Invitatory
Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
Antiphon: The Lord is risen indeed, alleluia.
Hymn
Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!
Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids Him rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!
Psalm 95
Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.
For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Psalmody
Psalm 36
Antiphon: In thy light we shall see light, alleluia.
The unjust hath said within himself, that he would sin: there is no fear of God before his eyes.
For in his sight he hath done deceitfully, that his iniquity may be found unto hatred.
The words of his mouth are iniquity and guile: he would not understand that he might do well.
He hath devised iniquity on his bed, he hath set himself on every way that is not good: but evil he hath not hated.
O Lord, thy mercy is in heaven, and thy truth reacheth even to the clouds.
Thy justice is as the mountains of God, thy judgments are a great deep.
Men and beasts thou wilt preserve, O Lord: O how hast thou multiplied thy mercy, O God!
But the children of men shall put their trust under the covert of thy wings.
They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure.
For with thee is the fountain of life; and in thy light we shall see light.
Extend thy mercy to them that know thee, and thy justice to them that are right in heart.
Let not the foot of pride come to me, and let not the hand of the sinner move me.
There the workers of iniquity are fallen: they are cast out, and could not stand.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: In thy light we shall see light, alleluia.
Canticle — Judith 16
Antiphon: Thou art great, O Lord, and glorious in thy power, alleluia.
Begin ye to the Lord with timbrels, sing ye to the Lord with cymbals.
Tune unto him a new psalm, exalt and call upon his name.
The Lord putteth an end to wars; the Lord is his name.
I will sing to the Lord a new song.
O Lord, thou art great, and glorious in thy power, and no one can overcome thee.
Let all thy creatures serve thee: because thou hast spoken, and they were made.
Thou didst send forth thy spirit, and they were created: and there is no one that can resist thy voice.
The mountains shall be moved from the foundations with the waters: the rocks shall melt as wax before thy face.
But they that fear thee shall be great with thee in all things.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: Thou art great, O Lord, and glorious in thy power, alleluia.
Psalm 47
Antiphon: Sing praise to our King, sing praise, alleluia.
O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of joy.
For the Lord is high, terrible: a great king over all the earth.
He hath subdued the people under us; and the nations under our feet.
He hath chosen for us his inheritance, the beauty of Jacob which he hath loved.
God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of trumpet.
Sing praises to our God, sing ye: sing praises to our king, sing ye.
For God is the king of all the earth: sing ye wisely.
God shall reign over the nations: God sitteth on his holy throne.
The princes of the people are gathered together, with the God of Abraham:
For the strong gods of the earth are exceedingly exalted.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: Sing praise to our King, sing praise, alleluia.
Short Reading
Christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more; death shall no more have dominion over him.
For in that he died to sin, he died once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
So do you also reckon, that you are dead to sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Responsory
This is the day which the Lord hath made, alleluia.
Let us be glad and rejoice therein, alleluia.
Gospel Canticle — Benedictus
Antiphon: I am the vine; you are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit, alleluia.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people:
And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us, in the house of David his servant.
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who are from the beginning:
Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us.
To perform mercy to our fathers, and to remember his holy testament.
The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father, that he would grant to us.
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies, we may serve him without fear,
In holiness and justice before him, all our days.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.
To give knowledge of salvation to his people, unto the remission of their sins.
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:
To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: to direct our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Intercessions
Christ is the true vine, and we are the branches. Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, keep us in thee.
Make thy Church fruitful in faith, hope, and charity.
Prune away our pride, our vanity, and our fear.
Let all Christian families remain rooted in prayer.
Bless the lonely, the sick, the poor, and the forgotten.
Guide those who teach, write, build, govern, and serve.
Let their work bear fruit that lasts.
Keep Chesterton Radio faithful to truth, beauty, and joy.
May every broadcast become a small lamp in a darkened room.
Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
O God, restorer and lover of innocence, direct the hearts of thy servants toward thyself, that those whom thou hast set free from the darkness of unbelief may never stray from the light of thy truth. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Gospel for Today
John 15:1–8
I am the true vine; and my Father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me, that beareth not fruit, he will take away: and every one that beareth fruit, he will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now you are clean by reason of the word, which I have spoken to you.
Abide in me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me.
I am the vine; you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.
If any one abide not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither: and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you.
In this is my Father glorified; that you bring forth very much fruit, and become my disciples.
Paradox of the Day
The branch becomes most alive when it admits it cannot live by itself.
G.K. Chesterton Quote
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
Reflection
There is a very modern temptation to imagine ourselves as independent little trees, each with our own private roots, our own private sunlight, and our own private definition of fruit. But Our Lord gives us a stranger and saner picture. We are not trees. We are branches.
That is offensive to pride and immensely comforting to humility. A branch does not invent sap. It receives it. A branch does not manufacture life. It remains attached to life. The great work of the Christian is not first to achieve, conquer, optimize, or advertise. It is to abide.
And then comes the frightening mercy of pruning. God does not prune the dead branch, but the fruitful one. The knife is not always a punishment; sometimes it is a compliment. The Father cuts away what prevents abundance. He removes the little leaves of vanity so that the real fruit may grow.
Chesterton saw that Christianity is not an escape from difficulty but the discovery of meaning inside it. The vine does not promise the branch a painless life. It promises it a living life. And the living thing must be shaped.
So today, let us not ask merely, “What can I accomplish?” Let us ask, “Where am I attached?” For without Christ we can do nothing. But in Him, even our smallest act of patience, prayer, work, forgiveness, or fidelity may become fruit for the Kingdom.
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