Office of Readings
0721 Doctors / Pastors Memorial
Invitatory Antiphon
【Ant.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
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.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
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.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
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.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
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.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
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.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
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.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
Hymn
Saint Lawrence burned with zeal;
The Spirit of the Lord
Who fired apostles, now
Led him to spread abroad
The faith to tyrants, kings,
The humble, the ignored;
No obstacle could stay
The Spirit's vital sword.
The clouds of ignorance
Dispersed before the sun;
Disputers reconciled
Became, in Jesus, one
The hardest hearts would melt
Like wax before the Lord
Who pierced their hardened hearts
By means of Lawrence's words.
The sin-bound were set free
To serve the God of peace,
To reach the goal of heaven,
The joys that never cease.
To God be glory given
By angels and by men;
With Lawrence may we sing
To this a glad Amen.
Psalmody
Antiphons and Psalms and The First Reading of the Weekday
The Second Reading
A reading from the sermons of Saint Lawrence of Brindisi [Lenten Sermon 2]
Preaching is an apostolic task
In common with the angels of heaven and the spirits of God, we have been created in the image and likeness of God. If, in common with them, we are to lead a spiritual life, we need as our food the grace of the Holy Spirit and the charity of God. But grace and charity are nothing without faith, for without faith it is impossible to please God. Nor can faith come about without the preaching of the word of God. "Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes from the preaching of Christ." Thus the preaching of the word of God is as necessary for our spiritual life as sowing is for our bodily life.
That is why Christ says: "A sower went out to sow his seed." The sower who went out is the preacher of holiness. Sometimes we read that God himself was the preacher of holiness, as in the desert when his very voice gave from heaven the law of justice to the whole people.
Sometimes the preacher was an angel of the Lord; at the place of Weepers he rebuked the people for breaking God's law, so that the children of Israel, when they heard the words of the angel, were cut to the heart, lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. Again, Moses preached the law of God to the whole people in the plains of Moab, as we can read in Deuteronomy. Finally Christ, God and man, came to preach the word of the Lord, and he sent out the apostles on this task, just as previously he had sent the prophets. Preaching, then, is an apostolic task, an angelic task, a Christian task, a divine task. The word of God is so filled with manifold goodness that it is like a treasury of all good things. From this word came faith, hope, charity, all the virtues, all the gifts of the HoIy Spirit, all the Gospel beatitudes, all good works, all merit in this life, all the glory of paradise. "Receive the implanted word which is able to save your souls."
For the word of the Lord is light to the mind and fire to the will enabling man to know and to love God. To the interior man who lives by grace for the spirit of God, it is bread and water; but it is bread sweeter than honey from the comb, a water better than milk or wine. For the soul it is a treasure-house of gold and precious stones, a store of spiritual merits. For the heart that is obstinately hardened in vice it is a hammer; and against the devil, the world and the flesh it is a sword that slays any sin.
Responsory [Is. 40, 9; Lk. 9, 59-60]
【V】:Go up to the high mountain, joyful messenger to Sion. *
【R】:Say to the towns of Judah: Here is your God.
【V】:Follow me; go and spread the news of the kingdom of God. *
【R】:Say to the towns of Judah: Here is your God.
Concluding Prayer
Lord God, you bestowed on Saint Lawrence of Brindisi the spirit of counsel and fortitude, so that your name might be glorified and souls be saved. At the intercession of Saint Lawrence grant that we may see what we have to do, and, in your mercy, give us the strength to do it: we ask this 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.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
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.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
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.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
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.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
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.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
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.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
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.】:God is the source of all wisdom and fortitude: come, let us adore him.
Hymn
Saint Lawrence burned with zeal;
The Spirit of the Lord
Who fired apostles, now
Led him to spread abroad
The faith to tyrants, kings,
The humble, the ignored;
No obstacle could stay
The Spirit's vital sword.
The clouds of ignorance
Dispersed before the sun;
Disputers reconciled
Became, in Jesus, one
The hardest hearts would melt
Like wax before the Lord
Who pierced their hardened hearts
By means of Lawrence's words.
The sin-bound were set free
To serve the God of peace,
To reach the goal of heaven,
The joys that never cease.
To God be glory given
By angels and by men;
With Lawrence may we sing
To this a glad Amen.
Psalmody
Antiphons and Psalms and The First Reading of the Weekday
The Second Reading
A reading from the sermons of Saint Lawrence of Brindisi [Lenten Sermon 2]
Preaching is an apostolic task
In common with the angels of heaven and the spirits of God, we have been created in the image and likeness of God. If, in common with them, we are to lead a spiritual life, we need as our food the grace of the Holy Spirit and the charity of God. But grace and charity are nothing without faith, for without faith it is impossible to please God. Nor can faith come about without the preaching of the word of God. "Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes from the preaching of Christ." Thus the preaching of the word of God is as necessary for our spiritual life as sowing is for our bodily life.
That is why Christ says: "A sower went out to sow his seed." The sower who went out is the preacher of holiness. Sometimes we read that God himself was the preacher of holiness, as in the desert when his very voice gave from heaven the law of justice to the whole people.
Sometimes the preacher was an angel of the Lord; at the place of Weepers he rebuked the people for breaking God's law, so that the children of Israel, when they heard the words of the angel, were cut to the heart, lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. Again, Moses preached the law of God to the whole people in the plains of Moab, as we can read in Deuteronomy. Finally Christ, God and man, came to preach the word of the Lord, and he sent out the apostles on this task, just as previously he had sent the prophets. Preaching, then, is an apostolic task, an angelic task, a Christian task, a divine task. The word of God is so filled with manifold goodness that it is like a treasury of all good things. From this word came faith, hope, charity, all the virtues, all the gifts of the HoIy Spirit, all the Gospel beatitudes, all good works, all merit in this life, all the glory of paradise. "Receive the implanted word which is able to save your souls."
For the word of the Lord is light to the mind and fire to the will enabling man to know and to love God. To the interior man who lives by grace for the spirit of God, it is bread and water; but it is bread sweeter than honey from the comb, a water better than milk or wine. For the soul it is a treasure-house of gold and precious stones, a store of spiritual merits. For the heart that is obstinately hardened in vice it is a hammer; and against the devil, the world and the flesh it is a sword that slays any sin.
Responsory [Is. 40, 9; Lk. 9, 59-60]
【V】:Go up to the high mountain, joyful messenger to Sion. *
【R】:Say to the towns of Judah: Here is your God.
【V】:Follow me; go and spread the news of the kingdom of God. *
【R】:Say to the towns of Judah: Here is your God.
Concluding Prayer
Lord God, you bestowed on Saint Lawrence of Brindisi the spirit of counsel and fortitude, so that your name might be glorified and souls be saved. At the intercession of Saint Lawrence grant that we may see what we have to do, and, in your mercy, give us the strength to do it: we ask this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.