Sunday, August 20, 2023

TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST; Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1153 A.D.)

 



TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST


 
Fra Bartolommeo The Vision of St. Bernard ca.1504. Oil on wood.Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy.


SAINT BERNARD
Abbot and Doctor of the Church


DOUBLE / GREEN
INTROIT Ps. 69:2-3

Every bit of truth and goodness and beauty is a partial revelation of the truth, goodness and beauty in God. Since the redemption of mankind by Christ, every person has been, or will be, destined to know the full glory of His Gospel, His love, His visible Church and its rich life of grace. It is the duty of Christians, at least in gratitude, to live according to their Faith, for the inspiration of neighbors, fellow workers and acquaintances. It is their duty to be missioners, or to send missioners, for the spreading of Christ's glory over the world. Above all, it is the charity of Christ, His love, that needs to be revealed in action.

O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. Let my enemies who seek my life be put to shame and confounded.
Ps. 69:4. Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.
V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT
Almighty and merciful God, it is
through Your grace that the faithful are able to serve You fittingly and
laudably. Grant that we may hurry, without faltering, toward the
rewards You have promised to us. Through our Lord . . .


Commemoration of SAINT BERNARD
Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), of a titled Burgundy family, won over to the service of Christ 31 other Burgundian noblemen, including four of his five brothers and an uncle as well, who with him entered the monastic life at the Abbey of Citeaux, of "strict" Benedictine observance, which had been founded shortly before by SS. Robert, Alberic, and Stephen Harding. Their arrival gave new vigor to the Cistercian Order. Bernard was soon sent to found a Cistercian house at Clairvaux, and under his direction the fame of the new monastery spread throughout the world. There his aged father and youngest brother Nivard received the Cistercian habit from his hands. His spirit of austere strength and moving sweetness in the love of God and of the Blessed Virgin stamped itself on the age. He was the adviser of Popes and monarchs, the eloquent preacher of the Second Crusade, and inspired defender of the Faith against powerful schismatics and heretics.

O God, may blessed Bernard intercede for us in heaven as he once instructed Your faithful on earth and directed them in the way of eternal salvation. Through our Lord . . .

EPISTLE II Cor. 3:4-9
Brethren: And such confidence we have,
through Christ, towards God. Not that we are sufficient to think any
thing of ourselves, as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is from God.
Who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament, not in the
letter but in the spirit. For the letter killeth: but the spirit
quickeneth.

Now if the ministration of death,
engraven with letters upon stones, was glorious (so that the children of
Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of
his countenance), which is made void: How shall not the ministration of
the spirit be rather in glory?

For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more the ministration of justice aboundeth in glory.

GRADUAL Ps. 33:2-3
I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall ever be in my mouth.
V. My soul shall glory in the Lord; the humble will hear and be made glad.
Alleluia, alleluia! V. Ps. 87:2
O Lord, God of my salvation, I have cried out by day and by night in Your presence. Alleluia!

GOSPEL Luke 10:23-37
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: "Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see. For
I say to you that many prophets and kings have desired to see the
things that you see and have not seen them; and to hear the things that
you hear and have not heard them." 

And behold a certain lawyer stood up,
tempting him and saying, "Master, what must I do to possess eternal
life?" But he said to him: 
"What is written in the law? How readest thou?" He
answering, said: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart
and with thy whole soul and with all thy strength and with all thy
mind: and thy neighbour as thyself." And he said to him: 
"Thou hast answered right. This do: and thou shalt live." But he willing to justify himself, said to Jesus: "And who is my neighbour?"
And Jesus answering, said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among robbers, who also stripped him and having wounded him went away, leaving him
half dead. And it chanced, that a certain priest went down the same way:
and seeing him, passed by. In like manner also a Levite, when he was
near the place and saw him, passed by. But a certain Samaritan, being on
his journey, came near him: and seeing him, was moved with compassion:
And going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine: and
setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn and took care of
him. And the next day he took out two pence and gave to the host and
said: 'Take care of him; and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and above,
I, at my return, will repay thee.' 
"Which of these three, in thy opinion, was neighbour to him that fell among the robbers?" But he said: "He that shewed mercy to him." And Jesus said to him: "Go, and do thou in like manner."

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Ex. 32:11, 13, 14
Moses prayed before the Lord his God,
saying, "Why, O Lord, should Your wrath blaze up against Your own
people? Let Your anger die down. Remember Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, how
You swore to give them a land flowing with milk and honey." And the
Lord relented in the punishments He had threatened to inflict of His
people.


SECRET 
O Lord, look with mercy upon the
offerings we have placed upon Your altar. May they win pardon for our
sins and give glory to Your name. Through our Lord . . .


Commemoration of SAINT BERNARD
O Lord, let the blessed confessor and doctor Bernard always help us, and through his intercession accept our offering and pardon our sins. Through our Lord . . .

COMMUNION ANTIPHON Ps. 103:13, 14-15
The earth is filled with the fruit of
Your works, O Lord, that You may bring forth food from the earth and
wine to cheer the heart of man, oil to make his face gleam, and bread to
sustain his strength.


POSTCOMMUNION 
May the reception of this Sacrament
bring us life, O Lord, and win for us Your pardon and Your protection.
Through our Lord . . .


Commemoration of SAINT BERNARD

O Lord, may this sacrifice bring us closer to our salvation through the intercession of Your blessed confessor and illustrious doctor Bernard. Through our Lord . . . 

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