Day 18 : 17 March
Hear our voice, O Lord, according to your faithful love.
Lectionary readings (Click the links to see the readings):
Of the day: | Song of the The Three Young Men 2.11-20 | Psalm 25.3-9 | Matthew 18.21-35 |
"Teach me your paths" - Psalm 25.4.
What was Mary's life like up to the time of the Annunciation? Undoubtedly a life of quiet fidelity. But a fidelity to the ordinary. So ordinary that she herself did not perceive its absolute uniqueness … So when Gabriel swept in, she did not know what to make of his expression of God's particular favour in her regard. Holiness, for almost all of us almost all of the time, lies in the ordinary. The moments of annunciation, the call to the extra-ordinary, are rare. If we are destined for such a moment, we can be sure that we are going to be ready for it only if we are, here and now, day in and day out, faithful to the ordinary. Monastic life, spiritual life, Christ-life, consists in the everyday stuff, not living out some fantastic ideal we have conceived. By being really with what is going on around us, by being present to each person who walks in our door, by being who we really are, we experience the presence of God here and now. Mary was ready: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." …
—M Basil Pennington OCSO. Engaging the World with Merton, (Brewster, Mass.: Paraclete, 2005) pp. 103-4.
W. A. Mozart. Requiem Mass in D Minor
English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir, cond. John Eliot Gardiner
at Palau de la Musica Catalana, Barcelona, Dec. 1991.
IV - Rex Temendae
| Rex tremendae majestatis, qui salvandos savas gratis, salve me, fons pietatis. | King of tremendous majesty, who freely saves those worthy ones, save me, source of mercy. |
V - Recordare
| Recordare, Jesu pie, quod sum causa tuae viae; ne me perdas illa die. Quaerens me, sedisti lassus, redemisti crucem passus; tantus labor non sit cassus. Juste judex ultionis, donum fac remissionis ante diem rationis. Ingemisco, tamquam reus: culpa rubet vultus meus; supplicanti parce, Deus.Qui Mariam absolvisti, et latronem exaudisti, mihi quoque spem dedisti. Preces meae non sunt dignae, sed tu, bonus, fac benigne, ne perenni cremer igne. Inter oves locum praesta, Et ab haedis me sequestra, Statuens in parte dextra. | Remember, kind Jesus, my salvation caused your suffering; do not forsake me on that day. Faint and weary you have sought me, redeemed me, suffering on the cross; may such great effort not be in vain. Righteous judge of vengeance, grant me the gift of absolution before the day of retribution. I moan as one who is guilty: owning my shame with a red face; suppliant before you, Lord. You, who absolved Mary, and listened to the thief, give me hope also. My prayers are unworthy, but, good Lord, have mercy, and rescue me from eternal fire. Provide me a place among the sheep, and separate me from the goats, guiding me to Your right hand. |
VI - Confutatis and Lacrimosa
| Confutatis maledictis, flammis acribus addictis, voca me cum benedictus. Oro supplex et acclinis, cor contritum quasi cinis, gere curam mei finis. | When the accused are confounded, and doomed to flames of woe, call me among the blessed. I kneel with submissive heart, my contrition is like ashes, help me in my final condition. |
| Lacrimosa dies illa, qua resurget ex favilla judicandus homo reus. Huic ergo parce, Deus, pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Amen. | That day of tears and mourning, when from the ashes shall arise, all humanity to be judged. Spare us by your mercy, Lord, gentle Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest. Amen. |
May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love. Amen.