[Officium]
Dominica VI Post Pentecosten

[Ant 1_]
I beseech thee, * O Lord, do away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done very foolishly.

[Oratio]
Lord of all power and might, Who art the Author and Giver of all good things, graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and, of thy great mercy, keep us in the same.
$Per Dominum

[Lectio1]
Lesson from the second book of Samuel
!2 Sam 12:1-4
1 And the Lord sent Nathan to David: and when he was come to him, he said to him: There were two men in one city, the one rich, and the other poor.
2 The rich man had exceeding many sheep and oxen.
3 But the poor man had nothing at all but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up, and which had grown up in his house together with his children, eating of his bread, and drinking of his cup, and sleeping in his bosom: and it was unto him as a daughter.
4 And when a certain stranger was come to the rich man, he spared to take of his own sheep and oxen, to make a feast for that stranger, who was come to him, but took the poor man's ewe, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

[Lectio2]
!2 Sam 12:5-9
5 And David's anger being exceedingly kindled against that man, he said to Nathan: As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this is a child of death.
6 He shall restore the ewe fourfold, because he did this thing, and had no pity.
7 And Nathan said to David: Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee from the hand of Saul,
8 And gave thee thy master's house and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and Juda: and if these things be little, I shall add far greater things unto thee.
9 Why therefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in my sight? Thou hast killed Urias the Hethite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

[Lectio3]
!2 Sam 12:10-16
10 Therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house, because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Urias the Hethite to be thy wife.
11 Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thy own house, and I will take thy wives before thy eyes I and give them to thy neighhour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing in the sight of all Israel, and in the sight of the sun.
13 And David said to Nathan: I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David: The Lord also hath taken away thy sin: thou shalt not die.
14 Nevertheless, because thou hast given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, for this thing, the child that is born to thee, shall surely die.
15 And Nathan returned to his house. The Lord also struck the child which the wife of Urias had borne to David, and his life was despaired of.
16 And David besought the Lord for the child: and David kept a fast, and going in by himself lay upon the ground.

[Lectio4]
From the Book On the Defense of David written by St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.
!i. 2
In how many things doth each one of us transgress every hour! And nevertheless not one of all us common men thinketh it well to confess his sin. Yet that strong and great King would not suffer the acknowledgment of his iniquity to remain, even for a moment, hidden in his own heart. With eager confession and bitter sorrow, he admitted that he had sinned against the Lord. Which of you will easily find me now some honoured and wealthy person, who will not take it ill if I rebuke him for a fault whereof he is guilty? But David, amid the splendours of a throne and' the certainty of Divine revelations, when he was rebuked by one of his subjects for his grievous transgression, was not roused to anger, but contrariwise, acknowledged his sin with groans and affliction.

[Lectio5]
The heart-felt sorrow of David moved the Lord to compassion, so that Nathan said Because thou hast repented, the Lord also hath put away thy sin. The instant gift of pardon declareth the depth of the King's repentance, which was able to obtain the forgiveness of so grievous a transgression. Other men, when they be rebuked of Priests, do but aggravate the heinousness of their sins by the seeking to deny or to excuse them, and thereby make deeper their fall by means of that which should have helped them up. But the saints of the Lord who will to fight a good fight of godliness unto the end and to finish their course by saving their souls, howbeit, they may perchance have fallen like other men, have done so rather through man's weakness than through lust for iniquity, and rise more eager to go on than before. Shame goadeth them on to fly at higher things. So that not only is their fall to be reckoned to have nowise hampered them, but rather to have quickened their speed.

[Lectio6]
David sinned; and so oftentimes do other kings. David repented with groaning and tears; and so do not oftentimes other kings. He admitted his guilt; he implored forgiveness; he cast himself down upon the ground, and there wept over his crime; he fasted; he prayed; by publishing his sorrow he left an everlasting witness of his acknowledgment. What meaner men blush to do, the King was not ashamed to own. They who are answerable to law are bold to deny their crimes, and too haughty to ask pardon. Not so he, though he could be haled before no earthly judgment-seat. That he sinned was a matter flowing from his nature; that he asked for pardon, his own repentance. To fall is common to all men, but his confession was his own. To transgress thus was nature; to efface his guilt, greatness.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Mark
!Mark 8:1-9
In those days, the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples unto Him, and saith unto them: I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with Me for three days, and have nothing to eat. And so on.
_
Homily by St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.
!Bk. vi. on Luke ix.
After that woman, who is a type of the Church, was healed of the issue of blood (Luke viii. 43-48); the Lord had sent His disciples to preach the kingdom of God (ix. 2). His heavenly tenderness gave food. But consider who they were unto whom He gave it. He gave it not to such as dwell at ease, not to men in cities, not to such as sit in places of worldly splendour, but to men seeking Christ in a desert place. Such as are not given to niceness are they whom Christ receiveth, and unto whom the Word of God speaketh, not of earthly things, but of the kingdom of God (11.) And if any bear in them the running sores of fleshly passion, He healeth them.

[Lectio8]
And then it came to pass that, as He had healed them that had need of healing, He fed their hunger with ghostly meat. Thus it is that no man taketh Christ's meat, unless he be first healed, and they, that are bidden to the supper, are first cured by the invitation. The lame receive the power to walk, that they may be able to come; the blind cannot see the door of the house of the Lord, unless light be given them.

[Lectio9]
Everywhere is preserved the order of the Sacraments. The sinful soul is first healed by the remission of sins, and afterward is filled at the Table of the Lord albeit this multitude now present is of such as do not yet feed on those strong meats, nor pasture their starving spirits upon the Body and Blood of Christ, as do they of a manlier faith. To use the words of Paul, I have fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. (1 Cor. iii. 2.) The five loaves are, as it were, your milk; the stronger meat will be the Body of Christ; the more generous cup, the Blood of the Lord.
&teDeum

[Ant 2]
The multitude being very great, * and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples unto Him, and saith unto them: I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with Me three days, and have nothing to eat. Alleluia.

[Ant 3]
I have compassion on the multitude, * because they have now been with Me three days, and have nothing to eat; and if I send them away fasting, they will faint by the way. Alleluia.