Monastic 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.

7:2 O Lord my God, in thee have I put my trust: * save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.

7:3 Lest at any time he seize upon my soul like a lion, * while there is no one to redeem me, nor to save.

7:4 O Lord my God, if I have done this thing, * if there be iniquity in my hands:

7:5 If I have rendered to them that repaid me evils, * let me deservedly fall empty before my enemies.

7:6 Let the enemy pursue my soul, and take it, and tread down my life on the earth, * and bring down my glory to the dust.

7:7 Rise up, O Lord, in thy anger: * and be thou exalted in the borders of my enemies.

7:7 And arise, O Lord my God, in the precept which thou hast commanded: * and a congregation of people shall surround thee.

7:8 And for their sakes return thou on high. * The Lord judgeth the people.

7:9 Judge me, O Lord, according to my justice, * and according to my innocence in me.

7:10 The wickedness of sinners shall be brought to nought: and thou shalt direct the just: * the searcher of hearts and reins is God.

7:11 Just is my help from the Lord: * who saveth the upright of heart.

7:12 God is a just judge, strong and patient: * is he angry every day?

7:13 Except you will be converted, he will brandish his sword: * he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.

7:14 And in it he hath prepared the instruments of death, * he hath made ready his arrows for them that burn.

7:15 Behold he hath been in labour with injustice; * he hath conceived sorrow, and brought forth iniquity.

7:16 He hath opened a pit and dug it: * and he is fallen into the hole he made.

7:17 His sorrow shall be turned on his own head: * and his iniquity shall come down upon his crown.

7:18 I will give glory to the Lord according to his justice: * and will sing to the name of the Lord the most High.

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!

9:2 I will give praise to thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: * I will relate all thy wonders.

9:3 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: * I will sing to thy name, O thou most high.

9:4 When my enemy shall be turned back: * they shall be weakened and perish before thy face.

9:5 For thou hast maintained my judgment and my cause: * thou hast sat on the throne, who judgest justice.

9:6 Thou hast rebuked the Gentiles, and the wicked one hath perished: * thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever.

9:7 The swords of the enemy have failed unto the end: * and their cities thou hast destroyed.

9:7 Their memory hath perished with a noise. * But the Lord remaineth for ever.

9:8 He hath prepared his throne in judgment: * And he shall judge the world in equity, he shall judge the people in justice.

9:10 And the Lord is become a refuge for the poor: * a helper in due time in tribulation.

9:11 And let them trust in thee who know thy name: * for thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee, O Lord.

9:12 Sing ye to the Lord, who dwelleth in Sion: * declare his ways among the Gentiles.

9:13 For requiring their blood he hath remembered them: * he hath not forgotten the cry of the poor.

9:14 Have mercy on me, O Lord: * see my humiliation which I suffer from my enemies.

9:15 Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death, * that I may declare all thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion.

9:16 I will rejoice in thy salvation: * the Gentiles have stuck fast in the destruction which they have prepared.

9:16 Their foot hath been taken * in the very snare which they hid.

9:17 The Lord shall be known when he executeth judgments: * the sinner hath been caught in the works of his own hands.

9:18 The wicked shall be turned into hell, * all the nations that forget God.

9:19 For the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end: * the patience of the poor shall not perish for ever.

Now to the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. 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.

O Lord, our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who has safely brought us to the beginning of this day: defend us by thy mighty power; and grant that this day we fall into no sin, but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always what is righteous in thy sight.

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

Upon the same 18th day of November, were born into the better life:

At Antioch, the holy martyr Romanus. In the time of the Emperor Galerius, when the Prefect Asclepiades was assailing the Church and seeking utterly to overthrow it, Romanus exhorted the other Christians to gainsay him. For this cause he was put to horrid torments, and his tongue was cut out but thereafter he still uttered the praise of God. Then he was strangled in prison, and so was crowned by a famous martyrdom.

Before him there suffered also the little lad Barula, who was asked by Romanus whether it were better to worship one God or many gods, and answered that we ought to believe in the one God whom the Christians worship for the saying of the which thing he was first flogged and then beheaded.

Likewise at Antioch, (about the year 304,) the holy martyr Hesychius. He was a soldier, but when he heard the command that whosoever would not sacrifice to idols should cast away his military belt, he straightway took off his belt, for which cause a large stone was tied to his right hand, and he was thrown into the river.

On the same day, (in the fifth century,) the holy martyrs Oriculus and his Companions, who suffered for the Catholic faith in the persecution under the Vandals.

At Mainz, holy Maximus, Bishop of that see, who suffered many things from the Arians in the time of the Emperor Constantius, and died a Confessor.

At Tours, (in the year 942,) blessed Odo, Abbot of Cluny.

At Antioch, (about the year 782,) the holy monk Thomas, in whose honour the Antiochenes keep a solemn feast-day every year on account of a plague which was stayed by his prayers.

At Lucca, in Tuscany, is commemorated the finding, (in the year 800,) of the body of the holy Confessor Finnan, Bishop (of that see, a son of Ultach, King of Ulster.)

Holy Mary and all the Saints, intercede for us with the Lord, our God, so that we may merit His help and salvation, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

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.

O Lord, Almighty God, King of heaven and earth, Saviour of the world, bless, lead, rule and govern our hearts and bodies, our senses, words and deeds today, following thy law and commandments, that here and for eternity with thy help we shall be saved in freedom. Who livest and reignest, world without end.

The Rule of our Holy Father Benedict. Chapter 39: Concerning the Quantity of Foods

We believe that for the daily refection in all the months of the year, alike when it is at the sixth hour of the day as when it is at the ninth, two cooked dishes will avail, in consideration of the weakness of different individuals, that he who perchance cannot eat of one may be sufficiently catered for by the other; so for all the brethren let two cooked dishes suffice; and if there be fruit in addition or young vegetables let there be added a third dish also. Of bread let one pound by weight suffice, whether there be but one meal, or both dinner and supper, though if they are going to sup let a third part from that same pound be kept back by the cellarer and served when they sup. But if by chance any hard work shall have been done, it shall be within the discretion and power of the abbot to make some addition, if it be expedient, so long as all surfeiting be avoided and he take care that indigestion never overcome the monks; for nothing is so adverse to any Christian as surfeiting, as says our Lord: “See to it that your hearts be not weighed down with surfeiting.” And let not the same quantity be served to boys of tender age, but less than to their elders, moderation being observed in all cases. And let all abstain entirely from the eating of the flesh of quadrupeds, altogether excepting from this rule the weak and the sick.

And the Lord direct your hearts, in the charity of God, and the patience of Christ.

129:1 Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: * Lord, hear my voice.

129:2 Let thy ears be attentive * to the voice of my supplication.

129:3 If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: * Lord, who shall stand it.

129:4 For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: * and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord.

129:4 My soul hath relied on his word: * my soul hath hoped in the Lord.

129:6 From the morning watch even until night, * let Israel hope in the Lord.

129:7 Because with the Lord there is mercy: * and with him plentiful redemption.

129:8 And he shall redeem Israel * from all his iniquities.

skip second «O Lord, hear my prayer»

Let us pray.

O God the giver of pardon, and the lover of human salvation, we beseech thy clemency: that thou grant the brethren of our congregation, kinsfolk, and benefactors, which are departed out of this world, blessed Mary ever Virgin making intercession with all the saints, to come to the fellowship of eternal blessedness.

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