Office of Readings
1127 Pastors Memorial
Invitatory Antiphon
【Ant.】:Come, let us worship Christ, chief shepherd of the flock.
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, chief shepherd of the flock.
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, chief shepherd of the flock.
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, chief shepherd of the flock.
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, chief shepherd of the flock.
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, chief shepherd of the flock.
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, chief shepherd of the flock.
HYMN
The king of love my shepherd is,
Whose goodness fails me never:
I nothing lack if I am his,
And he is mine for ever.
Where streams of living water flow,
To rest my soul he leads me:
Where fresh and fertile pastures grow,
With heav’nly food he feeds me.
Perverse and foolish I have strayed,
But he with love has sought me,
And on his shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me.
In death’s dark vale, I fear no ill,
With you, dear Lord, beside me:
Your rod and staff my comfort still,
Your cross will ever guide.
You spread a banquet in my sight,
My head with oil anointing,
And let me taste the sweet delight
From your pure chalice flowing.
And so through all the length of days
Your goodness fails me never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing your praise
Within your house forever.
PSALMODY
Antiphons and Psalms and The First Reading of the Weekday
The Second Reading
From the "Meditations" of Saint Francis Mary Fasani (Novena for the Feast of Our Lady Immaculate, Lucera, ed. 1973 passim)
In Mary, nature and grace were in remarkable harmony
In the Immaculate Virgin, a model of sanctity outstanding in its radiant brightness is put before us. From the very first moment of her conception she appeared to the world like a boundless ocean of perfection and virtues. First-born of all creatures, she was always peerless in her purity and perfection; her thoughts, affections and desires, as well as her actions, were always adorned with admirable virtues, their all-pervading perfume like that of the most fragrant flowers, with never a breath of profanity to tarnish their beauty. Throughout her life her whole being was perfectly ordered, with nature and grace in marvellous harmony, and spirit and flesh, the higher powers and the lower, in perfect harmony with original justice.
As for you, in your life you have been stained by many sins. How great the carelessness in observing the divine law; how many the precepts transgressed, the duties neglected! Observe the bitter battle being fought within you, as the senses rebel against reason and the flesh against the spirit. How many times you have rendered fruitless the precious gift of grace. For how long has the Lord been repeating to you his burning desire for your salvation, and you contradict his wishes, reject his inspirations and resist his grace. And if at times you do indulge his invitations, you still fail to respond to the highest aims of his Providence.
All this results from a lack of the spirit of prayer. Even ecclesiastics study God, preach about God, teach about God, debate about God; and yet the spirit remains dry, there is no devotion in it. Lots of knowledge, but no prayer; all the nourishment is for the intellect, with nothing for the will.
Reflect on the fact that your dependence on the Lord is fundamental, absolute, constant. Why then do you not keep your eyes on heaven, to praise, bless and glorify the divine Goodness? If you were to direct everything to God, you would become a saint. Get up now, put your intentions right, do good, love what is good, but only for God's sake and for him alone. Strive to imitate the most perfect and Immaculate Virgin Mary, always "ambitious for the higher gifts".
If you spoke the language of angels, if you knew the hidden depths of God's mind, if the dead rose to life at the nod of your head, all of this would be worth no more than a single degree of sanctifying grace. The cardinal virtues are to be highly esteemed, but much more so are the theological virtues. Faith is precious, and hope is precious, but the greatest of them is charity, which brings with it the gifts of the Spirit.
Responsory [Mc 6,8; Js 1,27]
【V】:I will show you what is good, what the Lord requires of you *
【R】:to act justly and to walk humbly with your God.
【V】:To come to the help of orphans and widows, and to keep yourself uncontaminated by the world: *
【R】:to act justly and to walk humbly with your God.
Concluding Prayer
O God, in Saint Francis Anthony you have given us a model of seraphic perfection and an ardent apostle of your word. Grant through his merits and intercession that we may be always steadfast in the faith and active in charity, so that we may merit an eternal reward: grant 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, chief shepherd of the flock.
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, chief shepherd of the flock.
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, chief shepherd of the flock.
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, chief shepherd of the flock.
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, chief shepherd of the flock.
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, chief shepherd of the flock.
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, chief shepherd of the flock.
HYMN
The king of love my shepherd is,
Whose goodness fails me never:
I nothing lack if I am his,
And he is mine for ever.
Where streams of living water flow,
To rest my soul he leads me:
Where fresh and fertile pastures grow,
With heav’nly food he feeds me.
Perverse and foolish I have strayed,
But he with love has sought me,
And on his shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me.
In death’s dark vale, I fear no ill,
With you, dear Lord, beside me:
Your rod and staff my comfort still,
Your cross will ever guide.
You spread a banquet in my sight,
My head with oil anointing,
And let me taste the sweet delight
From your pure chalice flowing.
And so through all the length of days
Your goodness fails me never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing your praise
Within your house forever.
PSALMODY
Antiphons and Psalms and The First Reading of the Weekday
The Second Reading
From the "Meditations" of Saint Francis Mary Fasani (Novena for the Feast of Our Lady Immaculate, Lucera, ed. 1973 passim)
In Mary, nature and grace were in remarkable harmony
In the Immaculate Virgin, a model of sanctity outstanding in its radiant brightness is put before us. From the very first moment of her conception she appeared to the world like a boundless ocean of perfection and virtues. First-born of all creatures, she was always peerless in her purity and perfection; her thoughts, affections and desires, as well as her actions, were always adorned with admirable virtues, their all-pervading perfume like that of the most fragrant flowers, with never a breath of profanity to tarnish their beauty. Throughout her life her whole being was perfectly ordered, with nature and grace in marvellous harmony, and spirit and flesh, the higher powers and the lower, in perfect harmony with original justice.
As for you, in your life you have been stained by many sins. How great the carelessness in observing the divine law; how many the precepts transgressed, the duties neglected! Observe the bitter battle being fought within you, as the senses rebel against reason and the flesh against the spirit. How many times you have rendered fruitless the precious gift of grace. For how long has the Lord been repeating to you his burning desire for your salvation, and you contradict his wishes, reject his inspirations and resist his grace. And if at times you do indulge his invitations, you still fail to respond to the highest aims of his Providence.
All this results from a lack of the spirit of prayer. Even ecclesiastics study God, preach about God, teach about God, debate about God; and yet the spirit remains dry, there is no devotion in it. Lots of knowledge, but no prayer; all the nourishment is for the intellect, with nothing for the will.
Reflect on the fact that your dependence on the Lord is fundamental, absolute, constant. Why then do you not keep your eyes on heaven, to praise, bless and glorify the divine Goodness? If you were to direct everything to God, you would become a saint. Get up now, put your intentions right, do good, love what is good, but only for God's sake and for him alone. Strive to imitate the most perfect and Immaculate Virgin Mary, always "ambitious for the higher gifts".
If you spoke the language of angels, if you knew the hidden depths of God's mind, if the dead rose to life at the nod of your head, all of this would be worth no more than a single degree of sanctifying grace. The cardinal virtues are to be highly esteemed, but much more so are the theological virtues. Faith is precious, and hope is precious, but the greatest of them is charity, which brings with it the gifts of the Spirit.
Responsory [Mc 6,8; Js 1,27]
【V】:I will show you what is good, what the Lord requires of you *
【R】:to act justly and to walk humbly with your God.
【V】:To come to the help of orphans and widows, and to keep yourself uncontaminated by the world: *
【R】:to act justly and to walk humbly with your God.
Concluding Prayer
O God, in Saint Francis Anthony you have given us a model of seraphic perfection and an ardent apostle of your word. Grant through his merits and intercession that we may be always steadfast in the faith and active in charity, so that we may merit an eternal reward: grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, forever and ever. Amen.