Sunday IX Post Pentecost: Missa “Ecce Deus ádjuvat me“
God is our Helper, and He will always come to our aid He will open the ears of His mercy to our prayers, and will not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength. Let us obey therefore with joy the precepts of the Lord; let us worthily attend In the temple the mysteries of the holy Mass, and partake of the Body of the Lord, the manna of our souls.
This day’s liturgy puts before us in the Epistle and Gospel, the terrible punishments incurred by the Israelites on account of their immorality and irreligion. Twenty-three thousand Hebrews perished in one day on account of their lust; several were killed by serpents for having tempted God by complaining that they had no other food but manna; many were killed by the destroying angel on account of their murmuring (Epistle), and over a million Jews perished when Jerusalem was destroyed for having rejected the Messiah. They were thrown out of the Kingdom of God as the sellers were driven from the temple which is its figure, for having transformed the house of prayer into a den of thieves (Gospel).
The Gentiles, called in their stead, must therefore be faithful to their vocation and take care not to fall in their turn (Epistle). Let them obey therefore with holy joy the commandments of the Lord (Offertory), let them worthily attend in the temple the Eucharistic mysteries in which the work of our redemption is daily enacted (Secret) and eat the flesh of Jesus which is the true manna of our souls (Communion).
Then will God always come to their help (Introit), He will open the ears of His Mercy to their prayers (Collect), and will not allow them to be tempted beyond their strength (Epistle).
INTROIT Psalm 53: 6-7
Behold God is my helper, and the Lord is the protector of my soul: turn back the evils upon my enemies, and cut them off in Thy truth, O Lord my protector. (Ps. 53: 3) Save me, 0 God, by Thy Name, and deliver me in Thy strength. v. Glory be…etc
COLLECT
Let Thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Thy suppliant people: and that Thou mayest grant their desire to those that seek, make them to ask such things as shall please Thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, Forever and ever.
Collect for the Intercession of the Saints
Defend us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all dangers of mind and body: and through the intercession of the blessed and glorious Mary, ever Virgin, mother of God, of St Joseph, of Thy holy apostles, Peter and Paul, and of all the saints, in Thy loving-kindness grant us safety and peace; that, all adversities and errors being overcome, Thy Church may serve Thee in security and freedom. Through our Lord.
Collect for God’s Holy Church
Graciously hear, O Lord, the prayers of Thy Church that, having overcome all adversity and every error, she may serve Thee in security and freedom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, Forever and ever.
EPISTLE I Corinthians 10. 6-13
Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. Brethren, let us not covet evil things, as they also coveted: Neither become ye idolaters, as some of them: as it is written “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and there fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them tempted, and perished by the serpents. Neither do you murmur, as some of them murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them in figure, and they are written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the world are to come. Wherefore he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall. Let no temptation take hold on you, but such as is human: and God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it.
GRADUAL/ALLELUIA Psalm 8: 2
O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is Thy Name in the whole earth. V. For Thy magnificence is elevated above the Heavens. Alleluia, alleluia. V. (Ps. 58: 3) Deliver me from my enemies, O my God: and defend me from them that rise up against me. Alleluia.
GOSPEL Luke 16: 41-47
At that time, when Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, seeing the city, He wept over it, saying: If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace: but now they are hidden from thy eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, and thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee on every side and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee; and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone, because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation.” And entering into the temple, He began to cast out them that sold therein, and them, that bought, saying to them: “It is written, ‘My house is the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves’.” And He was teaching daily in the temple.
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Psalm 18: 9-12
The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts, and His judgments sweeter than honey and the honeycomb: for Thy servant keepeth them.
SECRET
Grant to us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that we may worthily frequent these Mysteries: for as often as the memorial of this Victim is celebrated, the work of our redemption is wrought. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever.
Secret for the Intercession of the Saints
Graciously hear us, O God our Saviour, and, by virtue of this Sacrament, defend us from all enemies of soul and body, bestowing upon us Thy grace here and Thy glory hereafter. Through our Lord.
Secret for God’s Holy Church
Protect us, O Lord, who assist at Thy mysteries, that, cleaving to things divine, we may serve Thee both in body and in mind. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever.
PREFACE of the Blessed Trinity
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God. Who, together with Thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord: not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one Substance. For what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the angels and archangels, the cherubim also and seraphim do praise: who cease not daily to cry out, with one voice saying:
COMMUNION ANTIPHON John 6: 57
He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in him, saith the Lord.
POSTCOMMUNION
May the communion of Thy Sacrament, we beseech Thee, O Lord, bring to us cleansing and grant us unity. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever.
Postcommunion for the Intercession of the Saints
May the gift of this Divine Sacrament which we have offered, cleanse us and defend us, we beseech Thee, O Lord; and through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of God, of St. Joseph, of Thy holy apostles Peter and Paul, and of all the saints, free us from all iniquity and deliver us from all adversity. Through the same Lord.
Postcommunion for God’s Holy Church
O Lord our God, we pray Thee that Thou suffer not to succumb to human hazards those whom Thou hast been pleased to make sharers of divine mysteries. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, For ever and ever.
The Brighton Oratory 