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.

34:1 Judge thou, O Lord, them that wrong me: * overthrow them that fight against me.

34:2 Take hold of arms and shield: * and rise up to help me.

34:3 Bring out the sword, and shut up the way against them that persecute me: * say to my soul: I am thy salvation.

34:4 Let them be confounded and ashamed * that seek after my soul.

34:4 Let them be turned back and be confounded * that devise against me.

34:5 Let them become as dust before the wind: * and let the Angel of the Lord straiten them.

34:6 Let their way become dark and slippery; * and let the Angel of the Lord pursue them.

34:7 For without cause they have hidden their net for me unto destruction: * without cause they have upbraided my soul.

34:8 Let the snare which he knoweth not come upon him: and let the net which he hath hidden catch him: * and into that very snare let them fall.

34:9 But my soul shall rejoice in the Lord; * and shall be delighted in his salvation.

34:10 All my bones shall say: * Lord, who is like to thee?

34:10 Who deliverest the poor from the hand of them that are stronger than he; * the needy and the poor from them that strip him.

34:11 Unjust witnesses rising up * have asked me things I knew not.

34:12 They repaid me evil for good: * to the depriving me of my soul.

34:13 But as for me, when they were troublesome to me, * I was clothed with haircloth.

34:13 I humbled my soul with fasting; * and my prayer shall be turned into my bosom.

34:14 As a neighbour and as an own brother, so did I please: * as one mourning and sorrowful so was I humbled.

34:15 But they rejoiced against me, and came together: * scourges were gathered together upon me, and I knew not.

34:16 They were separated, and repented not: they tempted me, they scoffed at me with scorn: * they gnashed upon me with their teeth.

34:17 Lord, when wilt thou look upon me? * rescue thou my soul from their malice: my only one from the lions.

34:18 I will give thanks to thee in a great church; * I will praise thee in a strong people.

34:19 Let not them that are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: * who have hated me without cause, and wink with the eyes.

34:20 For they spoke indeed peaceably to me; * and speaking in the anger of the earth they devised guile.

34:21 And they opened their mouth wide against me; * they said: Well done, well done, our eyes have seen it.

34:22 Thou hast seen, O Lord, be not thou silent: * O Lord, depart not from me.

34:23 Arise, and be attentive to my judgment: * to my cause, my God, and my Lord.

34:24 Judge me, O Lord my God according to thy justice, * and let them not rejoice over me.

34:25 Let them not say in their hearts: It is well, it is well, to our mind: * neither let them say: We have swallowed him up.

34:26 Let them blush: and be ashamed together, * who rejoice at my evils.

34:26 Let them be clothed with confusion and shame, * who speak great things against me.

34:27 Let them rejoice and be glad, who are well pleased with my justice, * and let them say always: The Lord be magnified, who delights in the peace of his servant.

34:28 And my tongue shall meditate thy justice, * thy praise all the day long.

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 The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Phatuel.

2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land: did this ever happen in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

3 Tell ye of this to your children, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.

4 That which the palmerworm hath left, the locust hath eaten: and that which the locust hath left, the bruchus hath eaten: and that which the bruchus hath left, the mildew hath destroyed.

5 Awake, ye that are drunk, and weep, and mourn all ye that take delight in drinking sweet wine: for it is cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong and without number: his teeth are like the teeth of a lion: and his cheek teeth as of a lion's whelp.

7 He hath laid my vineyard waste, and hath pilled off the bark of my fig tree: he hath stripped it bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

9 Sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house of the Lord: the priests, the Lord's ministers, have mourned:

10 The country is destroyed, the ground hath mourned: for the corn is wasted, the wine is confounded, the oil hath languished.

11 The husbandmen are ashamed, the vinedressers have howled for the wheat, and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished.

36:1 Be not emulous of evildoers; * nor envy them that work iniquity.

36:2 For they shall shortly wither away as grass, * and as the green herbs shall quickly fall.

36:3 Trust in the Lord, and do good, * and dwell in the land, and thou shalt be fed with its riches.

36:4 Delight in the Lord, * and he will give thee the requests of thy heart.

36:5 Commit thy way to the Lord, and trust in him, * and he will do it.

36:6 And he will bring forth thy justice as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday: * be subject to the Lord and pray to him.

36:7 Envy not the man who prospereth in his way; * the man who doth unjust things.

36:8 Cease from anger, and leave rage; * have no emulation to do evil.

36:9 For the evildoers shall be cut off: * but they that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the land.

36:10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: * and thou shalt seek his place, and shalt not find it.

36:11 But the meek shall inherit the land, * and shall delight in abundance of peace.

36:12 The sinner shall watch the just man: * and shall gnash upon him with his teeth.

36:13 But the Lord shall laugh at him: * for he foreseeth that his day shall come.

36:14 The wicked have drawn out the sword: * they have bent their bow.

36:14 To cast down the poor and needy, * to kill the upright of heart.

36:15 Let their sword enter into their own hearts, * and let their bow be broken.

36:16 Better is a little to the just, * than the great riches of the wicked.

36:17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken in pieces; * but the Lord strengtheneth the just.

36:18 The Lord knoweth the days of the undefiled; * and their inheritance shall be for ever.

36:19 They shall not be confounded in the evil time; and in the days of famine they shall be filled, * because the wicked shall perish.

36:20 And the enemies of the Lord, presently after they shall be honoured and exalted, * shall come to nothing and vanish like smoke.

36:21 The sinner shall borrow, and not pay again; * but the just sheweth mercy and shall give.

36:22 For such as bless him shall inherit the land: * but such as curse him shall perish.

36:23 With the Lord shall the steps of a man be directed, * and he shall like well his way.

36:24 When he shall fall he shall not be bruised, * for the Lord putteth his hand under him.

36:25 I have been young, and now am old; * and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread.

36:26 He sheweth mercy, and lendeth all the day long; * and his seed shall be in blessing.

36:27 Decline from evil and do good, * and dwell for ever and ever.

36:28 For the Lord loveth judgment, and will not forsake his saints: * they shall be preserved for ever.

36:28 The unjust shall be punished, * and the seed of the wicked shall perish.

36:29 But the just shall inherit the land, * and shall dwell therein for evermore.

36:30 The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom: * and his tongue shall speak judgment.

36:31 The law of his God is in his heart, * and his steps shall not be supplanted.

36:32 The wicked watcheth the just man, * and seeketh to put him to death.

36:33 But the Lord will not leave him in his hands; * nor condemn him when he shall be judged.

36:34 Expect the Lord and keep his way: and he will exalt thee to inherit the land: * when the sinners shall perish thou shalt see.

36:35 I have seen the wicked highly exalted, * and lifted up like the cedars of Libanus.

36:36 And I passed by, and lo, he was not: * and I sought him and his place was not found.

36:37 Keep innocence, and behold justice: * for there are remnants for the peaceable man.

36:38 But the unjust shall be destroyed together: * the remnants of the wicked shall perish.

36:39 But the salvation of the just is from the Lord, * and he is their protector in the time of trouble.

36:40 And the Lord will help them and deliver them: * and he will rescue them from the wicked, and save them, because they have hoped in him.

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.

Gregory, Archbishop of Neo-Caesarea, in Pontus, is famous indeed for his holiness and doctrine, but much more so on account of the signs and wonders which he wrought, the number and character of which were so extraordinary that they have gotten him the name of Thaumatourgos, (which is, being interpreted from the Greek, the Wonderworker.) Holy Basil compareth him with Moses, with the Prophets, and with the Apostles, and testifieth that by his prayers he moved a mountain that stood in the way of the building of a Church. Moreover, he dried up a marsh, which was a cause of strife between brothers. Also, when the River Lycus overflowed and wasted the fields, he set his walking-stick on the bank, ~(which stick forthwith grew into a green tree,) and confined the stream within its bed, so that it never more passed that place again.

He oftentimes cast out devils either from heathen idols or from the bodies of men, and did many other marvelous things, whereby he drew countless numbers to believe in Jesus Christ. Also he had the spirit of prophecy, and foretold things to come. When he was at the point of death, he asked how many unbelievers were left in the city of Neo-Caesarea? and when they answered Seventeen, he gave God thanks, and said: Just so many were the faithful when I took the Bishopric. He wrote a great deal, whereby, as well as by his wonders, he hath enlightened the Church of God.

From the Sermons of St. Maximus, Bishop of Turin.

Our blessed Father Gregory is safe now, and we may safely praise his great deeds. He that kept such a manful hand upon the tiller of faith, hath now cast the anchor of hope in moorings of great calm, and brought his ship, heavy laden with heavenly riches and everlasting merchandise, safe into the heaven where he would be. Thus fareth it now with him who never fainted, but for so long time held up ever the shield of the fear of God against all that did beset him. What was his whole life but one long fight against an enemy that never slept?

37:2 Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy indignation; * nor chastise me in thy wrath.

37:3 For thy arrows are fastened in me: * and thy hand hath been strong upon me.

37:4 There is no health in my flesh, because of thy wrath: * there is no peace for my bones, because of my sins.

37:5 For my iniquities are gone over my head: * and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me.

37:6 My sores are putrified and corrupted, * because of my foolishness.

37:7 I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to the end: * I walked sorrowful all the day long.

37:8 For my loins are filled with illusions; * and there is no health in my flesh.

37:9 I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly: * I roared with the groaning of my heart.

37:10 Lord, all my desire is before thee, * and my groaning is not hidden from thee.

37:11 My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me, * and the light of my eyes itself is not with me.

37:12 My friends and my neighbours * have drawn near, and stood against me.

37:12 And they that were near me stood afar off: * and they that sought my soul used violence.

37:13 And they that sought evils to me spoke vain things, * and studied deceits all the day long.

37:14 But I, as a deaf man, heard not: * and as a dumb man not opening his mouth.

37:15 And I became as a man that heareth not: * and that hath no reproofs in his mouth.

37:16 For in thee, O Lord, have I hoped: * thou wilt hear me, O Lord my God.

37:17 For I said: Lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me: * and whilst my feet are moved, they speak great things against me.

37:18 For I am ready for scourges: * and my sorrow is continually before me.

37:19 For I will declare my iniquity: * and I will think for my sin.

37:20 But my enemies live, and are stronger than I: * and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.

37:21 They that render evil for good, have detracted me, * because I followed goodness.

37:22 Forsake me not, O Lord my God: * do not thou depart from me.

37:23 Attend unto my help, * O Lord, the God of my salvation.

38:2 I said: I will take heed to my ways: * that I sin not with my tongue.

38:2 I have set guard to my mouth, * when the sinner stood against me.

38:3 I was dumb, and was humbled, and kept silence from good things: * and my sorrow was renewed.

38:4 My heart grew hot within me: * and in my meditation a fire shall flame out.

38:5 I spoke with my tongue: * O Lord, make me know my end.

38:5 And what is the number of my days: * that I may know what is wanting to me.

38:6 Behold thou hast made my days measurable: * and my substance is as nothing before thee.

38:6 And indeed all things are vanity: * every man living.

38:7 Surely man passeth as an image: * yea, and he is disquieted in vain.

38:7 He storeth up: * and he knoweth not for whom he shall gather these things.

38:8 And now what is my hope? Is it not the Lord? * And my substance is with thee.

38:9 Deliver thou me from all my iniquities: * thou hast made me a reproach to the fool.

38:10 I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth, because thou hast done it: * remove thy scourges from me.

38:12 The strength of thy hand hath made me faint in rebukes: * thou hast corrected man for iniquity.

38:12 And thou hast made his soul to waste away like a spider: * surely in vain is any man disquieted.

38:13 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my supplication: * give ear to my tears.

38:13 Be not silent: for I am a stranger with thee, * and a sojourner as all my fathers were.

38:14 O forgive me, that I may be refreshed, before I go hence, * and be no more.

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 Mark

And Jesus answering, saith to them: Have the faith of God. Amen I say to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, Be thou removed and be cast into the sea, and shall not stagger in his heart, but believe, that whatsoever he saith shall be done; it shall be done unto him. And so on.

Homily by the Venerable Bede, Priest at Jarrow.

The heathen, who have written blasphemies against the Church, are used to cast in our teeth that we have not full faith in God, since we have never been able to move mountains. Such should be answered that we do not possess records of everything that hath come to pass in the Church, any more than, the Scripture being witness, we possess records of all the doings of our Lord Christ Himself. ~John xx. 30; xxi. 25. Mountains may have been removed and cast into the sea, in case of need; a like case, indeed, as we read, was that which came to pass at the prayers of the Blessed Father Gregory, Archbishop of Neo-Caesarea, in Pontus, that right worthy and mighty man, when a mountain was moved from one place on land to another place on land, as the dwellers in the city had need.

Gregory was wishful to build a Church in a meet place, but the site was too narrow, being wedged in between a mountain on the one side and a precipice going down into the sea on the other. He came therefore by night to the place, kneeling down, and reminding the Lord of His promise, and calling upon Him to remove the mountain. And in the morning, when he came thither again, he found that the mountain had been removed back, and as much room left for the builders of the Church as they needed. This man therefore would have been able, and any other man of like grace would have been able, if need were, to obtain of the Lord, by the force of his faith, that even a mountain should be removed, and be cast into the sea.

Mystically, however, by a mountain is sometimes signified the devil, on account of the pride whereby he lifteth himself up against God, and would fain be like unto the Most High. And when holy teachers, strong in faith, do preach the Word, this mountain is removed, and cast into the sea, that is to say, the unclean spirit is removed out of the hearts of such as are foreordained unto eternal life, and sent free to exercise the wild rage of his tyranny in the riotous and embittered minds of the unfaithful.

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.

Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Gregory thy blessed Confessor and Bishop may increase our devotion and promote our salvation.

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.