Sunday 25th. Saint Aelred – his writings combine mystical and speculative theology.

Monastic Lectionary of the Divine Office, 

See St. Aelred Night Office.

    

Night Office by Aelred of Rievaulx

SUNDAY  TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

First Reading   Isaiah 6:1-13

Responsorv     Is 6:5; Lk 5:8

Woe is me! I am doomed; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips, + and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.

V. Simon Peter fell down at Jesus' knees saying: Leave me Lord, for I am a sinful man. + And my eyes ...

Second Reading      From a sermon by Aelred of Rievaulx

In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the whole earth filled with his glory. 0 longed for time, time of divine favour, time all holy people yearn for when they make the daily petition: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The whole earth was full of his glory. I see this earth I tread upon, I feel the burden of this earthly body: both mean toil and sighs for me; upon both rest the wrath of God rather than his glory. The prince of this world still holds sway over the rebellious; every day he confronts believers, and there is scarcely one among God's holy people who does not experience his assaults. Yet the whole earth is full of his glory.

I know that this earth I tread upon will be delivered from its enslavement to decay, and that there will be a new earth and a new heaven, and he who sits upon the throne will say: See, I am making all things new. Even my earthly body will be filled with the glory of the Lord. At present the earth yields thorns and thistles for me, since Adam's crime brought a curse upon it. My body is weak and languid, lazy and burdensome, subject to strong passions and prone to grave illnesses. But why are you cast down, my soul; why groan within me? The whole earth will be filled with his glory.

But when will this be? Undoubtedly, when the Lord takes his seat upon his throne, high and exalted, and refashions our lowly bodies to be like his own glorious body; when that glory which was revealed in the body of the Lord at his transfiguration on the mountain shines forth in our earthly bodies, now risen from the dead and endowed with immortality. Then a new song will be sung and cries of gladness and joy will be heard in the tents of the righteous, for winter is past, the rains are over and gone, and flowers have appeared in the countryside.

It is in order that we may realize the nature of this transfor­mation that our bodies are now subject to death, or, rather, are actually dead. As the Apostle says, The body is dead because of sin. So the body is dead; it is defiled, sick, base-born, mortal. But it will be filled with the glory of the Lord, who will give life to the dead, purify the defiled, heal the sick, exalt the base-born, and immortalize the mortal. And if such is the future felicity of the body, what, I ask, will be that of the spirit?

The cause of our joy will be the vision of the Creator in his creatures, the love of the Creator in his own being, and the praise of our Creator in both. His train filled the temple, says Isaiah. What temple? Scripture says: God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. Now although our bodies are God's temple, nevertheless, because our souls control our bodies, our souls are God's temple in a special way. This is the temple in which during the present life we offer God the sacrifice of a humbled, contrite heart which he does not spurn. This is the temple in which, when the corruptible life of the body is over, and we have been carried to the kingdom of eternal glory where God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, we shall offer God a sacrifice of praise. As he himself says through the Prophet: A sacrifice of praise honours me. Now, in the meantime, Lord, may our sacrifice of contrition placate you, so that, when you sit upon your throne, high and exalted, our sacrifice of praise may honour you.

Responsory 1 Jn 3:2; Col 3:4

We know that when Christ appears we shall be like him, + for we shall see him as he is.

V. When Christ appears, you also will appear with him in glory. + For we shall..