O King of all the nations,
the only joy of every human heart;
O Keystone of the mighty arch of man,
come and save the creature
You fashioned from the dust.
the only joy of every human heart;
O Keystone of the mighty arch of man,
come and save the creature
You fashioned from the dust.
“Once he was weaned, she brought him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the house of the LORD in Shiloh.” (1 Samuel 1:24.)
Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this verse from the First Reading proclaimed at Mass today:
“Considering all these things, and whatever else the Lord shall have made known to you in this matter, which either does not occur to me or would take too much time to state here, strive in prayer to overcome this world: pray in hope, pray in faith, pray in love, pray earnestly and patiently, pray as a widow belonging to Christ. For although prayer is, as He has taught, the duty of all His members, i.e. of all who believe in Him and are united to His body, a more assiduous attention to prayer is found to be specially enjoined in Scripture upon those who are widows. Two women of the name of Anna are honorably named there — the one, Elkanah's wife, who was the mother of holy Samuel; the other, the widow who recognized the Most Holy One when He was yet a babe. The former, though married, prayed with sorrow of mind and brokenness of heart because she had no sons; and she obtained Samuel, and dedicated him to the Lord, because she vowed to do so when she prayed for him.” (Letter 130)
Collect
O God,
Who, seeing the human race fallen into death,
willed to redeem it
by the coming of Your Only Begotten Son,
grant, we pray,
that those who confess His Incarnation
with humble fervor
may merit His company as their Redeemer.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Who, seeing the human race fallen into death,
willed to redeem it
by the coming of Your Only Begotten Son,
grant, we pray,
that those who confess His Incarnation
with humble fervor
may merit His company as their Redeemer.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
