Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent
Prayer.
regard Thy people, O Lord, we beseech Thee, and grant that we, whom Thou cornmandest to abstain from carnal food, may also cease from hurtful vices. Through Christ, etc.
EPISTLE. Esther xiii. 9-17.
In those days Mardochai prayed to the Lord, saying: O i, Lord, Almighty King, for all things are in Thy power, and there is none that can resist Thy will, if Thou determine to save Israel. Thou hast made heaven and earth, and all things that are under the cope of heaven. Thou art Lord of all, and there is none that can resist Thy majesty. Thou knowest all things, and Thou knowest that it was not out of pride and contempt, or any desire of glory, that I refused to worship the proud Arnen. (For I would willingly and readily for the salvation of Israel have kissed even the steps of his feet.) But I feared lest I should transfer the honor of my God to a man, and lest I should adore any one except my God. And now, O Lord, O King, O God of Abraham, have mercy on Thy people, because our enemies resolve to destroy us, and extinguish Thy inheritance. Despise not Thy portion, which Thou hast redeemed for Thyself out of Egypt. Hear my supplication, and be merciful to Thy lot and inheritance, and turn our mourning into joy, that we may live and praise Thy name, O Lord, and shut not the mouths of them that sing to Thee, O Lord our God.
GOSPEL. Matt. xx. 17-28.
At that time : Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart, and said to them : Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death. And they shall deliver Him to the gentiles to be mocked, and scourged, and crucified, and the third day He shall rise again. Then came to Him the mother of the sons of Zebedee with her sons, adoring and asking something of Him. Who said to her : What wilt thou ? She saith to Him : Say that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left, in Thy kingdom. But Jesus answering, said : You know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink? They say to Him : We can. He saith to them : My chalice indeed you shall drink : but to sit on My right or left hand, is not Mine to give to you, but to them for whom it is prepared by My Father. And the ten hearing it, were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But Jesus called them to Him, and said : You know that the princes of the gentiles lord it over them : and they that are the greater exercise power upon them. It shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be the greater among you, let him be your minister. And he that will be first among you, shall be your servant. Even as the Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a redemption for many.
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