THE LITURGY OF THE WORD

Daily Mass Readings

Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Antiphon

Rev. 5:12, 1:6

 

How worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and divinity,

and wisdom and strength and honor.

To him belong glory and power forever and ever.

Collect

 

Almighty ever-living God,

whose will is to restore all things

in your beloved Son, the King of the universe,

grant, we pray,

that the whole creation, set free from slavery,

may render your majesty service

and ceaselessly proclaim your praise.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

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

God, forever and ever.

Amen.

Reading

Dn 7:2-14

In a vision I, Daniel, saw during the night,

the four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea,

from which emerged four immense beasts,

each different from the others.

The first was like a lion, but with eagle’s wings.

While I watched, the wings were plucked;

it was raised from the ground to stand on two feet

like a man, and given a human mind. 

The second was like a bear; it was raised up on one side,

and among the teeth in its mouth were three tusks.

It was given the order, “Up, devour much flesh.” 

After this I looked and saw another beast, like a leopard;

on its back were four wings like those of a bird,

and it had four heads.

To this beast dominion was given.

After this, in the visions of the night I saw the fourth beast,

different from all the others,

terrifying, horrible, and of extraordinary strength;

it had great iron teeth with which it devoured and crushed,

and what was left it trampled with its feet.

I was considering the ten horns it had,

when suddenly another, a little horn, sprang out of their midst,

and three of the previous horns were torn away to make room for it.

This horn had eyes like a man,

and a mouth that spoke arrogantly.

As I watched,

    Thrones were set up 

        and the Ancient One took his throne.

    His clothing was snow bright,

        and the hair on his head as white as wool;

    His throne was flames of fire,

        with wheels of burning fire.

    A surging stream of fire

        flowed out from where he sat;

    Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,

        and myriads upon myriads attended him.

The court was convened, and the books were opened.

I watched, then, from the first of the arrogant words

which the horn spoke, until the beast was slain

and its body thrown into the fire to be burnt up.

The other beasts, which also lost their dominion,

were granted a prolongation of life for a time and a season.

As the visions during the night continued, I saw

    One like a son of man coming,

        on the clouds of heaven;

    When he reached the Ancient One

        and was presented before him,

    He received dominion, glory, and kingship;

        nations and peoples of every language serve him.

    His dominion is an everlasting dominion

        that shall not be taken away,

    his kingship shall not be destroyed.

Responsorial Psalm

Daniel 3:75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81

R.    Give glory and eternal praise to him!

“Mountains and hills, bless the Lord;

    praise and exalt him above all forever.”

R.    Give glory and eternal praise to him!

“Everything growing from the earth, bless the Lord;

    praise and exalt him above all forever.

R.    Give glory and eternal praise to him!”

“You springs, bless the Lord;

    praise and exalt him above all forever.”

R.    Give glory and eternal praise to him!

“Seas and rivers, bless the Lord;

    praise and exalt him above all forever.”

R.    Give glory and eternal praise to him!

“You dolphins and all water creatures, bless the Lord;

    praise and exalt him above all forever.”

R.    Give glory and eternal praise to him!

“All you birds of the air, bless the Lord;

    praise and exalt him above all forever.”

R.    Give glory and eternal praise to him!

“All you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord;

    praise and exalt him above all forever.”

R.    Give glory and eternal praise to him!

Alleluia

Lk 21:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Stand erect and raise your heads

because your redemption is at hand.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Lk 21:29-33

Jesus told his disciples a parable.

“Consider the fig tree and all the other trees.

When their buds burst open,

you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near;

in the same way, when you see these things happening,

know that the Kingdom of God is near.

Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away

until all these things have taken place.

Heaven and earth will pass away, 

but my words will not pass away.”

SAINT OF THE DAY

November 26

Saint Columban

(543 - 615)

Columban was the greatest of the Irish missionaries who worked on the European continent. As a young man who was greatly tormented by temptations of the flesh, he sought the advice of a religious woman who had lived a hermit’s life for years. He saw in her answer a call to leave the world. He went first to a monk on an island in Lough Erne, then to the great monastic seat of learning at Bangor.

After many years of seclusion and prayer, he traveled to Gaul with 12 companion missionaries. They won wide respect for the rigor of their discipline, their preaching, and their commitment to charity and religious life in a time characterized by clerical laxity and civil strife. Columban established several monasteries in Europe which became centers of religion and culture. His writings include a treatise on penance and against Arianism, sermons, poetry, and his monastic rule.

Like all saints, he met opposition. Ultimately he had to appeal to the pope against complaints of Frankish bishops, for vindication of his orthodoxy and approval of Irish customs. He reproved the king for his licentious life, insisting that he marry. Since this threatened the power of the queen mother, Columban was deported back to Ireland. His ship ran aground in a storm, and he continued his work in Europe, ultimately arriving in Italy, where he found favor with the king of the Lombards. In his last years he established the famous monastery of Bobbio, where he died. 

THE LITURGY OF HOURS

The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office or the Work of God
(Opus Dei), is the daily prayer of the Church, marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer.  The Hours are a meditative dialogue on the mystery of Christ, using scripture and prayer.  At times the dialogue is between the Church or individual soul and God; at times it is a dialogue among the members of the Church; and at times it is even between the Church and the world.  The Divine Office "is truly the voice of the Bride herself addressed to her Bridegroom. It is the very prayer which Christ himself together with his Body addresses to the Father." (SC 84)  The dialogue is always held, however, in the presence of God and using the words and wisdom of God.  Each of the five canonical Hours includes selections from the Psalms that culminate in a scriptural proclamation.  The two most important or hinge Hours are Morning and Evening Prayer. These each include a Gospel canticle:  the Canticle of Zechariah from Luke 1:68-79 for Morning Prayer (known as the Benedictus), and the Canticle of Mary from Luke 1:46-55 for Evening Prayer (known as the Magnificat). The Gospel canticle acts as a kind of meditative extension of the scriptural proclamation in light of the Christ event.  Morning and Evening Prayer also include intercessions that flow from the scriptural proclamation just as the Psalms prepare for it.

In the Hours, the royal priesthood of the baptized is exercised, and this sacrifice of praise is thus connected to the sacrifice of the Eucharist, 

both preparing for and flowing from the Mass.

"The hymns and litanies of the Liturgy of the Hours integrate the prayer of the psalms into the age of the Church, expressing the symbolism of the time of day, the liturgical season, or the feast being celebrated. Moreover, the reading from the Word of God at each Hour (with the subsequent responses or troparia) and readings from the Fathers and spiritual masters at certain Hours, reveal more deeply the meaning of the mystery being celebrated, assist in understanding the psalms, and prepare for silent prayer." (CCC 1177)

OFFICE OF READINGS

"The office of readings seeks to provide God's people, and in particular those consecrated to God in a special way, with a wider selection of passages from sacred Scripture for meditation, together with the finest excerpts from spiritual writers. Even though the cycle of scriptural readings at daily Mass is now richer, the treasures of revelation and tradition to be found in the office of readings will also contribute greatly to the spiritual life" (General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours [GILH], no. 55).

https://www.universalis.com/0/readings.htm

LAUDS - Morning Prayer

"As is clear from many of the elements that make it up, morning prayer is intended and arranged to sanctify the morning. St. Basil the Great gives an excellent description of this character in these words: "It is said in the morning in order that the first stirrings of our mind and will may be consecrated to God and that we may take nothing in hand until we have been gladdened by the thought of God, as it is written: 'I was mindful of God and was glad' (Ps 77:4 [Jerome's translation from Hebrew]), or set our bodies to any task before we do what has been said: 'I will pray to you, Lord, you will hear my voice in the morning; I will stand before you in the morning and gaze on you' 

(Ps 5:4-5)."

"Celebrated as it is as the light of a new day is dawning, this hour also recalls the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the true light enlightening all people (see Jn 1:9) and "the sun of justice" (Mal 4:2), "rising from on high" (Lk 1:78). Hence, we can well understand the advice of St. Cyprian: "There should be prayer in the morning so that the resurrection of the Lord may thus be celebrated" (GILH, no. 38).

https://www.universalis.com/0/lauds.htm

TERCE - Mid-Morning Prayer

"Following a very ancient tradition Christians have made a practice of praying out of private devotion at various times of the day, even in the course of their work, in imitation of the Church in apostolic times. In different ways with the passage of time this tradition has taken the form of a liturgical celebration.

"Liturgical custom in both East and West has retained midmorning, midday, and midafternoon prayer, mainly because these hours were linked to a commemoration of the events of the Lord's passion and of the first preaching of the Gospel" 

(GILH, no. 74-75).

https://www.universalis.com/0/terce.htm

SEXT - Mid-Day Prayer

 https://www.universalis.com/0/sext.htm

NONE - Afternoon Prayer

 https://www.universalis.com/0/none.htm

VESPERS - Evening Prayer

"When evening approaches and the day is already far spent, evening prayer is celebrated in order that 'we may give thanks for what has been given us, or what we have done well, during the day.' We also recall the redemption through the prayer we send up 'like incense in the Lord's sight,' and in which 'the raising up of our hands' becomes 'an evening sacrifice' (see Ps 141:2). This sacrifice 'may also be interpreted more spiritually as the true evening sacrifice that our Savior the Lord entrusted to the apostles at supper on the evening when he instituted the sacred mysteries of the Church or of the evening sacrifice of the next day, the sacrifice, that is, which, raising his hands, he offered to the Father at the end of the ages for the salvation of the whole world.' Again, in order to fix our hope on the light that knows no setting, 'we pray and make petition for the light to come down on us anew; we implore the coming of Christ who will bring the grace of eternal light.' Finally, at this hour we join with the Churches of the East in calling upon the 'joy-giving light of that holy glory, born of the immortal, heavenly Father, the holy and blessed Jesus Christ; now that we have come to the setting of the sun and have seen the evening star, we sing in praise of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…'" 

(GILH, no. 39).

https://www.universalis.com/0/vespers.htm

COMPLINE - Night Prayer

"Night prayer is the last prayer of the day, said before retiring, even if that is after midnight" (GILH, no. 84).The Psalms that are chosen for Night Prayer are full of confidence in the Lord.

https://www.universalis.com/0/compline.htm

ABOUT TODAY

https://www.universalis.com/0/today.htm