Office of Readings
0518 Holy Men Memorial
Invitatory Antiphon
【Ant.】:Come, let us worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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 worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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 worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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 worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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 worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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 worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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 worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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
A reading from the writings of Saint Francis (Rule 1, c.17 Omnibus ed. Habig 44&45)
Charity in humility, patience and simplicity
In that love which is God, I entreat all my friars, whether they are given to preaching, praying or manual labour, to do their best to humble themselves at every opportunity; not to boast or be self-satisfied, or take pride in any good which God says or does or accomplishes in them or by them; as our Lord himself put it: "Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you!"
We must be firmly convinced that we have nothing of our own, except our vices and sins. And so we should be glad when we fall into various trials, and when we suffer anguish of soul or body, or affliction of any kind in this world, for the sake of life eternal. We must all be on our guard against pride and empty boasting and beware of worldly or natural wisdom. A worldly spirit loves to talk a lot but do nothing, striving for the exterior signs of holiness that people can see, with no desire for true piety and interior holiness of spirit. It was about people like this that our Lord said: "Amen I say to you, they have received their reward". The spirit of God, on the other hand, inspires us to mortify and despise our lower nature and regard it as a source of shame, worthless and of no value. Humility, patience, perfect simplicity and true peace of heart are all its aim, but above everything else it desires the fear of God, the divine wisdom and the divine love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We must refer every good to the most high supreme God, acknowledging that all good belongs to him; and we must thank him for it all, because all good comes from him. May the most supreme and high and only true God receive and have and be paid all honour and reverence, all praise and blessing, all thanks and all glory, for to him belongs all good and no one is good, but only God. And when we see or hear people speaking or doing evil or blaspheming God, we must say and do good, praising God, who is blessed for ever.
Responsory [Col. 3, 17; 1 Chron. 29, 17; 1 Cor. 1, 25]
【V】 Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. *
【R】Lord God, in the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things (alleluia).
【V】The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. *
【R】Lord God, in the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all things (alleluia).
Concluding Prayer
O God, you gave Saint Felix to the Church and to the Franciscan Order as an example of Gospel simplicity and innocence; grant that, following his footsteps we may seek to love and follow Christ alone in joyfulness of heart: 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.】:Come, let us worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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 worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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 worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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 worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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 worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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 worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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 worship God, wonderful in his saints.
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
A reading from the writings of Saint Francis (Rule 1, c.17 Omnibus ed. Habig 44&45)
Charity in humility, patience and simplicity
In that love which is God, I entreat all my friars, whether they are given to preaching, praying or manual labour, to do their best to humble themselves at every opportunity; not to boast or be self-satisfied, or take pride in any good which God says or does or accomplishes in them or by them; as our Lord himself put it: "Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you!"
We must be firmly convinced that we have nothing of our own, except our vices and sins. And so we should be glad when we fall into various trials, and when we suffer anguish of soul or body, or affliction of any kind in this world, for the sake of life eternal. We must all be on our guard against pride and empty boasting and beware of worldly or natural wisdom. A worldly spirit loves to talk a lot but do nothing, striving for the exterior signs of holiness that people can see, with no desire for true piety and interior holiness of spirit. It was about people like this that our Lord said: "Amen I say to you, they have received their reward". The spirit of God, on the other hand, inspires us to mortify and despise our lower nature and regard it as a source of shame, worthless and of no value. Humility, patience, perfect simplicity and true peace of heart are all its aim, but above everything else it desires the fear of God, the divine wisdom and the divine love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We must refer every good to the most high supreme God, acknowledging that all good belongs to him; and we must thank him for it all, because all good comes from him. May the most supreme and high and only true God receive and have and be paid all honour and reverence, all praise and blessing, all thanks and all glory, for to him belongs all good and no one is good, but only God. And when we see or hear people speaking or doing evil or blaspheming God, we must say and do good, praising God, who is blessed for ever.
Responsory [Col. 3, 17; 1 Chron. 29, 17; 1 Cor. 1, 25]
【V】 Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. *
【R】Lord God, in the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things (alleluia).
【V】The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. *
【R】Lord God, in the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all things (alleluia).
Concluding Prayer
O God, you gave Saint Felix to the Church and to the Franciscan Order as an example of Gospel simplicity and innocence; grant that, following his footsteps we may seek to love and follow Christ alone in joyfulness of heart: Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.