Mozarabic Thursday - IV

MOZARABIC THURSDAY — IV

Place yourself at Toledo: in the cathedral’s Mozarabic Rite chapel the faithful, silent, stand; silently, at this penitential season, the priest and his ministers advance to God’s altar; still without speaking, the priest bows awhile in prayer, then ascends the altar steps, kisses it, and goes to stand at his seat, where at length he first opens his mouth and salutes the congregation.  All attend to the readings that now begin.  A lector reads out the first lessson at the lectern; after he finishes, another takes his place.  The Old Testament lessons ended, the choir chants; a third lector reads the Epistle.  Next the deacon, with cerifers and thurifer, proceeds to the lectern to read the Gospel, first saluting the people (who stand in reverence), then censing the sacred volume.  The deacon having ended, then the priest having preached, again the choir sings God’s praises.  Next would come the offering of the Sacrifice…

But let us at the least unite ourselves to the Mass at Toledo by some participation in the Service of the Word, before in prayer making a spiritual communion as our devotion suggests.

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Please note: very strangely, according to the lectionary of the Mozarabic Rite available online, the readings for this Thursday are the same as for Tuesday earlier this week, but for the sapiential lesson.  I am not sure of the reason for this…

If this is indeed correct, all that must be done is to read the sapiential lesson below, and then look back to Tuesday for the rest!

But, if this is a misprint, can the missing readings be determined?  Given the lectio continua from the Epistle and Gospel, I have indicated possible passages otherwise omitted, and used these.  It was harder to guess at what passage to select from the first book of Samuel; yet, given that on Friday we will read of David’s selection in place of Saul, it appears that 1 Samuel 15, the (very long!) account of Saul’s disobedience and consequent rejection, is appropriate.  I have retained the Psallendum and Laudes of Tuesday for want of other reasonable options.

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Thursday in the fourth week of Lent

Feria V in quarta hebdomada Quadragesimæ

Sapiential Lesson: Proverbs 12,5-15

Historical Lection: 1 Samuel 6,1-19 [sic; lege 1 Samuel 15,1-35]

Psallendum: Psalm 119,1-2

Apostle: 2 Peter 1,12-21 [sic; lege 2 Peter 2,9-3,2]

Gospel: John 6,61a.63b-70 [sic; lege John 7,40-42,31]

Laudes: Psalm 104,1a.4

The Lord be ever with you. R/. And with thy spirit.

A Lesson from the Book of Proverbs. R/. Thanks be to God.

Son:

The thoughts of the just are judgments: and the counsels of the wicked are deceitful. The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood: the mouth of the just shall deliver them. Turn the wicked, and they shall not be: but the house of the just shall stand firm. A man shall be known by his learning: but he that is vain and foolish, shall be exposed to contempt. Better is the poor man that provideth for himself, than he that is glorious and wanteth bread. The just regardeth the lives of his beasts: but the bowels of the wicked are cruel. He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that pursueth idleness is very foolish. He that is delighted in passing his time over wine, leaveth a reproach in his strong holds. The desire of the wicked is the fortification of evil men: but the root of the just shall prosper. For the sins of the lips ruin draweth nigh to the evil man: but the just shall escape out of distress. By the fruit of his own mouth shall a man be filled with good things, and according to the works of his hands it shall be repaid him. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that is wise hearkeneth unto counsels.

R/. Amen.

A Lesson from the First Book of Samuel. R/. Thanks be to God.

In those days:

Samuel said to Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint thee king over his People Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I have reckoned up all that Amalec hath done to Israel: I how he opposed them in the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now therefore go, and smite Amalec, and utterly destroy all that he hath: spare him not, nor covet any thing that is his: but slay both man and woman, child and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them as lambs: two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand of the men of Juda. And when Saul was come to the city of Amalec, he laid ambushes in the torrent. And Saul said to the Cinite: Go, depart and get ye down from Amalec: lest I destroy thee with him. For thou hast shewn kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. And the Cinite departed from the midst of Amalec. And Saul smote Amalec from Hevila, until thou comest to Sur, which is over against Egypt. And he took Agag the king of Amalec alive: but all the common people he slew with the edge of the sword. And Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the flocks of sheep and of the herds, and the garments and the rams, and all that was beautiful, and would not destroy them: but every thing that was vile and good for nothing, that they destroyed. And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying: It repenteth me that I have made Saul king: for he hath forsaken me, and hath not executed my commandments. And Samuel was grieved, and he cried unto the Lord all night. And when Samuel rose early, to go to Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, that Saul was come to Carmel, and had erected for himself a triumphant arch, and returning had passed on, and gone down to Galgal. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul was offering a holocaust to the Lord out of the choicest of the spoils which he had brought from Amalec. And when Samuel was come to Saul, Saul said to him: Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have fulfilled the word of the Lord. And Samuel said: What meaneth then this bleating of the flocks, which soundeth in my ears, and the lowing of the herds, which I hear? And Saul said: They have brought them from Amalec: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the herds that they might be sacrificed to the Lord thy God, but the rest we have slain. And Samuel said to Saul: Suffer me, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said to him: Speak. And Samuel said: When thou wast a little one in thy own eyes, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee to be king over Israel. And the Lord sent thee on the way, and said: Go, and kill the sinners of Amalec, and thou shalt fight against them until thou hast utterly destroyed them. Why then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the Lord: but hast turned to the prey, and hast done evil in the eyes of the Lord. And Saul said to Samuel: Yea I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and have walked in the way by which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalec, and Amalec I have slain. But the people took of the spoils sheep and oxen, as the firstfruits of those things that were slain, to offer sacrifice to the Lord their God in Galgal. And Samuel said: Doth the Lord desire holocausts and victims, and not rather that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifices: and to hearken rather than to offer the fat of rams. Because it is like the sin of witchcraft, to rebel: and like the crime of idolatry, to refuse to obey. Forasmuch therefore as thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord hath also rejected thee from being king. And Saul said to Samuel: I have sinned because I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words, fearing the people, and obeying their voice. But now bear, I beseech thee, my sin, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord. And Samuel said to Saul: I will not return with thee, because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. And Samuel turned about to go away: but he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. And Samuel said to him: The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to thy neighbour who is better than thee. But the triumpher in Israel will riot spare, and will not be moved to repentance: for he is not a mail that he should repent. Then he said: I have sinned: yet honour me now before the ancients of my people, and before Israel, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord thy God. So Samuel turned again after Saul: and Saul adored the Lord. And Samuel said: Bring hitherto me Agag the king of Amalec. And Agag was presented to him very fat, and trembling. And Agag said: Doth bitter death separate in this manner? And Samuel said: As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed him in pieces before the Lord in Galgal. And Samuel departed to Ramatha: but Saul went up to his house in Gabaa. And Samuel saw Saul no more till the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, because the Lord repented that he had made him king over Israel.

R/. Amen.

R/. In my trouble * I cried to the Lord: and he heard me.

V/. O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and a deceitful tongue. * I cried to the Lord: and he heard me.

The Second Epistle of the Apostle Peter. R/. Thanks be to God.

Dearly beloved:

The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly from temptation, but to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be tormented. And especially them who walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government, audacious, self willed, they fear not to bring in sects, blaspheming. Whereas angels who are greater in strength and power, bring not against themselves a railing judgment. But these men, as irrational beasts, naturally tending to the snare and to destruction, blaspheming those things which they know not, shall perish in their corruption, receiving the reward of their injustice, counting for a pleasure the delights of a day: stains and spots, sporting themselves to excess, rioting in their feasts with you: having eyes full of adultery and of sin that ceaseth not: alluring unstable souls, having their heart exercised with covetousness, children of malediction: leaving the right way they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam of Bosor, who loved the wages of iniquity, but had a check of his madness, the dumb beast used to the yoke, which speaking with man's voice, forbade the folly of the prophet. These are fountains without water, and clouds tossed with whirlwinds, to whom the mist of darkness is reserved. For, speaking proud words of vanity, they allure by the desires of fleshly riotousness, those who for a little while escape, such as converse in error: promising them liberty, whereas they themselves are the slaves of corruption. For by whom a man is overcome, of the same also he is the slave. For if, flying from the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they be again entangled in them and overcome: their latter state is become unto them worse than the former. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of justice, than after they have known it, to turn back from that holy commandment which was delivered to them. For, that of the true proverb has happened to them: The dog is returned to his vomit: and, The sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire. Behold this second epistle I write to you, my dearly beloved, in which I stir up by way of admonition your sincere mind: that you may be mindful of those words which I told you before from the holy prophets, and of your apostles, of the precepts of the Lord and Saviour.

R/. Amen.

The Lord be ever with you. R/. And with thy spirit.

A Lesson from the Holy Gospel according to John. R/. Glory to Thee, O Lord.

At that time:

Of that multitude therefore, when they had heard these words of his, some said: This is the prophet indeed. Others said: This is the Christ. But some said: Doth the Christ come out of Galilee? Doth not the scripture say: That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and from Bethlehem the town where David was?

But of the people many believed in him, and said: When the Christ cometh, shall he do more miracles, than these which this man doth?

R/. Amen.

Give glory to the Lord, * And call upon his name.

V/. Seek ye the Lord, and be strengthened: seek his face evermore. * And call upon his name.