[Rank]
S. Matthei Apostoli and Evangelistae;;Duplex II classis;;5.1;;ex C1a

[Rank1960]
S. Matthei Apostoli and Evangelistae;;Duplex II classis;;5;;ex C1a

[Rule]
ex C1a;
9 lectiones
Psalmi Dominica
Antiphonas horas

[Oratio]
Help us, O Lord, by the prayers of thine holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew,~
that what for ourselves we are not able to obtain, may be freely given us at his~
petition.
$Per Dominum

[Lectio4]
It came to pass one day at Capernaum, that Christ went forth, and saw a publican,~
named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom; and He said unto him Follow Me.~
And he left all, rose up, and followed Him. And Levi made Him a great feast in~
his own house. This Levi is the Apostle and Evangelist Matthew. After that~
Christ was risen again from the dead, and while he was yet in Judea, before he~
set forth for that land which had fallen to the lot of his preaching, he wrote~
the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Hebrew tongue, for the sake of them of the~
circumcision who had believed. His was the first written of the four Gospels.~
Thereafter he went to Ethiopia, and there preached the Gospel, confirming his~
preaching with many miracles.

[Lectio5]
Of his miracles, the most notable was that he raised the King's daughter from~
the dead, and thereby brought to believe in Christ the King her father, his wife,~
and all that region. After that the King was dead, Hirtacus, who came after him,~
was fain to take his daughter Iphigenia to wife, but by the exhortation of~
Matthew she had made vow of her maidenhood to God, and stood firm to that holy~
resolution, for which cause Hirtacus commanded to slay the Apostle at the Altar~
while he was performing the mystery. He crowned the dignity of the Apostleship~
with the glory of martyrdom upon the 21 st day of September. His body had been_
brought to Salerno, where it was afterwards buried in a Church dedicated in his~
name during the Popedom of Gregory VII., and there it is held in great worship~
and sought to by great gatherings of people. 

[Lectio6]
From the Exposition of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel by Pope St Gregory (the~
Great.)
!Hom. 3, Bk. i.
The Prophet writeth very minutely touching the four holy living creatures, whom~
he saw in the spirit as being to come. He saith Every one had four faces, and~
every one had four wings. What signifieth the face save likeness whereby we are~
known? or wings, save the power to fly? since it is by the face that man is~
known from man, and by their wings that the birds' bodies are carried up into~
the air. So the face pertaineth to certitude, and the wings to contemplation.~
With certitude we are known of God Almighty, Who saith I am the Good Shepherd,~
and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. (John x. 14.) And again I know whom I~
have chosen. (xiii. 18.) And by contemplation, whereby we rise above ourselves,~
we as it were fly heavenwards.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
!Matt 9:1-13
At that time Jesus saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom;~
and He saith unto him Follow Me. And so on.
_
Homily by St Jerome, Priest (at Bethlehem.)
!Bk. i. Comment, on Matth. ix.
The other Evangelists, out of tenderness towards the reputation and honour of~
Matthew, have abstained from speaking of him as a publican by his ordinary name,~
and have called him Levi. Both names were his. But Matthew himself according to~
that Solomon hath The just man is the first to accuse himself, (Prov.~
xviii. 17), and again, in another place Declare thou thy sins that thou~
mayest be justified, doth plainly call himself Matthew the publican, to show~
unto his readers that none need be hopeless of salvation if he will but strive~
to do better, since he himself had been all of a sudden changed from a publican~
into an Apostle.

[Lectio8]
Porphyry and the Emperor Julian (the Apostate) will have it that the account of~
this call of Matthew is either a stupid blunder on the part of a lying writer,~
or else that it showeth what fools they were who followed the Saviour, to go~
senselessly after any one who called them. But there can be no doubt that before~
the Apostles believed they had considered the great signs and works of power~
which had gone before. Moreover, the glory and majesty of the hidden God, which~
shone somewhat through the Face of the Man Christ Jesus, were enough to draw~
them which gazed thereon, even at first sight. For if there be in a stone a~
magnetic power which can make rings and straws and rods come and cleave~
thereunto, how much more must not the Lord of all creatures have been able to~
draw unto Himself them whom He called?

[Lectio9]
And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans~
and sinners came and sat down with Him. They saw how that a publican who had~
turned to better things had found a place of repentance, and therefore they also~
hoped for salvation. It was not, as the Scribes and Pharisees complained,~
sinners clinging to their sinfulness who came to Jesus, but sinners repenting,~
as indeed appeareth from the next words of the Lord, where He saith I will~
have mercy and not sacrifice; for I am not come to call the righteous, but~
sinners to repentance. The Lord went to eat with sinners to the end that He~
might have occasion to teach, and to break spiritual bread unto them which bade~
Him.
&teDeum
