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Double of the II Class with a Simple Octave
Lesson i
From the Book of Ecclesiasticus
(51:1-7) I will thank thee, O Lord and King, and praise thee, O God my Saviour : I do give praise unto thy Name : for thou art my defender and helper, and hast preserved my body from destruction, and from the snare of the slanderous tongue, and from the lips that forge lies, and hast been mine helper against mine adversaries : and hast delivered me, according to the multitude of thy mercies and greatness of thy Name, from the teeth of them that were ready to devour me, and out of the hands of such as sought after my life, and from the manifold afflictions which I had ; from the choking of fire on every side, and from the midst of the fire which I kindled not ; from the depth of the belly of hell, from an unclean tongue, and from lying words. By an accusation to the king from an unrighteous tongue.
Lesson ii
(51:8-13) My soul drew near even unto death, my life was near to the hell beneath. They compassed me on every side, and there was no man to help me : I looked for the succour of men, but there was none. Then thought I upon thy mercy, O Lord, and upon thy acts of old, how thou deliverest such as wait for thee, and savest them out of the hands of the enemies, O Lord our God. Then lifted I up my supplication from the earth, and prayed for deliverance from death.
Lesson iii
(51:14-17) I called upon the Lord, the Father of my Lord, that he would not leave me in the days of my trouble, and in the time of the proud, when there was no help. I will praise thy Name continually, and will sing praise with thanksgiving ; and so my prayer was heard : for thou savedst me from destruction, and deliveredst me from the evil time : therefore will I give thanks, and praise thee, and bless thy Name, O Lord.
Lesson iv
A Sermon of St. Leo the Pope
When the fury of the heathen power was raging against Christ's choicest members, in aiming in especial at such as were in Holy Orders, the wicked persecutor turned fiercely on the Levite Lawrence, who was remarkable, not only as a minister of the Sacraments, but also as distributor of the property of the Church, promising himself a double prey by the taking of this one man, namely, to make him betray the consecrated treasure, and apostátise from the true faith. The wretch was thus doubly fired by his greed for money and his hatred of the truth. His greed urged him to seize the gold, and his wickedness to rob a believer of his chief treasure, even of Christ himself. Wherefore he first demanded from this upright steward of the sacred treasury, to bring him the wealth of the Church, for which his rapacity longed. But the pure-minded Levite shewed him where these riches were laid up. For he brought forward before him a great multitude of the holy poor, by the feeding and clothing of whom he had laid up all that he had, in such wise, that it could be lost no more, and was now all the safer, as the way of spending it had been the holier.
Lesson v
Being thus frustrated, the robber loudly complained ; and burning with indignation against a religion which enjoined such a use or riches, he attempted a still greater theft. From him in whose possession no gold was to be found, the robber thereupon demanded the dearest of treasures, even that possession which had made the young man rich in holiness. He commanded Lawrence to deny Christ. Seeing the immoveable firmness of the Levite's soul, he made ready to assail the same with appalling tortures, of which the failure of any one was to be followed by another more fearful still. He ordered the Christian's limbs to be torn on the rack. After this he was scourged to the point of death. Then he was condemned to be slowly roasted over a fire. To this end he was laid on a gridiron, underneath which were burning coals, wherefrom the iron bars themselves became hot. Thus as the torturers with their iron forks, constantly turned and re-arranged his limbs and body, his agony was kept keener, and his sufferings made to last the longer.
Lesson vi
O raging cruelty, in nothing wast thou the gainer! In nothing didst thou profit! That which can die passeth by degrees beyond thy torments. And when Lawrence departed to heaven, thou wast brought to nothing. The love of Christ could not be overcome by thy fires, for the flame which burnt outwardly on his body was colder than the fire which burnt inwardly in his soul. Wherefore, dearly beloved, let us rejoice with spiritual joy, and make our boast in the Lord, who is wonderful in his Saints! Them hath he appointed unto us as a protection and an example. And thus he hath made known his glory through the whole world, that from the rising up of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, wherever those stars of Levitical light do shine, like as Jerusalem is made glorious by Stephen, even so is Rome made resplendent by Lawrence.
Lesson vii
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John (12:24-26)
At that time : Jesus said unto his disciples : Verily, Verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. And the rest.
A Homily by St. Augustine the Bishop
The Lord Jesus was himself a corn of wheat that was to die and bring forth much fruit ; for he was to die by the unbelief of the Jews, and to bring forth much fruit in the faith of the Gentiles. But now, to encourage us to follow in the way of his passion, he saith : He that loveth his life shall lose it. These words may be understood in two ways. First : If thou love life, thou wilt lose it ; that is to say, If thou wilt live for ever in Christ, refuse not to die for Christ. Or secondly : Love it not lest thou lose it ; that is, Love not this present life in such wise that thou be in jeopardy of losing life eternal.
Lesson viii
That this second interpretation is the meaning of the Gospel, appeareth most probable from the words which follow : He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. From which we may suppose the sense of the first words to be : He that loveth his life in this world shall lose it unto life eternal. This is a great and marvellous saying, shewing how a man may so love life as to lose life, and so hate life as to keep life. If thou love it too well, then dost thou hate it ; if thou hate it with an holy hatred, then dost thou love it. Blessed are they that, lest they should so love it as to lose it, so hate it as to keep it.
Lesson ix
Beware lest thou take these words : He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal : as some do, for an approval of suicide. Some evil and perverse men, bloody and guilty murderers of themselves, do indeed throw themselves into the fire ; or drown themselves in water ; or cast themselves down precipices ; and so they do perish. This is not the teaching of Christ, for when the devil would have him cast himself down from an high place, he answered : Get thee behind me, Satan ; it is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And Christ also to Peter, signifying by what death he should glorify God : When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest ; but when thou shalt be old, another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. From which it is evident that he who would follow Christ's footsteps, must be slain, not by himself, but by another.
Collect
Let us pray. O Almighty God, who didst give unto blessed Lawrence power to be more than conqueror in his fiery torment : grant unto us, we beseech thee, the power to quench the flames of our sinful lusts. Through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, who with thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Lesson i
From the Book of Ecclesiasticus
(51:1-7) I will thank thee, O Lord and King, and praise thee, O God my Saviour : I do give praise unto thy Name : for thou art my defender and helper, and hast preserved my body from destruction, and from the snare of the slanderous tongue, and from the lips that forge lies, and hast been mine helper against mine adversaries : and hast delivered me, according to the multitude of thy mercies and greatness of thy Name, from the teeth of them that were ready to devour me, and out of the hands of such as sought after my life, and from the manifold afflictions which I had ; from the choking of fire on every side, and from the midst of the fire which I kindled not ; from the depth of the belly of hell, from an unclean tongue, and from lying words. By an accusation to the king from an unrighteous tongue.
Lesson ii
(51:8-13) My soul drew near even unto death, my life was near to the hell beneath. They compassed me on every side, and there was no man to help me : I looked for the succour of men, but there was none. Then thought I upon thy mercy, O Lord, and upon thy acts of old, how thou deliverest such as wait for thee, and savest them out of the hands of the enemies, O Lord our God. Then lifted I up my supplication from the earth, and prayed for deliverance from death.
Lesson iii
(51:14-17) I called upon the Lord, the Father of my Lord, that he would not leave me in the days of my trouble, and in the time of the proud, when there was no help. I will praise thy Name continually, and will sing praise with thanksgiving ; and so my prayer was heard : for thou savedst me from destruction, and deliveredst me from the evil time : therefore will I give thanks, and praise thee, and bless thy Name, O Lord.
Lesson iv
A Sermon of St. Leo the Pope
When the fury of the heathen power was raging against Christ's choicest members, in aiming in especial at such as were in Holy Orders, the wicked persecutor turned fiercely on the Levite Lawrence, who was remarkable, not only as a minister of the Sacraments, but also as distributor of the property of the Church, promising himself a double prey by the taking of this one man, namely, to make him betray the consecrated treasure, and apostátise from the true faith. The wretch was thus doubly fired by his greed for money and his hatred of the truth. His greed urged him to seize the gold, and his wickedness to rob a believer of his chief treasure, even of Christ himself. Wherefore he first demanded from this upright steward of the sacred treasury, to bring him the wealth of the Church, for which his rapacity longed. But the pure-minded Levite shewed him where these riches were laid up. For he brought forward before him a great multitude of the holy poor, by the feeding and clothing of whom he had laid up all that he had, in such wise, that it could be lost no more, and was now all the safer, as the way of spending it had been the holier.
Lesson v
Being thus frustrated, the robber loudly complained ; and burning with indignation against a religion which enjoined such a use or riches, he attempted a still greater theft. From him in whose possession no gold was to be found, the robber thereupon demanded the dearest of treasures, even that possession which had made the young man rich in holiness. He commanded Lawrence to deny Christ. Seeing the immoveable firmness of the Levite's soul, he made ready to assail the same with appalling tortures, of which the failure of any one was to be followed by another more fearful still. He ordered the Christian's limbs to be torn on the rack. After this he was scourged to the point of death. Then he was condemned to be slowly roasted over a fire. To this end he was laid on a gridiron, underneath which were burning coals, wherefrom the iron bars themselves became hot. Thus as the torturers with their iron forks, constantly turned and re-arranged his limbs and body, his agony was kept keener, and his sufferings made to last the longer.
Lesson vi
O raging cruelty, in nothing wast thou the gainer! In nothing didst thou profit! That which can die passeth by degrees beyond thy torments. And when Lawrence departed to heaven, thou wast brought to nothing. The love of Christ could not be overcome by thy fires, for the flame which burnt outwardly on his body was colder than the fire which burnt inwardly in his soul. Wherefore, dearly beloved, let us rejoice with spiritual joy, and make our boast in the Lord, who is wonderful in his Saints! Them hath he appointed unto us as a protection and an example. And thus he hath made known his glory through the whole world, that from the rising up of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, wherever those stars of Levitical light do shine, like as Jerusalem is made glorious by Stephen, even so is Rome made resplendent by Lawrence.
Lesson vii
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John (12:24-26)
At that time : Jesus said unto his disciples : Verily, Verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. And the rest.
A Homily by St. Augustine the Bishop
The Lord Jesus was himself a corn of wheat that was to die and bring forth much fruit ; for he was to die by the unbelief of the Jews, and to bring forth much fruit in the faith of the Gentiles. But now, to encourage us to follow in the way of his passion, he saith : He that loveth his life shall lose it. These words may be understood in two ways. First : If thou love life, thou wilt lose it ; that is to say, If thou wilt live for ever in Christ, refuse not to die for Christ. Or secondly : Love it not lest thou lose it ; that is, Love not this present life in such wise that thou be in jeopardy of losing life eternal.
Lesson viii
That this second interpretation is the meaning of the Gospel, appeareth most probable from the words which follow : He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. From which we may suppose the sense of the first words to be : He that loveth his life in this world shall lose it unto life eternal. This is a great and marvellous saying, shewing how a man may so love life as to lose life, and so hate life as to keep life. If thou love it too well, then dost thou hate it ; if thou hate it with an holy hatred, then dost thou love it. Blessed are they that, lest they should so love it as to lose it, so hate it as to keep it.
Lesson ix
Beware lest thou take these words : He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal : as some do, for an approval of suicide. Some evil and perverse men, bloody and guilty murderers of themselves, do indeed throw themselves into the fire ; or drown themselves in water ; or cast themselves down precipices ; and so they do perish. This is not the teaching of Christ, for when the devil would have him cast himself down from an high place, he answered : Get thee behind me, Satan ; it is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And Christ also to Peter, signifying by what death he should glorify God : When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest ; but when thou shalt be old, another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. From which it is evident that he who would follow Christ's footsteps, must be slain, not by himself, but by another.
Collect
Let us pray. O Almighty God, who didst give unto blessed Lawrence power to be more than conqueror in his fiery torment : grant unto us, we beseech thee, the power to quench the flames of our sinful lusts. Through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, who with thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
