My LORD’s BibleThe Roman Missal: Proper of Saints, February (English) 2
1[February 2. The Purification of the B. V. Mary, or Candlemas Day. Double of the Second Class.]
2[The Blessing of the Candles.]
3The Lord be with you. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. O holy Lord, Father Almighty, eternal God, who didst create all things out of nothing, and by thy command didst cause this liquid to come by the labour of bees to the perfection of wax; and on this day didst fulfil the petition of the just man Simeon; we humbly beseech thee, that by the invocation of thy most holy name, and by the intercession of blessed Mary ever virgin, whose festival is this day devoutly celebrated, and by the prayers of all thy saints, thou wouldst vouchsafe to bless ✠ and sanctify ✠ these candles for the use of men, and the health of bodies and souls whether upon the earth, or in the waters; and wouldst hear from thy holy heaven, and from the seat of thy majesty, the voices of this thy people, who desire to bear them with honour in their hands, and to praise thee with hymns; and wouldst be propitious to all that call upon thee, whom thou hast redeemed with the precious blood of thy Son; who lives and reigns with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
4Let us pray. O Almighty and everlasting God, who didst this day present thy only-begotten Son to be received in the arms of holy Simeon in thy holy temple; we humbly implore thy clemency, that thou would vouchsafe to bless ✠, sanctify ✠, and burn with the light of heavenly benediction these candles, which we thy servants receiving desire to carry lighted to magnify thy name; that by offering them to thee, the Lord our God, being worthily inflamed with the holy fire of thy most sweet charity, we may deserve to be presented in the holy temple of thy glory. Through the same our Lord. Amen.
5Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, the true light, who enlightenest every man coming into this world, pour forth thy blessing ✠ upon these tapers, and sanctify ✠ them with the light of thy grace; and mercifully grant, that as these lights enkindled with visible fire dispel nocturnal darkness, so our hearts illumined by invisible fire, that is, the brightness of the Holy Spirit, may be free from the blindness of all vice; that our mental eye being purified, we may perceive those things which are pleasing to thee and profitable to our salvation; so that after the dark perils of this world, we may deserve to arrive at never-failing light: through thee, Christ Jesus, Saviour of the world, who in perfect Trinity livest and reignest God, world without end. Amen.
6Let us pray. O almighty, everlasting God, who didst command the purest oil to be prepared by thy servant Moses to keep lamps continually before thee; graciously pour forth the grace of thy blessing ✠ upon these tapers, that they may so afford external light, that by thy gift the light of thy Spirit may not fail interiorly in our minds. Through our Lord......in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, &c. Amen.
7Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, who appearing this day among men in the substance of our flesh, wert presented by thy parents in the temple; whom the venerable old man Simeon, enlightened by the light of thy Spirit, knew, received, and blessed; mercifully grant, that enlightened and taught by the grace of the same Holy Spirit, we may truly acknowledge thee, and faithfully love thee; who with God the Father in the unity of the same Holy Spirit livest and reignest God, world without end. Amen.
11Antiphon. A light to the revelation of the gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
12Canticle. Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace.
13[Then is repeated the Antiphon, Lumen ad revelationem, as above, and the same after each verse.]
14Because my eyes have seen thy salvation.
15[Antiphon.—Lumen.]
16Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples.
17[Antiphon.—Lumen.]
18Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
19[Antiphon.—Lumen.]
20As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
21[Antiphon.—Lumen.]
22Antiphon. Arise, O Lord, help us, and deliver us, for thy name's sake. We have heard, O God, with our ears: our fathers have declared to us. 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.
23[Antiphon.—Exurge Domine, as above. Then the Priest says.]
24[(If after Septuagesima, and not on a Sunday, he adds, Let us kneel down. Rise up again.)]
25Prayer. Exaudi quæsumus. Hear thy people, O Lord, we beseech thee, and grant us to obtain those things interiorly by the light of thy grace, which thou permittest us outwardly to venerate with annual devotion. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
27[The Mass.]
28Introit. Ps. xlvii. We have received thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple: according to thy name, O God, so also is thy praise: unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of justice. Ps. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised: in the city of our God, in his holy mountain. Glory, &c.
29Prayer. Omnipotens. O Almighty and everlasting God, we suppliantly beseech thy Majesty; that as thy only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in the substance of our flesh, so thou wouldst grant us to be presented to thee with purified souls. Through the same Lord, &c.
30Lesson. Malachias iii. 1—4. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face; and presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple. Behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts; and who shall be able to think of the day of his coming? and who shall stand to see him? for he is like a refining fire, and like the fuller's herb; and he shall sit refining and cleansing the silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and shall refine them as gold, and as silver, and they shall offer sacrifices to the Lord in justice. And the sacrifice of Juda and of Jerusalem shall please the Lord, as in the days of old, and in the ancient years; saith the Lord Almighty.
31Gradual. We have received thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple: according to thy name, O God, so also is thy praise unto the ends of the earth.—As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of our God, and in his holy mountain. Alleluia, alleluia.—The old man carried the child: but the child governed the old man. Alleluia.
32[If it be after Septuagesima, instead of the Alleluia and Verse, the following is said:]
33Tract. Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace.—Because my eyes have seen thy salvation.—Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples.—A light to the revelation of the gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
34Gospel. St Luke ii. 22—32. At that time, after the days of Mary's purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried Jesus to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord; and to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons. And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was in him: and he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he also took him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace; because my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples; a light to the revelation of the gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
35[Credo.]
36Offertory. Grace is poured abroad in thy lips: therefore hath God blessed thee for ever, and for ages of ages.
37Secret. Graciously hear our prayers, O Lord; and that the gifts we offer to the eyes of thy majesty may be worthy, extend to us the help of thy mercy. Through our Lord, &c.
38[Preface.—Quia per incarnati Verbi, as in the Ordinary of the Mass, page 15.]
39Communion. Simeon received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, until he had seen the Christ of the Lord.
40Postcom. Quæsumus Domine. We beseech thee, O Lord our God, that thou wouldst make the most holy mysteries which thou hast conferred for the preservation of our spiritual life, by the intercession of blessed Mary ever virgin, a remedy for us both for the present and for the future. Through our Lord, &c.