PRAYER OF THE DAY

Offering in Reparation to the Precious Blood

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son,

my Savior and my God,

for the spread and exaltation of my dear Mother,

Thy holy Church,

for the preservation and welfare of her visible Head,

the sovereign Roman Pontiff,

for the cardinals, bishops, and pastors of souls,

and for all the ministers of the sanctuary.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus, who hath saved us with his Blood!

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son,

my Savior and my God,

for peace and concord among Catholic kings and princes,

for the humbling of the enemies of our holy faith,

and for the welfare of all Thy Christian people.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus, who hath saved us with his Blood!

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son,

my Savior and my God,

for the conversion of unbelievers,

the rooting-up of all heresies,

and the conversion of sinners.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus, who hath saved us with his Blood!

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son,

my Savior and my God,

for all my relations, friends and enemies,

for those in need, in sickness,

and in tribulation,

and for all those for whom Thou knowest that I am bound to pray,

and willest that I should pray for.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus, who hath saved us with his Blood!

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son,

my Savior and my God,

for all those who are to pass this day to the other life,

that Thou wouldst deliver them from the pains of hell,

and admit them with all speed to the possession of Thy glory.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus, who hath saved us with his Blood!

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son,

my Savior and my God,

for all men who are lovers of this great treasure

and who are united with me in adoring and glorifying It and who labor to spread this devotion.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus, who hath saved us with his Blood!

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son,

my Savior and my God,

for all my needs, both temporal and spiritual,

as in intercession for the holy souls in purgatory,

and in an especial manner for those who were most devoted to this price of our redemption,

and to the sorrows and sufferings of our dear Mother,

Mary most holy.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus, who hath saved us with his Blood!

Glory to the Blood of Jesus both now and for evermore and through the everlasting ages.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading

IS 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8

When Hezekiah was mortally ill,

the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him:

“Thus says the LORD: Put your house in order,

for you are about to die; you shall not recover.”

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD:

“O LORD, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly

I conducted myself in your presence,

doing what was pleasing to you!”

And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: “Go, tell Hezekiah:

Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David:

I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.

I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the LORD’s temple;

I will add fifteen years to your life.

I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria;

I will be a shield to this city.”

Isaiah then ordered a poultice of figs to be taken

and applied to the boil, that he might recover.

Then Hezekiah asked,

“What is the sign that I shall go up to the temple of the LORD?”

Isaiah answered:

“This will be the sign for you from the LORD

that he will do what he has promised:

See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun

on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz

go back the ten steps it has advanced.”

So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced.

Responsorial Psalm

IS 38:10, 11, 12ABCD, 16

R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.

Once I said,

“In the noontime of life I must depart!

To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned

for the rest of my years.”

R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.

I said, “I shall see the LORD no more

in the land of the living.

No longer shall I behold my fellow men

among those who dwell in the world.”

R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.

My dwelling, like a shepherd’s tent,

is struck down and borne away from me;

You have folded up my life, like a weaver

who severs the last thread.

R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.

Those live whom the LORD protects;

yours is the life of my spirit.

You have given me health and life.

R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.

Gospel

MT 12:1-8

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath.

His disciples were hungry

and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.

When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him,

“See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.”

He said to the them,

“Have you not read what David did

when he and his companions were hungry,

how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering,

which neither he nor his companions

but only the priests could lawfully eat?

Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath

the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath

and are innocent?

I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.

If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,

you would not have condemned these innocent men.

For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

SAINT OF THE DAY

July 18

St. Frederick (d. 838)

St. Frederick, Bishop of Utrecht, Martyr Frederick was trained in piety and sacred learning among the clergy of the Church of Utrecht. Being ordained priest, he was charged by Bishop Ricfried with the care of instructing converts, and about 825 he was chosen to succeed him as bishop of Utrecht. The new bishop at once began to establish order everywhere, and sent St. Odulf and other zealous and virtuous labourers into the northern parts to dispel the paganism which still subsisted there.

According to tradition St. Frederick became involved in the difficulties between the sons of the emperor, Louis the Debonair, and their father and step-mother. During these disturbances the party of the young princes charged the Empress Judith with numerous immoralities. Whatever may have been the truth of these stories, St. Frederick is said to have admonished her of them, with charity but with the effect of drawing upon himself the fury and resentment of the empress. He also got himself disliked elsewhere. The inhabitants of Walcheren were barbarous and most averse from the Gospel. On which account, St. Frederick, when he sent priests in the northern part of his diocese, took this most dangerous and difficult part chiefly to himself; and nothing gave him more trouble than marriages contracted within the forbidden decrees and the separation of the parties 

(that the union of Louis and Judith was itself incestuous was an afterthought of hagiographers).

The story goes on that, on July 18, 838, after St. Frederick had celebrated Mass and was about to make his thanksgiving, he was stabbed by two assassins. He died in a few minutes, reciting that verse of Psalm 144, "I will praise the Lord in the land of the living". The eleventh century author of his life says that these assassins were employed by the Empress Judith, who could not pardon the liberty he had taken to reprove her sins, and was incited thereto by her husband. William of Malmesbury and others repeat the same; but later writers, such as Baronius and Mabillon, think that they were rather sent by some of the inhabitants of Walcheren. And this seems the more likely opinion: for no contemporary makes the charge against Judith and it is not at all in consonance with the attitude of Louis towards episcopal authority and Christian conduct. St.

Frederick composed a prayer to the Blessed Trinity which for many ages was used in the Netherlands. 

The reputation of his sanctity appears from a poem of Rabanus Maurus, his contemporary, in praise of his virtues.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will proclaim Your Praise!

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 99 (100)

Give thanks to the Lord,

for his great love is without end.

Rejoice in the Lord, all the earth,

and serve him with joy.

Exult as you enter his presence.

Give thanks to the Lord,

for his great love is without end.

Know that the Lord is God.

He made us and we are his

– his people, the sheep of his flock.

Give thanks to the Lord,

for his great love is without end.

Cry out his praises as you enter his gates,

fill his courtyards with songs.

Proclaim him and bless his name;

for the Lord is our delight.

His mercy lasts forever,

his faithfulness through all the ages.

Give thanks to the Lord,

for his great love is without end.

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.

Give thanks to the Lord,

for his great love is without end.

Hymn

In ancient times God spoke to us

Through prophets, and in varied ways,

But now he speaks through Christ his Son,

His radiance through eternal days.

To God the Father of the world,

His Son through whom he made all things,

And Holy Spirit, bond of love,

All glad creation glory sings.

Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal

Psalm 68 (69)

I am consumed with zeal for your house

I am wearied with all my crying as I await my God.

Save me, O God,

for the waters have come up to my neck.

I am stuck in bottomless mud;

I am adrift in deep waters

and the flood is sweeping me away.

I am exhausted with crying out, my throat is parched,

my eyes are failing as I look out for my God.

Those who hate me for no reason

are more than the hairs of my head.

They are strong, my persecutors, my lying enemies:

they make me give back things I never took.

God, you know my weakness:

my crimes are not hidden from you.

Let my fate not put to shame those who trust in you,

Lord, Lord of hosts.

Let them not be dismayed on my account,

those who seek you, God of Israel.

For it is for your sake that I am taunted

and covered in confusion:

I have become a stranger to my own brothers,

a wanderer in the eyes of my mother’s children –

because zeal for your house is consuming me,

and the taunts of those who hate you

fall upon my head.

I have humbled my soul with fasting

and they reproach me for it.

I have made sackcloth my clothing

and they make me a byword.

The idlers at the gates speak against me;

for drinkers of wine, I am the butt of their songs.

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 am wearied with all my crying as I await my God.

Psalm 68 (69)

For food they gave me poison,

and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

But I turn my prayer to you, Lord,

at the acceptable time, my God.

In your great kindness, hear me,

and rescue me with your faithful help.

Tear me from the mire, before I become stuck;

tear me from those who hate me;

tear me from the depths of the waters.

Do not let the waves overwhelm me;

do not let the deep waters swallow me;

do not let the well’s mouth engulf me.

Hear me, Lord, for you are kind and good.

In your abundant mercy, look upon me.

Do not turn your face from your servant:

I am suffering, so hurry to answer me.

Come to my soul and deliver it,

rescue me from my enemies’ attacks.

You know how I am taunted and ashamed;

how I am thrown into confusion.

You can see all those who are troubling me.

Reproach has shattered my heart – I am sick.

I looked for sympathy, but none came;

I looked for a consoler but did not find one.

They gave me bitterness to eat;

when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.

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.

For food they gave me poison,

and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Psalm 68 (69)

Seek the Lord,

and he will give life to your soul.

I am weak and I suffer,

but your help, O God, will sustain me.

I will praise the name of God in song

and proclaim his greatness with praises.

This will please the Lord more than oxen,

than cattle with their horns and hooves.

Let the humble see and rejoice.

Seek the Lord, and your heart shall live,

for the Lord has heard the needy

and has not despised his captive people.

Let heaven and earth praise him,

the seas and all that swims in them.

For the Lord will make Zion safe

and build up the cities of Judah:

there they will live, the land will be theirs.

The seed of his servants will inherit the land,

and those who love his name will dwell there.

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.

Seek the Lord,

and he will give life to your soul.

The Lord will teach us his ways

– and we shall walk in his paths.

First Reading

2 Chronicles 20:1-9,13-24

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, with some of the Melinites started to make war on Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat received the following intelligence, ‘A vast horde is advancing against you from Edom, from the other side of the sea; 

they are already at Hazazon-tamar, that is, En-gedi.’

Jehoshaphat was alarmed and resolved to have recourse to the Lord; 

he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; 

they came seeking the Lord from every single town in Judah.

At this assembly of the people of Judah and Jerusalem in the Temple of the Lord, Jehoshaphat stood before the new court and said, ‘O Lord, God of our ancestors, are you not the God who dwells in the heavens? Do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Such power and might are in your hands that no one can resist you. Are you not our God, you who have dispossessed the inhabitants of this land for Israel your people, and given it to the descendants of Abraham whom you will love for ever? They have settled in it and built a sanctuary there for your name, saying, “Should calamity befall us, or war, punishment, pestilence, or famine, then we shall stand before this Temple and before you, for your name is in this Temple. 

From the depths of our distress we shall cry to you, and you will hear and save us.”’

All the men of Judah, even down to their youngest children and their wives, stood in the presence of the Lord. In the middle of the assembly the spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah the Levite, one of the sons of Asaph. ‘Listen all you men of Judah,’ he cried ‘and you who live in Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! The Lord says this to you, “Do not be afraid, do not be daunted by this vast horde; this battle is not yours but God’s. March out against them tomorrow; they are coming up by the Slope of Ziz and you will come on them in the Valley of Soph, near the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight there. Take up your position, stand firm, and see what salvation the Lord has in store for you. 

Judah and Jerusalem, be fearless, be dauntless; march out against them tomorrow and the Lord will be with you.”’

Jehoshaphat bent his head, his face to the ground, and all Judah with those who lived in Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshipping him. Then the Levites – Kohathites and Korahites – 

began praising the Lord the God of Israel at the tops of their voices.

They rose early in the morning and left for the wilderness of Tekoa. As they were setting out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, ‘Listen to me Judah and all who live in Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be secure; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.’ Then, having held a conference with the people, he set the cantors of the Lord in sacred vestments at the head of the army, to sing praises to him. ‘Give praise to the Lord,’ they sang ‘for his love is everlasting.’ As they began to sing their joy and their praise, the Lord laid an ambush for the Ammonites and Moab and the mountain folk of Seir who had come to attack Judah, and routed them. The Ammonites and Moabites turned on the mountain folk of Seir to inflict the ban on them and destroy them altogether, but they only helped each other to their own undoing.

When the men of Judah reached the spot that looks out on the wilderness and turned to face the horde, 

they found only corpses lying on the ground; no one had escaped.

Responsory

Our fight is not against human foes but against cosmic powers,

against the authorities and potentates of this dark world,

against the superhuman forces of evil in the heavens.

Stand firm, I say, and fasten onto the belt of truth.

You have but to stand firm and watch the Lord coming to your aid.

Stand firm, I say, and fasten onto the belt of truth.

Second Reading

From the treatise On the Mysteries

by Saint Ambrose, bishop

To the newly baptised on the eucharist

Fresh from the waters and resplendent in these garments, God’s holy people hasten to the altar of Christ, saying: I will go in to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth. They have sloughed off the old skin of error, their youth renewed like an eagle’s, and they make haste to approach that heavenly banquet. They come and, seeing the sacred altar prepared, cry out: You have prepared a table in my sight. David puts these words into their mouths: The Lord is my shepherd and nothing will be lacking to me. He has set me down there in a place of pasture. He has brought me beside refreshing water. Further on, we read: For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I shall not be afraid of evils, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff have given me comfort. You have prepared in my sight a table against those who afflict me. You have made my head rich in oil, 

and your cup, which exhilarates, how excellent it is.

It is wonderful that God rained manna on our fathers and they were fed with daily food from heaven. And so it is written: Man ate the bread of angels. Yet those who ate that bread all died in the desert. But the food that you receive, that living bread which came down from heaven, supplies the very substance of eternal life, and whoever will eat it will never die, for it is the body of Christ.

Consider now which is the more excellent: the bread of angels or the flesh of Christ, which is indeed the body that gives life. The first was manna from heaven, the second is above the heavens. One was of heaven, the other is of the Lord of the heavens; one subject to corruption if it was kept till the morrow, the other free from all corruption, for if anyone tastes of it with reverence he will be incapable of corruption. For our fathers, water flowed from the rock; for you, blood flows from Christ. Water satisfied their thirst for a time; blood cleanses you for ever. The Jew drinks and still thirsts, but when you drink you will be incapable of thirst. What happened in symbol is now fulfilled in reality.

If what you marvel at is a shadow, how great is the reality whose very shadow you marvel at. Listen to this, which shows that what happened in the time of our fathers was but a shadow. They drank, it is written, from the rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. All this took place as a symbol for us. You know now what is more excellent: light is preferable to its shadow, 

reality to its symbol, the body of the Giver to the manna he gave from heaven.

Responsory

Our ancestors passed through the Red Sea,

and so they all received baptism into the fellowship of Moses in cloud and sea:

all these things that happened to them were symbolic.

They all ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink:

all these things that happened to them were symbolic.

Let us pray.

God and Father,

to those who go astray

you reveal the light of your truth

and enable them to return to the right path.

Grant that all who have received the grace of baptism

may strive to be worthy of their Christian calling

and reject everything opposed to it.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Let us praise the Lord.

– Thanks be to God.