my strength: the Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer. O my deliverer, &c.

COLL. Enlighten, O God of mercy, the hearts of thy people by means of this holy fast; and since all our devotion is the effect of thy bounty, mercifully hear the petitions we make. Through.

LESSON. Lev. xix. 10. 19. In those days: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the assembly of the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: I am the Lord your God. You shall not steal. You shall not lie: neither shall any man deceive his neighbour. Thou shalt not swear falsely by my name, nor profane the name of thy God. I am the Lord. Thou shalt not calumniate thy neighbour, nor oppress him by violence. The wages of him that has been hired by thee, shall not abide with thee until the morning. Thou shalt not speak evil of the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, because I am the Lord. Thou shalt not do that which is unjust, nor judge unjustly. Respect not the person of the poor, nor honour the countenance of the mighty. But judge thy neighbour according to justice. Thou shalt not be a detractor nor a whisperer among the people. Thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy neighbour. I am the Lord. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart, but reprove him openly, lest thou incur sin through him. Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of thy citizens. Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself. I am the Lord. Keep ye my laws, for I am the Lord your God.

GRÅD. Ps. xxix. I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast upheld me: and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me. V. O Lord my God, I have cried to thee, and thou hast healed me. Thou hast brought forth, O Lord, my soul from hell; thou hast saved me from them that go down into the pit.

TRACT. Deal not, &c., page 162.

GOSPEL. John x. 22. 38. At that time: It was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem: and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch; the Jews therefore came round about him, and said to him: How long dost thou hold our souls in suspense? If thou be the Christ tell us plainly. Jesus answered them: I speak to you, and you believe not: the works that I do in the name of my Father, they give testimony of me: but you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice: and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them life everlasting; and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand. That which my Father hath given me is greater than all: and no man can snatch them out of the hand of my Father. I and the Father are one. The Jews then took up stones to stone him. Jesus answered them: Many good works I have showed you from my Father; for which of those works do you stone me? The Jews answered him: For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy: and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them: Is it not written in your law: I said, you are gods? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God was spoken, and the Scripture cannot be broken; do you say of him, whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world: Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though you will not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.

OFFERT. Ps. lviii. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; and defend me, O Lord, from them that rise up against me.

SECRET. Grant, O merciful God, that we

may offer thee, with a sincere heart, this sacrifice of propitiation and praise. Through.

COMM. Ps. xxv. I will wash my hands among the innocent; and will compass thy altar, O Lord, that I may hear the voice of thy praise, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

P. COMM. Having received thy heavenly gift, we humbly beseech thee, O almighty God, that it may produce in us the effect of the sacra ment, and procure our salvation. Through.

Let us pray. Bow down your heads to God. PRAYER. Hear our prayers and entreaties, O Almighty God, and grant that those to whom thou givest hopes of thy mercy, may experience the effects of thy usual clemency. Through.

THURSDAY.

The Introit, Offertory, and Communion, as on the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost.

COLL. Grant, we beseech thee, O almighty God, that the dignity of human nature, which hath been wounded by excess, may be cured by the practice of healing temperance. Through.

LESSON. Dan. iii. 34. 45. In those days: Azarias prayed to the Lord, saying: O Lord, our God, deliver us not up for ever, we beseech thee, for thy name's sake, and abolish not thy covenant: and take not away thy mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham thy beloved, and Isaac thy servant, and Israel thy holy one: to whom thou hast spoken, promising that thou wouldst multiply their seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is on the sea-shore. For we, O Lord, are diminished more than any nation, and are brought low in all the earth this day for our sins. Neither is there at this time prince, or leader, or prophet, or holocaust, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place of first-fruits before thee, that

we may find thy mercy: nevertheless, in a contrite heart and humble spirit, let us be accepted. As in holocausts of rams, and bullocks, and as in thousands of fat lambs; so let our sacrifice be made in thy sight this day, that it may please thee: for there is no confusion to them that trust in thee. And now we follow thee with all our heart, and we fear thee, and seek thy face. Put us not to confusion, but deal with us according to thy meekness, and according to the multitude of thy mercies. And deliver us according to thy wonderful works, and give glory to thy name, Ŏ Lord; and let all them be confounded that show evils to thy servants, let them be confounded in all thy might, and let their strength be broken; and let them know that thou art the Lord, the only God, and glorious over all the world, O Lord our God.

Ps. xcv.

GRAD. Bring up sacrifices, and come into his courts; adore ye the Lord in his holy court. V. Ps. xxviii. The Lord will discover the thick woods; and in his temple all shall speak his glory.

GOSPEL. Luke vii. 36. 50. At that time: One of the Pharisees desired him to eat with him. And he went into the house of the Pharisee, and sat down to meat. And behold a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that he sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment; and standing behind at his feet, she began to wash his feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. And the Pharisee, who had invited him, seeing it, spoke within himself, saying: This man, if he were a prophet, would know surely who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, that she is a sinner. And Jesus answering, said to him: Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee. But he said: Master, say it. A certain

creditor had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And whereas they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which therefore of the two loveth him most? Simon answering, said: I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said to him: Thou hast judged rightly. And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon: Dost thou see this woman? I entered into thy house; thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she with tears hath washed my feet, and with her hairs hath wiped them. Thou gavest me no kiss; but she, since she came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint; but she with ointment hath anointed my feet. Wherefore I say to thee: Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he loveth less. And he said to her: Thy sins are forgiven thee. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves: Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman: Thy faith hath made thee safe, go in peace.

SECRET. O Lord our God, who hast appointed the offerings to be consecrated to thee, to consist chiefly of those creatures which thou createdst for the support of our weakness: grant, we beseech thee, that they may be to us both a help in this life, and a sacrament to procure us that which is eternal. Through.

P. COMM. Grant, Ŏ Lord, that what we have received with our mouths we may also take with a pure mind; and that of a temporary gift, it may become to us an eternal remedy. Through. Let us pray. Bow down your heads to God. PRAYER. Be propitious, O Lord, we beseech thee, to thin teeople; that, forsaking what displeaseth lis subdhey may find comfort in keeping thy law. dulceagh.