Office of Readings
1117 Women Saints Feast
Invitatory Antiphon
【Ant.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
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.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
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.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
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.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
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.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
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.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
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.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
Hymn
To you we sing our praises now,
Whose life was valiant and sound,
To you our hearts with honour bow
As every year your feast comes round.
Deceits of hell you so destroy
That you despise their deadly force
And always seeking heavenly joys
Persist upon your regal course.
You wander through the countryside
And look upon the groaning poor,
Who have no homes, then open wide
Your hand to feed with pity sure.
Whatever is by Christ decreed
With joy you eagerly obey.
You bear your heavy cross indeed
Until you find eternal day.
To God, the Father, glory be
And to his sole-begotten Son,
To Holy Spirit; Three in one
While all the endless ages run.
Psalmody
Psalm 18 A: 2-7
Ant. 1:She was concerned with the Lord's claim, intent on holiness, bodily and spiritual.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God *
and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.
Day unto day takes up the story *
and night unto night makes known the message.
No speech, no word, no voice is heard +
yet their span extends through all the earth, *
their words to the utmost bounds of the world.
There he has placed a tent for: the sun; +
it comes forth like a bridegroom coming from his tent, *
rejoices like a champion to run its course.
At the end of the sky is the rising of the sun; +
to the furthest end of the sky is its course. *
There is nothing concealed from its burning heat.
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. 1:She was concerned with the Lord's claim, intent on holiness, bodily and spiritual.
Psalm 44 I
Ant. 2:She kept to the way of the Lord, and did not depart from it; she followed after every good work.
My heart overflows with noble words. +
To the king I must speak the song I have made; *
my tongue as nimble as the pen of the scribe.
You are the fairest of the children of men +
and graciousness is poured upon your lips: *
because God has blessed you for evermore.
O mighty one, gird your sword upon your thigh; +
in splendour and state, ride on in triumph *
for the cause of truth and goodness and right.
Take aim with your bow in your dread right hand. +
Your arrows are sharp: peoples fall beneath you. *
The foes of the king fall down and lose heart.
Your throne, O God, shall endure for ever. +
A sceptre of justice is the sceptre of your kingdom. *
Your love is for justice; your hatred for evil.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you +
with the oil of gladness above other kings: *
your robes are fragrant with aloes and myrrh.
From the ivory palace you are greeted with music. +
The daughters of kings are among your loved ones. *
On your right stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
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. 2:She kept to the way of the Lord, and did not depart from it; she followed after every good work.
Psalm 44 II
Ant. 3:The heart of her husband trusts in her; she does him good and not harm all the days of her life.
Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words: *
forget your own people and your father's house.
So will the king desire your beauty: *
He is your lord, pay homage to him.
And the people of Tyre shall come with gifts, *
the richest of the people shall seek your favour.
The daughter of the king is clothed with splendour, *
her robes embroidered with pearls set in gold.
She is led to the king with her maiden companions. +
They are escorted amid gladness and joy; *
they pass within the palace of the king.
Sons shall be yours in place of your fathers: *
you will make them princes over all the earth.
May this song make your name for ever remembered. *
May the peoples praise you from age to age.
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. 3:The heart of her husband trusts in her; she does him good and not harm all the days of her life.
【V】:Blessed Elizabeth left no good deed undone.
【R】:Her good works bear her witness.
The First Reading
A reading from the book of Proverbs [Prov. 31, 10-31]
The woman who fears the Lord
Who can find a good wife? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant, she brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and tasks for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She clothes her loins with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant.
Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.
Responsory [cf. Prov. 31, 17-18; cf. Ps. 45, 6]
【V】:She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong, *
【R】:and so her lamp will never be extinguished.
【V】:God will help her at the dawning of the day; God is with her, she cannot be shaken. *
【R】:and so her lamp will never be extinguished.
The Second Reading
A reading from the letter of Conrad of Marburg, Saint Elizabeth's spiritual director.
Elizabeth saw Christ in his poor, and loved them
From that time onwards Elizabeth's holiness began to come to its full flower. All her life she had been the comfort of the poor: now she became the helper of the starving. Outside one of her castles she built a hospice and gathered in it sick, diseased and crippled men and women. Besides, anyone who came asking for alms received unstinted gifts from her charity. She did the same wherever her husband's jurisdiction ran, pouring out all the resources she had in parts of his territories, until in the end she sold even her jewels and her sumptuous dresses.
She went twice a day to see the sick, in the early morning and at nightfall, and it was those with the foulest diseases she made her personal care. She fed them herself, made and cleaned their pallets, carried them in her arms and nursed them in whatever way they needed. Her husband of happy memory, gave a completely ungrudging consent to all she did. When he died she felt she should now attempt the heights of perfection. She came to me and begged me with tears to let her beg her way from door to door.
On the Good Friday of that year, after the altars had been stripped, she knelt in front of the altar of the chapel she had given to the Friars Minor and laid her hands on it. Then, in their presence she renounced her own will, her earthly estate and all that our Saviour counsels us in the Gospel to put aside.
After she had made these vows she realized she could still find herself embroiled in the noisy affairs of government and drawn back into the worldly magnificence in which she had had to live in her husband's lifetime. Against my wishes she followed me to Marburg where she built a hospice in the town and gathered the sick and the disabled into it, and attended the more wretched and degraded at her own table.
But all this was only her outward activity. I say this before God: I do not think I have ever seen a woman more rapt in the contemplation of God. When she came to her private prayers, certain friars and nuns saw her many times, her face transfigured with light and the sun itself as it were shining out of her eyes.
I heard her confession before she died. I asked what was to be done with her property and her dresses. She said that whatever remained to her belonged to the poor, and she laid it on me to distribute all of it to them, with the exception of one worn-out dress in which she wanted to be buried. Then she received our Lord's Body.
Thereafter, until Vespers, she spoke often of the holiest things she had heard in sermons. After that she prayed lovingly for all around her and then, as if falling asleep, she died.
Responsory
【V】:Elizabeth of royal birth, now triumphs in heaven, surrounded by a threefold diversity of merits *
【R】:for on earth in three different states of life she left examples of virtue for our imitation.
【V】:She hastened without faltering through the state of maidenhood, marriage and widowhood, *
【R】:for on earth in three different states of life she left examples of virtue for our imitation.
TeDeum
We praise you, O God: *
we acclaim you as the Lord.
Everlasting Father, *
all the world bows down before you.
All the angels sing your praise, *
the hosts of heaven and all the angelic powers,
all the cherubim and seraphim *
call out to you in unending song:
Holy, Holy, Holy, *
is the Lord God of angel hosts!
The heavens and the earth are filled *
with your majesty and glory.
The glorious band of apostles, *
the noble company of prophets,
the white-robed army who shed their blood for Christ, *
all sing your praise.
And to the ends of the earth *
your holy Church proclaims her faith in you:
Father, whose majesty is boundless, +
your true and only Son, who is to be adored *
the Holy Spirit sent to be our Advocate.
You, Christ, are the king of glory, *
Son of the eternal Father.
When you took our nature to save mankind *
you did not shrink from birth in the Virgin's womb.
You overcame the power of death *
opening the Father's kingdom to all who believe in you.
Enthroned at God's right hand in the glory of the Father, *
you will come in judgment according to your promise.
You redeemed your people by your precious blood. *
Come we implore you, to our aid.
Grant us with the saints *
a place in eternal glory.
***
Lord, save your people *
and bless your inheritance.
Rule them and uphold them *
for ever and ever.
Day by day we praise you: *
we acclaim you now and to all eternity.
In your goodness, Lord, keep us free from sin. *
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
May your mercy always be with us, Lord, *
for we have hoped in you.
In you, Lord, we put our trust: *
we shall not be put to shame.
Concluding Prayer
Lord God, you taught Saint Elizabeth of Hungary to see and reverence Christ in the poor. May her prayers help us to give constant love and service to the afflicted and the needy: we make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
【Ant.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
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.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
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.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
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.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
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.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
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.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
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.】:Let us praise our God for the holy works of blessed Elizabeth.
Hymn
To you we sing our praises now,
Whose life was valiant and sound,
To you our hearts with honour bow
As every year your feast comes round.
Deceits of hell you so destroy
That you despise their deadly force
And always seeking heavenly joys
Persist upon your regal course.
You wander through the countryside
And look upon the groaning poor,
Who have no homes, then open wide
Your hand to feed with pity sure.
Whatever is by Christ decreed
With joy you eagerly obey.
You bear your heavy cross indeed
Until you find eternal day.
To God, the Father, glory be
And to his sole-begotten Son,
To Holy Spirit; Three in one
While all the endless ages run.
Psalmody
Psalm 18 A: 2-7
Ant. 1:She was concerned with the Lord's claim, intent on holiness, bodily and spiritual.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God *
and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.
Day unto day takes up the story *
and night unto night makes known the message.
No speech, no word, no voice is heard +
yet their span extends through all the earth, *
their words to the utmost bounds of the world.
There he has placed a tent for: the sun; +
it comes forth like a bridegroom coming from his tent, *
rejoices like a champion to run its course.
At the end of the sky is the rising of the sun; +
to the furthest end of the sky is its course. *
There is nothing concealed from its burning heat.
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. 1:She was concerned with the Lord's claim, intent on holiness, bodily and spiritual.
Psalm 44 I
Ant. 2:She kept to the way of the Lord, and did not depart from it; she followed after every good work.
My heart overflows with noble words. +
To the king I must speak the song I have made; *
my tongue as nimble as the pen of the scribe.
You are the fairest of the children of men +
and graciousness is poured upon your lips: *
because God has blessed you for evermore.
O mighty one, gird your sword upon your thigh; +
in splendour and state, ride on in triumph *
for the cause of truth and goodness and right.
Take aim with your bow in your dread right hand. +
Your arrows are sharp: peoples fall beneath you. *
The foes of the king fall down and lose heart.
Your throne, O God, shall endure for ever. +
A sceptre of justice is the sceptre of your kingdom. *
Your love is for justice; your hatred for evil.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you +
with the oil of gladness above other kings: *
your robes are fragrant with aloes and myrrh.
From the ivory palace you are greeted with music. +
The daughters of kings are among your loved ones. *
On your right stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
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. 2:She kept to the way of the Lord, and did not depart from it; she followed after every good work.
Psalm 44 II
Ant. 3:The heart of her husband trusts in her; she does him good and not harm all the days of her life.
Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words: *
forget your own people and your father's house.
So will the king desire your beauty: *
He is your lord, pay homage to him.
And the people of Tyre shall come with gifts, *
the richest of the people shall seek your favour.
The daughter of the king is clothed with splendour, *
her robes embroidered with pearls set in gold.
She is led to the king with her maiden companions. +
They are escorted amid gladness and joy; *
they pass within the palace of the king.
Sons shall be yours in place of your fathers: *
you will make them princes over all the earth.
May this song make your name for ever remembered. *
May the peoples praise you from age to age.
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. 3:The heart of her husband trusts in her; she does him good and not harm all the days of her life.
【V】:Blessed Elizabeth left no good deed undone.
【R】:Her good works bear her witness.
The First Reading
A reading from the book of Proverbs [Prov. 31, 10-31]
The woman who fears the Lord
Who can find a good wife? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant, she brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and tasks for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She clothes her loins with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant.
Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.
Responsory [cf. Prov. 31, 17-18; cf. Ps. 45, 6]
【V】:She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong, *
【R】:and so her lamp will never be extinguished.
【V】:God will help her at the dawning of the day; God is with her, she cannot be shaken. *
【R】:and so her lamp will never be extinguished.
The Second Reading
A reading from the letter of Conrad of Marburg, Saint Elizabeth's spiritual director.
Elizabeth saw Christ in his poor, and loved them
From that time onwards Elizabeth's holiness began to come to its full flower. All her life she had been the comfort of the poor: now she became the helper of the starving. Outside one of her castles she built a hospice and gathered in it sick, diseased and crippled men and women. Besides, anyone who came asking for alms received unstinted gifts from her charity. She did the same wherever her husband's jurisdiction ran, pouring out all the resources she had in parts of his territories, until in the end she sold even her jewels and her sumptuous dresses.
She went twice a day to see the sick, in the early morning and at nightfall, and it was those with the foulest diseases she made her personal care. She fed them herself, made and cleaned their pallets, carried them in her arms and nursed them in whatever way they needed. Her husband of happy memory, gave a completely ungrudging consent to all she did. When he died she felt she should now attempt the heights of perfection. She came to me and begged me with tears to let her beg her way from door to door.
On the Good Friday of that year, after the altars had been stripped, she knelt in front of the altar of the chapel she had given to the Friars Minor and laid her hands on it. Then, in their presence she renounced her own will, her earthly estate and all that our Saviour counsels us in the Gospel to put aside.
After she had made these vows she realized she could still find herself embroiled in the noisy affairs of government and drawn back into the worldly magnificence in which she had had to live in her husband's lifetime. Against my wishes she followed me to Marburg where she built a hospice in the town and gathered the sick and the disabled into it, and attended the more wretched and degraded at her own table.
But all this was only her outward activity. I say this before God: I do not think I have ever seen a woman more rapt in the contemplation of God. When she came to her private prayers, certain friars and nuns saw her many times, her face transfigured with light and the sun itself as it were shining out of her eyes.
I heard her confession before she died. I asked what was to be done with her property and her dresses. She said that whatever remained to her belonged to the poor, and she laid it on me to distribute all of it to them, with the exception of one worn-out dress in which she wanted to be buried. Then she received our Lord's Body.
Thereafter, until Vespers, she spoke often of the holiest things she had heard in sermons. After that she prayed lovingly for all around her and then, as if falling asleep, she died.
Responsory
【V】:Elizabeth of royal birth, now triumphs in heaven, surrounded by a threefold diversity of merits *
【R】:for on earth in three different states of life she left examples of virtue for our imitation.
【V】:She hastened without faltering through the state of maidenhood, marriage and widowhood, *
【R】:for on earth in three different states of life she left examples of virtue for our imitation.
TeDeum
We praise you, O God: *
we acclaim you as the Lord.
Everlasting Father, *
all the world bows down before you.
All the angels sing your praise, *
the hosts of heaven and all the angelic powers,
all the cherubim and seraphim *
call out to you in unending song:
Holy, Holy, Holy, *
is the Lord God of angel hosts!
The heavens and the earth are filled *
with your majesty and glory.
The glorious band of apostles, *
the noble company of prophets,
the white-robed army who shed their blood for Christ, *
all sing your praise.
And to the ends of the earth *
your holy Church proclaims her faith in you:
Father, whose majesty is boundless, +
your true and only Son, who is to be adored *
the Holy Spirit sent to be our Advocate.
You, Christ, are the king of glory, *
Son of the eternal Father.
When you took our nature to save mankind *
you did not shrink from birth in the Virgin's womb.
You overcame the power of death *
opening the Father's kingdom to all who believe in you.
Enthroned at God's right hand in the glory of the Father, *
you will come in judgment according to your promise.
You redeemed your people by your precious blood. *
Come we implore you, to our aid.
Grant us with the saints *
a place in eternal glory.
***
Lord, save your people *
and bless your inheritance.
Rule them and uphold them *
for ever and ever.
Day by day we praise you: *
we acclaim you now and to all eternity.
In your goodness, Lord, keep us free from sin. *
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
May your mercy always be with us, Lord, *
for we have hoped in you.
In you, Lord, we put our trust: *
we shall not be put to shame.
Concluding Prayer
Lord God, you taught Saint Elizabeth of Hungary to see and reverence Christ in the poor. May her prayers help us to give constant love and service to the afflicted and the needy: we make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.