Roman Breviary

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation: But deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried: he descended into hell; the third day he arose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven; sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almighty: from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.

As it was in the beginning, is now, * and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Alleluia.

Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. For the Lord will not cast off his people: for in his hand are all the ends of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are his.

For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. (genuflect) Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us: For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts: As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.

Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart. And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.

1:1 Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, * nor sat in the chair of pestilence.

1:2 But his will is in the law of the Lord, * and on his law he shall meditate day and night.

1:3 And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, * which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season.

1:3 And his leaf shall not fall off: * and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.

1:4 Not so the wicked, not so: * but like the dust, which the wind driveth from the face of the earth.

1:5 Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: * nor sinners in the council of the just.

1:6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the just: * and the way of the wicked shall perish.

2:1 Why have the Gentiles raged, * and the people devised vain things?

2:2 The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, * against the Lord and against his Christ.

2:3 Let us break their bonds asunder: * and let us cast away their yoke from us.

2:4 He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: * and the Lord shall deride them.

2:5 Then shall he speak to them in his anger, * and trouble them in his rage.

2:6 But I am appointed king by him over Sion his holy mountain, * preaching his commandment.

2:7 The Lord hath said to me: * Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.

2:8 Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, * and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession.

2:9 Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, * and shalt break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

2:10 And now, O ye kings, understand: * receive instruction, you that judge the earth.

2:11 Serve ye the Lord with fear: * and rejoice unto him with trembling.

2:12 Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, * and you perish from the just way.

2:13 When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, * blessed are all they that trust in him.

3:2 Why, O Lord, are they multiplied that afflict me? * many are they who rise up against me.

3:3 Many say to my soul: * There is no salvation for him in his God.

3:4 But thou, O Lord art my protector, * my glory, and the lifter up of my head.

3:5 I have cried to the Lord with my voice: * and he hath heard me from his holy hill.

3:6 I have slept and taken my rest: * and I have risen up, because the Lord hath protected me.

3:7 I will not fear thousands of the people, surrounding me: * arise, O Lord; save me, O my God.

3:8 For thou hast struck all them who are my adversaries without cause: * thou hast broken the teeth of sinners.

3:9 Salvation is of the Lord: * and thy blessing is upon thy people.

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Lesson from the book of Daniel

1 In the first year of Darius the son of Assuerus of the seed of the Medes, who reigned over the kingdom of the Chaldeans:

2 The first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, concerning which the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the prophet, that seventy years should be accomplished of the desolation of Jerusalem.

3 And I set my face to the Lord my God, to pray and make supplication with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and I made my confession, and said: I beseech thee, O Lord God, great and terrible, who keepest the covenant, and mercy to them that love thee, and keep thy commandments.

5 We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly, and have revolted: and we have gone aside from thy commandments, and thy judgments.

21 As I was yet speaking in prayer, behold the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice.

22 And he instructed me, and spoke to me, and said: O Daniel, I am now come forth to teach thee, and that thou mightest understand.

23 From the beginning of thy prayers the word came forth: and I am come to shew it to thee, because thou art a man of desires: therefore do thou mark the word, and understand the vision.

24 Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished; and everlasting justice may be brought; and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled; and the saint of saints may be anointed.

25 Know thou therefore, and take notice: that from the going forth of the word, to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ the prince, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: and the street shall be built again, and the walls in straitness of times.

26 And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain: and the people that shall deny him shall not be his. And a people with their leader that shall come, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be waste, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation.

27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many, in one week: and in the half of the week the victim and the sacrifice shall fall: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end.

4:2 When I called upon him, the God of my justice heard me: * when I was in distress, thou hast enlarged me.

4:2 Have mercy on me: * and hear my prayer.

4:3 O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? * Why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?

4:4 Know ye also that the Lord hath made his holy one wonderful: * the Lord will hear me when I shall cry unto him.

4:5 Be ye angry, and sin not: * the things you say in your hearts, be sorry for them upon your beds.

4:6 Offer up the sacrifice of justice, and trust in the Lord: * many say, Who sheweth us good things?

4:7 The light of thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us: * thou hast given gladness in my heart.

4:8 By the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil, * they are multiplied.

4:9 In peace in the selfsame * I will sleep, and I will rest:

4:10 For thou, O Lord, singularly * hast settled me in hope.

5:2 Give ear, O Lord, to my words * understand my cry.

5:3 Hearken to the voice of my prayer, * O my King and my God.

5:4 For to thee will I pray: * O Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear my voice.

5:5 In the morning I will stand before thee, and will see: * because thou art not a God that willest iniquity.

5:6 Neither shall the wicked dwell near thee: * nor shall the unjust abide before thy eyes.

5:7 Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity: * thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie.

5:7 The bloody and the deceitful man the Lord will abhor. * But as for me in the multitude of thy mercy,

5:8 I will come into thy house; * I will worship towards thy holy temple, in thy fear.

5:9 Conduct me, O Lord, in thy justice: * because of my enemies, direct my way in thy sight.

5:10 For there is no truth in their mouth: * their heart is vain.

5:11 Their throat is an open sepulchre: they dealt deceitfully with their tongues: * judge them, O God.

5:11 Let them fall from their devices: according to the multitude of their wickednesses cast them out: * for they have provoked thee, O Lord.

5:12 But let all them be glad that hope in thee: * they shall rejoice for ever, and thou shalt dwell in them.

5:12 And all they that love thy name shall glory in thee: * For thou wilt bless the just.

5:13 O Lord, thou hast crowned us, * as with a shield of thy good will.

8:2 O Lord our Lord, * how admirable is thy name in the whole earth!

8:2 For thy magnificence is elevated * above the heavens.

8:3 Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise, because of thy enemies, * that thou mayst destroy the enemy and the avenger.

8:4 For I will behold thy heavens, the works of thy fingers: * the moon and the stars which thou hast founded.

8:5 What is man that thou art mindful of him? * or the son of man that thou visitest him?

8:6 Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honour: * and hast set him over the works of thy hands.

8:8 Thou hast subjected all things under his feet, * all sheep and oxen: moreover the beasts also of the fields.

8:9 The birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea, * that pass through the paths of the sea.

8:10 O Lord our Lord, * how admirable is thy name in all the earth!

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Josaphat Kuncewitz was born of noble Catholic parents at Vladimir in Volhynia. Once as a child, as he listed to his mother tell the story of the Passion, a dart came forth from the side of Christ on the crucifix and wounded the boy in the heart. Set on fire with love of God, he devoted himself to prayer and works of charity with such zeal that he became the admiration and the model for youths far older than he. When Josaphat was twenty years old he was professed among the cloistered followers of the monastic rule of Saint Basil. Almost at once he made remarkable progress in evangelical perfection. He went barefoot, even in the severe winters of that country. He never ate meat, and drank wine only when obliged to do so under obedience. He disciplined his body by wearing rough hair-shirts until the day of his death. He kept unspotted the flower of chastity which in his youth he had dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God. He became so celebrated for virtue and learning that despite his youth he was made superior of the monastery at Byten, and the Archimandrite of Vilnius. Finally much against his will, but to the very great joy of the Catholic people, he was made Archbishop of Polotsk.

In the years following the promotion to this dignity, Josaphat did not relax in any way his austere mode of living. Nothing was so close to his heart as service to God and the salvation of the flock entrusted to his care. He was a vigorous champion of Catholic unity and truth. He laboured to the utmost of his ability to win back schismatics and heretics to unity with the See of blessed Peter. Both by preaching and writing he defended the Supreme Pontiff and the doctrine of the Pope's plenitude of power. He directed these works, full of piety and learning against most shameful calumnies and the errors of wicked men. Josaphat vindicated episcopal rights and restored ecclesiastical property seized by laymen. He won back an incredible number of heretics to the bosom of holy Mother Church. How successfully he laboured to re-establish communion between the Greek and Latin Churches is told in Papal commendations. He gladly spent the revenues set aside for his maintenance to rebuild God's house, to erect convents for consecrated virgins, and to carry on other charitable works. So generous was Josaphat towards the poor that in one instance when he did not have money enough to supply the needs of a certain widow, he pawned his omophorion, that is, his episcopal pallium.

The great progress made by the Catholic faith so stirred up the anger of certain of its wicked enemies that they conspired to murder this athlete of Christ. In a sermon he foretold to his people what was about to happen. As he was setting out for Vitebsk on a pastoral visit, these enemies broke into the episcopal palace, attacking and wounding every one they found. Undaunted, this most kindly man hurried out to the assassins of his own free will and addressed them mildly. My little children, he said, why do ye strike my servants? If ye have any complaint against me, I am here. Thereupon they rushed at him, overwhelmed him with blows and pierced him through with spears. Finally they slew him a stroke of a great axe and threw his body into the river. This happened on November 12th, 1632, when he was forty-three years old. Later his body, surrounded by a marvellous light, was raised from the deepest part of the river. The blood of this Martyr benefited first of all those murderers of their spiritual father. Sentenced to die for their crime, almost all abjured their schism and repented of their crime. Because this wonderful high priest became famous after his death for many miracles, the Supreme Pontiff, Urban VIII, honoured him with the title Blessed. On the 29th of June, 1867, during the solemn observance of the centenaries of the Princes of the Apostles, in the presence of the college of cardinals, of about five hundred others, patriarchs, metropolitans, and bishops of every rite from all parts of the world, assembled in the Vatican basilica, with all solemn ceremonies, Pius IX canonized the first eastern Christian to uphold the unity of the Church. The Supreme Pontiff, Leo XIII, extended his Mass and Office to the universal Church.

10:2 In the Lord I put my trust: how then do you say to my soul: * Get thee away from hence to the mountain, like a sparrow?

10:3 For, lo, the wicked have bent their bow: they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, * to shoot in the dark the upright of heart.

10:4 For they have destroyed the things which thou hast made: * but what has the just man done?

10:5 The Lord is in his holy temple, * the Lord’s throne is in heaven.

10:5 His eyes look on the poor man: * his eyelids examine the sons of men.

10:6 The Lord trieth the just and the wicked: * but he that loveth iniquity, hateth his own soul.

10:7 He shall rain snares upon sinners: * fire and brimstone, and storms of winds, shall be the portion of their cup.

10:8 For the Lord is just, and hath loved justice: * his countenance hath beheld righteousness.

14:1 Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? * or who shall rest in thy holy hill?

14:2 He that walketh without blemish, * and worketh justice:

14:3 He that speaketh truth in his heart, * who hath not used deceit in his tongue:

14:3 Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: * nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.

14:4 In his sight the malignant is brought to nothing: * but he glorifieth them that fear the Lord:

14:4 He that sweareth to his neighbour, and deceiveth not; * He that hath not put out his money to usury, nor taken bribes against the innocent:

14:5 He that doth these things, * shall not be moved for ever.

20:2 The king rejoices in thy strength, O Lord; * and in thy salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly.

20:3 Thou hast given him his heart’s desire: * and hast not withholden from him the will of his lips.

20:4 For thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness: * thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones.

20:5 He asked life of thee: * and thou hast given him length of days for ever and ever.

20:6 His glory is great in thy salvation: * glory and great beauty shalt thou lay upon him.

20:7 For thou shalt give him to be a blessing for ever and ever: * thou shalt make him joyful in gladness with thy countenance.

20:8 For the king hopeth in the Lord: * and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.

20:9 Let thy hand be found by all thy enemies: * let thy right hand find out all them that hate thee.

20:10 Thou shalt make them as an oven of fire, * in the time of thy anger: the Lord shall trouble them in his wrath, and fire shall devour them.

20:11 Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth: * and their seed from among the children of men.

20:12 For they have intended evils against thee: * they have devised counsels which they have not been able to establish.

20:13 For thou shalt make them turn their back: * in thy remnants thou shalt prepare their face.

20:14 Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thy own strength: * we will sing and praise thy power.

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

From the Holy Gospel according to John

In that time Jesus said to the pharisees: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. And so on.

Homily by St. John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople.

Dearly beloved brethren, the Bishops of the Church hold a great office, an office that needeth much that wisdom and strength whereof Christ hath given us an example. We must learn of Him to lay down our lives for the sheep and never to leave them; and to fight bravely against the wolf. This is the difference between the true shepherd and the hireling. The one leaveth the sheep and seeketh his own safety, but the other recketh not of his own safety, so as he may watch over the sheep. Christ then having given us the pattern of a good shepherd, warneth us against two enemies; first, the thief that cometh not but to kill and to steal, and, secondly, the hireling that standeth by, and defendeth not them that are committed to his charge.

Ezechiel hath said of old time, xxxiv. 2: Woe be to the shepherds of Israel! do they not feed themselves? Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? But they did the contrary, a great wickedness and the root of many evils. Therefore, he saith, they brought not back that which was gone astray neither did they search for that which was lost neither did they bind up that which was broken, nor strengthen that which was sick; for they fed themselves, and not the flock. And Paul hath the same in other words, where he saith, Phil. ii. 21: All seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.

Christ showeth Himself very different from either the thief or the hireling; whereas the thief cometh to destroy, He came that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. The hireling fleeth, but He layeth down His life for the sheep, that the sheep perish not. When then the Jews went about to kill Him, He ceased not to teach He gave not up them that believed in Him, but stood steadfast and died. Wherefore He hath good title often to say, I am the Good Shepherd. It was but a little while, and He showed us how He could lay down His life for the sheep. And if it appeareth not as yet how they have life, and have it more abundantly, (but it shall appear, in the world which is to come,) we may well be persuaded of the truth of the second promise, who have seen the fulfilment of the first.

We praise thee, O God, * we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.

All the earth doth worship thee, * the Father everlasting.

To thee all Angels cry aloud, * the Heavens, and all the Powers therein.

To thee Cherubim and Seraphim * continually do cry.

bow head Holy, Holy, Holy * Lord God of Sabaoth;

Heaven and earth are full * of the Majesty of thy glory.

The glorious company of the Apostles * praise thee.

The goodly fellowship of the Prophets * praise thee.

The noble army of Martyrs * praise thee.

The holy Church throughout all the world * doth acknowledge thee;

The Father, * of an infinite Majesty.

Thine honourable, true, * and only Son;

Also the Holy Ghost, * the Comforter.

Thou art the King of Glory, * O Christ.

Thou art the everlasting * Son of the Father.

During the following verse all make a profound bow: When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, * thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.

When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, * thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.

Thou sittest at the right hand of God, * in the glory of the Father.

We believe that thou shalt come * to be our Judge.

Kneel for the following verse We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, * whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious Blood.

Make them to be numbered with thy Saints, * in glory everlasting.

O Lord, save thy people, * and bless thine heritage.

Govern them, * and lift them up for ever.

Day by day * we magnify thee;

During the following verse, by local custom, all make a profound bow. And we worship thy Name * ever, world without end.

Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us * this day without sin.

O Lord, have mercy upon us, * have mercy upon us.

O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, * as our trust is in thee.

O Lord, in thee have I trusted, * let me never be confounded.

Let us pray.

Stir up in thy Church, we beseech thee, O Lord, that Spirit which so filled blessed Josaphat, thy Martyr and Bishop, that he laid down his life for his flock; that by his intercession we, being likewise animated and strengthened by that same Spirit, may not fear to lay down our lives for our brethren.

Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, God, world without end.