11 FEBRUARY – SATURDAY OF SEPTUAGESIMA WEEK

Lesson – Genesis v. 15‒31

And Malaleel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. And Malaleel lived after he begot Jared, eight hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Malaleel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died. And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Henoch. And Jared lived after he begot Henoch, eight hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died. And Henoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Mathusala. And Henoch walked with God: and lived after he begot Mathusala, three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Henoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And he walked with God, and was seen no more: because God took him. And Mathusala lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. And Mathusala lived after he begot Lamech, seven hundred and eighty-two years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Mathusala were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died. And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and begot a son. And he called his name Noah, saying: “This same will comfort us from the works and labours of our hands on the earth, which the Lord has cursed.” And Lamech lived after he begot Noah, five hundred and ninety-five years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Lamech came to seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The sentence pronounced by the Almighty on our First Parents was to fall upon their children to the end of time. We have been considering, during this Week of Septuagesima, the penalties of the great sin. But the severest and most humiliating of them all remains to be told. It is the transmission, to the whole human race, of Original Sin. It is true that the merits of the promised Redeemer will be applied to each individual man in the manner established by God at various periods of time: still, this spiritual Regeneration — while cleansing us from the leprosy which covered us, and restoring us to the dignity of children of God — will not remove every scar of the old wound. It will save us from eternal death and restore us to life. But as long as our pilgrimage lasts, we will be weak and sickly.

Thus it is, that Ignorance makes us to be short-sighted in those great truths which should engross all our thoughts. And this fills us with illusions which, by an unhappy inclination of our will, we cling to and love. Concupiscence is ever striving to make our soul a slave to the body, and in order to escape this tyranny, our life has to be one continual struggle. An unruly love for Independence is unceasingly making us desire to be our own masters and forget that we were born to obey. We find pleasure in sin, whereas virtue rewards us with nothing in this life, save with the consciousness of our having done our duty.

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Knowing all this, we are filled with admiration and love when we think of you, O Mary, you purest of God’s creatures! You are our Sister in nature. You are a Daughter of Eve. But you were conceived without sin and are therefore the honour of the human race. You are of the same flesh and blood as ourselves, and yet you are Immaculate. The divine decree which condemned us to inherit the disgrace of Original Sin could not include your most pure Conception, and the serpent felt, as your foot crushed his haughty head, that you had never been under his power. In you, Mary, we find our nature such as it was when our God first created it. Hail, then, spotless Mirror of Justice! O Mary! Beautiful in your unsullied holiness, pray for us who are weighed down by the consequences of that sin of our First Parents which God would not suffer to approach you. You are the implacable enemy of the Serpent. Watch over us, lest his sting inflict death on our souls. We were conceived in sin and born in sorrow. Pray for us that we may so live as to merit blessing. We are condemned to toil, to suffering and to death. Intercede for us that our atonement may find acceptance with our Lord. We are exposed to the treachery of our evil inclinations. We are in love with this present life. We forget eternity. We are ever striving to deceive our own hearts — how could we escape Hell, were the grace of your Divine Son not unceasingly offered to us, enabling us to triumph over all our enemies? You, O Immaculate Mother of Jesus, are the Mother of Divine Grace! Pray for us that we who glory in being your kindred by nature may be daily more and more enriched with this priceless gift.