Office of Readings
0517 Holy Men Memorial
Invitatory Antiphon
【Ant.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (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.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (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.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (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.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (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.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (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.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (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.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (alleluia).
HYMN
This is the feast day of the Lord's true witness,
Whom through the ages all have held in honor;
Now let us praise him and his deeds of glory
With exultation.
So now in chorus, giving God the glory,
We sing his praises and his mighty triumph,
That in his glory we may all be sharers
Here and hereafter.
Praise to the Father and the Son most holy,
Praise to the Spirit, with them co-eternal,
Who give examples in the lives of all saints,
That we may follow.
PSALMODY
Antiphons and Psalms and The First Reading of the Weekday
The Second Reading
From the writings of Saint Paschal Baylon (ed. Sala 1811, pp. 78&85)
We must seek God above all else
Since God desires above all else to shower his blessings on us, have a confident faith in all your petitions that he will give you what you ask. Do not ask for things without God's prompting. He is more ready to answer than we are to ask, but he waits for us to ask. We should be moved to such prayer by the will of God who wants to give, rather than by our own need to ask, for our prayers are always to be made through the merits of the mystery of our Lord's life. Your soul needs constant disciplined exercise in seeking what God seeks by emptying your desires of all thought of what you might gain from petitionary prayer. The important thing is this - God is to be sought above everything. It is only right that God should be our first goal in prayer before and beyond anything else. His divine majesty wants us to have what we ask so that we may be better suited to serve him, and be able to love him with ever greater perfection. All our prayers should be marked by this intention and when you ask out of love for love's sake it should be urgent and unremitting prayer. Keep your heart free from worldly desires and remember that there is only God and yourself in this world. Never even for a moment, let your heart lose touch with God; keep your thoughts of him simple and humble; keep a close watch on yourself always, and let the love of God flow like oil over everything.
Thanksgiving to God for blessings received is an interior action of the soul. It is the recognition of the greatness of God, lord of the universe, source of every blessing. It is to rejoice at the all-pervading glory of God. It is the appropriate habitual disposition of a soul faced with God's generosity that it may be prepared always to be deepening its love of God and serving the giver of all good things.
When you receive God's gifts, offer your whole self back to him, gladly and willingly. Be humble and conscious of your unworthiness, and renounce your self-will that you may give yourself body and soul to his service.
Make frequent acts of infinite gratitude to God. Rejoice at his power and goodness in all his abundant giving which enables you to give him thanks. If you want your thanksgiving to be acceptable to God, start by humility, self-denial, and recognition of your littleness before him. Recognise your deep need and wretchedness in order to appreciate that what you have comes from his boundless generosity. Rejoice and be glad to see yourself enriched by his graces and blessings and make little of any consequent gain or benefit you obtain, that you may serve God better.
Responsory
【V】:I bless you, Father, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever *
【R】:and revealing them to little children (alleluia).
【V】:Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. *
【R】:and revealing them to little children (alleluia).
Concluding Prayer
Lord God, you gave Saint Paschal Baylon a great love for the Holy Eucharist. May we also share in the graces he received from this heavenly banquet: through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
【Ant.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (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.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (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.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (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.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (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.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (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.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (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.】:Christ the King exalts the humble; come, let us adore him (alleluia).
HYMN
This is the feast day of the Lord's true witness,
Whom through the ages all have held in honor;
Now let us praise him and his deeds of glory
With exultation.
So now in chorus, giving God the glory,
We sing his praises and his mighty triumph,
That in his glory we may all be sharers
Here and hereafter.
Praise to the Father and the Son most holy,
Praise to the Spirit, with them co-eternal,
Who give examples in the lives of all saints,
That we may follow.
PSALMODY
Antiphons and Psalms and The First Reading of the Weekday
The Second Reading
From the writings of Saint Paschal Baylon (ed. Sala 1811, pp. 78&85)
We must seek God above all else
Since God desires above all else to shower his blessings on us, have a confident faith in all your petitions that he will give you what you ask. Do not ask for things without God's prompting. He is more ready to answer than we are to ask, but he waits for us to ask. We should be moved to such prayer by the will of God who wants to give, rather than by our own need to ask, for our prayers are always to be made through the merits of the mystery of our Lord's life. Your soul needs constant disciplined exercise in seeking what God seeks by emptying your desires of all thought of what you might gain from petitionary prayer. The important thing is this - God is to be sought above everything. It is only right that God should be our first goal in prayer before and beyond anything else. His divine majesty wants us to have what we ask so that we may be better suited to serve him, and be able to love him with ever greater perfection. All our prayers should be marked by this intention and when you ask out of love for love's sake it should be urgent and unremitting prayer. Keep your heart free from worldly desires and remember that there is only God and yourself in this world. Never even for a moment, let your heart lose touch with God; keep your thoughts of him simple and humble; keep a close watch on yourself always, and let the love of God flow like oil over everything.
Thanksgiving to God for blessings received is an interior action of the soul. It is the recognition of the greatness of God, lord of the universe, source of every blessing. It is to rejoice at the all-pervading glory of God. It is the appropriate habitual disposition of a soul faced with God's generosity that it may be prepared always to be deepening its love of God and serving the giver of all good things.
When you receive God's gifts, offer your whole self back to him, gladly and willingly. Be humble and conscious of your unworthiness, and renounce your self-will that you may give yourself body and soul to his service.
Make frequent acts of infinite gratitude to God. Rejoice at his power and goodness in all his abundant giving which enables you to give him thanks. If you want your thanksgiving to be acceptable to God, start by humility, self-denial, and recognition of your littleness before him. Recognise your deep need and wretchedness in order to appreciate that what you have comes from his boundless generosity. Rejoice and be glad to see yourself enriched by his graces and blessings and make little of any consequent gain or benefit you obtain, that you may serve God better.
Responsory
【V】:I bless you, Father, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever *
【R】:and revealing them to little children (alleluia).
【V】:Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. *
【R】:and revealing them to little children (alleluia).
Concluding Prayer
Lord God, you gave Saint Paschal Baylon a great love for the Holy Eucharist. May we also share in the graces he received from this heavenly banquet: through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.