OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF SAINT PIUS V

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH

Antiphon

Cf. Ex 15: 1-2

Let us sing to the Lord, for he has gloriously triumphed.

The Lord is my strength and my might;

he has become my salvation, alleluia.

Collect

O God, who in your providence

raised up Pope Saint Pius the Fifth in your Church

that the faith might be safeguarded

and more fitting worship be offered to you,

grant, through his intercession,

that we may participate in your mysteries

with lively faith and fruitful charity.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,

forever and ever.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Optional Memorial of Saint Pius V

Pope, Religious

Reading

1 COR 4:1-5

Brothers and sisters:

Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ

and stewards of the mysteries of God.

Now it is of course required of stewards

that they be found trustworthy.

It does not concern me in the least

that I be judged by you or any human tribunal;

I do not even pass judgment on myself;

I am not conscious of anything against me,

but I do not thereby stand acquitted;

the one who judges me is the Lord.

Therefore do not make any judgment before the appointed time,

until the Lord comes,

for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness

and will manifest the motives of our hearts,

and then everyone will receive praise from God.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 110:1, 2, 3, 4

R. You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The LORD said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand

till I make your enemies your footstool."

R. You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The scepter of your power the Lord will stretch forth from Zion:

"Rule in the midst of your enemies."

R. You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

"Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;

before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you."

R. You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent:

"You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."

R. You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

Alleluia

JN 10:14

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;

I know my sheep, and mine know me.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

JN 21:15-17

After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples

and eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter,

"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"

Simon Peter answered him,

"Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."

Jesus said to him,

"Feed my lambs."

He then said to Simon Peter a second time,

"Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

Simon Peter answered him,

"Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."

Jesus said to him,

"Tend my sheep."

He said to him the third time,

"Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to him a third time,

"Do you love me?" 

and he said to him,

"Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."

Jesus said to him,

"Feed my sheep."

SAINT OF THE DAY

April 30

Saint Pius V

(1504 - 1572)

During his papacy (1566-1572), Pius V was faced with the almost overwhelming responsibility of getting a shattered and scattered Church back on its feet. The family of God had been shaken by corruption, by the Reformation, by the constant threat of Turkish invasion, and by the bloody bickering of the young nation-states. In 1545, a previous pope convened the Council of Trent in an attempt to deal with all these pressing problems. Off and on over 18 years, the Fathers of the Church discussed, condemned, affirmed, and decided upon a course of action. The Council closed in 1563.

Pius V was elected in 1566 and charged with the task of implementing the sweeping reforms called for by the Council. He ordered the founding of seminaries for the proper training of priests. He published a new missal, a new breviary, a new catechism, and established the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes for the young. Pius zealously enforced legislation against abuses in the Church. He patiently served the sick and the poor by building hospitals, providing food for the hungry, and giving money customarily used for the papal banquets to poor Roman converts. His decision to keep wearing his Dominican habit led to the custom–to this day–of the pope wearing a white cassock.

In striving to reform both Church and state, Pius encountered vehement opposition from England’s Queen Elizabeth and the Roman Emperor Maximilian II. Problems in France and in the Netherlands also hindered Pius’s hopes for a Europe united against the Turks. Only at the last minute was he able to organize a fleet which won a decisive victory in the Gulf of Lepanto, off Greece, on October 7, 1571.

Pius’s ceaseless papal quest for a renewal of the Church was grounded in his personal life as a Dominican friar. He spent long hours with his God in prayer, fasted rigorously, deprived himself of many customary papal luxuries, and faithfully observed the spirit of the Dominican Rule that he had professed.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will proclaim Your Praise!

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 66 (67)

The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.

O God, take pity on us and bless us,

and let your face shine upon us,

so that your ways may be known across the world,

and all nations learn of your salvation.

The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.

Let the peoples praise you, O God,

let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and rejoice,

for you judge the peoples with fairness

and you guide the nations of the earth.

The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.

Let the peoples praise you, O God,

let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has produced its harvest:

may God, our God, bless us.

May God bless us,

may the whole world revere him.

The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.

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.

The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.

Hymn

Love’s redeeming work is done,

fought the fight, the battle won.

Lo, our Sun’s eclipse is o’er!

Lo, he sets in blood no more!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal!

Christ has burst the gates of hell;

death in vain forbids him rise;

Christ has opened paradise.

Lives again our victor King;

where, O death, is now thy sting?

Dying once, he all doth save;

where thy victory, O grave?

Soar we now where Christ has led,

following our exalted Head;

made like him, like him we rise,

ours the cross, the grave, the skies.

Hail the Lord of earth and heaven!

Praise to thee by both be given:

thee we greet triumphant now;

hail, the Resurrection thou!

Psalm 88 (89)

A lament at the ruin of the house of David

Pay heed, Lord, and see how we are taunted.

But you have spurned and rejected him;

you are enraged against your anointed.

You have repudiated the covenant of your servant,

you have trampled his crown in the dust.

You have demolished his walls

and laid his fortifications in ruins.

Anyone who passes can despoil him;

he is a mockery among his neighbors.

You have strengthened the arm of those who oppress him,

you have gladdened the hearts of his enemies.

You have turned back the sharp edge of his sword;

you have deprived him of your help in battle.

You have put an end to his splendor,

and cast his throne to the ground.

You have cut short the days of his youth;

you have covered him from head to foot in shame.

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.

Pay heed, Lord, and see how we are taunted.

Psalm 88 (89)

I am the root and stock of David;

I am the splendid morning star.

Alleluia.

How long, O Lord, will you hide yourself? For ever?

Will your anger always burn like fire?

Remember how short is my time.

Was it truly so pointless, your creation of man?

Who is the man who can live and not die,

who can save his life from the grasp of the underworld?

Where are the kindnesses you showed us of old?

Where is the truth of your oath to David?

Remember, Lord, how your servants are taunted,

the taunts I bear in my bosom, the taunts of the nations –

the insults of your enemies, Lord,

the insults that follow the steps of your anointed!

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 the root and stock of David;

I am the splendid morning star.

Alleluia.

Psalm 89 (90)

Let the Lord's glory shine upon us

Our years pass like grass;

but you, God, are without beginning or end.

Alleluia.

Lord, you have been our refuge

from generation to generation.

Before the mountains were born,

before earth and heaven were conceived,

from all time to all time, you are God.

You turn men into dust,

you say to them “go back, children of men.”

A thousand years in your sight

are like yesterday, that has passed;

like a short watch in the night.

When you take them away,

they will be nothing but a dream;

like the grass that sprouts in the morning:

in the morning it grows and flowers,

in the evening it withers and dries.

For we are made weak by your anger,

thrown into confusion by your wrath.

You have gazed upon our transgressions;

the light of your face illuminates our secrets.

All our days vanish in your anger,

we use up our years in a single breath.

Seventy years are what we have,

or eighty for the stronger ones;

and most of that is labor and sadness –

quickly they pass, and we are gone.

Who can comprehend the power of your wrath?

Who can behold the violence of your anger?

Teach us to reckon our days like this,

so that our hearts may be led at last to wisdom.

Turn to us, Lord, how long must we wait?

Let your servants call on you and be answered.

Fill us with your kindness in the morning,

and we shall rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

Give us joy for as long as you afflicted us,

for all the years when we suffered.

Let your servants see your great works,

and let their children see your glory.

Let the glory of the Lord God be upon us:

make firm the work of your hands.

Make firm the work of your hands.

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.

Our years pass like grass;

but you, God, are without beginning or end.

Alleluia.

God raised the Lord, alleluia,

– and will raise us too by his power, alleluia.

First Reading

Apocalypse 9:13-21

The sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice come out of the four horns of the golden altar in front of God. It spoke to the sixth angel with the trumpet, and said, ‘Release the four angels that are chained up at the great river Euphrates.’ These four angels had been put there ready for this hour of this day of this month of this year, and now they were released to destroy a third of the human race. I learnt how many there were in their army: twice ten thousand times ten thousand mounted men. In my vision I saw the horses, and the riders with their breastplates of flame color, hyacinth-blue and sulphur-yellow; the horses had lions’ heads, and fire, smoke and sulphur were coming out of their mouths. It was by these three plagues, the fire, the smoke and the sulphur coming out of their mouths, that the one third of the human race was killed. All the horses’ power was in their mouths and their tails: their tails were like snakes, and had heads that were able to wound. But the rest of the human race, who escaped these plagues, refused either to abandon the things they had made with their own hands – the idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood that can neither see nor hear nor move – or to stop worshipping devils. Nor did they give up their murdering,

or witchcraft, or fornication or stealing.

Responsory

God calls upon all men, everywhere, to repent,

because he has fixed a day when he will pronounce just judgement on the whole world, alleluia.

Ministers of God, call together all the inhabitants of the country, and cry out to the Lord,

because he has fixed a day when he will pronounce just judgement on the whole world, alleluia.

Second Reading

From the treatise Against Heresies

by Saint Irenaeus, bishop

The Eucharist, pledge of our resurrection

If our flesh is not saved, then the Lord has not redeemed us with his blood, the eucharistic chalice does not make us sharers in his blood, and the bread we break does not make us sharers in his body. There can be no blood without veins, flesh and the rest of the human substance, and this the Word of God actually became: it was with his own blood that he redeemed us. As the Apostle says: In him, through his blood,

we have been redeemed, our sins have been forgiven.

We are his members and we are nourished by creatures, which is his gift to us, for it is he who causes the sun to rise and the rain to fall. He declared that the chalice, which comes from his creation, was his blood, and he makes it the nourishment of our blood. He affirmed that the bread, which comes from his creation, was his body, and he makes it the nourishment of our body. When the chalice we mix and the bread we bake receive the word of God, the eucharistic elements become the body and blood of Christ, by which our bodies live and grow. How then can it be said that flesh belonging to the Lord’s own body and nourished by his body and blood is incapable of receiving God’s gift of eternal life? Saint Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians that we are members of his body, of his flesh and bones. He is not speaking of some spiritual and incorporeal kind of man, for spirits do not have flesh and bones. He is speaking of a real human body composed of flesh, sinews and bones, nourished by the chalice of Christ’s blood and receiving growth from the bread which is his body.

The slip of a vine planted in the ground bears fruit at the proper time. The grain of wheat falls into the ground and decays only to be raised up again and multiplied by the Spirit of God who sustains all things. The Wisdom of God places these things at the service of man and when they receive God’s word they become the eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ. In the same way our bodies, which have been nourished by the eucharist, will be buried in the earth and will decay, but they will rise again at the appointed time, for the Word of God will raise them up to the glory of God the Father. Then the Father will clothe our mortal nature in immortality and freely endow our corruptible nature with incorruptibility,

for God’s power is shown most perfectly in weakness.

Responsory

I am the bread of life.

Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and they are dead;

this is the bread that comes down from heaven,

so that a man may eat it and not die, alleluia.

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.

Anyone who eats this bread will live forever;

this is the bread that comes down from heaven,

so that a man may eat it and not die, alleluia.

Let us pray.

Almighty, ever-living God,

make our hearts more open to your love

in these days of Eastertide,

when you have made known to us the depth of that love.

You have rescued us from the darkness of error:

make us adhere more firmly to the teachings of your truth.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

Let us praise the Lord.

– Thanks be to God.

WEDNESDAY IN THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH

Antiphon

Cf. Ps 71 (70): 8, 23

Here is a wise virgin, from among the number of the prudent,

who went forth with lighted lamp to meet Christ, alleluia.

Collect

O God, who set Saint Catherine of Siena on fire with divine love

in her contemplation of the Lord's Passion

and her service of your Church,

grant, through her intercession,

that your people,

participating in the mystery of Christ,

may ever exult in the revelation of his glory.

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena

Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Reading

ACTS 8:1B-8

There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem,

and all were scattered

throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria,

except the Apostles.

Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him.

Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church;

entering house after house and dragging out men and women,

he handed them over for imprisonment.

Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.

Thus Philip went down to the city of Samaria

and proclaimed the Christ to them.

With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip

when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.

For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice,

came out of many possessed people,

and many paralyzed and crippled people were cured.

There was great joy in that city.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 66:1-3A, 4-5, 6-7A

R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,

sing praise to the glory of his name;

proclaim his glorious praise.

Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!”

R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

“Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you,

sing praise to your name!”

Come and see the works of God,

his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.

R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

He has changed the sea into dry land;

through the river they passed on foot;

therefore let us rejoice in him.

He rules by his might forever.

R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

Alleluia

JN 6:40

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Everyone who believes in the Son has eternal life,

and I shall raise him up on the last day, says the Lord.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

JN 6:35-40

Jesus said to the crowds,

“I am the bread of life;

whoever comes to me will never hunger,

and whoever believes in me will never thirst.

But I told you that although you have seen me,

you do not believe.

Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,

and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,

because I came down from heaven not to do my own will

but the will of the one who sent me.

And this is the will of the one who sent me,

that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,

but that I should raise it on the last day.

For this is the will of my Father,

that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him

may have eternal life,

and I shall raise him on the last day.”

SAINT OF THE DAY

April 29

Saint Catherine of Siena

(1347 - 1380)

She was the 23rd child of Jacopo and Lapa Benincasa and grew up as an intelligent, cheerful, and intensely religious person. Catherine disappointed her mother by cutting off her hair as a protest against being overly encouraged to improve her appearance in order to attract a husband. Her father ordered her to be left in peace, 

and she was given a room of her own for prayer and meditation.

She entered the Dominican Third Order at 18 and spent the next three years in seclusion, prayer, and austerity. Gradually, a group of followers gathered around her—men and women, priests and religious. An active public apostolate grew out of her contemplative life. Her letters, mostly for spiritual instruction and encouragement of her followers, began to take more and more note of public affairs. Opposition and slander resulted from her mixing fearlessly with the world and speaking with the candor and authority of one completely committed to Christ. 

She was cleared of all charges at the Dominican General Chapter of 1374.

Her public influence reached great heights because of her evident holiness, 

her membership in the Dominican Third Order, and the deep impression she made on the pope. She worked tirelessly for the crusade against the Turks and for peace between Florence and the pope.

In 1378, the Great Schism began, splitting the allegiance of Christendom between two, then three, popes and putting even saints on opposing sides. Catherine spent the last two years of her life in Rome, in prayer and pleading on behalf of the cause of Pope Urban VI and the unity of the Church. She offered herself as a victim for the Church in its agony. She died surrounded by her “children” and was canonized in 1461.

Catherine ranks high among the mystics and spiritual writers of the Church.

In 1939, she and Francis of Assisi were declared co-patrons of Italy.

Pope Paul VI named her and Teresa of Avila doctors of the Church in 1970.

Her spiritual testament is found in The Dialogue.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will proclaim Your Praise!

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 99 (100)

The Lord is the king of virgins:

come, let us adore him, alleluia.

Rejoice in the Lord, all the earth,

and serve him with joy.

Exult as you enter his presence.

The Lord is the king of virgins:

come, let us adore him, alleluia.

Know that the Lord is God.

He made us and we are his

– his people, the sheep of his flock.

The Lord is the king of virgins:

come, let us adore him, alleluia.

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.

The Lord is the king of virgins:

come, let us adore him, alleluia.

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.

The Lord is the king of virgins:

come, let us adore him, alleluia.

Hymn

Love’s redeeming work is done,

fought the fight, the battle won.

Lo, our Sun’s eclipse is o’er!

Lo, he sets in blood no more!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal!

Christ has burst the gates of hell;

death in vain forbids him rise;

Christ has opened paradise.

Lives again our victorious King;

where, O death, is now thy sting?

Dying once, he all doth save;

where thy victory, O grave?

Soar we now where Christ has led,

following our exalted Head;

made like him, like him we rise,

ours the cross, the grave, the skies.

Hail the Lord of earth and heaven!

Praise to thee by both be given:

thee we greet triumphant now;

hail, the Resurrection thou!

Psalm 102 (103)

Praise of the compassionate Lord

My soul, give thanks to the Lord,

and never forget all his blessings.

Alleluia.

My soul, bless the Lord!

All that is in me, bless his holy name.

My soul, bless the Lord!

Never forget all he has done for you.

The Lord, who forgives your wrongdoing,

who heals all your weaknesses.

The Lord, who redeems your life from destruction,

who crowns you with kindness and compassion.

The Lord, who fills your age with good things,

who renews your youth like an eagle’s.

The Lord, who gives fair judgements,

who gives judgement in favour of the oppressed.

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.

My soul, give thanks to the Lord,

and never forget all his blessings.

Alleluia.

Psalm 102 (103)

As a father has compassion on his sons,

the Lord has pity on those who fear him.

Alleluia.

The Lord is compassion and kindness,

full of patience, full of mercy.

He will not fight against you for ever:

he will not always be angry.

He does not treat us as our sins deserve;

he does not pay us back for our wrongdoing.

As high as the sky above the earth,

so great is his kindness to those who fear him.

As far as east is from west,

so far he has put our wrongdoing from us.

As a father cares for his children,

so the Lord cares for those who fear him.

For he knows how we are made,

he remembers we are nothing but dust.

Man – his life is like grass,

he blossoms and withers like flowers of the field.

The wind blows and carries him away:

no trace of him remains.

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.

As a father has compassion on his sons,

the Lord has pity on those who fear him.

Alleluia.

Psalm 102 (103)

Give thanks to the Lord, all his works.

Alleluia.

The Lord has been kind from the beginning;

to those who fear him his kindness lasts for ever.

His justice is for their children’s children,

for those who keep his covenant,

for those who remember his commandments

and try to perform them.

The Lord’s throne is high in the heavens

and his rule shall extend over all.

Bless the Lord, all his angels,

strong in your strength, doers of his command,

bless him as you hear his words.

Bless the Lord, all his powers,

his servants who do his will.

Bless the Lord, all he has created,

in every place that he rules.

My soul, bless the Lord!

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, all his works.

Alleluia.

God raised Christ from the dead, alleluia,

– so that our faith and hope would be in God, alleluia.

First Reading

Apocalypse 14:14-15:4

Now in my vision I saw a white cloud and, sitting on it, one like a son of man with a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came out of the sanctuary, and shouted aloud to the one sitting on the cloud, ‘Put your sickle in and reap: harvest time has come and the harvest of the earth is ripe.’ Then the one sitting on the cloud set his sickle to work on the earth, and the earth’s harvest was reaped.

Another angel, who also carried a sharp sickle, came out of the temple in heaven, and the angel in charge of the fire left the altar and shouted aloud to the one with the sharp sickle, ‘Put your sickle in and cut all the bunches off the vine of the earth; all its grapes are ripe.’ So the angel set his sickle to work on the earth and harvested the whole vintage of the earth and put it into a huge winepress, the winepress of God’s anger, outside the city, where it was trodden until the blood that came out of the winepress was up to the horses’ bridles as far away as sixteen hundred furlongs.

What I saw next, in heaven, was a great and wonderful sign: seven angels were bringing the seven plagues that are the last of all, because they exhaust the anger of God. I seemed to see a glass lake suffused with fire, and standing by the lake of glass, those who had fought against the beast and won, and against his statue and the number which is his name. They all had harps from God,

and they were singing the hymn of Moses, the servant of God, and of the Lamb:

‘How great and wonderful are all your works,

Lord God Almighty;

just and true are all your ways,

King of nations.

Who would not revere and praise your name, O Lord?

You alone are holy,

and all the pagans will come and adore you

for the many acts of justice you have shown.’

Responsory

Those who were victorious sang the song of the Lamb:

Lord, God Almighty, how great and wonderful are all your works!

King of all ages, how right and true are your ways, alleluia.

Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?

Who is like you, majestic in holiness,

worker of wonders? King of all ages,

how right and true are your ways, alleluia.

Second Reading

From the dialogue On Divine Providence

by Saint Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor

I tasted and I saw

Eternal God, eternal Trinity, you have made the blood of Christ so precious through his sharing in your divine nature. You are a mystery as deep as the sea; the more I search, the more I find, and the more I find the more I search for you. But I can never be satisfied; what I receive will ever leave me desiring more. 

When you fill my soul I have an even greater hunger, and I grow more famished for your light. I desire above all to see you, the true light, as you really are.

I have tasted and seen the depth of your mystery and the beauty of your creation with the light of my understanding. I have clothed myself with your likeness and have seen what I shall be. Eternal Father, you have given me a share in your power and the wisdom that Christ claims as his own, and your Holy Spirit has given me the desire to love you. You are my Creator, eternal Trinity, and I am your creature. 

You have made of me a new creation in the blood of your Son,

and I know that you are moved with love at the beauty of your creation, 

for you have enlightened me.

Eternal Trinity, Godhead, mystery deep as the sea, you could give me no greater gift than the gift of yourself. For you are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being. Yes, you are a fire that takes away the coldness, illuminates the mind with its light and causes me to know your truth. 

By this light, reflected as it were in a mirror, I recognize that you are the highest good, 

one we can neither comprehend nor fathom.  And I know that you are beauty and wisdom itself.   The food of angels, 

you gave yourself to man in the fire of your love.

You are the garment which covers our nakedness, and in our hunger you are a satisfying food, for you are sweetness and in you there is no taste of bitterness, 

O triune God!

Responsory

Now that you are endowed with the gift of my Spirit,

cleansed from all stain by the outpouring of my blood,

leave the quiet of contemplation and resolutely take up the work of witnessing to my truth, alleluia.

Open your heart to me, my sister, co-heir with me of my kingdom;

my beloved, who have understood Truth’s hidden mysteries;

leave the quiet of contemplation and resolutely take up the work of witnessing to my truth, alleluia.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, you made Saint Catherine of Siena

a contemplative lover of the Lord’s sufferings

and an ardent servant of your church.

Grant through her prayer

that your people may be united to Christ in his mystery,

and rejoice for ever in the revelation of his glory.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

Let us praise the Lord.

– Thanks be to God.