[Rank]
Secunda die infra Octavam Omnium Sanctorum;;Semiduplex;;2;;vide Sancti/11-01

[Rule]
vide Sancti/11-01
9 lectiones
Add Defunctorum

[Lectio4]
From the Sermons of the Venerable Bede, Priest (at J arrow.)
!18 th on the Saints.
With what a passion of welcome doth the land above receive them that are coming~
home from the battle, and go forth to meet them that bear the spoils of the down -~
trodden foe! The men who walk in the procession of victory are mingled with~
women, who have conquered world and weakness together, and there also are~
damsels and lads who have understood more than the antients, because they have~
kept the precepts of the Eternal. But besides these there is another great host,~
who will have entry into the everlasting Palace, even they who have kept pure~
the unity of the faith in the bond of peace, and the unshaken observance of the~
commandments given us from heaven.

[Lectio5]
Home now, therefore, my brethren, and let us enter upon the way; let us turn~
our faces homeward and heavenward, toward that land wherein our names are~
written down and we are citizens elect. We are no more strangers and foreigners,~
but fellow - citizens with the Saints, and of the household of God, (Eph. ii. 19,)~
yea, heirs of God, and joint -heirs with Christ. (Rom. viii. 17.) Bravery can~
open, and lealty keep wide the entry for us into that city. Let us think then~
for awhile what is the brilliant happiness of that city that is to say, as well~
as we can, for what it really is, no words can utter.

[Lectio6]
Concerning that city it is written in a certain place Sorrow and mourning~
shall flee away. What can be more blessed than that life wherein poverty will~
not threaten, nor sickness weaken? There, there will be no hurts and no~
angering. There, there will be no envying; there, will burn no covetousness; no~
ambition of honour nor seeking of power will give trouble, there. There, the~
devil will be no more an object of fear; there, no evil spirits lie in wait; the~
dread of hell will be gone, there. There, there will be no death either for the~
body or for the soul, but life glorious in the gift of immortality.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
!Matt 5:1-12
At that time Jesus seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when~
he was set down, his disciples came unto him. And so on.
_
Homily by St Austin, Bishop (of Hippo.)
!Bk. i. on the Lord's Sermon.
 Blessed are the poor in spirit. If blessedness is to attain unto the highest~
wisdom, it must needs be that it begin by the being poor in spirit. The fear of~
the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, (Ps. ex. 10,) even as, on the other hand,~
it is written that pride is the beginning of all sin. (Ecclus. x. i 5.) The~
proud covet and love earthly kingdoms. Blessed are the meek, for they shall~
inherit the earth. The earth which they shall inherit I believe to be that earth~
whereof it is written in the cxli. Psalm, Thou art my refuge, and my portion in~
the land of the living. (6) And the heritage of the meek in this land is an~
heritage everlastingly sure and fixed, wherein the soul resteth by good will, at~
home there, as carnal owners rest at home in sure earthly possessions; and on~
the income from that land they live, as earthly owners from the income of~
earthly possessions; this is the home and the abiding-place of the Saints. And~
the meek heirs are they who when they be evil-entreated, suffer it, and are not~
overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Rom. xii. 21.)

[Lectio8]
Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. This mourning is~
sorrow for the things once loved and now lost. By turning to God, they lose~
things in this world which they once loved. But now their true joy is no longer~
in those things wherein they joyed aforetime, and by the growing love of the~
eternal things this their carnal mourning is abundantly comforted. They are~
comforted by the Holy Ghost Who chiefly for this very reason hath His title of~
the Comforter. They lose things temporal, but they gain the enjoyment of things~
eternal.

[Lectio9]
Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall~
be filled. They of whom He speaketh here are they who have a love for whatever~
is good, because it is good. And such as these shall have their hunger satisfied~
with that meat whereof the Lord Himself said My meat is to do the will of Him~
that sent Me, and to finish His work, (John iv. 34,) and their thirst slaked~
with that water which the same Lord Himself shall give them, whereof whosoever~
drinketh shall never thirst, but the water that He shall have given him, shall~
be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (14.) Blessed are~
the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. He calleth them blessed which succour~
the needy, for, with the measure wherewith they have meted, shall it be measured~
unto them withal, and they shall not be left unsuccoured in their own need.
