Roman Breviary

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.

44:2 My heart hath uttered a good word; * I speak my works to the King.

44:2 My tongue is the pen of a scrivener * that writeth swiftly.

44:3 Thou art beautiful above the sons of men: grace is poured abroad in thy lips; * therefore hath God blessed thee for ever.

44:4 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, * O thou most mighty.

44:5 With thy comeliness and thy beauty * set out, proceed prosperously, and reign.

44:5 Because of truth and meekness and justice: * and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully.

44:6 Thy arrows are sharp: under thee shall people fall, * into the hearts of the king’s enemies.

44:7 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: * the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness.

44:8 Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: * therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

44:9 Myrrh and stacte and cassia perfume thy garments, from the ivory houses: * out of which the daughters of kings have delighted thee in thy glory.

44:10 The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; * surrounded with variety.

44:11 Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: * and forget thy people and thy father’s house.

44:12 And the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; * for he is the Lord thy God, and him they shall adore.

44:13 And the daughters of Tyre with gifts, * yea, all the rich among the people, shall entreat thy countenance.

44:14 All the glory of the king’s daughter is within, * in golden borders, clothed round about with varieties.

44:15 After her shall virgins be brought to the king: * her neighbours shall be brought to thee.

44:16 They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing: * they shall be brought into the temple of the king.

44:17 Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee: * thou shalt make them princes over all the earth.

44:18 They shall remember thy name * throughout all generations.

44:18 Therefore shall people praise thee for ever; yea, * for ever and ever.

45:2 Our God is our refuge and strength: * a helper in troubles, which have found us exceedingly.

45:3 Therefore we will not fear, when the earth shall be troubled; * and the mountains shall be removed into the heart of the sea.

45:4 Their waters roared and were troubled: * the mountains were troubled with his strength.

45:5 The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful: * the most High hath sanctified his own tabernacle.

45:6 God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved: * God will help it in the morning early.

45:7 Nations were troubled, and kingdoms were bowed down: * he uttered his voice, the earth trembled.

45:8 The Lord of armies is with us: * the God of Jacob is our protector.

45:9 Come and behold ye the works of the Lord: what wonders he hath done upon earth, * making wars to cease even to the end of the earth.

45:10 He shall destroy the bow, and break the weapons: * and the shield he shall burn in the fire.

45:11 Be still and see that I am God; * I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth.

45:12 The Lord of armies is with us: * the God of Jacob is our protector.

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 Joel

1 For behold in those days, and in that time when I shall bring back the captivity of Juda and Jerusalem:

2 I will gather together all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Josaphat: and I will plead with them there for my people, and for my inheritance Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and have parted my land.

3 And they have cast lots upon my people: and the boy they have put in the stews, and the girl they have sold for wine, that they might drink.

4 But what have you to do with me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the coast of the Philistines? will you revenge yourselves on me? and if you revenge yourselves on me, I will very soon return you a recompense upon your own head.

5 For you have taken away my silver and my gold: and my desirable and most beautiful things you have carried into your temples.

6 And the children of Juda, and the children of Jerusalem you have sold to the children of the Greeks, that you might remove them far off from their own country.

7 Behold, I will raise them up out of the place wherein you have sold them: and I will return your recompense upon your own heads.

8 And I will sell your sons, and your daughters by the hands of the children of Juda, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far off, for the Lord hath spoken it.

9 Proclaim ye this among the nations: prepare war, rouse up the strong: let them come, let all the men of war come up.

10 Cut your ploughshares into swords, and your spades into spears. Let the weak say: I am strong.

11 Break forth, and come, all ye nations, from round about, and gather yourselves together: there will the Lord cause all thy strong ones to fall down.

12 Let them arise, and let the nations come up into the valley of Josaphat: for there I will sit to judge all nations round about.

Among the holy places which have been held in honor among Christians from the beginning, one of the foremost has always been the Confession of St. Peter in the Vatican, made sacred by the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles. Here Constantine the Great is said to have prostrated himself on the ground and, with pick and shovel, to have marked but the place for the basilica, which he built at his own expense. This basilica was dedicated on November 18 by Pope St. Sylvester. It was at that time that he decreed that henceforth altars were to be made only of stone. Eventually, having deteriorated with age this basilica was rebuilt from its foundations with greater magnificence. The loving care of several successive popes saw to the long task of rebuilding, and in 1626 Pope Urban VIII solemnly dedicated the new basilica on the anniversary of the original dedication. In the same way, the basilica of St. Paul on the Ostian Way was very richly built by Emperor Constantine and consecrated by St. Sylvester. Then, after it had been destroyed by a great fire, it was rebuilt more splendidly than before by the untiring devotion of four popes. And Pius IX, surrounded by a solemn assembly of bishops, consecrated it on the auspicious occasion of the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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.

O God, who dost every year bring round unto us again the day whereon this thine holy temple was hallowed, and bringest us again in soundness of body and mind to be present at thine holy worship, graciously hear the supplications of thy people, and grant that whosoever shall come into this thine house to ask good at thine hand, may be rejoiced in the obtaining of all his request.

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