Carissimi; Today’s Mass: Wednesday Lent III

10-commandmentsWednesday Lent III: Missa “Ego autem in Dómino sperábo”

The Station, at Rome, is in the church of St. Sisto Vecchio. It was built in the 4th century, and was one of the first parish churches in Rome and was known as the Titulus Crescentianae. Tradition claims that it was founded by Pope Anastasius I.

Lesson from the Book of Exodus. God on Mount Sinai commanded men to honor their parents and to love their neighbor. The Gospel tells us that the Pharisees added to the Commandments human traditions, which consisted of wholly exterior formalities and to which they attached more importance than they did to the law of Moses. The Church therefore seeks to put us on our guard against the observance of merely exterior practices of worship or fasts, which are not united to acts of charity.

INTROIT Psalm 30:7-8

My trust is in the Lord. I will rejoice and be glad of your kindness, when You have seen my affliction. Ps 30:2 In You, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your justice rescue me. V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. My trust is in the Lord. I will rejoice and be glad of your kindness, when You have seen my affliction.

COLLECT

Grant, we beseech You, O Lord, that, improved by wholesome fasting, and thus abstaining from harmful sin, we may the more readily receive Your mercy. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. R.Amen.

Second Collect for the Intercession of Thy Saints
Defend us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all dangers of mind and body; that through the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, together with blessed Joseph, Thy blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and blessed N. (Here mention the titular saint of the church), and all the saints, mercifully grant us safety and peace; that all adversities and errors being overcome, Thy Church may serve Thee in security and freedom.

Third Collect for the Living and the Dead
O almighty and eternal God, who hast dominion over both the living and the dead, and hast mercy on all whom Thou forekowest shall be Thine by faith and good works : we humbly beseech Thee that all for whom we have resolved to make supplication whether the present world still holds them in the flesh or the world to come has already received them out of the body, may, through the intercession of all Thy saints, obtain of Thy goodness and clemency pardon for all their sins. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever. R. Amen.

EPISTLE  Exodus 20:12-24

Thus says the Lord God: Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male or female slave, not his ox or ass, nor anything else that belongs to him. When the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the trumpet blast and the mountain smoking, they all feared and trembled. So they took up a position much farther away and said to Moses, You speak to us, and we will listen; but let not the Lord speak to us, or we shall die. Moses answered the people, Do not be afraid, for God has come to you only to test you and put His fear upon you, lest you should sin. Still the people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the cloud where God was. The Lord told Moses, Thus shall you speak to the Israelites: You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven. Do not make anything to rank with Me; neither gods of silver nor gods of gold shall you make for yourselves. An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and upon it you shall sacrifice your holocausts and peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen, in whatever place I choose for the remembrance of My name.

GRADUAL Psalm 6:3- 4.

Have pity on me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord. V. For my body is in terror; my soul, too, is utterly terrified.

TRACTUS Psalm 102:10

O Lord, deal with us not according to our sins, nor requite us according to our crimes. V. Ps 78:8 – 9. O Lord, remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may Your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low. [kneel] V. Help us, O God, our Savior, because of the glory of Your Name, O Lord; deliver us and pardon our sins for Your Name’s sake.

GOSPEL Matthew 15:1-20

At that time, the Scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the ancients? For they do not wash their hands when they take food. But He answered and said to them, And why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Let him who curses father or mother be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever shall say to his father or mother, Any support you might have had from me is dedicated to God, does not have to honor his father or his mother.’ So you have made void the commandment of God by your tradition. Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; and in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrine the precepts of men.’ Then He called the crowd to Him, and said to them, Hear, and understand. What goes into the mouth does not defile a man; but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man. Then His disciples came up and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees have taken offense at hearing this saying? But He answered and said, Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides of blind men. But if a blind man guide a blind man, both fall into a pit. But Peter spoke to Him, saying, Explain to us this parable. And He said, Are you also even yet without understanding? Do you not realize that whatever enters the mouth passes into the belly and is cast out into the drain? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and it is they that defile a man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, immorality, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things that defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.

OFFERTORY Psalm 108:21

O Lord, deal kindly with me for Your Name’s sake; because your kindness is generous.

SECRET

Accept, we beseech You, O Lord, that prayers and gifts Your people offer, and from all dangers protect us who celebrate Your sacramental rites. 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. R.Amen.

Second Secret to implore the Intercession of the Saints
Graciously hear us, O God our Savior, and by the virtue of this sacrament protect us from all enemies of soul and body, bestowing on us both grace in this life and glory hereafter.

Third Secret for the Living and the Dead
O God, Who alone knowest the number of the elect to be admitted to the happiness of Heaven, grant, we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of all Thy saints, the names of all who have been recommended to our prayers and of all the faithful, may be inscribed in the book of blessed predestination. Protect us, O Lord, who assist at Thy mysteries; that, fixed upon things divine we may serve Thee in both body and mind. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever. R. Amen.

PREFACE of Lent

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 by this bodily fast, dost curb our vices, dost lift up our minds and bestow on us strength and rewards; through Christ our Lord. Through whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, the Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with these we entreat Thee that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted while we say with lowly praise:
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY…

COMMUNION Psalm 15:11

You will show me the path to life, You will fill me with fullness of joys in Your presence, O Lord.

POSTCOMMUNION

May the heavenly banquet with which we have been nourished, make us holy, O Lord; may it be an atonement for all our sins, and make us worthy of the heavenly promises. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever. R. Amen.

Second Postcommunion to implore the Intercession of the Saints
May the oblation of this divine sacrament cleanse and defend us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and, through the intercession of the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with blessed Joseph, Thy blessed apostles Peter and Paul, blessed N. (here mention the titular saint of the church), and all the saints, purify us from all our sins and deliver us from all adversity.

Third Postcommunion for the Living and the Dead
Let us pray. May the sacraments which we have received purify us, we beseech Thee, O almighty and merciful Lord; and through the intercession of all Thy saints, grant that this Thy sacrament may not be unto us a condemnation, but a salutary intercession for pardon; may it be the washing away of sin, the strength of the weak, a protection against all dangers of the world, and a remission of all the sins of the faithful, whether living or dead. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever. R. Amen.

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE

Let us pray. Bow down your heads before God.

Grant, almighty God, we beseech You, that we who seek the grace of Your protection, delivered from all evils, may serve You with untroubled minds.Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever. R. Amen.