[Officium]
Die VI Infra Octavam S. Joseph

[Lectio1]
Lesson from the book of Revelation
!Rev 2:1-7
1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things saith he, who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks:
2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them that are evil, and thou hast tried them, who say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
3 And thou hast patience, and hast endured for my name, and hast not fainted.
4 But I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first charity.
5 Be mindful therefore from whence thou art fallen: and do penance, and do the first works. Or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou do penance.
6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaites, which I also hate.
7 He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches: To him, that overcometh, I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God.

[Responsory1]
R. I saw the gate of the city, which looketh toward the East, and written thereon the names of the (Twelve) Apostles and of the Lamb.
* And upon the walls thereof a guard of Angels. alleluia.
V. I saw a new heaven and a new earth coming down out of heaven.
R. And upon the walls thereof a guard of Angels. Alleluia.

[Lectio2]
!Rev 2:8-11
8 And to the angel of the church of Smyrna write: These things saith the First and the Last, who was dead, and is alive:
9 I know thy tribulation and thy poverty, but thou art rich: and thou art blasphemed by them that say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil will cast some of you into prison that you may be tried: and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful until death: and I will give thee the crown of life.
11 He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches: He that shall overcome, shall not be hurt by the second death.

[Responsory2]
R. The Angel showed me the fountain of the water of life and he said unto me, Alleluia.
* Here worship God. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
V. When I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the Angel, which showed me these things, and he said unto me
R. Here worship God. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
&Gloria
R. Here worship God. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

[Lectio3]
!Rev 2:12-17
12 And to the angel of the church of Pergamus write: These things, saith he, that hath the sharp two edged sword:
13 I know where thou dwellest, where the seat of Satan is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith. Even in those days when Antipas was my faithful witness, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
14 But I have against thee a few things: because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat, and to commit fornication:
15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaites.
16 In like manner do penance: if not, I will come to thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches: To him that overcometh, I will give the hidden manna, and will give him a white counter, and in the counter, a new name written, which no man knoweth, but he that receiveth it.

[Lectio4]
From a Sermon by St. Bernard the Abbot
!Homilía 2 super Missus est
Mary was espoused to Joseph, or rather, as saith the Evangelist Luke: To a man whose name was Joseph. He is called a man, not because he was her husband, but because he was a person of manliness. And again, the same is said by the Evangelist Matthew, to wit: Joseph the husband of Mary: and: Joseph her man: for he rightly calleth Joseph by this title of manliness, for so Joseph was expected to be, that his virtuous manhood might be given in marriage to Mary. And we must conclude that he is here called what he was, a man; and further, that he was called her man because it was necessary that he should be publickly accepted as her man. And likewise, he was found worthy to be called the father of the Saviour, not that he was, but that he was publickly accepted as such, as the Evangelist himself saith: And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as it was supposed) the son of Joseph.

[Lectio5]
Without doubt, good and faithful was this Joseph who espoused the Mother of the Saviour. Yea, I say unto you, he is that faithful and wise servant whom the Lord hath made ruler over his household. For the Lord appointed him to be the comfort of his Mother, the keeper of his own body, and, in a word, his chief and most trusty helper on earth in the carrying out the eternal counsels. Add to this that he is said to have been of the house of David, as he verily was. For this Joseph was a true son of a race of kings, noble in descent, nobler yet in mind. A true son of David, not so much according to the flesh as in faith, holiness, and devotion. Whom, like another David, the Lord found to be a man after his own heart, to whom he therefore safely entrusted the most hold and hidden secret of his heart. To whom also, like another David, he shewed the uncertain and hidden things of his wisdom, and granted that he should not be ignorant of a mystery which was known to none of the princes of this world.

[Lectio6]
Lastly, there was given to him not only to see and hear, him whom many kings desired to see yet saw not, and to hear yet heard not, but even to carry him in his arms, to kiss him with his lips, to clothe him and to guard him. We must believe that Mary too, like Joseph, was descended from the house of David. For she would not have been espoused to a man of the house of David, if she had not herself been of the house of David. Both therefore were of the house of David. But in Mary the truth, which the Lord had sworn to David, was fulfilled; whereas to Joseph it was therefore given to know and bear witness unto the fulfilment of the promise.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke
!Luke 3:21-23
At that time: When all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized and praying, the heaven was opened. And so on, and that which followeth.
_
A Homily by St. Ambrose the Bishop
!Expositio in Luc. lib. 3
That Matthew should trace the lineage of Christ through Solomon, and Luke through Nathan, would seem to indicate that the one desireth to shew the royalty of Christ's descent, and the other the priestliness thereof. We need not infer from this that one is more accurate than the other. On the contrary, each agreeth with the other, with an equal good faith and veracity. For he was indeed, according to the flesh, of both a royal and a priestly family, a King sprung from kings, a Priest from priests. But the voice from heaven is speaking of divine things rather than of human. So then, as it is written: The King shall rejoice in God: that is, in God's strength, from which come to him the judgments of his royal Father; and likewise, he is that Priest of whom it is written: Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech.

[Lectio8]
Therefore both Evangelists keep well within the truth. For Matthew doth establish descent through the kings; whereas Luke, by tracing through the priests the lineage transmitted to Christ from God, manifesteth his more sacred origin. And from this we perceive the significance of the symbol used for this Evangelist; namely, the sacrifícial calf , for everywhere he bringeth forward the mystery of the sacrifícial priesthood. Nor need it surprise us that Luke giveth many more generations from Abraham to Christ than doth Matthew, since we can recognize that the line of descent is led through different persons. It may be that some lived long lives, whilst persons of the other line died young. For we are used to seeing many old men living with their grandchildren, and others dying soon after the birth of their children.

[Lectio9]
We notice also a further difference. Saint Matthew saith that Jacob, the son of Matthan, was the father of Joseph. Whereas Luke saith that Joseph, to whom Mary was espoused, was the son of Heli, and that Heli was the son of Matthat. How then could Joseph have had two fathers, that is Heli and Jacob? Perchance he is called the son of two men, because one was his father according to nature, whereas the other became his father according to the Law. The particulars of the Law regarding the raising up of seed to a dead brother were not understood by the Jewish people as a promise to us that the seed of the dead should be perpetuated for ever. But in so far as they read it only according to the letter, they failed to grasp its revelation of spiritual truth. For the living brother that raised up seed unto his dead brother, is not to be considered a brother after the flesh, but only according to the purity of his motives. And on that account, perchance we read: But no man may deliver his brother, nor make agreement unto God for him (for it cost more to redeem their souls, so that he must let that alone for ever): yea, though he live long, and see not the grave. For the man Christ Jesus was not our natural brother, but the Mediator between God and man, whereby he hath engendered in us the grace of the resurrection unto perpetual life.
&teDeum