Monastic 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.

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.

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.

This the confessor of the Lord, whose triumph

Now all the faithful celebrate, with gladness

Erst on this feast-day merited to enter

Into his glory.

Saintly and prudent, modest in behaviour,

Peaceful and sober, chaste was he, and lowly.

While that life’s vigour, coursing through his members,

Quickened his being.

Sick ones of old time, to his tomb resorting,

Sorely by ailments manifold afflicted,

Oft-times have welcomed health and strength returning,

At his petition.

Whence we in chorus gladly do him honour,

Chanting his praises with devout affection,

That in his merits we may have a portion,

Now and forever.

His be the glory, power and salvation,

Who over all things reigneth in the highest,

Earth’s mighty fabric ruling and directing,

Onely and Trinal.

Amen.

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.

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!

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.

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.

R.* Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek.

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.

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?

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.

Continuation + of the Holy Gospel according to Mark

At that time, Jesus answered and said to His disciples, Have faith in God. Amen I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Arise, and hurl yourself into the sea,’ and does not waver in his heart, but believes that whatever he says will be done, it shall be done for him. Therefore I say to you, all things whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come to you.

Thou art worthy of praise, thou art worthy of hymns, to Thee be glory: to God the Father and the Son with the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.

Lord have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us, Lord have mercy upon us.

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.

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.