MONDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF LENT - MASS PROPERS

         MONDAY

OF THE THIRD WEEK OF LENT

The Station is in the church of Saint Mark, which was built in the fourth century in honour of the

evangelist, by the holy Pope Mark, whose relics are kept there.

           Commentary taken from

The Liturgical year by Abbot Dom Guéranger 

INTROIT

Psalm 55: 2

In Deo laudábo verbum, in Dómino laudábo sermónem: in Deo sperábo, non timebo, quid fáciat mihi homo. Ps. 55:2. Miserére mei, Deus, quóniam conculcávit me homo: tota die bellans tribulávit me.Glória Patri.

In God, in Whose promise I glory, in the Lord Whose word I praise, in God I trust without fear; what can flesh do against me? Ps. Have pity on me, O God, for men trample upon me; all the day they press their attack against me. Glory be to the Father.

COLLECT

O Lord, we beseech You, in Your mercy, pour forth Your grace into our hearts, that, as we abstain from material food, so may we restrain our senses from sin. Through our Lord.

      Naaman in the Jordan

EPISTLE

IV Kings 5: 1-15

In those days, Naaman, general of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable for by him the Lord gave deliverance to Syria and he was a valiant man and rich, but a leper. Now there had gone out robbers from Syria, and had led away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid, and she waited upon Naaman’s wife, and she said to her mistress, I wish my master had been with the prophet who is in Samaria; he would certainly have healed him of the leprosy which he has. Then Naaman went in to his lord, and told him, saying, Thus and thus said the girl from the land of Israel. And the king of Syria said to him, Go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment and brought the letter to the king of Israel, in these words, When you shall receive this letter, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may heal him of his leprosy. And when the king of Israel had read the letter, he rent his garments and said, Am I God, to be able to kill and give life, that this man has sent to me to heal a man of his leprosy? Mark, and see how he seeks occasions against me. And when Eliseus the man of God had heard this, to wit, that the king of Israel had rent his garments, he sent to him, saying, Why have you rent your garments? Let him come in to me, and let him know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Eliseus: and Eliseus sent a messenger to him, saying, Go, and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh shall recover health and you shall be clean. Naaman was angry and went away, saying, I thought he would have come out to me, and standing would have invoked the name of the Lord his God, and touched with his hand the place of the leprosy, and healed me. Are not the Abana and the Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel, that I may wash in them, and be made clean? So as he turned, and was going away with indignation, his servants came to him, and said to him, Father, if the prophet had bid you to do some great thing, surely you should have done it; how much rather what he now has said to you, ‘Wash, and you shall be clean’? Then he went down, and washed in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child, and he was made clean. And returning to the man of God with all his train, he came, and stood before him, and said, In truth I know, there is no other God in all the earth, but only in Israel.

Yesterday the Church made known to our catechumens that the day of their Baptism was at hand; today she reads them a passage from the old Testament, which relates a history that admirably symbolizes the saving font prepared for them by divine mercy. Naaman’s leprosy is a figure of sin. There is but one cure for the loathsome malady of the Syrian officer: he must go, and wash seven times in the Jordan, and he shall be made clean. The Gentile, the infidel, the infant with its stain of original sin, all may be made just and holy; but this can be effected only by water and the invocation of the blessed Trinity. Naaman objects to the remedy, as being too simple; he cannot believe that one so in significant can be efficacious: he refuses to try it; he expected something more in accordance with reason, for instance, a miracle that would have done honour both to himself and to the prophet. This was the reasoning of many a Gentile, when the apostles went about preaching the Gospel; but they that believed, with simple-hearted faith, in the power of water sanctified by Christ, received regeneration; and the baptismal font created a new people, composed of all nations of the earth. Naaman, who represents the Gentiles, was at length induced to believe; and his faith was rewarded by a complete cure. His flesh was restored like that of a little child, which has never suffered taint or disease. Let us give glory to God, who has endowed water with the heavenly power it now possesses; let us praise Him for the wonderful workings of His grace, which produce in docile hearts that faith whose recompense is so magnificent.

GRADUAL

Psalm 55: 9, 2

O God, my wanderings You have counted; my tears are recorded in Your sight. V. Have pity on me, O Lord, for men trample upon me; all the day they press their attack against me.

TRACT

Psalm 102: 10; 78: 8, 9

O Lord, deal with us not according to our sins, nor requite us according to our crimes. V. Ps. O Lord, remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may Your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low. [Kneel.] V. Help us, O God, our Saviour, because of the glory of Your Name, O Lord; deliver us and pardon our sins for Your Name’s sake.

GOSPEL

Luke 4:23-30

At that time, Jesus said to the Pharisees: You will surely quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure Yourself! Whatever things we have heard of as done in Capharnaum, do here also in Your own country!’ But He said, Amen I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country. In truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elias, when heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land; and to none of them was Elias sent, but rather to a widowed woman in Sarepta of Sidon. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. And all in the synagogue, as they heard these things, were filled with wrath. And they rose up and put Him forth out of the town, and led His to the brow of the hill, on which their town was built, that they might throw Him down headlong. But He, passing through their midst, went His way.

Here, again, we find our Saviour proclaiming the mystery of the Gentiles being called to take the place of the incredulous Jews; and He mentions Naaman as an example of this merciful substitution. He also speaks, in the same sense, of the widow of Sarephta, whose history we had a few days ago. This terrible resolution of our Lord to transfer His light from one people to another, irritates the pharisees of Nazareth against the Messias. They know that Jesus, who has only just commenced His public life, has been working great miracles in Capharnaum: they would have Him honour their own little city in the same way; but Jesus knows that they would not be converted. Do these people of Nazareth so much as know Jesus? He has lived among them for eighteen years, during all which time He has been advancing in wisdom and age and grace before God and men; but they despise Him, for He is a poor man, and the son of a carpenter. They do not even know that though He has passed so many years among them, He was not born in their city, but in Bethlehem. Not many days before this, Jesus had gone into the synagogue of Nazareth and had explained, with marvellous eloquence and power, the Prophet Isaias; He told His audience that the time of mercy had come, and His discourse excited much surprise and admiration. But the pharisees of the city despised His words. They have heard that He has been working great things in the neighbourhood; they are curious to see one of His miracles; but Jesus refuses to satisfy their unworthy desire. Let them recall to mind the discourse made by Jesus in their synagogue, and tremble at the announcement He then made to them, that the Gentiles were to become God’s chosen people. But the divine Prophet is not accepted in His own country; and had He not withdrawn Himself from the anger of His compatriots of Nazareth, the Blood of the Just would have been shed that very day. But there is an unenviable privilege which belongs exclusively to Jerusalem: a prophet cannot perish out of Jerusalem.

OFFERTORY

Psalm 54: 2, 3

Hearken, O God, to my prayer; turn not away from my pleading; give heed to me, and answer me.

SECRET

O Lord, make for us a sacrament of salvation the gift of homage which we offer to You.

PREFACE FOR LENT

IT IS truly meet and just, right and availing unto salvation, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty and everlasting God. Who by the fasting of the body dost curb our vices, elevate our minds and bestow virtue and reward; through Christ our Lord. Through whom the angels praise Thy majesty, the dominions worship it, and the powers stand in awe. The heavens and the heavenly hosts, with the blessed seraphim join together in celebrating their joy. With these we pray Thee join our voices also, while we say with lowly praise:

COMMUNION

Psalm 13: 7

Oh, that out of Sion would come the salvation of Israel! When the Lord restores the well being of His people, then shall Jacob exult and Israel be glad.

POSTCOMMUNION

Grant, we beseech You, almighty and merciful God, that what we take into our mouth, we may eat with a pure heart. Through our Lord.

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT - MASS PROPERS

   Station at St. Lawrence without the Walls     

        THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

The holy Church gave us as the subject of our meditation for the first Sunday of Lent, the temptation which our Lord Jesus Christ deigned to suffer in the desert. Her object was to enlighten us with regard to our own temptations, and teach us how to conquer them. Today, she wishes to complete her instruction on the power and stratagems of our invisible enemies; and for this she reads to us a passage from the Gospel of St. Luke. During Lent the Christian ought to repair the past and provide for the future; but he can neither understand how it was he fell, nor defend himself against a relapse, unless he have correct ideas as to the nature of the dangers which have hitherto proved fatal, and which are again threatening him. Hence, the ancient liturgists would have us consider it as a proof of the maternal watchfulness of the Church, that she should have again proposed such a subject to us. As we shall find, it is the basis of all today’s instructions.

     Assuredly we should be the blindest and most unhappy of men if, surrounded as we are by enemies who unceasingly seek to destroy us, and are so superior to us both in power and knowledge, we were seldom or never to think of the existence of these wicked spirits. And yet, such is really the case with in numerable Christians nowadays; for, truths are decayed from among the children of men. So common, indeed, is this heedlessness and forgetfulness of truth, which the holy Scriptures put before us in almost every page, that it is no rare thing to meet with persons who ridicule the idea of devils being permitted to be on this earth of ours! They call it a prejudice, a popular superstition of the middle ages! Of course they deny that it is a dogma of

faith. When they read the history of the Church or the lives of the saints, they have their own way of explaining whatever is there related on this subject. To hear them talk, one would suppose that they look upon satan as a mere abstract idea to be taken as the personification of evil.

     When they would account for the origin of their own or others’ sins, they explain all by the evil inclination of man’s heart, and by the bad use we make of our free will. They never think of what we are taught by Christian doctrine: namely, that we are also instigated to sin by a wicked being, whose power is as great as is the hatred he bears us. And yet they know, they believe with a firm faith, that satan conversed with our first parents, and persuaded them to commit sin, and showed himself to them under the form of a serpent. They believe that this same satan dared to tempt the Incarnate Son of God, and that he carried Him through the air, and set Him first upon a pinnacle of the temple, and then upon a very high mountain. Again, they read in the Gospel, and they believe, that one of the possessed delivered by our Saviour was tormented by a whole legion of devils, who, upon being driven out of the man, went, by Jesus’ permission, into a herd of swine, and the whole herd ran violently into the sea of Genesareth and perished in the waters. These and many other such like facts are believed, by the persons of whom we speak, with all the earnestness of faith; yet, not withstanding, they treat as a figure of speech, or a fiction, all they hear or read about the existence, the actions, or the craft of these wicked spirits. Are such people Christians, or have they lost their senses? One would scarcely have expected that this species of incredulity could have found its way into an age like this, when sacrilegious consultations of the devil have been, we might almost say, fashionable. Means which were used in the days of paganism have been resorted to for such consultations; and those who employed them seemed to forget, or ignore, that they were committing what God in the old Law punished with death, and what, for many centuries, was considered by all Christian nations as a capital crime.

     But if there be one season of the year more than another in which the faithful ought to reflect upon what is taught us both by faith and experience as to the existence and workings of the wicked spirits, it is undoubtedly this of Lent, when it is our duty to consider what have been the causes of our past sins, what are the spiritual dangers we have to fear for the future, and what means we should have recourse to for preventing a relapse. Let us, then, hearken to the holy Gospel. Firstly, we are told that the devil had possessed a man, and that the effect produced by this possession was dumbness. Our Saviour cast out the devil, and immediately the dumb man spoke. So that, the being possessed by the devil is not only a fact which testifies to God’s impenetrable justice; it is one which may produce physical effects upon them that are thus tried or punished. The casting out of the devil restores the use of speech to him that had been possessed. We say nothing about the obstinate malice of Jesus’ enemies, who would have it that His power over the devils came from His being in league with the prince of devils: we would now merely show that the wicked spirits are sometimes permitted to have power over the body, and would refute, by this passage from the Gospel, the rationalism of certain Christians. Let these learn, then, that the power of our spiritual enemies is an awful reality; and let them take heed not to lay themselves open to their worst attacks, by persisting in the disdainful haughtiness of their reason.

THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT – MASS PROPERS

Station at St. Lawrence without the Walls

Semi-Double / Sunday of the First Class / Violet Vestments

INTROIT

Psalm 24: 15-16

Oculi mei semper ad Dóminum, quia ipse evéllet de láqueo pedes meos: réspice in me, et miserére mei, quóniam únicus et pauper sum ego.

Psalm 24: 1-2

Ad te, Dómine, levávi ánimam meam: Deus meus, in te confído, non erubéscam. V. Glória Patri.

My eyes are ever towards the Lord: for He shall pluck  my feet out of the snare: look Thou upon me, and have mercy on me; for I am alone and poor. Ps. To Thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul: in Thee, O my God, I put my trust, let me not be ashamed. V. Glory be to the Father.

COLLECT

We beseech Thee, almighty God, regard the desires of Thy humble servants, and stretch forth the right hand of Thy majesty to be our defense. Through Jesus Christ thy Son.

Commemoration of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

O God, Who taught blessed Gabriel to meditate continually on the sorrows of Your most sweet Mother and Who, through her, exalted him by the glory of a holy life and miracles; grant us through his intercession and example so to share in the sorrows of Your Mother that her motherly protection may save us. Who livest and reignest.

EPISTLE

The Lesson is taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians.

Ephesians 5: 1-9

Brethren: Be ye followers of God, as most dear children: and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us and hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness. But fornication, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints: or obscenity, or foolish talking, or scurrility, which is to no purpose: but rather giving of thanks. For know you this, and understand, that no fornicator, or unclean or covetous person, which is a serving of idols, hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the children of unbelief. Be ye not therefore partakers with them. For you were heretofore darkness: but now light in the Lord. Walk then as children of the light: for the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice, and truth.

GRADUAL

Psalm 9: 20, 4

Arise, O Lord, let no man be strengthened; let the nations be judged in Thy sight. V. When my enemy shall be turned back, they shall be weakened and perish before Thy face.

TRACT

Psalm 122: 1-3

To Thee have I lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in heaven. V. Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters. V. And as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress: so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until He have mercy on us. V. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

GOSPEL

The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke.

Luke 11: 14-28

At that time Jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb. And when He had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke, and the multitudes were in admiration at it. But some of them said: He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. And others, tempting, asked of Him a sign from heaven. But He, seeing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation, and house upon house shall fall. And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because you say that through Beelzebub I cast out devils. Now if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges. But if I by the finger of God cast out devils: doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth. But if a stronger than he come upon him and overcome him, he will take away all his armour wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils. He that is not with Me is against Me: and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest: and not finding, he saith: I will return into my house whence I came out.  And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. And it came to pass, as He spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to Him: Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the paps that gave Thee suck. But He said: Yea, rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it.

OFFERTORY

Psalm 18: 9-12

The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts, and His judgments are sweeter than honey and the honeycomb: for Thy servant keepeth them.

SECRET

May this offering, we beseech Thee, O Lord, cleanse away our sins, sanctifying Thy servants in both soul and body for the celebration of this sacrifice. 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. R. Amen.

Commemoration of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

O Lord, make us who offer You the saving sacrificial gifts in memory of blessed Gabriel recall in a fitting way the sacrifice of Your death; and by the merits of the sorrowing Virgin, may we receive abundantly the fruit of that very sacrifice.

PREFACE FOR LENT

It is truly meet and just, right and availing unto salvation, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty and everlasting God. Who by the fasting of the body dost curb our vices, elevate our minds and bestow virtue and reward; through Christ our Lord. Through whom the angels praise Thy majesty, the dominions worship it, and the powers stand in awe. The heavens and the heavenly hosts, with the blessed seraphim join together in celebrating their joy. With these we pray Thee join our voices also, while we say with lowly praise:

THE SANCTUS

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dóminus Deus Sábaoth. Pleni sunt cæli et terra glória tua. Hosánna in excélsis. Benedíctus qui venit in nómine Dómini. Hosánna in excélsis.

COMMUNION

Psalm 83: 4-5

The sparrow hath found herself a house, and the turtle a nest, where she may lay her young ones: Thy altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King, and my God: blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, they shall praise Thee for ever and ever.

POSTCOMMUNION

Mercifully absolve us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all guilt and deliver us from all danger, whom Thou dost grant to partake of so great a mystery. Through Jesus Christ.

Commemoration of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

O Lord, graciously accept the thanks we offer You for the gifts we have received on the feast of the blessed Gabriel, Your Confessor, through the hands of blessed Mary, ever Virgin, of whom You took that flesh whose sweetness we have been worthy to taste in this banquet of salvation.

SATURDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT – MASS PROPERS

STATION AT SS. MARCELLINUS AND PETER

(Indulgence of 10 years and 10 quarantines)

       SATURDAY

IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT

       Violet vestments
    Missa ‘Lex Domini’

         Commentary from

The Liturgical Year - Abbot Dom Guéranger 

The Station is in the church of Saints Peter and Marcellinus, two celebrated martyrs of Rome under the persecution of Diocletian. Their names are inserted in the Canon of the Mass.

INTROIT Psalm 18:8, 2

Lex Dómini irreprehensíbilis, convértens ánimas: testimónium Dómini fidéle, sapiéntiam præstans párvulis. Ps 18:2. Coeli enárrant glóriam Dei: et ópera mánuum ejus annúntiat firmaméntum. Glória Patri.

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. Ps. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handiwork. Glory be to the Father.

COLLECT

Grant that our fasting may be beneficial to us, we beseech You, O Lord, so that by chastising our flesh we may obtain strength for our souls. Through our Lord.

INTERCESSION OF THE SAINTS

Defend us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all dangers of mind and body: and through the intercession of the blessed and glorious Mary, ever Virgin, mother of God, of Saint Joseph, of Thy holy apostles, Saints Peter and Paul, and of all the saints, in Thy loving-kindness grant us safety and peace; that, all adversities and errors being overcome, Thy Church may serve Thee in security and freedom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost.

FOR THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

O Almighty and Eternal God, Who hast dominion over both the living and the dead, and hast mercy on all Whom Thou knowest shall be Thine by faith and good works: we humbly beseech Thee that all for whom we have resolved to make supplication whether the present world still holds them in the flesh, or the world to come has already received them out of the body, may, through the intercession of all Thy saints, obtain of Thy goodness and clemency pardon for all their sins, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost; One God; forever and ever, Amen.

EPISTLE

Genesis 27:6-40

In those days, Rebecca said to her son Jacob: I heard your father tell your brother Esau: Bring me some game; prepare some savoury food for me to eat, and then I will bless you in the sight of the Lord before I die. Now, my son, do what I tell you. Go to the flock and bring me two choice kids that I may make of them savoury food for your father, such as he likes. Then bring it to your father to eat, that he may bless you before he dies. Jacob said to his mother Rebecca: But Esau my brother is a hairy man, while I am smooth. If my father touches me, it will seem to him that I am mocking him. Thus I shall bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing. His mother replied: Let the curse fall on me, my son! Do but listen to me; go, get them for me. He went, selected them, and brought them to his mother, who prepared savoury food such as his father liked. Then Rebecca took the best clothes of her elder son Esau, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She put the skins of the kids on his hands and over the smooth parts of his neck. Then she gave her son Jacob the savoury food and bread she had prepared. He went to his father and said: Father! He answered: Here I am. Who are you, my son? And Jacob said to his father: I am Esau, your first-born. I have done as you told me; sit up, please! Eat again of my game, that you may bless me. Isaac replied: How did you find it so quickly, my son? He answered: The Lord your God let me come upon it. Then Isaac said to Jacob: Come close that I may touch you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not. Jacob went close to his father. Isaac touched him and said: The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. Isaac said: Are you really my son Esau? Jacob answered: Yes, I am. Isaac continued: Set your game near me, my son, that I may eat it, and bless you. He set it before him and he ate of it, and he brought him some wine, which he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him: Come close and kiss me, my son. He came close and kissed him. When he smelled the fragrance of his garments, he blessed him and said: The fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field which the Lord has blessed! God give you dew from heaven, and fruitfulness of the earth, abundance of grain and wine. Let nations serve you, peoples bow down to you. Be master of your brothers; may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, blessed be those who bless you. Isaac had pronounced the blessing and Jacob had just left his father’s presence, when his brother Esau returned from hunting. He also prepared savoury food and brought it to his father, saying: Sit up, father, and eat of your son’s game, that you may bless me. His father Isaac said to him: Who are you? He answered: I am Esau, your first-born son. Isaac was greatly disturbed, and asked: Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? Before you came I ate heartily and then blessed him; and he shall be blessed. On hearing his father’s words, Esau uttered a very loud and bitter cry, and said to him: Father, bless me too. But he answered: Your brother came deceitfully and received your blessing. Then he said: Must he, true to his name Jacob, supplant me now a second time? He took my birthright and now he has taken my blessing. He added: Have you not reserved a blessing for me? Isaac answered Esau: I have appointed him your lord, and have given him all his brothers as servants. I have enriched him with grain and wine; what then can I do for you, my son? But Esau said to his father: Have you only one blessing, father? Bless me also, my father. And Esau wept aloud. His father Isaac answered him: Without the fruitfulness of the earth shall your dwelling be; without the dew of the heavens above.

The two sons of Isaac are another illustration of God’s judgments upon Israel, and His vocation of the Gentiles. The instruction contained in this passage from Genesis was intended for the catechumens. Here we have two brothers, Esau the elder, and Jacob the younger; Esau represents the Jewish people; he is his father’s heir, and, as such, he has a glorious future before him. Jacob, though twin-brother to Esau, is the second-born, and has no right to the special blessing which Esau claimed; he is the figure of the Gentiles. How, then, is it that Jacob receives the blessing and not Esau? The sacred volume tells us that Esau is a carnal-minded man. 

Esau (right) selling his birthright to Jacob or The Lentil Stew by Matthias Stom - 17th century

Rather than deny himself the momentary gratification of his appetite, he sacrifices the spiritual advantages which his father’s blessing is to bring him; he sells his birth right to Jacob for a mess of pottage. We know the mother’s plan for securing Jacob’s claim; and how the aged father is, unsuspectingly, the instrument in God’s hands, ratifying and blessing this substitution, of which he himself has no knowledge. Esau, having returned home, is made aware of the greatness of his loss; but it is too late, and he becomes an enemy to his brother. The same thing happens with the Jewish people; they are carnal-minded and lose their birthright, their pre-eminence over the Gentiles. They refuse to acknowledge a Messias who is poor and persecuted; their ambition is for earthly triumph and earthly greatness; and the only kingdom that Jesus holds out to His followers is a spiritual one. The Jews, then, reject this Messias; but the Gentiles receive Him, and they become the first-born, the favoured people. And, whereas the Jews repudiate this substitution (to which, however, they assented, when they said to Pilate: ‘We will not have this Man to reign over us’), they are indignant at seeing the heavenly Father bestowing all His love and blessings on the Christian people. They that are children of Abraham according to the flesh are disinherited; and they that are the children of Abraham by faith alone are evidently the children of the promise; according to those words of the Lord, which He spoke to that great patriarch: ‘I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea-shore. . . . In thy seed (that is, in Him who is to be born of thy race) all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.’

GRADUAL

Psalm 91:2-3

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to Your name, Most High. V. To proclaim Your kindness at dawn and Your faithfulness throughout the night.

The Return of the Prodigal Son, detail 1773, Pompeo Batoni

GOSPEL

Luke 15:11-32

At that time, Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and Scribes this parable: A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father: Father, give me the share of the property that falls to me. And he divided his means between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered up all his wealth, and took his journey into a far country; and there he squandered his fortune in loose living. And after he had spent all, there came a grievous famine over that country, and he began himself to suffer want. And he went and joined one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his farm to feed swine. And he longed to fill himself with the pods that the swine were eating, but no one offered to give them to him. But when he came to himself, he said: How many hired men in my father’s house have bread in abundance, while I am perishing here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men. And he arose and went to his father. But while he was yet a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants: Fetch quickly the best robe and put it on him, and give him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet; and bring out the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; because this my son was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to make merry. Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And calling one of the servants he inquired what this meant. And he said to him: Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has got him back safe. But he was angered and would not go in. His father, therefore, came out and began to entreat him. But he answered and said to his father: Behold, these many years I have been serving you, and have never transgressed one of your commands; and yet you have never given me a kid that I might make merry with my friends. But when this your son comes, who has devoured his means with harlots, you have killed for him the fattened calf. But he said to him: Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours; but we were bound to make merry and rejoice, for this your brother was dead, and has come to life; he was lost, and is found.

The mystery brought before us in the Epistle is repeated in our Gospel. Again it is the history of two brothers; the elder is angry at seeing his father show mercy to the younger. This younger brother has gone abroad into a far country; he has quitted his father’s house, that he might be under no control, and indulge in every kind of disorder. But when a mighty famine came, and he was perishing with hunger, he remembered that he had a father; and, at once, he arose, and humbly besought his father to receive him, and give him the last place in that house, which, but for his own folly, might have been all his own. 

Return of the Prodigal Son, by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo  

The father received the prodigal with the tenderest affection; not only did he pardon him, he restored him to all his family rights; nay, he would have a feast kept in honour of this happy return. The elder brother, hearing what the father had done, was indignant, and conceived the bitterest jealousy against his younger brother. Let the Jews be jealous, if they will; let them be indignant with their God for showing His mercy to any but themselves. The time has come when all the nations of the earth are to be called to the one fold. The Gentiles, notwithstanding all the misery into which their errors and their passions had led them, are to receive the preaching of the apostles. Greeks and Romans, Scythians and barbarians, are to come, humbly acknowledging the evil of their ways, and ask to share in the favours offered to Israel. Not only are they to be allowed to eat of the crumbs that fall from the table, which was all the poor woman of Chanaan dared to hope for; they are to be made sons and heirs of the Father, with all the attendant rights and privileges. Israel will be jealous, and will protest; but to no purpose. He will refuse to take part in the feast; it matters not, the feast is to be. This feast is the Pasch. The prodigals that have come, starved and naked, to the Father’s house, are our catechumens, on whom God is about to bestow the grace of adoption.

     But there are also the public penitents, who are being prepared by the Church for reconciliation; they, too, are the prodigals, who come seeking mercy from their offended Father. This Gospel was intended for them as well as for the catechumens. But now that the Church has relaxed her severe discipline, she offers this parable to all those who are in the state of sin, and are preparing to make their peace with God. They know not, as yet, how good is the God from whom they have strayed by sin: let them read today’s Gospel, and see how mercy exalteth itself above judgment, in that God, who so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son. How far soever they may have gone astray, or how great soever may have been their ingratitude, let them take courage; a feast is being prepared in their Father’s house, to welcome them home again. The loving Father is waiting at the door to receive and embrace them; the first robe, the robe of innocence, is to be restored to them; the ring, which they alone wear that are of God’s family, is to be once more placed on their hand. There is a banquet being prepared for them, at which the angels, out of joy, will sing their glad songs. Let these poor sinners, then, cry out with a contrite heart: Father! I have sinned against heaven, and before Thee; I am not now worthy to be called Thy son: make me as one of Thy hired servants. This tender-hearted Father asks only this much of them: sincere sorrow for their sins, humble confession, and a firm resolution of being faithful for the time to come. Let them accept these easy terms, and He will receive them, once more, as His dearest children.

OFFERTORY

Psalm 12:4-5

Give light to my eyes that I may not sleep in death lest my enemy say, I have overcome him.

SECRET

Appeased by these sacrificial gifts, O Lord, grant that we who pray for absolution from our own sins may not be burdened by those which are foreign to us. Through our Lord.

INTERCESSION OF THE SAINTS

Graciously hear us, O God our Saviour, and, by virtue of this Sacrament, defend us from all enemies of soul and body, bestowing upon us Thy grace here and Thy glory hereafter. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, Forever and ever.

FOR THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

O Almighty and Eternal God, O God, Who alone knowest the number of the elect to be admitted to the happiness of Heaven, grant, we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of all Thy saints, the names of all who have been recommended to our prayers and of all the faithful, may be inscribed in the book of blessed predestination. Protect us, O Lord, who assist at Thy mysteries; that, fixed upon things divine we may serve Thee in both body and mind, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost; One God; forever and ever, Amen.

PREFACE FOR LENT

It is truly meet and just, right and availing unto salvation, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty and everlasting God. Who by the fasting of the body dost curb our vices, elevate our minds and bestow virtue and reward; through Christ our Lord. Through whom the angels praise Thy majesty, the dominions worship it, and the powers stand in awe. The heavens and the heavenly hosts, with the blessed seraphim join together in celebrating their joy. With these we pray Thee join our voices also, while we say with lowly praise:

COMMUNION

Luke 15:32

You ought to rejoice, my son, for your brother was dead, and has come to life; he was lost, and is found.

POSTCOMMUNION

May the sacrament of which we have partaken, O Lord, penetrate the depths of our hearts and make us share in its strength. Through our Lord.

INTERCESSION OF THE SAINTS

May the oblation of this divine sacrament which we have offered, cleanse us and defend us, we beseech Thee, O Lord; and through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of God, of St. Joseph, of Thy holy apostles Peter and Paul, and of all the saints, free us from all iniquity and deliver us from all adversity. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever.

FOR THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

May the sacraments which we have received purify us, we beseech Thee, O almighty and merciful Lord; and through the intercession of all Thy saints, grant that this Thy sacrament may not be unto us a condemnation, but a salutary intercession for pardon; may it be the washing away of sin, the strength of the weak, a protection against all dangers of the world, and a remission of all the sins of the faithful, whether living or dead, through our Lord.

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE

Bow down your heads to God.

Protect, O Lord, we beseech thee, thy family, by thy continual goodness, that as it relieth on the hopes of thy heavenly grace, so it may be defended by thy heavenly aid. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

This being Saturday, let us have recourse to Mary the Queen of mercy. Let us address ourselves to her in these devout words of a sequence, taken from the ancient Cluny missals. This is our request: that she would obtain for us the pardon of our sins.

SEQUENCE

Hail, fair star! that yieldest a ray of new light, whereby is blotted out the shame of our race.

O thou the singular hope of man! O thou our refuge! Appease thy Son, at the hour of our judgment.

Thou art the flowery rod of Jesse: thou art the true first spring-flower, bringing us our Jesus.

O ever blooming rose! there is not a stain upon thee, and thy Fruit taketh our stains away.

Thy virginal womb is the fount of the garden, the source of him that is the water of life.

Yea, thou art the golden throne, whereon the King of heaven crowned his Son.

The palace of sweet perfumes, formed with exquisite skill by the hand of the great Artificer;

Wherein Jesus, having put on the garment of our flesh, was consecrated High Priest.

Thou art the fount that givest forth oil, yea, a dew sweet as honey; for thou art all love.

Hence came to us the font that washeth away the bitterness and the stains of sin.

O Mother! whose heart was pierced by the wounds of thy suffering Son.

Show us a Mother’s care and love; and when the dread judgment comes, deliver us from punishment. Amen.

FRIDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT - MASS PROPERS

           STATION AT ST. VITALIS

(Indulgence of 10 years and 10 quarantines)

              FRIDAY

 OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT 

           Violet vestments

Commentary by Abbot Dom Guéranger 

INTROIT

Psalm 16:15

Ego autem cum justítia apparébo in conspéctu tuo: satiábor, dum manifestábitur glória tua. Ps 16:1. Exáudi, Dómine, justitiam meam: inténde deprecatióni meæ. Glória Patri.

But I in justice shall behold Your face; I shall be content when Your glory shall appear. Ps. Hear, O Lord, my justice; attend to my cry. Glory be to the Father.

COLLECT

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that cleansed with the sacred fast: we may with sincere hearts reach the coming feast. Through our Lord.

Joseph's Coat Brought to Jacob by Giovanni Andrea de Ferrari, c. 1640

EPISTLE

Lesson from the Book of Genesis

Genesis 37:6-22

In those days, Joseph said to his brothers: Listen to this dream which I had. We were binding sheaves in the field; my sheaf rose up and remained standing, while your sheaves gathered round and bowed down to my sheaf. His brothers answered: Are you to be our king? Are you to rule over us? And because of his dreams and words they hated him the more. He had another dream which he also told to his brothers. I had another dream, he said. The sun, the moon and eleven stars were worshipping me. When he told that to his father and his brothers, his father reproved him. What is this dream that you have had? he said. Can it be that I and your mother and your brothers will come to bow to the ground before you? So his brothers envied him, while his father pondered the matter. When his brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Sichem, Israel said to Joseph: Your brothers are pasturing the flocks at Sichem; get ready, I will send you to them. Joseph answered: I am ready. Go, then, said Israel, and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks; and bring back a report to me. So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Sichem. A man found Joseph wandering about in the fields and asked him: What are you looking for? I am looking for my brothers, he answered. Tell me, please, where they are pasturing. The man said: They have moved on from here, because I heard them say: Let us go to Dothain. So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothain. They saw him in the distance, and before he drew near them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another: Here comes that dreamer! Let us therefore kill him and throw him into a cistern; we can say that a wild beast devoured him. Let us see then what becomes of his dreams. But when Ruben heard of it, he tried to rescue him from them saying: We must not kill him. Then he continued: Do not shed blood. Throw him into the cistern there in the desert, but do not lay a hand on him. His purpose was to rescue him from them and restore him to his father.

      Today the Church reminds us of the apostasy of the Jewish nation, and of the consequent vocation of the Gentiles. This instruction was intended for the catechumens; let us, also, profit by it. The history here related from the old Testament is a figure of what we read in today’s Gospel. Joseph is exceedingly beloved by his father Jacob, not only because he is the child of his favourite spouse Rachel, but also because of his innocence. Prophetic dreams have announced the future glory of this child: but he has brothers; and these brothers, urged on by jealousy, are determined to destroy him. Their wicked purpose is not carried out to the full; but it succeeds at least this far, that Joseph will never more see his native country. He is sold to some merchants. Shortly afterwards, he is cast into prison; but he is soon set free, and is made the ruler, not of the land of Chanaan that had exiled him, but of a pagan country, Egypt. He saves these poor Gentiles from starvation, during a most terrible famine, nay, he gives them abundance of food, and they are happy under his government. His very brothers, who persecuted him, are obliged to come down into Egypt, and ask food and pardon from their victim. We easily recognize in this wonderful history our divine Redeemer, Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary. He was the victim of His own people’s jealousy, who refused to acknowledge in Him the Messias foretold by the prophets, although their prophecies were so evidently fulfilled in Him. Like Joseph, Jesus is the object of a deadly conspiracy; like Joseph, He is sold. He traverses the shadow of death, but only to rise again, full of glory and power. But it is no longer on Israel that He lavishes the proofs of His predilection; He turns to the Gentiles, and with them He henceforth dwells. It is to the Gentiles that the remnant of Israel will come seeking Him, when, pressed by hunger after the truth, they are willing to acknowledge, as the true Messias, this Jesus of Nazareth, their King, whom they crucified.

GRADUAL

Psalm 119:1-2

In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. V. O Lord, deliver me from lying lip, from a treacherous tongue.

TRACT

Psalm 102:10; 78: 8, 9

O Lord, deal with us not according to our sins, nor requite us according to our crimes.  Ps. O Lord, remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may Your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low. [Kneel.] V. Help us, O God, our Saviour, because of the glory of Your Name, O Lord; deliver us and pardon our sins for Your Name’s sake.

GOSPEL

Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew

Matthew 21:33-46

At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to the multitude of the Jews and the chief priests: There was a man, a householder, who planted a vineyard, and put a hedge about it, and dug a wine vat in it, and built a tower; then he let it out to vine-dressers, and went abroad. But when the fruit season drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers to receive his fruits. And the vinedressers seized his servants, and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent another party of servants more numerous than the first; and they did the same to these. Finally he sent his son to them, saying: They will respect my son. But the vine-dressers, on seeing the son, said among themselves: This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and we shall have his inheritance. So they seized him, cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When, therefore, the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-dressers? They said to Him: He will utterly destroy those evil men, and will let out the vineyard to other vine-dressers, who will render to him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus said to them: Did you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected, has become the cornerstone; by the Lord this has been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes? Therefore I say to you, that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a people yielding its fruits. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but upon whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they knew that He was speaking about them. And though they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the people, because they regarded Him as a prophet.

Here we have more than the mere figures of the old Law, which show us our Redeemer in the far distant future; we have the great reality. Yet a little while, and the thrice holy Victim will have fallen beneath the blows of His persecutors. How awful and solemn are the words of Jesus, as His last hour approaches! His enemies feel the full weight of what He says; but, in their pride, they are determined to keep up their opposition to Him, who is the Wisdom of the Father. They have made up their minds not to acknowledge Him to be what they well know He is—the stone, on which he that falls shall be broken, and which shall grind to powder him on whom it shall fall. But what is the vineyard, of which our Lord here speaks? It is revealed truth; it is the rule of faith and morals; it is the universal expectation of the promised Redeemer; and, lastly, it is the family of the children of God, His inheritance, His Church. God had chosen the Synagogue as the depository of such a treasure; He willed that His vineyard should be carefully kept, that it should yield fruit under their keeping, and that they should always look upon it as His possession, and one that was most dear to Him. But, in its hard-heartedness and avarice, the Synagogue appropriated the Lord’s vineyard to itself. In vain did He, at various times, send His prophets to reclaim His rights; the faithless husbandmen put them to death. The Son of God, the Heir, comes in Person. Surely, they will receive Him with due respect, and pay Him the homage due to His divine character! But no; they have formed a plot against Him; they intend to cast Him forth out of the vineyard, and kill Him. Come, then, ye Gentiles, and. avenge this God! Leave not a stone on a stone of the guilty city that has uttered this terrible curse: ‘May His Blood be upon us and upon our children!’ But you shall be more than the ministers of the divine justice; you yourselves are now the favoured people of God. The apostasy of these ungrateful Jews is the beginning of your salvation. You are to be keepers of the vineyard to the end of time; you are to feed on its fruits, for they now belong to you. From east and west, from north and south, come to the great Pasch, that is being prepared! Come to the font of salvation, O ye new people, who are gathered unto God from all nations under the sun! Your mother the Church will fill up from you, if you be faithful, the number of the elect; and when her work is done, her Spouse will return, as the dread Judge, to condemn those who would not know the time of their visitation.

OFFERTORY

Psalm 39:14, 15

Deign, O Lord, to rescue me; let all be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life. Deign, O Lord, to rescue me.

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE

Bow down your heads to God. Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, to thy people health both of soul and body, that by the continual practice of good works they may always be defended by thy powerful protection. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us encourage within ourselves the spirit of humility and penance by the following hymn, which we take from the Greek liturgy. It was composed by St. Andrew of Crete.

                  HYMN

(Feria V. quintae hebdomadae)

I would mourn over the sins of my wretched life; but where shall I begin? O Jesus! how shall I commence the lamentation I fain would make this day ‘I Do thou, my merciful God, forgive me my sins.

Come, my poor soul and thou, too, my body, come, and confess to the great Creator; and, henceforth, restrain your senseless passions, and 'offer to God the tears of repentance.

I have imitated my first parent in his sin; I acknowledge my nakedness, for I have lost my God, and the kingdom and the joys of eternity.

Alas, unhappy soul! wherefore hast thou made thyself like unto Eve! Oh that guilty look! Oh that cruel wound! Thou didst stretch forth thy hand to the tree; and, in thy frowardness, didst eat the forbidden fruit.

Adam was deservedly driven out of paradise, because he broke one of thy commandments. O my Saviour! I, then, who am forever setting thy life giving words at defiance, what punishment shall I not have?

Now is the time for repentance. I come to thee, O my Creator! Take from me the heavy yoke of sin, and, for thy mercy’s sake, pardon me my crimes. Despise me not, my Saviour!

Cast me not away from thy face. Take from me the heavy yoke of sin, and, for thy mercy’s sake, pardon me my crimes. Do thou, my Saviour, and my merciful God, pardon me my sins, deliberate or indeliberate, public or private, known or unknown. Have mercy on me, and save me!