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.

Son of a virgin, maker of thy mother,

Thou, rod and blossom from a stem unstainèd,

Now while a virgin fair of fame we honour,

Hear our devotion!

Fountain of mercy, hear the prayers she offers;

Purge our offences, pardon our transgressions,

So that hereafter we to thee may render

Praise with thanksgiving.

Thou, the All-Father, thou, the One-Begotten,

Thou, Holy Spirit, Three in One co-equal,

Glory be henceforth thine through all the ages,

World without ending.

Amen.

13:1 The fool hath said in his heart: * there is no God.

13:1 They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways: * there is none that doth good, no not one.

13:2 The Lord hath looked down from heaven upon the children of men, * to see if there be any that understand and seek God.

13:3 They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together: * there is none that doth good: no not one.

13:3 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they acted deceitfully: * the poison of asps is under their lips.

13:3 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; * their feet are swift to shed blood.

13:3 Destruction and unhappiness in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known: * there is no fear of God before their eyes.

13:4 Shall not all they know that work iniquity, * who devour my people as they eat bread?

13:5 They have not called upon the Lord: * there have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear.

13:6 For the Lord is in the just generation: you have confounded the counsel of the poor man; * but the Lord is his hope.

13:7 Who shall give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? * when the Lord shall have turned away the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

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.

16:1 Hear, O Lord, my justice: * attend to my supplication.

16:1 Give ear unto my prayer, * which proceedeth not from deceitful lips.

16:2 Let my judgment come forth from thy countenance: * let thy eyes behold the things that are equitable.

16:3 Thou hast proved my heart, and visited it by night, * thou hast tried me by fire: and iniquity hath not been found in me.

16:4 That my mouth may not speak the works of men: * for the sake of the words of thy lips, I have kept hard ways.

16:5 Perfect thou my goings in thy paths: * that my footsteps be not moved.

16:6 I have cried to thee, for thou, O God, hast heard me: * O incline thy ear unto me, and hear my words.

16:7 Shew forth thy wonderful mercies; * thou who savest them that trust in thee.

16:8 From them that resist thy right hand keep me, * as the apple of thy eye.

16:8 Protect me under the shadow of thy wings: * from the face of the wicked who have afflicted me.

16:9 My enemies have surrounded my soul: They have shut up their fat: * their mouth hath spoken proudly.

16:11 They have cast me forth, and now they have surrounded me: * they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth.

16:12 They have taken me, as a lion prepared for the prey; * and as a young lion dwelling in secret places.

16:13 Arise, O Lord, disappoint him and supplant him; * deliver my soul from the wicked one; thy sword from the enemies of thy hand.

16:14 O Lord, divide them from the few of the earth in their life: * their belly is filled from thy hidden stores.

16:14 They are full of children: * and they have left to their little ones the rest of their substance.

16:15 But as for me, I will appear before thy sight in justice: * I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear.

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 Osee

1 Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel, for the Lord shall enter into judgment with the inhabitants of the land: for there is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God in the land.

2 Cursing, and lying, and killing, and theft, and adultery have overflowed, and blood hath touched blood.

3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth in it shall languish with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the air: yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be gathered together.

4 But yet let not any man judge: and let not a man be rebuked: for thy people are as they that contradict the priest.

5 And thou shalt fall to day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee: in the night I have made thy mother to be silent.

6 My people have been silent, because they had no knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will reject thee, that thou shalt not do the office of priesthood to me: and thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.

7 According to the multitude of them so have they sinned against me: I will change their glory into shame.

8 They shall eat the sins of my people, and shall lift up their souls to their iniquity.

9 And there shall be like people like priest: and I will visit their ways upon them, and I will repay them their devices.

10 And they shall eat and shall not be filled: they have committed fornication, and have not ceased: because they have forsaken the Lord in not observing his law.

17:2 I will love thee, O Lord, my strength: * The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer.

17:3 My God is my helper, * and in him will I put my trust.

17:3 My protector, and the horn of my salvation, * and my support.

17:4 Praising, I will call upon the Lord: * and I shall be saved from my enemies.

17:5 The sorrows of death surrounded me: * and the torrents of iniquity troubled me.

17:6 The sorrows of hell encompassed me: * and the snares of death prevented me.

17:7 In my affliction I called upon the Lord, * and I cried to my God:

17:7 And he heard my voice from his holy temple: * and my cry before him came into his ears.

17:8 The earth shook and trembled: * the foundations of the mountains were troubled and were moved, because he was angry with them.

17:9 There went up a smoke in his wrath: and a fire flamed from his face: * coals were kindled by it.

17:10 He bowed the heavens, and came down, * and darkness was under his feet.

17:11 And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew; * he flew upon the wings of the winds.

17:12 And he made darkness his covert, his pavilion round about him: * dark waters in the clouds of the air.

17:13 At the brightness that was before him the clouds passed, * hail and coals of fire.

17:14 And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Highest gave his voice: * hail and coals of fire.

17:15 And he sent forth his arrows, and he scattered them: * he multiplied lightnings, and troubled them.

17:16 Then the fountains of waters appeared, * and the foundations of the world were discovered:

17:16 At thy rebuke, O Lord, * at the blast of the spirit of thy wrath.

17:17 He sent from on high, and took me: * and received me out of many waters.

17:18 He delivered me from my strongest enemies, and from them that hated me: * for they were too strong for me.

17:19 They prevented me in the day of my affliction: * and the Lord became my protector.

17:20 And he brought me forth into a large place: * he saved me, because he was well pleased with me.

17:21 And the Lord will reward me according to my justice; * and will repay me according to the cleanness of my hands:

17:22 Because I have kept the ways of the Lord; * and have not done wickedly against my God.

17:23 For all his judgments are in my sight: * and his justices I have not put away from me.

17:24 And I shall be spotless with him: * and shall keep myself from my iniquity.

17:25 And the Lord will reward me according to my justice: * and according to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes.

17:26 With the holy thou wilt be holy; * and with the innocent man thou wilt be innocent:

17:27 And with the elect thou wilt be elect: * and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted.

17:28 For thou wilt save the humble people; * but wilt bring down the eyes of the proud.

17:29 For thou lightest my lamp, O Lord: * O my God, enlighten my darkness.

17:30 For by thee I shall be delivered from temptation; * and through my God I shall go over a wall.

17:31 As for my God, his way is undefiled: the words of the Lord are fire-tried: * he is the protector of all that trust in him.

17:32 For who is God but the Lord? * or who is God but our God?

17:33 God, who hath girt me with strength; * and made my way blameless.

17:34 Who hath made my feet like the feet of harts: * and who setteth me upon high places.

17:35 Who teacheth my hands to war: * and thou hast made my arms like a brazen bow.

17:36 Thou hast given me the protection of thy salvation: * and thy right hand hath held me up:

17:36 And thy discipline hath corrected me unto the end: * and thy discipline, the same shall teach me.

17:37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; * and my feet are not weakened.

17:38 I will pursue after my enemies, and overtake them: * and I will not turn again till they are consumed.

17:39 I will break them, and they shall not be able to stand: * they shall fall under my feet.

17:40 And thou hast girded me with strength unto battle; * and hast subdued under me them that rose up against me.

17:41 And thou hast made my enemies turn their back upon me, * and hast destroyed them that hated me.

17:42 They cried, but there was none to save them, to the Lord: * but he heard them not.

17:43 And I shall beat them as small as the dust before the wind; * I shall bring them to nought, like the dirt in the streets.

17:44 Thou wilt deliver me from the contradictions of the people; * thou wilt make me head of the Gentiles.

17:45 A people which I knew not, hath served me: * at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me.

17:46 The children that are strangers have lied to me, * strange children have faded away, and have halted from their paths.

17:47 The Lord liveth, and blessed be my God, * and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

17:48 O God, who avengest me, and subduest the people under me, * my deliverer from my enraged enemies.

17:49 And thou wilt lift me up above them that rise up against me: * from the unjust man thou wilt deliver me.

17:50 Therefore will I give glory to thee, O Lord, among the nations, * and I will sing a psalm to thy name.

17:51 Giving great deliverance to his king, and shewing mercy to David, his anointed: * and to his seed for ever.

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.

Gertrude was born of a noble family at Eisleben, in Saxony, about the year of our Lord 1264. At five years of age she offered her virginity and herself to Jesus Christ, in the Benedictine nunnery at Rodalsdorf. From that time forth she was utterly estranged from earthly things, ever striving for things higher, and began to lead a kind of heavenly life. To learning in human letters she added knowledge of the things of God. In the thought thereof she earnestly desired, and soon reached, the perfection of a Christian soul. Of Christ, and of the things in His life, she spoke oftentimes with movings of spirit. The glory of God was the one end of all her thoughts, and to that her every longing and her every act were given. Though God had crowned her with so many and so noble gifts both of nature and of grace, her belief regarding herself was so humble that she was used to number as among the greatest of the wonders of His goodness that He had always in His mercy borne with one who was so utterly unworthy.

In the thirtieth year of her age she was elected Abbess of Rodalsdorf, where she had professed herself in the religious life, and afterwards of Heldelfs. This office she bore for forty years in love, wisdom, and zeal for strict observance, so that the house seemed like an ideal example of a sisterhood of perfect nuns. To each one she was a mother and a teacher, and yet would be as the least of all, being in sooth in all lowliness among them as she that served. That she might be more utterly God's only, she tormented her body with sleeplessness, hunger, and other afflictions, but withal ever true to herself, stood forth a pattern of innocency, gentleness, and long-suffering. The salvation of her neighbours was her constant earnest endeavour, and her godly toil bore abundant fruit. The love of God oftentimes threw her into trances, and she was given the grace of the deepest contemplation, even to union of spirit with God.

Christ Himself, to show what such a bride was to Him, revealed that He had in the heart of Gertrude a pleasant dwelling-place. The Virgin Mother of God she ever sought with deep reverence as a mother and warden whom she had received from Jesus Himself, and from her she had many benefits. Toward the most Divine Sacrament of the Eucharist, and the sufferings of the Lord, her soul was moved with love and gratitude, so that she sometimes wept abundantly. She helped with daily gifts and prayers the souls of the just condemned to the purifying fire. She wrote much for the fostering of godliness. She was glorified also by revelations from God, and by the gift of prophecy. Her last illness was rather the wasting of a home-sickness to be with God than a decay of the flesh, and she left this life (to live the undying life in Him, upon the 17th day of November,) in the year of our Lord 1292. God made her bright with miracles both during her life and after her death.

19:2 May the Lord hear thee in the day of tribulation: * ‡ may the name of the God of Jacob protect thee.

19:3 May he send thee help from the sanctuary: * and defend thee out of Sion.

19:4 May he be mindful of all thy sacrifices: * and may thy whole burnt offering be made fat.

19:5 May he give thee according to thy own heart; * and confirm all thy counsels.

19:6 We will rejoice in thy salvation; * and in the name of our God we shall be exalted.

19:7 The Lord fulfil all thy petitions: * now have I known that the Lord hath saved his anointed.

19:7 He will hear him from his holy heaven: * the salvation of his right hand is in powers.

19:8 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: * but we will call upon the name of the Lord, our God.

19:9 They are bound, and have fallen: * but we are risen, and are set upright.

19:10 O Lord, save the king: * and hear us in the day that we shall call upon thee.

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.

29:2 I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast upheld me: * ‡ and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me.

29:3 O Lord my God, I have cried to thee, * and thou hast healed me.

29:4 Thou hast brought forth, O Lord, my soul from hell: * thou hast saved me from them that go down into the pit.

29:5 Sing to the Lord, O ye his saints: * and give praise to the memory of his holiness.

29:6 For wrath is in his indignation; * and life in his good will.

29:6 In the evening weeping shall have place, * and in the morning gladness.

29:7 And in my abundance I said: * I shall never be moved.

29:8 O Lord, in thy favour, * thou gavest strength to my beauty.

29:8 Thou turnedst away thy face from me, * and I became troubled.

29:9 To thee, O Lord, will I cry: * and I will make supplication to my God.

29:10 What profit is there in my blood, * whilst I go down to corruption?

29:10 Shall dust confess to thee, * or declare thy truth?

29:11 The Lord hath heard, and hath had mercy on me: * the Lord became my helper.

29:12 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into joy: * thou hast cut my sackcloth, and hast compassed me with gladness:

29:13 To the end that my glory may sing to thee, and I may not regret: * O Lord my God, I will give praise to thee for ever.

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 St. Matthew

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: The Kingdom of heaven shall be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the Bridegroom and the Bride. And so on.

Homily by Pope St. Gregory the Great

Dearly beloved brethren oftentimes do I warn you to fly corrupt conversation, and to keep yourselves unspotted from the world. But the portion which is this day read from the Holy Gospel doth oblige me to say that even to these good things which ye do, ye must needs take all careful heed. Look ye well to it, that, when ye work righteousness, ye do it not as seeking the praise and admiration of men, for if the lust of praise do once creep in, that which seemeth so fair without, loseth its reward within. Behold how the Redeemer speaketh of these ten virgins. He calleth them all virgins, yet entered not all of them into the door of blessedness, for there were some of them who sought outwardly the honour of virginity, but would take no oil within their vessels with their lamps.

First of all, it is for us to ask What is the kingdom of Heaven? And wherefore shall the same be likened unto ten virgins, whereof, albeit five were wise, yet five were foolish For if the kingdom of heaven be such that there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, Apoc. xxi. 27, how can it be like unto five virgins which were foolish? But we must know that, in the word of God, the kingdom of heaven doth oftentimes signify the Church as she now is, touching the which the Lord saith in another place “The Son of Man shall send forth His Angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend.” Matth. xiii. 41. In that kingdom of Blessedness, wherein peace shall have her perfect reign, there shall be nothing found that offendeth for the angels to gather out.

The body of every man doth consist of five senses, and five being doubled, is ten. Forasmuch, therefore, as the whole body of the faithful doth consist of two sexes, the Holy Church is likened unto ten virgins. And forasmuch as in the Church the good are for the present mingled with the bad, and the reprobate with the elect, it is rightly said that, of the ten virgins, five are wise and five are foolish. There are many who have self-control, which do keep themselves from lusting after things outward, whose hope beareth them to things inward, who chastise the flesh, who long with intense home-sickness for their Fatherland which is in heaven, who seek an eternal reward, and who will not to receive for their labours the praise of men. These are they who reckon their glory, not in the mouths of men, but in the testimony of their own conscience. And many there be likewise who afflict the body by self-control, and yet who seek for their self-control applause from men.

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 didst make unto thyself a pleasant dwelling-place in the heart of thy blessed hand-maiden Gertrude, be Thou entreated for the same thy servant's sake, and by her prayers, to purge away in thy mercy all defilement from our hearts, and to grant us one day to rejoice with her in thy presence.

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

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.