Occurring Scripture for the Hour of Matins
First Week of September
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday SaturdayLesson i
Here begins the Book of Job
Job 1:1-3There was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job, a simple and upright man, fearing God, and avoiding evil. And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters. And he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses: and this man was great among all the people of the East.
Lesson ii
Job 1:4-5And his sons took turns making feasts, and sending invitations to their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of their feasting were over, Job called them to himself, and sanctified them: and rising up early, offered holocausts for every one of them. For he said: "Lest perhaps my sons have sinned, and have blasphemed God in their hearts." Job did this habitually.
Lesson iii
Job 1:6-11Now on a certain day when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan was also present among them. And the Lord said to him: "Whence do you come?" And he answered and said: "I have been roaming the earth, and patrolling it." And the Lord said to him: "Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one like him on the earth, a simple and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil?" And Satan answered: "Does Job fear God in vain? Have You not made a fence for him, and his house, and all his substance round about, blessed the works of his hands, and his possessions have increased on the earth? But stretch forth Your hand a little, and touch what he has, and see if he doesn't blaspheme You to Your face."
Lesson iv
From the Morals on the Book of Job of Pope Saint Gregory the Great
Lesson IV, Book ii, chapter 1The Holy Scripture is put before the eyes of our mind somewhat after the fashion of a mirror, that we may see the aspect of our inward man. In it we see what are our unsightly, and what our agreeable traits, and thereby we judge how we are growing, and how far we are from fullness of stature. The Holy Scripture tells of the doings of the Saints, and stirs up the heart of us weaklings to follow them. While it makes a memorial of their victorious deeds, it strengthens our frail personalities to strive against sin. And so by the words of the Scripture it comes to pass that the soul trembles less at the battle, for she sees how many times the enemies before her have been beaten by brave men.
Lesson v
And some while the Scripture shows us, not only how the Saints fought bravely, but also how they fell, that we may see by the example of the mighty, not only what weapons we must take, if we would conquer, but also what snares we must keep clear of, if we would avoid falling. For example, here is Job on the one hand, waxing nobler under trial, and on the other hand, David, tried, and failing utterly. And so the glory of the great strengthens our hope, and the backsliding of the same stirs us up to be watchful and lowly—the one cheering us with gladness, and the other putting us on our guard through fear, so that the soul of he who hears of these things may, by the one gain sure and certain hope, and by the other gain fearfulness and watchfulness—and so neither be rashly puffed up, nor hopelessly cast down, nor may she faint under the weight of dread, inasmuch as she is stirred up to trustfulness by the example of him who triumphed.
Lesson vi
Book i, chapter 1"There was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job." We are told where this holy man lived, that thereby we may gauge the worth of his bravery. Who doesn't know that Hus is a place in the countries of the Gentiles? The Gentile world had been so degraded and corrupted by sin, that they had ceased to know that they had a Maker. Therefore we are told where Job lived, that he may be praised for being good in the midst of the wicked. It is not very praiseworthy to be good among the good, but it is to be good among the bad. For even as it is more grievous to be bad among the good, so is it right praiseworthy to have remained good among the bad.
The remaining lessons are from the particular Sunday after Pentecost
Lesson i
From the Book of Job
Job 1:13-16Now upon a certain day, when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, there came a messenger to Job, and said: "The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them, and the Sabeans rushed in, and took them all away, and slew the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." And while he was still speaking, another came, and said to Job: "The fire of God fell from heaven, and striking the sheep and the servants, has consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
Lesson ii
Job 1:17-19And while he was yet speaking, there came another, who said: "The Chaldeans made three troops, and have fallen upon the camels, and taken them, besides which they have slain the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." And as he was speaking, another came in, and said: "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their elder brother: A violent wind came on suddenly from the side of the desert, and shook the four corners of the house, and it fell upon your children and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
Lesson iii
Job 1:20-22Then Job rose up, and rent his garments, and having shaven his head fell down upon the ground and worshipped, and said: "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there: the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord." In all these things Job sinned not by his lips, nor spoke he any foolish thing against God.
Lesson i
From the Book of Job
Job 2:1-5And it came to pass, when on a certain day the sons of God came, and stood before the Lord, and Satan came among them, and stood in his sight, and the Lord said to Satan: And the Lord said to him: "Whence do you come?" And he answered and said: "I have been roaming the earth, and patrolling it." And the Lord said to him: "Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one like him on the earth, a simple and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil, and still keeping his innocence? But thou hast moved me against him, that I should afflict him without cause." And Satan answered, and said: "Skin for skin, and all that a man has he will give for his life: But put forth your hand, and touch his bone and his flesh, and then you shall see that he will curse you to your face. "
Lesson ii
Job 2:6-10And the Lord said to Satan: "Behold he is in your hand, but yet save his life." So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with a very grievous ulcer, from the sole of the foot even to the top of his head: And Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped the corrupt matter, sitting on a dunghill. And his wife said to him: "Do you still continue in your simplicity? curse God and die!" And he said to her: "You have spoken like one of the foolish women: if we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil?" In all these things Job did not sin with his lips.
Lesson iii
Job 2:11-13Now when Job's three friends heard about all the evil that had befallen him, they came, each one from his own place, Alphas the Themanite, and Baldad the Suhite, and Sophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment to come together and visit him, and comfort him. And when they had looked for him from far off, they did not know him, and crying out they wept, and rending their garments they sprinkled dust upon their heads towards heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no man spoke to him even a word: for they saw that his grief was very great.
Lesson i
From the Book of Job
Job 3:1-5After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day, And he said: "Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: 'A man child is conceived.' Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it. Let darkness, and the shadow of death cover it, let a mist overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness...."
Lesson ii
Job 3:6-10"Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months. Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise. Let them curse it who curse the day. who are ready to raise up a leviathan: Let the stars be darkened with the mist thereof: let it expect light and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day: Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, nor took away evils from my eyes....
Lesson iii
Job 3:11-16"Why did I not die in the womb, why did I not perish when I came out of the belly? Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts? For now I should have been asleep and still, and should have rest in my sleep. With kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes: Or with princes, that possess gold, and All their houses with silver: Or as a hidden untimely birth I should not be, or as they that being conceived have not seen the light."
Lesson i
From the Book of Job
Job 4:1-6Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said: "If we begin to speak to you, perhaps you will take offence, but who can withhold the words he has conceived? Behold, you have taught many, and you have strengthened the weary hands: Your words have confirmed those who were staggering, and you have strengthened the trembling knees: But now the scourge is come upon you, and you faint: it had touched you, and you are troubled. Where is your fear, your fortitude, your patience, and the perfection of your ways?"
Lesson ii
Job 4:7-11"Remember, I pray, who ever perished being innocent? or when were the just destroyed? On the contrary I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them, perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of His wrath. The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the whelps of lions are broken: The tiger has perished for want of prey, and the young lions are scattered abroad."
Lesson iii
Job 4:12-18"Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears by stealth, as it were, received the veins of its whisper. In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep holds men, fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones shook with fear: And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up. There stood one whose face I knew not, an image before my eyes, and I heard the voice, as it were, of a gentle wind: 'Shall man be justified in comparison with God, or shall a man be more pure than his Maker? Behold they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness....'"
Lesson i
From the Book of Job
Job 6:1-4But Job answered, and said: "O that my sins, whereby I have deserved wrath, and the calamity that I suffer, were weighed in a balance. As the sand of the sea this would appear heavier: therefore my words are full of sorrow: For the arrows of the Lord are in me, the rage of them drink up my spirit, and the terrors of the Lord war against me."
Lesson ii
Job 6:5-7"Will the wild ass bray when he has grass? or will the ox low when he stands before a full manger? Or can an unsavory thing be eaten, that is not seasoned with salt? or can a man taste that which when tasted brings death? The things which before my soul would not touch, now, through anguish are my meats."
Lesson iii
Job 6:8-13"Who will grant that my request may come: and that God may give me what I look for? And that He that hath begun may destroy me, that He may let loose His hand, and cut me off? And that this may be my comfort, that afflicting me with sorrow, He spares not, nor I contradict the words of the Holy One. For what is my strength, that I can hold out? or what is my end that I should keep patience? My strength is not the strength of stones, nor is my flesh of brass. Behold there is no help for me in myself, and my familiar friends also have departed from me.
Lesson i
From the Book of Job
Job 7:1-4The life of man upon earth is warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling. As a servant longs for the shade, as the hireling looks for the end of his work; [3] So I also have had empty months, and have numbered to myself wearisome nights. [4] If I lie down to sleep, I shall say: When shall arise? and again I shall look for the evening, and shall be filled with sorrows even till darkness.
Lesson ii
Job 7:5-9"My flesh is clothed with rottenness and the filth of dust, my skin is withered and drawn together. My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver, and are consumed without any hope. Remember that my life is but a wind, and my eyes shall not return to see good things. Nor shall the sight of man behold me: your eyes are upon me, and I shall be no more. As a cloud is consumed, and passes away: so he that shall go down to hell shall not come up."
Lesson iii
Job 7:10-12"Nor shall he return my more into his house, neither shall his place know him any more. Therefore I will not spare my month, I will speak in the affliction of my spirit: I will talk with the bitterness of my soul. Am I a sea, or a whale, that You have enclosed me in a prison?"
In an Office of three lessons, ii and iii above are concatenated and the third is taken from the proper of saints or the Saturday Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
