FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PASCHA (ROGATION) (MAY 17TH)

✠ THE DIVINE LITURGY OF ST. JAMES ✠

ACCORDING TO THE USE OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH OF THE WEST

✠ FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER (ROGATION) ✠

✠ THE PREPARATION ✠

INTROIT: 

Exaudi Consider, O Lord, and hear me, when I cry unto thee, alleluia: unto thee my heart hath said, Thy face, Lord have I sought; thy face, Lord, will I seek; O hide not thou thy face from thy servant, alleluia, alleluia. Ps. 27 The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom then shall I fear? Glory be.

✠ COLLECTS ✠

SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION

O GOD, the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us and exalt us unto the same place whither our Savior Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

THE FEAST OF STS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS
ALMIGHTY GOD, Who didst enlighten the Slavic peoples through the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius, grant that our hearts may grasp the words of Thy holy teaching and perfect us as a people in the Communion of the One True Faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ our Lord, Who livest and reignest with the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

BL. ISIDORE THE FARMER AND BL. MARIA
O God, Creator and Provider: Thou entrusted to us the care of the earth, so that the seeds we sow may grow and flourish. May the examples of Isidore and Maria urge us to tend wisely earth’s bountiful resources and use responsibly the fruit of our labor for the benefit of all who are in need. Through.

ST. BRENDAN THE NAVIGATOR
ALMIGHTY GOD, Who hast offered us this day to commemorate Thy most holy Saint, Confessor, Abbot and Navigator, the Blessed Brendan, that we might be upheld by his holy prayers and that we may glory in all of Thy mercies. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who livest and reignest with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

✠ THE LITURGY OF THE WORD ✠

THE OLD TESTAMENT LESSON: 1 Samuel 8

And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city. 

THE NEW TESTAMENT LESSON: Acts 1:1-11

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 

THE EPISTLE: 1 Peter 4:7-11 

But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 

THE HOLY GOSPEL: John 15:26-16:4

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
         These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. 

✠ THE LITURGY OF THE FAITHFUL ✠

OFFERTORY:

God is gone up with a merry noise and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet, alleluia.

SECRET:

May this spotless Sacrifice purify us, O Lord: and give unto our hearts the strength of thy heavenly grace. Through.