Apr 29, Office of Readings – Memorial for St. Catherine of Siena, V & D

Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II:
Ordinary: 1045
Psalter: Thursday, Week IV, 1570
Common of Virgins: 2108 (verse)
Proper of Seasons: 785 (first reading)
Proper of Saints: 1794 (second reading, concluding prayer)

Office of Readings for Thursday in Easter, the Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor

God, come to my assistance.
— Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Their own strength could not save them; it was your strength and the light of your face, alleluia.

Psalm 44
The misfortunes of God’s people
We triumph over all these things through him who loved us (Romans 8:37).

I

We heard with our own ears, O God,
our fathers have told us the story
of the things you did in their days,
you yourself, in days long ago.

To plant them you uprooted the nations:
to let them spread you laid peoples low.
No sword of their own won the land;
no arm of their own brought them victory.
It was your right hand, your arm
and the light of your face: for you loved them.

It is you, my king, my God,
who granted victories to Jacob.
Through you we beat down our foes;
in your name we trampled our aggressors.

For it was not in my bow that I trusted
nor yet was I saved by my sword:
it was you who saved us from our foes,
it was you who put our foes to shame.
All day long our boast was in God,
and we praised your name without ceasing.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Their own strength could not save them; it was your strength and the light of your face, alleluia.

Ant. 2 Turn back to the Lord; he will not hide his face, alleluia.

II

Yet now you have rejected us, disgraced us:
you no longer go forth with our armies.
You make us retreat from the foe
and our enemies plunder us at will.

You make us like sheep for the slaughter
and scatter us among the nations.
You sell your own people for nothing
and make no profit by the sale.

You make us the taunt of our neighbors,
the laughing stock of all who are near.
Among the nations, you make us a byword,
among the peoples a thing of derision.

All day long my disgrace is before me:
my face is covered with shame
at the voice of the taunter, the scoffer,
at the sight of the foe and avenger.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Turn back to the Lord; he will not hide his face, alleluia.

Ant. 3 Arise, Lord, do not abandon us for ever, alleluia.

III

This befell us though we had not forgotten you;
though we had not been false to your covenant,
though we had not withdrawn our hearts;
though our feet had not strayed from your path.
Yet you have crushed us in a place of sorrows
and covered us with the shadow of death.

Had we forgotten the name of our God
or stretched out our hands to another god
would not God have found this out,
he who knows the secrets of the heart?
It is for you that we face death all day long
and are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Awake, O Lord, why do you sleep?
Arise, do not reject us for ever!
Why do you hide your face
and forget our oppression and misery?

For we are brought down low to the dust;
our body lies prostrate on the earth.
Stand up and come to our help!
Redeem us because of your love!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm Prayer

Lord Jesus, you foretold that we would share in the persecutions that brought you to a violent death. The Church formed at the cost of your precious blood is even now conformed to your Passion; may it be transformed, now and eternally, by the power of your resurrection.

Ant. Arise, Lord, do not abandon us for ever, alleluia.

Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell)
A moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.

You have shown me how to live.
— You will fill me with joy in your presence.

READINGS

First reading
From the book of Revelation
15:5—16:21
The seven bowls of God’s wrath

I, John, had another vision. The heavenly sanctuary which is the tent of witness opened up, and out of it came the seven angels holding the seven plagues. The angels were dressed in pure white linen, each with a sash of gold about his breast. One of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of the God who lives forever and ever. Then the sanctuary became so filled with the smoke which arose from God’s glory and might that no one could enter it until the seven plagues of the seven angels had come to an end.

I heard a mighty voice from the sanctuary say to the seven angels, “Go and pour out upon the earth the seven bowls of God’s wrath!”

The first angel went out, and when he poured out his bowl on the earth, severe and festering boils broke out on the men who had accepted the mark of the beast or worshiped its image.

The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea. The sea turned to blood like that of a corpse, and every creature living in the sea died.

The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs. These also turned to blood. Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters cry out:

“You are just, O Holy One
who is and who was,
in passing this sentence!
To those who shed the blood of saints and prophets,
you have given blood to drink;
they deserve it.”
Then I heard the altar cry out:
“Yes, Lord God Almighty,
your judgments are true and just!”

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. He was commissioned to burn men with fire. Those who were scorched by the intense heat blasphemed the name of God who had power to send these plagues, but they did not repent or give him due honor.

The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast. Its kingdom was plunged into darkness; men bit their tongues in pain and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their suffering and their boils. But they did not turn away from their wicked deeds.

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates. Its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East. I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet; these spirits were devils who worked prodigies. They went out to assemble all the kings of the earth for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. (Be on your guard! I come like a thief. Happy the man who stays wide awake and fully clothed for fear of going naked and exposed for all to see!) The devils then assembled the kings in a place called in Hebrew “Armageddon.”

Finally, the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the empty air. From the throne in the sanctuary came a loud voice which said, “It is finished!” There followed lightning flashes and peals of thunder, then a violent earthquake. Such was its violence that there has never been one like it in all the time men have lived on the earth. The great city was split into three parts, and the other Gentile cities also fell. God remembered Babylon the great, giving her the cup filled with the blazing wine of his wrath. Every island fled and mountains disappeared. Giant hailstones like huge weights came crashing down on mankind from the sky, and men blasphemed God for the plague of hailstones, because this plague was so severe.

RESPONSORY Matthew 24:43; Revelation 16:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:3

If the head of the household knew when the thief was coming, surely he would keep watch.
— See, I come like a thief, says the Lord; blessed is he who keeps watch, alleluia.

Just when people are saying: Now peace and security are ours, suddenly ruin will come upon them.
— See, I come like a thief, says the Lord; blessed is he who keeps watch, alleluia.

Second reading
From the dialogue On Divine Providence by Saint Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor
I tasted and I saw

Eternal God, eternal Trinity, you have made the blood of Christ so precious through his sharing in your divine nature. You are a mystery as deep as the sea; the more I search, the more I find, and the more I find the more I search for you. But I can never be satisfied; what
I receive will ever leave me desiring more. When you fill my soul I have an even greater hunger, and I grow more famished for your light. I desire above all to see you, the true light, as you really are.

I have tasted and seen the depth of your mystery and the beauty of your creation with the light of my understanding. I have clothed myself with your likeness and have seen what I shall be. Eternal Father, you have given me a share in your power and the wisdom that Christ claims as his own, and your Holy Spirit has given me the desire to love you. You are my Creator, eternal Trinity, and I am your creature. You have made of me a new creation in the blood of your Son, and I know that you are moved with love at the beauty of your creation, for you have enlightened me.

Eternal Trinity, Godhead, mystery deep as the sea, you could give me no greater gift than the gift of yourself. For you are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being. Yes, you are a fire that takes away the coldness, illuminates the mind with its light and causes me to know your truth. By this light, reflected as it were in a mirror, I recognize that you are the highest good, one we can neither comprehend nor fathom. And I know that you are beauty and wisdom itself. The food of angels, you gave yourself to man in the fire of your love.

You are the garment which covers our nakedness, and in our hunger you are a satisfying food, for you are sweetness and in you there is no taste of bitterness, O triune God!

RESPONSORY

My sister and my beloved, open yourself to me, you are a coheir of my kingdom and you have understood the hidden mysteries of my truth.
— You are enriched with the gift of my Spirit, cleansed of all sin by the shedding of my blood, alleluia.

Go forth from the quiet of contemplation and courageously bear witness to my truth.
— You are enriched with the gift of my Spirit, cleansed of all sin by the shedding of my blood, alleluia.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

O God,
who set Saint Catherine of Siena on fire
with divine love in her contemplation of the Lord’s Passion
and her service of your Church,
grant, through her intercession,
that your people, participating in the mystery of Christ,
may ever exult in the revelation of his glory.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
— Amen.

ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration)

Let us praise the Lord.
— And give him thanks.