April 15
Feria day
Feria day
Friday of the Second Week
after the Octave of Easter
Within the Octave of St. Joseph
Mass of the preceding Sunday
Second Sunday after Easter
Good Shepherd Sunday
Semi-double – White vestments
Missa
‘Misericordia Dómini’
Commentary by
Abbot Dom Guéranger
MASS
The Introit takes a tone of triumph. It celebrates in the words of the
Royal Psalmist, the mercy of the Lord, which, by the foundation of the Church,
has filled the whole earth. The Heavens, (by which, in the mysterious language
of the Scripture, is frequently meant the Apostles,) were firmly established by
the Word of the Lord, when Jesus, (the Word,) gave them Peter as their Shepherd
and their Rock.
INTROITUS
Psalm 32: 5-6
Misericordia Dómini plena est terra, alleiúia:
verbo Dómini cæli firmáti sunt, allelúia, allelúia. Exsultáte, justi, in
Dómino: rectos decet collaudátio. Glória Patri.
INTROIT
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord,
alleluia: by the word of the Lord were the heavens made, alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: praise is comely for the upright.
Glory be to the Father.
In the
Collect, the Church asks the grace of holy joy for her children: it is the
spirit of Eastertide. Surely, it is a duty to rejoice at our having been saved
from death by our Jesus' Resurrection! Moreover, these Paschal joys are a
preparation for those of eternity.
COLLECT
Deus, qui in Fílii tui humilitáte jacéntem mundum erexísti: fidélibus
tuis perpétuam concéde lætítiam; ut, quos perpétuæ mortis eripuísti cásibus,
gáudiis fácias pérfrui sempitérnis. Per eúmdem Dóminum nostrum.
O God, who, by the humility of Thy Son, hast raised
up a fallen world, grant to Thy faithful people abiding joy; that those whom
Thou hast delivered from the perils of eternal death, Thou mayest cause to
enjoy endless happiness. Through the same Lord.
COLLECT IN HONOR OF
THE BLESSED VIRGIN
Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that we thy ‘servants may enjoy constant
health of body and mind; and by the glorious intercession of Blessed Mary, ever
a Virgin, be delivered from all present sorrow, and come to that joy which is
eternal.
COLLECT AGAINST THE
PERSECUTORS OF THE CHURCH
Mercifully hear, we beseech thee, O Lord, the prayers of thy Church:
that, all oppositions and errors being removed, she may serve thee with a
secure liberty. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth
with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
Amen.
EPISTLE
1 Peter 2: 21-25
Carissimi: Christus passus est pro nobis, vobis
relínquens exémplum, ut sequámini vestígia ejus. Qui peccátum non fecit, nec
invéntus est dolus in ore ejus: qui cum maledicerétur, non maledicébat: cum
paterétur, non comminabátur: tradébat autem judicánti se injúste: qui peccáta
nostra ipse pértulit in córpore suo super lignum: út peccátis mórtui, justítiæ
vivámus: cujus livóre sanáti estis. Erátis enim sicut oves errántes, sed
convérsi estis nunc ad pastórem et epíscopum animárum vestrarum.
Dearly beloved, Christ suffered for us, leaving you
an example, that you should follow His steps, Who did no sin, neither was guile
found in His mouth. Who when He was reviled, did not revile: when He suffered,
He threatened not, but delivered Himself to him that judged Him unjustly: who
His own self bore our sins in His body upon the tree: that we, being dead to
sins, should live to justice: by whose stripes you were healed. For you were as
sheep going astray, but you are now converted to the shepherd and bishop of
your souls.
It is the
Prince of the Apostles, the visible Shepherd of the universal Church, who
addresses these words to us. Observe, how he ends by turning our thoughts to
the invisible Shepherd, whose Vicar he is; and how carefully he avoids any
allusion to himself. So, also, when assisting his Disciple Mark to write his
Gospel, he would not allow him to relate the history of Christ's having made
him the Shepherd of the whole Flock; whereas, he insisted on his telling every
circumstance of his thrice denying Jesus to be his Master. See, too, how
feelingly the Apostle here speaks of his Saviour, — of the sufferings he
endured, of his patience, of his devotedness for those poor straying sheep of
whom he was to form his fold! These words will one day be verified in Peter
himself. The hour will come, when, like his Master, he will be fastened to a
cross, and patiently endure every insult and cruelty. Jesus told him that it
was to be so. After entrusting him with the care of the Sheep and Lambs, our
Lord told him, that when he should have grown old, he would stretch forth his
hands upon a cross, and suffer violence from men. This is to happen not merely
to Peter, but to a considerable number of his successors, who are one with himself,
and whom future generations are to see continually persecuted, exiled, imprisoned,
and put to death. Let us, also, follow Jesus' steps, by cheerfully suffering
for justice' sake: we owe it to Him, who, from all eternity, being equal who,
from all eternity, being equal in glory to God the Father, deigned to come down
to our earth, that he might be the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.
The first
Alleluia- Versicle commemorates the repast at Emmaus: in a few moments, we also
shall know Jesus in the breaking of the Bread of Life. The second proclaims, in
Jesus' own words, the dignity and qualities of a Shepherd, "his love for
his Sheep, and the eagerness wherewith his Sheep recognize him as their Master.
PASCHAL ALLELUIA
Allelúia, allelúia. V. Cognovérunt discípuli Dóminum Jesum in fractióne panis.
Alleluia, alleluia. V. The disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the breaking of bread.
ALLELUIA
Allelúia V. Ego sum pastor bonus: et cognósco oves meas, et cognóscunt me meæ.
Allelúia. Allelúia.
Alleluia. V. I am the good shepherd: and I know My sheep, and Mine know Me. Alleluia.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL
At that time: Jesus said to the Pharisees: I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. But the
hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth
the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth and
scattereth the sheep: and the hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling, and he
hath no care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd: and I know Mine, and Mine
know Me, as the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father: and I lay down My
life for My sheep. And other sheep I have that are not of this fold: them also
I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one
shepherd.
Divine Shepherd
of our souls! how great is thy love for thy Sheep! Thou givest even thy life to
save them. The fury of wolves does not make thee flee from us; thou becomest
their prey, that we may escape. Thou diedst in our stead, because thou wast our
Shepherd. We are not surprised at thy requiring from Peter a greater love than
thou requiredst from his Brother Apostles: thou willedst to make him their and
our Shepherd. Peter answered thee, without hesitation, that he loved thee; and
thou conferredst upon him thine own name, together with the reality of thy office,
in order "that he might supply thy place after thy departure from this
world. Be thou blessed, O Divine Shepherd! for thy having thus provided for the
necessities of thy Fold, which could not be One, were it to have many Shepherds
without one supreme Shepherd. In obedience to thy command, we bow down before
Peter, with love and submission; we respectfully kiss his sacred feet; for it
is by him that we are united to thee; it is by him that we are thy Sheep.
Preserve us, O Jesus, in the Fold of Peter, which is thine. Keep far from us
the hireling, who usurps the place and rights of the Shepherd. He has intruded
himself, or been intruded by violence, into the Fold, and would have us take
him as the master; but he knows not the Sheep, and the Sheep do not know him.
Led, not by zeal, but by avarice and ambition, he flieth at the approach of
danger. He that governs through worldly motives, is not a man to lay down his
life for others. The schismatic Pastor loves himself; he does not love thy
Sheep; how could he give his life for them? Protect us, O Jesus, from this
hireling! He would separate us from thee, by separating us from Peter, whom
thou hast appointed thy Vicar; and we are determined to recognize no other Anathema
to him who would command us in thy name, and yet not be sent by Peter! Such a
Pastor could be but an impostor; he would not rest on the Foundation; he would
not have the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; to follow him would be our ruin.
Grant, then, Good Shepherd, Jesus! that we may ever keep close to thee, and to
Peter; that as he rests upon thee, we may rest upon him; and thus we may defy
every tempest, for thou, dear Lord, hast said: A wise man built his house upon
a Rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they
beat upon that house, and it fell not; for it was founded on a rock.
Homily by Pope St Gregory the Great
Dearly beloved brethren, ye have heard from the
Holy Gospel what is at once your instruction, and our danger. Behold, how He
Who, not by the varying gifts of nature, but of the very essence of His being,
is Good, behold how He saith: I am the Good Shepherd. And then He saith what is
the character of His goodness, even of that goodness of His which we must
strive to copy: The Good Shepherd giveth His life for the Sheep. As He had
foretold, even so did He; as He had commanded, so gave He ensample. The Good
Shepherd gave His life for the sheep, and made His Own Body and His Own Blood
to be our Sacramental Food, pasturing upon His Own Flesh the sheep whom He had
bought. He, by despising death, hath shown us how to do the like; He hath set
before us the mould wherein it behoveth us to be cast. Our first duty is,
freely and tenderly to spend our outward things for His sheep, but lastly, if
need be, to serve the same by our death also. From the light offering of the
first, we go on to the stern offering of the last, and, if we be ready to give
our life for the sheep, why should we scruple to give our substance, seeing how
much more is the life than meat? And some there be which love the things
of this world better than they love the sheep; and such as they deserve no
longer to be called shepherds. These are they of whom it is written: But he
that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth
the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. He is not a shepherd
but a hireling which feedeth the Lord’s sheep, not because he loveth their souls,
but because he doth gain earthly wealth thereby. He that taketh a shepherd’s
place, but seeketh not gain of souls, that same is but an hireling; such an one
is ever ready for creature comforts, he loveth his pre-eminence, he groweth
sleek upon his income, and he liketh well to see men bow down to him.
The Offertory
is an aspiration to God, taken from the Royal Prophet.
OFFERTORY
Psalm 62: 2, 5
Deus, Deus meus, ad te de luce vígilo: et in nómine
tuo levábo manus meas, allelúia.
O God, my God, to Thee do I watch at break of day:
and in Thy name I will lift up my hands, alleluia.
In the Secret,
the Church prays that the divine energy of the Mystery, about to be consummated
on the Altar, may produce within us the effect we long for, — death to sin, and
resurrection to grace.
SECRET
Benedictionem nobis, Dómine, cónferat salutárem
sacra semper oblátio: ut, quod agit mystério, virtúte perfíciat. Per Dóminum.
May this holy oblation, O Lord, ever draw down upon
us Thy saving blessing; that it may perfect in virtue what it represents in
mystery. Through our Lord.
IN HONOR OF THE
BLESSED VIRGIN
By thine own mercy, O Lord, and the intercession of Blessed Mary, ever a
Virgin, may this oblation procure us peace and happiness, both in this life,
and in that which is to come.
AGAINST THE
PERSECUTORS OF THE CHURCH
Protect us, O Lord, while we assist at thy sacred mysteries: that, being
employed in acts of religion, we may serve thee, both in body and mind. Through
Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity
of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
PREFACE FOR EASTER
It is truly meet and just, right and availing unto
salvation that at all times, but more especially at this season, we should
extol Thy glory, O Lord, when Christ our Pasch was sacrificed. For He is the
true Lamb that hath taken away the sins of the world. Who by dying hath
overcome our death, and by rising again hath restored our life. And therefore
with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the
heavenly hosts, we sing a hymn to Thy glory, saying without ceasing:
Ecce Agnus Dei.
Behold the Lamb of God.
THE SANCTUS
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dóminus, Deus Sábaoth.
Pleni sunt coeli et terra glória tua. Hosánna in excélsis. Benedíctus, qui
venit in nómine Dómini. Hosánna in excélsis.
The
Communion-Anthem speaks to us of the beautiful Mystery of today, — the Good
Shepherd. Let us once more offer our homage to the Son of God, who deigns to assume
this endearing character; and let us ever be his devoted Sheep.
COMMUNION
John 10: 14
Ego sum pastor bonus, allelúia: et cognósco oves
meas, et cognóscunt me meæ, allelúia, allelúia.
I am the good shepherd, alleluia: and I know My
sheep, and Mine know Me, alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus, the
Good Shepherd, has given himself, in this divine banquet, to his Sheep: holy
Church prays, in the Postcommunion, that we may ever be penetrated with
sentiments of love for this august Sacrament; we ought to glory in it, as being
the food that prepares us for immortality.
POSTCOMMUNION
Præsta nobis, quǽsumus, omnípotens Deus, ut
vivificatiónis tuæ grátiam consequéntes, in tuo semper múnere gloriémur. Per
Dóminum.
Grant us, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that we
who obtain from Thee the grace of a new life, may ever glory in Thy gift. Through
our Lord.
IN HONOR OF THE
BLESSED VIRGIN
Having received, 0 Lord, what is to advance our salvation; grant we may
always be protected by the patronage of Blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, in whose
honor we have offered this Sacrifice to thy Majesty.
AGAINST THE
PERSECUTORS OF THE CHURCH
We beseech thee, O Lord our God, not to leave exposed to the dangers of
human life, those whom thou hast permitted to partake of these divine
mysteries. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with
thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
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