Psalm 139

Reading: St. John 20.24-31

Meditation: Consider the hand of St. Thomas: it was placed in Jesus’ side, for Jesus told him to place it there. Now here is a mystery: out of the wounded side of Jesus had come forth blood and water, as the Holy Evangelist has told us. And what are these but the two blessed Sacraments of the Altar and Baptism? But now Thomas’ hand has been placed as well into Jesus’ side. And so doubting Thomas becomes believing Thomas, whose hand has been blessed to touch the holy side of Jesus; now Thomas becomes apostle, sent forth in order that men may be blessed through his preaching, for blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Thomas preaches, then, with blessed hand which has been in the side of Christ. Consider also how blessed would anyone be who might be touched by that hand of Thomas, who, according to his office, laid hands on the faithful, the penitent, and the sick. Even so, anyone after Thomas who becomes holder of the same sacred office (into which he is placed by the laying on of hands) that is, of preacher of the Gospel, will now do well to employ his own hands as a blessed remembrance of the hand of Thomas, especially in blessing the people to whom he ministers.

Psalm 27

Reading: Acts 9.1-22 or 3-12, 17-18

Meditation: The light of Christ blinded Saul, as it blinds all who are contrary to it. But the voice of Christ gives life, as here, where Saul, hearing Jesus’ voice, and now begins to believe, Lord, what do you want me to do? But he will remain blind for three days, in token of the three days of Christ’s holy Passion, that he might learn to live by the light of the resurrection. And so, on Straight Street he is baptized into Christ, who is the Way which makes the crooked straight. Now Saul, leader of the persecution, is snatched away by Christ to become his chosen vessel, to bear His name before Gentiles. Such a change! For he who in zeal sought to safeguard his Judaism from the Gentile corruption (which he surely thought the Church to be) now in greater zeal seeks to bring the true Fulfiller of Judaism, namely Christ, to the Gentiles.

Psalm 48

Reading: St. Luke 2.22-32

Meditation: Today our Lord appeared in the temple, according to the word of the Prophet, Suddenly the Lord, whom ye seek, shall appear in his temple. This is forty days after His birth. Now forty days signifies purification, as Moses and Elijah were purified by their forty days in the wilderness, and as our Lord Christ proved his purity by his own forty days in the wilderness, and as the faithful attend with diligence to the purification of the flesh through fasting in the forty days of Lententide. So forty days are assigned for the purification of a woman who had given birth to a son, for in childbirth woman bleeds, giving a sign of death, and evidence of her need for purification. But the Blessed Virgin brings not only the turtledoves which the law prescribed, but the very Sacrifice himself, which the law foretold. Christ, who with divine and human nature is greater than two turtledoves, and who, having clean hands and a pure heart according to the words of David, is the most holy and pure sacrifice to cleanse and purify our Blessed Mother Mary (Is she not our mother, who is also the mother of Christ our Lord our Brother?) and all the people of God with her.

Psalm 68

Reading: Acts 1.15-26

Meditation: St. Matthias’ apostleship is the direct result of Judas' treachery. Now Judas was a pretender, whose discipleship was not a matter of the heart, because Judas was a thief. And for the greed of thirty pieces of silver Judas betrayed his Master with a kiss. Thus Judas should not have participated in the Holy Supper, for, as Jesus once said that it is not good to put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. Therefore what happened to Judas? Falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. For he, being an old wineskin, burst asunder because he had drunk the new wine of the Sacrament, which for him was poison, as it is for all pretenders who receive it without believing it. This left only eleven apostles, one short. So Matthias becomes the twelfth, that the number of tribes of Israel might be restored, token of the New Israel, which is the Church. Twelve is also two more than the number of commandments they were given, which is ten. Now the number two may be said to signify Christ, since Christ is God and man. Thus two more than the ten commandments equals twelve, thus twelve corresponds to Christ's fulfillment of the commandments for us.

Psalm 45

Reading: St. Luke 1.26-38

Meditation: Nine months before Christmas we observe the annunciation, when the angel hailed Mary as highly favored and blessed among women. Now the mystery of the Incarnation is most mysterious and hidden, for not only does God veil His godhead in flesh, but veils also His flesh within flesh. For Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the blessed Virgin's womb, where eye has not seen, nor ear heard what God has prepared for His people. Therefore faith must rejoice this day in the unseen, in the hidden, for Christ Himself is now hidden within His mother. But true faith knows well to find God where the eye cannot see. Thus faith trusts His word even when there is nothing in the experience to verify it. So did Mary trust the angel's annunciation to her, saying simply, Be it unto me according to thy word. Let us follow the example of blessed Mary, mother of our Lord and God, and trust in His word even where we have no sight or experience; and notwithstanding such hiddenness from the eyes, believe in the true Light.

Psalm 67

Reading: St. Luke 10.1-19 or 10.1-3,16-19

Meditation: Today we commemorate St. Mark the Evangelist, and give thanks to God for His Blessed Gospel, second of the four. It is held by reliable tradition that Mark wrote, with great meticulous care, what he received from the Prince of the Apostles, St. Peter. How blessed were the citizens of Alexandria, when Mark brought them the Gospel, and became their first bishop. So dedicated was St. Mark to Christ whose Truth he proclaimed and wrote that he even lost his life for it, under Nero's reign of terror against the Christians. St. Mark, for giving us the second of the four Gospels, is one of the four great pillars which are the foundation of the Church, the fourfold Gospel of Christ who, as Mark tells us, became incarnate and suffered and rose from the dead for us men and for our salvation. This fourfold Gospel is meant for the four corners of all the earth. How blessed are the messengers that bring us the Gospel of peace! Thanks be to God for St. Mark, and for all the preachers like Mark whom He sends into the world.

Psalm 4

Reading: St. John 14.1-14

Meditation: Many fabulous legends have arisen concerning the life and martyrdom of St. Philip, which are probably the result of disciples so greatly impressed with his indomitable courage, even in the face of his own martyrdom in Heiropolus, by torture and crucifixion. Such courage was also seen in St. James the Less, who for preaching Christ was stoned in Jerusalem by the Jews. In the sixth century, Paul III built a church in Rome where the remains of these apostles were brought and buried. That church, which bears their names, was dedicated on May 1, 560 A.D. These apostles, and others whose bones were later moved to the same place, gained courage from knowing Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus said to Philip, Believe me, so Philip and the others did believe Him, and also believed that in Him who is the resurrection, they would one day be resurrected as well. Their buried bones will again be connected, according to the vision of Ezekiel, and raised up at the last day, with those of all who believe.

Psalm 92

Reading: St. Luke 1.57-80 or 57-66

Meditation: How fitting that John was not to be named after his father, since the One who comes after him, the One preferred before him, our Lord Christ Himself, has no earthly father at all. Jesus' Father is heavenly, and so also is John's, and ours. Our Father is in heaven, as we pray. As was John, so also are we Christians not named for our earthly fathers, but for our Father in heaven, through Christ whose only Father is God. For He, the almighty, eternal Son, has become flesh and joined Himself to us, in order that we, all of whom are earthly sons and daughters, might become divine in Him, and be joined to Him and His eternal Father for ever and ever. It was also fitting that John's earthly father be struck dumb until John was named, for thus he gives a token that all the prophets had likewise been silent for 400 years (since the prophet Malachi had spoken), as the famine of hearing the word of God of which Amos had spoken had come to pass. But now the days of old are past, and the new has come. So see what he says now! He blesses God, and confesses the visitation of God even before he sees it (for Christ is still in the womb). He believes the promise without seeing its fulfillment. So let us believe without seeing.

Psalm 21

Reading: St. Matthew 16.13-20

Meditation: As Jesus took up his cross, so did Peter and Paul. Jesus in our stead, Peter and Paul for our benefit. For these great apostles gained their courage and fortitude to face death only because they took to heart the death of Christ for them. When Jesus first told his disciples that He must suffer, Peter— who had just confessed, You are the Christ—could not accept it. He had not yet learned that Jesus had to suffer many things, nor to take up his own cross and follow. Thus he denied Him thrice. But when Peter has learned of Christ’s suffering, then he, and Paul, and every martyr, could take up his own cross—in Peter’s case, quite literally. For it is through much tribulation that faith learns well what it cost our Lord to earn salvation, and how very precious is His Gospel. When Christian people suffer for Christ, accepting their lot for His sake, suffering willingly rather than compromise themselves against His truth, it means they have learned the lesson of Peter and Paul. Both refused to renounce Him, knowing what a disgrace the Church would otherwise have suffered, and what eternal blessings Christ had earned for her.

Psalm 45

Reading: St. Luke 1.39-56

Meditation: What was Mary’s greeting? At first it would seem we are not told, but surely we ought to be curious, for behold, it caused John to leap and believe in the womb. So the Evangelist tells us what this greeting was, saying, And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord, etc. For these words—and Mary said—do not tell us what she said next, but what she said, namely, what indeed were the words of that greeting, as if he would say, And here is what Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord, etc. And in this greeting is the Gospel itself: Why will all generations call this virgin blessed? Surely, because she is the Mother of God, that is, of Christ our Brother. And if Christ is our Brother, then surely she is our mother as well. Should we not all honor our mother, calling her blessed, as it is written, You shall honor your father and your mother? But to honor her is to sing her song, which is the song of faith, according to the words of the Psalmist, O magnify the LORD with me. But see how she honors the Christ in her sacred womb, saying, He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. So let us behold and believe the mystery of godliness: He—the one contained in the little space of His mother’s womb—has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

Psalm 119.89-96

Reading: St. Luke 7.36-50 or 37-38, 44-50

Meditation: This woman, whom tradition tells us is Mary Magdalene, was full of sin, but also full of penitence; thus Jesus announced that her sins, which are many, are forgiven. This is demonstrated to all by the great loves she shows Him here. How very like the Holy Christian Church is she: for the faithful also confess their sins and misery, yet are full of penitence, and so they believe in the forgiveness of sins for Christ’s sake. How fitting that the paraments in the churches be white for this day, the color of purity and virginity. For though in her former life she had been a harlot, yet through faith she is rendered holy and pure, and gains a virginity far purer than any virginity of nature. Now she, who formerly was lost in perversity, provides a true example for faith: she washes His feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair. So let us was His feet with our tears, that is, let our penitential sorrows be accompanied with eyes gazing upon His feet by which He walked the way of the cross; and let us wipe them with our hair, that is, put ourselves ever beneath Him. If He would so willingly suffer for us, let us learn a willingness to suffer for His sake, thus also demonstrating our love.

Psalm 139

Reading: St. Matthew 20.20-28

Meditation: According to tradition, when James the Elder (that is, the Son of Zebedee) was being led to his martyrdom in Jerusalem, he gave there his last confession of faith, which so moved the one who led him there that he at once confessed that he was also a Christian, and begged James to forgive him, whereupon they were both led away and beheaded together. As Jesus had said that the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many, so also did his Apostles learn to give their lives for the sake of His Gospel. Behold the power of faithfulness unto death. The strongest of all confessions of faith is confession made in the face of martyrdom, and so the Church rightly accords highest honor to martyrs who have shared in the sufferings of Christ. Let the example of James and his last convert instill a willingness to suffer for Christ in the preachers and the hearers alike, in recollection of the promise, Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Psalm 65

Reading: St. Mark 8.34-38

Meditation: Laurence lived in Rome, in the mid-third century, as one of seven deacons in the city who served the Church. The great Roman persecutions were once again in full force, and Christians were being executed in the arena. Valerian the emperor handed down an edict that Christians could be put to death, and the Church's possessions and money all confiscated. Laurence as deacon was responsible for the Church's possessions, so he, rather than allowing all these to be taken by the godless Romans, quickly gathered as many of the poor people as he could find, people whom the Church had been serving, and distributed all of the Church's treasury to them. Then when the prefect of Rome came to demand from Laurence the Church's treasury, this fearless saint stood face to face with his adversary, gestured to all the Church's poor whom he had gathered around him, and serenely said, These are the treasure of the Church. For this he was roasted to death over an open fire. But Laurence, tradition tells us, refused to give his tormenters any satisfaction, so mocked them while dying, as he cried out, Turn me over; I’m done on this side! So let all follow Laurence’s confession and boldness to make a mockery of the wiles of evil men.

Psalm 45

Reading: St. Luke 1.46-55

Meditation: Since St. Mary is truly the mother of Jesus, then surely she must also be called the mother of God, since Jesus is God. Behold in her motherhood the mystery of the Incarnation. For how can He who is the eternal God, ever blessed, have a mother? How can this virgin contain within her womb Him who holds all things? How can a creature bear the Creator? Reason will never know, but faith must bend the knee, believing, and say, Mary bore God, held God in her arms, and nursed God at her breast; Mary laid God in an infant bed, made soup for God, yea, was mother to God in every way proper for a mother to be a mother. For in this is the reality of the Incarnation: God Himself has become flesh, our flesh. Since this is so, He must also have a mother. Thus all motherhood is sanctified in this, and serves to show forth the humble manner in which our salvation was wrought. And all generations must call this Virgin blessed, since she has now in truth become the mother of all who are in Christ. And as she was of lowly state, in order that Christ might be born of lowly state, so also must we all humble ourselves and consider the lowly state of faith to be truly high in the sight of God.

Psalm 56

Reading: St. Luke 22.24-30

Meditation: Tradition tells us that Bartholomew went to the land of Armenia with St. Thaddeus and there founded the Armenian church. It is said that Bartholomew’s preaching was accompanied with great power over demons, and converted many people over twenty-six years. When called upon to heal the daughter of the king of Armenia, he came and drove the demon out. This miracle demonstrated to the king how foolish his heathen priests were, so the king at once left his idol gods and was baptized, along with many others. But the wicked priests worked with the king's brother to have Bartholomew arrested. They took him and beat him with clubs, flayed him alive, and finally crucified him upside down in agony. And so St. Bartholomew died a martyr for his Lord. No saint was ever tortured more severely than he. This, then, is the lesson of St. Bartholomew: It isn't dedication to good works which is to be encouraged, but dedication to Christ who suffered for us and rose again. And whoever takes up his cross to follow him, whoever continues with him in his trials, shall not go unnoticed in His kingdom that has no end. Indeed, Bartholomew must be counted as most honorable among all saints, since he suffered the most.

Psalm 62

Reading: St. Matthew 9.9-13

Meditation: Tradition tells us that Matthew’s martyrdom was a painful one. So St. Matthew, having once been a tax-collector, has been converted to one who, rather than taking, gives. Once a thief by trade (as tax-collectors customarily were), he became Apostle and Evangelist, dispensing freely the mercy of God to the undeserving. Indeed as Matthew once exacted custom for Rome from the Jews, now we have in St. Matthew’s Gospel the Gospel written for the Jews, that they might receive their long-promised Messiah. For as Jesus ate with the sinner Matthew and so taught him mercy, so did St. Matthew through His Gospel hand down the tradition of the eternal Feast of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament. We who feast at the Sacrament are likewise, though sinners, blessed with the very blessing Matthew himself once received, of mercy, life, and salvation. For Christ did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.

Psalm 19

Reading: St. Luke 10.1-9

Meditation: Jesus sends out seventy as lambs among wolves, and instructs them that they clothe themselves in very simple garb, that there might be room for faith to see them as the great angels they are. Note how Jesus is here called the Lord, lest we forget what it means to have Jesus send them out. St. Luke the physician was no doubt one of them, likewise proclaiming Christ’s word simply and humbly, as every faithful preacher must do. But behind the simple disguise was the Great Physician Himself, just as He is behind every preacher of the Gospel. Tradition tells us that St. Luke was the Church’s first iconographer. Now an icon is a holy picture whose most salutary use is when it is seen as a window into the reality it depicts, the reality of heaven. He who looks rightly at an icon looks with faith, at the holy thing it pictures. Truly, therefore, St. Luke was more than an icon painter; he was himself an icon: as physician-evangelist, he portrayed the Good Physician and His Evangel, His Gospel; and in his martyrdom he portrayed the death of Christ. So also must every faithful preacher be a living icon, through which the faithful can benefit from the ministrations of Christ the Great Physician.

Psalm 1

Reading: St. John 15.17-21

Meditation: As Christ was persecuted and killed, so His Apostles went out into the world preaching, and the world persecuted and killed them also. They brought His love, and the world gave them hatred for it. Behold Simon and Jude: Simon went to Armenia with the blessed Gospel, and Jude went to England. They went forth preaching the Good News everywhere. Later they went together to Persia, where tradition tells us they were martyred: Simon was sawn in two, and Jude was killed with a battle-axe. Why? For love they are treated so poorly. So it was with Christ. The world is full of hatred, self-glory, and contempt for others, especially preachers. They will be struck first by the enemies of the Gospel. So Christ says that if anyone gives one of his disciples a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, this one shall surely not lose his reward. For anyone who stands up with the spokesmen of the faith and gives the world any indication of desiring the faith they preach may expect the same treatment as the preachers themselves receive from the world. But the reward for faithfulness unto death is the crown of life.

Psalm 46

Reading: St. Matthew 11.12-15

Meditation: The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force, said Jesus. For the suffering of violence is seen in the persecution and martyrdom of John, who had already been cast into prison and was soon to be beheaded. The necessary response to such violence is a faith which must also be violent, that is, violently stubborn in confession. The violent take it by force, that is, Christians with faith born of the word of God who will not back off from their confession by the threat of violence against them. For Christian violence is not the same as the violence of the world, but is, rather, a violence of the heart and mind, “captive to the word of God,” as Blessed Martin Luther declared when placed on trial before the Emperor at the Diet of Worms. Such violence is not the product of willpower, but of the word. As Jesus Himself declared, He who has ears to hear, let him hear! For faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Psalm 33

Reading: St. Matthew 5.1-12

Meditation: Blessed is Christ, the One poor in spirit, who so earned for His own the kingdom of heaven. He is the One who mourned, unto Calvary's cross, for He was comforted when He arose and ascended on high, having conquered sin and death by His deep humility. He was also the meek One, for He inherited the earth for His own, and promises them a new world without end. He also hungered and thirsted for righteousness, until He was satisfied that He had earned all righteousness by His atoning sacrifice. And He is the merciful One, for He obtained mercy for His own. He is the One pure in heart, for by His purity He earned for His own the promise that they shall see God. He is the peacemak¬er, who made peace between God and men, for He shall evermore be called the Son of God. And He was the one persecuted, who suffered and was buried, in order that His gift of righteousness might rest now upon His own redeemed. So, blessed also are they that follow this Blessed One, His saints of all time who followed Him wherever He led them. Many suffered greatly for following Him, but since they listened when He opened His mouth, so they opened their mouths and confessed Him even unto martyrdom, as the Psalmist declares, Every day will I bless thee.

Psalm 44

Reading: St. Matthew 4.18-22

Meditation: Tradition has it that it was because of Andrew's preaching that the wife of a wicked Roman proconsul became a Christian, which so enraged that official that he ordered Andrew's crucifixion upon a cross made in the form of an X. To this day that type of cross is known as St. Andrew's Cross. St. Andrew himself is remembered as one who heard of the Christ, believed on Him, and then willingly followed His bidding. Now the bidding of Christ is often hard, leading to persecution and even death. But what is Christian martyrdom? Behold St. Andrew’s Cross: the X shape is also the shape of the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter in Christos, that is, Christ. St. Andrew was martyred on that blessed letter! To follow Christ is to be united with Him; so also, surely the most blessed expression of that union is the experience of His holy wounds. Recall the words of Christ in the vision of Saul who had been persecuting the Church: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me, Me? Therefore let all who suffer for His sake rejoice and be exceedingly glad. This is the highest of honors.