Office of Readings
0402 Martyr Memorial
Invitatory Antiphon
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
Come, ring out our joy to the Lord;
hail the God who save us.
Let us come before him giving thanks,
with songs let us hail the Lord.
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
A mighty God is the Lord,
a great king above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his.
To him belongs the sea, for he made it,
and the dry land shaped by his hands.
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
Come in; let us bow and bend low;
let us kneel before the God who made us
for he is our God and we +
the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand.
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the desert +
when your fathers put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work.
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
For forty years I was wearied of these people
and I said: 'Their hearts are astray,
these people do not know my ways.' +
Then I took an oath in my anger:
'Never shall they enter my rest.'"
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
HYMN
All ye who seek a comfort sure
in trouble and distress,
whatever sorrow vex the mind,
or guilt the soul oppress:
Jesus, who gave himself for you
upon the cross to die,
opens to you his sacred heart;
oh, to that heart draw nigh.
Ye hear how kindly he invites;
ye hear his words so blest:
"all ye that labour come to me
and I will give you rest."
Jesus, thou joy of saints on high,
thou hope of sinners here,
attracted by those loving words
to thee I lift my prayer.
Wash thou my wounds in that dear blood
which forth from thee doth flow;
new grace, new hope, inspire a new
and better heart bestow.
Psalmody
Antiphons and Psalms and The First Reading of the Weekday
The Second Reading
The eulogy on Saint Fidelis, priest and martyr
A man faithful in name and deed
Pope Benedict the Fourteenth honoured Saint Fidelis, the defender of the Catholic faith, in these words:
"The abundance of his charity led him to care for the bodily needs of his neighbours: he gathered all who suffered into his fatherly embrace, and supported a great number of poor people by collecting alms for them from many sources.
"He relieved the loneliness of widows and orphans by arranging help for them from powerful men and princes; he assisted prisoners by all the means, physical and spiritual, that were in his power; he was tireless in visiting the sick in order to comfort them, to reconcile them to God, and to prepare them for their last agony.
"He was never more fruitful in works of mercy than when the Austrian army, stationed in the Alps, was struck by an epidemic and presented a miserable spectacle of pain and death.
"Not only was he filled with such great charity. Being a man faithful in name and in deed, he was a notable defender of the Catholic faith, which he tirelessly preached. A few days before he sealed his faith with his blood, in his last speech, as though in a will, he spoke of the Catholic faith in these words:
"'O Catholic faith, how stable, how firm you are, how well-rooted, how well-founded on a strong rock. Heaven and earth will pass away, but you can never perish. From the beginning the whole world has spoken against you, but you have triumphed mightily over all.
"'For this is the victory which overcomes the world, our faith; this is what has brought the most powerful kings under Christ's rule, and made peoples the servants of Christ.
"'What was it that made the holy apostles and martyrs undergo fierce struggles and terrible agonies, if not faith and above all faith in the resurrection?
"'What is it that has made hermits spurn pleasure, honour and wealth, and live a celibate life in solitude, if not living faith?
"'What is it that in these days causes true Christians to turn aside from what is easy and pleasant and undergo hardship and labour?
"'Living faith working through love - this is what leads men to put aside the goods of the present in the hope of those of the future, and to look to the future rather than to the present. '"
Responsory [2 Tim. 4, 7-8; Phil. 3, 8-10]
【V】:I have run the great race, I have finished the course. I have kept faith, *
【R】:and now the prize, the garland of righteousness awaits me, alleluia.
【V】:I have lost everything that I may learn to know Christ and what it means to share his sufferings, moulded into the pattern of his death. *
【R】:And now the prize, the garland of righteousness awaits me, alleluia.
Concluding Prayer
Lord God, you crowned Saint Fidelis with a martyr's death, when, filled with your love, he was preaching the faith. Let our lives be rooted in love, so that with him, and by his prayer, we may know the power of Christ's resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
Come, ring out our joy to the Lord;
hail the God who save us.
Let us come before him giving thanks,
with songs let us hail the Lord.
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
A mighty God is the Lord,
a great king above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his.
To him belongs the sea, for he made it,
and the dry land shaped by his hands.
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
Come in; let us bow and bend low;
let us kneel before the God who made us
for he is our God and we +
the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand.
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the desert +
when your fathers put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work.
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
For forty years I was wearied of these people
and I said: 'Their hearts are astray,
these people do not know my ways.' +
Then I took an oath in my anger:
'Never shall they enter my rest.'"
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.
【Ant.】:Come let us adore the Lord: who crowns his faithful follower, alleluia.
HYMN
All ye who seek a comfort sure
in trouble and distress,
whatever sorrow vex the mind,
or guilt the soul oppress:
Jesus, who gave himself for you
upon the cross to die,
opens to you his sacred heart;
oh, to that heart draw nigh.
Ye hear how kindly he invites;
ye hear his words so blest:
"all ye that labour come to me
and I will give you rest."
Jesus, thou joy of saints on high,
thou hope of sinners here,
attracted by those loving words
to thee I lift my prayer.
Wash thou my wounds in that dear blood
which forth from thee doth flow;
new grace, new hope, inspire a new
and better heart bestow.
Psalmody
Antiphons and Psalms and The First Reading of the Weekday
The Second Reading
The eulogy on Saint Fidelis, priest and martyr
A man faithful in name and deed
Pope Benedict the Fourteenth honoured Saint Fidelis, the defender of the Catholic faith, in these words:
"The abundance of his charity led him to care for the bodily needs of his neighbours: he gathered all who suffered into his fatherly embrace, and supported a great number of poor people by collecting alms for them from many sources.
"He relieved the loneliness of widows and orphans by arranging help for them from powerful men and princes; he assisted prisoners by all the means, physical and spiritual, that were in his power; he was tireless in visiting the sick in order to comfort them, to reconcile them to God, and to prepare them for their last agony.
"He was never more fruitful in works of mercy than when the Austrian army, stationed in the Alps, was struck by an epidemic and presented a miserable spectacle of pain and death.
"Not only was he filled with such great charity. Being a man faithful in name and in deed, he was a notable defender of the Catholic faith, which he tirelessly preached. A few days before he sealed his faith with his blood, in his last speech, as though in a will, he spoke of the Catholic faith in these words:
"'O Catholic faith, how stable, how firm you are, how well-rooted, how well-founded on a strong rock. Heaven and earth will pass away, but you can never perish. From the beginning the whole world has spoken against you, but you have triumphed mightily over all.
"'For this is the victory which overcomes the world, our faith; this is what has brought the most powerful kings under Christ's rule, and made peoples the servants of Christ.
"'What was it that made the holy apostles and martyrs undergo fierce struggles and terrible agonies, if not faith and above all faith in the resurrection?
"'What is it that has made hermits spurn pleasure, honour and wealth, and live a celibate life in solitude, if not living faith?
"'What is it that in these days causes true Christians to turn aside from what is easy and pleasant and undergo hardship and labour?
"'Living faith working through love - this is what leads men to put aside the goods of the present in the hope of those of the future, and to look to the future rather than to the present. '"
Responsory [2 Tim. 4, 7-8; Phil. 3, 8-10]
【V】:I have run the great race, I have finished the course. I have kept faith, *
【R】:and now the prize, the garland of righteousness awaits me, alleluia.
【V】:I have lost everything that I may learn to know Christ and what it means to share his sufferings, moulded into the pattern of his death. *
【R】:And now the prize, the garland of righteousness awaits me, alleluia.
Concluding Prayer
Lord God, you crowned Saint Fidelis with a martyr's death, when, filled with your love, he was preaching the faith. Let our lives be rooted in love, so that with him, and by his prayer, we may know the power of Christ's resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.