Tuesday 12 May 2026 (other days)
Saints Nereus and Achilleus, Martyrs
or Tuesday of the 6th week of Eastertide
or Saint Pancras, Martyr
or Tuesday of the 6th week of Eastertide
or Saint Pancras, Martyr
Using calendar: Scotland - St Andrews & Edinburgh. You can change this.
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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 |
|---|
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.
| 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) |
Psalm 36 (37)
The fate of the evil and the righteous
Commit your life to the Lord, and he will act on your behalf. Alleluia.
Do not envy the wicked;
do not be jealous of those that do evil.
They will dry up as quickly as hay;
they will wither like the grass.
Put your trust in the Lord and do good,
and your land and habitation will be secure.
Take your delight in the Lord,
and he will give you what your heart desires.
Entrust your journey to the Lord, and hope in him:
and he will act.
He will make your uprightness shine like the light,
your judgement like the sun at noon.
Take your rest in the Lord, and hope in him:
do not envy the one who thrives in his own way,
the man who weaves plots.
Abstain from wrath, abandon anger:
do not envy him who turns to evil,
for those who do evil will be destroyed,
but those on the side of the Lord
will inherit the earth.
A moment yet – and the sinner will be gone:
you will look where he was and find nothing.
But the meek will inherit the land
and delight in abundant 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.
Commit your life to the Lord, and he will act on your behalf. Alleluia.
Psalm 36 (37)
Turn away from evil and do good: the Lord will support the just. Alleluia.
The wicked will plot against the righteous
and gnash his teeth at him;
but the Lord will deride him in his turn,
for the Lord has seen what awaits him.
The wicked have pulled out their swords,
the wicked have drawn their bows,
to throw down the poor and the destitute,
to murder whoever follows the straight path.
But their swords will enter their own hearts,
and their bows will splinter.
For the righteous, the little they have is better
than the abundant wealth of the wicked.
The limbs of the wicked will be broken
while the Lord gives his strength to the just.
The Lord knows when the day of the perfect will come;
and their inheritance will be eternal.
They will not be troubled in evil times,
and in times of famine they will have more than enough.
For the wicked will perish:
the enemies of the Lord will be like the flowers of the fields,
and like smoke they will vanish away.
The wicked man borrows and does not return;
but the righteous takes pity and gives.
The blessed ones of the Lord will inherit the earth,
but those whom he curses will be cut off.
It is the Lord who strengthens the steps of man
and chooses his path.
Even if he trips he will not fall flat,
for the Lord is holding his hand.
I was young and I have grown old,
but I have not seen the righteous man abandoned
nor his children seeking for bread.
All day long he takes pity and lends,
and his seed will be blessed.
Shun evil and do good,
and you will live for ever.
For the Lord loves right judgement,
and will not abandon his chosen ones.
The unjust will be destroyed for ever,
and the seed of the wicked will be cut off,
but the righteous will inherit the earth
and live there from age to age.
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.
Turn away from evil and do good: the Lord will support the just. Alleluia.
Psalm 36 (37)
Wait for the Lord, keep to his way. Alleluia.
The mouth of the righteous will speak wisdom,
and his tongue will utter right judgement.
The law of his God is in his heart
and his steps will not stumble.
The wicked man watches the just
and seeks to kill him;
but the Lord will rescue the just man from his hands
and not condemn the just in the time of judgement.
Put your hope in the Lord and follow his paths,
and he will raise you up and make the land your inheritance,
let you watch as the wicked are cut off.
I have seen the sinner triumph,
flourish like a green cedar,
but he is gone, he is there no longer:
I have looked for him but have not found him.
Preserve innocence, follow uprightness:
for the future belongs to the man of peace.
The unrighteous will be destroyed altogether,
their posterity will be cut off.
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord,
and their protection in time of trouble.
The Lord will come to their help and free them,
rescue them from the wicked and save them,
because they have put their trust in him.
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.
Wait for the Lord, keep to his way. Alleluia.
℣. Our soul is waiting for the Lord, alleluia.
℟. The Lord is our help and our shield, alleluia.
| First Reading | 1 John 2:12-17 |
|---|
Observance of the will of God
I am writing to you, my own children,
whose sins have already been forgiven through his name;
I am writing to you, fathers,
who have come to know the one
who has existed since the beginning;
I am writing to you, young men,
who have already overcome the Evil One;
I have written to you, children,
because you already know the Father;
I have written to you, fathers,
because you have come to know the one
who has existed since the beginning;
I have written to you, young men,
because you are strong and God’s word has made its home in you,
and you have overcome the Evil One.
You must not love this passing world
or anything that is in the world.
The love of the Father cannot be
in any man who loves the world,
because nothing the world has to offer
– the sensual body,
the lustful eye,
pride in possessions –
could ever come from the Father
but only from the world;
and the world, with all it craves for,
is coming to an end;
but anyone who does the will of God
remains for ever.
| Responsory | 1 Jn 2:17,15 |
|---|
℟. The world, with all it craves for, is coming to an end,* but anyone who does the will of God remains for ever, alleluia.
℣. The love of the Father cannot dwell in any man who loves the world,* but anyone who does the will of God remains for ever, alleluia.
| Second Reading |
|---|
| A commentary on Psalm 61 by St Augustine |
The sufferings of Christ are not in Christ alone
Jesus Christ is one man, head and body; the saviour of the body and the members of the body are two in one flesh and in one voice and in one suffering; and, when this sinful world shall have passed away, in one rest. So the sufferings of Christ are not in Christ alone; indeed there are no sufferings of Christ except in Christ.
If you understand Christ to be the head and the body, there are no sufferings of Christ save in Christ; but if by Christ you understand the head alone, the sufferings of Christ are not in Christ alone. For if the sufferings of Christ were in Christ alone, that is, in the head alone, why should one of his members, the apostle Paul, speak of making up in his flesh what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ?
So if you are among the members of Christ, whoever you are, whether you hear these words or not (but you do hear, if you are among the members of Christ), whatever you suffer from those who are not among the members of Christ was lacking in the sufferings of Christ.
It is being added, because it was lacking; you are filling up the measure, not causing it to overflow. You are suffering as much as was to be contributed from your sufferings to the whole suffering of Christ, who suffered as our head, and suffers in his members, that is, in ourselves.
To this common republic of ours, so to say, each of us according to his measure pays what he owes, and we contribute as it were a quota of suffering according to the powers that we possess. The storehouse of all men’s sufferings will not have been filled until the world has come to an end.
Do not think, brothers, that all just men who have suffered persecution from the wicked, even those who were sent before the Lord to foretell his coming, do not belong to the members of Christ. God forbid that he who belongs to the city that has Christ for its king should not belong to the members of Christ.
Therefore that whole city speaks, from the blood of Abel the just to the blood of Zechariah. And after that, one city speaks, from the blood of John, through the blood of the apostles and martyrs, and through the blood of the faithful people of Christ.
| Responsory |
|---|
℟. God will wipe away every tear from the eyes of his saints; there shall be an end to mourning, weeping and pain,* for the old order has passed away, alleluia.
℣. They shall never again feel hunger or thirst, the sun shall not beat on them nor any scorching heat,* for the old order has passed away, alleluia.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, we have seen that the holy martyrs Nereus and Achilleus
proved themselves strong in their hour of trial.
Let us feel their loving intercession with you on our behalf.
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.
Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.
The psalms and canticles here are our own translation from the Latin. The Grail translation of the psalms, which is used liturgically in most of the English-speaking world, cannot be displayed on the Web for copyright reasons. The Universalis apps and programs do contain the Grail translation of the psalms.
You can also view this page in Latin and English.
