Occurring Scripture for the
Hour of Matins
Sexagesima Week
Sunday
Lesson i
A reading from the book of Genesis
Gen 5:31; 6:1-4
Noe, when he was five hundred years
old, begot Sem, Cham, and Japheth. And after that men began to
be multiplied upon the earth, and daughters were born to them, The
sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, took to
themselves wives of all which they chose. And God said: My
spirit shall not remain in man for ever, because he is flesh, and his days
shall be a hundred and twenty years. Now giants were upon the
earth in those days. For after the sons of God went in to the daughters of
men, and they brought forth children, these are the mighty men of old, men
of renown.
Lesson ii
Gen 6:5-8 5
And God seeing that the wickedness of
men was great on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent
upon evil at all times, It repented him that he had made man on
the earth. And being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart, He
said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth,
from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to the fowls of the
air, for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noe found
grace before the Lord.
Lesson iii
Gen 6:9-15
These are the generations of Noe:
Noe was a just and perfect man in his generations, he walked with God.
And he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth. And the earth
was corrupted before God, and was filled with iniquity. And when
God had seen that the earth was corrupted (for all flesh had corrupted its
way upon the earth,) He said to Noe: The end of all flesh is
come before me, the earth is filled with iniquity through them, and I will
destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of timber planks:
thou shall make little rooms in the ark, and thou shall pitch it within and
without. And thus shall thou make it: The length of the ark
shall be three hundred cubits: the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the
height of it thirty cubits.
Lesson iv
From the Book on Noe's Ark of St Ambrose,
Bishop.,
Chap, iv.
We read that the Lord was
angry. It is in the thoughts, that is to say, in the knowledge of God, that
man being put on earth and weighted with the body cannot be without sin, for
earth is the home of temptations, and the flesh is a bait for corruption.
Yet man had a reasonable soul, and his soul had power to control his body;
and, being so made, he made no struggle to keep himself from falling into
that from whence he would not return. God's thoughts are not as man's
thoughts; in Him there is no such thing as change of mind, no such thing as
to be angry and then cool down again. These things are written that we may
know the bitterness of our sins, whereby we have earned the Divine wrath. To
such a degree had iniquity grown that God, Who by His nature cannot be moved
by anger, or hatred, or any passion whatsoever, is represented as provoked
to anger.
Lesson v
And God threatened that He would destroy man. He
said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth;
both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air. What
harm had the animals done? For man's use had they been created, and, when
man was wiped away, they were of use no longer. And there is an higher
reason. Man is a living soul, capable of reason, who may be described as a
living animal, subject to death, and endowed with reason. When then the
highest animal is gone, why should the lower branches remain? Why should
anything be saved alive, when righteousness, the basis of salvation, is to
be no more?
Lesson vi
But more effectually to condemn the rest of men,
and to manifest the goodness of God, it is written that Noe found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. Here we learn also that the sin of his neighbor casts
no shadow on the righteous, when he is kept as a stock from whence the whole
race are to spring. He is praised, not because he was of a noble race, but
because he was a just man and perfect. The stock of a just man yields men of
just souls; for virtues, like blood, are hereditary. Among men are some
families illustrious for honorable pedigrees, and so there are also races
of souls whose comeliness is the luster of virtues.
Lesson vii
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according
to Luke
Luke 8:4-15
At that time: And when a
very great multitude was gathered together, and hastened out of the cities
unto him, he spoke by a parable. The sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and it was trodden down, and the
fowls of the air devoured it. And other some fell upon a rock: and as
soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
And other some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with it, choked
it. And other some fell upon good ground; and being sprung up, yielded
fruit a hundredfold. Saying these things, he cried out: He that hath ears to
hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him what this parable
might be. To whom he said: To you it is given to know the mystery of
the kingdom of God; but to the rest in parables, that seeing they may not
see, and hearing may not understand. Now the parable is this:
The seed is the word of God. And they by the way side are they that
hear; then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their heart, lest
believing they should be saved. Now they upon the rock, are they who
when they hear, receive the word with joy: and these have no roots; for they
believe for a while, and in time of temptation, they fall away. And
that which fell among thorns, are they who have heard, and going their way,
are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield
no fruit. But that on the good ground, are they who in a good and
perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.
Homily by Pope St Gregory the Great.
5th on the Gospels.
Dearly beloved brethren, the passage from the Holy
Gospel which ye have just heard, needs not so much that I should explain it,
as that I should seek to enforce its lesson. The Truth Himself has explained it, and, after that, seems not man's
right to fritter away His exposition by any further
comment. But there is, in that very explanation by the Lord, somewhat, which
it behooves us to weigh carefully. If it were but we who bade you
believe that by the seed is signified the word; by the field, the world; by
the birds, the devils; and by the thorns, riches ye would perchance doubt of
the truth of our explanation. Therefore the Lord Himself has given us
this explanation, and that, not for this parable only, but that ye may know
in what manner to interpret others, whereof He has not given the meaning.
Lesson viii
Beginning His explanation, the Lord said that
He spoke in parables. Hereby He doth certify us, when our weakness would
unveil to you the hidden meaning of His words. If I spoke of myself, who
would believe me when I say that riches are thorns? Thorns prick, but riches
lull to rest. And yet riches are indeed thorns, for the anxiety they bring
is a ceaseless pricking to the minds of their owners, and, if they lead into
sin, they are thorns which bloodily tear the soul. But we understand from
another Evangelist that in this place the Lord speaks not of riches
themselves, but of the deceitfulness of riches.
Lesson ix
Those riches are deceitful riches, which can be
ours only for a little while; those riches are deceitful riches, which
cannot relieve the poverty of our souls. They are the only true riches,
which make us rich in virtues. If then, dearly beloved brethren, ye seek to
be rich, earnestly desire the true riches. If ye would be truly honorable,
strive after the kingdom of heaven. If ye love the bravery of titles, hasten
to have your names written down at Court above, where Angels are. Take to
heart the Lord's words which your ear hears. The food of the soul is the
word of God. When the stomach is sick it rejects the food which is
put into it, and so is the soul sick when a man hears and digests not in
his memory the Word of God. And if any man cannot keep his food, that man's
life is in desperate case.
Let us pray O God, Who see that we put not our trust in
anything that we do, mercifully grant that through the protection of the
Teacher of the Gentiles we may be defended against all adversity. Through
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Monday
Lesson i
A reading from the book of Genesis
Gen 7:1-4
And the Lord said to him:
Go in thou and all thy house into the ark: for thee I have seen just before
me in this generation. Of all clean beasts take seven and seven,
the male and female. But of the beasts that are unclean two and
two, the male and female. Of the fowls also of the air seven and seven, the
male and the female: that seed may be saved upon the face of the whole
earth. For yet a while, and after seven days, I will rain upon
the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will destroy every substance
that I have made, from the face of the earth.
Lesson ii
Gen 7:5; 7:10-12
And Noe did all things which the Lord
had commanded him. And after seven days were passed, the waters of the
flood overflowed the earth. In the six hundredth year of the
life of Noe in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, all
the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the flood gates of
heaven were open: And the rain fell upon the earth forty days
and forty nights.
Lesson iii
Gen 7:13-14; 7:17
In the selfsame day Noe, and Sem,
and Cham, and Japheth his sons: his wife, and the three wives of his sons
with them, went into the ark: They and every beast according to
its kind, and all the cattle in their kind, and every thing that moves upon
the earth according to its kind, and every fowl according to its kind.
And the flood was forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and
lifted up the ark on high from earth.
Tuesday
Lesson i
A reading the book of Genesis
Gen 8:1-4
And God remembered Noe, and all the
living creatures, and all the cattle which were with him in the ark, and
brought a wind upon the earth, and the waters were abated. The
fountains also of the deep, and the flood gates of heaven were shut up, and
the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters returned
from off the earth going and coming: and they began to be abated after a
hundred and fifty days. And the ark rested in the seventh month,
the seven and twentieth day of the month, upon the mountains of Armenia.
Lesson ii
Gen 8:5-9
And the waters were going and
decreasing until the tenth month: for in the tenth month, the first day of
the month, the tops of the mountains appeared. 6 And after that forty days
were passed, Noe, opening the window of the ark which he had made, sent
forth a raven: 7 Which went forth and did not return, till the waters were
dried up upon the earth. 8 He sent forth also a dove after him, to see if
the waters had now ceased upon the face of the earth. 9 But she, not finding
where her foot might rest, returned to him into the ark.
Lesson iii
Gen 8:10-13 10
And having waited yet seven other days,
he again sent forth the dove out of the ark. And she came to him
in the evening, carrying a bough of an olive tree, with green leaves, in her
mouth. Noe therefore understood that the waters were ceased upon the
earth. And he stayed yet other seven days: and he sent forth the
dove, which returned not any more unto him. Therefore in the six
hundredth and first year, the first month, the first day of the month, the
waters were lessened upon the earth.
Wednesday
Lesson i
A reading from the book of Genesis
Gen 8:15-19
And God spoke to Noe,
saying: "Go out of the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons, and the wives
of thy sons with thee. All livings things that are with thee of
all flesh, as well in fowls as in beasts, and all creeping things that creep
upon the earth, bring out with thee, and go ye upon the earth: increase and
multiply upon it." So Noe went out, he and his sons: his wife,
and the wives of his sons with him. And all living things, and cattle,
and creeping things that creep upon the earth, according to their kinds,
went out of the ark.
Lesson ii
Gen 8:20-22
And Noe built an altar unto the Lord:
and taking of all cattle and fowls that were clean, offered holocausts upon
the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor, and said: I will no
more curse the earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought of
man's heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no more
destroy every living soul as I have done. All the days of the earth,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, shall
not cease.
Lesson iii
Gen 9:1-6
And God blessed Noe and his sons. And
he said to them: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth. And
let the fear and dread of you be upon all the beasts of the earth, and upon
all the fowls of the air, and all that move upon the earth: all the fishes
of the sea are delivered into your hand. And every thing that
moves and lives shall be meat for you: even as the green herbs have I
delivered them all to you: Saving that flesh with blood you
shall not eat. For I will require the blood of your lives at the
hand of every beast, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man, and
of his brother, will I require the life of man. Whosoever shall
shed man's blood, his blood shall be shed: for man was made to the image of
God.
Thursday
Lesson i
Gen 9:12-15
And God said: This is the sign of the
covenant which I will give between me and you, and to every living soul that
is with you, for perpetual generations. I will set my bow in the
clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me, and between the
earth. And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall
appear in the clouds: And I will remember my covenant with you,
and with every living soul that bears flesh: and there shall no more be
waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.
Lesson ii
Gen 9:20-23
And Noe, a husbandman, began to till
the ground, and planted a vineyard. And drinking of the wine was
made drunk, and was uncovered in his tent. Which when Cham the
father of Chaanan had seen, to wit, that his father's nakedness was
uncovered, he told it to his two brethren without. But Sem and
Japheth put a cloak upon their shoulders, and going backward, covered the
nakedness of their father: and their faces were turned away, and they saw
not their father's nakedness.
Lesson iii
Gen 9:24-29 24
And Noe awaking from the wine, when he
had learned what his younger son had done to him, He said:
Cursed be Chaanan, a servant of servants, shall he be unto his brethren.
And he said: Blessed be the Lord God of Sem, be Chanaan his servant.
May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Sem, and Chanaan
be his servant. And Noe lived after the flood three hundred and
fifty years: And all his days were in the whole nine hundred and
fifty years: and he died.
Friday
Lesson i
Gen 10:1-6
These are the generations of the sons
of Noe: Sem, Cham, and Japheth: and unto them sons were born after the
flood. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and
Javan, and Thubal, and Mosoch, and Thiras. And the sons of Gomer:
Ascenez and Riphath and Thogorma. And the sons of Javan: Elisa
and Tharsis, Cetthim, and Dodanim. By these were divided the
islands of the Gentiles in their lands, every one according to his tongue
and their families in their nations. 6 And the sons of Cham: Chus, and
Mesram, and Phuth, and Chanaan.
Lesson ii
Gen 11:1-4
And the earth was of one tongue, and of
the same speech. And when they removed from the east, they found
a plain in the land of Sennaar, and dwelt in it. And each one
said to his neighbour: Come, let us make brick, and bake them of stones, and
slime instead of mortar. And they said: Come, let us make a city
and a tower, the top whereof may reach to heaven: and let us make our name
famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands.
Lesson iii
Gen 11:5-8
And the Lord came down to see the city
and the tower, which the children of Adam were building. And he
said: Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue: and they have begun
to do this, neither will they leave off from their designs, till they
accomplish them in deed. Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and
there may not understand one another's speech. And so the Lord
scattered them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build the
city.
Saturday