FRIDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF LENT; BLESSED AGNELLUS OF PISA (1236 A.D.)

 

FRIDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF LENT

By Unknown author - http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw124138/Alexander-of-Hales-Jon-Duns-Scotus-William-Ockham-Angelo-da-Clareno-and-John-Gennings?LinkID=mp87016&role=sit&rNo=0, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61490054
 BLESSED AGNELLUS OF PISA

OFM 

ENTRANCE HYMN (Ps. 85:17)
Show me, O Lord, a sign of Your beneficence, that my enemies may see, to their confusion, that You, O Lord, have helped and comforted me. Ps. 85:1. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am needy and poor. V. Glory Be . . .

PRAYER
May our Lenten fast please You, O Lord. May we keep our minds free from sin as we deprive our bodies of food. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of BLESSED AGNELLUS

Blessed Agnellus of Pisa, also known as Agnello, was born to the Italian nobility around the year 1195 in Pisa, Italy. He dedicated his life to the service of God and was deeply influenced by the teachings of Saint Francis of Assisi. Agnellus was received into the Franciscan Order by Saint Francis himself, making him one of the earliest followers of the saint. 

 

O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst set blessed Agnellus free from the world's snares to follow Thy  cross, make us so follow in his footsteps that we may earn a crown of glory along with him in heaven. Who livest . . .

 
READING (Num. 20:1-3, 6-13)
In those days, the children of Israel, and all the multitude came into the desert of Sin, in the first month: and the people abode in Cades. And Mary died there, and was buried in the same place.
And the people wanting water, came together against Moses and Aaron: And making a sedition, they said: "Would God we had perished among our brethren before the Lord." And Moses and Aaron leaving the multitude, went into the tabernacle of the covenant, and fell flat upon the ground, and cried to the Lord, and said. "O Lord God, hear the cry of this people, and open to them thy treasure, a fountain of living water, that being satisfied, they may cease to murmur." And the glory of the Lord appeared over them. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: "Take the rod, and assemble the people together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak to the rock before them, and it shall yield waters. And when thou hast brought forth water out of the rock, all the multitude and their cattle shall drink."
Moses therefore took the rod, which was before the Lord, as he had commanded him, And having gathered together the multitude before the rock, he said to them: "Hear, ye rebellious and incredulous: Can we bring you forth water out of this rock?" And when Moses bad lifted up his hand, and struck the rock twice with the rod, there came forth water in great abundance, so that the people and their cattle drank, And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: "Because you have not believed me, to sanctify me before the children of Israel, you shall not bring these people into the land, which I will give them." This is the Water of contradiction, where the children of Israel strove with words against the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

GRADUAL (Ps. 27:7, 1)
My heart has trusted in God, and I have found help. I have thrived once again, and with all my will I shall give praise to Him. V. To You, O Lord my God, I cry; be not deaf to me, nor depart from me.

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 4:5-42)
At that time, Jesus cometh therefore to a city of Samaria, which is called Sichar, near the land which Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well. It was about the sixth hour.
There cometh a woman of Samaria, to draw water. Jesus saith to her: "Give me to drink." For his disciples were gone into the city to buy meats. Then that Samaritan woman saith to him: "How dost thou, being a Jew; ask of me to drink, who am a Samaritan woman? For the Jews do not communicate with the Samaritans." Jesus answered and said to her: "If thou didst know the gift of God and who he is that saith to thee: Give me to drink; thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water."
The woman saith to him: "Sir, thou hast nothing wherein to draw, and the well is deep. From whence then hast thou living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank thereof, himself and his children and his cattle?" Jesus answered and said to her: "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but he that shall drink of the water that I will give him shall not thirst for ever. But the water that I will give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting."
The woman said to him: "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come hither to draw." Jesus saith to her: "Go, call thy husband, and come hither." The woman answered and said: "I have no husband." Jesus said to her: "Thou hast said well: I have no husband. For thou hast had five husbands: and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband. This, thou hast said truly."
The woman saith to him: "Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers adored on this mountain: and you say that at Jerusalem is the place where men must adore." Jesus saith to her:"Woman, believe me that the hour cometh, when you shall neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, adore the Father. You adore that which you know not: we adore that which we know. For salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father also seeketh such to adore him. God is a spirit: and they that adore him must adore him in spirit and in truth." The woman saith to him: "I know that the Messias cometh (who is called Christ): therefore, when he is come, he will tell us all things." Jesus saith to her: "I am he, who am speaking with thee."
And immediately his disciples came. And they wondered that he talked with the woman. Yet no man said: "What seekest thou?" Or: "Why talkest thou with her?" The woman therefore left her waterpot and went her way into the city and saith to the men there: "Come, and see a man who has told me all things whatsoever I have done. Is not he the Christ?" They went therefore out of the city and came unto him.
In the mean time, the disciples prayed him, saying: "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them: "I have meat to eat which you know not." The disciples therefore said one to another: "Hath any man brought him to eat?" Jesus saith to them: "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, that I may perfect his work. Do not you say: There are yet four months, and then the harvest cometh? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and see the countries. For they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life everlasting: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. For in this is the saying true: 'That it is one man that soweth, and it is another that reapeth.' I have sent you to reap that in which you did not labour. Others have laboured: and you have entered into their labours."
Now of that city many of the Samaritans believed in him, for the word of the woman giving testimony: "He told me all things whatsoever I have done." So when the Samaritans were come to him, they desired that he would tarry there. And he abode there two days. And many more believed in him, because of his own word. And they said to the woman: "We now believe, not for thy saying: for we ourselves have heard him and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world."

OFFERTORY HYMN (Ps. 5:3-4)
Hearken to the voice of my prayer, O my King and my God; for to You I pray, O Lord.

SECRET PRAYER
O Lord, look kindly upon these gifts we offer, so that they may please You and always prove helpful to us. Through Our Lord . . .

Commemoration of BLESSED AGNELLUS

In memory of Thy Saints, O Lord, we offer Thee the sacrifice of praise, by which we trust to be freed from both present and future evils. Through our Lord . . . 

 
COMMUNION HYMN (John 4:13, 14)
"He who drinks of the water that I will give him," said the Lord, "it shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up unto life everlasting."

POSTCOMMUNION PRAYER
O Lord, cleanse us from sin through the reception of this Sacrament and lead us toward the kingdom of heaven. Through Our Lord . . .

Commemoration of BLESSED AGNELLUS

Refreshed by meat and drink from heaven, O God, we humbly entreat Thee, that we may be protected by the prayers of him in whose memory we have partaken. Through our Lord . . . 

 
PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
O Almighty God, we trust in Your protection. Help us to overcome all the difficulties that face us. Through Our Lord . . .

WEDNESDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT; BLESSED AGNELLUS OF PISA (1236 A.D.)

 

 

WEDNESDAY OF THE 

FOURTH WEEK OF LENT

 

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[Commemoration]
 BLESSED AGNELLUS OF PISA

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 conscience 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.
V. Let us kneel.
R. Arise.

COLLECT
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 . . .

LESSONEzech. 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 BLESSED AGNELLUS
Blessed Agnellus of Pisa was in 1195 AD. He was born to the Italian nobility. Agnellus was Received into the Franciscans by Saint Francis himself. Blessed Agnellus was a Deacon. He was the guard of Saint-Denis, the first Franciscan friary in Paris, France.
Agnellus Worked with the University of Paris. He was then appointed by Saint Francis to introduce the Franciscans into England in 1224. Him together with eight associates, he established houses in Canterbury and London, and finally a school for friars in Oxford. 
Friend of King Henry III. He helped prevent civil war between Henry and Earl Marshall. Known for his personal piety and his strict adherence to the Franciscan Rule, especially on the matter of poverty.
He died on 7 May 1236 AD at Oxford, England of dysentery. His body was reported incorrupt up to the time the Oxford house was dissolved by King Henry VIII.

O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst set blessed Agnellus free from the world's snares to follow Thy cross, make us so follow in his footsteps that we may earn a crown of glory along with him in heaven. Who livest . . .
 

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 BLESSED AGNELLUS
In memory of Thy Saints, O Lord, we offer Thee the sacrifice of praise, by which we trust to be freed from both present and future evils. 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 BLESSED AGNELLUS
Refreshed by meat and drink from heaven, o God, we humbly entreat Thee, that we may be protected by the prayers of him in whose memory we have partaken. Through our Lord . . . 

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 . . .

FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT; BLESSED AGNELLUS OF PISA (1236 A.D.)

FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT

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 BLESSED AGNELLUS OF PISA

SIMPLE / PURPLE
Souls are bought dearly. They never come cheaply. There is always enough human weakness and malice at hand to blind men to the need of repentance. The same forces oppose, even violently at times, any attempt to change people. Envy is sometimes the reason for the opposition, as in the cases of Joseph and Jesus.
If consistent Christian integrity and a zealous apostolate seem unreasonably difficult, a meditation on the crucifix should recall that the death of the God-man was not considered too high a price to pay for the redemption and winning of souls.

INTROIT Ps. 16:15
But I shall appear before you in justice; I shall be content when your glory shall be made manifest.
Ps. 16:1. Hear, O Lord, a just cause; hearken to my supplication.
V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT
O Almighty God, cleanse us by this holy fast, so that we may celebrate the coming feast with pure hearts. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of BLESSED AGNELLUS
Blessed Agnellus of Pisa was in 1195 AD. He was born to the Italian nobility. Agnellus was Received into the Franciscans by Saint Francis himself. Blessed Agnellus was a Deacon. He was the guard of Saint-Denis, the first Franciscan friary in Paris, France.
Agnellus Worked with the University of Paris. He was then appointed by Saint Francis to introduce the Franciscans into England in 1224. Him together with eight associates, he established houses in Canterbury and London, and finally a school for friars in Oxford. 
Friend of King Henry III. He helped prevent civil war between Henry and Earl Marshall. Known for his personal piety and his strict adherence to the Franciscan Rule, especially on the matter of poverty.
He died on 7 May 1236 AD at Oxford, England of dysentery. His body was reported incorrupt up to the time the Oxford house was dissolved by King Henry VIII.

O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst set blessed Agnellus free from the world's snares to follow Thy cross, make us so follow in his footsteps that we may earn a crown of glory along with him in heaven. Who livest . . .


LESSON Gen. 37:6-22
In those days, Joseph said to his brethren, "Hear my dream which I dreamed. I thought we were binding sheaves in the field: and my sheaf arose as it were, and stood, and your sheaves standing about bowed down before my sheaf." His brethren answered: "Shalt thou be our king? or shall we be subject to thy dominion?" Therefore this matter of his dreams and words ministered nourishment to their envy and hatred.
He dreamed also another dream, which he told his brethren, saying: "I saw in a dream, as it were the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars worshipping me." And when he had told this to his father, and brethren, his father rebuked him and said: "What meaneth this dream that thou hast dreamed? shall I and thy mother, and thy brethren worship thee upon the earth?" His brethren therefore envied him: but his father considered the thing with himself.
And when his brethren abode in Sechem, feeding their father's flocks, Israel said to him: "Thy brethren feed the sheep in Sichem: come, I will send thee to them." And when he answered: "I am ready:" he said to him: "Go, and see if all things be well with thy brethren, and the cattle: and bring me word again what is doing." So being sent from the vale of Hebron, he came to Sichem:
And a man found him there wandering in the field, and asked what he sought. But he answered: "I seek my brethren, tell me where they feed the flocks." And the man said to him: "They are departed from this place: for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothain." And Joseph went forward after his brethren, and found them in Dothain.
And when they saw him afar off, before he came nigh them, they thought to kill him: And said one to another: "Behold the dreamer cometh. Come, let us kill him, and cast him into some old pit: and we will say: 'Some evil beast hath devoured him:' and then it shall appear what his dreams avail him:" And Ruben hearing this, endeavoured to deliver him out of their hands, and said: "Do not take away his life, nor shed his blood: but cast him into this pit, that is in the wilderness, and keep your hands harmless": now he said this, being desirous to deliver him out of their hands and to restore him to his father.

GRADUAL Ps. 119:1-2
In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me.
V. O Lord, deliver me from lying lips and from a treacherous tongue.

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 name's sake.

GOSPEL Matt. 21:33-46
At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to the multitude of the Jews and the chief priests, "There was a man, an householder, who planted a vineyard and made a hedge round about it and dug in it a press and built a tower and let it out to husbandmen and went into a strange country. And when the time of the fruits drew nigh, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruits thereof. And the husbandmen laying hands on his servants, beat one and killed another and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the former; and they did to them in like manner. And last of all he sent to them his son, saying: 'They will reverence my son.' But the husbandmen seeing the son, said among themselves: 'This is the heir: come, let us kill him, and we shall have his inheritance.' And taking him, they cast him forth out of the vineyard and killed him.
"When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen?" They say to him: "He will bring those evil men to an evil end and let out his vineyard to other husbandmen that shall render him the fruit in due season." Jesus saith to them: "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? By the Lord this has been done; and it is wonderful in our eyes.'
"Therefore I say to you that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder."
And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they knew that he spoke of them. And seeking to lay hands on him, they feared the multitudes, because they held him as a prophet.

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Ps. 39:14, 15
Look down, O Lord, to help me. Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life. Look down, O Lord, to help me.

SECRET
O God, may this sacrifice remain in us, and may it increase the good effect it has accomplished. Through our Lord . . .


 Commemoration of BLESSED AGNELLUS
In memory of Thy Saints, O Lord, we offer Thee the sacrifice of praise, by which we trust to be freed from both present and future evils. Through our Lord . . .

COMMUNION ANTIPHON Ps. 11:8
O Lord, You will keep us, and preserve us always from this generation.

POSTCOMMUNION
O Lord, may our lives always be guided by this promise of eternal salvation, so that we may eventually attain our goal. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of BLESSED AGNELLUS
Refreshed by meat and drink from heaven, o God, we humbly entreat Thee, that we may be protected by the prayers of him in whose memory we have partaken. Through our Lord . . .

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
O Lord, grant Your people health of soul and body. May we be fervent in doing good and so deserve to be protected by Your mighty power. Through our Lord . . .