Wednesday in Holy Week — Pre-1955

Phil 2:10; 2:8; 2:11

v. That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.

Ps 101:2

v. Hear, O Lord, my prayer: and let my cry come to thee. v. That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.

Lesson from the book of Isaias the Prophet

Isa 63:1-7

Thus sayeth the Lord God: telleth the daughter of Sion: Behold thy Saviour cometh; behold His reward is with Him and His work before Him. Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra, this beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength. I, that speak justice, and am a defender to save. Why then is thy apparel red, and thy garments like theirs that tread in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me: I have trampled on them in my indignation, and have trodden them down in my wrath, and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my apparel. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption is come. I looked about, and there was none to help: I sought, and there was none to give aid: and my own arm hath saved for me, and my indignation itself hath helped me. And I have trodden down the people in my wrath, and have made them drunk in my indignation, and have brought down their strength to the earth. I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord, the praise of the Lord for all the things that the Lord hath bestowed upon us.

Ps 68:18; 68:2-3

v. And turn not away thy face from thy servant: for I am in trouble, hear me speedily. V. Save me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul. I stick fast in the mire of the deep: and there is no sure standing.

O God, who to drive far from us the power of the enemy, didst will that thy Son should suffer for us on the gibbet of the cross, grant us thy servants, that we mayest obtain the grace of the resurrection. r. Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.

Grant we beseech thee Almighty God, that we who are continually afflicted by reason of our waywardness, may be delivered by the Passion of thy only-begotten Son. r. Who livest and reignest with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen

Lesson from the book of Isaias the Prophet

Isa 53:1-12

v. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And he shall grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in him, nor comeliness: and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of him: Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and his look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way: and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth. He was taken away from distress, and from judgment: who shall declare his generation? because he is cut off out of the land of the living: for the wickedness of my people have I struck him. And he shall give the ungodly for his burial, and the rich for his death: because he hath done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in his mouth. And the Lord was pleased to bruise him in infirmity: if he shall lay down his life for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in his hand. Because his soul hath laboured, he shall see and be filled: by his knowledge shall this my just servant justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I distribute to him very many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong, because he hath delivered his soul unto death, and was reputed with the wicked: and he hath borne the sins of many, and hath prayed for the transgressors.

Ps. 101:2-5,14

Hear, O Lord, my prayer: and let my cry come to thee. V. Turn not away thy face from me: in the day when I am in trouble, incline thy ear to me. V. In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me speedily. V For my days are vanished like smoke: and my bones are grown dry like fuel for the fire. V. I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered: because I forgot to eat my bread. V. Thou shalt arise and have mercy on Sion: for it is time to have mercy on it, for the time is come.

v. The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.

Luc 22:1-71; 23:1-53

v. Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the pasch, was at hand. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put Jesus to death: but they feared the people. And Satan entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot, one of the twelve. And he went, and discoursed with the chief priests and the magistrates, how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. And he promised. And he sought opportunity to betray him in the absence of the multitude. And the day of the unleavened bread came, on which it was necessary that the pasch should be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying: Go, and prepare for us the pasch, that we may eat. But they said: Where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said to them: Behold, as you go into the city, there shall meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water: follow him into the house where he entereth in. And you shall say to the goodman of the house: The master saith to thee, Where is the guest chamber, where I may eat the pasch with my disciples? And he will shew you a large dining room, furnished; and there prepare. And they going, found as he had said to them, and made ready the pasch. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said to them: With desire I have desired to eat this pasch with you, before I suffer. For I say to you, that from this time I will not eat it, till it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And having taken the chalice, he gave thanks, and said: Take, and divide it among you: For I say to you, that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, till the kingdom of God come. And taking bread, he gave thanks, and brake; and gave to them, saying: This is my body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of me. In like manner the chalice also, after he had supped, saying: This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you. But yet behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. And the Son of man indeed goeth, according to that which is determined: but yet, woe to that man by whom he shall be betrayed. And they began to inquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing. And there was also a strife amongst them, which of them should seem to be the greater. And he said to them: The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and they that have power over them, are called beneficent. But you not so: but he that is the greater among you, let him become as the younger; and he that is the leader, as he that serveth. For which is greater, he that sitteth at table, or he that serveth? Is it not he that sitteth at table? But I am in the midst of you, as he that serveth: And you are they who have continued with me in my temptations: And I dispose to you, as my Father hath disposed to me, a kingdom; That you may eat and drink at my table, in my kingdom: and may sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren. Who said to him: Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said: I say to thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, till thou thrice deniest that thou knowest me. And he said to them: When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, did you want anything? But they said: Nothing. Then said he unto them: But now he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise a scrip; and he that hath not, let him sell his coat, and buy a sword. For I say to you, that this that is written must yet be fulfilled in me: And with the wicked was he reckoned. For the things concerning me have an end. But they said: Lord, behold here are two swords. And he said to them, It is enough. And going out, he went, according to his custom, to the mount of Olives.

v. Cleanse my heart and my lips, O almighty God, who didst cleanse the lips of the prophet Isaias with a burning coal, and vouchsafe, through Thy gracious mercy, so to purify me, that I may worthily announce Thy holy Gospel. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. D. Sir, give me thy blessing. S. The Lord be in thy heart and on thy lips, that thou mayst worthily and in a becoming manner, proclaim His holy Gospel. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

And behold there was a man named Joseph, who was a counsellor, a good and just man, The same had not consented to their counsel and doings; of Arimathea, a city of Judea; who also himself looked for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And taking him down, he wrapped him in fine linen, and laid him in a sepulchre that was hewed in stone, wherein never yet any man had been laid.

Ps 101:2-3

v. Hear, O Lord, my prayer: and let my cry come to thee. Turn not away thy face from me.

Accept, we beseech thee, O Lord, the gift we offer; and graciously effect, that what we celebrate in mystery of the Passion of thy Son, we may by holy dispositions obtain. r. Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.

Ps 101:13; 101:14

v. I mingled my drink with weeping: for having lifted me up, thou hast thrown me down, and I am withered like grass. But thou, O Lord, remainest forever, thou shalt arise, and have mercy on Sion, for the time is come, to have mercy on it.

Grant to us, almighty God, to feel that through the temporal death of thy Son which these venerable mysteries testify, we have assurance, that thou hast given us eternal life. r. Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.

Prayer over the people

v. Let us pray. v. Bow your heads to God. v.Look down we beseech thee, O Lord, on this thy family on whose sake our Lord Jesus Christ refused not to yield himself into the hands of the wicked and to suffer the torments of the cross. r. Who livest and reignest with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen