CHAPTER THE SEVENTH. ON THE OFFICE OF VESPERS FOR SUNDAY AND FEASTS, DURING THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST. THE Office of Vespers, or Even Song, consists firstly of the five following Psalms. For certain Feasts, one or other of these Psalms are changed for others, which are more appropriate to the day; but those we now give, are the ones for Sunday's Vespers. After the Pater and Are have been said in secret, the Church commences this Hour with her favourite supplication: . Deus, in adjutorium meum intende. R. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto; Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen. Alleluia. ANT. Dixit Dominus. V. Incline unto mine aid O God. B. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Alleluia. ANT. The Lord said. The first Psalm is a prophecy of the future glories of the Messias. The Son of David shall sit on the right hand of the heavenly Father. He is King; he is Priest; he is the Son of Man, and the Son of God. His enemies will attack him, but he will crush them. He will be humbled; but this voluntary humiliation will lead him to highest glory. PSALM 109. The Lord said to my Lord, his Son: Sit thou at my right hand, and reign with me. Until, on the day of thy last coming, I make thy enemies thy footstool. O Christ! the Lord, thy Father, will send forth the sceptre of thy power out of Sion: from thence rule thou in the midst of thy enemies. With thee is the principality in the day of thy strength, in the brightness of the Saints: For the Father hath said to thee: From the womb before the day-star I begot thee. The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: he hath said, speaking of thee, the GodMan: Thou art a Priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech. Therefore, O Father, the Lord thy Son is at thy right hand he hath broken kings in the day of his wrath. He shall also judge among nations: in that terrible coming, he shall fill the ruins of the world: he shall crush the heads in the land of many. He cometh now in humility; he shall drink, in the way, of the torrent of sufferings: therefore, shall he lift up the head. ANT. The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand. ANT. Faithful. Dixit Dominus Domino meo: * Sede a dextris meis. Donec ponam inimicos tuos: scabellum pedum tuorum. Virgam virtutis tuæ emittet Dominus ex Sion: * dominare in. medio inimicorum tuorum. Tecum principium in die virtutis tuæ in splendoribus Sanctorum:* ex utero ante luciferum genui te. Juravit Dominus, et non pœnitebit eum: * Tu es Sacerdos in æternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech. Dominus a dextris tuis :* confregit in die iræ suæ reges. Judicabit in nationibus, implebit ruinas: *conquassabit capita in terra multo rum. De torrente in via bibet:* propterea exaltabit caput. ANT. Dixit Dominus Domino meo, sede a dextris meis. ANT. Fidelia. The following Psalm commemorates the mercies of God to his people,-the promised Covenant,-the Redemption, his Fidelity to his word. But it also tells us, that the Name of the Lord is terrible because it is holy; and concludes by admonishing us, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. PSALM 110. Confitebor tibi, Domine, in toto corde meo: * in concilio justorum et congregatione. Magna opera Domini : * exquisita in omnes voluntates ejus. Confessio et magnificentia opus ejus:* et justitia ejus manet in sæculum sæculi. Memoriam fecit mirabilium suorum, misericors et miserator Dominus: * escam dedit timentibus se. Memor erit in sæculum testamenti sui : * virtutem operum suorum annuntiabit populo suo. Ut det illis hæreditatem gentium: opera manuum ejus veritas et judicium. Fidelia omnia mandata ejus, confirmata in sæculum sæculi : * facta in veritate et equitate. Redemptionem misit populo suo: * mandavit in æternum testamentum suum. Sanctum et terribile Nomen ejus:* initium sapientize timor Domini. Intellectus bonus omni : I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart in the counsel of the just, and in the congregation. Great are the works of the Lord sought out according to all his wills. His work is praise and magnificence: and his justice continueth for ever and ever. He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord: he is the Bread of life, he hath given food to them that fear him. He will be mindful for ever of his covenant with men: he will show forth to his people the power of his works. That he may give to his Church the inheritance of the Gentiles: the works of his hands are truth and judgment. All his commandments are faithful, confirmed for ever and ever made in truth and equity. He hath sent redemption to his people; he hath thereby commanded his covenant for ever. Holy and terrible is his name: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding to all that do it: his praise continueth for ever and ever. ANT. Faithful are all his commandments; confirmed for ever and ever. ANT. In his commandments. bus facientibus eum: *laudatio ejus manetin sæculum sæculi. ANT. Fidelia omnia mandata ejus; confirmata in sæculum sæculi. ANT. In mandatis. The next Psalm sings the happiness of the just man, and his hopes on the day of his Lord's coming It tells us, likewise, of the confusion of the sinner who shall have despised the mysteries of God's love towards mankind. PSALM 111. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the righteous shall be blessed. Glory and wealth shall be in his house: and his justice remaineth for ever and ever. To the righteous a light is risen up in darkness: that light is the Lord, who is merciful, and compassionate, and just. Acceptable is the man that showeth mercy and lendeth; he shall order his very words with judgment: because he shall not be moved for ever. The just shall be in everlasting remembrance: he shall not fear the evil hearing. His heart is ready to hope in the Lord; his heart is strengthened: he shall not be moved until he look over his enemies. Beatus vir qui timet Dominum: *in mandatis ejus volet nimis. Potens in terra erit semen ejus: * generatio rectorum benedicetur. Gloria et divitiæ in domo ejus: et justitia ejus manet in sæculum sæculi. Exortum est in tenebris lumen rectis: * misericors, et miserator, et justus. Jucundus homo, qui miseretur et commodat, disponet sermones suos in judicio: quia in æternum non commovebitur. In memoria æterna erit justus:* ab auditione mala non timebit. Paratum cor ejus sperare in Domino, confirmatum est cor ejus: * non commovebitur donec despiciat inimicos suos. Dispersit, dedit pauperibus; justitia ejus manet in sæculum sæculi: * ejus exaltabitur in gloria. cornu Peccator videbit, et irascetur, dentibus suis fremet et tabescet: * desiderium peccatorum peribit. ANT. In mandatis ejus cupit nimis. ANT. Sit nomen Domini. He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor; his justice remaineth for ever and ever: his horn shall be exalted in glory. The wicked shall see, and shall be angry: he shall gnash with his teeth, and pine away; the desire of the wicked shall perish. ANT. In his commandments he delighted exceedingly. ANT. May the name of the Lord. The Psalm, Laudate, pueri, is a Canticle of praise to the Lord, who, from his high heaven, has taken pity on the human race, and has vouchsafed to honour it by the Incarnation of his own Son. PSALM 112. Praise the Lord, ye children; praise ye the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord; from henceforth now and for ever. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the name of the Lord is worthy of praise. The Lord is high above all nations: and his glory above the heavens. Who is as the Lord, our God, who dwelleth on high: and looketh down on the low things in heaven and in earth? Raising up the needy from the earth: and lifting up the poor out of the dunghill. That he may place him with princes: with the princes of his people. |