Psalms 133
Ecce nunc benedicite. An exhortation to praise God continually. A gradual canticle.
Scripture
Psalms 145
Lauda, anima. We are not to trust in men, but in God alone.
1
Alleluia, of Aggeus and Zacharias.
2
Praise the Lord, O my soul, in my life I will praise the Lord: I will sing to my God as long as I shall be. Put not your trust in princes:
3
In the children of men, in whom there is no salvation.
4
His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return into his earth: in that day all their thoughts shall perish.
5
Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his helper, whose hope is in the Lord his God:
6
Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.
7
Who keepeth truth for ever: who executeth judgment for them that suffer wrong: who giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth them that are fettered:
8
The Lord enlighteneth the blind. The Lord lifteth up them that are cast down: the Lord loveth the just.
9
The Lord keepeth the strangers, he will support the fatherless and the widow: and the ways of sinners he will destroy.
10
The Lord shall reign for ever: thy God, O Sion, unto generation and generation.
Psalms 146
Laudate Dominum. An exhortation to praise God for his benefits.
1
Alleluia. Praise ye the Lord, because psalm is good: to our God be joyful and comely praise.
2
The Lord buildeth up Jerusalem: he will gather together the dispersed of Israel.
3
Who healeth the broken of heart, and bindeth up their bruises.
4
Who telleth the number of the stars: and calleth them all by their names.
5
Great is our Lord, and great is his power: and of his wisdom there is no number.
6
The Lord lifteth up the meek, and bringeth the wicked down even to the ground.
7
Sing ye to the Lord with praise: sing to our God upon the harp.
8
Who covereth the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth. Who maketh grass to grow on the mountains, and herbs for the service of men.
9
Who giveth to beasts their food: and to the young ravens that call upon him.
10
He shall not delight in the strength of the horse: nor take pleasure in the legs of a man.
11
The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him: and in them that hope in his mercy.
Psalms 147
Lauda, Jerusalem. The church is called upon to praise God for his peculiar graces and favours to his people. In the Hebrew, this psalm is joined to the foregoing.
12
Alleluia. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O Sion.
13
Because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates, he hath blessed thy children within thee.
14
Who hath placed peace in thy borders: and filleth thee with the fat of corn.
15
Who sendeth forth his speech to the earth: his word runneth swiftly.
16
Who giveth snow like wool: scattereth mists like ashes.
17
He sendeth his crystal like morsels: who shall stand before the face of his cold?
18
He shall send out his word, and shall melt them: his wind shall blow, and the waters shall run.
19
Who declareth his word to Jacob: his justices and his judgments to Israel.
20
He hath not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he hath not made manifest to them. Alleluia.
Psalms 148
Laudate Dominum de caelis. All creatures are invited to praise their Creator.
1
Alleluia. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise ye him in the high places.
2
Praise ye him, all his angels, praise ye him, all his hosts.
3
Praise ye him, O sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars and light.
4
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens: and let all the waters that are above the heavens
5
Praise the name of the Lord. For he spoke, and they were made: he commanded, and they were created.
6
He hath established them for ever, and for ages of ages: he hath made a decree, and it shall not pass away.
7
Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all ye deeps:
8
Fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy winds, which fulfil his word:
9
Mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars:
10
Beasts and all cattle: serpents and feathered fowls:
11
Kings of the earth and all people: princes and all judges of the earth:
12
Young men and maidens: let the old with the younger, praise the name of the Lord:
13
For his name alone is exalted.
14
The praise of him is above heaven and earth: and he hath exalted the horn of his people. A hymn to all his saints to the children of Israel, a people approaching to him. Alleluia.
Psalms 149
Cantate Domino. The church is particularly bound to praise God.
1
Alleluia. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: let his praise be in the church of the saints.
2
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: and let the children of Sion be joyful in their king.
3
Let them praise his name in choir: let them sing to him with the timbrel and the psaltery.
4
For the Lord is well pleased with his people: and he will exalt the meek unto salvation.
5
The saints shall rejoice in glory: they shall be joyful in their beds.
6
The high praises of God shall be in their mouth: and two-edged swords in their hands:
7
To execute vengeance upon the nations, chastisements among the people:
8
To bind their kings with fetters, and their nobles with manacles of iron.
9
To execute upon them the judgment that is written: this glory is to all his saints. Alleluia.
Psalms 150
Laudate Dominum in sanctis. An exhortation to praise God with all sorts of instruments.
1
Alleluia. Praise ye the Lord in his holy places: praise ye him in the firmament of his power.
2
Praise ye him for his mighty acts: praise ye him according to the multitude of his greatness.
3
Praise him with the sound of trumpet: praise him with psaltery and harp.
4
Praise him with timbrel and choir: praise him with strings and organs.
5
Praise him on high sounding cymbals: praise him on cymbals of joy: let every spirit praise the Lord. Alleluia.
Catechism
The Eucharist Contains Christ And Is The Food Of The Soul
This they will in some degree accomplish, if, having explained the efficacy and nature of all the Sacraments, they compare the Eucharist to a fountain, the other Sacraments to rivulets. For the Holy Eucharist is truly and necessarily to be called the fountain of all graces, containing, as it does, after an admirable manner, the fountain itself of celestial gifts and graces, and the author of all the Sacrament, Christ our Lord, from whom, as from its source, is derived whatever of goodness and perfection the other Sacraments possess. From this (comparison), therefore, we may easily infer what most ample gifts of divine grace are bestowed on us by this Sacrament.
It will also be useful to consider attentively the nature of bread and wine, which are the symbols of this Sacrament. For what bread and wine are to the body, the Eucharist is to the health and delight of the soul, but in a higher and better way. This Sacrament is not, like bread and wine, changed into our substance; but we are, in some wise, changed into its nature, so that we may well apply here the words of St. Augustine: I am the food of the frown. Grow and thou shalt eat Me; nor shalt thou change Me into thee, as thy bodily food, but thou shalt be changed into Me.