Office of Readings
0814 Martyr Memorial
Invitatory Antiphon
【Ant.】:Come, let us worship Christ, the King of martyrs.
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 Christ, the King of martyrs.
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 Christ, the King of martyrs.
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 Christ, the King of martyrs.
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 Christ, the King of martyrs.
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 Christ, the King of martyrs.
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 Christ, the King of martyrs.
HYMN
Faith of our fathers! faith and prayer
shall win all nations unto thee;
and through the truth that comes from God,
mankind shall then indeed be free.
Refrain:
Faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death.
Faith of our fathers! we will love
both friend and foe in all our strife:
and preach thee, too, as love knows how,
by kindly deeds and virtuous life.
PSALMODY
Antiphons and Psalms and The First Reading of the Weekday
The Second Reading
From the letters of Saint Maximilian Kolbe [Scritti del P. Maximilano M. Kolbe Padua 1971 vol. I pp 75-77&166]
We must work with apostolic zeal for the salvation and sanctification of souls.
Dear Brother:
I am filled with great joy because of the glowing zeal that motivates you to promote God's glory. We see with sorrow that an epidemic of indifferentism in various forms is spreading in our times, not merely among people in the world but, even among religious. Since God is worthy of infinite glory, it is our prime concern to render him the greatest possible glory even if, through human weakness, we fail to give him all he deserves.
God's glory is especially resplendent in the salvation of souls redeemed by Christ's blood. Let this, then, be the chief goal of your apostolic work, the salvation and sanctification of the greatest number of souls. I shall tell you briefly the most suitable way to attain this end. God who is infinite knowledge and wisdom, and who consequently knows best what we must do to promote his glory makes his will known to us particularly through those who take his place on earth.
It is therefore obedience, and only obedience, which clearly shows us God's will. It can happen, to be sure, that a superior makes a mistake, but it cannot happen that in following obedience we make a mistake. Only then is there an exception to obedience when a superior commands something that would clearly be a violation of God's law, even in a very small matter. In such a case the individual himself would be the interpreter of God's will.
God, and only God, is infinite, most wise, most holy, a most loving Lord, our father and creator, our beginning and end, our wisdom, power and love - God is our all. Everything outside of God has value only in so far as it is referred to him who is the creator of all things, the redeemer of mankind, the final end of all creation. He it is therefore who makes known his adorable will through those who take his place on earth. He draws us to himself and, through us, the souls of others he intends to unite to himself in more perfect love.
Dear brother, see the greatness of man's dignity conferred by God's mercy. By obedience we surmount, so to speak, the limits imposed upon us by our weakness; we are made conformable to God's will which in his infinite wisdom and prudence guides us to act correctly. As a matter of fact by clinging to God's will - and no creature can resist it - we surpass everything in power. This is the way of wisdom and prudence, this is the only way we can render the greatest glory to God. If there were another and more suitable way Christ surely would have showed it to us by his own words and example. But Sacred Scripture described his long sojourn in Nazareth in these words: "He was subject to them" and painted the picture of the rest of his life for us in the colours of obedience thus showing that he had come upon earth to do the will of his Father.
Therefore, my brothers, let us love our most loving Father in heaven with the greatest love and let our obedience be the proof of our perfect love which we put into practice especially when we are asked to give up our own will. There is no more authoritative book to teach us how to grow in God's love than the book of Jesus crucified.
We shall achieve all this through the Immaculate Virgin whom a most loving God in his mercy gave us. There is no doubt that Mary's will in our regard is the will of God. When we dedicate ourselves to her we become instruments of God's mercy just as she was in God's hands. Let us be guided by her, led by her. Let us feel calm and safe under her guidance. She will look after all our needs and quickly provide everything necessary for soul and body. She will remove our difficulties and trials.
Responsory [Eph. 5, 1-2; 6,6]
【V】:Be imitators of God as his dear children, Follow in the way of love, even as Christ loved us. He gave himself for us *
【R】:an offering to God, a gift of pleasing fragrance.
【V】:Do God's will with your whole heart as servants of Christ; *
【R】:an offering to God, a gift of pleasing fragrance.
Concluding Prayer
Heavenly Father, you inflamed blessed Maximilian the priest with love for the Immaculate Virgin and filled him with zeal for souls and love of neighbour. Through his prayers grant us to work strenuously for your glory in the service of men, and so be made conformable to your Son until death: we ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
【Ant.】:Come, let us worship Christ, the King of martyrs.
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 Christ, the King of martyrs.
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 Christ, the King of martyrs.
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 Christ, the King of martyrs.
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 Christ, the King of martyrs.
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 Christ, the King of martyrs.
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 Christ, the King of martyrs.
HYMN
Faith of our fathers! faith and prayer
shall win all nations unto thee;
and through the truth that comes from God,
mankind shall then indeed be free.
Refrain:
Faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death.
Faith of our fathers! we will love
both friend and foe in all our strife:
and preach thee, too, as love knows how,
by kindly deeds and virtuous life.
PSALMODY
Antiphons and Psalms and The First Reading of the Weekday
The Second Reading
From the letters of Saint Maximilian Kolbe [Scritti del P. Maximilano M. Kolbe Padua 1971 vol. I pp 75-77&166]
We must work with apostolic zeal for the salvation and sanctification of souls.
Dear Brother:
I am filled with great joy because of the glowing zeal that motivates you to promote God's glory. We see with sorrow that an epidemic of indifferentism in various forms is spreading in our times, not merely among people in the world but, even among religious. Since God is worthy of infinite glory, it is our prime concern to render him the greatest possible glory even if, through human weakness, we fail to give him all he deserves.
God's glory is especially resplendent in the salvation of souls redeemed by Christ's blood. Let this, then, be the chief goal of your apostolic work, the salvation and sanctification of the greatest number of souls. I shall tell you briefly the most suitable way to attain this end. God who is infinite knowledge and wisdom, and who consequently knows best what we must do to promote his glory makes his will known to us particularly through those who take his place on earth.
It is therefore obedience, and only obedience, which clearly shows us God's will. It can happen, to be sure, that a superior makes a mistake, but it cannot happen that in following obedience we make a mistake. Only then is there an exception to obedience when a superior commands something that would clearly be a violation of God's law, even in a very small matter. In such a case the individual himself would be the interpreter of God's will.
God, and only God, is infinite, most wise, most holy, a most loving Lord, our father and creator, our beginning and end, our wisdom, power and love - God is our all. Everything outside of God has value only in so far as it is referred to him who is the creator of all things, the redeemer of mankind, the final end of all creation. He it is therefore who makes known his adorable will through those who take his place on earth. He draws us to himself and, through us, the souls of others he intends to unite to himself in more perfect love.
Dear brother, see the greatness of man's dignity conferred by God's mercy. By obedience we surmount, so to speak, the limits imposed upon us by our weakness; we are made conformable to God's will which in his infinite wisdom and prudence guides us to act correctly. As a matter of fact by clinging to God's will - and no creature can resist it - we surpass everything in power. This is the way of wisdom and prudence, this is the only way we can render the greatest glory to God. If there were another and more suitable way Christ surely would have showed it to us by his own words and example. But Sacred Scripture described his long sojourn in Nazareth in these words: "He was subject to them" and painted the picture of the rest of his life for us in the colours of obedience thus showing that he had come upon earth to do the will of his Father.
Therefore, my brothers, let us love our most loving Father in heaven with the greatest love and let our obedience be the proof of our perfect love which we put into practice especially when we are asked to give up our own will. There is no more authoritative book to teach us how to grow in God's love than the book of Jesus crucified.
We shall achieve all this through the Immaculate Virgin whom a most loving God in his mercy gave us. There is no doubt that Mary's will in our regard is the will of God. When we dedicate ourselves to her we become instruments of God's mercy just as she was in God's hands. Let us be guided by her, led by her. Let us feel calm and safe under her guidance. She will look after all our needs and quickly provide everything necessary for soul and body. She will remove our difficulties and trials.
Responsory [Eph. 5, 1-2; 6,6]
【V】:Be imitators of God as his dear children, Follow in the way of love, even as Christ loved us. He gave himself for us *
【R】:an offering to God, a gift of pleasing fragrance.
【V】:Do God's will with your whole heart as servants of Christ; *
【R】:an offering to God, a gift of pleasing fragrance.
Concluding Prayer
Heavenly Father, you inflamed blessed Maximilian the priest with love for the Immaculate Virgin and filled him with zeal for souls and love of neighbour. Through his prayers grant us to work strenuously for your glory in the service of men, and so be made conformable to your Son until death: we ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.