(g) Antiphon. (h) Antiphon. (i) Antiphon. (j) Verse and Response. Lesson 4. (From St. Leo.) Response 4. Lesson 5. Response 5. NOCTURN II. Rejoice greatly: O daughter of Jerusalem; behold thy king cometh unto thee; O Sion, be not afraid, for thy salvation cometh quickly. Our king: shall come, even Christ, whom John proclaimed as the Lamb which was to come. Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every man according as his work shall be. Send ye the Lamb to the Ruler of the land. From Sela to the wilderness, unto the Mount of the daughter of Sion. SUNDAY 1. Our Saviour, in his account of the coming of the kingdom of God and of the end of the world, addressed to His Apostles and in them to the whole Church, bids them beware, lest, at any time, their hearts should be weighed down with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life; which warning, beloved brethren, we know to belong to us specially, to whom the threatened day, though hidden, is certainly near. Hail, thou that art highly favoured; the Lord is with thee the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore that Holy Thing which shall be born of Thee shall be called the Son of God. How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? and the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, &c. For whose coming it is fitting that all mankind should make ready, lest it should surprise any in gluttony or worldly cares. For daily experience proves, my beloved, that the keenness of the mind is blunted by fulness of drink, and the vigour of the heart clouded by excess of meat; so that love of eating even does injury to our bodily health, unless a rule of temperance counteracts the seduction and refuses to indulgence what afterwards would be a burden. We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change this vile body that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body. Let us live soberly, righteously and godly in this present Lesson 6. Response 6. world, looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God. Who shall change, &c. For though the flesh hath no desires apart from the soul, and derives its senses from whence it gains animation, yet it is the part of the soul to deny some things to that body which is made subject to her, and by an inward discretion to hold back what is outward from mischief; that, being often at leisure from bodily desires, She may devote herself to divine wisdom in the palace of the mind, and, while the noise of earthly cares is altogether hushed, may rejoice in holy meditations and everlasting pleasures. O my Lord, send I pray Thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send; behold the affliction of Thy people: as Thou hast spoken, come: and deliver us. Hear, O Thou Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep, Thou that sittest between the cherubim. As Thou hast spoken, come: and deliver us. Glory be to the Father, &c. (from St. Jerome,) Response 4. Lesson 5. Response 5. SUNDAY 2. And there shall go forth a rod out of the root of Jesse. As far as the beginning of the vision, or burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw, all this prophecy relates to Christ. Which I would explain by portions, lest if it be all set forth and treated at once, it confuse the memory of the reader. The Jews understand our Lord by the rod and flower from the rod of Jesse, the rod signifying His power, the flower His comeliness. Behold, the Lord shall come, our defender, the Holy One of Israel: with the crown of His kingdom upon Him. And He shall reign from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. With the crown, &c. But we, by the rod from the root of Jesse, understand the holy Virgin Mary, who had no shrub belonging to her: of 'whom we read before, Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and shall bear a son. And by the flower is meant the Lord and Saviour, who says in the Song of songs, I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. As a mother comforteth her sons, so will I comfort you, saith the Lord: and from Jerusalem, the city I have chosen, shall succour come to you; and you shall see, and your heart shall rejoice. Lesson 6. Response 6. Lesson 4. (From St. Leo.) Response 4. Lesson 5. I will give to Sion salvation, and to Jerusalem My glory. Therefore upon this flower, which shall suddenly spring up from the stem and root of Jesse by the Virgin Mary, the Spirit of the Lord shall rest; for in Him it hath seemed good that all the fulness of the godhead should dwell bodily; not by portions, as in the case of other saints, but, according to the Hebrew gospel of the Nazarenes, all the fountain of the Holy Spirit shall descend upon Him. But the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. O Jerusalem, thou shalt plant thy vine upon thy mountains. Leap for joy, for the day of the Lord shall come. Arise, O Sion, be turned unto the Lord thy God; rejoice and be glad, O Jacob: for thy Saviour shall come in the midst of the nations. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. For thy Saviour shall come in the midst of the nations. Glory be to the Father, &c. For thy Saviour shall come, &c. SUNDAY 3. (go on (k)) The time of the year, and our own religious custom, leads me to proclaim to you, dearly beloved, with the anxiety of a pastor, the fast of the 10th month, in which for the completion of the gathering of all fruits, is poured out most suitably to the Lord their giver, the tribute of abstaining from them; for what can be more available than fasting? by observing which we draw near to God, and resisting the devil overcome our pleasant vices. Weep not, O Egypt, for thy Ruler shall come to thee, before whose coming the depths shall be moved to deliver His people from the hand of power. Behold the Lord of hosts shall come, thy God with great power. To deliver, &c. For fasting has ever been the food of virtue. In a word, from abstinence proceed chaste thoughts, moderate wishes, sober purposes: and by voluntary inflictions the desires of the flesh are mortified, the graces of the spirit strengthened. But since, not by fasting only, the health of our souls is gained, let us make almsgiving the supplement of fasting. Let us give to active virtue, what we diminish from indul Response 5. Lesson 6. Response 6. gence Let the abstinence of the faster be the refreshment of the poor. Her time is well nigh come, and her days shall not be pro- Return, O virgin of Israel, return into thy cities. Let us give attention to the defence of widows, the welfare of orphans, the consolation of mourners, the reconciliation of enemies. Befriend the foreigner, assist the oppressed, clothe the naked, nurse the sick; that whoso of us by righteous labours shall offer to God, the author of all good, such pious sacrifice, may receive in turn for the same the reward of His heavenly kingdom. Let us keep fast on Wednesdays and Fridays; let us keep Vigil on the Sabbath with the blessed Apostle Peter, whose deeds of grace working together with our prayers, we may obtain what we seek through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, world without end. Amen. The Lord shall descend as the rain into a fleece of wool: righteousness shall spring forth in His days, yea, and abundance of peace. And all kings shall worship Him, all the heathen shall serve Him. Righteousness shall spring forth, &c. Glory be to the Father, &c. Righteousness shall spring forth, &c. (go on (k)) Lesson 4. (from St. Leo.) Response 4. SUNDAY 4. If we understand truly and wisely, dearly beloved, the history of our creation, we shall find that man was therefore formed after the likeness of God, that he might imitate his Creator; and that the natural dignity of our race consists in the image of divine kindness shining within us as in a mirror. Towards which we are daily renewed by the grace of the Saviour, so that what fell in the first Adam, is raised again in the second. Unto us a child is born, and He shall be called the mighty God: He shall sit upon the throne of David His Father and shall reign and the dominion shall be upon His shoulder. Lesson 5. Response 5. Lesson 6. Response 6. And in Him shall all tribes of the earth be blessed, and all nations shall serve Him. He shall sit, &c. The sole cause of our recovery is the pitifulness of God, whom we should not love, unless He first loved us, and scattered the darkness of our ignorance with the light of His truth; which the Lord declaring by holy Isaiah saith, I will bring the blind by a way that they know not, and paths of which they were ignorant, will I make them tread; I will make their darkness light and their crooked straight. This will I do to them and not forsake them, And again, I am found of those who sought me not, and I am manifested to them that asked not for me. Behold the fulness of time is now come, in which God sent forth His Son upon the earth, born of a virgin, made under the Law: to redeem those that are under the Law. For His great love wherewith He loved us, God sent forth His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. To redeem those, &c. How this was fulfilled the Apostle John teaches, saying, We know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding that we may know Him, that is true, and we are in His true Son. And again, we love God, because He first loved us. Therefore God by loving us, restores in us His own image, and that He may find in us the likeness of His own goodness, He giveth whence we also may work what He worketh, by lighting the lamps of our minds, and kindling in us the flame of His own love, that we may love, not Him only, but all that He loves. O Virgin of Israel, return to thy cities; how long wilt thou be put aside and be in sorrow? thou shalt conceive the Lord and Saviour, a new oblation in the earth men shall go forward to salvation. I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. How long wilt thou be put aside and be in sorrow? thou shalt conceive thy Lord and Saviour, a new oblation in the earth: men shall go forward to salvation. Glory be to the Father, &c. Men shall go forward to salvation, &c. |