TWO
YEAR LECTIONARY
PATRISTIC
VIGILS READINGS
LENT
YEAR
1
Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Lent Year I
Night Office Patristic Reading
A READING FROM THE FIRST CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION BY
ST AUGUSTINE
There are two cities, the city of
the godly and the city of the ungodly. These have been with us since the human
race began, and will continue to the end of the world. For the time being, as
far as outward appearances go, they are indistinguishable, but their
aspirations are very different. On the Day of Judgment they will be separated
bodily for all to see. One fellowship consists of all those men and angels who
humbly seek God’s glory rather than their own, and follow him with laving
devotion. Yet in his abundant mercy God bears patiently with the ungodly,
giving them time to repent and change their ways.
We have an illustration of this in
God’s decision to destroy the entire human race by the flood, with the
exception of one just man and his family, who were to be kept safe in the ark.
God knew the wicked would not change their ways; even so, during the hundred years
it took to build the ark, they were clearly warned that his wrath would descend
upon them They were assured, too, that if they turned to God he would spare
them, as he later spared the penitent Ninevites. At the same time the mystery
of the flood prefigures the Church to come: as the wood of the ark saved the
just from drowning, so too, by the mystery of his wooden Cross, Christ, the
Church’s God and King, saves us from drowning in the sea of this world. God
well knew that from those saved in the ark evil men would be born who would
fill the earth once again with their wickedness; nevertheless, in the symbol
of a thing made of wood he gave men a foreshadowing of both the judgement to
come and the salvation of the just.
We know that among those who lived
after the flood, there were at least some good people who enjoyed the freedom
of the holy city. The Spirit had made known to them the coming self-abasement
of Christ their King; through this healing revelation they were enabled to
conquer that pride which originated with the devil and to seek God with loving
devotion. From their number God chose Abraham, a man of faith who served God
with all his heart; to him he revealed the mystery of his Son, so that
believers of all nations, by imitating his faith, would be called the children
of Abraham.
From Abraham arose a people who
worshiped the one true God, maker of heaven and earth. In this people the
Church to come was much more clearly prefigured; it included the earthly-minded
majority who served God for his material benefits, as well as the minority who
looked forward to God’s eternal rest and were in search of their heavenly
country. To the latter, however, the Prophets revealed the meekness of their
future king, Christ Jesus our Lord and God, so that through faith in him they
might rid themselves of all pride and self-importance.
Not only by their words, but still
more by the symbolism of their lives, their marriages, and their children,
these devout men who lived before the birth of our Lord point toward the time
when through faith in the passion of Christ the pagans would be incorporated
into the Church. All these things signified the mystery of Christ and his
Church, of which those Old Testament saints were members, even though they
lived before Christ our Lord was born according to the flesh.
Word in Season II, 1st ed
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