FRIDAY IN PASSION WEEK

Friday in Passion Week

Prayer.

MERCIFULLY infuse Thy grace into our hearts, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that, by doing voluntary penance for our sins, we may be punished here, rather than be condemned to punishment for eternity. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, etc.

EPISTLE. Jerem. xvii. 13-18.

In those days Jeremias said: O Lord, the hope of Israel: all that forsake Thee shall be confounded : they that depart from Thee, shall be written in the earth : because they have forsaken the Lord the vein of living waters: heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed: save me, and I shall be saved: for Thou art my praise. Behold they say to me : Where is the word of the Lord?  let it come. And I am not troubled, following Thee for my pastor : and I have not desired the day of man, Thou knowest it. That which went out of my lips, hath been right in Thy sight. Be not Thou a terror unto me, Thou art my hope in the day of affliction. Let them be confounded that persecute me, and let not me be confounded : let them be afraid, and let not me be afraid : bring upon them the day of affliction, and with a double destruction, destroy them, O Lord our God.

GOSPEL. John xi. 47-54.

At that time : The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said : What do we, for this man doth many mira cles? If we let Him alone so, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come, and take away our place and nation.  But one of them named Caiphas, being the high priest that year, said to them : You know nothing. Neither do you consider that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this he spoke not of himself : but being the high priest of that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation. And not only for the nation, but to gather together in one the children of God, that were dispersed. From that day, therefore, they devised to put Him to death. Wherefore Jesus walked no more openly among the Jews, but He went into a country near the desert, unto a city that is called Ephrem, and there He abode with His disciples.
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Next: Saturday in Passion Week

MONDAY IN PASSION WEEK

Monday in Passion Week

Prayer.

SANCTIFY our fasts, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and mercifully grant us the pardon of all our faults. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, etc.

EPISTLE. Jonas iii. 1-10.

In those days : The word of the Lord came to Jonas the prophet the second time, saying : Arise, and go to Ninive the great city : and preach in it the preaching that I bid thee.  And Jonas arose, and went to Mnive, according to the word of the Lord: now Ninive was a great city of three days journey.  And Jonas began to enter into the city one day s journey : and he cried, and said : Yet forty days, and Ninive shall be destroyed. And the men of Ninive believed in God : and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sack-cloth from the greatest to the least. And the word came to the king of Ninive : and he rose up out of his throne, and cast away his robe from him, and was clothed in sack-cloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published in Ninive from the mouth of the king and of his princes, saying : Let neither men nor beasts, oxen nor sheep, taste anything: let them not feed, nor drink water.  And let men and beasts be covered with sack-cloth, and cry to the Lord with all their strength, and let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the iniquity that is in their hands.  Who can tell if God will turn, and forgive : and will turn away from His fierce anger, and we shall not perish? And God saw their works, that they were turned from their evil way: and our Lord God had mercy on His people.

GOSPEL. John vii. 32-39.

At that time : The rulers and Pharisees sent ministers to apprehend Jesus. Jesus therefore said to them : Yet a little while I am with you : and then I go to Him that sent Me. You shall seek Me, arid shall not find Me : and where I am, thither you cannot come. The Jews therefore said among themselves :Whither will He go, that we shall not find Him? will He go unto the dispersed among the gentiles, and teach the gentiles?  What is this saying that He hath said : You shall seek Me, and shall not find Me: and where I am, you cannot come? And on the last and great day of the festivity, Jesus stood and cried, saying: If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink.  He that believeth in Me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now this He said of the Spirit which they should receive who believed in Him.-------------------------------------------------------
Next: Tuesday in Passion Week