EMBER FRIDAY IN ADVENT

SIMPLE / PURPLE
INTROIT Ps. 118:151, 152
Thou art near, O Lord, and all Thy ways are truth: I have known from the beginning concerning Thy testimonies, and Thou art for ever.
Ps. 118:1. Blessed are the undefiled in the way: who walk in the law of the Lord.
Glory be . . .

COLLECT
Stir up Thy might, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and come: that they who trust in Thy loving kindness may be the more speedily freed from all adversity: who livest . . .

LESSON Isa. 11:1-5
Thus saith the Lord God: There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. 
And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord, He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins. 

GRADUAL Ps. 84:8, 2
Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy, and grant us Thy salvation. Lord, Thou hast blessed Thy land: Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob.

GOSPEL St. Luke 1:39-47
At that time Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. And she entered into the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. And she cried out with a loud voice and said: "Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord." And Mary said: "My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Ps. 84:7, 8
Thou wilt turn, O God, and bring us to life, and Thy people shall rejoice in Thee: show us, O Lord, Thy mercy, and grant us Thy salvation.

SECRET
O Lord, receive, we beseech Thee, our gifts and prayers: and by these heavenly Mysteries both cleanse us and mercifully hear us. Through our Lord . . .

COMMUNION ANTIPHON Zac. 14:5, 6
Behold the Lord shall come, and His Saints with Him: and there shall be in that day a great light.

POSTCOMMUNION 
May the holy receiving of Thy Sacrament, O Lord, revive us, and cleansing us from our former life, enable us to pass to the fellowship of Thy saving Mystery. Through our Lord . . .

SAINT OLYMPIA 
Widow 410A.D.
(Historical)

Saint Olympia, the glory of the widows in the Eastern Church, was born of a noble and illustrious family. Left an orphan at a tender age, she was brought up by Theodosia, sister of Saint Amphilochius, a virtuous and prudent woman. At the age of eighteen, Olympias was regarded as a model of Christian virtues. It was then that she was married to Nebridius, a young man worthy of her; the new spouses promised one another to live in perfect continence. After less than two years of this angelic union, Nebridius went to receive in heaven the reward of his virtues.

The Emperor would have engaged her in a second marriage, but she replied: “If God had destined me to live in the married state, He would not have taken my first spouse. The event which has broken my bonds shows me the way Providence has traced for me.” She had resolved to consecrate her life to prayer and penance, and to devote her fortune to the poor. She liberated all her slaves, who nonetheless wished to continue to serve her, and she administered her fortune as a trustee for the poor. The farthest cities, islands, deserts and poor churches found themselves blessed through her liberality.

Nectarius, Archbishop of Constantinople, had a high esteem for the saintly widow and made her a deaconess of his church. The duties of deaconesses were to prepare the altar linens and instruct the catechumens of their sex; they aided the priests in works of charity, and they made a vow of perpetual chastity. When Saint John Chrysostom succeeded Nectarius, he had for Olympias no less respect than his predecessor, and through her aid he built a hospital for the sick and refuges for the elderly and orphans. When he was exiled in the year 404, he continued to encourage her in her good works by his letters, and she assisted him to ransom some of his fellow captives.

Saint Olympias, as one of his supporters, was persecuted. When she refused to deal with the usurper of the episcopal see, she was mistreated and calumniated, and her goods were sold at a public auction. Finally she, too, was banished with the entire community of nuns which she governed in Constantinople. Her illnesses added to her sufferings, but she never ceased her good works until her death in the year 410. She outlived the exiled Patriarch by about two or three years.

SAINT LAZARUS

1st C. 

[Historical]

The disciple and friend of Jesus raised from the dead byJesus. He was the brother of Martha and Mary, and resided in Bethany, a suburb of Jerusalem, Israel. No mention is made in the New Testament of his activities after being brought back to life, but several traditions survive. In one, Lazarus, Martha, and Mary go to France, where he became the first bishop of Marseilles, before being martyred. In other traditions, Lazarus and his sisters went to Cyprus, where he became bishop of Kition, or Lamaka. Still another legend reports that he went to Syria. His supposed relics were translated to Constantinople and numerous churches were built in his honor. Devotion to Lazarus was commonplace in the early Church.