[Rank]
Quarta die infra Octavam Nativitatis Beatae Mariae Virginis;;Semiduplex;;2;;ex Sancti/09-08

[Rule]
ex Sancti/09-08;
9 lectiones
Doxology=Nat

[Lectio4]
From the Sermons of St. Bernard, Abbot (of Clairvaux,)
!on Apoc. xii. I.
The Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man. ~(Jer. xxxi. 22.) And this man is no other than Christ, of Whom it is said Behold the Man Whose name is The Dayspring (Zech. vi. 12. ) In heaven also hath the Lord created a new thing, a woman clothed with the sun. She also hath crowned Him and hath earned from Him a crown in return. Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him. (Cant. iii. ii.) And again go forth now, and behold the Queen with the crown wherewith her Son crowned her. And upon her head, saith St. John, a crown of twelve stars.

[Lectio5]
What is an head worthy to be crowned with stars whose own glory is greater than theirs, and rather giveth than receiveth lustre from them. Why should not she have stars for her crown, who hath the sun for her clothing? And about her it was as the flower of roses in the spring of the year, and lilies of the valleys. ~(Ecclus. 1. 8.) The left hand of her Bridegroom is under her head, and his right hand doth embrace her. (Cant. ii. 6.) Who shall appraise these starry jewels whereof is made the Queenly crown of Mary?

[Lectio6]
What starry splendour flasheth in the birth of Mary? Manifestly, she was a daughter of Kings, a child of the seed of Abraham, a Princess of the lineage of David. But whereas this is but too little, add that she is known to have been granted by God to that race, on account of the singular privilege of holiness which the same possesseth, to have been promised from heaven long before her fathers were born, to have been foreshadowed by mysterious wonders, and foretold by the utterances of Prophets. She was the rootless rod of Aaron the Priest, which yet budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. (Num. xvii. 8.) She was the fleece of Gideon, which was put in the floor, and whereon only there was dew when it was dry upon all the earth beside. ~(Judges vi. 37, 38.) She was the gate which Ezekiel saw, which looked toward the East and was shut, and the Lord said unto him: This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it. (Ezek. xliv. 1, 2.)

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
!Matt 1:1-17
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob. And so on.
_
Homily by St. Hilary, Bishop (of Poitiers.)
!Comment, on Matth. i.)
By the generation which Matthew noteth in the Kingly, and Luke in the Priestly descent of our Lord, both mean to show His relationship with each race, and both reach it in the clear line of the pedigree which they are tracing, for that connection between the Kingly and Priestly houses which was begun by the marriage of David was fully accomplished in the link between Salathiel and Zorobabel. And so while Matthew recordeth the line from father to son coming down from Judah, and Luke teacheth the descent from the tribe of Levi through Nathan, both prove that by His forefathers our Lord Jesus, Who is already a King and a Priest from everlasting to everlasting, hath also the right to these dignities by earthly inheritance.

[Lectio8]
That it is the pedigree of Joseph and not of Mary which is given mattereth nothing, seeing that they were both of the same tribe and of the same family. Both Matthew and Luke afford instances of giving the title of father and son to persons who were only fore-father and descendant, the line being treated as one where the descent is in the same blood. Thus when Matthew will show that the Lord was the Son of David and Abraham, he saith The Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham.

[Commemoratio 2]
!Commemoratio for the holy Martyrs Protus and Hyacinth.
@Commune/C3:Oratio1