℣. Grant, Lord, a blessing.
Benediction. May God the Father Omnipotent, be to us merciful and clement.
℟. Amen.
Reading 4
From a Sermon by St. Bernard the Abbot
Sermo 61 in Cantica Canticorum, nn. 3-5
For us who are so frail and weak, where is to be found a sure and certain place of abiding safety, or of everlasting rest? Where except in the Wounds of the Saviour? There alone I may dwell safely. There alone I may find a safety as great as his mighty power to save. The world may rage around me; the body may weigh me down; the devil may lay snares for me; but if I hide me there I cannot fall, for I am founded on the firm Rock. If I have committed a great sin; if my conscience is sore troubled; I will not despair, for I have always in remembrance the Wounds of the Lord. For in all truth: He was wounded for our transgressions. And there is no sin so deadly that it cannot be remítted through Christ’s death. If then I keep in remembrance a remedy so powerful and efficacious, I cannot in this present life be terrified by any evil, no matter how malignant.
℣. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
℟. Thanks be to God.
℟. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him,
* Yea, unto all such as call upon him faithfully.
℣. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, long-suffering and of great goodness.
℟. Yea, unto all such as call upon him faithfully.
℣. Grant, Lord, a blessing.
Benediction. May Christ to all His people give, for ever in His sight to live.
℟. Amen.
Reading 5
But as for me, since mercies thus abound, I take unto myself whatever is lacking in me; yea, I take it unto myself with confidence; I take it unto myself from the compassion of the Lord, with whom every kind of mercy aboundeth. For openings are not wanting, through which these mercies may flow forth. They have pierced his hands and his feet; ye, and his side too they have pierced with a spear. It is though these clefts that I am permitted to suck honey from the Rock, and oil out of the flinty Rock, and to taste and see how gracious the Lord is. His thoughts are thoughts of peace, and I knew it not. For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? But the nail which did pierce hath become unto me a key which doth unlock, so that the will of the Lord is set open unto me. How could I, with such an opening, do other than to see his will? For the nails cry aloud, and the Wounds speak, saying the truth: To wit, that God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.
℣. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
℟. Thanks be to God.
℟. I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent;
* Yea, thou hast revealed them unto babes.
℣. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.
℟. Yea, thou hast revealed them unto babes.
℣. Grant, Lord, a blessing.
Benediction. May the Spirit’s fire Divine in our hearts enkindled shine.
℟. Amen.
Reading 6
The iron entered into his soul, and came nigh unto his Heart, that he might truly know compassion for mine infirmities. The secrets of his Heart lie open, through the Wounds of his body. Thus is that great mystery of love laid open, there lie open the bowels of the mercy of our God, whereby the Day-Spring from on high hath visited us. But why should not the bowels of mercy lie open through the wounds? For in what hath it appeared more clearly than in thy wounds, that thou, O Lord, art sweet and gentle, and of great mercy? For greater pity hath no man, than that a man lay down his life for those who were doomed and condemned to death. From this pity of the Lord is all my merit. I am not entirely destitute of merit, so long as he is not wanting in compassion. And if the mercies of the Lord are from eternity unto eternity, I also will sing the mercies of the Lord forever.
℣. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
℟. Thanks be to God.
℟. All nations whom thou hast made shall come,
* And they shall worship thee, O Lord.
℣. Yea, they shall glorify thy Name, for thou art great, and doest wondrous things.
℟. And they shall worship thee, O Lord.
℣. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
℟. And they shall worship thee, O Lord.
℣. Grant, Lord, a blessing.
Benediction. May the Gospel’s holy lection Be our safety and protection.
℟. Amen.
Reading 7
From the Holy Gospel according to John
John 19:31-37
At that time: The Jews, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath Day, for that Sabbath Day was an high day, besought Pilate that their legs might broken, and that they might be taken away. And so on.
A Homily by St. Augustine the Bishop
Tractatus 120 in Joannem, nn. 2-3
But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: but one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. Note that the Evangelist maketh use of a word of special significance. He saith not: Penetrated his side: nor yet: Wounded: nor any other thing; but rather: Opened: that thereby in a sense the door of life might be thrown open, from whence the Sacraments of the Church have flowed forth, without which there is no entrance into the life which is the only true life. For that blood was shed for the remission of sins; and that water hath brought into being the life-giving flagon, which same is both the laver of Baptism and the cup that giveth refreshment to them that thirst. All this was announced long before, to wit, when Noah was commanded to make a door in the side of the ark, through which might enter all living creatures which were not destined to perish in the flood; and this same is a figure of the Church.
℣. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
℟. Thanks be to God.
℟. If I be lifted up,
* I will draw all men unto me.
℣. This he said, signifying what death he should die.
℟. I will draw all men unto me.
℣. Grant, Lord, a blessing.
Benediction. God’s most mighty strength alway be His people’s staff and stay.
℟. Amen.
Reading 8
Another figure is also to be found in the first woman. For she was made out of the side of the first man whilst he slept a deep sleep; and she was called: Life: or as it may be interpreted: The Mother of all living. Thus was indicated the great good which was later to come to pass, even before the great evil of transgression had come into being. Here, in the Gospel, the second Adam is shewn as bowing his head, and sleeping his deep sleep upon the Cross, that a bride might be formed for him out of that which came forth from his side as he slept. What a death, whereby the dead are raised anew to life! How clean and cleansing is this blood! What is more healthgiving than this wound! And he that saw it, saith he, bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. He said not: That ye might know; but: That ye might believe. For he knoweth, who hath seen, that he, who hath not seen, might believe his record. And believing belongeth more to the nature of faith than doth seeing.
℣. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
℟. Thanks be to God.
℟. Be ye therefore followers of God;
* And walk ye therefore in love.
℣. For Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us.
℟. And walk ye therefore in love.
℣. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
℟. And walk ye therefore in love.
℣. Grant, Lord, a blessing.
Benediction. May He that is the Angels’ King to that high realm His people bring.
℟. Amen.
Reading 9
Commemoration of: St. Juliana Falconeri, Virgin
When Juliana, of the noble family of the Falconieri, was still in her cradle, her baby lips were heard to utter, without any prompting, the sweet names of Jesus and Mary. Before she was fifteen years old, she renounced a rich inheritance and an earthly wedding and took a solemn vow of virginity in the presence of St. Philip Benizi. She was the first to receive from him the habit of the religious called the Mantellates. When many noble ladies followed her example, and even her mother gave herself over to her daughter to be instructed in the religious life, Juliana founded the Order of the Mantellate Nuns. She excelled in a wonderful humility, a constant zeal for prayer and an amazing abstinence. When her health failed so that she could take and retain no food at all, and was therefore kept from the Eucharistic table, she asked the Priest to place the divine Bread on her breast, since she could not receive it with her mouth. When he did so, the holy Bread disappeared at once, and Juliana, smiling, departed this life.
℣. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
℟. Thanks be to God.
Te Deum
