Monastic Breviary

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.

85:1 Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear me: * ‡ for I am needy and poor.

85:2 Preserve my soul, for I am holy: * save thy servant, O my God, that trusteth in thee.

85:3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day. * Give joy to the soul of thy servant, for to thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul.

85:5 For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild: * and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee.

85:6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer: * and attend to the voice of my petition.

85:7 I have called upon thee in the day of my trouble: * because thou hast heard me.

85:8 There is none among the gods like unto thee, O Lord: * and there is none according to thy works.

85:9 All the nations thou hast made shall come and adore before thee, O Lord: * and they shall glorify thy name.

85:10 For thou art great and dost wonderful things: * thou art God alone.

85:11 Conduct me, O Lord, in thy way, and I will walk in thy truth: * let my heart rejoice that it may fear thy name.

85:12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, * and I will glorify thy name for ever:

85:13 For thy mercy is great towards me: * and thou hast delivered my soul out of the lower hell.

85:14 O God, the wicked are risen up against me, and the assembly of the mighty have sought my soul: * and they have not set thee before their eyes.

85:15 And thou, O Lord, art a God of compassion, and merciful, * patient, and of much mercy, and true.

85:16 O look upon me, and have mercy on me: * give thy command to thy servant, and save the son of thy handmaid.

85:17 Shew me a token for good: that they who hate me may see, and be confounded, * because thou, O Lord, hast helped me and hast comforted me.

86:1 The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains: * The Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the tabernacles of Jacob.

86:3 Glorious things are said of thee, * O city of God.

86:4 I will be mindful of Rahab and of Babylon * knowing me.

86:4 Behold the foreigners, and Tyre, and the people of the Ethiopians, * these were there.

86:5 Shall not Sion say: This man and that man is born in her? * and the Highest himself hath founded her.

86:6 The Lord shall tell in his writings of peoples and of princes, * of them that have been in her.

86:7 The dwelling in thee * is as it were of all rejoicing.

88:2 The mercies of the Lord * I will sing for ever.

88:2 I will shew forth thy truth with my mouth * to generation and generation.

88:3 For thou hast said: Mercy shall be built up for ever in the heavens: * thy truth shall be prepared in them.

88:4 I have made a covenant with my elect: I have sworn to David my servant: * Thy seed will I settle for ever.

88:5 And I will build up thy throne * unto generation and generation.

88:6 The heavens shall confess thy wonders, O Lord: * and thy truth in the church of the saints.

88:7 For who in the clouds can be compared to the Lord: * or who among the sons of God shall be like to God?

88:8 God, who is glorified in the assembly of the saints: * great and terrible above all them that are about him.

88:9 O Lord God of hosts, who is like to thee? * thou art mighty, O Lord, and thy truth is round about thee.

88:10 Thou rulest the power of the sea: * and appeasest the motion of the waves thereof.

88:11 Thou hast humbled the proud one, as one that is slain: * with the arm of thy strength thou hast scattered thy enemies.

88:12 Thine are the heavens, and thine is the earth: the world and the fulness thereof thou hast founded: * the north and the sea thou hast created.

88:13 Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name: * thy arm is with might.

88:14 Let thy hand be strengthened, and thy right hand exalted: * justice and judgment are the preparation of thy throne.

88:15 Mercy and truth shall go before thy face: * blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation.

88:16 They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance: and in thy name they shall rejoice all the day, * and in thy justice they shall be exalted.

88:18 For thou art the glory of their strength: * and in thy good pleasure shall our horn be exalted.

88:19 For our protection is of the Lord, * and of our king the holy one of Israel.

88:20 Then thou spokest in a vision to thy saints, and saidst: * I have laid help upon one that is mighty, and have exalted one chosen out of my people.

88:21 I have found David my servant: * with my holy oil I have anointed him.

88:22 For my hand shall help him: * and my arm shall strengthen him.

88:23 The enemy shall have no advantage over him: * nor the son of iniquity have power to hurt him.

88:24 And I will cut down his enemies before his face; * and them that hate him I will put to flight.

88:25 And my truth and my mercy shall be with him: * and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

88:26 And I will set his hand in the sea; * and his right hand in the rivers.

88:27 He shall cry out to me: Thou art my father: * my God, and the support of my salvation.

88:28 And I will make him my firstborn, * high above the kings of the earth.

88:29 I will keep my mercy for him for ever: * and my covenant faithful to him.

88:30 And I will make his seed to endure for evermore: * and his throne as the days of heaven.

88:31 And if his children forsake my law, * and walk not in my judgments:

88:32 If they profane my justices: * and keep not my commandments:

88:33 I will visit their iniquities with a rod: * and their sins with stripes.

88:34 But my mercy I will not take away from him: * nor will I suffer my truth to fail.

88:35 Neither will I profane my covenant: * and the words that proceed from my mouth I will not make void.

88:36 Once have I sworn by my holiness: I will not lie unto David: * his seed shall endure for ever.

88:37 And his throne as the sun before me: * and as the moon perfect for ever, and a faithful witness in heaven.

88:39 But thou hast rejected and despised: * thou hast been angry with thy anointed.

88:40 Thou hast overthrown the covenant of thy servant: * thou hast profaned his sanctuary on the earth.

88:41 Thou hast broken down all his hedges: * thou hast made his strength fear.

88:42 All that pass by the way have robbed him: * he is become a reproach to his neighbours.

88:43 Thou hast set up the right hand of them that oppress him: * thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

88:44 Thou hast turned away the help of his sword; * and hast not assisted him in battle.

88:45 Thou hast made his purification to cease: * and thou hast cast his throne down to the ground.

88:46 Thou hast shortened the days of his time: * thou hast covered him with confusion.

88:47 How long, O Lord, turnest thou away unto the end? * shall thy anger burn like fire?

88:48 Remember what my substance is: * for hast thou made all the children of men in vain?

88:49 Who is the man that shall live, and not see death: * that shall deliver his soul from the hand of hell?

88:50 Lord, where are thy ancient mercies, * according to what thou didst swear to David in thy truth?

88:51 Be mindful, O Lord, of the reproach of thy servants * which I have held in my bosom of many nations:

88:52 Wherewith thy enemies have reproached, O Lord; * wherewith they have reproached the change of thy anointed.

88:53 Blessed be the Lord for evermore. * So be it. So be it.

75:2 In Judea God is known: * his name is great in Israel.

75:3 And his place is in peace: * and his abode in Sion:

75:4 There hath he broken the powers of bows, * the shield, the sword, and the battle.

75:5 Thou enlightenest wonderfully from the everlasting hills. * All the foolish of heart were troubled.

75:6 They have slept their sleep; * and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands.

75:7 At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, * they have all slumbered that mounted on horseback.

75:8 Thou art terrible, and who shall resist thee? * from that time thy wrath.

75:9 Thou hast caused judgment to be heard from heaven: * the earth trembled and was still,

75:10 When God arose in judgment, * to save all the meek of the earth.

75:11 For the thought of man shall give praise to thee: * and the remainders of the thought shall keep holiday to thee.

75:12 Vow ye, and pay to the Lord your God: * all you that are round about him bring presents.

75:13 To him that is terrible, even to him who taketh away the spirit of princes: * to the terrible with the kings of the earth.

93:1 The Lord is the God to whom revenge belongeth: * the God of revenge hath acted freely.

93:2 Lift up thyself, thou that judgest the earth: * render a reward to the proud.

93:3 How long shall sinners, O Lord: * how long shall sinners glory?

93:4 Shall they utter, and speak iniquity: * shall all speak who work injustice?

93:5 Thy people, O Lord, they have brought low: * and they have afflicted thy inheritance.

93:6 They have slain the widow and the stranger: * and they have murdered the fatherless.

93:7 And they have said: The Lord shall not see: * neither shall the God of Jacob understand.

93:8 Understand, ye senseless among the people: * and, you fools, be wise at last.

93:9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? * or he that formed the eye, doth he not consider?

93:10 He that chastiseth nations, shall he not rebuke: * he that teacheth man knowledge?

93:11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, * that they are vain.

93:12 Blessed is the man whom thou shalt instruct, O Lord: * and shalt teach him out of thy law.

93:13 That thou mayst give him rest from the evil days: * till a pit be dug for the wicked.

93:14 For the Lord will not cast off his people: * neither will he forsake his own inheritance.

93:15 Until justice be turned into judgment: * and they that are near it are all the upright in heart.

93:16 Who shall rise up for me against the evildoers? * or who shall stand with me against the workers of iniquity?

93:17 Unless the Lord had been my helper, * my soul had almost dwelt in hell.

93:18 If I said: My foot is moved: * thy mercy, O Lord, assisted me.

93:19 According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, * thy comforts have given joy to my soul.

93:20 Doth the seat of iniquity stick to thee, * who framest labour in commandment?

93:21 They will hunt after the soul of the just, * and will condemn innocent blood.

93:22 But the Lord is my refuge: * and my God the help of my hope.

93:23 And he will render them their iniquity: and in their malice he will destroy them: * the Lord our God will destroy them.

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

11 Wherefore those men carefully watching him, found Daniel praying and making supplication to his God.

12 And they came and spoke to the king concerning the edict: O king, hast thou not decreed, that every man that should make a request to any of the gods, or men, for thirty days, but to thyself, O king, should be cast into the den of the lions? And the king answered them, saying: The word is true according to the decree of the Medes and Persians, which it is not lawful to violate.

13 Then they answered, and said before the king: Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Juda, hath not regarded thy law, nor the decree that thou hast made: but three times a day he maketh his prayer.

14 Now when the king had heard these words, he was very much grieved, and in behalf of Daniel he set his heart to deliver him and even till sunset he laboured to save him.

15 But those men perceiving the king's design, said to him: Know thou, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, that no decree which the king hath made, may be altered.

16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of the lions. And the king said to Daniel: thy God, whom thou always servest, he will deliver thee.

17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den: which the king sealed with his own ring, and with the ring of his nobles, that nothing should be done against Daniel.

18 And the king went away to his house and laid himself down without taking supper, and meat was not set before him, and even sleep departed from him.

19 Then the king rising very early in the morning, went in haste to the lions' den:

20 And coming near to the den, cried with a lamentable voice to Daniel, and said to him: Daniel, servant of the living God, hath thy God, whom thou servest always, been able, thinkest thou, to deliver thee from the lions?

21 And Daniel answering the king, said: O king, live for ever:

22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut up the mouths of the lions, and they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him justice hath been found in me: yea and before thee, O king, I have done no offence.

23 Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and he commanded that Daniel should be taken out of the den: and Daniel was taken out of the den, and no hurt was found in him, because he believed in his God.

24 And by the king's commandment, those men were brought that had accused Daniel: and they were cast into the lions' den, they and their children, and their wives: and they did not reach the bottom of the den, before the lions caught them, and broke all their bones in pieces.

In passióne domínica, fratres, tria specialiter convénit intuéri: opus, modum, causam. Nam in ópere quidem patiéntia, in modo humílitas, in causa cáritas commendatur. Patiéntia autem singuláris, quod vidélicet: cum supra dorsum ejus fabricarent peccatóres; cum sic extenderetur in ligno, ut dinumerarentur ómnia ossa ejus; cum fortíssimum illud propugnaculum, quod custódit Israël, lindique foraretur; cum foderéntur manus ejus et pedes, sicut agnus ad occisionem ductus sit et tamquam ovis coram tondénte non apéruit os suum. Non advérsus Patrem

murmurans, a quo missus fúerat; non advérsus humánum genus, pro quo, quæ non rapuit, exsolvebat; non dénique vel contra pópulum ipsum peculiárem sibi, a quo pro tantis benefíciis tanta mala recipiebat.

Modum ipsum, si diligénter attendas, non modo mitem, sed et húmilem corde cognosces. Nempe in humilitáte judícium ejus sublatum est, cum nec ad tantas blasphemias, nec ad falsissima, quæ sibi objiciebantur crímina respónderet. Vídimus, inquit, eum et non erat ei aspectus, nec speciosum forma præ fíliis hóminum, sed oppróbrium hóminum et tamquam leprosum, novissimum virórum, plane virum dolórum a Deo percussum et humiliátum; ita ut nulla esset ei spécies, neque decor. O novissimum et altíssimum! O húmilem et sublimem! Oppróbrium hóminum et glóriam Angelórum! Nemo illo sublimior, neque humilior. Dénique sputis illitus est, oppróbriis saturatus est, morte turpissima condemnátus est, cum sceleratis deputatus est. Nihílque merebitur vel ista humílitas, quæ hunc habet modum; imo quæ tam est ultra modum? Sicut est patiéntia singuláris, sic et humílitas admirábilis; utráque sine exémplo.

Utrámque tamen magnífice causa ipsa comméndat, nimírum cáritas est. Propter nímiam enim caritátem suam, qua diléxit nos Deus, ut servum redímeret, nec Pater Fílio, nec sibi Fílius ipse pepércit. Vere nímiam, quia et hæc mensúram excedit, modum superat, plane supereminens univérsis. Majórem, inquit, caritátem nemo habet, quam ut ánimam suam ponat quis pro amícis suis. Tu majórem habuisti Dómine, ponens eam étiam pro inimícis. Cum enim adhuc inimíci essémus, per mortem tuam et tibi reconciliati sumus et Patri. Quænam ergo ália vidébitur esse, vel fuísse, vel fore huic símilis caritáti? Vix pro justo quis móritur. Tu pro injustis passus es, moriens propter delícta nostra, qui venisti justificare gratis peccatóres, servos fácere fratres, captívos cohæredes, éxsules reges.

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, do manfully, and be strengthened. Let all your things be done in charity.

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.

Dómine Jesu Christe, qui de cœlis ad terram de sinu Patris descendisti, et sánguinem tuum pretiósum in remissiónem peccatórum nostrórum fudisti: te humíliter deprecámur; ut in die judícii, ad déxteram tuam audíre mereámur: Veníte benedícti:

Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.