III. classis
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1. The fast, as taught by holy lore, We keep in solemn course once more: The fast to all men known, and bound In forty days of yearly round. 2. The law and seers that were of old In diverse ways this Lent foretold, Which Christ, all seasons’ King and Guide, In after ages sanctified. 3. More sparing therefore let us make The words we speak, the food we take, Our sleep and mirth, —and closer barred Be every sense in holy guard. 4. Avoid the evil thoughts that roll Like waters o’er the heedless soul; Nor let the foe occasion find Our souls in slavery to bind. 5. In prayer together let us fall, And cry for mercy, one and all, And weep before the Judge’s feet, And his avenging wrath entreat. 6. Thy grace have we offended sore, By sins, O God, which we deplore; But pour upon us from on high, O pardoning One, thy clemency. 7. Remember thou, though frail we be, That yet thine handiwork are we; Nor let the honour of thy name Be by another put to shame. 8. Forgive the sin that we have wrought; Increase the good that we have sought: That we at length, our wanderings o'er, May please thee here and evermore. 9. Grant O thou Blessed Trinity, Grant, O Essential Unity, That this our fast of forty days May work our profit and thy praise. Amen.
The Lord hath looked down from heaven * upon the children of men.
The fool hath said in his heart: * there is no God.
They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways: * there is none that doth good, no not one.
The Lord hath looked down from heaven upon the children of men, * to see if there be any that understand and seek God.
They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together: * there is none that doth good: no not one.
Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they acted deceitfully: * the poison of asps is under their lips.
Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; * their feet are swift to shed blood.
Destruction and unhappiness in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known: * there is no fear of God before their eyes.
Shall not all they know that work iniquity, * who devour my people as they eat bread?
They have not called upon the Lord: * there have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear.
For the Lord is in the just generation: you have confounded the counsel of the poor man; * but the Lord is his hope.
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.
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.
The Lord hath looked down from heaven * upon the children of men.
He who worketh justice * may rest on thy holy mountain, O Lord.
Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? * or who shall rest in thy holy hill?
He that walketh without blemish, * and worketh justice:
He that speaketh truth in his heart, * who hath not used deceit in his tongue:
Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: * nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.
In his sight the malignant is brought to nothing: * but he glorifieth them that fear the Lord:
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:
He that doth these things, * shall not be moved for ever.
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.
He who worketh justice * may rest on thy holy mountain, O Lord.
O Lord, incline * thy ear to me, and hear my voice, my Lord.
Hear, O Lord, my justice: * attend to my supplication.
Give ear unto my prayer, * which proceedeth not from deceitful lips.
Let my judgment come forth from thy countenance: * let thy eyes behold the things that are equitable.
Thou hast proved my heart, and visited it by night, * thou hast tried me by fire: and iniquity hath not been found in me.
That my mouth may not speak the works of men: * for the sake of the words of thy lips, I have kept hard ways.
Perfect thou my goings in thy paths: * that my footsteps be not moved.
I have cried to thee, for thou, O God, hast heard me: * O incline thy ear unto me, and hear my words.
Shew forth thy wonderful mercies; * thou who savest them that trust in thee.
From them that resist thy right hand keep me, * as the apple of thy eye.
Protect me under the shadow of thy wings. * from the face of the wicked who have afflicted me.
My enemies have surrounded my soul: They have shut up their fat: * their mouth hath spoken proudly.
They have cast me forth, and now they have surrounded me: * they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth.
They have taken me, as a lion prepared for the prey; * and as a young lion dwelling in secret places.
Arise, O Lord, disappoint him and supplant him; * deliver my soul from the wicked one; thy sword from the enemies of thy hand.
O Lord, divide them from the few of the earth in their life: * their belly is filled from thy hidden stores.
They are full of children: * and they have left to their little ones the rest of their substance.
But as for me, I will appear before thy sight in justice: * I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear.
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.
O Lord, incline * thy ear to me, and hear my voice, my Lord.
I will love thee, * O Lord, who art my strength.
I will love thee, O Lord, my strength: * The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer.
My God is my helper, * and in him will I put my trust.
My protector, and the horn of my salvation, * and my support.
Praising, I will call upon the Lord: * and I shall be saved from my enemies.
The sorrows of death surrounded me: * and the torrents of iniquity troubled me.
The sorrows of hell encompassed me: * and the snares of death prevented me.
In my affliction I called upon the Lord, * and I cried to my God:
And he heard my voice from his holy temple: * and my cry before him came into his ears.
The earth shook and trembled: * the foundations of the mountains were troubled and were moved, because he was angry with them.
There went up a smoke in his wrath: and a fire flamed from his face: * coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens, and came down, * and darkness was under his feet.
And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew; * he flew upon the wings of the winds.
And he made darkness his covert, his pavilion round about him: * dark waters in the clouds of the air.
At the brightness that was before him the clouds passed, * hail and coals of fire.
And the Lord thundered from heaven, * and the Highest gave his voice: * hail and coals of fire.
And he sent forth his arrows, and he scattered them: * he multiplied lightnings, and troubled them.
Then the fountains of waters appeared, * and the foundations of the world were discovered:
At thy rebuke, O Lord, * at the blast of the spirit of thy wrath.
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.
I will love thee, * O Lord, who art my strength.
The Lord will reward me * according to my justice.
He sent from on high, and took me: * and received me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strongest enemies, and from them that hated me: * for they were too strong for me.
They prevented me in the day of my affliction: * and the Lord became my protector.
And he brought me forth into a large place: * he saved me, because he was well pleased with me.
And the Lord will reward me according to my justice; * and will repay me according to the cleanness of my hands:
Because I have kept the ways of the Lord; * and have not done wickedly against my God.
For all his judgments are in my sight: * and his justices I have not put away from me.
And I shall be spotless with him: * and shall keep myself from my iniquity.
And the Lord will reward me according to my justice: * and according to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes.
With the holy thou wilt be holy; * and with the innocent man thou wilt be innocent:
And with the elect thou wilt be elect: * and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted.
For thou wilt save the humble people; * but wilt bring down the eyes of the proud.
For thou lightest my lamp, O Lord: * O my God, enlighten my darkness.
For by thee I shall be delivered from temptation; * and through my God I shall go over a wall.
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.
For who is God but the Lord? * or who is God but our God?
God, who hath girt me with strength; * and made my way blameless.
Who hath made my feet like the feet of harts: * and who setteth me upon high places.
Who teacheth my hands to war: * and thou hast made my arms like a brazen bow.
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.
The Lord will reward me * according to my justice.
The Lord liveth, * and blessed be my God, my salvation.
Thou hast given me the protection of thy salvation: * and thy right hand hath held me up:
And thy discipline hath corrected me unto the end: * and thy discipline, the same shall teach me.
Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; * and my feet are not weakened.
I will pursue after my enemies, and overtake them: * and I will not turn again till they are consumed.
I will break them, and they shall not be able to stand: * they shall fall under my feet.
And thou hast girded me with strength unto battle; * and hast subdued under me them that rose up against me.
And thou hast made my enemies turn their back upon me, * and hast destroyed them that hated me.
They cried, but there was none to save them, to the Lord: * but he heard them not.
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.
Thou wilt deliver me from the contradictions of the people; * thou wilt make me head of the Gentiles.
A people which I knew not, hath served me: * at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me.
The children that are strangers have lied to me, * strange children have faded away, and have halted from their paths.
The Lord liveth, and blessed be my God, * and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
O God, who avengest me, and subduest the people under me, * my deliverer from my enraged enemies.
And thou wilt lift me up above them that rise up against me: * from the unjust man thou wilt deliver me.
Therefore will I give glory to thee, O Lord, among the nations, * and I will sing a psalm to thy name.
Giving great deliverance to his king, and shewing mercy to David, his anointed: * and to his seed for ever.
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.
The Lord liveth, * and blessed be my God, my salvation.
May the Lord hear * thee in the day of tribulation. ‡
Quæ non repetitur in Psalmo
May the Lord hear thee in the day of tribulation: * may the name of the God of Jacob protect thee.
May he send thee help from the sanctuary: * and defend thee out of Sion.
May he be mindful of all thy sacrifices: * and may thy whole burnt offering be made fat.
May he give thee according to thy own heart; * and confirm all thy counsels.
We will rejoice in thy salvation; * and in the name of our God we shall be exalted.
The Lord fulfil all thy petitions: * now have I known that the Lord hath saved his anointed.
He will hear him from his holy heaven: * the salvation of his right hand is in powers.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: * but we will call upon the name of the Lord, our God.
They are bound, and have fallen: * but we are risen, and are set upright.
O Lord, save the king: * and hear us in the day that we shall call upon thee.
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.
May the Lord hear * thee in the day of tribulation. ‡
The king rejoices * in Thy strength, O Lord. ‡
Quæ non repetitur in Psalmo
The king rejoices in thy strength, O Lord; * and in thy salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly.
Thou hast given him his heart’s desire: * and hast not withholden from him the will of his lips.
For thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness: * thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones.
He asked life of thee: * and thou hast given him length of days for ever and ever.
His glory is great in thy salvation: * glory and great beauty shalt thou lay upon him.
For thou shalt give him to be a blessing for ever and ever: * thou shalt make him joyful in gladness with thy countenance.
For the king hopeth in the Lord: * and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.
Let thy hand be found by all thy enemies: * let thy right hand find out all them that hate thee.
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.
Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth: * and their seed from among the children of men.
For they have intended evils against thee: * they have devised counsels which they have not been able to establish.
For thou shalt make them turn their back: * in thy remnants thou shalt prepare their face.
Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thy own strength: * we will sing and praise thy power.
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.
The king rejoices * in Thy strength, O Lord. ‡
I will extol thee, * O Lord, for thou hast upheld me. ‡
Quæ non repetitur in Psalmo
I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast upheld me: * and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I have cried to thee, * and thou hast healed me.
Thou hast brought forth, O Lord, my soul from hell: * thou hast saved me from them that go down into the pit.
Sing to the Lord, O ye his saints: * and give praise to the memory of his holiness.
For wrath is in his indignation; * and life in his good will.
In the evening weeping shall have place, * and in the morning gladness.
And in my abundance I said: * I shall never be moved.
O Lord, in thy favour, * thou gavest strength to my beauty.
Thou turnedst away thy face from me, * and I became troubled.
To thee, O Lord, will I cry: * and I will make supplication to my God.
What profit is there in my blood, * whilst I go down to corruption?
Shall dust confess to thee, * or declare thy truth?
The Lord hath heard, and hath had mercy on me: * the Lord became my helper.
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into joy: * thou hast cut my sackcloth, and hast compassed me with gladness:
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.
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.
I will extol thee, * O Lord, for thou hast upheld me. ‡
Pater noster, qui es in cælis, sanctificétur nomen tuum: advéniat regnum tuum: fiat volúntas tua, sicut in cælo et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidiánum da nobis hódie: et dimítte nobis débita nostra, sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris:
Evangélica léctio sit nobis salus et protéctio.
In illo témpore: Dixit Iesus turbis Iudæórum: Ego vado, et quærétis me, et in peccáto vestro moriémini. Et réliqua.
In that time, Jesus said to the multitude of Jews: I go, and you shall seek me, and you shall die in your sin. And so on.
Locútus est Dóminus Iudǽis, dicens: Ego vado. Christo enim Dómino mors proféctio fuit illo, unde vénerat, et unde non discésserat. Ego, inquit, vado, et quærétis me, non desidério, sed ódio. Nam illum póstea quam abscéssit ab óculis hóminum, inquisiérunt et qui óderant, et qui amábant: illi persequéndo, isti habére cupiéndo. In Psalmis ait ipse Dóminus per Prophétam: Périit fuga a me, et non est qui requírat ánimam meam. Et íterum ait álio loco in Psalmo: Confundántur et revereántur requiréntes ánimam meam.
The Lord spake unto the Jews, saying: I go My way for, to the Lord Christ, death was a departure to that place whence He had come, and whence He had never departed. I go My way, saith He, and ye shall seek Me not from love, but from hatred. Yea after He had withdrawn Himself from the sight of men, two classes sought Him, even they that loved, and they that hated Him; the one because they longed for His presence, the other because they were fain to hunt Him down. In the Psalms the Lord Himself saith by His Prophet: Refuge failed me, and no man cared for my soul. (Ps. cxli. 5.) And again He said in another Psalm: Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul. (Ps. xxxiv.)
Divínum auxílium máneat semper nobíscum.
Culpávit, qui non requírerent: damnávit requiréntes. Bonum est enim quǽrere ánimam Christi, sed quo modo eam quæsiérunt discípuli: et malum est quǽrere ánimam Christi, sed quo modo eam Iudǽi quæsiérunt: illi enim ut habérent, isti ut pérderent. Dénique istis, quia sic quærébant more malo, corde pervérso, quid secutus adiúnxit? Quærétis me; et ne putétis, quia bene me quærétis, in peccáto vestro moriémini. Hoc est Christum male quǽrere, in peccáto suo mori: hoc est illum odísse, per quem possit solum salvus esse.
Thus doth He blame them that seek not, and condemn such as seek. Yea, it is a good thing to seek the soul of Christ, as the disciples sought it; and an evil thing to seek it, as the Jews sought it; the first sought it to possess, the second to destroy it. What then doth He bid us know will be the reward of such as seek it evilly in a perverse heart? Ye shall seek Me, and lest ye think that ye shall do well so to seek Me, I tell you that ye shall die in your sins. To seek Christ with bad intent, is as much as to die in sin, for it is to hate Him through Whom alone we can be saved.
Ad societátem cívium supernórum perdúcat nos Rex Angelórum.
Cum enim hómines, quorum spes in Deo est, non débeant mala réddere nec pro malis; reddébant isti mala pro bonis. Prænuntiávit ergo illis Dóminus, dixítque senténtiam prǽscius, quod in suo peccáto moreréntur. Deínde adiúnxit: Quo ego vado, vos non potéstis veníre. Hoc et discípulis suis álio loco dixit: nec tamen eis dixit: In peccáto vestro moriémini. Quid autem dixit? quod et istis: Quo ego vado, vos non potéstis veníre. Non ábstulit spem, sed prædíxit dilatiónem. Quando enim hoc discípulis Dóminus loquebátur, tunc non póterant veníre, quo ille ibat, sed póstea ventúri erant: isti autem nunquam, quibus prǽscius dixit, In peccáto vestro moriémini.
Whereas men whose hope is in God ought to return good even for evil, those men returned evil for good. The Lord therefore told them beforehand, and, because He knew it, He let them know their coming end, how that they should die in their sins. Then He said farther Whither I go, ye cannot come. This He said in another place (xiii. 33) to His disciples, but He never said to them: Ye shall die in your sins. What said He? The same words as to the Jews: Whither I go, ye cannot come. Yet, to the disciples, these words only deferred, they cut not away hope for they, though for a little while they could not come whither He was to go, were yet in the end to go there. Not so they, to whom He foretold and said: Ye shall die in your sins.
Orémus.
Præsta, quǽsumus; omnípotens Deus: † ut família tua, quæ se, affligéndo carnem, ab aliméntis ábstinet, sectándo iustítiam, a culpa ieiúnet.
Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum: † qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, * per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.
Almighty God, grant, we beseech thee, unto this thy family, that as they do abstain from meals to afflict the flesh, so by following after righteousness they may fast from sin.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.