Posted on 08/28/2008 4:31:41 PM PDT by Salvation
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Memorial of Saint Augustine,
bishop and doctor of the Church
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Reading 1
1 Cor 1:1-9
Paul, called to be an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
and Sosthenes our brother,
to the Church of God that is in Corinth,
to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy,
with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always on your account
for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in him you were enriched in every way,
with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful,
and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R. (1) I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
Generation after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
They discourse of the power of your terrible deeds
and declare your greatness.
They publish the fame of your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your justice.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
Gospel
Mt 24:42-51
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’
and begins to beat his fellow servants,
and eat and drink with drunkards,
the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day
and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
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On the Writings of St. Augustine
On St. Augustine's Search for Truth
Pope to Visit Tomb of St. Augustine
Was St. Augustine Catholic? YES!
ST. AUGUSTINE ON GRACE AND PREDESTINATION
Pope: St Monica and St Augustine for youth who go down “wrong roads” and “dead ends”
“A pledge of eternal life”: Augustine on “dew”
You Have to Love A Pope Who Loves St. Augustine
Pope Receives Relics of St. Augustine
Two Cities: Augustine’s City of God
Archbishop Sheen Today! -- St. Augustine of Hippo
St. Augustine of Hippo Two Cities: Augustine’s City of God (Chuck Colson on citizenship)
The Immaculate Heart [of Mary]
This devotion has received new emphasis in this century from the visions given to Lucy Dos Santos, oldest of the visionaries of Fatima, in her convent in Tuy, in Spain, in 1925 and 1926. In the visions Our Lady asked for the practice of the Five First Saturdays to help make amends for the offenses given to her heart by the blasphemies and ingratitude of men. The practice parallels the devotion of the Nine First Fridays in honor of the Sacred Heart.
On October 31, 1942, Pope Pius XII made a solemn Act of Consecration of the Church and the whole world to the Immaculate Heart. Let us remember this devotion year-round, but particularly through the month of August.
INVOCATIONS
O heart most pure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, obtain for me from Jesus a pure and humble heart.
Sweet heart of Mary, be my salvation.
ACT OF CONSECRATION
Queen of the most holy Rosary, help of Christians, refuge of the human race, victorious in all the battles of God, we prostrate ourselves in supplication before thy throne, in the sure hope of obtaining mercy and of receiving grace and timely aid in our present calamities, not through any merits of our own, on which we do not rely, but only through the immense goodness of thy mother's heart. In thee and in thy Immaculate Heart, at this grave hour of human history, do we put our trust; to thee we consecrate ourselves, not only with all of Holy Church, which is the mystical body of thy Son Jesus, and which is suffering in so many of her members, being subjected to manifold tribulations and persecutions, but also with the whole world, torn by discords, agitated with hatred, the victim of its own iniquities. Be thou moved by the sight of such material and moral degradation, such sorrows, such anguish, so many tormented souls in danger of eternal loss! Do thou, O Mother of mercy, obtain for us from God a Christ-like reconciliation of the nations, as well as those graces which can convert the souls of men in an instant, those graces which prepare the way and make certain the long desired coming of peace on earth. O Queen of peace, pray for us, and grant peace unto the world in the truth, the justice, and the charity of Christ.
Above all, give us peace in our hearts, so that the kingdom of God may spread its borders in the tranquillity of order. Accord thy protection to unbelievers and to all those who lie within the shadow of death; cause the Sun of Truth to rise upon them; may they be enabled to join with us in repeating before the Savior of the world: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will."
Give peace to the nations that are separated from us by error or discord, and in a special manner to those peoples who profess a singular devotion toward thee; bring them back to Christ's one fold, under the one true Shepherd. Obtain full freedom for the holy Church of God; defend her from her enemies; check the ever-increasing torrent of immorality; arouse in the faithful a love of purity, a practical Christian life, and an apostolic zeal, so that the multitude of those who serve God may increase in merit and in number.
Finally, even as the Church and all mankind were once consecrated to the Heart of thy Son Jesus, because He was for all those who put their hope in Him an inexhaustible source of victory and salvation, so in like manner do we consecrate ourselves forever to thee also and to thy Immaculate Heart, O Mother of us and Queen of the world; may thy love and patronage hasten the day when the kingdom of God shall be victorious and all the nations, at peace with God .and with one another, shall call thee blessed and intone with thee, from the rising of the sun to its going down, the everlasting "Magnificat" of glory, of love, of gratitude to the Heart of Jesus, in which alone we can find truth, life, and peace. — Pope Pius XII
IN HONOR OF THE IMMACULATE HEART
O heart of Mary, mother of God, and our mother; heart most worthy of love, in which the adorable Trinity is ever well-pleased, worthy of the veneration and love of all the angels and of all men; heart most like to the Heart of Jesus, of which thou art the perfect image; heart, full of goodness, ever compassionate toward our miseries; deign to melt our icy hearts and grant that they may be wholly changed into the likeness of the Heart of Jesus, our divine Savior. Pour into them the love of thy virtues, enkindle in them that divine fire with which thou thyself dost ever burn. In thee let Holy Church find a safe shelter; protect her and be her dearest refuge, her tower of strength, impregnable against every assault of her enemies. Be thou the way which leads to Jesus, and the channel, through which we receive all the graces needful for our salvation. Be our refuge in time of trouble, our solace in the midst of trial, our strength against temptation, our haven in persecution, our present help in every danger, and especially) at the hour of death, when all hell shall let loose against u its legions to snatch away our souls, at that dread moment; that hour so full of fear, whereon our eternity depends. An,; then most tender virgin, make us to feel the sweetness of thy motherly heart, and the might of thine intercession with Jesus, and open to us a safe refuge in that very fountain of mercy, whence we may come to praise Him with thee in paradise, world without end. Amen.
Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954
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Sacred Heart Of Jesus |
Immaculate Heart of Mary |
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Blessed be the Most Loving Heart and Sweet Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the most glorious Virgin Mary, His Mother, in eternity and forever. Amen. ....Only the Heart of Christ who knows the depths of his Father's love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way ----From the Catechism. P:1439 From the depth of my nothingness, I prostrate myself before Thee, O Most Sacred, Divine and Adorable Heart of Jesus, to pay Thee all the homage of love, praise and adoration in my power. The prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus just as it invokes his most holy name. It adores the incarnate Word and his Heart which, out of love for men, he allowed to be pierced by our sins. Christian prayer loves to follow the way of the cross in the Savior's steps.-- >From the Catechism. P: 2669 |
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The first is that we ought to love and honor whatever God loves and honors, and that by which He is loved and glorified. Now, after the adorable Heart of Jesus there has never been either in heaven or on earth, nor ever will be, a heart which has been so loved and honored by God, or which has given Him so much glory as that of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Never has there been, nor will there ever be a more exalted throne of divine love. In that Heart divine love possesses its fullest empire, for it ever reigns without hindrance or interruption, and with it reign likewise all the laws of God, all the Gospel maxims and every Christian virtue.
This incomparable Heart of the Mother of our Redeemer is a glorious heaven, a Paradise of delights for the Most Holy Trinity. According to St. Paul, the hearts of the faithful are the dwelling place of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ Himself assures us that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost take up Their abode in the hearts of those who love God. Who, therefore, can doubt that the Most Holy Trinity has always made His home and established the reign of His glory in an admirable and ineffable manner in the virginal Heart of her who is the Daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Son, the Spouse of the Holy Ghost, who herself loves God more than all other creatures together?
How much then are we not obliged to love this exalted and most lovable Heart?
— St. John Eudes
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Saturdays and the Immaculate Heart of Mary [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
The Brown Scapular (Catholic Caucus)
The History of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Catholic Caucus)
Homilies preached by Father Robert Altier on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Marian Associations Unite to Celebrate Immaculate Heart
Solemnity Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary
Saint Augustine bumpus ad summum
From: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Greeting
[2] To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus,
called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
[3] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
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Commentary:
1-9. With slight variations almost all St Paul’s letters begin in the same kind of
way: there is a greeting (vv. 1-3), which carries the name of the writer, information
on the addressee(s), and the conventional phrase; and an act of thanksgiving to
God (vv. 4-9), in which the Apostle refers to the main qualities and endowments
of the Christians to whom he is writing. By comparing his letters with other letters
that have come down to us from the same period, it is quite apparent that St
Paul usually begins his letters in the style of the time. yet he does not entirely
follow this rigid pattern: he changes the usual opening—”Greeting!” (cf. Acts
15:23; 23:26)—to this more personal one, which has a pronounced Christian
stamp: “Grace to you and peace.” Also, the way in which he introduces himself
and describes those he is addressing tells much more than a simple “Paul to
the Corinthians: greeting!” Even his words of thanksgiving convey tenderness
and warmth—and their tone is not merely human, for he attributes to God the
virtues he praises in the faithful.
The Fathers of the Church have drawn attention to this characteristic of Paul’s
letters—the way he manages to convey a deep doctrinal message in a familiar
style, nicely suited to whomever he happens to be addressing: “A doctor”, St
John Chrysostom explains, “does not treat the patient in the same way at the
start of his illness as when he is recovering; nor does a teacher use the same
method with children as with those who need more advanced tuition. That is
how the Apostle acts: he writes as suits the needs and the times” (”Hom. On
Rom”, Prologue).
1. St Paul attaches to his name three features which identify him—his divine
calling; his office as Apostle of Jesus Christ; and the will of God, the source of
his apostolic vocation.
“Called”: this is a carefully chosen word designed to convey the vigorous and
personal way God called him. He calls all men to faith, to grace, to holiness,
and to heaven (cf., e.g. Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2; 1:26; 7:20; Eph 1:18). By defining
himself as “called” (cf. Rom 1:1), St Paul is very probably referring to the episode
on the road to Damascus (cf. Acts 9:1-19), when Christ changed his life, as he
had earlier changed the lives of the Twelve.
“Apostle of Christ Jesus”: Paul can find no stronger expression than this to de-
scribe his mission: he is forever applying this title to himself—thirty-five times by
our reckoning. This fact of his apostleship is the basis of his authority—authority
to praise, teach, admonish and correct orally and in writing. He is so totally
identified with this mission that he has no other purpose than to pursue it; his
life is dedicated to this end; all his thoughts, words and actions are aimed at
achieving it. Humbly (because he once persecuted the Church: 1 Cor 15:9) and
yet forthrightly (cf. 1 Cor 9:1-2) he puts himself on the same level as the Twelve
as far as vocation and apostleship are concerned.
“By the will of God”: the Apostle’s energy and vitality are ascribable not to him-
self but to God, who had plans for Paul ever since he was in his mother’s womb
(Gal 1: 15); so much so that later in this letter he actually says, “If I preach the
Gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me.
Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16).
“Our brother, Sosthenes”: it is uncertain whether this was the same person as
the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth mentioned in Acts (18:17). The prominent
position given him here suggests that he was someone well-known to the com-
munity at Corinth, either for his ministry among them or because he often
accompanied St Paul; he may have been the secretary, or scribe, who actually
wrote the letter down (cf. 16:21).
2. “The church of God at Corinth”: the addressee of the letter. The very grammar
of the phrase emphasizes the fact that the Church is not the totality of the local
communities: rather, each local community—here, the Christians of Corinth—
represents the whole Church, which is one and indivisible: “The Apostle calls it
[the community] ‘the church of God’ in order to show that unity is one of its es-
sential and necessary characteristics. The Church of God is one in its members
and forms nothing but a single Church with all the communities spread through-
out the world, for the word ‘church’ does not mean schism: it means unity,
harmony, concord” (St John Chrysostom, “Hom on 1 Cor”, 1, “ad loc”.).
In another three brush-strokes St Paul here describes those who make up the
Church—those sanctified in Jesus Christ, those called to be saints, those who
invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Those sanctified in Christ Jesus”: the faithful receive at Baptism the grace which
makes them a holy people (cf. Ex 19:6; 1 Pet 2:9); the participle “sanctified”
implies something stable, such as is the intimate union between the individual
Christian and Jesus. The formula “in Christ Jesus” here refers to the fact that the
baptized are grafted on to Christ like branches attached to a wine (cf. Jn l5:1ff);
this link with Christ is what makes them saints, that is, sharers in God’s own
holiness; and it involves a duty to strive for moral perfection. “As those who pro-
fess any art, even though they depart from its rules, are still called artists, so in
like manner the faithful, although offending in many things and violating the en-
gagements to which they had pledged themselves, are still called holy, because
they have been made the people of God and have consecrated themselves to
Christ by faith and Baptism. Hence, St Paul calls the Corinthians sanctified and
holy, although it is certain that among them there were some whom he severely
rebuked as carnal, and charged with grosser crimes” (”St Pius V Catechism”,
I, 10, 15).
“Called to be saints”: through faith and Baptism “all Christians in any state or
walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of love”
(Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 40).
“Those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”: this cir-
cumlocution describes Christian believers (cf. Acts 9:14, 21; 22:16; Rom 10:12);
what makes them different from others is that they worship Jesus Christ as Lord
and God, in the same way as the faithful of the Old Covenant invoked the name
of Yahweh. To be a member of the Church of God, therefore, it is essential that
a person believe that Christ is God. “We believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the Son of God. He is the eternal Word of the Father before time began, one in
substance with the Father, “homoousios to Patri”, through whom all things were
made. He was incarnate of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit and
was made man. ‘Equal, therefore, to the Father according to his divinity, less
than the Father according to his humanity, his unity deriving not from some im-
possible confusion of substance but from his Person”’ (Paul Vl, “Creed of the
People of God”, 11).
3. Peace of soul, that “serenity of mind, tranquillity of soul, simplicity of heart,
bond of love, union of charity” of which St Augustine spoke (”De Verb. Dom.
Serm.”, 58), originates in the friendship with God which grace brings with it; it is
one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (cf. Gal 5:22-23). This is the only true kind of
peace: “There is no true peace, just as there is no true grace, other than the grace
and peace which come from God,” St John Chrysostom teaches, “Possess this
divine peace and you will have nothing to fear, even if you be threatened by the di-
rect danger, whether from men or even from the demons themselves; whereas see
how everything is a cause of fear for the man who is at war with God through sin”
(”Hom. on 1 Cor”, 1, “ad loc”.).
4-9. After the greeting, words of thanksgiving conclude the introduction to the
letter, before St Paul begins the doctrinal part. He reminds the Corinthians that they
owe their privileged position to God. They, like all Christians, received God’s grace
in Christ, and that grace has enriched them in every way, for it causes man to share
in God’s very nature (cf. 2 Pet 1:4), raising him to an entirely new level of existence.
This transfiguration enables a person, even here, to know the perfections of God’s
inner life and to partake of that life—albeit in a limited, imperfect way—through the
theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, which grace brings and which elevate
the mind and will to know and love God, One and Three.
St Paul teaches the need to give thanks to God and he sets us an example in
this regard. Obdurate sinners fail to acknowledge the benefits God gives them (cf.
Rom 1:21), but Christians should always base their prayer on gratitude to God (cf.
Phil 4:6). “Nothing charms God more than a heart that is grateful either on its own
account or on account of others” (Chrysostom, “Hom. on 1 Cor”, 2, “ad loc”.).
5-6. The grace of God, mentioned in the previous verse, embraces gifts, including
those to do with eloquence and knowledge. So richly does God endow the Chris-
tian that St Alphonsus exclaims: “Our wretchedness should not make us uneasy,
for in Jesus crucified we shall find all richness and all grace (cf. 1 Cor 1:5, 7). The
merits of Jesus Christ have enriched us with all the wealth of God and there is no
grace we might desire that we cannot obtain by asking for it” (”The Love of God
Reduced to Practice”, chap. 3). The Fathers interpret these gifts as meaning that
the Corinthians had such a good grasp of Christian teaching that they were able
to express it clearly: “There are those who have the gift of knowledge but not that
of speech; and there are others who have the gift of speech but not knowledge.
The faithful in general, who are uneducated, know these truths, but they cannot
clearly explain what they have in their soul. You on the other hand, St Paul says,
are different; you know these truths and you can speak about them; you are rich
in the gift of speech and in that of knowledge” (Chrysostom, “Hom. on 1 Cor”, 2,
“ad loc”.).
8-9. “The day of our Lord’: in St Paul’s writings and in the New Testament generally,
this refers to the day of the General Judgment when Christ will appear as Judge,
clothed in glory (cf. 2 Cor 1:14; 1 Thess 5:2).
Christians actively hope that that Day will find them “blameless” (cf. Phil 1:10;
1 Thess 3:13; 5:23); the basis for this hope is God’s faithfulness—an attitude fre-
quently applied to him in the Old Testament (cf. Deut 7:9; Is 49:7) and in St
Paul’s letters (cf. 1 Cor 10:13; 2 Cor 1:18; 1 Thess 5:24; 2 Thess 3:3; Heb 10:23):
the Covenant which God made with the chosen people was primarily a gift and a
grace, but it also was a legal commitment. The Covenant was grounded on God’s
fidelity, which was not merely a matter of legal obligation: it involved faithful, con-
stant love. The God’s fidelity will finds its fullest expression in the Redemption
brought about by Jesus Christ: “If, in fact, the reality of the Redemption,” Pope
John Paul II says, “in its human dimension, reveals the unheard-of greatness of
man, “qui talem ac tantum meruit habere Redemptorem”, at the same time “the
divine dimension of the Redemption” enables us [...] to uncover the depth of that
love which does not recoil before the extraordinary sacrifice of the Son, in order to
satisfy the fidelity of the Creator and Father towards human beings, created in his
image” (”Dives In Misericordia”, 7).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Matthew 24:42-51
Vigilance. The Faithful Servant
[45] “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his
household, to give them their food at the proper time? [46] Blessed is that servant
whom his master when he comes will find so doing. [47] Truly, I say to you, he
will set him over all his possessions. [48] But if that wicked servant says to him-
self, ‘My master is delayed,’ [49] and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats
and drinks with the drunken, [50] the master of that servant will come on a day
when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, [51] and will
punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash
their teeth.”
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Commentary:
42. Jesus himself draws from this revelation about the future the practical moral
that a Christian needs to be on the watch, living each day as if it were his last.
The important thing is not to be speculating about when these events will happen
and what form they will take, but to live in such a way that they find us in the state
of grace.
51. “And will punish him [or, cut him in pieces]”: this can be understood as a
metaphor for “will cast him away”. “Weeping and gnashing of teeth”: the pains
of hell.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
| First reading | 1 Corinthians 1:1 - 9 © |
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| I, Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle, together with brother Sosthenes, send greetings to the church of God in Corinth, to the holy people of Jesus Christ, who are called to take their place among all the saints everywhere who pray to our Lord Jesus Christ; for he is their Lord no less than ours. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send you grace and peace. I never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ. I thank him that you have been enriched in so many ways, especially in your teachers and preachers; the witness to Christ has indeed been strong among you so that you will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed; and he will keep you steady and without blame until the last day, the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, because God by calling you has joined you to his Son, Jesus Christ; and God is faithful. |
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| Psalm or canticle: Psalm 144 |
| Gospel | Matthew 24:42 - 51 © |
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| Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite sure of this that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. What sort of servant, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their food at the proper time? ‘Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you solemnly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the dishonest servant who says to himself, “My master is taking his time,” and sets about beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’ |
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| Thursday, August 28, 2008 St. Augustine, Bishop, Doctor of the Church (Memorial) |
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The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.
Amen. |
Thanks for the bump. Mz. Pelosi needs to avial herself of this thread to update her learnings! LOL!
LOL! avail herself.
O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
| Psalm 17 (18) |
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| Thanksgiving |
| The Lord’s ways are pure; the words of the Lord are refined in the furnace; the Lord protects all who hope in him. For what God is there, but our Lord? What help, but in the Lord our God? God, who has wrapped me in his strength and set me on the perfect path, who has made my feet like those of the deer, who has set me firm upon the heights, who trains my hands for battle, teaches my arms to bend a bow of bronze. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Psalm 17 (18) |
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| You have given me the shield of your salvation; your right hand holds me up; by answering me, you give me greatness. You have stretched out the length of my stride, my feet do not weaken. I pursue my enemies and surround them; I do not turn back until they are no more. I smash them to pieces, they cannot stand, they fall beneath my feet. You have wrapped me round with strength for war, and made my attackers fall under me. You turned my enemies’ backs on me, you destroyed those who hated me. They cried out, but there was no-one to save them; they cried to the Lord, but he did not hear. I have ground them up until they are dust in the wind, trodden them down like the mud of the street. You have delivered me from the murmurings of the people and placed me at the head of the nations. A people I do not even know serves me – at a mere rumour of my orders, they obey. The children of strangers beg for my favour; they hide away and tremble where they hide. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Psalm 17 (18) |
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| The Lord lives, my blessed Helper. Let the God of my salvation be exalted. God, you give me my revenge, you subject peoples to my rule, you free me from my enraged enemies. You raise me up from those who attack me, you snatch me from the grasp of the violent. And so I will proclaim you among the nations, Lord, and sing to your name. Time and again you save your king, you show your loving kindness to your anointed, to David and his descendants for ever. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Reading | Jeremiah 3:1 - 4:4 © |
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| If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry someone else, may she still go back to him? Has not that piece of land been totally polluted? And you, who have prostituted yourself with so many lovers, you would come back to me? – it is the Lord who speaks. Lift your eyes to the bare heights and look! Is there a single place where you have not offered your body? You waited by the roadside for clients like an Arab in the desert. You have polluted the country with your prostitution and your vices: this is why the showers have been withheld, the late rains have not come. And you maintained a prostitute’s bold front, never thinking to blush. Even then did you not cry to me, “My father! You, the friend of my youth! Will he keep his resentment for ever, will he maintain his wrath to the end?” That was what you said, and still you went on sinning, you were so obstinate. And I was thinking: How I wanted to rank you with my sons, and give you a country of delights, the fairest heritage of all the nations! I had thought you would call me: My father, and would never cease to follow me. But like a woman betraying her lover, the House of Israel has betrayed me – it is the Lord who speaks. A noise is heard on the bare heights: the weeping and entreaty of the sons of Israel, because they have gone so wildly astray, and forgotten the Lord their God. ‘Come back, disloyal sons, I want to heal your disloyalty.’ ‘We are here, we are coming to you, for you are the Lord our God. The heights are a delusion after all, so is the tumult of the mountains. ‘The Lord our God is, after all, the saving of Israel. The Thing of Shame has devoured what our ancestors worked for since our youth (their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters). Let us lie down in our shame, let our dishonour be our covering, for we have sinned against the Lord our God (‘we and our ancestors since our youth until today; and we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God).’ ‘If you wish to come back, Israel – it is the Lord who speaks – it is to me you must return. Do away with your abominations and you will have no need to avoid me. If you swear, “As the Lord lives!” truthfully, justly, honestly, the nations will bless themselves by you, and glory in you. For thus speaks the Lord to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Clean your ground thoroughly, sow nothing among thorns. Circumcise yourselves for the Lord; off with the foreskin of your hearts (men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem), lest my wrath should leap out like a fire, and burn with no one to quench it, in return for the wickedness of your deeds.’ |
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| Reading | The Confessions of Saint Augustine, bishop |
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| O Eternal Truth, true love and beloved eternity | |
| Urged to reflect upon myself, I entered under your guidance the innermost places of my being; but only because you had become my helper was I able to do so. I entered, then, and with the vision of my spirit, such as it was, I saw the incommutable light far above my spiritual ken and transcending my mind: not this common light which every carnal eye can see, nor any light of the same order; but greater, as though this common light were shining much more powerfully, far more brightly, and so extensively as to fill the universe. The light I saw was not the common light at all, but something different, utterly different, from all those things. Nor was it higher than my mind in the sense that oil floats on water or the sky is above the earth; it was exalted because this very light made me, and I was below it because by it I was made. Anyone who knows truth knows this light. O eternal Truth, true Love, and beloved Eternity, you are my God, and for you I sigh day and night. As I first began to know you, you lifted me up and showed me that, while that which I might see exists indeed, I was not yet capable of seeing it. Your rays beamed intensely on me, beating back my feeble gaze, and I trembled with love and dread. I knew myself to be far away from you in a region of unlikeness, and I seemed to hear your voice from on high: “I am the food of the mature: grow, then, and you shall eat me. You will not change me into yourself like bodily food; but you will be changed into me”. Accordingly I looked for a way to gain the strength I needed to enjoy you, but I did not find it until I embraced the mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who is also God, supreme over all things and blessed for ever. He called out, proclaiming I am the Way and Truth and the Life, nor had I known him as the food which, though I was not yet strong enough to eat it, he had mingled with our flesh, for the Word became flesh so that your Wisdom, through whom you created all things, might become for us the milk adapted to our infancy. Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you, and upon the shapely things you have made I rushed headlong – I, misshapen. You were with me, but I was not with you. They held me back far from you, those things which would have no being, were they not in you. You called, shouted, broke through my deafness; you flared, blazed, banished my blindness; you lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for you; I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst; you touched me, and I burned for your peace. |
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| Concluding Prayer |
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| O God, through you your faithful are united and of one will. Grant to your people that they may love what you have taught and desire what you have promised: in this changeable world may our hearts be fixed on where true joy comes from. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. |
Saint Augustine,
Bishop & Doctor of the Church
Memorial
August 28th
Saint Ambrose baptizing Saint Augustine
Benozzo Gozzoli (1464-65)
Apsidal chapel, Sant'Agostino, San Gimignano, Italy"Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O Lord"
Augustine opens his Confessions with praise of God, and follows this with of the best-known passages in all of Christian literature -- his introductory observations about man's restless search for God.
Augustine, one of the most influential thinkers in the entire history of the Church, was born at Tagaste, North Africa, on November 13, 354. His father, Patricius, a city official was not a Christian, though his mother, Monica, was a woman of strong Christian faith. (She eventually led her husband to be baptized, and he died a holy death circa 371.) Though Augustine received a Christian upbringing, he led a very dissolute life as a youth and young man, according to his "Confessions". Augustine gives an account of his spiritual development in the first nine Books of the "Confessions" -- a work that has engrossed readers for 1600 years, and are as fresh and immediate today as when they were written. As a nineteen-year old student at Carthage, he espoused the Manichaean heresy, a form of Gnosticism founded in Persia in the late third century, which claimed to be a religion of reason as contrasted with Christianity, a religion of faith. Manichaeism aimed to synthesize all known religions. Its basic dualistic tenet is that there are two equal and opposed Principles ("gods") in the universe: Good (Light/Spirit) and Evil (Darkness/Matter). After nearly ten years as a Manichaean, Augustine, who taught in Milan, visited Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, became a regular attendant at his preachings, and through his influence became convinced that Catholic teachings are true, and that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. Still, he found himself conflicted -- unwilling to give up his desire to satisfy his sexual lusts. An interview with Simplicianus, spiritual father of St. Ambrose , who told Augustine the story of the conversion of the celebrated neo-Platonic rhetorician, Victorinus (Confessions, VIII, i, ii), and later, a chance visit by a Christian, Ponticianus, who told him of other conversions, led Augustine to a crisis: I was greatly disturbed in spirit, angry at myself with a turbulent indignation because I had not entered thy will and covenant, O my God, while all my bones cried out to me to enter, extolling it to the skies. The way therein is not by ships or chariots or feet--indeed it was not as far as I had come from the house to the place where we were seated. For to go along that road and indeed to reach the goal is nothing else but the will to go. But it must be a strong and single will, not staggering and swaying about this way and that--a changeable, twisting, fluctuating will, wrestling with itself while one part falls as another rises. (Confessions, Book VIII.8.19) I was ... weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart, when suddenly I heard the voice of a boy or a girl I know not which--coming from the neighboring house, chanting over and over again, "Pick it up, read it; pick it up, read it."[260] Immediately I ceased weeping and began most earnestly to think whether it was usual for children in some kind of game to sing such a song, but I could not remember ever having heard the like. So, damming the torrent of my tears, I got to my feet, for I could not but think that this was a divine command to open the Bible and read the first passage I should light upon. ... So I quickly returned to the bench where Alypius was sitting, for there I had put down the apostle's book [Paul's letter to the Romans] when I had left there. I snatched it up, opened it, and in silence read the paragraph on which my eyes first fell: "Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof."[Romans 13:13] I wanted to read no further, nor did I need to. For instantly, as the sentence ended, there was infused in my heart something like the light of full certainty and all the gloom of doubt vanished away. (Confessions, Book IX.29) Augustine was thirty-three when he was moved to act on his convictions in that garden at Milan in September, 386. A few weeks later, during the autumn "vintage" holiday, Augustine, resigned his professorship at Milan, resolving to devote himself to the pursuit of true philosophy, now inseparable from Christianity. After a vacation at Cassisiacum, Augustine returned to Milan with Monica, Adeodatus (his son) , and his friends, where the new converts were baptized. Soon after, while preparing to return to North Africa with her sons and grandson, Monica died at Ostia, near Rome. (A moving account of her final days is found in Confessions Book IX, 8-12) Augustine returned to Africa in August 388, and, with the objective of living a life of poverty and prayer, he sold his property and gave the proceeds to the poor. Although he did not think of becoming a priest, during a visit to Hippo, as he was praying in the church, people suddenly gathered around him and persuaded the bishop of Hippo, Valerius, to ordain Augustine. He was ordained in 391, and in Tagaste, established a monastery, and preached against Manichaeism with great success. When he was forty-two, he becme co-adjutor bishop Hippo, where he was bishop for thirty-four years. During his years as bishop, Augustine combatted the Manichaean heresy, strongly affirming free will and expounding on the problem of evil; he struggled against the Donatist heresy that attacked the divine institution and hierchical nature of the Church. In later years he would confront the Pelagian heresy that denied the doctrine of original sin and the effects of grace; and the heresy of Arianism, which denied that the Son is of the same substance as the Father. Augustine died August 28, 430 at the age of seventy-five. His perennial contribution to and influence on Catholic doctrine and thought and on Christian belief and piety is incalculable, and his many theological and philosophical works, especially the Confessions and the City of God have continuee to captivate and inspire mankind for more than fifteen-hundred years.
Collect: First Reading: By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his own Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. Gospel Reading:
Lord, renew in your Church the spirit you gave Saint Augustine.
Filled with this spirit, may we thirst for you alone as the fountain of wisdom and seek you as the source of eternal love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
I John 4:7-16
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
Matthew 23:8-12
But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Prayers of Saint Augustine:
God of life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and wear us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies gray and threatening; when our lives have no music in them and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, we beseech you; turn our eyes to where the skies are full of promise.
(From Prayers of the Saints: An Inspired Collection of Holy Wisdom, ed. Woodeene Koenig-Bricker - San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1996)
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"Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or
weep tonight, and give your angels charge over
those who sleep.
Tend your sick ones, O Lord Christ.
Rest your weary ones.
Bless your dying ones.
Soothe your suffering ones.
Pity your afflicted ones.
Shield your joyous ones.
And for all your love's sake. Amen."***********************************************************
"Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in you."
Augustine opens his Confessions with praise of God, and follows this with of the best-known passages in all of Christian literature -- his introductory observations about man's restless search for God.
Excerpt from Confessions, Book I, Chapter I
"Great art thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is thy power, and infinite is thy wisdom." And man desires to praise thee, for he is a part of thy creation; he bears his mortality about with him and carries the evidence of his sin and the proof that thou dost resist the proud. Still he desires to praise thee, this man who is only a small part of thy creation. Thou hast prompted him, that he should delight to praise thee, for thou hast made us for thyself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in thee. Grant me, O Lord, to know and understand whether first to invoke thee or to praise thee; whether first to know thee or call upon thee. But who can invoke thee, knowing thee not? For he who knows thee not may invoke thee as another than thou art. It may be that we should invoke thee in order that we may come to know thee. But "how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe without a preacher?" Now, "they shall praise the Lord who seek him," for "those who seek shall find him," and, finding him, shall praise him. I will seek thee, O Lord, and call upon thee. I call upon thee, O Lord, in my faith which thou hast given me, which thou hast inspired in me through the humanity of thy Son, and through the ministry of thy preacher.
Excerpt from:Confessions -Book VI
Chapter I.--His mother, Monica, having followed Augustine to Milan, declares that she will not die before her son shall have embraced the Catholic Faith.
I. O Thou, my hope from my youth, where wert Thou to me, and whither hadst Thou gone? For in truth, hadst Thou not created me, and made a difference between me and the beasts of the field and fowls of the air? Thou hadst made me wiser than they, yet did I wander about in dark and slippery places, and sought Thee abroad out of myself, and found not the God of my heart;' and had entered the depths of the sea, and distrusted and despaired finding out the truth. By this time my mother, made strong by her piety, had come to me, following me over sea and land, in all perils feeling secure in Thee. For in the dangers of the sea she comforted the very sailors (to whom the inexperienced passengers, when alarmed, were wont rather to go for comfort), assuring them of a safe arrival, because she had been so assured by: Thee in a vision. She found me in grievous danger, through despair of ever finding truth. But when I had disclosed to her that I was now no longer a Manichaean, though not yet a Catholic Christian, she did not leap for joy as at what was unexpected; although she was now reassured as to that part of my misery for which she had mourned me as one dead, but who would be raised to Thee, carrying me forth upon the bier of her thoughts, that Thou mightest say unto the widow's son, "Young man, I say unto Thee, arise," and he should revive, and begin to speak, and Thou shouldest deliver him to his mother? Her heart, then, was not agitated with any violent exultation, when she had heard that to be already in so great a part accomplished which she daily, with tears, entreated of Thee might be done, -- that though I had not yet grasped the truth, I was rescued from falsehood. Yea, rather, for that she was fully confident that Thou, who hadst promised the whole, wouldst give the rest, most calmly, and with a breast full of confidence, she replied to me, "She believed in Christ, that before she departed this life, she would see me a Catholic believer." And thus much said she to me; but to Thee, O Fountain of mercies, poured she out more frequent prayers and tears, that Thou wouldest hasten Thy aid, and enlighten my darkness; and she hurried all the more assiduously to the church, and hung upon the words of Ambrose, praying for the fountain of water that springeth up into everlasting life. For she loved that man as an angel of God, because she knew that it was by him that I had been brought, for the present, to that perplexing state of agitation I was now in, through which she was fully persuaded that I should pass from sickness unto health, after an excess, as it were. of a sharper fit, which doctors term the "crisis."
Link to Confessions on Fordham's website.
A recipe for celebrating the Feast of Saint Augustine
Chiles En Nogada (Stuffed Peppers in Walnut Sauce)
(from Cooking with the Saints, Ignatius Press)This recipe is from the Mexican state of Pueblo, where the Feast of St. Augustine is celebrated with this dish. An unsusal mix of ingredients produces a tasty and filling dish. It requires a bit of effort, shelling and skinning the walnuts. It is important to use fresh walnuts, because it is almost impossible to remove the skin from store-bought shelled walnuts, which tend to be older and may also have an off-flavor. If shelling and skinning the nuts are too cumbersome, shelled or ground walnuts may be used, or even blanched almonds. The flavor will be somewhat different, but the work is considerably less.
Serves 6 - 8 people.
Sauce:
50 walnuts, shelled, or 2 cups (200g) ground walnuts or ground blanched almonds
Milk (if using fresh walnuts)
1/4 lb (100g) goat cheese, or, if not available, cream cheese
1 hard roll or crust end of bread soaked in milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of cinnamonTo make the sauce:
If starting with fresh walnuts, soak the shelled nuts in milk for about 20 to 30 minutes to loosen the skin and then remove the skins.
Using a blender, grind the nuts, cheese, hard roll in milk together to make a sauce. The sauce should be thin enough to pour; if not, add some more milk. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and a pinch of cinnamon.Stuffing:
3 tomatoes, or 8 oz (300 g) can of tomatoes, drained
1/2 cups (100 g) almonds, whole, blanched
2 peaches, peeled, chopped
2 pears, peeled, chopped
1/2 cup (100g) raisins
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 lb (250g) pork, ground
1/2 lb (250g) beef, ground
4 tbsp onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp saffron
Salt and pepper to tasteTo make the stuffing:
Peel tomatoes and chop them. Chop almonds. Peel fruit and chop. Soak raisins in hot water. Set aside. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown the meat. Add tomatoes, onion and garlic. Cook covered for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Add the almonds, drained raisins, saffron and fruits. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cook till the filling is quite thick and most of the liquid has evaporated.Peppers:
7 to 8 peppers, medium size, different colors
Put the peppers into boiling water for a couple of minutes, till they have softened somewhat. Remove the top and the seeds.
Coating:
3/4 cup (100g) flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
2 tsp sugar
2 eggs
Garnishes:
parsley and pomegranate seeds
1. Prepare the coating mixture by mixing together all the dry ingredients. Beat the 2 eggs slightly.
2. Stuff the peppers with the meat mixture. Make sure the outside of the peppers is wet before dipping them in the flour spice mixture and then into the egg. Sprinkle again with the flour mixture.
3. Fry in hot fat at 375°F (190°C) until browned. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve with the cold sauce, garnished with pomegranate seeds and parsley.
Plain or Mexican rice goes nicely with this dish.
Collect: Lord, renew in your Church the spirit you gave Saint Augustine. Filled with this spirit, may we thirst for you alone as the fountain of wisdom and seek you as the source of eternal love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Memorial of St. Augustine, bishop, confessor and doctor
Old Calendar: St. Augustine; St. Hermes, martyr
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St. Augustine (354-430) was born at Tagaste, Africa, and died in Hippo. His father, Patricius, was a pagan; his mother, Monica, a devout Christian. He received a good Christian education. As a law student in Carthage, however, he gave himself to all kinds of excesses and finally joined the Manichean sect. He then taught rhetoric at Milan where he was converted by St. Ambrose. Returning to Tagaste, he distributed his goods to the poor, and was ordained a priest. He was made bishop of Hippo at the age of 41 and became a great luminary of the African Church, one of the four great founders of religious orders, and a Doctor of the universal Church.
Before the reform of the General Roman Calendar today was also the feast of St. Hermes, a martyr of Rome, probably in Diocletian's persecution. He was buried in a cemetery on the Salarian Way. He is mentioned in the Depositio Martyrum of the year 354.
Augustine Aurelius was born on November 13, 354, in Tagaste, North Africa. His father was a pagan, his mother St. Monica. Still unbaptized and burning for knowledge, he came under the influence of the Manicheans, which caused his mother intense sorrow. He left Africa for Rome, deceiving his mother, who was ever anxious to be near him. She prayed and wept. A bishop consoled her by observing that a son of so many tears would never be lost. Yet the evil spirit drove him constantly deeper into moral degeneracy, capitalizing on his leaning toward pride and stubbornness. Grace was playing a waiting game; there still was time, and the greater the depths into which the evil spirit plunged its fledgling, the stronger would be the reaction. Augustine recognized this vacuum; he saw how the human heart is created with a great abyss; the earthly satisfactions that can be thrown into it are no more than a handful of stones that hardly cover the bottom. And in that moment grace was able to break through: Restless is the heart until it rests in God. The tears of his mother, the sanctity of Milan's Bishop Ambrose, the book of St. Anthony the hermit, and the sacred Scriptures wrought his conversion, which was sealed by baptism on Easter night 387. Augustine's mother went to Milan with joy and witnessed her son's baptism. It was what it should have been, the greatest event of his life, his conversion — metanoia. Grace had conquered. Augustine accompanied his mother to Ostia, where she died. She was eager to die, for now she had given birth to her son for the second time.
In 388 he returned to Tagaste, where he lived a common life with his friends. In 391 he was ordained priest at Hippo, in 394 made coadjutor to bishop Valerius, and then from 396 to 430 bishop of Hippo.
Augustine, numbered among the four great Doctors of the Western Church, possessed one of the most penetrating minds of ancient Christendom. He was the most important Platonist of patristic times, the Church's most influential theologian, especially with regard to clarifying the dogmas of the Trinity, grace, and the Church. He was a great speaker, a prolific writer, a saint with an inexhaustible spirituality. His Confessions, a book appreciated in every age, describes a notable portion of his life (until 400), his errors, his battles, his profound religious observations. Famous too is his work The City of God, a worthy memorial to his genius, a philosophy of history. Most edifying are his homilies, especially those on the psalms and on the Gospel of St. John.
Augustine's episcopal life was filled with mighty battles against heretics, over all of whom he triumphed. His most illustrious victory was that over Pelagius, who denied the necessity of grace; from this encounter he earned the surname "Doctor of grace." As an emblem Christian art accords him a burning heart to symbolize the ardent love of God which permeates all his writings. He is the founder of canonical life in common; therefore Augustinian monks and the Hermits of St. Augustine honor him as their spiritual father.
Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.
Patron: Brewers; diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut; Cagayan de Oro, Philippines; diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan; printers; city of Saint Augustine, Florida; diocese of Saint Augustine, Florida; sore eyes; diocese of Superior, Wisconsin; theologians; diocese of Tucson, Arizona.
Symbols: flaming heart pierced by two arrows; eagle; child with shell and spoon; word Veritas with rays of light from Heaven; chalice; dove; pen and book; scroll; scourge; model of a church; Bible opened to Romans XIII; child; shell.
St. Hermes was prefect of Rome. Along with Pope Alexander I, he was put to death about the year 116. A cemetery on the Salerian Way bears his name. The Roman Martyrology reads: "At Rome the birthday of St. Hermes, a man of rank, who (as the Acts of the martyr-pope St. Alexander I narrate) was first cast into prison and then beheaded along with many others. He gained the martyr's crown under the judge Aurelian." His body rests in the Church of St. Mark, Rome.
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St Augustine, 354-430. Doctor of Grace, Feast Aug 28th. |
O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
| Psalm 56 (57) |
|---|
| Morning prayer in time of affliction |
| Have mercy on me, God, have mercy. My soul flies to you for refuge. I will hide in the shelter of your wings until the time of ambush is past. I will cry to God the Most High, to the God who cares for me. He will send help from heaven to set me free. He will disgrace those who trample me underfoot. He will send forth his mercy and faithfulness. My soul lies among lion-cubs that would devour the children of men. Their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues are pointed swords. May you be exalted above the heavens, O God; let your glory cover the whole earth. They prepared a trap for my feet; my soul was bent double under its burden; they dug a pit in front of me – but they fell into it themselves. My heart is ready, God. My heart is ready. I will offer you music and song. Awake, my glory, awake, lyre and harp. I will awaken the dawn. I will proclaim you among the peoples, Lord, and make music for you among the nations, for your mercy reaches as high as the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. May you be exalted above the heavens, O God; let your glory cover the earth. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Canticle | Jeremiah 31 |
|---|---|
| The joy of those whom God sets free | |
| All you nations, listen to the word of the Lord, proclaim it in the farthest islands: “He who scattered his people Israel has brought them back together. He will care for them as a shepherd tends his flock.” For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and freed him from the hand of his conqueror. They will come and sing praises on Mount Sion, they will flood in to receive the good things of the Lord, grain, and wine, and oil, and the young of both herd and flock. Their spirit will be like a richly watered garden, and they will hunger no more. The young girl will dance for joy, young men and old men too. “I will turn their weeping into gladness,” says the Lord, “I will comfort them and give them joy after sorrow. I will overwhelm my priests with rich food, and my good things will fill my people to overflowing.” Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
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| Psalm 47 (48) |
|---|
| Thanksgiving for the safety of the people |
| The Lord is great and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain is a beautiful sight, the joy of all the earth. Mount Sion is at its northernmost edge, the city of the great king. Here among its palaces, God has shown himself as its refuge. For the kings assembled, made alliance against it – but when they saw it, they were amazed. Panic took them and they scattered. Trembling took hold of them, pain like that of childbirth. With the east wind you will destroy the ships of Tarshish. What we had heard, we saw in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, which God has founded for ever. We ponder your mercy, O God, as we stand in your temple. Your name, O Lord, and your praise will reach to the ends of the earth. Your right hand delivers justice. Let Mount Sion be glad and the daughters of Judah rejoice, because of your judgements. Go round Sion, see it all, count every tower. Feel its strength, visit its palaces, so that you can tell the next generation – Here is God, our God, here he remains for ever; and for ever he will lead us and guide us. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Short reading | Isaiah 66:1 - 2 © |
|---|---|
| Thus says the Lord: With heaven my throne and earth my footstool, what house could you build me, what place could you make for my rest? All of this was made by my hand and all of this is mine – it is the Lord who speaks. But my eyes are drawn to the man of humbled and contrite spirit, who trembles at my word. | |
| Canticle | Benedictus |
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| The Messiah and his forerunner | |
| Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption. He has raised up the sign of salvation in the house of his servant David, as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones, his prophets through the ages: to rescue us from our enemies and all who hate us, to take pity on our fathers, to remember his holy covenant and the oath he swore to Abraham our father, that he would give himself to us, that we could serve him without fear – freed from the hands of our enemies – in uprightness and holiness before him, for all of our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High: for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path, to let his people know their salvation, so that their sins may be forgiven. Through the bottomless mercy of our God, one born on high will visit us to give light to those who walk in darkness, who live in the shadow of death; to lead our feet in the path of peace. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
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| Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. |
| Almighty and ever-living God, we pray to you in your majesty morning, noon and night: erase from our hearts the shadow of sin, and fill them with the true light, which is Christ. He lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. |
| May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life. |
| A M E N |
| Mt 24:42-51 | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Douay-Rheims | Vulgate |
| 42 | Watch ye therefore, because you know not what hour your Lord will come. | vigilate ergo quia nescitis qua hora Dominus vester venturus sit |
| 43 | But this know ye, that, if the goodman of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly watch and would not suffer his house to be broken open. | illud autem scitote quoniam si sciret pater familias qua hora fur venturus esset vigilaret utique et non sineret perfodiri domum suam |
| 44 | Wherefore be you also ready, because at what hour you know not the Son of man will come. | ideoque et vos estote parati quia qua nescitis hora Filius hominis venturus est |
| 45 | Who, thinkest thou, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath appointed over his family, to give them meat in season? | quis putas est fidelis servus et prudens quem constituit dominus suus supra familiam suam ut det illis cibum in tempore |
| 46 | Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come he shall find so doing. | beatus ille servus quem cum venerit dominus eius invenerit sic facientem |
| 47 | Amen I say to you: he shall place him over all his goods. | amen dico vobis quoniam super omnia bona sua constituet eum |
| 48 | But if that evil servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming: | si autem dixerit malus servus ille in corde suo moram facit dominus meus venire |
| 49 | And shall begin to strike his fellow servants and shall eat and drink with drunkards: | et coeperit percutere conservos suos manducet autem et bibat cum ebriis |
| 50 | The lord of that servant shall come in a day that he hopeth not and at an hour that he knoweth not: | veniet dominus servi illius in die qua non sperat et hora qua ignorat |
| 51 | And shall separate him and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. | et dividet eum partemque eius ponet cum hypocritis illic erit fletus et stridor dentium |
