Fragmenda

Scripture

Ezechiel 41–44

Ezechiel 41

A description of the temple, and of all the parts of it.

1 

And he brought me into the temple, and he measured the fronts six cubits broad on this side, and six cubits on that side, the breadth of the tabernacle.

2 

And the breadth of the gate was ten cubits: and the sides of the gate five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and he measured the length thereof forty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.

3 

Then going inward he measured the front of the gate two cubits: and the gate six cubits, and the breadth of the gate seven cubits.

4 

And he measured the length thereof twenty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits, before the face of the temple: and he said to me: This is the holy of holies.

5 

And he measured the wall of the house six cubits: and the breadth of every side chamber four cubits round about the house on every side.

6 

And the side chambers one by another, were twice thirty-three: and they bore outwards, that they might enter in through the wall of the house in the sides round about, to hold in, and not to touch the wall of the temple.

7 

And there was a broad passage round about, going up by winding stairs, and it led into the upper loft of the temple all round: therefore was the temple broader in the higher parts: and so from the lower parts they went to the higher by the midst.

8 

And I saw in the house the height round about, the foundations of the side chambers which were the measure of a reed the space of six cubits:

9 

And the thickness of the wall for the side chamber without, which was five cubits: and the inner house was within the side chambers of the house,

10 

And between the chambers was the breadth of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.

11 

And the door of the side chambers was turned towards the place of prayer: one door was toward the north, and another door was toward the south: and the breadth of the place for prayer, was five cubits round about.

12 

And the building that was separate, and turned to the way that looked toward the sea, was seventy cubits broad and the wall of the building, five cubits thick round about: and ninety cubits long.

13 

And he measured the length of the house, a hundred cubits: and the separate building, and the walls thereof, a hundred cubits in length.

14 

And the breadth before the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, a hundred cubits.

15 

And he measured the length of the building over against it, which was separated at the back of it: and the galleries on both sides a hundred cubits: and the inner temple, and the porches of the court.

16 

The thresholds, and the oblique windows, and the galleries round about on three sides, over against the threshold of every one, and floored with wood all round about: and the ground was up to the windows, and the windows were shut over the doors.

17 

And even to the inner house, and without all the wall round about within and without, by measure.

18 

And there were cherubims and palm trees wrought, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub, and every cherub had two faces.

19 

The face of a man was toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a lion was toward the palm tree on the other side: set forth through all the house round about.

20 

From the ground even to the upper parts of the gate, were cherubims and palm trees wrought in the wall of the temple.

21 

The threshold was foursquare, and the face of the sanctuary sight to sight.

22 

The altar of wood was three cubits high: and the length thereof was two cubits: and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood. And he said to me: This is the table before the Lord.

23 

And there were two doors in the temple, and in the sanctuary.

24 

And in the two doors on both sides were two little doors, which were folded within each other: for there were two wickets on both sides of the doors.

25 

And there were cherubims also wrought in the doors of the temple, and the figures of palm trees, like as were made on the walls: for which cause also the planks were thicker in the front of the porch without.

26 

Upon which were the oblique windows, and the representation of palm trees on this side, and on that side in the sides of the porch, according to the sides of the house, and the breadth of the walls.


Ezechiel 42

A description of the courts, chambers, and other places belonging to the temple.

1 

And he brought me forth into the outward court by the way that leadeth to the north, and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate building, and over against the house toward the north.

2 

In the face of the north door was the length of a hundred cubits, and the breadth of fifty cubits.

3 

Over against the twenty cubits of the inner court, and over against the pavement of the outward court that was paved with stone, where there was a gallery joined to a triple gallery.

4 

And before the chambers was a walk ten cubits broad, looking to the inner parts of a way of one cubit. And their doors were toward the north.

5 

Where were the store chambers lower above: because they bore up the galleries, which appeared above out of them from he lower parts, and from the midst of the building.

6 

For they were of three stories, and had not pillars, as the pillars of the courts: therefore did they appear above out of the lower places, and out of the middle places, fifty cubits from the ground.

7 

And the outward wall that went about by the chambers, which were towards the outward court on the forepart of the chambers, was fifty cubits long.

8 

For the length of the chambers of the outward court was fifty cubits: and the length before the face of the temple, a hundred cubits.

9 

And there was under these chambers, an entrance from the east, for them that went into them out of the outward court.

10 

In the breadth of the outward wall of the court that was toward the east, over against the separate building, and there were chambers before the building.

11 

And the way before them was like the chambers which were toward the north: they were as long as they, and as broad as they: and all the going in to them, and their fashions, and their doors were alike.

12 

According to the doors of the chambers that were towards the south: there was a door in the head of the way, which way was before the porch, separated towards the east as one entereth in.

13 

And he said to me: The chambers of the north, and the chambers of the south, which are before the separate building: they are holy chambers, in which the priests shall eat, that approach to the Lord into the holy of holies: there they shall lay the most holy things, and the offering for sin, and for trespass: for it is a holy place.

14 

And when the priests shall have entered in, they shall not go out of the holy places into the outward court: but there they shall lay their vestments, wherein they minister, for they are holy: and they shall put on other garments, and so they shall go forth to the people.

15 

Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the gate that looked toward the east: and he measured it on every side round about.

16 

And he measured toward the east with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds with the measuring reed round about.

17 

And he measured toward the north five hundred reeds with the measuring reed round about.

18 

And towards the south he measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed round about.

19 

And toward the west he measured five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed.

20 

By the four winds he measured the wall thereof on every side round about, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits broad, making a separation between the sanctuary and the place of the people.


Ezechiel 43

The glory of God returns to the new temple. The Israelites shall no more profane God’s name by idolatry: the prophet is commanded to shew them the dimensions, and form of the temple, and of the altar, with the sacrifices to be offered thereon.

1 

And he brought me to the gate that looked towards the east.

2 

And behold the glory of the God of Israel came in by the way of the east: and his voice was like the noise of many waters, and the earth shone with his majesty.

3 

And I saw the vision according to the appearance which I had seen when he came to destroy the city: and the appearance was according to the vision which I had seen by the river Chobar: and I fell upon my face.

4 

And the majesty of the Lord went into the temple by the way of the gate that looked to the east.

5 

And the spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court: and behold the house was filled with the glory of the Lord.

6 

And I heard one speaking to me out of the house, and the man that stood by me,

7 

Said to me: Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever: and the house of Israel shall no more profane my holy name, they and their kings by their fornications, and by the carcasses of their kings, and by the high places.

8 

They who have set their threshold by my threshold, and their posts by my posts: and there was but a wall between me, and them: and they profaned my holy name by the abominations which they committed: for which reason I consumed them in my wrath.

9 

Now therefore let them put away their fornications, and the carcasses of their kings far from me: and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.

10 

But thou, son of man, shew to the house of Israel the temple, and let them be ashamed of their iniquities, and let them measure the building:

11 

And be ashamed of all that they have done. Shew them the form of the house, and of the fashion thereof, the goings out and the comings in, and the whole plan thereof, and all its ordinances, and all its order, and all its laws, and thou shalt write it in their sight: that they may keep the whole form thereof, and its ordinances, and do them.

12 

This is the law of the house upon the top of the mountain: All its border round about is most holy: this then is the law of the house.

13 

And these are the measures of the altar by the truest cubit, which is a cubit and a handbreadth: the bottom thereof was a cubit, and the breadth a cubit: and the border thereof unto its edge, and round about, one handbreadth: and this was the trench of the altar.

14 

And from the bottom of the ground to the lowest brim two cubits, and the breadth of one cubit: and from the lesser brim to the greater brim four cubits, and the breadth of one cubit.

15 

And the Ariel itself was four cubits: and from the Ariel upward were four horns.

16 

And the Ariel was twelve cubits long, and twelve cubits broad, foursquare, with equal sides.

17 

And the brim was fourteen cubits long, and fourteen cubits broad in the four corners thereof: and the crown round about it was half a cubit, and the bottom of it one cubit round about: and its steps turned toward the east.

18 

And he said to me: Son of man, thus saith the Lord God: These are the ceremonies of the altar, in what day soever it shall be made: that holocausts may be offered upon it, and blood poured out.

19 

And thou shalt give to the priests, and the Levites, that are of the race of Sadoc, who approach to me, saith the Lord God, to offer to me a calf of the herd for sin.

20 

And thou shalt take of his blood, and shalt put it upon the four horns thereof, and upon the four corners of the brim, and upon the crown round about: and thou shalt cleanse, and expiate it.

21 

And thou shalt take the calf, that is offered for sin: and thou shalt burn him in a separate place of the house without the sanctuary.

22 

And in the second day thou shalt offer a he goat without blemish for sin: and they shall expiate the altar, as they expiated it with the calf.

23 

And when thou shalt have made an end of the expiation thereof, thou shalt offer a calf of the herd without blemish, and a ram of the flock without blemish.

24 

And thou shalt offer them in the sight of the Lord, and the priests shall put salt upon them, and shall offer them a holocaust to the Lord.

25 

Seven days shalt thou offer a he goat for sin daily: they shall offer also a calf of the herd, and a ram of the flock without blemish.

26 

Seven days shall they expiate the altar, and shall cleanse it: and they shall consecrate it.

27 

And the days being expired, on the eighth day and thenceforward, the priests shall offer your holocausts upon the altar, and the peace offerings: and I will be pacified towards you, saith the Lord God.


Ezechiel 44

The east gate of the sanctuary shall be always shut. The uncircumcised shall not enter into the sanctuary: nor the Levites that have served idols: but the sons of Sadoc shall do the priestly functions, who stood firm in the worst of times.

1 

And he brought me back to the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary, which looked towards the east: and it was shut.

2 

And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it, and it shall be shut

3 

For the prince. The prince himself shall sit in it, to eat bread before the Lord: he shall enter in by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.

4 

And he brought me by the way of the north gate, in the sight of the house: and I saw, and behold the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord: and I fell on my face.

5 

And the Lord said to me: Son of man, attend with thy heart and behold with thy eyes, and hear with thy ears, all that I say to thee concerning all the ceremonies of the house of the Lord, and concerning all the laws thereof: and mark well the ways of the temple, with all the goings out of the sanctuary.

6 

And thou shalt say to the house of Israel that provoketh me: Thus saith the Lord God: Let all your wicked doings suffice you, O house of Israel:

7 

In that you have brought in strangers uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, and to defile my house: and you offer my bread, the fat, and the blood: and you have broken my covenant by all your wicked doings.

8 

And you have not kept the ordinances of my sanctuary: but you have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

9 

Thus saith the Lord God: No stranger uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, no stranger that is in the midst of the children of Israel.

10 

Moreover the Levites that went away far from me, when the children of Israel went astray, and have wandered from me after their idols, and have borne their iniquity:

11 

They shall be officers in my sanctuary, and doorkeepers of the gates of the house, and ministers to the house: they shall slay the holocausts, and the victims of the people: and they shall stand in their sight, to minister to them.

12 

Because they ministered to them before their idols, and were a stumblingblock of iniquity to the house of Israel: therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity:

13 

And they shall not come near to me, to do the office of priest to me, neither shall they come near to any of my holy things that are by the holy of holies: but they shall bear their shame, and their wickednesses which they have committed.

14 

And I will make them doorkeepers of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.

15 

But the priests, and Levites, the sons of Sadoc, who kept the ceremonies of my sanctuary, when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me, to minister to me: and they shall stand before me, to offer me the fat, and the blood, saith the Lord God.

16 

They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and to keep my ceremonies.

17 

And when they shall enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments: neither shall any woollen come upon them, when they minister in the gates of the inner court and within.

18 

They shall have linen mitres on their heads, and linen breeches on their loins, and they shall not be girded with any thing that causeth sweat.

19 

And when they shall go forth to the outward court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them up in the store chamber of the sanctuary, and they shall clothe themselves with other garments: and they shall not sanctify the people with their vestments.

20 

Neither shall they shave their heads, nor wear long hair: but they shall only poll their heads.

21 

And no priest shall drink wine when he is to go into the inner court.

22 

Neither shall they take to wife a widow, nor one that is divorced, but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel: but they may take a widow also, that is, the widow of a priest.

23 

And they shall teach my people the difference between holy and profane, and shew them how to discern between clean and unclean.

24 

And when there shall be a controversy, they shall stand in my judgments, and shall judge: they shall keep my laws, and my ordinances in all my solemnities, and sanctify my sabbaths.

25 

And they shall come near no dead person, lest they be defiled, only their father and mother, and son and daughter, and brother and sister, that hath not had another husband: for whom they may become unclean.

26 

And after one is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.

27 

And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, to the inner court, to minister unto me in the sanctuary, he shall offer for his sin, saith the Lord God.

28 

And they shall have no inheritance, I am their inheritance: neither shall you give them any possession in Israel, for I am their possession.

29 

They shall eat the victim both for sin and for trespass: and every vowed thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30 

And the firstfruits of all the firstborn, and all the libations of all things that are offered, shall be the priest’s: and you shall give the firstfruits of your meats to the priest, that he may return a blessing upon thy house.

31 

The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself or caught by a beast, whether it be fowl or cattle.

Catechism

An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism of Christian Doctrine, Lesson 32, Question 354

354 Q. What are we commanded by the Third Commandment?

A. By the Third Commandment we are commanded to keep holy the Lord's Day and the holy days of obligation, on which we are to give our time to the service and worship of God.

"Holy days" we are bound to keep holy just in the same manner we do Sundays—that is, by hearing Mass and refraining from servile works. Those who after hearing Mass must attend to business or work on those days should make this known to their confessor, that he may judge if they have a sufficient excuse for engaging in servile works, and thus they will avoid the danger of sinfully violating an important law. There must always be a good reason for working on a holy day. Those who are so situated that they can readily refrain from servile work on holy days must do so. And, where it is possible, the same opportunity must be afforded to their servants.

"Of obligation," because there are some holy days not of obligation. We celebrate them, but we are not bound under pain of mortal sin to hear Mass or keep from servile works on such days. For example, St. Patrick's Day is not a holy day of obligation. The great feast of Corpus Christi is not a holy day of obligation. Not satisfied with doing only what the Church obliges us to do on Sundays and holy days, those who really love God will endeavor to do more than the bare works commanded. Sunday is a day of rest and prayer. While we may take innocent and useful amusement, we should not join in any public or noisy entertainments. We may rest and recreate ourselves, but we should avoid every place where vulgar and sometimes sinful amusements, scenes, or plays are presented. Even in taking lawful recreation we may serve God and please Him if we take it to strengthen our bodies that we may be enabled to do the work He has assigned to us in this world.

Sunday is well spent by those who, after hearing Mass, devote some part of the day to good works, such as pious reading, teaching in Sunday school, bringing relief to the poor and sick, visiting the Blessed Sacrament, attending Vespers, Rosary, etc. Not that I mean they should do nothing but pray on Sundays; but they should not give the whole day to useless enjoyment or idleness, and forget God. Some begrudge God even the half-hour they are obliged to give to Mass on Sundays: they stand near the door, ready to be the first out, and perhaps were the last in; or they come late, and do not give the full time necessary to hear the entire Mass. Others spend the whole day in reading newspapers, magazines, or useless—I will not say sinful—books. It is not a sin to read newspapers, etc., on Sunday; but to give the whole time to them, and never read anything good and instructive, is a willful waste of time—and waste of time is sinful. There should be in every family, according to its means, one or more good Catholic newspapers or magazines. Not all papers that bear the name of Catholic are worthy of it. A truly Catholic paper is one that teaches or defends Catholic truth, and warns us against its enemies, their snares, deceptions, etc.; one, too, that tells us what is being done in the interests of religion, education, etc. Besides such a paper there should be a few standard good books in every family such as the New Testament, the Imitation of Christ, a large and full catechism of Christian doctrine, etc. On the other hand, all the books in your house need not be books treating of religion or piety. Any book that is not against faith or morals may be kept and read. A book may not be bad in itself, but it may be bad for you, either because it is suggestive of evil, or you misunderstand it, and take evil out of it. In such a case you should not read it. At the present time there are so many bad books that persons should be very careful as to what they read.

Not only should we keep Sunday well ourselves, but we should endeavor to have it so kept by others. We must be careful, however, not to fall into the mistake of some who wish the Sunday to be kept as the Pharisees of old kept the Sabbath, telling us we must not walk, ride, sail, or take any exercise or enjoyment on that day. This is not true, for Our Lord rebuked the Pharisees for such excessive rigor; God made the Sunday for our benefit, and if we had to keep it as they say we must, it would be more of a punishment than a benefit.