Wednesday 29 April 2020
Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin, Doctor
on Wednesday of the 3rd week of Eastertide
Office of Readings
Introduction (without Invitatory)
If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, use the version with the Invitatory Psalm instead.
O God, come to our aid.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
________
Hymn
Love’s redeeming work is done,
fought the fight, the battle won.
Lo, our Sun’s eclipse is o’er!
Lo, he sets in blood no more!
Vain the stone, the watch, the seal!
Christ has burst the gates of hell;
death in vain forbids him rise;
Christ has opened paradise.
Lives again our victor King;
where, O death, is now thy sting?
Dying once, he all doth save;
where thy victory, O grave?
Soar we now where Christ has led,
following our exalted Head;
made like him, like him we rise,
ours the cross, the grave, the skies.
Hail the Lord of earth and heaven!
Praise to thee by both be given:
thee we greet triumphant now;
hail, the Resurrection thou!
________
Psalm 88 (89)
The Lord's kindness to the house of David
“God has raised up one from the house of David, as he promised: Jesus the Saviour” (Acts 13:22,23).
Love and truth walk in your presence, Lord. Alleluia.
I will síng for éver of your lóve, O Lórd; *
through all áges my móuth will procláim your trúth.
Of thís I am súre, that your lóve lasts for éver, *
that your trúth is fírmly estáblished as the héavens.
‘With my chósen one Í have made a cóvenant; *
I have swórn to Dávid my sérvant:
I will estáblish your dýnasty for éver *
and sét up your thróne through all áges.’
The héavens procláim your wónders, O Lórd; *
the assémbly of your hóly ones procláims your trúth.
For whó in the skíes can compáre with the Lórd *
or whó is like the Lórd among the sóns of Gód?
A Gód to be féared in the cóuncil of the hóly ones, *
gréat and dréadful to áll aróund him.
O Lórd God of hósts, whó is your équal? *
You are míghty, O Lórd, and trúth is your gárment.
It is yóu who rúle the séa in its príde; *
it is yóu who stíll the súrging of its wáves.
It is yóu who trod Ráhab underfóot like a córpse, *
scáttering your fóes with your míghty árm.
The héavens are yóurs, the wórld is yóurs. *
It is yóu who fóunded the éarth and all it hólds;
it is yóu who creáted the Nórth and the Sóuth. *
Tábor and Hérmon shout with jóy at your náme.
Yóurs is a míghty árm, O Lórd; *
your hánd is stróng, your ríght hand réady.
Jústice and ríght are the píllars of your thróne, *
lóve and trúth wálk in your présence.
Háppy the péople who accláim such a kíng, *
who wálk, O Lórd, in the líght of your fáce,
who fínd their jóy every dáy in your náme, *
who máke your jústice the sóurce of their blíss.
For yóu, O Lórd, are the glóry of their stréngth; *
by your fávour it ís that our míght is exálted;
for our rúler ís in the kéeping of the Lórd; *
our kíng in the kéeping of the Hóly One of Ísrael.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Love and truth walk in your presence, Lord. Alleluia.
________
Psalm 88 (89)
The Son of God was born into the house of David when he came into this world. Alleluia.
Of óld you spóke in a vísion. *
To your fríends the próphets you sáid:
‘I have sét the crówn on a wárrior, *
I have exálted one chósen from the péople.
‘I have fóund Dávid my sérvant *
and with my hóly óil anóinted him.
My hánd shall álways be wíth him *
and my árm shall máke him stróng.
‘The énemy shall néver outwít him *
nor the évil mán oppréss him.
I will béat down his fóes befóre him *
and smíte thóse who háte him.
‘My trúth and my lóve shall be wíth him; *
by my náme his míght shall be exálted.
I will strétch out his hánd to the Séa *
and his ríght hand as fár as the Ríver.
‘He will sáy to me: “Yóu are my fáther, *
my Gód, the róck who sáves me.”
And I will máke hím my fírst-born, *
the híghest of the kíngs of the éarth.
‘I will kéep my lóve for him álways; *
with hím my cóvenant shall lást.
I will estáblish his dýnasty for éver, *
make his thróne endúre as the héavens.’
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
The Son of God was born into the house of David when he came into this world. Alleluia.
________
Psalm 88 (89)
Once for all, I have sworn to David my servant: his dynasty shall last for ever. Alleluia.
‘If his sóns forsáke my láw *
and refúse to wálk as I decrée
and if éver they víolate my státutes, *
refúsing to kéep my commánds;
‘then I will púnish their offénces with the ród, *
then I will scóurge them on accóunt of their gúilt.
But I will néver take báck my lóve, *
my trúth will néver fáil.
‘I will néver víolate my cóvenant *
nor go báck on the wórd I have spóken.
Once for áll, I have swórn by my hóliness. *
“I will néver líe to Dávid.
‘“His dýnasty shall lást for éver. *
In my síght his thróne is like the sún;
like the móon, it shall endúre for éver, *
a fáithful wítness in the skíes.”’
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Once for all, I have sworn to David my servant: his dynasty shall last for ever. Alleluia.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, God of mercy and fidelity, you made a new and lasting pact with men and sealed it in the blood of your Son. Forgive the folly of our disloyalty and make us keep your commandments, so that in your new covenant we may be witnesses and heralds of your faithfulness and love on earth, and sharers of your glory in heaven.
________
℣. God raised Christ from the dead, alleluia.
℟. So that we would have faith and hope in God, alleluia.
________
Readings (official one-year cycle)
First Reading
Apocalypse 9:1-12
The plague of locusts
Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven on to the earth, and he was given the key to the shaft leading down to the Abyss. When he unlocked the shaft of the Abyss, smoke poured up out of the Abyss like the smoke from a huge furnace so that the sun and the sky were darkened by it, and out of the smoke dropped locusts which were given the powers that scorpions have on the earth: they were forbidden to harm any fields or crops or trees and told only to attack any men who were without God’s seal on their foreheads. They were not to kill them, but to give them pain for five months, and the pain was to be the pain of a scorpion’s sting. When this happens, men will long for death and not find it anywhere; they will want to die and death will evade them.
To look at, these locusts were like horses armoured for battle; they had things that looked like gold crowns on their heads, and faces that seemed human, and hair like women’s hair, and teeth like lions’ teeth. They had body-armour like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings sounded like a great charge of horses and chariots into battle. Their tails were like scorpions’, with stings, and it was with them that they were able to injure people for five months. As their leader they had their emperor, the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, or Apollyon in Greek.
That was the first of the troubles; there are still two more to come.
Responsory
Jl 2:30,32; Mk 13:33
℟. I will show wonders in heaven; and on earth, blood and fire and whirling smoke.* Then everyone who invokes the Lord by name shall be saved, alleluia.
℣. Be alert, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time will come.* Then everyone who invokes the Lord by name shall be saved, alleluia.
________
Second Reading
From the dialogue On Divine Providence by Saint Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor
I tasted and I saw
Eternal God, eternal Trinity, you have made the blood of Christ so precious through his sharing in your divine nature. You are a mystery as deep as the sea; the more I search, the more I find, and the more I find the more I search for you. But I can never be satisfied; what I receive will ever leave me desiring more. When you fill my soul I have an even greater hunger, and I grow more famished for your light. I desire above all to see you, the true light, as you really are.
I have tasted and seen the depth of your mystery and the beauty of your creation with the light of my understanding. I have clothed myself with your likeness and have seen what I shall be. Eternal Father, you have given me a share in your power and the wisdom that Christ claims as his own, and your Holy Spirit has given me the desire to love you. You are my Creator, eternal Trinity, and I am your creature. You have made of me a new creation in the blood of your Son, and I know that you are moved with love at the beauty of your creation, for you have enlightened me.
Eternal Trinity, Godhead, mystery deep as the sea, you could give me no greater gift than the gift of yourself. For you are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being. Yes, you are a fire that takes away the coldness, illuminates the mind with its light and causes me to know your truth. By this light, reflected as it were in a mirror, I recognise that you are the highest good, one we can neither comprehend nor fathom. And I know that you are beauty and wisdom itself. The food of angels, you gave yourself to man in the fire of your love.
You are the garment which covers our nakedness, and in our hunger you are a satisfying food, for you are sweetness and in you there is no taste of bitterness, O triune God!
Responsory
℟. Now that you are endowed with the gift of my Spirit, cleansed from all stain by the outpouring of my blood,* leave the quiet of contemplation and resolutely take up the work of witnessing to my truth, alleluia.
℣. Open your heart to me, my sister, co-heir with me of my kingdom; my beloved, who have understood Truth’s hidden mysteries;* leave the quiet of contemplation and resolutely take up the work of witnessing to my truth, alleluia.
________
Let us pray.
Almighty God, you made Saint Catherine of Siena
a contemplative lover of the Lord’s sufferings
and an ardent servant of your church.
Grant through her prayer
that your people may be united to Christ in his mystery,
and rejoice for ever in the revelation of his glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
________
Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.
Copyright © 1996-2020 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.