First Reading
Ephesians 5:21-33
21 Being subject one to another, in the fear of Christ. 22 Let women be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord: 23 Because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. He is the saviour of his body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject to Christ: so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church and delivered himself up for it: 26 That he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life: 27 That he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the church: 30 Because we are members of him, body, of his flesh and of his bones. 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother: and shall cleave to his wife. And they shall be two in one flesh. 32 This is a great sacrament: but I speak in Christ and in the church. 33 Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular love for his wife as himself: And let the wife fear her husband.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
1 A gradual canticle. Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways. 2 For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee. 3 Thy wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of thy house. Thy children as olive plants, round about thy table. 4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. 5 May the Lord bless thee out of Sion: and mayst thou see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
Gospel
Luke 13:18-21
18 He said therefore: To what is the kingdom of God like, and whereunto shall I resemble it? 19 It is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and cast into his garden: and it grew and became a great tree, and the birds of the air lodged in the branches thereof. 20 And again he said: Whereunto shall I esteem the kingdom of God to be like? 21 It is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
English: Douay-Rheims
The Little Office of the BVM
Sext
Prayer Before the Office
Aperi, Domine
O Lord, open Thou my mouth, that it may bless Thy holy name; cleanse my heart, too, from all vain, evil, or wandering thoughts. Enlighten mine understanding, kindle mine affections, that I may be able to say this Office meetly with attention and devotion and may deserve to be heard before the presence of Thy divine Majesty. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.
Domine, in unione
O Lord, in union with that divine intention wherewith Thou Thyself, while on earth, didst offer praises unto God, I offer these Hours unto Thee.
Hail Mary, in silence
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Opening
V. O God, + hasten to mine aid.
R. O Lord, + make haste to help me.
Doxology
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.
Hymn — Memento, rerum Conditor
Remember, O Creator Lord,
That in the Virgin's sacred womb
Thou wast conceived, and of her flesh
Didst our mortality assume.
Mother of grace! O Mary blest!
To thee, sweet fount of life, we fly;
Shield us through life, and take us hence
To thy dear bosom, when we die.
O Jesu! born of Virgin bright,
Immortal glory be to Thee;
Praise to the Father infinite,
And Holy Ghost eternally. Amen.
Antiphon
In odorem.
Psalm — Psalms 122:1-4
To thee have I lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in heaven. Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, As the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress: so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us: for we are greatly filled with contempt. For our soul is greatly filled: we are a reproach to the rich, and contempt to the proud.
Psalm — Psalms 123:1-8
If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say: If it had not been that the Lord was with us, When men rose up against us, Perhaps they had swallowed us up alive. When their fury was enkindled against us, Perhaps the waters had swallowed us up. Our soul hath passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us to be a prey to their teeth. Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we are delivered. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Psalm — Psalms 124:1-5
They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion: he shall not be moved for ever that dwelleth In Jerusalem. Mountains are round about it: so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth now and for ever. For the Lord will not leave the rod of sinners upon the lot of the just: that the just may not stretch forth their hands to iniquity. Do good, O Lord, to those that are good, and to the upright of heart. But such as turn aside into bonds, the Lord shall lead out with the workers of iniquity: peace upon Israel.
Little Chapter — Sirach 24:16
And I took root in an honourable people, and in the portion of my God his inheritance, and my abode is in the full assembly of saints.
Deo gratias.
Versicle
V. Blessed art thou amongst women.
R. And blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
Prayer
O most merciful God, grant succor unto our frailty; that as we celebrate the memory of the holy Mother of God, so by the help of her intercession we may rise again from our transgressions. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
Conclusion
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto Thee.
Let us bless the Lord.
May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Prayer After the Office
Sacrosanctae
To the most holy and undivided Trinity, to the manhood of our crucified Lord Jesus Christ, to the fruitful virginity of the most blessed and glorious Mary, ever a virgin, to the entire assembly of the saints, be ascribed everlasting praise, honor, power, and glory, by every creature; and to us be granted the remission of all our sins, world without end. Amen.
Versicle
V. Blessed is the Virgin Mary's womb, which bore the Son of the everlasting Father.
R. And blessed are the breasts which nourished Christ our Lord.
Pater noster
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Ave Maria
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Benziger Brothers, 1915 · psalmody from the Clementine Vulgate
What this is
An altar, kept by the day. Torch & Lily reckons the season and its
colour, the saint whose feast it is, the readings appointed for the Mass,
and the hour of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary that the clock
has reached — and sets them here, in Latin and in English, as they stand. It
turns over on its own, on the hour and at midnight.
Every word is drawn from our own archive of public-domain texts — the
Clementine Vulgate, the Douay-Rheims, the 1915 Benziger Little Office —
served by the same API that is free for anyone to build on at
torchandlily.com. Where the archive holds no verified text, this page
shows nothing rather than a guess.
Notice an error? A wrong feast, a mis-set verse, a saint out of place — the
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not. Tell us at torchandlily.com/vox