Occurring Scripture for the
Hour of Matins
Ferias of the Christmas Season
January 1
Holy Name Sunday
January 2 January 3
January 4 January 5-Vigil of the Epiphany
January 6
Octave Day of Christmas—Circumcision
of Our Lord
Solemnity of the Mother of God
Lesson i
A reading from the letter of St. Paul the Apostle to
the Romans
Romans 4:1-8
What
shall we say then that Abraham found, who is our father according to the
flesh. For if Abraham were justified by works, he had whereof to
glory, but not before God. For what says the scripture? "Abraham
believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice" (Genesis 15:6)
Now to him that works, the reward is not reckoned according to grace, but
according to debt. But to him that works not, yet believes in
Him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is reputed to justice, according
to the purpose of the grace of God. As David also termed the
blessedness of a man, to whom God reputes justice without works:
"Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin" (Psalm 31:1).
Lesson ii
Romans 4:9-12
This
blessedness then, does it remain in the circumcision only, or in the
uncircumcision also? For we say that to Abraham faith was reputed to
justice. How then was it reputed? When he was in circumcision,
or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the justice of the
faith, which he had, being uncircumcised; that he might be the father of all
them that believe, being uncircumcised, that to them also it may be reputed
to justice: And might be the father of circumcision; not to them only,
that are of the circumcision, but to them also that follow the steps of the
faithful, that is in the uncircumcision of our father Abraham.
Lesson iii
Romans 4:13-17
For not
through the law was the promise to Abraham, or to his seed, that he should
be heir of the world; but through the justice of faith. For if they
who are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, the promise is made of no
effect. For the law works wrath. For where there is no law, neither is
there transgression. Therefore is it of faith, that according to grace
the promise might be firm to all the seed; not to that only which is of the
law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of
us all, As it is written: "I have made thee a father of many nations,
before God, whom he believed, who quickens the dead; and calls those things
that are not, as those that are" (cf. Genesis 17:5).
Lesson iv
From the Sermons of Pope Saint
Leo the Great
VII of Christmas
Dearly beloved brethren,
whoever will truly keep and piously honor this day's festival, it is
necessary for him neither to think falsely of the Lord's Incarnation, nor
meanly of the Lord's Godhead. For as there is danger, on the one hand, of
denying the truth of Christ's participation of our nature, so is there no
less danger, on the other, of doing despite to the equality of His glory
with the glory of the Father. Wherefore, when we draw near to understand the
mystery of Christ's Birth, wherein He was born of the Virgin Mary, we must
leave the clouds of earthly imagination behind and pierce the fog of human
wisdom with the eye of enlightened faith.
Lesson v
The authority on which we
believe is the authority of God Himself; the teaching which we follow is the
teaching of God Himself. Therefore, whether we lend the ear of our mind to
the testimony of the Law, or to the revelations of the Prophets, or to the
full pealing of the Gospel trumpet, that is true, which John the Son of
Thunder, uttered, when he was filled with the Holy Ghost, and said:
"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. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made" John 1:1-3). True also is his witness
when he said: "The Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father" (Ibid:
14).
Lesson vi
The Person of the Son of
God therefore remains unchanged and one, though He has two natures, keeping
His own, and taking ours. He appeared as man to be the restorer of men, but
abided all the while in His immutable Godhead. That Godhead which He shares
with the Father was not a whit the less Almighty, nor did the form of a
servant touch the form of God to derogate from it. The Most High and
Everlasting Being, bending down for man's salvation, took the Manhood into
His glory; He ceased not to be That which He is from everlasting. Hence we
see the Only-begotten Son of God in one place confessing that the Father is
greater than He, (John 14:28), and in another declaring that He and the
Father are One, (Ibid: 10:30). This is an evident proof of the
distinction of His two natures, and the unity of His Person; for He is
inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood, and yet equal to the Father
as touching His Godhead, and yet, though He be God and Man, He is not two,
but One Christ.
Lesson vii
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to
Luke
Luke 2:21
In that time, after eight days
were accomplished, that the child should be circumcised, his name was called
JESUS, which was called by the angel, before he was conceived in the womb.
An Homily of Saint Ambrose,
Bishop
Book II on Luke 2
So the Child is
circumcised. This is the Child of Whom it is said: "Unto us a Child is born,
unto us a Son is given" (Isaias 9:6), "Made under the law to redeem them
that were under the law" (Galatians 4:4), "To present Him to the Lord"
(cf. Ibid., verse 22). In my Commentary on Isaias I have already
explained what is meant by being presented to the Lord in Jerusalem, and
therefore I will not enter into the subject again. He that is circumcised in
heart gains the protection of God, "for the eyes of the Lord are upon the
righteous" (Psalm 33:16). You will see that as all the ceremonies of
the old law were types of realities in the new, so the circumcision of the
body signified the cleansing of the heart from the guilt of sin.
Lesson viii
But since the body and
mind of man remain yet infected with a proneness to sin, the circumcision
of the eighth day is also a type of that complete cleansing from sin which
we shall have at the resurrection. This ceremony was also performed in
obedience to the commandment of God: "Every male that opens the womb shall
be called holy unto the Lord." (cf. Exodus 13:12). These words
were written with special reference to the delivery of the Blessed Virgin.
Truly He That opened her womb was holy, for He was altogether without spot,
and we may gather that the law was written specially for Him from the words
of the Angel: "That Holy Thing Which shall be born of thee, shall be called
the Son of God" (Luke 1:35).
Lesson ix
Among all that are born of women the Lord
Jesus Christ stood alone in holiness. Fresh from His immaculate Birth, He
felt no contagion from human corruption, and His heavenly Majesty drove it
away. If we are to follow the letter and say that every male that opens the
womb is holy, how shall we explain that so many have been unrighteous? Was
Ahab holy? Were the false prophets holy? Were they holy on whom Elijah
justly called down fire from heaven? But He to Whom the sacred commandment
of the law of God is mystically directed is the Holy One of Israel; Who also
alone has opened the secret womb of His holy Virgin-bride the Church,
filling her with a sinless fruitfulness to give birth to Christian souls.
Collect:
Let us pray:
O God, Who, by the fruitful virginity of the Blessed Mary, have given
mankind the rewards of everlasting life; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may
continually feel the might of her intercession, through whom we have
worthily received the Author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son:
Who with Thee.
Holy Name of Jesus
Lesson i
A reading from from the Acts of the
Apostles
Acts 3:1-8
Now Peter and John
went up into the temple at the ninth hour of prayer. And a certain man
who was lame from his mother's womb, was carried: whom they laid every day
at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful, that he might ask alms
of those who went into the temple. When he had seen Peter and John about
to go into the temple, he asked to receive an alms. But Peter with John
fastening his eyes upon him, said: "Look upon us." But he looked earnestly
upon them, hoping that he should receive something of them. But Peter
said: "Silver and gold I have none; but what I have, I give you: In the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise, and walk." And taking him by the right
hand, he lifted him up, and forthwith his feet and soles received strength. And he leaping up, stood, and walked, and went in with them into the
temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
Lesson ii
Acts 3:9-16
And
all the people saw him walking and praising God. And they knew him,
that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and
they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened to
him. And as he held Peter and John, all the people ran to them to the
porch which is called Solomon's, greatly wondering. But Peter seeing, made answer to
the people: Ye men of Israel, why do you wonder at this? or why do you look
upon us, as if by our strength or power we had made this man to walk?
The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of
our fathers, has glorified His Son Jesus, whom you indeed delivered up and
denied before the face of Pilate, when he judged he should be released.
But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be
granted to you. But the Author of life you killed, whom God has raised
from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And in the faith of His
name, this man, whom you have seen and known, has His name strengthened; and the
faith which is by Him, has given this perfect soundness in the sight of you
all.
Lesson iii
Acts 4:5-12
And it
came to pass on the morrow, that their princes, and ancients, and scribes,
were gathered together in Jerusalem; And Annas the high priest, and
Caiphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the
high priest. And setting them in the midst, they asked: "By what power, or
by what name, have you done this?" Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost,
said to them: "Ye princes of the people, and ancients, hear: If we
this day are examined concerning the good deed done to the infirm man, by
what means he has been made whole: Be it known to you all, and to all
the people of Israel, that by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom you crucified, whom God has raised from the dead, even by Him this man stands
here before you whole. This is the stone which was rejected by you the
builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there
salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to
men, whereby we must be saved.
Lesson iv
A Sermon of Saint Bernard, Abbot
I on the Song of Songs
It is not idly
that the Holy Ghost likens the Name of the Bridegroom to oil, when He makes the Bride say to the Bridegroom:
"Thy Name is as oil poured forth. Oil
indeed gives light, meat, and unction. It feeds fire, it nourishes the
flesh, it soothes pain; it is light, food, and healing. Behold, thus also
it is with the Name of the Bridegroom. To preach it, is to give light; to
think of it, is to feed the soul; to call on it, is to win grace and
unction. Let us take it point by point. What do you think has made the light of faith so
suddenly and so brightly to shine in the whole world but the preaching of
the Name of Jesus? Is it not in the light of this Name that God has called
us into His marvelous light, even that light wherewith we being
enlightened, and in His light seeing light, Paul said truly of us: "You were
sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord" (Ephesians 5:8).
Lesson v
This is the Name which
the Apostle was commanded to bear before Gentiles, and kings, and the
children of Israel, the Name which he bore as a light to enlighten his
people, crying everywhere: "The night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us
therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of
light, let us walk honestly as in the daylight" (Romans 13:12), He pointed out to all that
candle set upon a candlestick, preaching in every place Jesus and Him
crucified. How did that Name shine forth and dazzle every eye that beheld
it, when it came like lightning out of the mouth of Peter to give bodily
strength to the feet of the lame man, and to clear the sight of many a blind
soul? Did he not cast fire when he said: "In the Name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6)?
Lesson vi
The
Name of Jesus is not a Name of light only, but it is meat also. Do you ever call it to
mind, and remain unstrengthened? Is there anything like it to enrich the
soul of him that thinks of it? What is there like it to restore the
weakened senses, to fortify strength, to give birth to good lives and pure
affections? The soul is fed on husks if what it eats lacks
seasoning with this salt. If you write, you have no meaning for me if I
do not read of Jesus there. If you preach, or dispute, you have no meaning
for me if I do not hear of Jesus. The mention of Jesus is honey in the
mouth, music in the ear, and gladness in the heart. It is our healing too.
Is anyone sorrowful among us? Let the thought of Jesus come into his heart, and
spring to his mouth. Behold, when the day of that Name begins to break,
every cloud will flee away, and there will be a great calm. Does anyone fall
into sin? Does anyone draw nigh to a hopeless death? And if he but calls on the
life-giving Name of Jesus, will he not draw the breath of a new life again?
Lesson vii
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to
Luke
Luke 2:21
In that time, after eight days
were accomplished, that the child should be circumcised, his name was called
JESUS, which was called by the angel, before he was conceived in the womb.
An Homily
of Saint Bernard, Abbot
I on the Circumcision.
Behold a mystery, great and
full of wonder! The Child is circumcised, and His Name is called Jesus. Why
are these two things thus mentioned together? It would seem that
circumcision should rather be for the saved than for the Savior; that the
Savior ought rather to be Circumciser than circumcised. But behold here the
Mediator between God and men, how even from His childhood He joins the
things of the Highest to the things of the lowest, the things of God to the
things of men. He is born of a woman, but her womb is made fruitful without
the loss of the flower of her virginity. He is wrapped in swaddling-bands,
but these swaddling-bands are a theme for the jubilation of angels. He is
laid in a manger, but a bright star stands in heaven over the place. So
also in His circumcision, the ceremony gave proof of the reality of the
Manhood which He had taken, and that Name which is above every name
proclaimed the glory of His Blessed Majesty. As very son of Abraham He
underwent circumcision; He assumed the Name of Jesus as very Son of God.
Lesson vii
Jesus does
not bear
that Name as others have borne it before Him, as a vain and empty title. It
is not in Him the shadow of a great Name, but the very meaning of that Name.
That His Name was revealed from heaven, is attested by the Evangelist, where
it is written, "Which was so named of the Angel before He was conceived in
the womb." After Jesus was born, men called Him Jesus, but angels called Him
Jesus, before He was conceived in the womb. The One Lord is the Savior of
angels and of men; of men, since His Incarnation; of angels, from the
beginning of their creation. His Name, said the Evangelist, was called
Jesus, which was so named of the Angel before He was conceived in the womb.
In the mouth therefore of two or three witnesses is every word established;
and that word whereof the Prophet spoke as cut short, is set forth at length
in the Gospel: the Word made Flesh.
Lesson vii
It is no wonder that
it should be at His circumcision that the Name of Jesus (which is, being
interpreted, Savior) is given to the Child Who is born unto us, for it was
then that He for the first time shed that sinless Blood Which is the means
whereby He has chosen to work out our salvation. It is no matter for the
speculation of Christians why the Lord Christ was pleased to be circumcised.
He was circumcised for the same reason for which He was born, and for which
He suffered. Neither one nor the other was for Himself, but all for the sake
of the elect. He was not born in sin; He was not circumcised to separate Him
from sin; neither did He die for sins of His own, but for ours. Which was so
named of the Angel before He was conceived in the womb. The Angel indeed
gave Him that title of Savior, but not for the first time. Savior is His
Name from everlasting; He has it of His own proper nature to save. This
title He has in Himself, not by the gift of anything that He has made, be
it man or Angel.
Collect:
Let us pray:
O God,
Thou hast appointed Thine Only-begotten Son to be the Savior of mankind, and
hast commanded that His Name should be called Jesus, mercifully grant that
we who here on earth do worship that most Holy Name may be made glad in
heaven by His Presence. Through the same.
Feria
In some places
The Octave of Saint Stephen
Lesson i
A reading from the letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to
the Romans
Romans 5:1-5
Being justified therefore by faith, let us have
peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ: By Whom also we have access
through faith into this grace, wherein we stand, and glory in the hope of
the glory of the sons of God. And not only so; but we glory also in
tribulations, knowing that tribulation works patience; And patience
trial; and trial hope; And hope does not confound: because the charity of
God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us.
Lesson ii
Romans 5:6-9
For
why did Christ, when as yet we were weak, according to the time, die for the
ungodly? For scarce for a just man will one die; yet perhaps for a good
man some one would dare to die. But God commended His charity towards us;
because when as yet we were sinners, according to the time, Christ died
for us; much more therefore, being now justified by His blood, shall we be
saved from wrath through Him.
If the day is observed as a feria of the Christmas
Season
Lesson iii
Romans 5:10-12
For if, when we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son; much more,
being reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. And not only so; but
also we glory in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom we have now
received reconciliation. Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this
world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have
sinned.
Collect:
Let us pray:
O God, Who, by the fruitful virginity of the Blessed Mary, have given
mankind the rewards of everlasting life; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may
continually feel the might of her intercession, through whom we have
worthily received the Author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son:
Who with Thee.
If the Octave of Saint
Stephen is observed
Lesson iii
A Sermon of
Saint Augustine, Bishop
II on Staint Stephen.
Even after the glory
of yesterday, bright with the splendor of Christ our Savior's Birth, this
day finds itself an illumination of its own from the crown of the blessed
Martyr Stephen. The whole earth knows how manfully he fought and conquered
for he suffered at the very fountain-head of the Church, that is to say, in
Jerusalem. It was in the Church there that he ministered as a Deacon and in
the youthful springtime of life dyed with his blood the lily of his purity.
His Passion is very glorious, and many ways wonderful, and when we read it
in the Acts of the Apostles, we seem rather to see than to hear.
Let us pray.
O Almighty and everlasting God, Who hast dedicated the first-fruits of Thy
Martyrs with the blood of the Blessed Stephen; grant, we beseech Thee, that
the same may pray for us also, who prayed even for his murderers to our Lord
Jesus Christ Thy Son:
Who with thee
Feria
In some places The
Octave of Saint John
Lesson i
A reading from the letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans
Romans 6:1-5
What
shall we say, then? shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God
forbid. For we that are dead to sin, how shall we live any longer therein?
Do you not know that all we, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in
His death? For we are buried together with Him by baptism into death; that
as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may
walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the
likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.
Lesson ii
Romans 6:6-11
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified
with Him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, to the end that we may
serve sin no longer. For he that is dead is justified from sin. Now if
we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall live also together with
Christ: Knowing that Christ rising again from the dead, dies now no more,
death shall no more have dominion over Him. For in that He died to sin,
He died once; but in that He lives, He lives unto God: 11 So do you also
reckon, that you are dead to sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
If the day is observed as a feria of the Christmas
Season
Lesson iii
Romans 6:12-18
Let no sin therefore reign in your mortal body, so as to obey the lusts
thereof. Neither yield your members as instruments of iniquity unto
sin; but present yourselves to God, as those that are alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of justice unto God. For sin shall not
have dominion over you; for you are not under the law, but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace?
God forbid. Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey,
his servants you are whom you obey, whether it be of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto justice. But thanks be to God, that you were the
servants of sin, but have obeyed from the heart, unto that form of doctrine,
into which you have been delivered. Being then freed from sin, we have
been made servants of justice.
Collect:
Let us pray:
O God, Who, by the fruitful virginity of the Blessed Mary, have given
mankind the rewards of everlasting life; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may
continually feel the might of her intercession, through whom we have
worthily received the Author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son:
Who with Thee.
If
the Octave of Saint John is observed
Lesson iii
A Sermon of
Saint Augustine, Bishop
On Saint John
Of the Four Evangelists, or, rather, the Four Writers of the
one Evangel, the holy Apostle John has not unworthily been compared by spiritual writers
to an eagle, because of the lofty and glorious flight of his teaching,
soaring above the other three; a flight that raises not only himself, but
also the hearts of all, whoever will hear him. The other three writers
walk with the Lord upon earth, as with a man, and enlarge little upon His
Godhead; but John, as though it had wearied him to walk upon earth, in the
very first words of his writing, rises not above the earth only, or above
the firmament, and the heavens, but above every angel, and above every power
of things unseen, and flies directly to Him by Whom all things were made,
saying In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God.
Let us pray.
Shine upon Thy Church, O Lord, in Thy goodness,
that, enlightened by the teachings of Blessed John, Thine Apostle and
Evangelist, She may attain to everlasting gifts. Through our Lord Jesus
Christ
Feria
In some places The
Octave of the Holy Innocents
Lesson i
A reading from
the letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans
Romans
7:1-3
Know you not, brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, that the law
has dominion over a man, as long as he lives? 2 For the woman that
has a husband, while her husband lives is bound to the law. But if her
husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. Therefore,
while her husband lives, she shall be called an adulteress, if she be with
another man: but if her husband is dead, she is delivered from the law of
her husband; so that she is not an adulteress, if she be with another man.
Lesson ii
Romans 7:4-6
Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead
to the law, by the body of Christ; that you may belong to another, who is
risen again from the dead, that we may bring forth fruit to God. For when
we were in the flesh, the passions of sins, which were by the law, did work
in our members, to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are loosed
from the law of death, wherein we were detained; so that we should serve in
newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
If the day is observed as a feria of the Christmas
Season
Lesson iii
Romans 7:7-9
What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? God forbid. But I
do not know sin, but by the law; for I had not known concupiscence, if the
law did not say: "Thou shalt not covet." But sin taking occasion by
the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the
law sin was dead. And I lived some time without the law. But when the
commandment came, sin revived.
Collect:
Let us pray:
O God, Who, by the fruitful virginity of the Blessed Mary, have given
mankind the rewards of everlasting life; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may
continually feel the might of her intercession, through whom we have
worthily received the Author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son:
Who with Thee.
If
the Octave of the Holy Inncvocnts is observed
Lesson iii
A Sermon of
Saint Augustine, Bishop
For the feast of the Holy Innocents
The Lord is born, and sorrow
breaks out, not in heaven but on earth; to mothers is proclaimed
lamentation, to angels joy, to children translation. God is born, and
innocence must be offered up to Him Who comes
to condemn the malice of the world. The Lamb that takes away the sins of the
world is come to be crucified, and the tender flock is brought to the
sacrifice. But the mothers will lament over them whose inarticulate bleating
is silenced for ever. Let us turn a look on this great martyrdom, this
heart-rending sorrow. The sword is drawn, though there is no offence to
punish, only jealousy shrieking for Him Who is born, and does no violence.
And here are mothers weeping over the lambs of the flock. In Ramah was there
a voice heard, weeping and great mourning. which shall be returned
hereafter, but they are pledges taken without being given, impounded without
being entrusted.
Let us pray.
O God, whose praise the martyred Innocents on
this day confessed, not by speaking, but by dying, destroy all the evils of
sin in us, that our life also may proclaim in deeds, thy faith which our
tongues profess. Through our Lord Jesus Christ
Vigil of the Epiphany
Lesson i
A reading from the letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the
Romans
Romans 8:1-4
There is now therefore no condemnation to those
who are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh. For the law of
the spirit of life, in Christ Jesus, has delivered me from the law of sin and
of death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through
the flesh; God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh and of
sin, has condemned sin in the flesh; That the justification of the law might
be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to
the spirit.
Lesson ii
Romans 8:5-9
For those
who are according to the flesh, mind the things that are of the flesh; but
they that are according to the spirit, mind the things that are of the
spirit. For the wisdom of the flesh is death; but the wisdom of the spirit
is life and peace. Because the wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God; for
it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be. And they who are
in the flesh, cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the
spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Lesson iii
Romans 8:9-11
Now if
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ
be in you, the body indeed is dead, because of sin; but the spirit lives,
because of justification. And if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus
from the dead, dwells in you; He that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead,
shall animate also your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit that dwells
in you.
Lesson iv
A sermon of Saint Augustine, Bishop
XIII on the Season
Our Lord Jesus Christ, dearest
brethren, who in eternity is the Creator of all things, was as at this time
born of a mother and became our Savior. It was as at this time that he
willed to be born for us in earthly time, so as to lead us to the Father's
eternity. God is made man, that man may be made as God. That man may eat
Angels' food, the Lord of Angels was as on this day made man.
Lesson v
Now is fulfilled that
prophecy: "Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down
righteousness: let the earth open, and bring forth a Savior" (Isaias 45:8). He
Who made
all things is therefore Himself made, that those who are lost may be found.
It is even as man is made to testify of Himself in the Psalms: Before I was
humbled, I went wrong. Man sinned and became guilty. God is born man, that
the guilty may be delivered. Man fell, but God descended. Man fell
miserably, God descended mercifully. Man fell by pride, God descended with
grace.
Lesson v
O my brethren, what a
miracle! what a wonder! The laws of nature are changed concerning man: God
is born, a Virgin conceives without a husband; the Word of God is wedded
to one who knows no man; she is at once Mother and Virgin. A Mother, yet
inviolate: a Virgin having a Son; knowing no man, ever sealed, yet not
unfruitful. For he alone was born without sin. He alone was born without
human embrace, begotten not of the will of the flesh, but of the obedience
of the mind.
Lesson vii
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according
to Matthew
Matthew 2:19-23
At that time: when Herod was
dead, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph in Egypt,
saying: "Arise,
and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel. For they
are dead that sought the life of the child." Who arose, and took the
child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But hearing
that Archelaus reigned in Judea in the room of Herod his father, he was
afraid to go there: and being warned in sleep retired into the quarters of
Galilee. And coming he dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might
be fulfilled which was said by prophets: "That He shall be called a
Nazarene" ('netser, 'a shoot'—'flos', 'flower,' in the
Prophecy of Isaias (11:1).
An
Homily of Saint Jerome, Priest
Book I Commentary on Matthew
From the words, they are dead, (in
the Plural), which are used in this passage of the Gospel, we may understand
that there were others beside Herod which sought the young Child's life
—probably the Priests and Scribes. And he Joseph "arose, and took the young
Child and His Mother." It is not written, He took his wife and child, but "he
took the young Child and His Mother"; whence it is clear that the holy
Evangelist willed to imply that Joseph was not the father, but the Guardian
of Jesus, not the husband, but the betrothed of Mary.
Lesson viii
But when he heard that Archelaus
reigned in Judea, in the place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go
there. There are some persons so grossly ignorant of history that they
confuse themselves over the two Herods, as if the one mentioned here were
the same who afterwards set our Lord at nought during His Passion, and they
cannot understand how he should now be said to be dead. The Herod who was
made friends with Pilate over Christ's death, was the son of the Herod who
massacred the infants of Bethlehem, and the brother of Archelaus.
Lesson ix
"He shall be called a Nazarene." The
Evangelist, in quoting these words, said that they were spoken by the
Prophets, (Plural). If he had been citing any one precise passage he would
have said by the Prophet, in the Singular. But he is citing the sense of the
Prophets, and not any individual passage in any of their writings. He
seems to refer to the fact that in Hebrew the word Nazarene signifies
holy, and that Christ is the Holy One of God is the common declaration of
all the Scriptures.
Collect:
Let us pray:
O Almighty and
everlasting God, do Thou order all our actions in conformity with Thy good
pleasure, that through the name of Thy well-beloved Son, we may worthily
abound in all good works. Who with Thee.