[Rank]
Sexta die infra Octavam Epiphaniae;;Semiduplex;;2;;ex Sancti/01-06

[Rank1960]
Die Undecima Januarii;;simplex;;1.5;;vide Sancti/01-06

[Rule]
ex Sancti/01-06
Lectio1 tempora
Doxology=Epi
9 lectiones

[Lectio1]
!Rom 15:1-4
1 Now we that are stronger, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
2 Let every one of you please his neighbour unto good, to edification.
3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written: The reproaches of them that reproached thee, fell upon me.
4 For what things soever were written, were written for our learning: that through patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope.

[Lectio2]
!Rom 15:5-11
5 Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one mind one towards another, according to Jesus Christ:
6 That with one mind, and with one mouth, you may glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Wherefore receive one another, as Christ also hath received you unto the honour of God.
8 For I say that Christ Jesus was minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.
9 But that the Gentiles are to glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: Therefore will I confess to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name.
10 And again he saith: Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.
11 And again: Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and magnify him, all ye people.

[Lectio3]
!Rom 15:12-16
12 And again Isaias saith: There shall be a root of Jesse; and he that shall rise up to rule the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope.
13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing; that you may abound in hope, and in the power of the Holy Ghost.
14 And I myself also, my brethren, am assured of you, that you also are full of love, replenished with all knowledge, so that you are able to admonish one another.
15 But I have written to you, brethren, more boldly in some sort, as it were putting you in mind: because of the grace which is given me from God.
16 That I should be the minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles; sanctifying the gospel of God, that the oblation of the Gentiles may be made acceptable and sanctified in the Holy Ghost.

[Lectio4]
From the Sermons of St. Fulgentius, Bishop (of Ruspa.)
!5th on Twelfth-Day.
The same God Who in the Old Testament had commanded the first-fruits to be offered to Himself, being born as a man, Himself consecrated to His own worship the firstfruits of the nations. The Shepherds were the first-fruits of the Jews, and the wise men of the Gentiles. The first came from near at hand, the second from afar. Where is He, say they, that is born King of the Jews? Herod, the king of the Jews, had already had children. Archelaus was born in a palace, Christ at an inn; Archelaus was laid in a silver cradle, Christ in a manger. And yet the wise men sought, not Archelaus, but Christ; they did not even name him that was born in a palace, but when they found Him That lay in a manger, they fell down and worshipped Him.

[Lectio5]
Who is the King of the Jews? The Poor and the Rich, the Lowly and the Exalted One. Who is the King of the Jews? He Who, being carried at the breast, is adored as the Eternal; He Who lieth tiny in the manger, and is He Whom the heavens cannot contain; He Who is meanly wrapped in swaddling clothes, and is more glorious than all the stars. Why art thou troubled, O Herod? He that is born King of the Jews cometh not by carnal warfare to conquer other kings, but by a marvellous working, by dying, to subdue them to Himself. He is not born to be thy successor, but that the world may faithfully believe in Him. He cometh, not that He may fight in the flesh, but that He may conquer through the suffering of death.

[Lectio6]
The little Child, Whom the wise men call the King of the Jews, is the Maker and Lord of Angels. If thou fearest Him at His birth, thou hast more reason to fear Him as the Almighty Judge. Fear Him, not as a pretender to thy kingdom, but fear Him as Him Who will pass a most just sentence of condemnation on thee because thou hast not believed in Him. Go, said Herod, and bring me word again, that I may come and worship Him also. We know thy cunning lying, thy godless unbelief, thine iniquitous treachery. The blood of the innocents which thou didst cruelly shed, is witness to us of what thou wouldst have done to Him.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
!Matt 2:1-12
When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of king Herod, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem. Saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? And so on.
_
Homily by St. Ambrose, Bishop (of Milan.)
!Book ii. on Luke ii.
What are the gifts of the faithful and true? Gold to our King, frankincense to our God, and myrrh to Him Who died for us. The first is that whereof are made the royal honours of kings, the second is that mystic offering which is used in the worship of the Divine Power, and the third is that wherewith we pay respect to the dead, whose bodies it keepeth from corruption. My brethren, let us who hear and read these things, make offering out of what treasures we have albeit we have it in earthen vessels. (2 Cor. iv. 7.) If we confess that all that we have, we have, not from ourselves, but from Christ, how much more should we confess that whatever we have is not our own, but Christ's?

[Lectio8]
The wise men out of their treasures presented unto Him gifts. Wilt thou know how pleasing to Him they were? The star appeared to them, but disappeared when it came near Herod. Then it appeareth to them again, leading them on the way that led to Christ. This star then was the way, and we know that Christ calleth Himself the Way. (John xiv. 6.) And truly also in the mystery of His Incarnation He is called a Star; as it is written There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob, and a Man shall rise out of Israel. Where Christ is, there is a Star; yea, He is Himself the bright and morning Star. (Apoc. xxii. 16.) And the light that leadeth to Jesus is His own.

[Lectio9]
Remark another point. The wise men came by one way and departed by another. They that had seen Christ, knew Christ, and they departed better than they came. There are two ways, the one which leadeth to destruction, the other which leadeth to the kingdom; the one is the way of sin, which leadeth to Herod; the other is Christ, the true Way, Who leadeth us home to the fatherland, from that journeying here, whereof it is said My soul hath long dwelt as an exile. (Ps. cxix. 5.)
&teDeum

[Ant 2]
They that despised thee * shall come unto thee, and shall bow themselves down at the Soles of thy Feet.

[Ant 3]
The wise men being warned * in a dream, departed into their own country another way.