the hill country. For where else would one already full of God hasten but to higher things? The grace of the Holy Spirit knows no slow undertakings.

℟ Send forth the Lamb, O Lord, the Ruler of the earth,

From the Rock of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Sion.

℣ Show us, O Lord, your mercy, and grant us your salvation.

℟ From the Rock of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Sion.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 2

Learn also, you holy women, the diligence you owe to relatives who are with child. The Virgin Mary, who before had dwelt alone in the innermost chambers, was not held back from public life by the modesty of her virginity, nor from her purpose by the roughness of the mountains, nor from her duty by the length of the journey. Into the hill country the Virgin went with haste — the Virgin mindful of her duty, unmindful of the wrong done her, urged by love rather than by her sex — and she left her home. Learn, virgins, not to run about through others' dwellings, not to linger in the streets, not to mix in any conversations in public. Mary was late in arriving at home, quick in public; she remained with her kinswoman for three months.

℟ Drop down dew, you heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One:

Let the earth open and bring forth the Savior.

℣ Send forth the Lamb, O Lord, the Ruler of the earth, from the rock of the desert to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.

℟ Let the earth open and bring forth the Savior.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

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

Reading 3

Learn, O virgins, the modesty of Mary; learn humility. A kinswoman came to her kinswoman, the younger to the elder; and not only did she come, but she was even the first to give greeting. For it is fitting that the more chaste a virgin is, the more humble she should be. Let her know how to defer to her elders. Let her be a teacher of humility, in whom there is the profession of chastity. There is also the motive of piety, and likewise the norm of doctrine. For it is to be observed that the greater came to the lesser, so that the lesser might be helped: Mary to Elizabeth, Christ to John.

℟ The fields of the desert have blossomed with a fragrant shoot of Israel: for behold, our God shall come with power,

and his splendor shall be with him.

℣ From Sion, the beauty of his comeliness: our God shall come openly.

℟ and his splendor shall be with him.

℣ 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 his splendor shall be with him.