Divine Office Office of Readings

January 31

Saint John Bosco, Priest

Memorial

Saint John Bosco was the youngest son to Piedmontese peasants. He studied theology at Turin. After ordination, he served the dislocated people who came from the countryside and found themselves adrift in a setting of heavy urbanization and industrialization. In 1854, in a very anti-clerical setting, he founded the Salesian Order, named after St. Francis de Sales. It focused on creating solutions for displaced youth. He developed vocational training programs with evening classes and apprenticeships. Eventually, these grew to include schools. To help staff them, he collaborated in the founding of Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and organized an active group of lay “co-operators.” St. John Bosco was canonized in 1934.[1][2]

Written by Sarah Ciotti

Reviewed by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, STD

[1] F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingstone, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (London: Oxford University Press, 1974), 190.

[2] Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, The Martyrology of the Monastery of the Ascension, 2008.

The English translation of The Liturgy of the Hours (Four Volumes) ©1974,

International Commission on English in the Liturgy

Corporation. Readings and Old and New Testament Canticles (except the Gospel Canticles) are from the New American Bible

© 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C.. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

The DivineOffice.org website, podcast, apps and all related media follows the liturgical calendar for the United States.

The 1970 edition of the New American Bible as published in the Liturgy of the Hours is approved for use

only in the United States. DivineOffice.org website, podcast, apps and all related media is © 2006-2022

Surgeworks, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ribbon Placement:

Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III:

Ordinary: 651

Psalter: Monday, Week IV, 1143

Common of Pastors: 1737 (verse before reading)

Proper of Seasons: 145 (first reading)

Proper of Saints: 1337 (second reading, concluding prayer)

Office of Readings for Monday in Ordinary Time, the Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest

God, come to my assistance.

— Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 How good is the God of Israel to the pure of heart!

Psalm 73

Why is it that the good have many troubles?

Blessed is the man who does not lose faith in me (Matthew 11:6).

I

How good God is to Israel,

to those who are pure of heart.

Yet my feet came close to stumbling,

my steps had almost slipped

for I was filled with envy of the proud

when I saw how the wicked prosper.

For them there are no pains;

their bodies are sound and sleek.

They have no share in men’s sorrows;

they are not stricken like others.

So they wear their pride like a necklace,

they clothe themselves with violence.

Their hearts overflow with malice,

their minds seethe with plots.

They scoff; they speak with malice;

from on high they plan oppression.

They have set their mouths in the heavens

and their tongues dictate to the earth.

So the people turn to follow them

and drink in all their words.

They say: “How can God know?

Does the Most High take any notice?”

Look at them, such are the wicked,

but untroubled, they grow in wealth.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. How good is the God of Israel to the pure of heart!

Ant. 2 Their laughter will turn to weeping, their merriment to grief.

II

How useless to keep my heart pure

and wash my hands in innocence,

when I was stricken all day long,

suffered punishment day after day.

Then I said: “If I should speak like that,

I should abandon the faith of your people.”

I strove to fathom this problem,

too hard for my mind to understand,

until I pierced the mysteries of God

and understood what becomes of the wicked.

How slippery the paths on which you set them;

you make them slide to destruction.

How suddenly they come to their ruin,

wiped out, destroyed by terrors.

Like a dream one wakes from, O Lord,

when you wake you dismiss them as phantoms.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Their laughter will turn to weeping, their merriment to grief.

Ant. 3 Those who depart from you will perish; my joy is to remain with you, my God.

III

And so when my heart grew embittered

and when I was cut to the quick,

I was stupid and did not understand,

no better than a beast in your sight.

Yet I was always in your presence;

you were holding me by my right hand.

You will guide me by your counsel

and so you will lead me to glory.

What else have I in heaven but you?

Apart from you I want nothing on earth.

My body and my heart faint for joy;

God is my possession for ever.

All those who abandon you shall perish;

you will destroy all those who are faithless.

To be near God is my happiness.

I have made the Lord God my refuge.

I will tell of all your works

at the gates of the city of Zion.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now,

Ribbon Placement:

Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III:

Ordinary: 651

Psalter: Friday, Week III, 1082

Common of Pastors: 1737 (verse)

Proper of Seasons: 131 (first reading, responsory)

Proper of Saints: 1335 (second reading, concluding prayer)

Office of Readings for Friday in Ordinary Time, the Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor

God, come to my assistance.

— Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 I am worn out with crying, with longing for my God.

Psalm 69:2-22; 30-37

I am consumed with zeal for your house

They offered him a mixture of wine and gall (Matthew 27:34).

I

Save me, O God,

for the waters have risen to my neck.

I have sunk into the mud of the deep

and there is no foothold.

I have entered the waters of the deep

and the waves overwhelm me.

I am wearied with all my crying,

my throat is parched.

My eyes are wasted away

from looking for my God.

More numerous than the hairs on my head

are those who hate me without cause.

Those who attack me with lies

are too much for my strength.

How can I restore

what I have never stolen?

O God, you know my sinful folly;

my sins you can see.

Let those who hope in you not be put to shame

through me, Lord of hosts:

let not those who seek you be dismayed

through me, God of Israel.

It is for you that I suffer taunts,

that shame covers my face,

that I have become a stranger to my brothers,

an alien to my own mother’s sons.

I burn with zeal for your house

and taunts against you fall on me.

When I afflict my soul with fasting

they make it a taunt against me.

When I put on sackcloth in mourning

then they make me a byword,

the gossip of men at the gates,

the subject of drunkards’ songs.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. I am worn out with crying, with longing for my God.

Ant. 2 I needed food and they gave me gall; I was parched with thirst and they gave me vinegar.

II

This is my prayer to you,

my prayer for your favor.

In your great love, answer me, O God,

with your help that never fails:

rescue me from sinking in the mud;

save me from my foes.

Save me from the waters of the deep

lest the waves overwhelm me.

Do not let the deep engulf me

nor death close its mouth on me.

Lord, answer, for your love is kind;

in your compassion, turn towards me.

Do not hide your face from your servant;

answer quickly for I am in distress.

Come close to my soul and redeem me;

ransom me pressed by my foes.

You know how they taunt and deride me;

my oppressors are all before you.

Taunts have broken my heart;

I have reached the end of my strength.

I looked in vain for compassion,

for consolers; not one could I find.

For food they gave me poison;

in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. I needed food and they gave me gall; I was parched with thirst and they gave me vinegar.

Ant. 3 Seek the Lord and you will live.

III

As for me in my poverty and pain

let your help, O God, lift me up.

I will praise God’s name with a song;

I will glorify him with thanksgiving,

a gift pleasing God more than oxen,

more than beasts prepared for sacrifice.

Ribbon Placement:

Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III:

Ordinary: 651

Psalter: Wednesday, Week III, 1039

Common of Pastors: 1737 (verse before first reading)

Proper of Seasons: 122 (first reading)

Proper of Saints: 1329 (second reading, concluding prayer)

Office of Readings for Wednesday in Ordinary Time, for the Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops

God, come to my assistance.

— Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Wherever you are, Lord, there is mercy, there is truth.

Psalm 89:2-38

God’s favors to the house of David

According to his promise, the Lord has raised up Jesus, a Savior, from the family of David (Acts 13:22, 23).

I

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;

through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.

Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,

that your truth is firmly established in the heavens.

“With my chosen one, I have made a covenant;

I have sworn to David my servant:

I will establish your dynasty for ever

and set up your throne through all ages.”

The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord;

the assembly of your holy ones proclaims your truth.

For who in the skies can compare with the Lord

or who is like the Lord among the sons of God?

A God to be feared in the council of the holy ones,

great and dreadful to all around him.

O Lord God of hosts, who is your equal?

You are mighty, O Lord, and truth is your garment.

It is you who rule the sea in its pride;

it is you who still the surging of its waves.

You crushed the monster Rahab and killed it,

scattering your foes with your mighty arm.

The heavens are yours, the world is yours.

It is you who founded the earth and all it holds;

it is you who created the North and the South.

Tabor and Hermon shout with joy at your name.

Yours is a mighty arm, O Lord;

your hand is strong, your right hand ready.

Justice and right are the pillars of your throne,

love and truth walk in your presence.

Happy the people who acclaim such a king,

who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,

who find their joy every day in your name,

who make your justice the source of their bliss.

For you, O Lord, are the glory of their strength;

by your favor it is that our might is exalted:

for our ruler is in the keeping of the Lord;

our king in the keeping of the Holy One of Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Wherever you are, Lord, there is mercy, there is truth.

Ant. 2 When the Son of God came into this world, he was born of David’s line.

II

Of old you spoke in a vision.

To your friends the prophets you said:

“I have set the crown on a warrior,

I have exalted one chosen from the people.

I have found David my servant

and with my holy oil anointed him.

My hand shall always be with him

and my arm shall make him strong.

The enemy shall never outwit him

nor the evil man oppress him.

I will beat down his foes before him

and smite those who hate him.

My truth and my love shall be with him;

by my name his might shall be exalted.

I will stretch out his hand to the Sea

and his right hand as far as the River.

He will say to me: ‘You are my father,

my God, the rock who saves me.’

And I will make him my first-born,

the highest of the kings of the earth.

I will keep my love for him always;

for him my covenant shall last.

Lord, open my lips.

— And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Ant. Come, let us worship God on the feast of the conversion of Saint Paul.

Psalm 95

Come, let us sing to the Lord

and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us.

Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving

and sing joyful songs to the Lord.

Ant. Come, let us worship God on the feast of the conversion of Saint Paul.

The Lord is God, the mighty God,

the great king over all the gods.

He holds in his hands the depths of the earth

and the highest mountains as well

He made the sea; it belongs to him,

the dry land, too, for it was formed by his hands.

Ant. Come, let us worship God on the feast of the conversion of Saint Paul.

Come, then, let us bow down and worship,

bending the knee before the Lord, our maker,

For he is our God and we are his people,

the flock he shepherds.

Ant. Come, let us worship God on the feast of the conversion of Saint Paul.

Today, listen to the voice of the Lord:

Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did

in the wilderness,

when at Meriba and Massah

they challenged me and provoked me,

Although they had seen all of my works.

Ant. Come, let us worship God on the feast of the conversion of Saint Paul.

Forty years I endured that generation.

I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray

and they do not know my ways.”

So I swore in my anger,

“They shall not enter into my rest.”

Ant. Come, let us worship God on the feast of the conversion of Saint Paul.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Come, let us worship God on the feast of the conversion of Saint Paul.

The English translation of The Liturgy of the Hours (Four Volumes) ©1974,

International Commission on English in the Liturgy

Corporation. Readings and Old and New Testament Canticles (except the Gospel Canticles) are from the New American Bible

© 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C.. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

The DivineOffice.org website, podcast, apps and all related media follows the liturgical calendar for the United States.

The 1970 edition of the New American Bible as published in the Liturgy of the Hours is approved for use

only in the United States. DivineOffice.org website, podcast, apps and all related media is © 2006-2022

Surgeworks, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ribbon Placement:

Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III:

Ordinary: 651

Proper of Saints: 1320

Psalms and canticle from Common of Apostles: 1661

Christian Prayer:

Does not contain Office of Readings

Office of Readings for the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle

God, come to my assistance.

— Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Who are you, Lord? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting; you harm only yourself by kicking against the goad.

Psalm 19A

Praise of the Lord, Creator of all

The dawn from on high shall break on us… to guide our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1:78, 79).

The heavens proclaim the glory of God

and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.

Day unto day takes up the story

and night unto night makes known the message.

No speech, no word, no voice is heard

yet their span extends through all the earth,

their words to the utmost bounds of the world.

There he has placed a tent for the sun;

it comes forth like a bridegroom coming from his tent,

rejoices like a champion to run its course.

At the end of the sky is the rising of the sun;

to the furthest end of the sky is its course.

There is nothing concealed from its burning heat.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Who are you, Lord? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting; you harm only yourself by kicking against the goad.

Ant. 2 Go, Ananias, and seek out Saul, who is praying to me; he is the one I have chosen to make my name known to the Gentiles and their kings, as well as to the people of Israel.

Psalm 64

Prayer for help against enemies

This psalm commemorates most particularly our Lord’s passion (Saint Augustine).

Hear my voice, O God, as I complain,

guard my life from dread of the foe.

Hide me from the band of the wicked,

from the throng of those who do evil.

They sharpen their tongues like swords;

they aim bitter words like arrows

to shoot at the innocent from ambush,

shooting suddenly and recklessly.

They scheme their evil course;

they conspire to lay secret snares.

They say: “Who will see us?

Who can search out our crimes?”

He will search who searches the mind

and knows the depths of the heart.

God has shot them with his arrow

and dealt them sudden wounds.

Their own tongue has brought them to ruin

and all who see them mock.

Then will all men fear;

they will tell what God has done.

They will understand God’s deeds.

The just will rejoice in the Lord

and fly to him for refuge.

All the upright hearts will glory.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Go, Ananias, and seek out Saul, who is praying to me; he is the one I have chosen to make my name known to the Gentiles and their kings, as well as to the people of Israel.

Ant. 3 Paul went into the synagogues and proclaimed to the Jews that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.

Psalm 97

The glory of the Lord in his decrees for the world

This psalm foretells a world-wide salvation and that peoples of all nations will believe in Christ (St. Athanasius).

The Lord is king, let earth rejoice,

let all the coastlands be glad.

Cloud and darkness are his raiment;

his throne, justice and right.

A fire prepares his path;

it burns up his foes on every side.

His lightnings light up the world,

January 24

Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Memorial

“The heart that is taken and pressed with a desire of praising the divine goodness more than it is able, after many endeavours goes oftentimes out of itself, to invite all creatures to help it in its design.”[1]

St. Francis de Sales was born in Savoy, France in 1567. He showed himself to be incredibly bright during his studies in rhetoric, philosophy, theology and law. He became ordained and supported the Counter-Reformation in his district. In 1602, he became bishop and devoted his work to integrating the decrees from the Council of Trent. Also, he co-founded the Visitandines with St. Jane Francis de Chantal, an order dedicated to humility, gentleness, and sisterly love. St. Francis de Sales was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1877. Amongst his most read and revered writings are Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God. [2][3]

Written by Sarah Ciotti

Reviewed by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, STD

[1] Francis de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1884), 221.

[2] F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingstone, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (London: Oxford University Press, 1974), 531, 1446.

[3] Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, The Martyrology of the Monastery of the Ascension, 2008.

The English translation of The Liturgy of the Hours (Four Volumes) ©1974,

International Commission on English in the Liturgy

Corporation. Readings and Old and New Testament Canticles (except the Gospel Canticles) are from the New American Bible

© 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C.. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

The DivineOffice.org website, podcast, apps and all related media follows the liturgical calendar for the United States.

The 1970 edition of the New American Bible as published in the Liturgy of the Hours is approved for use

only in the United States. DivineOffice.org website, podcast, apps and all related media is © 2006-2022

Surgeworks, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ribbon Placement:

Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III:

Ordinary: 651

Psalter: Monday, Week III, 999

Common of Pastors: 1737 (verse before first reading)

Proper of Seasons: 113 (first reading)

Proper of Saints: 1317 (second reading, concluding prayer)

Christian Prayer:

Does not contain Office of Readings.

Office of Readings for Monday in Ordinary Time, the Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor

God, come to my assistance.

— Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Our God will be made manifest; he will not come in silence.

Psalm 50

Genuine love of God

I have come not to abolish the law but to bring it to perfection (see Matthew 5:17)

I

The God of gods, the Lord,

has spoken and summoned the earth,

from the rising of the sun to its setting.

Out of Zion’s perfect beauty he shines.

Our God comes, he keeps silence no longer.

Before him fire devours,

around him tempest rages.

He calls on the heavens and the earth

to witness his judgment of his people.

“Summon before me my people

who made covenant with me by sacrifice.”

The heavens proclaim his justice,

for God himself is the judge.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Our God will be made manifest; he will not come in silence.

Ant. 2 Offer to God the sacrifice of praise.

II

“Listen, my people, I will speak;

Israel, I will testify against you,

for I am God, your God.

I accuse you, lay the charge before you.

I find no fault with your sacrifices,

your offerings are always before me.

I do not ask more bullocks from your farms,

nor goats from among your herds.

For I own all the beasts of the forest,

beasts in their thousands on my hills.

I know all the birds in the sky,

all that moves in the field belongs to me.

Were I hungry, I would not tell you,

for I own the world and all it holds.

Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls,

or drink the blood of goats?

Pay your sacrifice of thanksgiving to God

and render him your votive offerings.

Call on me in the day of distress.

I will free you and you shall honor me.”

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Offer to God the sacrifice of praise.

Ant. 3 I want a loving heart more than sacrifice, knowledge of my ways more than holocausts.

III

But God says to the wicked:

“But how can you recite my commandments

and take my covenant on your lips,

you who despise my law

and throw my words to the winds,

you who see a thief and go with him;

who throw in your lot with adulterers,

who unbridle your mouth for evil

and whose tongue is plotting crime,

you who sit and malign your brother

and slander your own mother’s son.

You do this, and should I keep silence?

Do you think that I am like you?

Mark this, you who never think of God,

lest I seize you and you cannot escape;

a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me

and I will show God’s salvation to the upright.”

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm-prayer

Father, accept us as a sacrifice of praise, so that we may go through life unburdened by sin, walking in the way of salvation, and always giving thanks to you.

Ant.

Ribbon Placement:

Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III:

Ordinary: 651

Psalter: Friday, Week II, 937

Common of One Martyr: 1711 (verse before first reading)

Proper of Seasons: 98 (first reading)

Proper of Saints: 1310 (second reading, concluding prayer)

Christian Prayer:

Does not contain Office of Readings

Office of Readings for Friday in Ordinary Time, the Memorial of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr

God, come to my assistance.

— Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Lord, in your anger, do not punish me.

Psalm 38

A sinner in extreme danger prays earnestly to God

All his friends were standing at a distance (Luke 23:49).

I

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger;

do not punish me, Lord, in your rage.

Your arrows have sunk deep in me;

your hand has come down upon me.

Through your anger all my body is sick:

through my sin, there is no health in my limbs.

My guilt towers higher than my head;

it is a weight too heavy to bear.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Lord, in your anger, do not punish me.

Ant. 2 Lord, you know all my longings.

II

My wounds are foul and festering,

the result of my own folly.

I am bowed and brought to my knees.

I go mourning all the day long.

All my frame burns with fever;

all my body is sick.

Spent and utterly crushed,

I cry aloud in anguish of heart.

O Lord, you know all my longing:

my groans are not hidden from you.

My heart throbs, my strength is spent;

the very light has gone from my eyes.

My friends avoid me like a leper;

those closest to me stand afar off.

Those who plot against my life lay snares;

those who seek my ruin speak of harm,

planning treachery all the day long.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Lord, you know all my longings.

Ant. 3 I confess my guilt to you, Lord; do not abandon me, for you are my savior.

III

But I am like the deaf who cannot hear,

like the dumb unable to speak.

I am like a man who hears nothing,

in whose mouth is no defense.

I count on you, O Lord:

it is you, Lord God, who will answer.

I pray: “Do not let them mock me,

those who triumph if my foot should slip.”

For I am on the point of falling

and my pain is always before me.

I confess that I am guilty

and my sin fills me with dismay.

My wanton enemies are numberless

and my lying foes are many.

They repay me evil for good

and attack me for seeking what is right.

O Lord, do not forsake me!

My God, do not stay afar off!

Make haste and come to my help,

O Lord, my God, my savior!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm-prayer

Do not abandon us, Lord our God; you did not forget the broken body of your Christ, nor the mockery his love received. We, your children, are weighed down with sin; give us the fullness of your mercy.

Ant. I confess my guilt to you, Lord; do not abandon me, for you are my savior.

Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) – a moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.

I have known tribulation and distress.

January 17

Saint Anthony, Abbot

Memorial

“And again his soul was free from blemish, for it was neither contracted as if by grief, nor relaxed by pleasure, nor possessed by laughter or dejection, for he was not troubled when he beheld the crowd, nor overjoyed at being saluted by so many. But he was altogether even as being guided by reason, and abiding in a natural state. Through him the Lord healed the bodily ailments of many present, and cleansed others from evil spirits. And He gave grace to Antony in speaking, so that he consoled many that were sorrowful, and set those at variance at one, exhorting all to prefer the love of Christ before all that is in the world.”[1]

St. Anthony was born in the 3rd century in Egypt. He felt called to give away all his possessions, follow Christ, and become a hermit. His moderate asceticism attracted many followers. As such, he is often hailed as the father of Christian monasticism. During the Arian controversy, St. Anthony supported the Nicene party and became friends with St. Athanasius, who would later write The Way of St. Antony. [1][2]

Written by Sarah Ciotti

Reviewed by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, STD

[1] St. Athanasius, “The Way of St. Antony,” in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, (T&T Clark, Edinburgh), 200, www.ccel.org.

[2] F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingstone, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (London: Oxford University Press, 1974), 67.

The English translation of The Liturgy of the Hours (Four Volumes) ©1974,

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