Wednesday 30 April 2025    (other days)
Wednesday of the 2nd week of Eastertide 
 or Saint Pius V, Pope 

Using calendar: Finland. 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.
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
Hic est dies verus Dei,
sancto serénus lúmine,
quo díluit sanguis sacer
probrósa mundi crímina.
Fidem refúndit pérditis
cæcósque visu illúminat;
quem non gravi solvit metu
latrónis absolútio?
Opus stupent et ángeli,
pœnam vidéntes córporis
Christóque adhæréntem reum
vitam beátam cárpere.
Mystérium mirábile,
ut ábluat mundi luem,
peccáta tollat ómnium
carnis vítia mundans caro,
Quid hoc potest sublímius,
ut culpa quærat grátiam,
metúmque solvat cáritas
reddátque mors vitam novam?
Esto perénne méntibus
paschále, Iesu, gáudium
et nos renátos grátiæ
tuis triúmphis ággrega.
Iesu, tibi sit glória,
qui morte victa prǽnites,
cum Patre et almo Spíritu,
in sempitérna sǽcula. Amen.
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!

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, allelúia.
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, allelúia.

Psalm 51 (52)
Against calumny

I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever. Alleluia.
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. Alleluia.
℣. Deus suscitávit Christum a mórtuis, allelúia.
℟. Ut fides nostra et spes esset in Deo, allelúia.
℣. God raised Christ from the dead, alleluia.
℟. So that we would have faith and hope in God, alleluia.
Lectio prior
De libro Apocalýpsis beáti Ioánnis apóstoli 2, 12-29

Ad Ecclesias Pergami et Thyatiræ

Ego Ioánnes audívi Dóminum dicéntem mihi:
  12Angelo ecclésiæ, quæ est Pérgami, scribe:
  Hæc dicit, qui habet romphǽam ancípitem acútam: 13Scio, ubi hábitas, ubi thronus est Sátanæ, et tenes nomen meum et non negásti fidem meam et in diébus Antípas, testis meus fidélis, qui occísus est apud vos, ubi Sátanas hábitat. 14Sed hábeo advérsus te pauca, quia habes illic tenéntes doctrínam Bálaam, qui docébat Balac míttere scándalum coram fíliis Israel, édere idolothýta et fornicári; 15ita habes et tu tenéntes doctrínam Nicolaitárum simíliter. 16Ergo pæniténtiam age; si quo minus, vénio tibi cito et pugnábo cum illis in gládio oris mei.
  17Qui habet aurem, áudiat quid Spíritus dicat ecclésiis. Vincénti dabo ei de manna abscóndito et dabo illi cálculum cándidum, et in cálculo nomen novum scriptum, quod nemo scit, nisi qui áccipit.
  18Et ángelo ecclésiæ, quæ est Thyatíræ, scribe:
  Hæc dicit Fílius Dei, qui habet óculos ut flammam ignis, et pedes eius símiles orichálco: 19Novi ópera tua et caritátem et fidem et ministérium et patiéntiam tuam et ópera tua novíssima plura prióribus. 20Sed hábeo advérsus te, quia permíttis mulíerem Iézabel, quæ se dicit prophetíssam, et docet et sedúcit servos meos fornicári et manducáre idolothýta. 21Et dedi illi tempus, ut pæniténtiam ágeret, et non vult pænitéri a fornicatióne sua. 22Ecce mitto eam in lectum et, qui mœchántur cum ea, in tribulatiónem magnam, nisi pæniténtiam égerint ab opéribus eius. 23Et fílios eius interfíciam in morte, et scient omnes ecclésiæ quia ego sum scrutans renes et corda, et dabo unicuíque vestrum secúndum ópera vestra. 24Vobis autem dico céteris, qui Thyatíræ estis, quicúmque non habent doctrínam hanc, qui non cognovérunt altitúdines Sátanæ, quemádmodum dicunt, non mittam super vos áliud pondus; 25tamen id, quod habétis, tenéte, donec véniam. 26Et, qui vícerit et qui custodíerit usque in finem ópera mea, dabo illi potestátem super gentes,
  27et reget illas in virga férrea,
  tamquam vasa fictília confringéntur,
  28sicut et ego accépi a Patre meo, et dabo illi stellam matutínam.
  29Qui habet aurem, áudiat quid Spíritus dicat ecclésiis.
First Reading
Apocalypse 2:12-29

To the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira

Write to the angel of the church in Pergamum and say, “Here is the message of the one who has the sharp sword, double-edged: I know where you live, in the place where Satan is enthroned, and that you still hold firmly to my name, and did not disown your faith in me even when my faithful witness, Antipas, was killed in your own town, where Satan lives.
  “Nevertheless, I have one or two complaints to make: some of you are followers of Balaam, who taught Balak to set a trap for the Israelites so that they committed adultery by eating food that had been sacrificed to idols; and among you, too, there are some as bad who accept what the Nicolaitans teach. You must repent, or I shall soon come to you and attack these people with the sword out of my mouth. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches: to those who prove victorious I will give the hidden manna and a white stone – a stone with a new name written on it, known only to the man who receives it.”
  Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira and say, “Here is the message of the Son of God who has eyes like a burning flame and feet like burnished bronze: I know all about you and how charitable you are; I know your faith and devotion and how much you put up with, and I know how you are still making progress. Nevertheless, I have a complaint to make: you are encouraging the woman Jezebel who claims to be a prophetess, and by her teaching she is luring my servants away to commit the adultery of eating food which has been sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to reform but she is not willing to change her adulterous life. Now I am consigning her to bed, and all her partners in adultery to troubles that will test them severely, unless they repent of their practices; and I will see that her children die, so that all the churches realise that it is I who search heart and loins and give each one of you what your behaviour deserves.
  “But on the rest of you in Thyatira, all of you who have not accepted this teaching or learnt the secrets of Satan, as they are called, I am not laying any special duty; but hold firmly on to what you already have until I come. To those who prove victorious, and keep working for me until the end, I will give the authority over the pagans which I myself have been given by my Father, to rule them with an iron sceptre and shatter them like earthenware. And I will give him the Morning Star. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
Responsorium
Ap 2, 18 b. 23 b; 22, 12 a
℟. Hæc dicit Fílius Dei, qui habet óculos ut flammam ignis: Ego sum scrutans renes et corda,* Et dabo unicuíque vestrum secúndum ópera vestra, allelúia.
℣. Ecce vénio cito, et merces mea mecum est.* Et dabo.
Responsory
Rv 2:18,23, 22:12
℟. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes blaze like fire: I am he who knows men’s thoughts and wishes.* I will repay each one of you according to what you have done, alleluia.
℣. I am coming soon! I will bring my reward with me.* I will repay each one of you according to what you have done, alleluia.
Lectio altera
Ex Sermónibus sancti Leónis Magni papæ
(Sermo 12, De Passione, 3. 6-7: PL 54, 355-357)

Christus vivens in sua Ecclesia

Non est dúbium, dilectíssimi, natúram humánam in tantam conexiónem a Fílio Dei esse suscéptam, ut non solum in illo hómine, qui est primogénitus totíus creatúræ, sed étiam in ómnibus sanctis suis unus idémque sit Christus; et sicut a membris caput, ita a cápite membra dívidi non possint.
  Quamvis enim non istíus vitæ sit, sed ætérnæ, ut sit Deus ómnia in ómnibus; tamen étiam modo templi sui, quod est Ecclésia, indivísus habitátor est, secúndum quod ipse promísit, dicens: Ecce ego vobíscum sum ómnibus diébus usque ad consummatiónem sǽculi.
  Omnia ígitur quæ Dei Fílius ad reconciliatiónem mundi et fecit et dócuit, non in história tantum præteritórum nóvimus, sed étiam in præséntium óperum virtúte sentímus.
  Ipse est, qui, de Spíritu Sancto ex Matre éditus Vírgine, incontaminátam Ecclésiam suam eádem inspiratióne fecúndat, ut per baptísmatis partum innumerábilis filiórum Dei multitúdo gignátur, de quibus dícitur: Qui non ex sanguínibus, neque ex voluntáte carnis, neque ex voluntáte viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt.
  Ipse est, in quo semen Abrahæ totíus mundi adoptióne benedícitur; et fit patriárcha géntium pater, dum promissiónis fílii fide, non carne nascúntur.
  Ipse est qui, nullíus gentis exceptiónem fáciens, de omni natióne quæ sub cælo est unum sanctárum óvium éfficit gregem, et cotídie implet quod promíserat, dicens: Hábeo et álias oves, quæ non sunt ex hoc ovíli, et illas opórtet me addúcere, et vocem meam áudient, et erit unus grex et unus pastor.
  Quamvis enim beáto Petro principáliter dicat, Pasce oves meas, ab uno tamen Dómino ipsa ómnium régitur cura pastórum, et veniéntes ad petram tam lætis tamque irríguis páscuis alit, ut innúmeræ oves, dilectiónis pinguédine roborátæ, sicut bonus pastor dignátus est pro óvibus suis ánimam suam pónere, ita et ipsæ non dúbitent pro nómine pastóris occúmbere.
  Ipse est, cui non solum gloriósa mártyrum fortitúdo, sed étiam ómnium renascéntium fides in ipsa regeneratióne compátitur.
  Hoc est, quo Pascha Dómini in ázymis sinceritátis et veritátis legítime celebrátur; dum, ferménto véteris malítiæ abiécto, nova creatúra de ipso Dómino inebriátur et páscitur.
  Non enim áliud agit participátio córporis et sánguinis Christi, quam ut in id quod súmimus transeámus; et in quo commórtui et consepúlti et conresuscitáti sumus, ipsum per ómnia et spíritu et carne gestémus.
Second Reading
From a sermon of Saint Leo the Great, pope

Christ lives in his Church

My dear brethren, there is no doubt that the Son of God took our human nature into so close a union with himself that one and the same Christ is present, not only in the firstborn of all creation, but in all his saints as well. The head cannot be separated from the members, nor the members from the head. Not in this life, it is true, but only in eternity will God be all in all, yet even now he dwells, whole and undivided, in his temple the Church. Such was his promise to us when he said: See, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.
  And so all that the Son of God did and taught for the world’s reconciliation is not for us simply a matter of past history. Here and now we experience his power at work among us. Born of a virgin mother by the action of the Holy Spirit, Christ keeps his Church spotless and makes her fruitful by the inspiration of the same Spirit. In baptismal regeneration she brings forth children for God beyond all numbering. These are the sons of whom it is written: They are born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
  In Christ Abraham’s posterity is blessed, because in him the whole world receives the adoption of sons, and in him the patriarch becomes the father of all nations through the birth, not from human stock but by faith, of the descendants that were promised to him. From every nation on earth, without exception, Christ forms a single flock of those he has sanctified, daily fulfilling the promise he once made: I have other sheep, not of this fold, whom it is also ordained that I shall lead; and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
  Although it was primarily to Peter that he said: Feed my sheep, yet the one Lord guides all the pastors in the discharge of their office and leads to rich and fertile pastures all those who come to the rock. There is no counting the sheep who are nourished with his abundant love, and who are prepared to lay down their lives for the sake of the good shepherd who died for them.
  But it is not only the martyrs who share in his passion by their glorious courage; the same is true, by faith, of all who are reborn through baptism. That is why we are to celebrate the Lord’s paschal sacrifice with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The leaven of our former malice is thrown out, and a new creature is filled and inebriated with the Lord himself. For the effect of our sharing in the body and blood of Christ is to change us into what we receive. As we have died with him, and have been buried and raised to life with him, so we bear him within us, both in body and in spirit, in everything we do.
Responsorium
Io 10, 14; Ez 34, 11. 13 a
℟. Ego sum pastor bonus:* Et cognósco oves meas, et cognóscunt me meæ, allelúia.
℣. Ecce ego ipse requíram oves meas, et visitábo eas et edúcam eas de pópulis et pascam eas.* Et cognósco.
Responsory
℟. I am the good shepherd.* I know my sheep and they know me, alleluia.
℣. I myself will search for my sheep, find them for myself. Rescued from every kingdom, recovered from every land, I will bring them back to their own country, and they shall have pasture.* I know my sheep and they know me, alleluia.
Oremus.
  Annua recoléntes mystéria, quibus per renovátam oríginis dignitátem humána substántia spem resurrectiónis accépit, cleméntiam tuam, Dómine, supplíciter exorámus, ut, quod fide recólimus, perpétua dilectióne capiámus.
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.
Year by year, Lord,
  we recall the mystery of Easter,
  the mystery which restored mankind to its lost dignity
  and brought the hope of resurrection.
Grant that we may possess eternally in love
  what we now worship in faith.
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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