The Last Sunday After Pentecost
Introit: (Jeremiah 29:11, 12, and 14) Thus says the Lord: “I think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction: you shall call upon Me, and I will hear you; and I will bring back your captivity from all places.” (Ps 84: 2) Lord, Thou hast blessed Thy land: Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob. Glory be … Thus says the Lord: “I think thoughts of peace …”
Collect: Arouse, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful, that by more earnestly following after the fruit of the divine work, they may the more abundantly partake of thy mercies. Through Our Lord …
Epistle: (Colossians 1:9-14) Brethren, For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Gradual: (Psalm 43:8-9) Thou hast delivered us, O Lord, from them that afflict us: and hast put them to shame that hate us. In God we will glory all the day: and in Thy name we will give praise for ever.
Alleluia: (Psalm 129:1-2) Allelúia, allelúia. From the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my prayer. Alleluia.
The Gospel (Matthew 24:13-35) At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: “When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (he that reads, let him understand). then they that are in Judaea, let them flee to the mountains: and he that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take any thing out of his house: and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. And woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those days. But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the Sabbath, for there shall be then great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say to you: Behold, here is Christ, or there, do not believe him. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold I have told it to you, beforehand.
If therefore they shall say to you: Behold he is in the desert, go not out: or Behold he is in the closets, believe it not. For as lightning comes out of the east, and appears even into the west: so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together.
And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty. And he shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.
From the fig-tree learn a parable: when the branch thereof is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. Amen, I say to you that this generation shall not pass away until all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.
Offertory (Psalms 129:1-2) From the depths I have cried out to Thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my prayer: from the depths I have cried out to Thee, O Lord.
Secret: Be propitious, O Lord, to our supplications, and accept the offerings and prayers of Your people. Turn all our hearts unto Thee, that being delivered from earthly desires, we may pass on to the enjoyments of heaven. Through Our Lord …
Communion Antiphon: (Mark 11:24) Amen I say to you, whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe that you shall receive and it shall be done to you.
Postcommunion Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that through this sacrament which we have received, whatever is evil in our hearts may be restored by its gift of healing. Through Our Lord …
