Occurring Scripture for the Hour of Matins
Third Week of August
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday SaturdayLesson i
Here begins the book of Wisdom
Wisdom 1:1-4Love justice, you that are the judges of the earth. Think of the Lord in goodness, and seek Him in simplicity of heart. For He is found by them that tempt Him not: and He shows Himself to those who have faith in Him. For perverse thoughts separate from God: and His power, when it is tried, reproves the unwise: For wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins.
Lesson ii
Wisdom 1:5-7For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful, and will withdraw Himself from thoughts that are without understanding, and He shall not abide when iniquity comes in. For the spirit of wisdom is benevolent, yet will not acquit the evil speaker from his lips: for God is witness of his inner self, and He is a true searcher of his heart, and a hearer of his tongue. For the spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world: and that, which contains all things, has knowledge of the voice.
Lesson iii
Wisdom 1:8-11Therefore he that speaks unjust things cannot be hid, neither shall the chastising judgment pass him by. For inquisition shall be made into the thoughts of the ungodly: and his words shall come to God, to the chastising of his iniquities. For the ear of jealousy hears all things, and the tumult of murmuring shall not be hid. Keep yourselves therefore from murmuring, which profits nothing, and refrain your tongue from detraction, for an obscure speech shall not go for nothing: and the mouth that lies, kills the soul.
Lesson iv
From the Book of St Ambrose, Bishop
On Offices Book I, chapter 28.Great is the glory of justice. She lives for others rather than for herself. By she aids our commonwealth and fellowship. She holds such a pre-eminence that all things are subject to her judgment. She helps others. She gives wealth. She is willing to labor. She takes upon herself the dangers of others. Who would not desire to hold this castle of power and courage, if the covetousness of our first parents had not weakened and distorted the strength of our nerve? But so it is, that, while we desire to increase wealth, to store up money, to add lands to our possessions, or to make a show of our abundance, we put aside the image of justice, and lose charity toward our brethren.
Lesson v
How wide the scope of justice appears by this, that it is not excepted from any place, person, or time—nay, she has to do even towards enemies, for if one agrees with his enemy on a certain place, or day for battle, it would be deemed unjust to fall on him beforehand, at some other place, or time. For it is a very different thing, whether one gets the better of another in a hard fight, or by skill, or by accident. If justice has place in war, how much more is she to be observed in time of peace?
Lesson vi
Honour is the foundation of justice. The thoughts in the hearts of just men are honorable thoughts and when the just man accuses himself, it is honour that brings him to that just deed. Then his justice is manifested by his honorable admission. The Lord said by Isaias "Behold, I lay in Zion a foundation-stone" (cf. 28:16), that is to say, He gives Christ to the Church to be Her foundation. Christ is the true honor for all men, and the Church is, as it were, an image of justice, being a commonwealth in which all have rights, and which works as one, and suffers as one. Whoever denies himself is just and worthy of Christ. Therefore also Paul said "For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ " (I Corinthians 3:11), and upon that foundation it is, that every building of justice must be raised. For the spirit of Christ is the true spirit of honor which is the foundation upon which justice rests.
The remaining lessons and collect are from the current Sunday after Pentecost
Lesson i
From the book of Wisdom
Wisdom 3:1-6But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure was taken for misery: And their going away from us, for utter destruction: but they are in peace. And though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality. Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded: because God has tried them, and found them worthy of Himself. As gold in the furnace He has proved them, and as a victim of a holocaust He hath received them, and in time they shall be respected.
Lesson ii
Wisdom 3:7-11The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds. They shall judge nations, and rule over people, and their Lord shall reign for ever. They that trust in Him, shall understand the truth: and they that are faithful in love shall rest in Him: for grace and peace are given to His elect. But the wicked shall be punished according to their own devices: those who have neglected the just, and have revolted from the Lord. For they that reject wisdom and discipline, are unhappy: and their hope is vain, and their labors without fruit, and their works unprofitable.
Lesson iii
Wisdom 5:16-21But the just shall live for evermore: and their reward is with the Lord, and the care of them with the most High. Therefore shall they receive a kingdom of glory, and a crown of beauty at the hand of the Lord: for with His right hand He will cover them, and with His holy arm he will defend them. And His zeal will take armor, and He will arm creation for the revenge of His enemies. He will put on justice as a breastplate, and will take true judgment instead of a helmet. He will take equity for an invincible shield: And He will sharpen his severe wrath for a spear, and the whole world shall fight with Him against the unwise.
Lesson i
From the book of Wisdom
Wisdom 6:1-5Wisdom is better than strength, and a wise man is better than a strong man. Hear therefore, ye kings, and understand: learn, ye that are judges of the ends of the earth. Give ear, you that rule the people, and that please yourselves in multitudes of nations: For power is given you by the Lord, and strength by the most High, who will examine your works, and search out your thoughts: Because, though being ministers of his kingdom, you have not judged rightly, nor kept the law of justice, nor walked according to the will of God.
Lesson ii
Wisdom 6:6-9Horribly and speedily will he appear to you: for a most severe judgment shall be for those who rule. For to him that is little, mercy is granted: but the mighty shall be mightily tormented. For God will not except any man's person, neither will He stand in awe of any man's greatness: for He made the little and the great, and He has equal care for all. But a greater punishment is ready for the more mighty.
Lesson iii
Wisdom 6:10-13To you, therefore, O kings, are these my words, that you may learn wisdom, and not fall from it. For they that have kept just things justly, shall be justified: and they that have learned these things, shall find what to answer. Therefore covet my words, and love them, and you shall have instruction. Wisdom is glorious, and never fades away, and is easily seen by them that love her, and is found by them that seek her.
Lesson i
From the book of Wisdom
Wisdom 7:1-6I myself also am a mortal man, like all others, and of the race of him, that was first made of the earth, and in the womb of my mother I was fashioned to be flesh. In the time of ten months I was compacted in blood, of the seed of man, and the pleasure of sleep concurring. And being born I drew in the common air, and fell upon the earth below, and the first voice which I uttered was crying, as all others do. [4] I was nursed in swaddling clothes, and with great cares. For none of the kings had any other beginning of birth. For all men have one entrance into life, and the like going out.
Lesson ii
Wisdom 7:7-10Wherefore I wished, and understanding was given me: and I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me: And I preferred her before kingdoms and thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in comparison of her. Neither did I compare her to any precious stone: for all gold in comparison of her, is as a little sand, and silver in respect to her shall be counted as clay. I loved her above health and beauty, and chose to have her instead of light: for her light cannot be put out.
Lesson iii
Wisdom 7:11-14Now all good things came to me together with her, and innumerable riches through her hands, And I rejoiced in all these: for this wisdom went before me, and I knew not that she was the mother of them all. Which I have learned without guile, and communicate without envy, and her riches I hide not. For she is an infinite treasure to men! which they that use, become the friends of God, being commended for the gift of discipline.
Lesson i
From the book of Wisdom
Wisdom 9:13-19For who among men can know the counsel of God? or who can think what the will of God is? For the thoughts of mortal men are fearful, and our counsels uncertain. For the corruptible body is a load upon the soul, and this earthly habitation presses down the mind that considers many things. And hardly do we guess rightly about things that are upon earth: and with labor do we find the things that are before us. But the things that are in heaven, who shall search them out? And who shall know Thy thought, except Thou give wisdom, and send Thine Holy Spirit from above: And so the ways of them that are upon earth may be corrected, and men may learn the things that please Thee? For by wisdom they were healed, whosoever have pleased Thee, O Lord, from the beginning.
Lesson ii
Wisdom 10:1-5She preserved him, that was first formed by God the father of the world, when he was created alone, And she brought him out of his sin, and gave him power to govern all things. But when the unjust went away from her in his anger, he perished by the fury wherewith he murdered his brother. For whose cause, when water destroyed the earth, wisdom healed it again, directing the course of the just by contemptible wood. Moreover when the nations had conspired together to consent to wickedness, she knew the just, and preserved him without blame to God, and kept him strong against the compassion for his son.
Lesson iii
Wisdom 10:6-9She delivered the just man who fled from the wicked that were perishing, when the fire came down upon Pentapolis: Whose land for a testimony of their wickedness is desolate, and smokes to this day, and the trees bear fruits that ripen not, and a standing pillar of salt is a monument of an incredulous soul. For regarding not wisdom, they did not only slip in this, that they were ignorant of good things, but they also left men a memorial of their folly, so that in the things in which they sinned, they could not so much as lie hid. But wisdom has delivered from sorrow those who attend her.
Lesson i
From the book of Wisdom
Wisdom 13:1-3But all men are vain, in whom there is not the knowledge of God: and who by these good things that are seen, could not understand Him that is, neither by attending to the works have acknowledged who was the workman: But have imagined either the fire, or the wind, or the swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the great water, or the sun and moon, to be the gods that rule the world. With whose beauty, if they, being delighted, took them to be gods: let them know how much the Lord of them is more beautiful than they: for the first author of beauty made all those things.
Lesson ii
Wisdom 13:4-7Or if they admired their power and their effects, let them understand by them, that he that made them, is mightier than they: For by the greatness of the beauty, and of the creature, the creator of them may be seen, so as to be known thereby. But yet as to these they are less to be blamed. For they perhaps err, seeking God, and desirous to find him. For being conversant among his works, they search: and they are persuaded that the things are good which are seen.
Lesson iii
Wisdom 13:8-10But then again they are not to be pardoned. For if they were able to know so much as to make a judgment of the world: how did they not more easily find out the Lord thereof? But unhappy are they, and their hope is among the dead, who have called gods the works of the hands of men, gold and silver, the inventions of art, and the resemblances of beasts, or an unprofitable stone the work of an ancient hand.
Lesson i
From the book of Wisdom
Wisdom 15:1-3But thou, our God, art gracious and true, patient, and ordering all things in mercy. For if we sin, we are Thine, knowing Thy greatness: and if we sin not, we know that we are counted with Thee. For to know Thee is perfect justice: and to know Thy justice, and Thy power, is the root of immortality. For the invention of mischievous men has not deceived us, nor the shadow of a picture, a fruitless labor, a graven figure with diverse colors, the sight of which entices the fool to lust after it, and he loves the lifeless figure of a dead image.
Lesson ii
Wisdom15:4-8The lovers of evil things deserve to have no better things to trust in, both they that make them, and they that love them, and they that worship them. The potter also tempering soft earth, with labor fashions every vessel for our service, and of the same clay he makes both vessels that are for clean uses, and likewise such as serve to the contrary: but what is the use of these vessels, the potter is the judge. And of the same clay by a vain labor he makes a god: he who a little before was made of earth himself, and a little after returns to the same earth out of which he was taken, when his life which was lent him shall be called for again.
