Occurring Scripture for the Hour of Matins
Third (full) Week of Lent
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Lesson i
A reading from the book of Genesis
Genesis 37:2-10And these are his generations: Joseph, when he was sixteen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, being but a boy: and he was with the sons of Bala and of Zelpha his father's wives and he accused his brethren to his father of a most wicked crime. Now Israel loved Joseph above all his sons, because he had him in his old age: and he made him a coat of diverse colors. And his brethren seeing that he was loved by his father, more than all his sons, hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. Now it fell out also that he told his brethren a dream, that he had dreamed: which occasioned them to hate him the more. And he said to them: Hear my dream which I dreamed. I thought we were binding sheaves in the field: and my sheaf arose as it were, and stood, and your sheaves standing about, bowed down before my sheaf. His brethren answered Shalt thou be our king? or shall we be subject to thy dominion? Therefore this matter of his dreams and words ministered nourishment to their envy and hatred. He dreamed also another dream, which he told his brethren, saying: I saw in a dream, as it were the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars worshipping me. And when he had told this to his father and brethren, his father rebuked him, and said: What meaneth this dream that thou hast dreamed? shall I and thy mother, and thy brethren worship thee upon the earth?
Lesson ii
Genesis 37:11-20His brethren therefore envied him: but his father considered the thing with himself. And when his brethren abode in Sichem feeding their father's flocks, Israel said to him thy brethren feed the sheep in Sichem: come, I will send thee to them. And when he answered: I am ready: he said to him: Go, and see if all things be well with thy brethren, and the cattle: and bring me word again what is doing. So being sent from the vale of Hebron, he came to Sichem: And a man found him there wandering in the field, and asked what he sought. But he answered: I seek my brethren; tell me where they feed the flocks. And the man said to him: They are departed from this place: for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothain. And Joseph went forward after his brethren, and found them in Dothain. And when they saw him afar off, before he came nigh them, they thought to kill him. And said one to another: Behold the dreamer cometh. Come, let us kill him, and cast him into some old pit and we will say Some evil beast hath devoured him: and then it shall appear what his dreams avail him.
Lesson iii
Genesis 37:21-28 21And Ruben hearing this, endeavored to deliver him out of their hands, and said: Do not take away his life, nor shed his blood: but cast him into this pit, that is in the wilderness, and keep your hands harmless: now he said this, being desirous to deliver him out of their hands and to restore him to his father. And as soon as he came to his brethren, they forthwith stripped him of his outside coat, that was of diverse colors: And cast him into an old pit, where there was no water. And sitting down to eat bread, they saw some Ismaelites on their way coming from Calaad, with their camels, carrying spices, and balm, and myrrh to Egypt. And Juda said to his brethren: What will it profit us to kill our brother, and conceal his blood? It is better that he be sold to the Ismaelites, and that our hands be not defiled: for he is our brother and our flesh. His brethren agreed to his words. And when the Madianite merchants passed by, they drew him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ismaelites, for twenty pieces of silver: and they led him into Egypt.
Lesson iv
From the Book upon holy Joseph by Saint Ambrose, Bishop
Chapter 1The lives of the saints are the models for the lives of others. This is one of the reasons why we have been given the wise tale of the Scriptures, that while, by reading therein, we come to know Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and others of the righteous, we may follow them in that path of innocence which is opened to us for our imitation by the record of their godly conversation. Of them I have often treated, and today the story of the holy Joseph cometh before me. In that story there are patterns of many virtues, but chiefly is he glorious on account of his clean living. Right is it then that ye who have learnt in Abraham the devotedness of a faith that nothing could daunt, in Isaac the transparency of an upright soul, in Jacob a wonderful patience of spirit in great travails, should now turn from their worthy deeds, to see the bright example of Joseph's self-control.
Lesson v
The holy Joseph is put before us as a pattern of chastity. Modesty shines in his manners and in his deeds, and a certain loveliness, which is found with chastity, shines there also. Hence his parents loved him more than their other children. But this love caused him to be the object of an envy, which we must not pass by, and upon this the whole story turns. Yet, at the same time, we learn how that just man was not swayed by any desire to avenge his own sufferings, neither repaid evil for evil. Whence also David says "If I have rewarded evil..." (Psalm 7:4).
Lesson vi
In what would Joseph have been worthy to be chosen before others, if he had harmed them which harmed him, and loved them which loved him? For this do many do. But it is a wonder if one do that which the Savior teaches, and love his enemy. Well, then, may we wonder at him who did this before the Gospel came; who, being injured, spared; being assailed, forgave; being sold, returned no evil; but repaid insult with favor. We, from the Gospel, have been taught to do all this, and we cannot. Let us also, then, learn how that there was envy even among some of the holy Patriarchs, that we may follow the example of the patience wherewith others of them bore it; and let us feel that they were not men of another and higher nature than ours, but only more heedful; that they were not sinless, but that they repented. But if the passion of envy scorched even some of the holy race, how much more need is there for the sinful to take heed lest it set fire to them?
Lesson vii
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Luke
Luke 11: 14-28At that time, Jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb: and when he had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke: and the multitudes were in admiration at it: But some of them said: He casts out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. And others tempting, asked of him a sign from heaven. But he seeing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself, shall be brought to desolation, and house upon house shall fall. And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because you say, that through Beelzebub I cast out devils. Now if I cast out devils by Beelzebub; by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I by the finger of God cast out devils; doubtless the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man armed keeps his court, those things are in peace which he possesses. But if a stronger than he come upon him, and overcome him; he will take away all his armor wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils. He that is not with me, is against me; and he that gathers not with me, scatters. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through places without water, seeking rest; and not finding, he says: I will return into my house whence I came out. And when he is come, he finds it swept and garnished. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him: "Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the breasts that gave thee suck. But he said: "Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it."
An Homily of the Venerable Bede, Priest
Book iv: 48 on Luke xiWe read in Matthew that the devil, by which this poor creature was possessed, was not only dumb, but also blind; and that, when he was healed by the Lord, he saw as well as spoke. Three miracles, therefore, were performed on this one man; the blind saw, the dumb spoke, and the possessed was delivered. This mighty work was then indeed wrought carnally, but it is still wrought spiritually in the conversion of believers, when the devil is cast out of them, so that their eyes see the light of faith, and the lips, that before were dumb, are opened that their mouth may show forth the praise of God. But some of them said He casts out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. These some were not of the multitude, but liars among the Pharisees and Scribes, as we are told by the other Evangelist
Lesson viii
While the multitude, who were less instructed, wondered ever at the works of the Lord, the Pharisees and Scribes, on the other hand, denied the facts when they could, and when they were not able, twisted them by an evil interpretation, and asserted that the works of God were the works of an unclean spirit. And others, tempting Him, sought of Him a sign from heaven. They would have had Christ either to call down fire from heaven like Elias, (4 Kings i: 10), or, like Samuel (1 Kings vii: 10) to have made thunder roll, and lightning flash, and rain fall at midsummer. And yet and if he had so done, they had been still able to explain away these signs also, as being the natural result of some unusual, though, till that moment, unremarked state of the atmosphere. O thou, who stubbornly deny that which thine eye sees, thine hand holds, and thy sense perceives, what wilt thou say to a sign from heaven? In truth, thou wilt say that the magicians in Egypt also wrought diverse signs from heaven.
Lesson ix
But He, knowing their thoughts, said unto them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and an house divided against an house falls." He answered not their words, but their thoughts; as though He would compel them to believe in the power of Him Who sees the secrets of the heart. But if every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, then the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost have not a divided kingdom, since His is a kingdom that, without all contradiction, shall never be brought to desolation by any shock, but abides unchanged and unchangeable for ever. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because ye say that I cast out devils by Beelzebub. In saying this, He sought to draw from their own mouth a confession that they had chosen for themselves to be part of that devil's kingdom, which, if it be divided against itself, cannot stand.
Let us pray We beseech thee, Almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of thy humble servants, and stretch forth the right hand of thy Majesty, to be our defense against all our enemies. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lesson i
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Luke
Luke 4: 23-30At that time, Jesus said to the Pharisees: Doubtless you will say to me this similitude: Physician, heal thyself: as great things as we have heard done in Capharnaum, do also here in thy own country. And he said: Amen I say to you, that no prophet is accepted in his own country. In truth I say to you, there were many widows in the days of Elias in Israel, when heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there was a great famine throughout all the earth. And to none of them was Elias sent, but to Sarepta of Sidon, to a widow woman. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet: and none of them was cleansed but Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, hearing these things, were filled with anger. And they rose up and thrust him out of the city; and they brought him to the brow of the hill, whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them, went his way.
An Homily of Saint Ambrose, Bishop
Book iv on Luke ivHere we have a display of a spite not very common. Their hatred of Christ, and their desire to find grounds for that hatred in what in Him appealed for their love, had made them forget their local friendliness to a fellow-citizen. By this example as well as by God's declaration, thou may learn that thou wilt wait in vain to be helped of His mercy, whilst thou art envious of the spiritual good of thy neighbor. Yes, the Lord turns Himself away from the envious, and will not show the mighty works of His power to such as are bitter against His gifts to others. The example of Himself which God hath been pleased to set before us is that of His doings in the Flesh, and it is by these His doings which He suffered to be seen, that we are taught touching those which are unseen.
Lesson ii
The Savior then does not lightly excuse Himself that He had wrought none of His mighty works in His own country, lest perhaps any should learn to think lightly of our duty to love our Fatherland. Neither was it possible that He Who loved all, should not love His own countrymen; they it was who failed in that love because of their very envy. I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias. The days of Elias not that the said days belonged to Elias, but either because those were the days when Elias lived and worked; or, else, this is a mystic phrase, meaning that Elias by his works made many souls to awake spiritually from the night of sin to the day of grace, and turn to the Lord. In this latter sense that holy Prophet was a means whereby heaven was opened to such as looked to the eternal and mysterious things of God, and again was shut, (and there was a famine,) when there were no means of knowing God through outward ordinances. This subject, however, I have treated before at full length, when I was writing on the subject of widows.
Lesson iii
And many lepers were in Israel in the days of Eliseus the Prophet, and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. By these words of the Lord our great Physician, we are plainly taught and urged to put our trust in the Adorable God, since we see that none was healed, or cleansed from bodily plague- spots, save him who took a religious means to regain health. For the blessings of God are not given to them who close their eyes in sleep, but to them that look to Him. We have remarked in our other book, that the widow to whom Elias was sent was a "type" of the Church. And next after the Church comes, appropriately, the mention of her people, Yes, the Gentiles were a people foreigners by birth, leprous, and covered with plague-spots, till they were baptized in the stream of the mystical Jordan; but from the sacramental waters they rise, lepers no more, but cleansed in body and soul, a glorious virgin Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
Let us pray. O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to shed abroad thy grace into our hearts, that we who are now denying carnal meats to our bodily cravings, may have power likewise to withhold from the same all yielding to the deathful lusts of sin. Through our Lord Jesus Christ
Lesson i
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
Matthew 18: 15-22At that time Jesus said: If thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand. And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican. Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven. For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Then came Peter unto him and said: Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus said to him: I say not to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven times.
An Homily of St Augustine, Bishop
16th Sermon on the Words of the Lord, vol. x.Why tell him his fault? Because he hath made thee smart by trespassing against thee? God forbid. If thou tell him his fault because thou love thyself, thou dost nothing. But if thou tell it him because thou lovest him, then dost thou do exceeding well. Hear now, in the words of the Gospel itself, for love of whom, thou ought to do it, of thyself, or of him. The Lord said "If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." Therefore it behooves thee to do it for his sake, that thou may gain him; since, if thou so do, haply thou may gain him; whereas, if thou do it not, he may happen to perish. Why then are there so many who reckon lightly of a trespass against their brother, and say I have done no great offence, for I have trespassed only against my fellow man? Deem it not light; thou hast trespassed, though it be against thy fellow man.
Lesson ii
Does thou know that thy trespass against thy brother hath destroyed thee? If he against whom thou hast trespassed tell thee thy fault between himself and thee alone, and thou hear him, he hath gained thee. Gained thee! And what signify those words, if it be not that thou, if thou be not gained, shall perish? For if thou would not otherwise perish, in what sense can he be said to gain thee? Therefore let no man deem it a light thing when he trespasses against his brother. For the Apostle Paul said in a certain place: When ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. We are all members of Christ. How dost thou not trespass against Christ, which trespasses against one of His members?
Lesson iii
Let no man therefore say I have not trespassed against God, but only against my brother; that is, I have trespassed against my fellowman; and so the sin is light, if any at all. And perchance thou wilt argue that it is light, because it is quickly mended; thou hast trespassed against thy brother, but thou canst make satisfaction, and be right again; thou hast done the deadly thing quickly, and quickly canst thou find a remedy. O my brethren, which of us can hope for the kingdom of heaven, when we remember that the Gospel saith: “Whosoever shall say to his brother: Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire?” It is a thought full of dread; but, lo! the remedy: "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remember that thy brother hath anything against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." God is not upset that thou tarry or ever thou offer thy gift; for God seeks thyself more than thy gift.
Let us pray. Graciously hear us, O Almighty and merciful God, and in thy goodness enable us to reap the fruit of this our healthful fasting. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lesson i
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
Matthew 15: 1-20At that time, the scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying: Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the ancients? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answering, said to them: Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for your tradition? For God said: Honor thy father and mother: And: He that shall curse father or mother, let him die the death. But you say: Whosoever shall say to father or mother, "The offering which I make to God is all the advantage you will have from me, then father or mother can get no service from him." And he shall not honor his father or his mother: and you have made void the commandment of God for your tradition. Hypocrites, well hath Isaias prophesied of you, saying: "This people honors me with their lips: but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men." And having called together the multitudes unto him, he said to them: Hear ye and understand. It is not that which goes into the mouth that defiles a man: but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man. Then came his disciples, and said to him: Dost thou know that the Pharisees, when they heard this word, were scandalized? But he answering them, said: Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they are blind, and leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit. And Peter answering, said to him: "Expound to us this parable." But he said: Are you also yet without understanding? Do you not understand, that whatsoever enters into the mouth, goes into the belly, and is cast out into the privy? But the things which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart, and those things defile a man. For from the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. These are the things that defile a man. But to eat with unwashed hands doth not defile a man.
An Homily of Saint Jerome, Priest
Book. ii. Commentary on Matthew xv.The stupidity of the Pharisees and Scribes is something extraordinary. They rebuke the Son of God because He doth not observe the traditions and commandments of men for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. It behooves us to cleanse, not the hands of the body, but the hands of the soul, namely, our works, that we may do the commandments of God. But He answered and said unto them Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? Here He meets their false accusation with one that is true. "How," asks He, "do you pass over the commandments of God, in order to keep to the traditions of men, hold that My disciples are to be rebuked, because they deem the tradition of the elders of little moment in comparison with the doing of what they know to be the Laws of God?"
Lesson ii
Now God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother; and, He that curses father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother "The offering which I make to God is all the advantage you will have from me, then father or mother can get no service from him." and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. The word honor is used in Scripture, not so much in the sense of paying salutations and services, as in that of giving alms and gifts. "Honor widows," said the Apostle, "which are widows indeed." And here honor signifies support. So again: Let the Priests that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. For the Scripture says: "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn" and "The laborer is worthy of his reward."
Lesson iii
The Lord being mindful of the helplessness, or age, or poverty of parents, had commanded their children to honor them even by giving them the necessaries of life. The Scribes and Pharisees, scrupling not to make of no effect this most benign law, and bringing in ungodliness under the very form of godliness, taught, for the benefit of unnatural children, that if any one vowed to God, Who is our very Father in heaven, whatsoever he was bound to give to his parents, the duty of discharging his debt to his heavenly Father ought to come before that which he owed to his earthly father; or, at least, that parents in such case incurred the guilt of sacrilege by taking for themselves what they knew had been made a gift to God. And so parents were left un-aided, and the offerings of such children, under pretence of being given to God and His temple, became the gain of the Priests.
Let us pray: Grant unto us, O Lord, we beseech thee, that we, being purged by healthful fasting, and mortified to all sinful lusts, may the more speedily obtain of thee forgiveness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lesson i
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Luke
Luke 4: 38-44At that time, Jesus, rising up out of the synagogue, went into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever, and they besought Him for her. And standing over her, He commanded the fever, and it left her. And immediately rising, she ministered to them. And when the sun was down, all they that had any sick with divers diseases, brought them to him. But he laying his hands on every one of them, healed them. And devils went out from many, crying out and saying: "Thou art the Son of God." And rebuking them he suffered them not to speak, for they knew that he was Christ. And when it was day, going out he went into a desert place, and the multitudes sought him, and came unto him: and they stayed him that he should not depart from them. To whom he said: "To other cities also I must preach the kingdom of God: for therefore am I sent." And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
An Homily of St Ambrose, Bishop
Book iv on Luke ivBehold here how long-suffering is the Lord our Redeemer! Neither moved to anger against them, nor sickened at their guilt, nor outraged by their attacks, did He leave the Jews' country. Nay, forgetting their iniquity, and mindful only of His mercy, He strove to soften their hard and unbelieving hearts, sometimes by His teaching, and sometimes by freeing some of them, and sometimes by healing them. Saint Luke doth well to tell us first of the man who was delivered from an unclean spirit, and then of the healing of a woman. The Lord indeed came to heal both sexes, but that must be healed first which was created first, and then must not she be passed by whose first sin arose rather from fickleness of heart than from depraved will.
Lesson ii
That the Lord began to heal on the Sabbath day shows in a figure how that the new creation began where the old creation ended. It shows, moreover, that the Son of God, Who is come not to destroy the law but to fulfill the law, is not under the law, but above the law. Neither was it by the law, but by the Word, that the world was created, as it is written "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made." The law, then, is not destroyed, but fulfilled, in the Redemption of fallen man. Whence also the Apostle said: "Put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
Lesson iii
It was well that He began to heal on the Sabbath, that He might show Himself to be the Creator, weaving in one with another of His works, and continuing that which He had already begun, even as a workman, being to repair an house, begins not to take down that which is old from the foundations, but from the roof. Thus doth the Lord begin to lay to His hand again, in that place whence last He hath lifted it; then He begins which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. with things lesser, that He may go on to things greater. Even men are able to deliver other men from evil spirits, albeit with the word of God to command the dead to rise again is for God's power alone. Perchance, also, this woman, the mother-in-law of Simon and Andrew, was a type of our nature, stricken down with the great fever of sin, and burning with unlawful lusts after divers objects. Nor would I say that the passion which rages in the mind is a lesser fire than that fever which burns the body. Covetousness, and lust, and uncleanness, and vain desires, and strivings, and anger, these be our fevers.
Let us pray. Praise be to thee, O Lord, for the blessed and solemn victory of thine holy servants Cosmas and Damian, whereby Thou, in thine unspeakable Providence, were pleased to give unto them everlasting glory, and unto us a shield and succor. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lesson i
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to John
John 4: 5-42At that time, Jesus cometh therefore to a city of Samaria, which is called Sichar, near the land which Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well. It was about the sixth hour. [7] There cometh a woman of Samaria, to draw water. Jesus said to her: "Give me to drink." For his disciples were gone into the city to buy meats. Then that Samaritan woman said to him: "How dost thou, being a Jew, ask of me to drink, who am a Samaritan woman? For the Jews do not communicate with the Samaritans." Jesus answered, and said to her: "If thou didst know the gift of God, and who he is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." The woman said to him: "Sir, thou hast nothing wherein to draw, and the well is deep; from whence then hast thou living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?" Jesus answered, and said to her: "Whosoever drinks of this water, shall thirst again; but he that shall drink of the water that I will give him, shall not thirst for ever: But the water that I will give him, shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting." The woman saith to him: "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come hither to draw." Jesus said to her: "Go, call thy husband, and come hither." The woman answered, and said: "I have no husband." Jesus said to her: "Thou hast said well, 'I have no husband': For thou hast had five husbands: and he whom thou now hast, is not thy husband. This thou hast said truly." The woman said to him: "Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers adored on this mountain, and you say, that at Jerusalem is the place where men must adore." Jesus said to her: "Woman, believe me, that the hour cometh, when you shall neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, adore the Father. You adore that which you know not: we adore that which we know; for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father also seeks such to adore him. God is a spirit; and they that adore him, must adore him in spirit and in truth." The woman said to him: "I know that the Messias comes (who is called Christ). Therefore, when He has come, he will tell us all things." Jesus said to her: "I am He, who am speaking with thee." And immediately his disciples came; and they wondered that he talked with the woman. Yet no man said: "What seek thou?" or, "why talk thou with her?" The woman therefore left her water pot, and went her way into the city, and said to the men there: "Come, and see a man who has told me all things whatsoever I have done. Is not he the Christ?" They went therefore out of the city, and came unto him. In the mean time the disciples prayed Him, saying: "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them: "I have meat to eat, which you know not." The disciples therefore said one to another: "Has any man brought Him something to eat?" Jesus said to them: "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, that I may perfect his work. Do you not say, There are yet four months, and then the harvest cometh? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and see the countries; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit unto life everlasting: that both he that sows, and he that reaps, may rejoice together. For in this is the saying true: 'That it is one man that sows, and it is another that reaps.' I have sent you to reap that in which you did not labor: others have labored, and you have entered into their labors." Now of that city many of the Samaritans believed in him, for the word of the woman giving testimony: "He told me all things whatsoever I have done." So when the Samaritans were come to him, they desired that he would tarry there. And he abode there two days. And many more believed in him because of his own word. And they said to the woman: "We now believe, not for thy saying: for we ourselves have heard him, and know that this is indeed the Savior of the world. "
An homily of Saint Augustine, Bishop
15th Tract on JohnJesus, wearied with His journey, the mysteries are beginning now. It is not for nothing that Jesus is wearied. It is not for nothing that the Mighty One of God is wearied. It is not for nothing that He is wearied Who Himself gives rest to all them that are weary and heavy-laden. It is not for nothing that He is wearied Whose absence prostrates us, and Whose presence makes us to be strong.
Lesson ii
Jesus, therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the well and it was about the sixth hour. There is a depth in all these details they all have something to say for us to learn. Upon them we gaze. "Knock," says the Lord, "and it shall be opened unto you." Let us knock then and, O, may He open to me and to you, even He Who hath spoken to us those words "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." It is for thy sake that Jesus was wearied with His journey. We find the strength of Jesus, and we find Jesus weak; yea, strong and weak. Strong, for In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God—the Same was in the beginning with God. Would thou know again how that the Son of God is strong? All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made made without effort. (John i. 1-3). What then is stronger than He by Whom all things were made without effort? Would thou know His weakness? The Word was made Flesh and dwelt among us. Christ, strong, made thee; Christ, weak, redeemed thee. Christ, strong, made all things out of nothing; Christ, weak, so wrought that that was made perished not. His strength hath made us, and His weakness saved us.
Lesson iii
He then, being Himself made weak, is strength to all such as are weak, gathering them together, to use His own figure, even as an hen gathers her chickens under her wings. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as an hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matthew xxiii: 37). Consider now, my brethren, in what bondage is an hen to her chickens. There is no other bird in whom motherhood is unmistakable. We watch the sparrows building their nests under our eyes; we see swallows, and storks, and pigeons building theirs every day. But, unless we actually see them in their nests, we know not if they have little ones, or no. But the hen's motherhood is so much a part of herself, that even if at the minute we see not her children the chickens following after her, nevertheless we see by her ways if she be a mother.
Let us pray. Lord, we beseech thee graciously to bless this our Fast, that we who are now outwardly denying meats to our bodies, may have power inwardly to keep our souls fasting from all sin. Through our Lord Jesus Christ
Lesson i
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to John
John 8: 1-11At that time, Jesus went unto Mount Olivet. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him, and sitting down he taught them. And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery: and they set her in the midst, And said to Him: Master, this woman was even now taken in adultery. Now Moses in the law commanded us to stone such a one. But what say Thou? And this they said tempting Him, that they might accuse him. But Jesus bowing Himself down, wrote with His finger on the ground. When therefore they continued asking Him, he lifted up himself, and said to them: He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again stooping down, he wrote on the ground. But they hearing this, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest. And Jesus alone remained, and the woman standing in the midst. [10] Then Jesus lifting up Himself, said to her: Woman, where are they that accused thee? Hath no man condemned thee? Who said: No man, Lord. And Jesus said: Neither will I condemn thee. Go, and now sin no more.
An Homily of Saint Augustine, Bishop
33rd Tract on John.Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives, even unto that fruitful Mount, that anointing Mount, that Mount of Chrism. Where else became it Christ to teach, if not on the Mount of Olives? For the word Christ is derived from Chrisma, and Chrisma is the Greek for ointment. He hath anointed us that we may be able to wrestle with the devil. And, early in the morning, He came again into the temple; and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught them and no man laid hands on Him, because He was not yet pleased to suffer. And now listen how His enemies tried the Lord's meekness.
Lesson ii
And the Scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him: "Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now, Moses in the law commanded that such should be stoned; but what say Thou?" This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him. Whereof to accuse Him? Had they taken Him in any sin? Or was the woman said to have anything to do with Him?
Lesson iii
We must understand, my brethren, that there was a wonderful gentleness in the Lord. They knew that He was most mild and most gentle. Of Him indeed it had been said of old time: Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most Mighty! In thy comeliness and thy beauty go forward, fare prosperously, and reign, because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness. (Psalm xliv: 4, 5). And He came bringing truth as one that teaches, meekness as one that delivers, and righteousness as one that knows. Because of these it was that the Prophet declared, in the Holy Ghost, that He was to reign. Whenever He spoke, truth shone forth; whenever He spared His enemies, meekness was made glorious. And His enemies, racked with envy and hatred by His truth and His meekness, laid a stumbling-block for His righteousness.
Let us pray O Almighty God, grant, we beseech thee, that as many as, to afflict the body, do abstain from meats, may, by following after righteousness, fast from sin. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
