Occurring Scripture for the Hour of Matins
Easter Week
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Easter SundayLesson i
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Matk
Mark 16:1-7And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet spices, that coming, they might anoint Jesus. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulcher, the sun being now risen. And they said one to another: "Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulcher?" And looking, they saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great. And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe: and they were astonished. Who said to them: "Be not affrighted; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: He is risen, He is not here, behold the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see Him, as he told you."
An Homily of Pope Saint Gregory the Great
XXI on the GospelsDearly beloved brethren, ye have heard the deed of the holy women which had followed the Lord; how that they brought sweet spices to His sepulcher, and, now that He was dead, having loved Him while He was yet alive, they followed Him with careful tenderness still. But the deed of these holy women points to something which must needs be done in the holy Church. And it behooves us well to give ear to what they did, that we may afterward consider with ourselves what we must do likewise after their example. We also, who believe in Him That was dead, do come to His sepulcher bearing sweet spices, when we seek the Lord with the savor of good living, and the fragrant report of good works. Those women, when they brought their spices, saw a vision of Angels, and, in fact, those souls whose godly desires do move them to seek the Lord with the savor of good lives, do see the countrymen of our Fatherland which is above.
Lesson ii
It behooves us to mark what this means, that they saw the Angel sitting on the right side. For what signifies the left, but this life which now is? or the right, but life everlasting? As it is written in the Song of Songs (2:6): "His left hand is under my head, and His right hand doth embrace me." Since, therefore, our Redeemer had passed from the corruption of this life which now is, the Angel which told that His undying life was come, sat, as became Him, on the right side. They saw him clothed in a white garment, for he was herald of the joy of this our great solemnity, and the glistering whiteness of his raiment told of the brightness of this holy Festival of ours. Of ours, said I? or of His? But if we will speak the truth, we must acknowledge that it is both His and ours. The Again-rising of our Redeemer is a Festival of gladness for us, for us it bids know that we shall not die forever; and for Angels also it is a festival of gladness, for it bids them know that we are called to fulfill their number in heaven.
Lesson iii
See this glad Festival then, which is both his and ours, the Angel appeared in white raiment. For as the Lord, rising again from the dead, leads us unto the mansions above, He repairs the breaches of the heavenly Fatherland. But what means this, that the Angel said unto the women which came to the sepulcher: "Fear not"? Is it not as though he had said openly: Let them fear which love not the coming of the heavenly countrymen; let them be afraid who are so laden by fleshly lusts, that they have lost all hope ever to be joined to their company. But as for you, why fear ye, who, when ye see us, see but your fellow countrymen? Hence also Matthew, writing of the guise of the Angel, said (28:3): "His countenance was like lightning, and His raiment white as snow." The lightning speaks of fear and great dread, the snow of the soft brilliancy of rejoicing.
Let us pray. God, who on this day, through thy Only-begotten Son, overcame death, and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: as by Thine anticipating grace, Thou breathe good desires into our hearts, so also, by Thy gracious help, bring them to good effect. Through the same
Monday of the Easter Octave
Lesson i
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Luke
Luke 25: 13-35And behold, two of them went, the same day, to a town which was sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, named Emmaus. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that while they talked and reasoned with themselves, Jesus Himself also drawing near, went with them. But their eyes were held, that they should not know Him. And He said to them: "What are these discourses that you hold one with another as you walk, and are sad?" And the one of them, whose name was Cleophas, answering, said to Him: "Art thou only a stranger to Jerusalem, and hast not known the things that have been done there in these days?" To whom hHe said: "What things?" And they said: "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people; And how our chief priests and princes delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we hoped, that it was He that should have redeemed Israel: and now besides all this, today is the third day since these things were done. Yea and certain women also of our company affrighted us, who before it was light, were at the sepulcher, And not finding his body, came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, who say that He is alive. And some of our people went to the sepulcher, and found it so as the women had said, but they found Him not." Then He said to them:" O foolish, and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the scriptures, the things that were concerning Him. And they drew nigh to the town, whither they were going: and He made as though he would go farther. But they constrained Him; saying: Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent. And He went in with them. And it came to pass, whilst He was at table with them, He took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him: and He vanished out of their sight. And they said one to the other: "Was not our heart burning within us, whilst He spoke in this way, and opened to us the scriptures?" And rising up, the same hour, they went back to Jerusalem: and they found the eleven gathered together, and those that were staying with them, Saying: "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon." And they told what things were done on the way; and how they knew him in the breaking of the bread.
An Homily of Pope Saint Gregory the Great
XXIII on the Gospels.Dearly beloved brethren, you hear, how that while two of His disciples walked together in the way, not believing in His Resurrection, but talking, together concerning Him, the Lord manifested Himself unto them, but yet held their eyes that they should not know Him. This holding of the eyes of their body, wrought by the Lord, was a figure of the spiritual veil which was yet upon the eyes of their heart. For in their heart they loved and yet doubted : even as the Lord drew near to them outwardly, but showed not Who He was. To them that talked together of Him, He revealed His immediate presence; but hid, from them that doubted, the knowledge of His Person.
Lesson ii
He spoke to them; He rebuked the hardness of their heart; He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself: and, nevertheless, seeing that He was yet a stranger to faith in their hearts, He made as though He would have gone further. These words He made as though would here seem to mean He feigned, but He Who is simple Truth doth nothing with feigning : He only showed Himself to them in bodily manners, as He was towards them spiritually; but they were put to the proof whether, though they loved Him not yet as their God, they could love Him at least as a wayfarer.
Lesson iii
But since it was impossible, that they with whom Truth walked, should be loveless, they asked Him as a wayfarer to partake of their hospitality. But why do we say that they asked Him, when it is written : "And they constrained Him"? From their example we learn that we ought not only to bid, but also to urge, wayfarers to our hospitable entertainment. They laid a table therefore, and set before Him bread and meat; and that God Whom they had not known in the expounding of the Holy Scripture, they knew in the breaking of bread. In hearing the commandments of God they were not enlightened, but they were enlightened in the doing of them : as it is written: "Not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified" (Romans 2:13). Whosoever therefore will understand that which he hears, let him make haste to practice in his works that which he has already been able to hear. Behold, the Lord was not known while He spoke, but He was contented to be known when He broke bread.
Let us pray O God, Who dost heal the sick world by the solemn gladness of the Passover, continue, we beseech thee! to pour forth Thine heavenly gifts upon Thy people, till the same shall bring them into perfect liberty, and finally avail them unto life everlasting. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Tuesday of the Easter Octave
Lesson i
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Luke
Luke 25: 36-57Now while they were speaking these things, Jesus stood in the midst of them, and said to them: "Peace be to you; it is I, fear not." But they being troubled and frightened, supposed that they saw a spirit. And He said to them: "Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? See My hands and feet, that it is I myself; handle, and see: for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see Me to have." And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet. But while they yet believed not, and wondered for joy, He said: "Have you any thing to eat?" And they offered Him a piece of a broiled fish, and a honeycomb. And when He had eaten before them, taking the remains, He gave to them. And He said to them: :These are the words which I spoke to you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me." Then He opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. And He said to them: "Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead, the third day: And that penance and remission of sins should be preached in His name, unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. "
An Homily of Saint Ambrose, Bishop
Book X Commentary on Luke 25We see here the marvelous nature of the Lord's glorified Body. It could enter unseen, and then become seen. It could easily be touched, but Its nature is hard to understand. The disciples were frightened, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And therefore the Lord, that He might show us the evidence of His Resurrection, said: "Handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see I have." Therefore it was not by being in a disembodied state, but by the peculiar qualities of the risen and glorified Body that He had passed through closed doors. For that which is touched or handled is a body.
Lesson ii
We shall all rise again with our bodies. But it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:52-55). The spiritual body is the finer, and the natural body is the grosser, dulled as yet by the corruption of earth. Was not That a real Body, wherein remained those marks of His Wounds, those holes of the nail-prints, which the Lord bade His disciples to handle? Hereby, also, He has not only strengthened our faith, but also quickened our love, since we know that it has been His will to carry to heaven those Wounds which He bore for our sake, and wherewith He would not make away; but plainly show to His Eternal Father the price of our freedom. It is as marked with these Wounds and embracing the trophy of our salvation that the Father said to Him, "Sit Thou at My right Hand": and it is, like Him, marked with their wounds, that He has shown us that the Martyrs, whose Crown He is, are, and will be with Him there.
Lesson iii
And now, since our Lesson from Luke here fails, let us have recourse to John, and consider how that, according to him (John 20:20), then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord, and received the grace of faith. According to Luke, He upbraided them with their unbelief, but according to John He said also, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Luke, not John, has, "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be imbued with power from on high." Indeed, to me it seems as though the one Evangelist had busied himself with the greater and higher matters, and the other with the narrative, and such things as are more human: the one with the course, the other with the essence, of history. For as it is impossible to doubt the word of him who testified of these things (cf. John 21:25), and who saw these things, and concerning whom we know that "his testimony is true," so is it sinful to think of negligence or falsehood as attaching to the other, even Luke, who earned to himself to be an Evangelist, albeit he was not an Apostle, and therefore we hold that both are truthful, neither are they at variance one with the other, either in the difference of the words they use, or in the sacredness of their characters as Evangelists. For though Luke said that at the first the Apostles believed not, yet he showed that afterward they believed: and although, if we regard only the first fact, the Evangelists seem divergent one from the other, yet, when we consider what comes afterward, we see that they are at one.
Let us pray. O God, Who art ever multiplying the Children of Thy Church, grant unto the same Thy servants that they may lead the rest of their lives according to this beginning wherein Thou hast given them faith to receive the Sacrament of the New Birth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wednesday of the Easter Octave
Lesson i
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Matk
John 21:1-15After this, Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And He showed himself after this manner. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is called Didymus, and Nathanael, who was of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them: "I am going fishing." They said to him: "We will also come with thee." And they went forth, and entered into the ship: and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was come, Jesus stood on the shore: yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus therefore said to them: "Children, have you any meat?" They answered him: "No." He said to them: "Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find." They cast therefore; and now they were not able to draw it, for the multitude of fishes. That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved, said to Peter: "It is the Lord." Simon Peter, when he heard that it was the Lord, girt his coat about him, (for he was naked,) and cast himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the ship, (for they were not far from the land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they came to land, they saw hot coals lying, and a fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus said to them: "Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught." Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three. And although there were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus said to them: Come, and dine. And none of them who were at meat, dared ask Him: "Who art thou?" knowing that it was the Lord. And Jesus came and took bread, and gave it to them, and fish in like manner. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to his disciples, after He was risen from the dead.
An Homily of Pope Saint Gregory the Great
XXIV on the GospelsDearly beloved brethren, the portion of the Holy Gospel which has but now been read in your ears, knocks loudly at the door of your heart, with a certain question, the answer whereto calls for thought. This same question is: Why did Peter, who had before his conversion been a fisherman, why did he, after his conversion, again go fishing? since the Truth hath said: No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God? Wherefore did Peter return to that which he had left? But we thought we see the answer to his question. The trade which was harmless before his conversion, did not become harmful because he had been converted.
Lesson ii
We know that Peter had been a fisherman, and Matthew a publican, and that Peter after his conversion went back to his fishing, but Matthew did not return to the receipt of custom. It is one thing to seek a livelihood by fishing, and another to amass money by farming of taxes. There are many kinds of business in which it is difficult or impossible to be engaged without committing sin, and to such kinds of business as these, he which has once been converted must not again take up.
Lesson iii
It may likewise be asked why, when the disciples were toiling in the sea, the Lord, after His Resurrection, stood on the shore, whereas, before His Resurrection, He had walked on the waves before them all. The reason of this is quickly known if we will think of the end which it then served. The sea is a figure of this present world, tossed to and fro by changing fortune, and continually ebbing and flowing with the divers tides of life. The stableness of the shore is an image of the never-ending rest of the eternal home. The disciples therefore, for that they were yet tossed to and fro upon the waves of a dying life, were toiling in the sea, but He our Redeemer, Who had already laid aside that which in this body is subject to corruption, and had risen again from the dead, He stood upon the shore.
Let us pray. O God, Who every year fills us with holy gladness for the rising again of the Lord, mercifully grant that these feast days which we are now keeping here in time, may be to us a means whereby in the end we may worthily attain those pleasures which are at Thy right hand in eternity. Through the same.
Thursday of the Easter Octave
Lesson i
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Matk
John 20:11-18But Mary stood outside the sepulcher, weeping. Now as she was weeping, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher, And she saw two angels in white, sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been laid. They say to her: "Woman, why weep thou?" She said to them: "Because they have taken away my Lord; and I know not where they have laid Him." When she had said this, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing; and she knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her: "Woman, why weep thou? whom seek thou?" She, thinking it was the gardener, said to Him: "Sir, if thou hast taken him hence, tell me where thou laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her: "Mary." She turning, said to him: "Rabboni (which is to say, Master)." Jesus said to her: Do not touch Me, for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, and say to them: I ascend to My Father and to your Father, to My God and your God." Mary Magdalen came, and told the disciples: I have seen the Lord, and these things He said to me.
An Homily of Pope Saint Gregory the Great
XXV on the GospelsMary Magdalene, a woman in the city, who was a sinner, through love of the truth washed away by her tears the foulness of her sin, and the word of the Truth was fulfilled which He spoke: "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven: for she loved much" (Luke 7:57). She that had remained cold while she sinned, became burning when she loved. For after that she had been to the Sepulcher, and had not found there the Body of the Lord, and had believed that It had been taken away, and had told His disciples, they came and saw, and thought it was even as the woman had said, and it is written: "Then the disciples went away again unto their own home but Mary stood without at the sepulcher, weeping" (John 20:10-11).
Lesson ii
In connection with this matter, we ought to ponder what great store of love there was in that woman's heart, who, when even His disciples were gone away, could not tear herself from the grave of the Lord. She sought Him Whom she had not found there, and as she sought, she wept, and the fire of love in her heart yearned after Him, Who she believed had been taken away. And so it came to pass that she, who had lingered to seek Him, was the only one who then saw Him, since the back-bone of a good work is endurance, and the voice of the Truth Himself hath said: "He that endures to the end shall be saved" (Mark 13:13).
Lesson iii
As Mary wept there, she stooped down and looked into the Sepulcher. It was but a little while and she had seen how the Sepulcher was empty, and had told the disciples that the Lord had been taken away. Why then should she stoop down and look in again? But she loved Him so well, that one look was not enough; the energy of her affection constrained her to search again and again. She began by searching and not finding; but she endured in her search, and, behold, it came to pass that she found. And this was done that our own longings for Christ's presence might be taught to expand, and know that as they expand they will meet with Him to Whom they aspire.
Let us pray. O God, Who makes all nations, how diverse they may be, to become one family in giving of praise to Thy Name, grant unto all them that are born again in the fountain of baptism to live ever in oneness of faith, and godliness of works. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Friday of the Easter Octave
Lesson i
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
Matthew 28:16-20And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And seeing Him they adored: but some doubted. And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: "All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world."
An Homily of Saint Jerome, Priest
Book iv: Commentary on the end of Saint Matthew's GospelAfter His Resurrection Jesus was seen on a mountain in Galilee, and there He was worshipped; and, while some doubted, their doubts have led to a further establishing of our faith. Then He showed Himself more openly unto Thomas, and made him handle the Side that was pierced with the spear, and the Hands wherein were the holes of the nails. And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." Yea, all power is given unto Him Who but a little while before had been crucified, and buried in the grave, and had lain among the dead, but Who also had risen again. Power is given unto Him in heaven and in earth, that He Who of everlasting had been King of heaven, might have a Monarchy on earth also, through the faith of them which believe in Him.
Lesson ii
"Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." First, they teach all nations; then, they wash with water them whom they have taught. For it is impossible for the body to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, unless the mind first receive the truth of the faith. And they are baptized In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost for, even as the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all One, so is the one grace of Baptism the gift of all the Three Divine Persons : and the Name of the Trinity is the Name of One God.
Lesson iii
"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." The order of the Lord's commands to the Apostles is markedly this. First, to teach all nations; secondly, to make them partake in the Sacrament of the faith; thirdly, when they had believed and been baptized, to teach them what to observe. And lest we should think that He commanded things light and few, He hath said: All things whatsoever I have commanded you, so that all, who have believed and been baptized in the Name of the Trinity, are bound to observe all things whatsoever He has commanded. And, lo, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." He Who promised that He will be with His disciples even unto the end of the world, gives them, thereby, to know that they will always be conquerors, and that He will never fail any which believe in Him.
Let us pray Almighty and eternal God, in the Easter sacrament Thou instituted the covenant, whereby Thou forgave mankind; grant to our souls, that what we outwardly profess we may show forth in our deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Saturday of the Easter Octave
Lesson i
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Matk
John 20:1-9And on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen came early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher; and she saw the stone taken away from the sepulcher. She ran, therefore, and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them: "They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid Him. Peter therefore went out, and that other disciple, and they came to the sepulcher. And they both ran together, and that other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher. And when he stooped down, he saw the linen cloths lying; but yet he went not in. Then came Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulcher, and saw the linen cloths lying, And the napkin that had been about his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but apart, wrapped up into one place. Then that other disciple also went in, who came first to the sepulcher: and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.
An Homily of Pope Saint Gregory the Great
XXII on the GospelsDearly beloved brethren, the portion of the Holy Gospel which hath just now been read in your ears, is exceeding simple on the face of it, which is its historical sense; but the mystic sense, which underlies that other, requires from us a little searching. Mary Magdalene came unto the Sepulcher when it was yet dark. The historic sense tells us what was the hour of day; the mystic sense, the state of her understanding who sought. Mary Magdalene sought for Him, by Whom all things were made, and Whom she had seen die, as concerning the flesh; she sought for Him, I say, in the grave, and finding Him not, she believed that He had been stolen away. Yea, it was yet dark, when she came unto the Sepulcher. Then she ran and told the disciples, but they who had loved Him most, namely Peter and John, did outrun the others.
Lesson ii
So they both ran together, but John outran Peter, and came first to the Sepulcher, but yet took it not upon himself to go in first. Then came Peter following him, and went in. What, my brethren, what did the racing of these Apostles signify? Can we believe that the description given by the deepest of the Evangelists is without a mystic interpretation? By no means. John had never told how that he did outrun Peter, and yet went not into the Sepulcher, if he had not believed that his hesitation veiled some mystery. What signifies John but the Synagogue? or Peter, but the Church?
Lesson iii
Neither must ye take it as strange that the elder Apostle should represent the Church, and the younger the Synagogue: for although the Synagogue was first to worship God, yet the herd of Gentiles in the world is older than the Synagogue, as witnessed Paul where he said: "That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural" (1 Corinthians 15:56). By Peter, then, who was the elder, is signified the Church of the Gentiles; and by John, who was the younger, the Synagogue of the Jews. They run both of them together, for from the time of her birth until now, and so will it be until the end, the Church of the Gentiles has run in a parallel road and in many ways a common road with the Synagogue, although perhaps, not with equal understandings. The Synagogue came first to the Sepulcher, but she hath not yet entered in; for, though she hath received the commandments of the law, and hath heard the Prophets tell of the Incarnation and Passion of the Lord, she did not believe in Him Who died for her.
Let us pray. Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who have kept worshipfully the Passover holy days, may at last worthily pass from keeping Feasts unto Thee here to the everlasting jubilation hereafter. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
