Universalis
Wednesday 19 February 2025    (other days)
Wednesday of week 6 in Ordinary Time 

Using calendar: Africa - Kenya. You can change this.

Office of Readings

If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.
INTRODUCTION
Deus, in adiutórium meum inténde.
  Dómine, ad adiuvándum me festína.
Glória Patri et Fílio*
  et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*
  et in sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen. Allelúia.
INTRODUCTION
O God, come to our aid.
  O Lord, make haste to help 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. Alleluia.

Hymnus
O sator rerum, reparátor ævi,
Christe, rex regum, metuénde censor,
tu preces nostras paritérque laudes
súscipe clemens.
Noctis en cursu tibi vota laudum
pángimus; præsta tibi sint ut apta,
nosque concéntu réfove perénni,
lúminis auctor.
Da dies nobis probitáte faustos
mortis ignáram tribuéndo vitam,
semper ut nostros tua sit per actus
glória perpes.
Ure cor nostrum, pius ure lumbos
igne divíno vigilésque nos fac,
semper ardéntes mánibus lucérnas
ut teneámus.
Æqua laus summum célebret Paréntem
teque, Salvátor, pie rex, per ævum;
Spíritus Sancti résonet per omnem
glória mundum. Amen.
Hymn
O God, creation’s secret force,
yourself unmoved, all motion’s source,
who from the morn till evening ray
through all its changes guide the day:
Grant us, when this short life is past,
the glorious evening that shall last;
that, by a holy death attained,
eternal glory may be gained.
To God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit, Three in One,
may every tongue and nation raise
an endless song of thankful praise!
St Ambrose of Milan

Ps 38:2-7
Ægrotantis deprecatio

Vanitati creatura subiecta est ... propter eum qui subiecit eam in spe” (Rom 8, 20).

Ipsi intra nos gémimus, exspectántes redemptiónem córporis nostri.
2Dixi: «Custódiam vias meas,*
  ut non delínquam in lingua mea;
ponam ori meo custódiam,*
  donec consístit peccátor advérsum me».
3Tacens obmútui et sílui absque ullo bono,*
  et dolor meus renovátus est.
4Concáluit cor meum intra me,*
  et in meditatióne mea exársit ignis.
5Locútus sum in lingua mea:*
  «Notum fac mihi, Dómine, finem meum;
et númerum diérum meórum quis est,*
  ut sciam quam brevis sit vita mea».
6Ecce paucórum palmórum fecísti dies meos,*
  et spátium vitæ meæ tamquam níhilum ante te.
Etenim univérsa vánitas omnis homo constitútus est.*
  7Etenim ut imágo pertránsit homo.
Etenim vánitas est et concitátur;*
  thesaurízat et ignórat quis congregábit ea.
Glória Patri et Fílio*
  et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*
  et in sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen.
Ipsi intra nos gémimus, exspectántes redemptiónem córporis nostri.

Psalm 38 (39)
A prayer in sickness

We groan inwardly and await the redemption of our bodies.
I said, “I will watch my ways,
  I will try not to sin in my speech.
I will set a guard on my mouth,
  for as long as my enemies are standing against me.”
I stayed quiet and dumb, spoke neither evil nor good,
  but my pain was renewed.
My heart grew hot within me,
  and fire blazed in my thoughts.
Then I spoke out loud:
  “Lord, make me know my end.
Let me know the number of my days,
  so that I know how short my life is to be.”
All the length of my days is a handsbreadth or two,
  the expanse of my life is as nothing before you.
For in your sight all men are nothingness:
  man passes away, like a shadow.
Nothingness, although he is busy:
  he builds up treasure, but who will collect it?
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.
We groan inwardly and await the redemption of our bodies.

Ps 38:8-14

Exáudi oratiónem meam, Dómine; pércipe lácrimas meas.
8Et nunc quæ est exspectátio mea, Dómine?*
  Spes mea apud te est.
9Ab ómnibus iniquitátibus meis érue me,*
  oppróbrium insipiénti ne ponas me.
10Obmútui et non apériam os meum,*
  quóniam tu fecísti.
11Amove a me plagas tuas:*
  ab ictu manus tuæ ego deféci.
12In increpatiónibus, propter iniquitátem, corripuísti hóminem,†
  et tabéscere fecísti sicut tínea desiderabília eius.*
  Etenim vánitas omnis homo.
13Exáudi oratiónem meam, Dómine,*
  et clamórem meum áuribus pércipe.
Ad lácrimas meas ne obsurdéscas,†
  quóniam ádvena ego sum apud te,*
  peregrínus sicut omnes patres mei.
14Avértere a me, ut refrígerer,*
  priúsquam ábeam et non sim ámplius.
Glória Patri et Fílio*
  et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*
  et in sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen.
Exáudi oratiónem meam, Dómine; pércipe lácrimas meas.

Psalm 38 (39)

Lord, hear my prayer: do not be deaf to my tears.
What, now, can I look forward to, Lord?
  My hope is in you.
Rescue me from all my sins,
  do not make me a thing for fools to laugh at.
I have sworn to be dumb, I will not open my mouth:
  for it is at your hands that I am suffering.
Aim your blows away from me,
  for I am crushed by the weight of your hand.
You rebuke and chastise us for our sins.
Like the moth you consume all we desire
  – for all men are nothingness.
Listen, Lord, to my prayer:
  turn your ear to my cries.
Do not be deaf to my weeping,
  for I come as a stranger before you,
  a wanderer like my fathers before me.
Turn away from me, give me respite,
  before I leave this world,
  before I am no more.
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.
Lord, hear my prayer: do not be deaf to my tears.

Ps 51:3-11
Contra calumniatorem

Qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur” (1 Cor 1, 31).

Ego autem sperávi in misericórdia Dei in ætérnum.
3Quid gloriáris in malítia,*
  qui potens es iniquitáte?
4Tota die insídias cogitásti;*
  lingua tua sicut novácula acúta, qui facis dolum.
5Dilexísti malítiam super benignitátem,†
  mendácium magis quam loqui æquitátem.*
  6Dilexísti ómnia verba perditiónis, lingua dolósa.
7Proptérea Deus déstruet te in finem;†
  evéllet te et emigrábit te de tabernáculo*
  et radícem tuam de terra vivéntium.
8Vidébunt iusti et timébunt*
  et super eum ridébunt:
«9Ecce homo, qui non pósuit Deum refúgium suum,†
  sed sperávit in multitúdine divitiárum suárum*
  et præváluit in insídiis suis».
10Ego autem sicut virens olíva in domo Dei.†
  Sperávi in misericórdia Dei*
  in ætérnum et in sǽculum sǽculi.
11Confitébor tibi in sǽculum, quia fecísti;†
  et exspectábo nomen tuum, quóniam bonum est,*
  in conspéctu sanctórum tuórum.
Glória Patri et Fílio*
  et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*
  et in sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen.
Ego autem sperávi in misericórdia Dei in ætérnum.

Psalm 51 (52)
Against calumny

I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.
Why do you take pride in your malice,
  you expert in evil-doing?
All day long you plan your traps,
  your tongue is sharp as a razor –
  you master of deceit!
You have chosen malice over kindness;
  you speak lies rather than the truth;
  your tongue is in love with every deceit.
For all this, in the end God will destroy you.
  He will tear you out and expel you from your dwelling,
  uproot you from the land of the living.
The upright will see and be struck with awe:
  they will deride the evil-doer.
“Here is the man who did not make God his refuge,
  but put his hope in the abundance of his riches
  and in the power of his stratagems.”
But I flourish like an olive in the palace of God.
  I hope in the kindness of God,
  for ever, and through all ages.
I shall praise you for all time for what you have done.
  I shall put my hope in your name and in its goodness
  in the sight of your chosen ones.
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.
I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.

℣. Sustínuit ánima mea in verbo eius.
℟. Sperávit ánima mea in Dómino.
℣. My soul trusts in the word of the Lord.
℟. My soul is longing for him.

Lectio prior
De libro Proverbiórum 9, 1-18

Sapientia et stultitia

1Sapiéntia ædificávit sibi domum,
excídit colúmnas septem;
2immolávit víctimas suas, míscuit vinum
et propósuit mensam suam.
3Misit ancíllas suas, ut vocárent
ad arcem et ad excélsa civitátis:
4«Si quis est párvulus, véniat ad me».
Et vecórdi locúta est:
5«Veníte, comédite panem meum
et bíbite vinum, quod míscui vobis;
6relínquite infántiam et vívite
et ambuláte per vias prudéntiæ».
7Qui érudit derisórem, ipse iniúriam sibi facit;
et, qui árguit ímpium, sibi máculam génerat.
8Noli argúere derisórem, ne óderit te;
árgue sapiéntem, et díliget te.
9Da sapiénti, et sapiéntior fiet;
doce iustum, et addet doctrínam.
10Princípium sapiéntiæ timor Dómini,
et sciéntia Sancti est prudéntia.
11Per me enim multiplicabúntur dies tui,
et addéntur tibi anni vitæ.
12Si sápiens fúeris, tibimetípsi eris;
si autem illúsor, solus portábis malum.
13Múlier stulta est clamósa,
fátua et nihil sciens;
14sedit in fóribus domus suæ
super sellam in excélsis urbis,
15ut vocáret transeúntes per viam
et pergéntes itínere suo:
16«Qui est párvulus, declínet ad me».
Et vecórdi locúta est:
17«Aquæ furtívæ dulcióres sunt
et panis in abscóndito suávior».
18Et ignorávit quod ibi sint umbræ,
et in profúndis inférni convívæ eius.
First ReadingProverbs 9:1-18

Wisdom and folly

Wisdom has built herself a house,
  she has erected her seven pillars,
she has slaughtered her beasts, prepared her wine,
  she has laid her table.
She has despatched her maidservants
  and proclaimed from the city’s heights:
‘Who is ignorant? Let him step this way.’
  To the fool she says,
‘Come and eat my bread,
  drink the wine I have prepared!
Leave your folly and you will live,
  walk in the ways of perception.’
Correct a mocker and you make an enemy;
  rebuke a wicked man, you get insult in return.
Do not rebuke the mocker, he will only hate you,
  rebuke a wise man and he will love you for it.
Be open with the wise, he grows wiser still,
  teach a virtuous man, he will learn yet more.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
  the knowledge of the Holy One – perception indeed!
For days are multiplied by me
  and years of life increased.
Are you wise? It is to your advantage.
  A mocker? The burden is yours alone.
Dame Folly acts on impulse,
  is childish and knows nothing.
She sits at the door of her house,
  on a throne commanding the city,
inviting the passers-by
  as they pass on their lawful occasions,
‘Who is ignorant? Let him step this way.’
  To the fool she says,
‘Stolen waters are sweet,
  and bread tastes better when eaten in secret.’
The fellow does not realise that here the Shades are gathered,
  that her guests are heading for the valleys of Sheol.
Responsorium
Cf. Lc 14, 16-17; Prov 9, 5
℟. Homo quidam fecit cenam magnam et misit servum suum hora cenæ dícere invitátis ut venírent,* Quia paráta sunt ómnia.
℣. Veníte, comédite panem meum et bíbite vinum, quod míscui vobis.* Quia.
Responsory
Lk 14:16-17; Pr 9:5
℟. A man once gave a great banquet, and he sent his servants to tell his guests:* Come, for all is now ready.
℣. Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed.* Come, for all is now ready.

Lectio altera
Ex Commentário Procópii Gazénsis epíscopi in Provérbia
(Cap. 9: PG 87-1, 1299-1303)

Sapientia Dei nobis miscuit vinum et paravit mensam

Sapiéntia ædificávit sibi domum. Poténtia Dei ac Patris per se subsístens, própriam sibi præparávit domum univérsum orbem, in quo per virtútem hábitat, et illum, qui ad Dei imáginem et similitúdinem creátus est, visíbili et invisíbili natúra constántem.
  Et excídit colúmnas septem. Hómini, post creatiónem secúndum Christum formáto, ut in hunc credat, et huius mandáta obsérvet, dedit septem Spíritus Sancti charísmata; quibus, virtúte a sciéntia excitáta et vicíssim sciéntia per virtútem manifestáta, spiritális homo consummátur, fídei perfectióne firmátus in supernaturálium participatióne.
  Et splendórem spíritus naturálem exáltant et virtus, dispónens ad quæréndum cum fervóre et desiderándum, secúndum rerum ratiónes, omníno divínas voluntátes, secúndum quas ómnia facta sunt, et consílium, discérnens ab iis quæ tales non sunt, sanctíssimas Dei voluntátes, tamquam increátas et immortáles, et cogitári et ore proférri et fíeri recipiéntes; et prudéntia, consentíre et acquiéscere fáciens ad istas et non ad álteras.
  Míscuit in cratéra vinum suum et parávit mensam suam. Et unívit in tali hómine, in quo, tamquam in cratéra miscétur spiritális et corporális natúra, rerum sciéntiæ, sui ipsíus ut ómnium auctóris notítiam; quæ intellegéntiam facit, tamquam vino, inebriári his quæ sunt circa Deum; et ita per seípsum, qui est panis cæléstis, ánimas in virtúte nútriens et in doctrína inébrians et deléctans, hæc ómnia ut épulas dispónit ad spiritále convívium, hunc participári desiderántium.
  Misit servos suos vocans cum magna proclamatióne ad póculum, dicens. Misit Apóstolos divínæ illíus voluntáti deserviéntes cum evangélica proclamatióne, quæ tamquam a Spíritu véniens est super scriptam et naturálem legem, vocans ad seípsum; in quo ut in cratéra, per incarnatiónis mystérium, facta est secúndum hypóstasim sine confusióne mirábilis natúræ divínæ et humánæ míxtio; et tália per eos clamat: Qui est insípiens, véniat ad me. Qui est insípiens, quod in corde cógitat Deum non esse, abíciens impietátem, per fidem ad me declínet, et sciat me esse ómnium factórem et Dóminum.
  Et iis qui índigent sapiéntia, dicit: Veníte, manducáte mecum panem et bíbite vinum quod míscui vobis. Et iis, qui fídei opéribus índigent, et perfectióris in illis doctrínæ sint: «Veníte, manducáte corpus meum, quod vos secúndum virtútem ad instar panis nutrit; et bíbite sánguinem meum, quod secúndum doctrínam ad instar vini vos deléctat et ad deificatiónem condúcit; sánguinem enim modo mirábili deitáti míscui ad salútem vestram».
Second Reading
The commentary on Proverbs by Procopius of Gaza

The Wisdom of God has mixed wine for us and set up a feast

Wisdom has built herself a house. God the Father’s Power, himself a person, has fashioned as his dwelling-place the whole world, in which he lives by his activity; and has fashioned man also, who was created to resemble God’s own image and likeness and has a nature which is partly seen and partly hidden from our eyes.
  And she has set up seven pillars. To man, who was made in the image of Christ when the rest of creation was completed, Wisdom gave the seven gifts of the Spirit to enable him to believe in Christ and to keep his commandments. By means of these gifts, strength is stimulated by knowledge and knowledge is reflected in strength until the spiritual man is brought to completion, solidly founded on firm faith and on the supernatural graces in which he shares.
  His nature is made more glorious by strength, by good counsel, and by prudence. Strength brings a desire to seek out all manifestations of the divine will through which all things were made. Good counsel distinguishes what is God’s will from what is not and leads him to ponder, to proclaim and to fulfil the will of God. Prudence, finally, leads him to turn towards the will of God and not to other things.
  She has mingled her wine in a bowl and spread her table. Because the Word of God has mingled in man, as in a bowl, a spiritual and a physical nature and has given him a knowledge both of creation and of himself as the Creator, it is natural for the things of God to have on man’s mind the inebriating effect of wine. Christ himself, the bread from heaven, is his nourishment enabling him to grow in virtue, and it is Christ who quenches his thirst and gladdens him with his teaching. For all who desire to share in it, he has prepared this rich banquet, this spiritual feast.
  She has sent forth her servants with the sublime message that all are to come to the bowl and drink. Christ has sent forth his apostles, the servants of his divine will, to proclaim the message of the Gospel which, because it comes from the Spirit, transcends both the natural and the written law. By this he calls us to himself: in him, as in a bowl, there was brought about by the mystery of the incarnation a marvellous mingling of the divine and human natures, although each still remains distinct. And through the apostles he cries out: Is anyone foolish? Let him turn to me. If anyone is so foolish as to think in his heart that there is no God, let him renounce his disbelief and turn to me by faith. Let him know that I am the maker of all things and their Lord.
  And to those who lack wisdom he says: Come, eat my bread and drink the wine that I have prepared for you. To those who still lack the works of faith and the higher knowledge which inspires them he says ‘Come, eat my body, the bread that is the nourishment of virtue, and drink my blood, the wine that cheers you with the joy of true knowledge and makes you divine. For I have miraculously mingled my divinity with my blood for your salvation.’
Responsorium
Prov 9, 1. 2 b; Io 6, 56
℟. Sapiéntia ædificávit sibi domum, excídit colúmnas septem,* Míscuit vinum et propósuit mensam suam.
℣. Qui mandúcat meam carnem et bibit meum sánguinem, in me manet et ego in illo, dicit Dóminus.* Míscuit.
Responsory
℟. Wisdom has built herself a house, she has erected her seven pillars;* Wisdom has prepared her wine and laid her table.
℣. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him, says the Lord.* Wisdom has prepared her wine and laid her table.

Oremus.
  Deus, qui te in rectis et sincéris manére pectóribus ásseris, da nobis tua grátia tales exsístere, in quibus habitáre dignéris.
Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum,
qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus,
per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen.
Let us pray.
To those who love you, Lord,
  you promise to come with your Son
  and make your home within them.
Come, then, with your purifying grace
  and make our hearts a place where you can dwell.
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.

Benedicámus Dómino.
– Deo grátias.
Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.

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