Elders are to be honoured with double

honour, specially they who labour in

the word and doctrine of GOD. And by this commandment we are ordered not to muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn; and that the labourer is worthy of his hire.

R. Reuben. p. cxl.

Lesson III.

THE LORD gave commandment, that, bearing in mind the weakness, old age, or poverty of their parents, children are to honour them by ministering to them of the necessaries of life. The scribes and Pharisees, desiring to overturn this most prudent law of GoD, and to bring in

ungodliness under the name of godliness, taught wicked children that if any one should desire to vow to GOD, Who is the true Father, those things which ought to have been given to their parents, oblation to the LORD ought to be put before gifts to their parents; or that those parents themselves, who saw that these things were consecrated to GOD, would refuse them, lest they should incur the sin of sacrilege, and so would die of want. And thus it came to pass that the offerings of children, made under the pretence of the temple and of GOD, turned to the gain of the priests.

Ry. Jacob lamented. p. cxl.

THURSDAY.

Book 4 on S. Luke iv. Observe the mercy of the LORD the SAVIOUR. He did not leave Judæa, either moved by indignation, or offended by guilt, or insulted by Wrong: nay, even forgetful of the wrong done Him, mindful of His mercy, He softened the hearts of the teaching, another time by delivering, unbelieving people, at one time by another time by healing. And S. Luke hath very well mentioned first

that a man was delivered from an evil spirit, and then adds the healing of a woman. For the LORD came to cure both sexes; but that ought first to be

healed which was first created; nor should the other be passed over, which had sinned rather by fickleness

or weakness of mind.

Ry. When they saw. p. cxxxvii.

Lesson II.

THE beginning of the LORD's work of healing on the Sabbath denotes that the new creation should begin where the old creation had left off, and it signifies in the very beginning that the Son of GOD was not under the law, but above the law; and that the law was not destroyed, but fulfilled. For it is not by the law, but by the WORD, that the world was created, as we read: By the WORD of the LORD were the heavens made. The law then is not destroyed, but fulfilled, that falling man might be restored. Whence it is the Apostle saith: Put ye off the old man, and put ye on the new man, which is created after GOD. Ry. Judah said. p. cxxxvii.

Lesson III.

to S. Luke.

Lesson I. Chap. iv.

bath, to shew that He was indeed the Creator, Who was linking one work on to the other, and carrying on

the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever. And that which follows.

Just as when a builder has settled to renew a house, he does not begin to take down the old one from the basement, but from the roof. Therefore

He puts His hand to the place where He last left off, and next begins with

the smaller parts, that he may get at

the larger. Men too can deliver from

the evil spirit, but by the word of GOD; it belongs to Divine power alone to command the resurrection of the dead. It may well be that our flesh lay sick with the various fevers of sin, in the type of that woman, the mother of Simon and Andrew and was heated with the unreasonable allurements of different passions. I should not call the fever of love less than

that of heat: so the one inflames the mind, the other the body. Our fever is avarice; our fever is lust; our fever is luxury: our fever is ambition; our fever is wrath.

Ry. And they drew. p. cxxxviii.

FRIDAY.

Lesson of the Holy Gospel according to S. John.

Lesson I. Chap. iv.

What therefore Whom all things were made without be stronger than Him, by labour? Wouldst thou know Him to be weak? The WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us. The might of CHRIST created thee: the weakness of CHRIST re-created thee. The might of CHRIST caused that to be which was not: the weakness of CHRIST caused that which was not,

A Homily of S. Augustine the Bishop. Tract 15 on S. John.

Now mysteries begin. For JESUS is not wearied for nought; not indeed for nought is the might of GOD wearied, not for nought is He wearied by Whom the wearied are refreshed: not indeed for nought is He wearied by Whose absence we are wearied, by Whose presence we are strengthened. Nevertheless, JESUS is wearied, and is wearied with His journey, and sitteth; and sitteth over against the well, and sitteth wearied at the sixth hour. All these things mean something; they are intended to point out something; they excite our attention; they exhort us to knock. May He, therefore, open unto us and unto you, Who was pleased thus to exhort, and to say, Knock, and it shall be opened unto

you.

Ry. When Jacob saw. p. cxxxviii.

Ry. When Joseph. p. cxxxviii.

Lesson III.

HE, therefore, weak, nourished

thee also weak, as a hen her chickens: for to this He likened Himself.

How often, saith He to Jerusalem, would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! But ye see, my brethren, how a hen becomes weak with her chickens. For no other bird knows how to be a mother. We see sparrows build their nests before our eyes; daily we see swallows, storks, and doves building, which, unless when we see them in their nests, we do not know to be parents. But a hen so becomes weak by her chickens, that even when she is not followed by her chickens, even if thou seest not the young, thou knowest her to be a mother.

Ry. Think on me. p. cxxxix.

SATURDAY.

Lesson of the Holy Gospel according

to S. John.

Lesson I. Chap. viii.

AT that time: JESUS went unto the Mount of Olives and early in the morning He came again into the temple. And that which follows. A Homily of S. Augustine the Bishop.

Tract 33 on S. John.

JESUS went unto the Mount of Olives: to the fruitful mount, to the mount of unction, to the mount of chrism. For where could CHRIST SO meetly teach as in the Mount of Olives? For the name of CHRIST is derived from chrism, and chrism in Greek is unction in Latin; and therefore He hath anointed us, because we are wrestlers against the devil. And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught them, and He was not taken, because it pleased Him not, as yet, to suffer. But now give heed,

and see how the LORD's meekness is tried by His foes.

Ry. We suffer. p. cxxxix.

Lesson II.

AND the Scribes and Pharisees

brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned; but what sayest Thou? This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him. And whence to accuse Him? Had they ever taken Him in any guiltiness, or could this woman be said in any way to pertain to Him?

Ry. Reuben said. p. cxl.

For of Him it was foretold: Gird Thee Thou most mighty, according to Thy with Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O worship and renown. Good luck have Thou with Thine honour ride on,

because of the word of truth, of meekness, and righteousness. Therefore He brought truth as the Teacher, meekness as the Deliverer, righteousness as the Examiner. In the HOLY GHOST the Prophet foretold that He should reign because of these acknowledged; when He moved not things. When he spake, truth was Himself against His foes, His meek

ness was exalted.

When His enemies

suffered the pangs of spite and envy,
because of two of those qualities, that
is, His truth and meekness, they put
a stumbling-block before Him in the
third, namely, His righteousness.
Ry. Jacob lamented. p. cxl.

FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT.
Inv. and Hymn as 1st Sunday in

Lent, p. cxx.

FIRST NOCTURN.

Of the Book of Exodus. Lesson I. Chap. iii. NOW Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of

Midian: and he led the flock to the

backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of GoD, even to Horeb. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, GoD called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the GoD of thy Father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the GoD

Ry. The LORD said unto Moses, Get thee down into Egypt, and command Pharaoh * that he let My people go: the heart of Pharaoh is hardened he will not let My people go, save by a mighty hand. y. The cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me, and I have seen their affliction: come now, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh. That.

Lesson II.

AND the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Ry. Moses stood before Pharaoh, and said: Thus saith the LORD: * let My people go, that they may sacrifice to Me in the wilderness. V. The LORD GOD of the Hebrews hath sent me to thee, saying. Let.

Lesson III.

hold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The GOD of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD GOD of your fathers, the God of Abraham,

the GOD of Isaac, and the GoD of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

Ry. I will sing unto the LORD, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. * The LORD is my strength and my song, and is become my salvation. . The LORD is a Man of war, the LORD is His name. The LORD. Glory. The LORD.

SECOND NOCTURN.

A Sermon of S. Basil the Great.
Lesson IV.

Homily 1 on Fasting.

know that Moses ascended into the mount by fasting: for otherwise he would not have dared to come unto the smoking summit, and to enter the cloud, except strengthened by fasting. During his fast he obtained the commandments, written on tables by the finger of God; so too, on the top of the mountain, fasting was the means of giving the law; but at its foot gluttony led the people into idolatry, and polluted them. The

I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve GOD upon this moun

drink, and rose up to play. One drunken bout of the people made null and void the perseverance of forty days, wherein the servant of GOD had continued in fasting and prayer. For those tables which fasting received, written with the finger of GOD, drunkenness broke. For the holy

prophet thought it not meet that a people filled with wine should receive the law from GOD.

Ry. Thy way is in the sea, and Thy paths in the great waters. * Thou leddest Thy people like sheep. by the hand of Moses and Aaron. V. Thou didst bring them through the Red Sea, and didst carry them through the abun

dance of waters. Thou leddest.

IN

Lesson V.

one moment of time, through gluttony, that people which had been taught the wonders of GOD by the greatest miracles, fell most shamefully into the idolatry of Egypt. If therefore, thou comparest the two facts together, it is easy to see that fasting leads to GOD, and that dainties ruin salvation. What defiled Esau, and made him his brother's servant? Was it not one meal, for which he sold his birthright? Was it not prayer during a fast, which bestowed Samuel on his mother? What made the mighty Samson unconquerable? Was it not the fast wherewith he was conceived in his mother's womb? Fasting conceived him, fasting nursed him, fasting made him a man. And this indeed the angel enjoined on his mother: warning her that she should

not touch anything that came of the vine, either wine or strong drink. Fasting begets prophets, strengthens the strong, and renders them robust.

strength in wars, teaches calm in peace: hallows the Nazarite, perfects the priest. For it is not lawful to approach the sacrifice without fasting: not merely in our mystical and true worship of GOD, but not even in that wherein a typical sacrifice was offered by the law. Fasting made Elias the beholder of a great vision; for after he had purged his soul by a fast of forty days, he attained in the cave to behold GoD, so far as man Moses, receiving the law a second time, a second time entered upon a fast: the Ninevites, had not they and their cattle fasted, would never have escaped threatened ruin. Whose members were those that perished in the desert? were they not of those who desired flesh?

can.

Ry. Moses the servant of the LORD fasted forty days and forty nights: that he might merit to receive the law of the LORD. . Moses went up to the LORD in mount Sinai, and was there forty days and forty nights. That. Glory. That.

THIRD NOCTURN. Lesson of the Holy Gospel according to S. John.

Lesson VII. Chap. vi.

AT that time: JESUS went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His miracles which He did on them that were diseased. And that which follows.

A Homily of S. Augustine the Bishop.

Tract 24 on S. John.

The miracles which our LORD JESUS CHRIST wrought, are verily divine works, and teach the mind of

it is the best safeguard of the soul, the sure ally of the body, the bulwark of brave men, weapons for the athletes, and training for the combatants. Further, this repels temptations, arms for piety, dwells with soberness, works temperance, brings

GOD. Because He, indeed, is not of such substance as can be seen with the eyes and His miracles whereby He ruleth all the world, and governeth the whole creation, become of no account by reason of their continuance; so that hardly any one deigns to con