Office of Readings
0207 Virgins Memorial
Invitatory Antiphon
【Ant.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
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.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
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.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
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.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
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.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
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.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
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.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
HYMN
Let us with joy our voices raise
In that heroic woman's praise,
Whose courage, strength, and holy fame
Have given her an honored name.
O Strength of all the strong, God's Son,
Through whom alone great things are done,
By Your great strength and through her prayer
May we bear witness everywhere.
Praise God the Father and the Son
And Holy Spirit, Three in One,
Who gave this noble woman grace,
A life of virtue to embrace.
PSALMODY
Antiphons and Psalms and The First Reading of the Weekday
The Second Reading
From the Spiritual Testament of Saint Colette (Perrin,La Belle Vie,1920 pp.274-277)
Humble obedience is precious in the sight of God
My very dear daughters, recognize your holy calling, your great dignity, and your true perfection. Ignorance is appallingly dangerous; knowledge brings fruitful harvest. Know what you are entering upon through the door of divine inspiration and a choice vocation. Our beloved Saviour tells us: "No one can come to me unless the Father draw him", through his inspiration. Happy the one who enters the fertile land of Gospel perfection, the renunciation of the world, the flesh and self-will! That is how Jesus our blessed Lord, born of the Virgin, describes it: "Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross"; not forgetting repentance for our known sins so as not to offend God and the better to cherish his divine grace.
Bear in mind, then, dearest daughters, that your call was to perfect obedience, and when there is no question of sinning against God always be obedient; Jesus became obedient even to death. Casual obedience will not do, on particular occasions or in particular matters which arise. Obedience must embrace everything that is not contrary to God, the soul and our holy Rule. Let us not prefer our own feelings to those of our Superiors. True wisdom is being subject to Jesus and his beloved virgin mother. The truly obedient person does what has to be done, simply and for God's sake, caring about nothing save genuine obedience; does it reverently, as if it issued from the very mouth of Jesus himself, the more so because the precept is easier when it is humanized like this, and humble obedience is more precious in God's sight. No good at all comes from disobedience. A single prayer of an obedient person is worth more than a hundred thousand from those who disobey. If you obey God, he himself will obey you.
Following on from self-denial, our Lord wants us to carry our cross; this is the vow of holy poverty. The cross is a heavy burden when we want to possess anything apart from him who bore his cross on his shoulders and deigned to die on it. O my very dear daughters, love, love this eminent virtue of poverty after the example of Jesus Christ, our glorious father Saint Francis and our own mother Saint Clare. Be content in the midst of need so that you can more easily reach the kingdom to which you are called, by means of this same poverty which you freely promised to observe. Live as truly poor people, therefore, and persevere like that till death, dear daughters, as our dear Saviour did on the cross for our sakes. Since there are but few in the world who are in love with this kind of poverty, we have a greater opportunity of loving it next to the lady Holy Obedience, whom I commend to you above all else.
It is for us to keep faithfully what we have promised. Should we fall through human frailty, we must always pick ourselves up again instantly through holy repentance, intent on a good life and a holy death. May the Father of all mercies, the Son through his sacred Passion, and the Holy Spirit, source of all peace, happiness and love, come down upon us all in the fulness of his consolations. Amen.
Responsory
【V】: God has chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom of God *
【R】:which he has promised to those who love him.
【V】:Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, *
【R】:which he has promised to those who love him.
Concluding Prayer
God our Father, you chose Saint Colette as a model for many sisters in living the Gospel. Grant that the same seraphic spirit which she wisely taught and strengthened by the example of her holiness may ever remain pure in us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen
【Ant.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
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.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
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.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
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.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
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.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
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.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
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.】:The holy virgins praise their Lord and King; come let us join in their worship.
HYMN
Let us with joy our voices raise
In that heroic woman's praise,
Whose courage, strength, and holy fame
Have given her an honored name.
O Strength of all the strong, God's Son,
Through whom alone great things are done,
By Your great strength and through her prayer
May we bear witness everywhere.
Praise God the Father and the Son
And Holy Spirit, Three in One,
Who gave this noble woman grace,
A life of virtue to embrace.
PSALMODY
Antiphons and Psalms and The First Reading of the Weekday
The Second Reading
From the Spiritual Testament of Saint Colette (Perrin,La Belle Vie,1920 pp.274-277)
Humble obedience is precious in the sight of God
My very dear daughters, recognize your holy calling, your great dignity, and your true perfection. Ignorance is appallingly dangerous; knowledge brings fruitful harvest. Know what you are entering upon through the door of divine inspiration and a choice vocation. Our beloved Saviour tells us: "No one can come to me unless the Father draw him", through his inspiration. Happy the one who enters the fertile land of Gospel perfection, the renunciation of the world, the flesh and self-will! That is how Jesus our blessed Lord, born of the Virgin, describes it: "Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross"; not forgetting repentance for our known sins so as not to offend God and the better to cherish his divine grace.
Bear in mind, then, dearest daughters, that your call was to perfect obedience, and when there is no question of sinning against God always be obedient; Jesus became obedient even to death. Casual obedience will not do, on particular occasions or in particular matters which arise. Obedience must embrace everything that is not contrary to God, the soul and our holy Rule. Let us not prefer our own feelings to those of our Superiors. True wisdom is being subject to Jesus and his beloved virgin mother. The truly obedient person does what has to be done, simply and for God's sake, caring about nothing save genuine obedience; does it reverently, as if it issued from the very mouth of Jesus himself, the more so because the precept is easier when it is humanized like this, and humble obedience is more precious in God's sight. No good at all comes from disobedience. A single prayer of an obedient person is worth more than a hundred thousand from those who disobey. If you obey God, he himself will obey you.
Following on from self-denial, our Lord wants us to carry our cross; this is the vow of holy poverty. The cross is a heavy burden when we want to possess anything apart from him who bore his cross on his shoulders and deigned to die on it. O my very dear daughters, love, love this eminent virtue of poverty after the example of Jesus Christ, our glorious father Saint Francis and our own mother Saint Clare. Be content in the midst of need so that you can more easily reach the kingdom to which you are called, by means of this same poverty which you freely promised to observe. Live as truly poor people, therefore, and persevere like that till death, dear daughters, as our dear Saviour did on the cross for our sakes. Since there are but few in the world who are in love with this kind of poverty, we have a greater opportunity of loving it next to the lady Holy Obedience, whom I commend to you above all else.
It is for us to keep faithfully what we have promised. Should we fall through human frailty, we must always pick ourselves up again instantly through holy repentance, intent on a good life and a holy death. May the Father of all mercies, the Son through his sacred Passion, and the Holy Spirit, source of all peace, happiness and love, come down upon us all in the fulness of his consolations. Amen.
Responsory
【V】: God has chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom of God *
【R】:which he has promised to those who love him.
【V】:Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, *
【R】:which he has promised to those who love him.
Concluding Prayer
God our Father, you chose Saint Colette as a model for many sisters in living the Gospel. Grant that the same seraphic spirit which she wisely taught and strengthened by the example of her holiness may ever remain pure in us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen