Collect for: Monica Mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo
O Lord, who through spiritual discipline strengthened your servant Monnica to persevere in offering her love and prayers and tears for the conversion of her husband and of Augustine their son: Deepen our devotion, we pray, and use us in accordance with your will to bring others, even our own kindred, to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.
Psalm
Psalm
115
12 The LORD has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear the LORD, Both small and great.
14 May the LORD give you increase more and more, You and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's; But the earth He has given to the children of men.
17 The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor any who go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the LORD From this time forth and forevermore. Praise the LORD!
*At the end of the Psalms this is sung or said Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: * as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Old Testament
Judges 13:2-8
2 Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children.
3 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, 'Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.
4 Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean.
5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.'
6 So the woman came and told her husband, saying, 'A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name.
7 And He said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.' '
8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, 'O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.'
1
Officiant: The Word of the Lord. The People: Thanks be to God.
New Testament
Galatians 4:1-12
1 Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all,
2 but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.
3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.
4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!'
7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.
9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
10 You observe days and months and seasons and years.
11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.
12 Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you. You have not injured me at all.
Officiant: The Word of the Lord. The People: Thanks be to God.
Gospel
Luke 7:11-17
Introduction to the Gospel:
Deacon:
The Lord be with you.
People:
And also with you. Or And with your spirit
Deacon:
May the Lord be on our minds, on our lips, and on our hearts as we hear His Holy Gospel. The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke.
People:
Glory to You, Lord Christ.
Deacon:
We are reading from Luke's Gospel chapter 7, beginning at verse 11.
11 Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd.
12 And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her.
13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, 'Do not weep.'
14 Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, 'Young man, I say to you, arise.'
15 So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.
16 Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, 'A great prophet has risen up among us'; and, 'God has visited His people.'
17 And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.
After the Gospel reading, the deacon elevates the book and says:
Deacon:
The Gospel of the Lord.
People:
Praise to You, Lord Christ.