[Officium]
Dominica in Quinquagesima

[Ant 1]
The father of our faith, * the mighty Abraham, offered a burnt offering on the altar for his son.

[Oratio]
O Lord, we beseech You, mercifully hear our prayers; loose us from the chains of our sins and keep us from all adversity.
$Per Dominum

[Lectio1]
Lesson from the book of Genesis
!Gen 12:1-6
1 And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father's house, and come into the land which I shall show thee.
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.
3 I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed:
4 So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran.
5 And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had gotten in Haran: and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan. And when they were come into it,
6 Abram passed through the country into the place of Sichem, as far as the noble vale: now the Chanaanite was at that time in the land.

[Responsory1]
R. The Lord spake unto Abram, saying: Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and go unto the land that I will show thee,
* And I will make of thee a great nation.
V. I will surely bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be blessed.
R. And I will make of thee a great nation.

[Lectio2]
!Gen 12:7-13
7 And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him: To thy seed will I give this land. And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8 And passing on from thence to a mountain, that was on the east side of Bethel, he there pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east; he built there also an altar to the Lord, and called upon his name.
9 And Abram went forward, going, and proceeding on to the south.
10 And there came a famine in the country; and Abram went down into Egypt, to sojourn there: for the famine was very grievous in the land.
11 And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: I know that thou art a beautiful woman:
12 And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say: She is his wife: and they will kill me, and keep thee.
13 Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister: that I may be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake.

[Responsory2]
R. Abraham stood by the oak of Mamre, and he saw three men coming up by the path.
* He saw three, and worshipped One.
V. Behold, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac.
R. He saw three, and worshipped One.

[Lectio3]
!Gen 12:14-19
14 And when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very beautiful.
15 And the princes told Pharao, and praised her before him: and the woman was taken into the house of Pharao.
16 And they used Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep and oxen, and he asses, and men servants and maid servants, and she asses, and camels.
17 But the Lord scourged Pharao and his house with most grievous stripes for Sarai, Abram's wife.
18 And Pharao called Abram, and said to him: What is this that thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
19 For what cause didst thou say, she was thy sister, that I might take her to my wife? Now, therefore, there is thy wife, take her, and go thy way.

[Responsory3]
R. The Lord did tempt Abraham, and said unto him:
* Take thy son Isaac whom thou lovest, and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
V. And when the Lord called him, he answered: Behold, here I am. And the Lord said unto him:
R. Take thy son Isaac whom thou lovest, and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
&Gloria
R. Take thy son Isaac whom thou lovest, and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

[Lectio4]
From the Book upon the Patriarch Abraham written by St. Ambrose, Bishop (of Milan.)
!Bk. I, 2
Abraham was truly a great man, illustrious as an example of many virtues; one the like of whom the day-dreams of Philosophy have not been able to produce. That which she imagineth is less than that which he did; his simple truth and faith were something grander than her lying rounded periods. Let us then consider what this man's loyalty was. For that virtue is first to be taken which was the source of all the others, and thus this was the first which God called for from him, when He said: Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house. It would have been enough to have said, Get thee out of thy country, for there were his kindred, and there his father's house.

[Responsory4]
R. The Angel of the Lord called unto Abraham and said:
* Lay not thine hand upon the lad; for now I know that thou fearest God.
V. And Abraham stretched forth his hand to slay his son; and, behold, the Angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said:
R. Lay not thy hand upon the lad; for now I know that thou fearest God.

[Lectio5]
But He gave the details of his sacrifice one by one, that He might see whether he loved Him, lest also he should begin rashly, or should seek to evade the heavenly commandment. But as the whole of the precept was plainly set forth, lest anything should be unconsidered, so also were the rewards set forth, lest the burden should seem hopeless. He was tried as one that is strong, he was roused as one that is true, he was called as one that is righteous; and he departed loyally as the Lord had spoken unto him. And Lot went forth with him. That saying of the Seven Wise Men of Greece is much spoken of Follow God. But this did Abraham before the Seven Wise Men were thought of; he followed God, and went out of his own land.

[Responsory5]
R. The Angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
* And said: I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven.
V. Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
R. And I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven.

[Lectio6]
But, forasmuch as Abraham had before had another country, namely, the land of the Chaldees, whence went forth Terah the father of Abraham, and came unto Haran, and forasmuch as he to whom it had been said, Get thee out from thy kindred, took Lot, his brother's son, with him, let us consider whether this Get thee out of thy country signifieth not get thee out of this earthly dwelling, namely, our body, from which Paul came forth, who said, Our conversation is in heaven. (Phil. iii. 20.)

[Responsory6]
R. O God of my master Abraham, prosper my way which I go;
* That I may return again in safety unto the house of my master.
V. O Lord, I pray thee, be merciful unto thy servant.
R. That I may return again in safety unto the house of my master.
&Gloria
R. That I may return again in safety unto the house of my master.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke
!Luke 18:31-43
In that time, Jesus took unto him the twelve, and said to them: Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which were written by the prophets concerning the Son of man. And so on.
_
Homily by Pope St. Gregory (the Great.)
!2nd on the Gospels
Our Redeemer, foreseeing that the minds of His disciples would be troubled by His suffering, told them long before both of the pains of that suffering, and of the glory of His rising again, to the end that, when they should see Him die as He had prophesied, they might not doubt that He was likewise to rise again. But, since His disciples were yet carnal, and could not receive the words telling of this mystery, He wrought a miracle before them. A blind man received his sight before their eyes, that if they could not receive heavenly things by words, they might be persuaded of heavenly things by deeds.

[Responsory7]
R. I came this day unto the well, and I besought the Lord, and said:
* O Lord God of Abraham, Thou hast prospered my way.
V. Therefore the virgin to whom I shall say: Give me water of thy pitcher to drink; and she shall say to me: Drink, my lord, and I will give thy camels drink also; let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed out for my master's son.
R. O Lord God of Abraham, Thou hast prospered my way.

[Lectio8]
But, dearly beloved brethren, we must so take the miracles of our Lord and Saviour, as believing both that they were actually wrought, and that they have some mystic interpretation for our instruction. For in His works, power speaketh one thing and mystery again another. Behold here, for instance. We know not historically who this blind man was, but we do know of what he was mystically the figure. Mankind is blind, driven out from Eden in the persons of his first parents, knowing not the light of heaven, and suffering the darkness of condemnation. But, nevertheless, through the coming of his Redeemer, he is enlightened, so that now he seeth by hope already the gladness of inward light, and walketh by good works in the path of life.

[Responsory8]
R. The word of the Lord came unto Abram, saying:
* Fear not, Abram I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
V. For I am the Lord thy God That brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees.
R. Fear not, Abram I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

[Lectio9]
One must note that as Jesus drew to Jericho a blind man received his sight. Now, this name Jericho, being interpreted, signifieth the city of the moon and in Holy Scripture the moon is used as a figure of our imperfect flesh, of whose gradual corruption her monthly waning is a type. As, therefore, our Maker draweth nigh to Jericho, a blind man receiveth his sight. While the Godhead taketh. into itself our weak manhood, man receiveth again the light which he had lost. By God's suffering in the Manhood, man is raised up toward God. This blind man is also well described as sitting by the wayside begging, for the Truth saith: “I am the Way.” (John XIV, 6.)

[Responsory9]
R. As the Lord passed by, a certain blind man sat by the way-side, and cried unto Him. And the Lord asked him, saying:
* What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? * Lord, that I may receive my sight.
V. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto Him; and when he was come near, He asked him, saying:
R. What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?
&Gloria
R. Lord, that I may receive my sight.

[Ant Laudes]
O Lord, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, * blot out my transgressions.
Thou art my God, * and I will praise thee; Thou art my God, and I will exalt thee.
O God, early will I seek thee, * to see thy power.
Sing praises, * and exalt Him above all for ever.
Praise ye the Lord * from the heavens, all His angels.

[Capitulum Laudes]
!1 Cor 13:1
v. Brothers: If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
$Deo gratias

[Ant 2]
Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, * and all things that are written by the Prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished; for He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked and spitted on; and they shall scourge Him, and put Him to death, and the third day He shall rise again.

[Ant Prima]
As Jesus went on His way, * as He was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man cried unto Him, that he might worthily receive his sight.

[Ant Tertia]
As the Lord passed by, * a certain blind man cried unto Him: Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

[Ant Sexta]
And they that went before rebuked him, * that he should hold his peace, but he cried so much the more: Thou Son of David, have mercy on me!

[Capitulum Sexta]
!1 Cor 13:8-9
v. Charity never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
$Deo gratias

[Ant Nona]
The blind man cried to the Lord * so much the more, to give him light.

[Capitulum Nona]
!1 Cor 13:13
v. And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.
$Deo gratias

[Ant 3]
And Jesus stood, * and commanded the blind man to be brought unto Him, and He asked him, saying: What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him: Receive thy sight, thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God.