Introit • Ecclus. 18, 12, 13
The compassion of man is toward his neighbor; but the mercy of God is upon all flesh. He hath mercy, and teacheth and correcteth, as shepherd doth his flock. Ps. 1, 1. Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence. Glory be …
Collect (Prayer)
GRANT us, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that, after the example of St. John, The confessor, making progress in the science of the saints and showing mercy to others, we may through his merits obtain forgiveness before Thee. Through our Lord.
Epistle • Jas. 2, 12-17
Lesson from the Epistle of blessed James the Apostle.
So SPEAK ye, and so do, as being to be judged by the laws of liberty. For judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy: and mercy exalteth itself above judgment. What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he have faith, but hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him? And if a brother or sister be naked, and want daily food, and one of you say to them, Go in peace, be you warmed and filled, and yet give them not those things that are necessary for the body; what shall it profit? So faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself.
Gradual • Ps. 106, 8, 9
Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to Him: and His wonderful works to the children of men. For He hath satisfied the empty soul, and hath filled the hungry soul with good things.
Lesser Alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia. Prov. 31, 20. He hath opened His hand to the needy, and stretched out His hands to the poor. Alleluia.
Gospel • Luke 12, 35-40
Continuation of the Holy Gospel According to St. Luke.
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: Let your loins be girt and lamps burning in your hands, and you yourselves like to men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding: that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him immediately.
Blessed are those servants whom the lord, when he cometh, shall find watching: amen I say to you that he will gird himself and make them sit down to meat, and passing will minister unto them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
But this know ye, that if the householder did know at what hour the thief would come, he would surely watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open. Be you then also ready, for at what hour you think not the Son of Man will come.
Offertory • Job. 29, 14, 16
I was clad with justice and I clothed myself with my judgments, as with a robe and a diadem; I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame; I was the father of the poor.
Secret
GRACIOUSLY receive these offerings, we beseech Thee, O Lord, by the merits of St. John, Thy confessor, and grant that, loving Thee above all things and all things for Thy sake, we may in heart and in deed be pleasing to Thee. Through our Lord.
Communion • Matt. 19, 28-29
Givee and it shall be given to you: good measure, and pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall thy give into your bosom.
Postcommunion
REGALED with the delights of Thy precious body and blood, we humbly pray Thy clemency, O Lord, that by the merits and example of St. John, Thy confessor, we may be made imitators of his charity and sharers of his glory. Who livest.