WEDNESDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK IN LENT; SAINT CYRIL OF JERUSALEM (386 A.D.)

WEDNESDAY OF THE 

FOURTH WEEK IN LENT

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SAINT CY[c

[Commemoration]

SAINT CYRIL OF JERUSALEM

Bishop & Doctor

SIMPLE / PURPLE
The Church of the New Testament continues the Israel of the Old Testament. The faithful of God are one social, religious unit that extends backward to our first parents and forward over the world to the end of time. All derive grace from Christ. Hence all, by grace, are brothers in Christ. Old and New Testament saints are celebrated in the one Sacrifice of Christ.
Jesus came to cleanse His people anew, to give them a new and vastly higher dignity, to make them charitable and apostolic. It is now their conscious mission to bring all men to a baptized brotherhood in Christ -- a brotherhood that reaches across every line of nation, race, or color.

INTROIT Ezech. 36:23-26
When I shall be sanctified in you, I will gather you from every land; and I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from your filthiness, and I will give you a new spirit.
Ps. 33:2. I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall ever be in my mouth.
V. Glory be . . .

Let us pray.
Let us kneel.
Arise.

O God, You reward the just man and grant pardon to the sinner if he does penance by fasting. Be merciful to Your people who implore You, and forgive us our sins through our confession of guilt. Through our Lord . . .

LESSON Ezech. 36:23-28
Thus says the Lord God: "And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the Gentiles, which you have profaned in the midst of them: that the Gentiles may know that I am the Lord, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the Gentiles, and will gather you together out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. And I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness, and I will cleanse you from all your idols. And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in the midst of you: and I will cause you to walk in my commandments, and to keep my judgments, and do them. And you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God," says the Lord Almighty.

GRADUAL Ps. 33:12, 6
Come, children, hear me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
V. Turn to Him that you may be enlightened, and your faces may never blush with shame.

COLLECT
O Almighty God, grant that we may be happy in chastising our bodies through fasting. May we bring our passions under control, and thus more easily attain the rewards of heaven. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of SAINT CYRIL OF JERUSALEM
After Cyril (c. 315-86) had been ordained to the priesthood in Jerusalem, he was appointed to the vital duty of instructing and preparing the candidates for baptism. We still have one series of his instructions, and they are the earliest extant record of the systematic teaching of the Church on the Creed and the Sacraments. Having been chosen bishop of Jerusalem, he served as one of God's instruments in combating widespread contemporary heresy. Cyril was several times persecuted and driven from his see city because of his defense of the Catholic Faith. He remained at peace, recalling his Lord had said, "No disciple is above his teacher, nor is the servant above his master (Matt. 10:24).

O Almighty God, may the prayers of Your blessed bishop Cyril help us to know You, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent, so that we may be numbered among the flock that obeys His voice. Through the same Jesus Christ . . .

LESSON Isa. 1:16-19
Thus says the Lord God: "Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes, cease to do perversely, Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow. And then come, and accuse me", saith the Lord: "If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land," says the Lord Almighty.

GRADUAL Ps. 32:12, 6
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen for His own inheritance! V. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all the celestial bodies thereof were created.

TRACT Ps. 102:10; 78:8-9
O Lord, repay us not according to the sins we have committed, nor according to our iniquities.
V. O Lord, remember not our iniquities of the past; let Your mercy come quickly to us, for we are being brought very low. (All kneel.)
V. Help us, O God our Savior, and for the glory of Your name, O Lord, deliver us; and pardon us our sins for Your names sake.


GOSPEL John 9:1-38
At that time Jesus, passing by, saw a man who was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him: "Rabbi, who hath sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?" Jesus answered: "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, whilst it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
When he had said these things, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and spread the clay upon his eyes, And said to him: "Go, wash in the pool of Siloe," which is interpreted, 'Sent.' He went therefore and washed: and he came seeing.
The neighbours, therefore, and they who had seen him before that he was a beggar, said: "Is not this he that sat and begged?" Some said: "This is he." But others said: "No, but he is like him." But he said: "I am he." They said therefore to him: "How were thy eyes opened?" He answered: "That man that is called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me: 'Go to the pool of Siloe and wash.' And I went: I washed: and I see." And they said to him: "Where is he?" He saith: "I know not."
They bring him that had been blind to the Pharisees. Now it was the sabbath, when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Again therefore the Pharisees asked him how he had received his sight. But he said to them: "He put clay upon my eyes: and I washed: and I see." Some therefore of the Pharisees said: "This man is not of God, who keepeth not the sabbath." But others said: "How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?" And there was a division among them. They say therefore to the blind man again: "What sayest thou of him that hath opened thy eyes?" And he said: "He is a prophet."
The Jews then did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight,
And asked them, saying: "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then doth he now see?" His parents answered them and said: "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind: But how he now seeth, we know not: or who hath opened his eyes, we know not. Ask himself: he is of age: Let him speak for himself."
These things his parents said, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had already agreed among themselves that if any man should confess him to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore did his parents say: "He is of age. Ask himself."
They therefore called the man again that had been blind and said to him: "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." He said therefore to them: "If he be a sinner, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas I was blind. now I see." They said then to him: "What did he to thee? How did he open thy eyes?" He answered them: "I have told you already, and you have heard. Why would you hear it again? Will you also become his disciples?" They reviled him therefore and said: "Be thou his disciple; but we are the disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses: but as to this man, we know not from whence he is." The man answered and said to them: "why, herein is a wonderful thing, that you know not from whence he is, and he hath opened my eyes. Now we know that God doth not hear sinners: but if a man be a server of God and doth his, will, him he heareth. From the beginning of the world it hath not been heard, that any man hath opened the eyes of one born blind. Unless this man were of God, he could not do anything." They answered and said to him: "Thou wast wholly born in sins; and dost thou teach us?" And they cast him out.
Jesus heard that they had cast him out. And when he had found him, he said to him: "Dost thou believe in the Son of God?" He answered, and said: "Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?" And Jesus said to him: "Thou hast both seen him; and it is he that talketh with thee." And he said: "I believe, Lord." And falling down, he adored him.

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Ps. 65:8-9, 20
Bless the Lord our God, you nations; loudly sound His praise. He has given life to my soul, and has not let my feet falter. Blessed be the Lord, who has not refused my prayer nor His mercy to me!

SECRET
O Almighty God, wash away our sins through these sacrificial gifts so that we may receive Your blessings of true health of mind and body. Through our Lord . . .


Commemoration of SAINT CYRIL OF JERUSALEM
Look with favor upon the immaculate gift we offer You, O Lord. May we always receive it with clean hearts through the intercession of Your blessed bishop Cyril. Through our Lord . . .

COMMUNION ANTIPHON Jo. 9:11
The Lord made clay with spittle and anointed my eyes, and I went and washed, and I saw; and I believed in God.

POSTCOMMUNION
O Lord our God, may the Sacrament we have received nourish us with spiritual food and comfort us with bodily aid. Through our Lord . . .


Commemoration of SAINT CYRIL OF JERUSALEM
O Lord Jesus Christ, sanctify our hearts and minds by the Sacrament of Your own Body and Blood which we have received. Make us worthy to share in Your divine nature through the intercession of the holy bishop Cyril; who lives and rules with God the Father . . .

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
O Lord, in Your mercy hear the prayers of those who call upon You. Make their wills like Your will so that You may fulfill their every desire. Through our Lord . . .