[Officium]
Die IV infra Octavam SSmi Cordis Jesu

[Lectio1]
Lesson from the first book of Samuel
!1 Sam 10:17-19
17 And Samuel called together the people to the Lord in Maspha:
18 And he said to the children of Israel: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all the kings who afflicted you.
19 But you this day have rejected your God, who only hath saved you out of all your evils and your tribulations: and you have said: Nay: but set a king over us. Now therefore stand before the Lord by your tribes, and by your families

[Lectio2]
!1 Sam 10:20-24
20 And Samuel brought to him all the tribes of Israel, and the lot fell on the tribe of Benjamin.
21 And he brought the tribe of Benjamin and the kindreds thereof, and the lot fell upon the kindred of Metri, and it came to Saul the son of Cis. They sought him therefore and he was not found.
22 And after this they consulted the Lord whether he would come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold he is hidden at home.
23 And they ran and fetched him thence: and he stood in the midst of the people, and he was higher than any of the people from the shoulders and upward.
24 And Samuel said to all the people: Surely you see him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people. And all the people cried and said: God save the king.

[Lectio3]
!1 Sam 10:25-27
25 And Samuel told the people the law of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord: and Samuel sent away all the people, every one to his own house.
26 Saul also departed to his own house in Gabaa: and there went with him a part of the army, whose hearts God had touched.
27 But the children of Belial said: Shall this fellow be able to save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents, but he dissembled as though he heard not.

[Lectio4]
!From the Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius XI
No effort on our part could have availed for the expiation of human sin, if the Son of God had not assumed human nature in order to redeem men from their sins. This truth the Saviour of mankind hath made known in the words of the Psalmist: Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me; in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure; then said I, Lo, I come. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: who his own self bare our sins in his body on the Tree; and blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which same was contrary to us, he took it out of the way, nailing it to his Cross: that we, being dead unto sins, should live unto righteousness. But although this plenteous redemption of Christ was more than sufficient to satisfy for all our offenses, nevertheless, (due to the wondrous dispensation of the divine Wisdom, whereby in our own flesh we may fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ for his body's sake, which is the Church,) we can, and in fact, we should, add our own acts of praise and satisfaction to those acts of praise and satisfaction which Christ, in the name of sinners, presented to God.

[Lectio5]
However, we must always remember this, to wit: The expiatory value of our acts is dependent upon the Bloody Sacrifice of Christ; which same is presented bloodlessly on our altars, without pretermission. Note that in both the Unbloody and the Bloody Sacrifice, the Victim is one and the same. He that offered himself on the Cross is the very same that doth offer himself by means of our ministerial priesthood; the only difference being the manner in which the Sacrifice is made; for which reason there must needs be conjoined to the august Sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist, and act of immolation from the priests and the faithful, whereby they offer up themselves, also, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice, acceptable unto God. With this in mind Saint Cyprian dared to affirm that the Sacrifice of the Lord is not complete so far as our sanctification is concerned until our personal offerings and sacrifices are brought into union with his passion. To which end we have been given apostolic admonition: That we should always bear about in the body of the dying of the Lord Jesus; and thereby, buried with him by Baptism unto death, not only can we crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts, thus escaping the corruption that is in the world, through lust, but also thereby the life of Jesus can be made manifest in our bodies; and so, having been made partakers of Christ in his holy and eternal priesthood, we should offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

[Lectio6]
And note who they are that be partakers in the mysteries of such a priesthood, and in the duty of offering sacrifices and satisfaction to God; not only they who have been ordained as ministers of such sacrifices, to wit, to offer unto the divine Name in every place a pure offering, from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, but also all others who are Christians; which same by the Prince of the Apostles are called, and rightly so, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, who are to offer sacrifices for sin, not only for themselves but for all mankind, and this in much the same way as every priest and high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to John
!John 19:31-37
At that time: The Jews, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath Day, for that Sabbath Day was an high day, besought Pilate that their legs might broken, and that they might be taken away. And so on, and that which followeth.
_
!A Homily by St. Lawrence Justinian the Bishop
But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs, but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. Truly this is a great and unheard-of wonder, that from a lifeless body should gush out blood and water! And thereby we are constrained to believe that God willed to set forth the great mystery, namely, the oneness between Christ and the Church. Consider how aforetime a figure of this spiritual union was given us in the Scriptures, where we are told that, from the side of Adam as he slept, one of his ribs was taken, wherefrom was formed Eve, the mother of us all, which same is understood to be a type of the Church. For thereby the Holy Ghost signified that there was to be a true and spiritual Adam, fashioned by the same Paraclete, from whose side, while he slept on the Cross, the Church would be formed, a comely spouse radiant with youth, that is, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.

[Lectio8]
For the blood and water are the Sacraments of the Church, whereby the whole body of the Church is washed and sanctified. Certain it is that in the laver of regenerating water, (which same was consecrated by the death of Christ,) the Church is cleansed from original sin. And not only is purification given thereby, but entrance to the heavenly kingdom is also made. Both these things are done at one and the same time, nor doth one avail for salvation without the other; for no one can take unto himself the inheritance of the blessedness which is to come without the Sacrament of Baptism and the remission of sins. This truth is confessed all the world over by holy Mother Church, and confirmed by manifold testimonies in the Word of God. Moreover, he too bare witness, who saw the water and blood flow forth from the side of Christ, and his testimony is true. Now this is John the Apostle and Evangelist who was loved with an exceeding great love by the Lord.

[Lectio9]
Verily, all these things were done that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, which say: A bone of him shall not be broken: which same was in obedience to the Lord's commandment to Moses, that in the sacrifice of the Passover, (wherein was celebrated the offering up of the lamb,) no bone should be broken. Wherefrom, when this ancient prototype was fulfilled in the most innocent Lamb, (the Lord Jesus himself,) obedience to the ancient command was also fulfilled. For in no wise were his legs broken, after the manner of what was done to the two malefactors hanging with him; but his side alone was opened, that another Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith: They shall look upon him whom they have pierced. Moreover, the Lord willed to retain the marks of the Wounds in his body, thereby to incite the devotion of the elect, and also be an unanswerable testimony of damnation to the reprobate. And so all things were consummated in Christ, which had been long before declared by the oracles of the Prophets, that the Catholic faith might be strengthened both in itself and against the errors of the hereticks.