Universalis
Wednesday 10 December 2025    (other days)
Blessed Henry Heath and John Robinson, Priests and their Companions, Martyrs 
 on Wednesday of the 2nd week of Advent

Using calendar: England - East Anglia. 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.
Based on the liturgy for the Common of Martyrs.
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
Rex glorióse mártyrum,
coróna confiténtium,
qui respuéntes térrea
perdúcis ad cæléstia,
Aurem benígnam prótinus
appóne nostris vócibus;
tropǽa sacra pángimus,
ignósce quod delíquimus.
Tu vincis in martýribus
parcéndo confessóribus;
tu vince nostra crímina
donándo indulgéntiam.
Præsta, Pater piíssime,
Patríque compar Unice,
cum Spíritu Paráclito
regnans per omne sǽculum. Amen.
Hymn
The martyrs living now with Christ
In suffering were tried,
Their anguish overcome by love
When on his cross they died.
Across the centuries they come,
In constancy unmoved,
Their loving hearts make no complaint,
In silence they are proved.
No man has ever measured love,
Or weighed it in his hand,
But God who knows the inmost heart
Gives them the promised land.
Praise Father, Son and Spirit blest,
Who guides us through the night
In ways that reach beyond the stars
To everlasting light.
Francis E. Mostyn (1860-1939)

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.

How to listen

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.
℣. Anima nostra sústinet Dóminum.
℟. Quóniam adiútor et protéctor noster est.
℣. Our soul is waiting for the Lord.
℟. The Lord is our help and our shield.
Lectio prior
De libro Isaíæ prophétæ 25, 6 - 26, 6

Convivium Dei. Canticum redemptorum

25,6Fáciet Dóminus exercítuum
ómnibus pópulis in monte hoc
convívium pínguium,
convívium vini meri,
pínguium medullatórum,
vini deliquáti.
7Et præcipitábit in monte isto
fáciem vínculi colligáti super omnes pópulos
et telam, quam ordítus est super omnes natiónes.
8Præcipitábit mortem in sempitérnum
et abstérget Dóminus Deus lácrimam ab omni fácie
et oppróbrium pópuli sui áuferet de univérsa terra,
quia Dóminus locútus est.
9Et dicétur in die illa: «Ecce Deus noster iste,
exspectávimus eum, ut salváret nos;
iste Dóminus, sustinúimus eum:
exsultábimus et lætábimur in salutári eius.
10Quia requiéscet manus Dómini in monte isto».
Et triturábitur Moab in loco suo,
sícuti terúntur páleæ in sterquilínio;
11et exténdet manus suas in médio eius,
sicut exténdit natans ad natándum;
et humiliábitur supérbia eius
cum allisióne mánuum eius.
12Et firmum muniméntum murórum tuórum evértit,
deiécit, prostrávit in terram usque ad púlverem.
26,1In die illa cantábitur cánticum istud
in terra Iudæ:
«Urbs fortis nobis in salútem;
pósuit muros et antemurále.
2Aperíte portas et ingrediátur gens iusta,
quæ servat fidem.
3Propósitum eius est firmum;
servábis pacem,
quia in te sperávit.
4Speráte in Dóminum in sǽculis ætérnis,
Dóminus est petra ætérna.
5Quia evértit habitántes in excélso,
civitátem sublímem humiliábit;
humiliábit eam usque ad terram,
détrahet eam usque ad púlverem.
6Conculcábit eam pes, pedes páuperis,
gressus egenórum».
First Reading
Isaiah 25:6-26:6

God’s feast. The song of the redeemed

On this mountain,
the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples
a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines,
of food rich and juicy, of fine strained wines.
On this mountain he will remove
the mourning veil covering all peoples,
and the shroud enwrapping all nations,
he will destroy Death for ever.
The Lord will wipe away
the tears from every cheek;
he will take away his people’s shame
everywhere on earth,
for the Lord has said so.
That day, it will be said: See, this is our God
in whom we hoped for salvation;
the Lord is the one in whom we hoped.
We exult and we rejoice
that he has saved us;
for the hand of the Lord
rests on this mountain.
Moab is trodden down where he stands
as straw is trodden in the dung pit;
and there he stretches out his hands
like a swimmer stretching out his hands to swim.
But the Lord curbs his pride
and whatever his hands attempt.
Your arrogant, lofty walls
he destroys, he overthrows,
he flings them in the dust.
That day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
to guard us he has set
wall and rampart about us.
Open the gates! Let the upright nation come in,
she, the faithful one
whose mind is steadfast, who keeps the peace,
because she trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord for ever,
for the Lord is the everlasting Rock;
he has brought low those who lived high up
in the steep citadel;
he brings it down, brings it down to the ground,
flings it down in the dust:
the feet of the lowly, the footsteps of the poor
trample on it.
Responsorium
Ap 21, 3; Is 25, 8
℟. Audívi vocem magnam de throno dicéntem: Ecce tabernáculum Dei cum homínibus, et habitábit cum eis:* Et ipsi pópuli eius erunt et ipse Deus cum eis erit eórum Deus.
℣. Præcipitábit Dóminus Deus mortem in sempitérnum et abstérget lácrimam ab omni fácie.* Et ipsi.
Responsory
Rv 21:3; Is 25:8
℟. I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: Now God’s home is with men! He will live with them,* and they shall be his people and he will be their God.
℣. The Lord God will swallow up death for ever, and will wipe away tears from all faces,* and they shall be his people and he will be their God.
Lectio altera
Ex Enarratiónibus sancti Augustíni epíscopi in Psalmos
(In Ps. 109, 1-3: CCL 40, 1601-1603)

Promissa Dei per Filium nobis præbentur

Tempus constítuit Deus promíssis suis, et tempus eis quæ promísit impléndis.
  Promissiónum tempus erat témpore prophetárum usque ad Ioánnem Baptístam; ab illo autem et deínceps usque ad finem, tempus est impléndi quæ promíssa sunt.
  Fidélis Deus qui se nostrum debitórem fecit, non áliquid a nobis accipiéndo, sed tanta nobis promitténdo. Parum erat promíssio, étiam scripto se tenéri vóluit, véluti fáciens nobíscum chirógraphum promissórum suórum; ut, cum ea quæ promísit sólvere incíperet, in scriptúra promissórum considerarémus órdinem solvendórum. Tempus ítaque prophetíæ, prædíctio erat, ut sæpe iam díximus, promissiónum.
  Promísit salútem ætérnam, et beátam vitam cum ángelis sine fine, et hereditátem immarcescíbilem glóriam sempitérnam, dulcédinem vultus sui, domum sanctificatiónis suæ in cælis, ex resurrectióne a mórtuis nullum deínceps moriéndi metum. Hoc est promíssum eius tamquam finále, quo decúrrit nostra omnis inténtio, quo cum venérimus, nihil ámplius requirámus, nihil ámplius exigámus. Sed ad illud quod erit in fine quo órdine veniátur; neque hoc tácuit promitténdo et prænuntiándo.
  Promísit enim homínibus divinitátem, mortálibus immortalitátem, peccatóribus iustificatiónem, abiéctis glorificatiónem.
  Verúmtamen, fratres, quia incredíbile videbátur homínibus quod promittébat Deus, ex hac mortalitáte, corruptióne, abiectióne, infirmitáte, púlvere et cínere futúros hómines æquáles ángelis Dei, non solum scriptúram cum homínibus fecit, ut créderent, sed étiam fídei suæ pósuit mediatórem, non quémlibet príncipem, aut quémlibet ángelum vel archángelum, sed únicum Fílium: ut, qua via nos perductúrus esset ad illum finem quem promísit, per eum ipsum Fílium suum et osténderet et præbéret.
  Parum enim erat Deo, si Fílium suum fáceret demonstratórem viæ; eum ipsum viam fecit, ut per illum ires regéntem te, ambulántem per se.
  Unicus ítaque Fílius Dei ventúrus ad hómines, assumptúrus hóminem, et per id quod sumpsit futúrus homo, moritúrus, resurrectúrus, ascensúrus in cælum, sessúrus ad déxteram Patris, et impletúrus in géntibus quæ promísit, et post impletiónem promissórum suórum in géntibus étiam hoc impletúrus ut véniat, et quod prærogávit éxigat, discérnat vasa iræ a vasis misericórdiæ, reddat ímpiis quod minátus est, iustis quod pollícitus est.
  Hoc ergo totum prophetándum fuit, prænuntiándum fuit, ventúrum commendándum fuit, ut non súbito véniens horrerétur, sed créditum exspectarétur.
Second Reading
A sermon of St Cyprian

If we desire to receive what the Lord has promised, we must imitate him in all things

I greet you, dearest brothers, and would like also to enjoy your company face to face, if only the conditions in which I find myself did not prevent my coming to see you. What could be more desirable or more joyful for me than to embrace you now, to be encircled by those pure and sinless hands that have kept the faith of the Lord and refused to offer sacrilegious worship? What could be more pleasant, more sublime, than to kiss at this moment those lips of yours, which have given such glorious utterance in praise of the Lord; to be seen also by those eyes of yours, which have despised the world and proved themselves worthy of seeing God?
  But, because there is no opportunity for my sharing this joy, I send this letter as my representative for your ears and eyes to hear and see. Through it I congratulate you, and at the same time urge you to persevere courageously and steadfastly in your witness to heavenly glory, and to continue with spiritual courage, now that you have entered on the way that the Lord has graciously opened up for you, until you receive the crown of victory. You have the Lord as your protector and guide, for he has said: Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.
  How blessed is the prison honoured by your presence, how blessed the prison that sends men of God to heaven! Darkness brighter than the sun itself, more resplendent than this light of the world, for it is here that God’s temples are now established, and your limbs made holy by your praise of God.
  Let nothing else be now in your hearts and minds except God’s commandments and the precepts of heaven: by their means the Holy Spirit has always inspired you to bear your sufferings. Let no one think of death, but only of immortality; let no one think of suffering that is for a time, but only of glory that is for eternity. It is written: Precious in the sight of God is the death of his holy ones. And again: A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit; a broken and humbled heart God does not despise.
  Holy Scripture speaks also of the sufferings which consecrate God’s martyrs and sanctify them by the very testing of pain: Though in the eyes of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality. They will judge nations, and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them for ever.
  When, therefore, you recall that you will be judges and rulers with Christ the Lord, you must rejoice, despising present suffering for joy at what is to come. You know that from the beginning of the world it was so; justice is here oppressed in its conflict with the world, for at the very outset Abel the just is killed, and after him the just, and those sent as prophets and apostles.
  The Lord himself is an example of all this in his own person. He teaches us that only those who have followed him along his way arrive at his kingdom: He who loves his life in this world will lose it. And he who hates his life in this world will save it for eternal life. And again he says: Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; fear rather him who can kill both body and soul and send them to hell.
  Paul too admonishes us, that as we desire to gain the Lord’s promises we must imitate the Lord in all things. We are God’s children, he tells us. If children, we are also heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.
Responsorium
Mic 7, 19; Act 10, 43
℟. Revertétur et miserébitur nostri Deus noster; * Calcábit iniquitátes nostras et proíciet in profúndum maris ómnia peccáta nostra.
℣. Huic omnes prophétæ testimónium pérhibent, remissiónem peccatórum accípere per nomen eius omnes qui credunt in eum.* Calcábit.
Responsory
℟. God looks on, his angels look on, Christ, too, looks on as we struggle and strive in the contest of faith.* What great dignity and glory are ours, what happiness to join battle in the presence of God, and to be crowned by Christ, the Judge!
℣. Let us be armed with a great determination and be prepared to face the combat, pure in heart, sound in faith, and full of courage.* What great dignity and glory are ours, what happiness to join battle in the presence of God, and to be crowned by Christ, the Judge!
Oremus.
Omnípotens, sempitérne Deus,
qui mártyres beátos Ángliæ Orientális formásti ad imáginem Fílii tui,
glorificáti in sua passióne propter mundi salútem,
audi, quǽsumus, preces eórum,
et concéde nobis virtútem ab illórum amóre et fide manántem,
ut ad vitæ ætérnæ plenitúdinem perveniámus.
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.
Almighty ever-living God,
who fashioned your martyrs Blessed Henry, John, and their companions
after the likeness of your Son,
who in his death for the salvation of the world was glorified;
through their intercession
grant us the strength of their faith and love
so that we may come to the fullness of life.
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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