Invitatory
V. Lord, open my lips.
R. And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
Invitatory Antiphon
Come, let us adore Christ the Lord, who chose Matthias to complete the apostolic band. Alleluia.
Psalm 94 — Venite
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 the Lord will not cast off his people: 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.
Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:
As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.
Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart.
And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.
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.
Come, let us adore Christ the Lord, who chose Matthias to complete the apostolic band. Alleluia.
Hymn
Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
And in our hearts take up thy rest;
Come with thy grace and heavenly aid
To fill the hearts which thou hast made.
Great Paraclete, to thee we cry,
O highest gift of God most high;
O fount of life, O fire of love,
And sweet anointing from above.
Lauds
Antiphon I
The Lord chose him to be numbered among the Apostles. Alleluia.
Psalm 62
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!
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.
For thy mercy is better than lives: thee my lips shall praise.
Thus will I bless thee all my life long: and in thy name I will lift up my hands.
Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness: and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.
If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate on thee in the morning:
Because thou hast been my helper. And I will rejoice under the cover of thy wings:
My soul hath stuck close to thee: thy right hand hath received me.
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
The Lord chose him to be numbered among the Apostles. Alleluia.
Antiphon II
They left all things and followed Christ. Alleluia.
Canticle — Benedicite
Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: O ye heavens, bless the Lord.
O all ye waters that are above the heavens, bless the Lord: O all ye powers of the Lord, bless the Lord.
O ye sun and moon, bless the Lord: O ye stars of heaven, bless the Lord.
O every shower and dew, bless ye the Lord: O all ye spirits of God, bless the Lord.
O ye fire and heat, bless the Lord: O ye cold and heat, bless the Lord.
O ye dews and hoar frost, bless the Lord: O ye frost and cold, bless the Lord.
O ye ice and snow, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
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
They left all things and followed Christ. Alleluia.
Antiphon III
You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. Alleluia.
Psalm 149
Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: let his praise be in the church of the saints.
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: and let the children of Sion be joyful in their king.
Let them praise his name in choir: let them sing to him with the timbrel and the psaltery.
For the Lord is well pleased with his people: and he will exalt the meek unto salvation.
The saints shall rejoice in glory: they shall be joyful in their beds.
The high praises of God shall be in their mouth: and two-edged swords in their hands.
To execute vengeance upon the nations, chastisements among the people:
To bind their kings with fetters, and their nobles with manacles of iron.
To execute upon them the judgment that is written: this glory is to all his saints.
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
You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. Alleluia.
Short Reading — Acts 1:24-26
And praying, they said: Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, to take the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas hath by transgression fallen, that he might go to his own place.
And they gave them lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
Responsory
V. They were filled with the Holy Ghost. Alleluia, alleluia.
R. They spoke the wonderful works of God. Alleluia, alleluia.
Benedictus Antiphon
This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you. Alleluia.
Benedictus — Canticle of Zachary
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.
Benedictus Antiphon
This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you. Alleluia.
Intercessions
Let us praise Christ, who built his Church upon the foundation of the Apostles.
R. Lord, keep thy Church in apostolic faith.
For bishops, priests, and deacons throughout the world,
— that they may preach the Gospel with courage and charity.
R. Lord, keep thy Church in apostolic faith.
For missionaries, teachers, and evangelists,
— that hidden fidelity may bear fruit in every nation.
R. Lord, keep thy Church in apostolic faith.
For Benedictine College and all Catholic schools preparing graduates for the world,
— that students may seek holiness before success.
R. Lord, keep thy Church in apostolic faith.
For all listeners of Chesterton Radio,
— that we may remain close enough to Christ to hear His call.
R. Lord, keep thy Church in apostolic faith.
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 them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
O God, who didst associate blessed Matthias with the college of Apostles: grant, through his intercession, that rejoicing at how thy love has been allotted to us, we may merit to be numbered among the elect.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Paradox of the Day
The Church is strengthened not by the man who seeks power, but by the man who quietly remains faithful enough to be chosen.
G.K. Chesterton Quote
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
Chestertonian Reflection
Saint Matthias is one of the great hidden men of history.
The world admires the man who arrives dramatically. Scripture often admires the man who simply remained. Matthias had walked with Christ quietly through years of ministry while other names became famous. He was not chosen because he advertised himself, but because he stayed near enough to Christ to be available when called.
Modern life is built almost entirely around self-promotion. We are urged to build platforms, cultivate audiences, announce identities, and market ourselves into significance. Yet the Gospel presents a profoundly different picture of greatness. The apostolic office left vacant by Judas is filled not by ambition, but by fidelity.
The Apostles pray first. Then they cast lots. The decision belongs to God.
There is something deeply liberating about this. Christ says plainly: “You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you.” The Christian life therefore begins not with self-creation, but with gratitude. We did not invent the Faith any more than a branch invents the vine. We receive life by remaining attached to the source of life.
Matthias reminds us that unnoticed faithfulness is never invisible to Heaven. The quiet father who prays before work, the mother who teaches children the Rosary, the student who resists corruption, the old priest who hears confessions long after the crowds disappear — these are the people by whom the Church quietly survives.
And perhaps that is why the Feast of Saint Matthias feels strangely hopeful. It tells us that God is still looking for men and women who remain close enough to hear their names called.
Not everyone is asked to be spectacular. But everyone is asked to abide.
Chesterton Radio Sign-Off
This is Chesterton Radio, broadcasting from Atchison, Kansas, where the bells of the Church still ring out over the plains, and where even the quiet disciple may yet be called to complete the apostolic number. Alleluia.