Fragmenda

Scripture

Psalms 62–66

Psalms 62

Deus Deus meus, ad te. The prophet aspireth after God.

1 

A psalm of David while he was in the desert of Edom.

2 

O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day. For thee my soul hath thirsted; for thee my flesh, O how many ways!

3 

In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water: so in the sanctuary have I come before thee, to see thy power and thy glory.

4 

For thy mercy is better than lives: thee my lips will praise.

5 

Thus will I bless thee all my life long: and in thy name I will lift up my hands.

6 

Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness: and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.

7 

If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate on thee in the morning:

8 

Because thou hast been my helper. And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings:

9 

My soul hath stuck close to thee: thy right hand hath received me.

10 

But they have sought my soul in vain, they shall go into the lower parts of the earth:

11 

They shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the portions of foxes.

12 

But the king shall rejoice in God, all they shall be praised that swear by him: because the mouth is stopped of them that speak wicked things.


Psalms 63

Exaudi Deus orationem. A prayer in affliction, with confidence in God that he will bring to nought the machinations of persecutors.

1 

Unto the end, a psalm for David.

2 

Hear O God, my prayer, when I make supplication to thee: deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy.

3 

Thou hast protected me from the assembly of the malignant; from the multitude of the workers of iniquity.

4 

For they have whetted their tongues like a sword; they have bent their bow a bitter thing,

5 

To shoot in secret the undefiled.

6 

They will shoot at him on a sudden, and will not fear: they are resolute in wickedness. They have talked of hiding snares; they have said: Who shall see them?

7 

They have searched after iniquities: they have failed in their search. Man shall come to a deep heart:

8 

And God shall be exalted. The arrows of children are their wounds:

9 

And their tongues against them are made weak. All that saw them were troubled;

10 

And every man was afraid. And they declared the works of God, and understood his doings.

11 

The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in him: and all the upright in heart shall be praised.


Psalms 64

Te decet. God is to be praised in his church, to which all nations shall be called.

1 

To the end, a psalm of David. The canticle of Jeremias and Ezechiel to the people of the captivity, when they began to go out.

2 

A hymn, O God, becometh thee in Sion: and a vow shall be paid to thee in Jerusalem.

3 

O hear my prayer: all flesh shall come to thee.

4 

The words of the wicked have prevailed over us: and thou wilt pardon our transgressions.

5 

Blessed is he whom thou hast chosen and taken to thee: he shall dwell in thy courts. We shall be filled with the good things of thy house; holy is thy temple,

6 

Wonderful in justice. Hear us, O God our saviour, who art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and in the sea afar off.

7 

Thou who preparest the mountains by thy strength, being girded with power:

8 

Who troublest the depth of the sea, the noise of its waves. The Gentiles shall be troubled,

9 

And they that dwell in the uttermost borders shall be afraid at thy signs: thou shalt make the outgoings of the morning and of the evening to be joyful.

10 

Thou hast visited the earth, and hast plentifully watered it; thou hast many ways enriched it. The river of God is filled with water, thou hast prepared their food: for so is its preparation.

11 

Fill up plentifully the streams thereof, multiply its fruits; it shall spring up and rejoice in its showers.

12 

Thou shalt bless the crown of the year of thy goodness: and thy fields shall be filled with plenty.

13 

The beautiful places of the wilderness shall grow fat: and the hills shall be girded about with joy,

14 

The rams of the flock are clothed, and the vales shall abound with corn: they shall shout, yea they shall sing a hymn.


Psalms 65

Jubilate Deo. An invitation to praise God.

1 

Unto the end, a canticle of a psalm of the resurrection. Shout with joy to God, all the earth,

2 

Sing ye a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise.

3 

Say unto God, How terrible are thy works, O Lord! in the multitude of thy strength thy enemies shall lie to thee.

4 

Let all the earth adore thee, and sing to thee: let it sing a psalm to thy name.

5 

Come and see the works of God; who is terrible in his counsels over the sons of men.

6 

Who turneth the sea into dry land, in the river they shall pass on foot: there shall we rejoice in him.

7 

Who by his power ruleth for ever: his eyes behold the nations; let not them that provoke him be exalted in themselves.

8 

O bless our God, ye Gentiles: and make the voice of his praise to be heard.

9 

Who hath set my soul to live: and hath not suffered my feet to be moved:

10 

For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us by fire, as silver is tried.

11 

Thou hast brought us into a net, thou hast laid afflictions on our back:

12 

Thou hast set men over our heads. We have passed through fire and water, and thou hast brought us out into a refreshment.

13 

I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,

14 

Which my lips have uttered, And my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.

15 

I will offer up to thee holocausts full of marrow, with burnt offerings of rams: I will offer to thee bullocks with goats.

16 

Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what great things he hath done for my soul.

17 

I cried to him with my mouth: and I extolled him with my tongue.

18 

If I have looked at iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

19 

Therefore hath God heard me, and hath attended to the voice of my supplication.

20 

Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.


Psalms 66

Deus misereatur. A prayer for the propagation of the church.

1 

Unto the end, in hymns, a psalm of a canticle for David.

2 

May God have mercy on us, and bless us: may he cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us, and may he have mercy on us.

3 

That we may know thy way upon earth: thy salvation in all nations.

4 

Let people confess to thee, O God: let all people give praise to thee.

5 

Let the nations be glad and rejoice: for thou judgest the people with justice, and directest the nations upon earth.

6 

Let the people, O God, confess to thee: let all the people give praise to thee:

7 

The earth hath yielded her fruit. May God, our God bless us,

8 

May God bless us: and all the ends of the earth fear him.

Catechism

An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism of Christian Doctrine, Lesson 22, Questions 245-249

245 Q. What do you mean by the appearances of bread and wine?

A. By the appearances of bread and wine I mean the figure, the color, the taste, and whatever appears to the senses.

"Senses"—that is, eyes, ears, etc. Thus we have the sense of seeing, the sense of hearing, the sense of tasting, the sense of smelling, the sense of feeling.

The Holy Eucharist is the body of Our Lord just as long as the appearances of bread and wine remain, and when they go away Our Lord's body goes also. For example, if a church, tabernacle and all, was buried by a great earthquake, and after many years the people succeeded in getting at the tabernacle and opening it, and then found in the ciborium—that is, the vessel in which the Blessed Sacrament is kept in the tabernacle—only black dust, Our Lord would not be there, although He was there when the church was buried. He would not be there, because there was no longer the appearance of bread there: it had all been changed into ashes by time, and Our Lord left it when the change took place. But if the appearance of bread had remained unchanged, He would be there even after so many years.

When we receive Holy Communion, the appearance of bread remains for about fifteen or twenty minutes after we receive, and then it changes or disappears. Therefore during these fifteen or twenty minutes that the appearance remains Our Lord Himself is really with us; and for that reason we should remain about twenty minutes after Mass on the day we receive, making a thanksgiving, speaking to Our Lord, and listening to Him speaking to our conscience. What disrespect some people show Our Lord by rushing out of the church immediately after Mass and Holy Communion, sometimes beginning to talk or look around before making any thanksgiving! When you receive Holy Communion, after returning to your seat you need not immediately begin to read your prayerbook, but may bow your head and speak to Our Lord while He is present with you. After the appearances of bread vanish, Our Lord's bodily presence goes also, but He remains with us by His grace as long as we do not fall into mortal sin.

246 Q. What is this change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Our Lord called?

A. This change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Our Lord is called Transubstantiation.

"Transubstantiation"—that is, the changing of one substance into another substance; for example, the changing of the wood in a seat into stone.

247 Q. How was the substance of the bread and wine changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ?

A. The substance of the bread and wine was changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ by His almighty power.

248 Q. Does this change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continue to be made in the Church?

A. This change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continues to be made in the Church by Jesus Christ through the ministry of His priests.

249 Q. When did Christ give His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood?

A. Christ gave His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood when He said to His Apostles, "Do this in commemoration of Me."