[Rank]
Quarta die infra Octavam Nativitatis Beatae Mariae Virginis;;Semiduplex;;2;;ex Sancti/09-08

[Rule]
ex Sancti/09-08;
9 lectiones
Doxology=Nat

[Lectio4]
From the Sermons of St Bernard, Abbat (of Clairvaux,)
!on Apoc. xii. I.
The Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man.~
(Jer. xxxi. 22.) And this man is no other than Christ, of Whom it is said~
Behold the Man Whose name is The Dayspring (Zech. vi. 12. ) In heaven also~
hath the Lord created a new thing, a woman clothed with the sun. She also hath~
crowned Him and hath earned from Him a crown in return. Go forth, O ye daughters~
of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned~
him. (Cant. iii. ii.) And again go forth now, and behold the Queen with the~
crown wherewith her Son crowned her. And upon her head, saith St John, a crown~
of twelve stars.

[Responsory4]
@Sancti/09-08:Responsory4

[Lectio5]
What is an head worthy to be crowned with stars whose own glory is greater than~
theirs, and rather giveth than receiveth lustre from them. Why should not she~
have stars for her crown, who hath the sun for her clothing? And about her it~
was as the flower of roses in the spring of the year, and lilies of the valleys.~
(Ecclus. 1. 8.) The left hand of her Bridegroom is under her head, and his right~
hand doth embrace her. (Cant. ii. 6.) Who shall appraise these starry jewels~
whereof is made the Queenly crown of Mary?

[Responsory5]
@Sancti/09-08:Responsory5

[Lectio6]
What starry splendour flasheth in the birth of Mary? Manifestly, she was a~
daughter of Kings, a child of the seed of Abraham, a Princess of the lineage of~
David. But whereas this is but too little, add that she is known to have been~
granted by God to that race, on account of the singular privilege of holiness~
which the same possesseth, to have been promised from heaven long before her~
fathers were born, to have been foreshadowed by mysterious wonders, and foretold~
by the utterances of Prophets. She was the rootless rod of Aaron the Priest,~
which yet budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded~
almonds. (Num. xvii. 8.) She was the fleece of Gideon, which was put in the~
floor, and whereon only there was dew when it was dry upon all the earth beside.~
(Judges vi. 37, 38.) She was the gate which Ezekiel saw, which looked toward the~
East and was shut, and the Lord said unto him: This gate shall be shut, it shall~
not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it. (Ezek. xliv. 1, 2.)

[Responsory6]
@Sancti/09-08:Responsory6

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
!Matt 1:1-17
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of~
Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob. And so on.
_
Homily by St Hilary, Bishop (of Poitiers.)
!Comment, on Matth. i.)
By the generation which Matthew noteth in the Kingly, and Luke in the Priestly~
descent of our Lord, both mean to show His relationship with each race, and both~
reach it in the clear line of the pedigree which they are tracing, for that~
connection between the Kingly and Priestly houses which was begun by the~
marriage of David was fully accomplished in the link between Salathiel and~
Zorobabel. And so while Matthew recordeth the line from father to son coming~
down from Judah, and Luke teacheth the descent from the tribe of Levi through~
Nathan, both prove that by His forefathers our Lord Jesus, Who is already a King~
and a Priest from everlasting to everlasting, hath also the right to these~
dignities by earthly inheritance.

[Responsory7]
@Sancti/07-02:Responsory7

[Lectio8]
That it is the pedigree of Joseph and not of Mary which is given mattereth~
nothing, seeing that they were both of the same tribe and of the same family.~
Both Matthew and Luke afford instances of giving the title of father and son to~
persons who were only fore-father and descendant, the line being treated as one~
where the descent is in the same blood. Thus when Matthew will show that the~
Lord was the Son of David and Abraham, he saith The Book of the generation of~
Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham.

[Responsory8]
@Sancti/07-02:Responsory8

[Lectio93]
!Commemoratio for the holy Martyrs Protus and Hyacinth.
Protus and Hyacinth were brethren, eunuchs of the blessed Virgin Eugenia, and~
were baptized along with her by Bishop Helenus. They gave themselves to the~
study of God's Word, and dwelt for a while in wonderful lowliness and holiness~
of life in a monastery in Egypt. However, they afterwards followed the holy~
Virgin Eugenia to Rome, in the reign of the Emperor Gallienus, and were arrested~
in that city for professing the Christian faith. By no means could they be~
brought to leave the Christian religion and to worship the gods, and they were~
therefore severely scourged and beheaded, upon the 11th day of September. 
&teDeum

[Commemoratio 2]
!Commemoratio for the holy Martyrs Protus and Hyacinth.
@Commune/C3:Oratio1
