Occurring Scripture for the Hour of Matins
Fourth Week of Advent
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday SaturdayThe Vigil of Christmas is celebrated on December 24th. Then follow Christmas and its Octave.
On all of these days the readings for this week of Advent are omitted.Lesson i
A reading from the Prophet Isaias
Isaias 35:1-7The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice, and shall flourish like the lily. It shall bud forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise: the glory of Libanus is given to it: the beauty of Carmel, and Saron, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the beauty of our God. Strengthen ye the feeble hands, and confirm the weak knees. Say to the fainthearted: "Take courage, and fear not: behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God himself will come and will save you." Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free: for waters are broken out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness. And that which was dry land, shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.
Lesson ii
Isaias 35:7-10In the dens where dragons dwelt before, shall rise up the verdure of the reed and the bulrush. And a path and a way shall be there, and it shall be called the holy way: the unclean shall not pass over it, and this shall be a straight way for you, so that fools shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor shall any mischievous beast go up by it, nor be found there: but they shall walk there that shall be delivered. And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and shall come into Sion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
Lesson iii
Isaias 41:1-4Let the islands keep silence before Me, and the nations take new strength: let them come near, and then speak, let us come near to judgment together. Who has raised up the just one from the east, has called him to follow Him? He shall give the nations in His sight, and He shall rule over kings: He shall give them as the dust to His sword, as stubble driven by the wind, to His bow. He shall pursue them, He shall pass in peace, no path shall appear after His feet. Who hath wrought and done these things, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, I am the first and the last.
Lesson iv
From the Sermons of Pope Saint Leo the Great
I on the December Fast and Almsgiving.Dearly beloved brethren, if we study attentively the history of the creation of our race, we shall find that man was made in the image of God, that his ways also might be an imitation of the ways of his Maker. This is the natural, real, and highest dignity to which we are capable of attaining, that the goodness of the Divine nature should have a reflection in us, as in a glass. As a means of reaching this dignity, we are daily offered the grace of our Savior, for as in "the first Adam all men are fallen, so in the Second Adam can all men be raised up again" (I Corinthians 15:22).
Lesson v
Our restoration from the consequences of Adam's fall is sheer mercy of God, and nothing else; we would not have loved Him unless He had first loved us (1 John 4:19), and scattered the darkness of our ignorance by the light of His truth. This the Lord promised by the mouth of Isaiah, where He saith: "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not, and I will lead them in paths that they have not known I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them and not forsake them" (Isaias 42:16). And again: "I was found of them that sought Me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after Me (Isaias 65:1).
Lesson vi
And we know from the Apostle John how God fulfilled His promise, "We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him That is True, and be in Him That is True, even in His Son" (1 John 5:20). And again: "Let us therefore love God, because He first loved us. For His great love then wherewith he hath loved us" (1 John 4:19). "God renews His likeness in us. And, moreover, in order that He may find in us the reflection of His goodness, He gives us that whereby to work along with Himself, (Who works all in all,) lighting, as it were, candles in our dark minds, and kindling in us the fire of His love, to make us love not Himself only, but likewise, in Him, whatsoever He loves."
Lesson vii
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Luke
Luke 3:1-6Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturea, and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina; Under the high priests Annas and Caiphas; the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins; As it was written in the book of the sayings of Isaias the prophet: A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled; and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight; and the rough ways plain; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
An Homily of Pope Saint Gregory the Great
XX on the Gospels.John said unto the multitude, that came forth to be baptized by him: "O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" The wrath to come in one sense signifies the great vengeance of the Latter Day—the sinner who does not repent of his sin now will have no mean whereby to flee from punishment then. Let us remark that addressing evil children copying the example of evil parents, the Baptist called them a generation of vipers in that they were envious of the righteous, and persecuted them; that they repaid evil for evil; that they hunted out ways of harming their neighbors—in all these things following the pattern of carnal parents, the prophet likened them to a venomous brood hatched from a venomous stock.
Lesson viii
We also have sinned, we have fallen into wicked habits. What must we do, if we would flee from the wrath to come? Let us hear John. Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. In which words let us remark that the Friend of the Bridegroom demands not only fruits of repentance, but fruits worthy of repentance. The former are one thing, and the latter another. In considering then what are fruits worthy of repentance, we may remark that if we had done nothing unlawful we might have had free use of things which are lawful, and been able to sanctify ourselves without abstaining from indulgence in the things of the world.
Lesson ix
But if any one, for example, has fallen into fornication, or perhaps, into what is much worse, adultery, he ought to make up for his lawless pleasure by abstaining in some degree from lawful enjoyments. He that has sinned less is not bound to mortify himself as much as he that has sinned more, nor he that is innocent like him that is guilty. Let every one hearing these words bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, proceed to judge himself by his own conscience, and the more he perceives that he hath sinned, the greater penance let him do.
Collect:
Let us pray: Stir up Thy power and come, we pray Thee, O Lord, and with great might succor us; that our deliverance, which our sins impede, may be hastened by the help of Thy grace and the forgiveness of Thy mercy.
Lesson i
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaias
Isaias 41:8-10But you Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend: In whom I have taken you from the ends of the earth, and from the remote parts thereof have called you, and said to you: You are My servant, I have chosen you, and have not cast you away. Fear not, for I am with you: turn not aside, for I am your God: I have strengthened you, and have helped you, and the right hand of My just one has upheld you.
Lesson ii
Isaias 41:11-13Behold all that fight against you shall be confounded and ashamed, they shall be as nothing, and the men shall perish that strive against you. You shalt seek them, and shall not find the men that resist you: they shall be as nothing: and as a thing consumed the men that war against you. For I am the Lord your God, who takes you by the hand, and says to you: "Fear not, I have helped you."
Lesson iii
Isaias 41:14-16"Fear not, you worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel: I have helped you," said the Lord: and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. "I have made you as a new threshing board, with teeth like a saw: you shall thresh the mountains, and break them in pieces: and make the hills into chaff. You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and you shall rejoice in the Lord, in the Holy One of Israel you shall be joyful."
Collect of Sunday
Lesson i
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaias
Isaias 42:1-4"Behold My Servant [Christ, who according to his humanity, is the servant of God], I will uphold Him: My Elect, My soul delights in Him: I have given My spirit upon Him, He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor have respect to persons, neither shall his voice be heard abroad. The bruised reed He shall not break, and the smoking flax He shall not quench: He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not be sad, nor troublesome, till He sets judgment in the earth: and the islands shall wait for His law."
Lesson ii
Isaias 42:5-7Thus says the Lord God Who created the heavens, and stretched them out: Who established the earth, and the things that spring out of it: Who gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that tread thereon. "I the Lord have called you in justice, and taken you by the hand, and preserved you. And I have given you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles: That you might open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth the prisoner out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house."
Lesson iii
Isaias 42:10-13"I the Lord, this is My name: I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven things. Behold, the first things have come: and new things do I declare: before they spring forth, I will make you head them. Sing ye to the Lord a new song, His praise is from the ends of the earth: you that go down to the sea, and all that are therein: ye islands, and ye inhabitants of them. Let the desert and the cities thereof be exalted: Cedar shall dwell in houses: ye inhabitants of Petra, give praise, they shall cry from the top of the mountains. They shall give glory to the Lord, and shall declare His praise in the islands. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty Man, as a Man of war shall He stir up zeal: He shall shout and cry: He shall prevail against His enemies."
Collect of Sunday
Lesson i
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaias
Isaias 51:1-3"Give ear to me, you that follow that which is just, and you that seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you are dug out. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sara who bore you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him. The Lord therefore will comfort Sion, and will comfort all the ruins thereof: and He will make her desert as a place of pleasure, and her wilderness as the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of praise."
Lesson ii
Isaias 51:4-6"Hearken unto Me, O My people, and give ear to Me, O My tribes: for a law shall go forth from Me, and My judgment shall be a light for the nations. My just one is near at hand, My Savior is gone forth, and My arms shall judge the people: the islands shall look for Me, and shall patiently wait for My arm. Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down to the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall be worn away like a garment, and its inhabitants shall perish in like manner: but My salvation shall be for ever, and My justice shall not fail."
Lesson iii
Isaias 51:7-8"Hearken to Me, you that know what is just, My people who have My law in your heart: fear ye not the reproach of men, and be not afraid of their blasphemies. For the worm shall eat them up as a garment: and the moth shall consume them as wool: but My salvation shall be for ever, and My justice from generation to generation, Arise, arise, put on strength, O you arm of the Lord, arise as in the days of old, in the ancient generations. Have you not struck the proud one, and wounded the dragon? Have you not dried up the sea, the water of the mighty deep, which made the depth of the sea a path, that the delivered might pass over?"
Collect of Sunday
Lesson i
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaias
Isaias 64:1-4That Thou would rend the heavens, and would come down: the mountains would melt away at Thy presence. They would melt as at the burning of fire, the waters would burn with fire, that Thy name might be made known to Thine enemies: that the nations might tremble at Thy presence. When Thou shall do wonderful things, we shall not bear them: Thou came down, and at thy presence the mountains melted away. From the beginning of the world they have not heard, nor perceived with the ears: the eye has not seen, O God, besides Thee, what things Thou have prepared for them that wait for Thee.
Lesson ii
Isaias 64:5-7Thou have met him that rejoices, and does justice: in Thy ways they shall remember Thee: behold Thou art angry, and we have sinned: in them we have been always, and we shall be saved. And we have all become as one unclean, and all our justices as the rag of a menstruous woman: and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. There is none who calls upon Thy name: that rises up, and takes hold of Thee: Thou have hid Thy face from us, and have crushed us in the hand of our iniquity.
Lesson iii
Isaias 64:8-11And now, O Lord, Thou art our Father, and we are clay: and Thou art our maker, and we all are the works of Thy hands. Be not very angry, O Lord, and remember our iniquity no longer: behold, see we are all Thy people. The city of Thy sanctuary has become a desert, Sion is made a desert, Jerusalem is desolate. The house of our holiness, and of our glory, where our fathers praised Thee, is burnt with fire, and all our lovely things are turned into ruins.
Collect of Sunday
Lesson i
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaias
Isaias 66:5-8Hear the word of the Lord, you that tremble at His word: Your brethren that hate you, and cast you out for My name's sake, have said: "Let the Lord be glorified, and we shall see in your joy": but they shall be confounded. A voice of the people from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord that renders recompense to His enemies. Before she was in labor, she brought forth; before her time came to be delivered, she brought forth a man child. Who has ever heard such a thing? and who has seen the like to this? shall the earth bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be brought forth at once, because Sion has been in labor, and has brought forth her children?
Lesson ii
Isaias 66:9-12"Shall not I Who make others to bring forth children, Myself bring forth, said the Lord? shall I, that give generation to others, be barren," said the Lord your God. Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her: rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her. That you may suck, and be filled with the breasts of her consolations: that you may milk out, and flow with delights, from the abundance of her glory. For thus says the Lord: "Behold I will bring upon her, as it were, a river of peace, and as an overflowing torrent the glory of the Gentiles, which you shall suck; you shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall caress you.
Lesson iii
Isaias 66:13-16As one whom the mother caresses, so will I comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. You shall see and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb, and the hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants, and He shall be angry with His enemies. For behold the Lord will come with fire, and His chariots are like a whirlwind, to render His wrath in indignation, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For the Lord shall judge by fire, and by His sword unto all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
Collect of Sunday
