SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY
"Many are called, few are chosen"
Mass: Missa "Circumdederunt me"
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY

Missa "Circumdederunt me"

PURPLE or VIOLET Vestments

See below for:


       The three Sundays preceding Ash Wednesday are called SEPTUAGESIMA, SEXAGESIMA and QUINQUAGESIMA, which mean, respectively, the seventieth, sixtieth, and fiftieth day, that is, before Easter. They are mere names to correspond with the name of Lent (Quadragesima in Latin: fortieth); obviously they do not actually correspond with the period they indicate.

       Man, victim of the sin of Adam and of his own sins, is justly afflicted; groans and sorrows encompass him. The holy Church calls us together today in order that we may hear from her lips the sad history of the fall of our first parents. This awful event implies the Passion and cruel Death of the Son of God made Man, who has mercifully taken upon Himself to expiate this and every subsequent sin committed by Adam and us his children. It is of the utmost importance that we should understand the greatness of the remedy; we must, therefore, consider the grievousness of the wound inflicted. For this purpose, we will spend the present week in meditation on the nature and consequences of the sin of our first parents.

       The Station, at Rome, is in the church of Saint Lawrence outside the walls. The ancient liturgists observe the relation between the just Abel (whose being murdered by Cain is the subject of one of the responsories of today's Matins), and the courageous martyr, over whose tomb the Church of Rome commences her Septuagesima.

      Sources: The Liturgical Year, Saint Andrew Daily Missal and the Marian Missal , 1945

       The venerated Abbe Dom Prosper Gueranger comments on today's Epistle with these words: "These stirring words of the apostle deepen the sentiments already produced in us by the sad recollections of which we are this day reminded. He tells us that this world is a race, wherein all must run; but that they alone win the prize, who run well. Let us, therefore, rid ourselves of everything that could impede us, and make us lose our crown. Let us not deceive ourselves: we are never sure until we reach the goal. Is our conversion more solid than St. Paul's? Are our good works better done, or more meritorious, than were his? Yet he assures us that he was not without the fear that he might perhaps be lost; for which cause he chastised his body and kept it in subjection to the spirit. Man, in his present state, has not the same will for all that is right and just, which Adam had before he sinned, and which, notwithstanding, he abused to his own ruin. We have a bias which inclines us to evil; so that our only means of keeping our ground is to sacrifice the flesh to the spirit. To many this is very harsh doctrine; thence, they are sure to fail; they never can win the prize. Like the Israelites spoken of by our apostle, they will be left behind to die in the desert, and so lose the promised land. Yet they saw the same miracles that Josue and Caleb saw! So true is it that nothing can make a salutary impression on a heart which is obstinately bent on fixing all its happiness in the things of this present life; and though it is forced, each day, to own that they are vain, yet each day it returns to the, vainly but determinedly loving them.

       "The heart, on the contrary, that puts its trust in God, and mans itself to energy the thought of the divine assistance being abundantly given to him that asks it, will not flag or faint in the race, and will win the heavenly prize. God's eye is unceasingly on all them that toil and suffer. These are the truths expressed in the Gradual."

       Gueranger adds his inspired wisdom to today's Gospel: "It is of importance that we should well understand this parable of the Gospel, and why the Church inserts it in today's liturgy. Firstly, then, let us recall to mind on what occasion our Savior spoke this parable, and what instruction He intended to convey by it to the Jews. He wishes to warn them of the fast approach of the day when their Law is to give way to the Christian Law; and He would prepare their minds against the jealousy and prejudice which might arise in them, at the thought that God was about to form a Covenant with the Gentiles. The vineyard is the Church in its several periods, from the beginning of the world to the time when God Himself dwelt among men, and formed all true believers into one visible and permanent society. The morning is the time from Adam to Noah; the third hour begins with Noah and ends with Abraham; the sixth hour includes the period which elapsed between Abraham and Moses; and lastly, the ninth hour opens with the age of the prophets, and closes with the birth of the Savior. The Messias came at the eleventh hour, when the world seemed to be at the decline of its day. Mercies unprecedented were reserved for this last period, during which salvation was to be given to the Gentiles by the preaching of the apostles. It is by this mystery of mercy that our Savior rebukes the Jewish pride. By the selfish murmurings made against the master of the house by the early laborers, our Lord signifies the indignation which the scribes and pharisees would show at the Gentiles being adopted as God's children. Then He shows them how their jealousy would be chastised: Israel, that had labored before us shall be rejected for their obduracy of heart, and we Gentiles, the last comers, shall be made first, for we shall be made members of that Catholic Church, which is the bride of the Son of God.

       "This is the interpretation of our parable given by St. Augustine and St. Gregory the Great, and by the generality of the holy fathers. But it conveys a second instruction, as we are assured by the two holy doctors just named. It signifies the calling GIVEN BY God to each of us individually, pressing us to labor, during this life, for the kingdom prepared for us. The morning is our childhood. The third hour, according to the division used by the ancients in counting their day, in sunrise; it is our youth. The sixth hour, by which name they called our midday, is manhood. The eleventh hour, which immediately preceded sunset, is old age. The Master of the house calls His laborers at all these various hours. They must go that very hour. They that are called in the morning may not put off their starting for the vineyard, under pretext of going afterwards, when the Master shall call them later on. Who has told them that they shall live to the eleventh hour? They that are called at the third hour may be dead at the sixth. God will call to the labors of the last hour such as shall be living when that hour comes; but, if we should die at midday, that last call will not avail us. Besides, God has not promised us a second call, if we excuse ourselves from the first."


    Through the gracious effort of John Gregory, we can provide you the Haydock Commentaries for the Epistle and Gospel for Septuagesima Sunday to complement the Propers of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Father Haydock provides in his commentaries the essence of what Christ illustrates in His parables in St. Matthew's Gospel regarding the laborers in the field and how He compares it to Heaven and the hours of the day to times of man's life from infancy to manhood to middle age to old age to the last days of man's life in addition to equating the hours to the time from Adam to Noah to Abraham to Christ and to the end of days. In the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, the Apostle of the Gentiles likens life to a race for the purpose of winning the prize which is Heaven. In order to do so he must condition his soul through prayer and sacrifice and gain nourishment from the Holy Eucharist, foreshadowed by manna from Heaven in the Old Covenant. As many fall short in the race and achieving their just reward, so also our Lord concludes His Gospel parable by reminding that many are called, but few are chosen.


1 Corinthians 9: 24-27; 10: 1-5

24 Know you not that they who run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain.

    Commentary on Verse 24 Know you not? Nothing is more famous in the annals of history than the pubic games in Greece: it is to these the apostle is here alluding. (Calmet) --- All run indeed, &c. He brings the examples of runners and wrestlers for a prize in the Grecian games, where only one could gain the prize. It is true in our case many obtain the crown for which we strive, but every one is in danger of losing it, and so must use all his endeavours to obtain it. (Witham)
25 And every one that striveth for the mastery refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown: but we an incorruptible one.
    Commentary on Verse 25 He refraineth himself, &c. Curbs his inclinations, abstains from debauchery, or any thing that may weaken him, or hinder him from gaining this corruptible crown, how much more ought we to practise self-denials for an eternal crown?

    In the fifth verse, where we translate, a woman, a sister, or a sister, a woman: the Protestant translation has a sister, a wife. We have reason to reject this translation, since it is evident by this epistle, that St. Paul at least then had not a wife, chap. vii. ver. 7. 8. And the ancient interpreters expressly examined and rejected this translation. See St. Jerome against Jovian. lib. i. tom. 4. part 2. p. 167. edit. Ben.; St. Augustine, lib. de opere Monach. tom. vi. chap. 4. p. 478. Nov. edit. The Greek word, as every one knows, signifies either a woman or a wife. Nor doth any thing here determine it to signify a wife. He speaks of a woman, or of women that were sisters, that is, Christians; so that a sister expounds what kind of woman it was. Dr. Hammond puts in the margin a sister-woman, as it were to correct the Protestant translation. (Witham)

26 I, therefore, so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air:

27 But I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection: lest, perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become reprobate.

    Commentary on Verse 27 I chastise, &c. Here St. Paul shews the necessity of self-denial and mortification to subdue the flesh, and its inordinate desires. (Challoner) --- Not even the labours of an apostle are exemptions from voluntary mortification and penance.
1 For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all *under the cloud, and all passed through the sea:

2 And all in Moses were baptized, in the cloud, and in the sea:

    Commentary on Verses 1 and 2 Our Fathers, the Jews, were all under the cloud. He means, when God conducted the camp of the Israelites, in the day-time by a cloud, and in the night by a pillar of fire. (Exodus xiii. 21.) (Witham) --- In Moses. Under the conduct of Moses they received baptism in figure, by passing under the cloud and through the sea: and they partook of the body and blood of Christ in figure, by eating of the manna, (called here a spiritual food, because it was a figure of the true bread which comes down from Heaven) and drinking the water miraculously brought out of the rock, called here a spiritual rock; because it was also a figure of Christ. (Challoner) --- Were baptized in the cloud, and in the sea, figuratively, these being figures of baptism in the new law. As Moses, who delivered them from the slavery of Egypt, was a figure of Christ, who came to deliver mankind from the slavery of sin. (Witham)
3 And they all eat the same spiritual food:

4 And all drank the same spiritual drink: (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.)

    Commentary on Verses 3 and 4 All eat the same spiritual food, to wit, the manna, which seemed to come from heaven, and was a figure of the eucharist, the spiritual food of our souls. --- All drank the same spiritual drink, and....rock that followed them, by which is understood the stream of water, that came miraculously out of the rock struck by Moses, and which is said to have followed them, because it ran plentifully through their camp. --- And the rock was Christ, a figure of Christ; for all these things (ver. 11.) happened to them in figure. (Witham)
5 But with most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the desert.
    Commentary on Verse 5 God was not well pleased, &c. Of 600,000, only Josue and Caleb entered the land of promise; the rest were destroyed, and perished in the wilderness. Their punishment ought to be an admonition to all to avoid such sins of idolatry, fornication, murmuring, &c.


GOSPEL: St. Matthew 20 1-16

1 The kingdom of Heaven is like to a master of a family, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.

    Commentary on Verse 1 For the kingdom. The participle for, is found in the Greek, and connects the present parable with the last verse of the preceding chapter: indeed it is a comment on that text, and describes to us the gospel dispensation. Thus the conduct of God in the choice he makes of members for His spiritual kingdom, the Church, and of His elect for the kingdom of heaven, is not unlike that of the father of a family, who hires workmen to labor in his vineyard. There are various opinions respecting who are meant by the first, and by the last, in this parable. Many of the fathers suppose that the saints of different states and degrees are here designed, whose reward will suffer no diminution from the circumstances of their having come to the service of Christ at a late age of the world, according to Sts. Hilary, Gregory, and Theophylactus; or, at a late age of life, according to Sts. Basil, Jerome, and Fulgentius. In the latter case, however, we must understand that their greater fervor in co-operating with divine grace, in the latter part of their life, has supplied and compensated for the defect of their preceding negligence; hence it may sometimes happen that the reward of such as enter late in life on the service of God, will exceed that of the less fervent who have entered at an earlier period. But as Christ rather seems to speak here of His militant than His triumphant Church, many commentators explain the parable of the Jews and Gentiles. For the Jews, after bearing the yoke of the Mosaic law for so many ages, received nothing more than what was promised to the observance of that law; whilst Christians receive a more plentiful reward for their more easy labor under the sweet yoke of the gospel. In which sense Christ says to the Jews, Luke xiii. 29: Publicans and harlots shall go before you into the kingdom of heaven. "And, strangers shall come from the east, and from the west, and the north, and the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold they are last that shall be first, and they are first that shall be last." (Luke xiii. 30.) --- Hence the Jews may be supposed to murmur, that they who are first in their vocation to be the people of God, and first in the observance of his law, should not be preferred to others, who in these respects have been far posterior to them. (Tirinus) --- By the vineyard, says St. Chrysostom, we here understand, the commandments of God. The time for labour is the present life. In the first, third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours, i.e. in infancy, youth, manhood, declining years, and extreme decrepitude of age, many individuals, yielding to the effective call of God, labour in the exact performance of the divine commandments. (Hom. lxv.)
2 And having agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
    Commentary on Verse 2 The Roman penny, or denarius, was the 8th part of an ounce; which, at the rate of 5s. per ounce, is 7½d. It is put here for the usual hire of a day-labourer.
3 And going about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the market-place,
    Commentary on Verse 3 About the third hour. As the Jews divided their nights into four watches, each watch comprehending three hours, so they divided their days into four greater hours, from sunrise to sunset, and each of these great hours contained three lesser hours; so that the whole day from sunrise to sunset, consisted of 12 hours, as also did the night. The first of the great hours, comprehending the three first lesser hours, contained half of the space betwixt the rising of the sun and mid-day; and the end of this time was called the third hour. The next great hour was from that time till mid-day, called the sixth hour. The following great hour contained half of the time betwixt noon and the setting of the sun, the end of which was called the ninth hour. The fourth great hour comprehended the last three lesser hours remaining till sunset, so that at the end of the eleventh hour, mentioned here, ver. 6, began the last lesser hour of the twelve hours of the day; of which our Savior said, (John xi. 9,) are there not twelve hours in the day? --- As to the moral sense of the parable, by the day is commonly expounded all the time from the creation to the end of the world, and so the third hour is reckoned from Adam to Noe; the sixth from Noe to Abraham; the ninth from Abraham to Moses; and from the ninth to the eleventh, was from Moses till Christ's coming; and the time from Christ to the end of the world, is the 12th hour. Other interpreters, by the day understand human life; and by the different hours, infancy, youth, the age of manhood, old age, and the last hour man's decrepit age. God is Master and Disposer of all, Who by His grace calls some sooner, some later. The market-place, in which men are so often found idle, as to the great concern of their eternal salvation, is the world. The design of this parable was to show that the Gentiles, though called later than the Jews, should be made partakers of the promises made to the Jews; this is also the meaning of verse 16, where it is said: the last shall be first, and the first last. (Witham)
4 And he said to them, Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just.
    Commentary on Verse 4 I will give you what shall be just. The prospect of a reward is therefore a good motive, authorized here by Christ Himself.
5 And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner.

6 But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: Why stand you here all the day idle? 7 They say to him: Because no man hath hired us. He saith to them: Go you also into my vineyard.

    Commentary on Verse 7 No man hath hired us. St. Chrysostom again puts us in mind, that in parables all the parts are not significant, but some things are to be taken as mere ornaments of parabolical discourses, as here murmurings, which cannot be found in Heaven: nor can men pretend they are not hired into God's service; God hath given lights, called, hired, and promised Heaven to all. The rewards in Heaven are also different. And they who are last called, if they labor with greater fervor, may deserve a greater reward than others called before them. (Witham) --- The Greek text finishes with, you shall receive what is reasonable. --- We must observe here, says St. Chrysostom on the words, because no man hath hired us, that this is the voice of the laborers only, in excuse for their not having entered upon their work before this late hour; for the master of the vineyard had shown his willingness to hire them all, by going out early for that purpose. Though the fault was their own, he does not upbraid them, but abstains from all harshness and severity, that he may the more easily engage them. (Hom. lxv.)
8 And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward: Call the laborers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first. 9 When therefore they came, who had come about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. 10 But when the first also came, they thought that they should have receive more: and they likewise received every man a penny. 11 And receiving it, they murmured against the master of the house,
    Commentary on Verse 11 And when they received it. By those who labored all the day in the vineyard, we are to understand such as have spent their whole lives in the service of God; but we are not thence to infer, that in the kingdom of Heaven, where all receive their just reward, there is envy, discontent, or any complaint. By these words, Christ wishes to convey to our minds an idea of the immense honours that will be heaped upon all such as return with sincerity, though at the decline or even verge of life, to the Almighty. So exceeding great will be their reward, that it would excite envy, were it possible, even in the elect. (St. Chrysostom, hom. lxv.)
12 Saying: These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the heats.

13 But he answering one of them, said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst thou not agree with me for a penny?

14 Take what is thine, and go thy way: I will also give to this last even as to thee.

    Commentary on Verse 14 I will also give. Some are called to the service of their God, and to a life of virtue, from their infancy, whilst others, by a powerful call from above, are converted late in life, that the former may have no occasion to glory in themselves, or to despise those who, even in the 11th hour, enter upon the path of rectitude; and that all might learn that there is time sufficient, however short, left them to repair by their diligence and fervour their past losses. (St. Chrysostom, hom. lxv.) --- Jesus Christ does not count so much the number of years, as the fervor and diligence we employ in his service. Calvin is rather unhappy in his choice of this parable to prove his favorite tenet, that salvation is not the reward of good works, but of faith alone, or predestination, since Jesus Christ represents heaven as given wholly as a just reward of meritorious labour in the vineyard, though some labour a shorter, and others a longer time, and God of his great goodness may give more to some than to others, while to all He gives at least their due. And a truly humble Christian will be ever satisfied with his lot, without envying that of others. (Haydock) --- As star differeth from star in glory in the firmament, (1 Corinthians xv. 41,) so will there be different degrees of glory in Heaven. (St. Augustine, de virgin. chap. xxvi.)
15 Or is it not lawful for me to do what I will? is thy eye evil, because I am good?

16 So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.

    Commentary on Verse 16 Few chosen: only such as have not despised their caller, but followed and believed him; for men believed not, but of their own free will. (St. Augustine, lib. i, ad Simplic. q. ii.) (Bristow) --- Hence the rejection of the Jews and of negligent Christians, and the conversion of strangers, who come and take their place, by a conversion both of faith and morals. On the part of God all are called. (Matthew xi. 28.) Come to Me all, &c. In effect, many after their call, have attained to faith and justification; but few in comparison are elected to eternal glory, because the far greater part do not obey the call, but refuse to come, whilst many of those who come fall away again; and thus very few, in comparison with those that perish, will at the last day be selected for eternal glory. (Tirinus)

Go to the ORDINARY OF THE HOLY MASS MASS OF THE CATECHUMENS

Missa "Circumdederunt me"

INTROIT:    Psalm 17. 5-7
      Circumdederunt me gemitus mortis, Dolores inferni circumdederunt me : et in tribulatione mea invocavi Dominum, et exaudivit de templo sancto suo vocem mean. (Ps. 17: 2,3 ) Diligam te, Domine, fortitude mea : Dominus firmamentum meum, et refugium meum, et liberator meus. V. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
      Repeat Circumdederunt me...
      The sorrows of death surrounded me, the sorrow of hell encompassed me : and in my affliction I called upon the Lord, and He heard my voice from His holy Temple. (Ps. 17: 2,3 ) I will love Thee, o Lord, my strength : the Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer. v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
      Repeat The sorrows of death surround me...

      Return to the ORDINARY OF THE HOLY MASS - Note from Septuagesima Sunday to Maundy Thursday there is no Gloria THE MASS OF THE CATECHUMENS
      COLLECT
      Dominus vobiscum. R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

      Oremus. Preces populi Tui, quaesumus, Domine, clementer Exaudi : ut, qui juste pro peccatis nostris affligimur, pro tui nominis gloria misericorditer liberemur. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus,
      Per omnia saecula saeculorum.
      R. Amen.

      The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit.

      Let us pray. O God, who knowest us to be set in the midst of dangers so great that, by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always withstand ; grant to us health of mind and body, that being helped by Thee, we may overcome the things which we suffer for our sins. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God
      Forever and ever.
      R.Amen.       Amen.

      EPISTLE:   1 Corinthians 9. 24-27; 10. 1-5
      Lectio Epistolae beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios. Fratres : Nescitis quod ii qui in stadio currunt, omnes quidem currunt, sed unus accipit bravium? Sic currite, ut comprehendatis. Omnis autem qui in agone contendit, ab omnibut se abstinet : et illi quidem ut corruptibilem coronam accipiant : nos autem incorruptam. Ego igitur sic curro, non quasi in incertum : sic pugno, non quasi aerem verberans : sed castigo corpus meum, et in servitutem redigo : ne forte cum allis praedicaverim, ipse reprobus efficar. Nolo enim vos ignorare, fratres, quoniam patres nostri omnes sub nube fuerunt, et omnes mare transierunt, et omnes in Moyse baptisati sunt in nube, et in mari : et omnes eamdem escam spiritalem manducaverunt, et omnes eumdem potum spiritalem biberunt : (bibebant autem de spiritali, consequente eos, petra : petra autem erat Christus) : sed non in pluribus eorum beneplacitum est Deo.
      Deo Gratias.
      Lesson from the Epistle of blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. Brethren: Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. And everyone that striveth for the mastery refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty; I so fight, not as one beating the air; but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway. For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all in Moses were baptized, in the cloud and in the sea : and did all eat the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink : (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ). But with most of them God was not well pleased.
      Thanks be to God.
      NOTE: From Septuagesima to Ash Wednesday the Tract is said only on Sundays and Feast Days. On Ferias when the Mass of the Sunday is said, the Gradual is said without the Tract or Alleluia.

      GRADUAL (Ps 9: 10,11,19, 20)    TRACT (Ps 129: 1-4)
      Adjutor in opportunitatibus, in tribulatione : sperent in te, qui noverunt te : quoniam non derelinquis quaerentes te, Domine. V. Quoniam non in finem oblivio erit pauperis : patientia pauperum non peribit in aeternun : exsurge, Domine, non praevaleat homo.

      De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine : Domine, Exaudi vocem meam. V. Fiant aures tuae intendentes in orationem servi tui. V. Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine : Domine, quis sustinebit? V. Quia apud te propitiation est, et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine.

      A helper in due time in tribulation : let them trust in Thee who know Thee; for Thou has not forsaken them that seek Thee, O Lord. V. For the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end : the patience of the poor shall not perish for ever : arise, O lord, let no man prevail.

      Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord : Lord, hear my voice. V. Let Thine ears be attentive to the prayer of Thy servant. V. If Thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities : O Lord, who shall abide it? V. For with Thee there is merciful forgiveness, and by reason of Thy law I have waited for Thee, O Lord.

      GOSPEL:   St. Matthew 20 1-16
      Dominus vobiscum.
      R. Et cum spiritu tuo.
      Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthaeum. R.Gloria tibi, Domine

      In illo tempore : Dixit Jesus discipulis suis parabolam hanc : 'Simile est regnum caelorum homini patrifamilias, qui exit primo mane conducere operarios in vineam suam. Conventione autem facta cum operariis ex denario diurno, misit eos in vineam suam. Et egressus circa human tertiam, vidit alios stantes in foro otiosos, et dixit illis : Ite et vos in vineam meam, et quod justum fuerit, dabo vobis. Illi autem abierunt. Iterum autem exit circa sextam et nonam horam : et fecit similiter. Circa undecimam vero exit, et invenit alios stantes, et dicit illis : Quid hic statis tota die otiose? Dicunt ei : Quia nemo nos conduxit. Dicit illus : Ite et vos in vineam meam. Cum sero autem factum esset, dicit dominus vinea procuratori suo : Voca operarios, et redde illis mercedem, incipens a novissimis usque ad primos. Cum venissent ergo qui circa undeciman horam venerant, acceperunt singulos denarios. Venientes autem et primi, arbitrate sunt quod plus essent accepturi : acceperunt autem et ipsi singulos denarios. Et accipientes murmurabant adversus patremfamilias, dicentes : Hi novissimi una hora feccerunt, et pares illos nobis fecisti, qui portavimus pondus diei, et aestus. At ille respondens uni eorum, dixit : Amice, non facio tibi injuriam : nonne ex denario convenisti mecum? Tolle quod tuum est, et vade : volo autem et huic novissimo dare sicut et tibi. Aut non licet mihi, quod volo, facere? an oculus tuus nequam est, quia ego bonus sum? Sic erunt novissimi primi, et primi novissimi. Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci vero electi.'

      The Lord be with you.
      R. And with thy spirit.
      The continuation of the holy Gospel according to Matthew. R. Glory to Thee, O Lord

      At that time Jesus spoke to his disciples this parable: 'The kingdom of Heaven is like to an householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And having agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market place idle, and he said to them : Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just. And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour: and did in like manner. But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he said to them: "Why stand you here all the day idle? They say to him: Because no man has hired us. He said to them: Go you also into my vineyard. And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward: Call the laborers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first. When therefore they were come that came about the eleventh hour, they received everyman a penny. But when the first also came, they thought that they should receive more: and they also received every man a penny. And receiving it they murmured against the master of the house, saying: These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us that have borne the burden of the day and the heats. But he answering said to one of them : Friend, I do thee no wrong: did thou not agree with me for a penny? Take what thine and go thy way: I will also give to this last even as to thee. Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will? Is thy eye evil, because I am good? So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.'
      Praise be to Christ

      Go to Father Louis Campbell's SUNDAY SERMON

      Return to the ORDINARY OF THE HOLY MASS THE CREDO
      OFFERTORY:    Psalm 91: 2
      Dominus vobiscum.
      R. Et cum spiritu tuo.
      Bonum est confiteri Domino, et psallere nomini tuo, Altissime.
      The Lord be with you.
      R. And with thy spirit.
      It is good to give praise to the Lord, and to sing to Thy name, O most High.
      Return to the ORDINARY OF THE HOLY MASS THE OFFERTORY
      SECRET
      Muneribus nostris, quaesumus, Domine, precibusque susceptis : et coelestibus nos munda mysteriis, et clementer Exaudi. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Filius tuus Dominus noster, Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus,
      Per omnia saecula saeculorum.
      R. Amen.

      Having received our offerings and prayers, we beseech Thee, o Lord, cleanse us by these heavenly mysteries, and graciously hear us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son. Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God
      Forever and ever.
      R.Amen.

      PREFACE   of the Most Holy Trinity
      Dominus vobiscum.
      R. Et cum spiritu tuo.
      Sursum corda.
      R.Habemus ad Dominum.
      Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.
      R. Dignum et justum est.
      Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper, et ubique gratias agere: Domine sancta, Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus. Qui cum unigenito Filio: tuo et Spiritu Sancto, unus es Deus, unus es Dominus: non in uninus singularitate personae, sed in unius Trinitae substantiae. Quo denim de tua Gloria, revelante te, credimus, hoc de Filio tuo, hod de Spiritu Sancto, sine differentia discretionis sentimus. Ut in confessione verare, sempitiernaeque Deitatis, et in personis proprietas, et in essential unitas, et in majestate adoretur aequalitas. Quam laudant Angeli atque Archangeli, Cherubim, quoque ac Seraphim: qui non cessant clamare quotodie, una voce dicentes:
      SANCTUS, SANCTUS, SANCTUS...
      The Lord be with you.
      R. And with thy spirit.
      Lift up your hearts.
      R.We have lifted them up to the Lord.
      Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
      R. It is meet and just.
      It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, ever-lasting God: Who, together with Thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, are one God, one Lord: not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance. For what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim do praise: who cease not daily to cry out with one voice saying:
      HOLY, HOLY, HOLY...

      Return to the ORDINARY OF THE HOLY MASS THE CANON OF THE MASS
      COMMUNION:   Psalm 30: 17-18
      Illumina faciem Tuam super servum Tuum, et salvum me fac in tua misericordia : Domine, non confundar, quoniam invocavi Te.
      Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant, and save me in Thy mercy: let me not be confounded, O Lord, for I have called upon Thee.
      POSTCOMMUNION
      Dominus vobiscum.
      R. Et cum spiritu tuo.
      Oremus.       Fideles tui, Deus, per tua dona firmentur : ut eadem et percipiendo reuirant, et quaerendo sine fine percipient. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum. Qui vivis et regnas in cum Deo Patri in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, unum Deum.
      Per omnia saecula saeculorum.
      R. Amen.
      The Lord be with you.
      R. And with thy spirit.
      Let us pray.       May Thy gifts, O God, detach us from earthy pleasures, and ever strengthen us with heavenly refreshment. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God
      For ever and ever.
      R. Amen.
      Return to the ORDINARY OF THE HOLY MASS CONCLUSION OF THE HOLY MASS




      SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY