Liturgical Calendar

For princes sat, and spoke against me: but thy servant was employed in thy justifications. All thy statutes are truth: they have persecuted me unjustly, do thou help me. For princes sat, and spoke against me: but thy servant was employed in thy justifications.

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

For princes sat, and spoke against me: but thy servant was employed in thy justifications. All thy statutes are truth: they have persecuted me unjustly, do thou help me. For princes sat, and spoke against me: but thy servant was employed in thy justifications.

Grant us, we beseech thee, O Lord, so to imitate what we revere, that we may learn to love even our enemies; for we celebrate the heavenly birthday of him who knew how to pray for his very persecutors to our Lord Jesus Christ:

Lesson from the Acts of Apostles

And Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, did great wonders and signs among the people. Now there arose some of that which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit that spoke. Now hearing these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed with their teeth at him. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looking up steadfastly to heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And he said: Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. And they crying out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and with one accord ran violently upon him. And casting him forth without the city, they stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, invoking, and saying: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling on his knees, he cried with a loud voice, saying: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep in the Lord. And Saul was consenting to his death.

Princes met and talked against me, and the wicked persecuted me wrongfully.

Help me, O Lord my God: rescue me because of Your kindness. Alleluia, alleluia.

I see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing on the right hand of the power of God. Alleluia.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Acts 7:56 I see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Alleluia.

O Lord, You placed on his head a crown of precious stones. Alleluia.

You have granted him his heart’s desire: You refused not the wish of his lips.

For You welcomed him with goodly blessings.

You placed on his head a crown of precious stones.

Continuation + of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew

Therefore behold I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you will put to death and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. Amen I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldest not? Behold, you house shall be left to you, desolate. For I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth till you say: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

The Apostles chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, And the Jews stoned Stephen, invoking, and saying: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

Receive our offerings, O Lord, in memory of Your saints, that, as their passion has given them eternal glory, so may this sacrificial act free us from guilt. Through our Lord.

I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, and lay not this sin to their charge.

May the sacrament we have received aid us, O Lord; and by the intercession of blessed Stephen, Your Martyr, may it sustain us under Your everlasting protection.

Grant, we beseech You, almighty God, that the new birth, in the flesh, of Your only-begotten Son may deliver us whom the bondage of old keeps under the yoke of sin.

Grant, we beseech You, almighty God, that the Saviour of the world, born this day, Who is the author of our birth in godliness, may bestow on us immortal life.

Make holy the sacrificial gifts we offer, O Lord, and by the new birth of Your only-begotten Son cleanse us from the stains of our sins.

Alleluia, alleluia. Acts 7:56 I see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Alleluia. O Lord, You placed on his head a crown of precious stones. Alleluia.