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And being freed from sin, and becoming a son of your handmaid, the Church, I was released from former sins through your grace. I will offer to you the sacrifice of praise, and in the name of the Lord I will call. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the Lord’s house, in your midst, O Jerusalem. It signifies progress for the one saying these things, I mean for the people from the gentiles. For in saying, 'I will offer to you the sacrifice of praise,' he means, 'I will partake of the body and the blood, and in partaking of these I will call upon your name, and I will pay my eucharistic vows to you the Lord within the midst of the true Jerusalem, and in the presence of all the people, and the promises which I once made.' ALLELUIA. 116. Praise the Lord, all you nations; praise him, all you peoples. For his mercy has been strong over us, and the truth of the Lord remains for ever. The word therefore calls upon all foreign and alien nations to the hymn of God; then, having distinguished the peoples from the nations, it adds: Let all the peoples praise him. You will understand the difference by attending to the prophecy that says in Zechariah: Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold, I am coming and will dwell in your midst, says the Lord. And many nations will flee for refuge to the Lord, and they will be a people for him, and I will be a God for them. For while they were nations, they were not yet his people, but having changed from their former way of life, and having partaken of the mysteries of God through rebirth and the bath of regeneration, they become his peoples. This indeed is still fulfilled even now throughout the whole inhabited world of men, with peoples of countless numbers standing as if in choirs and hymning the God of the prophets among the Hebrews, and being taught the same readings, lessons, and doctrines. These things, then, being seen with the eyes, were established throughout the whole inhabited world of the nations in no other way than by the saving power alone. ALLELUIA. 117. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let the house of Israel now say, that he is good, for his mercy endures forever; let the house of Aaron now say, that he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let all who fear the Lord now say, that he is good, for his mercy endures forever. And in the preceding verses, since the grace of the Gospel has been poured out upon all the nations, of which nations a certain part was also the people of the circumcision, and the first part, the word reasonably calls them first to give thanks; then those from the nations who have come to the Gospel, according to the saying: to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And if 23.1364 one were to examine it precisely, the Jews especially ought to give thanks for the very presence of Christ. For even if they suffered the opposite, it was not because of the one who came, but because of their own ignorance. For he himself came to them, and said continually: I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel; but if they proved unworthy of the benefit, let it be reckoned to their own transgressions and to the excess of their ignorance. Out of my affliction I called upon the Lord, and he heard me and brought me into a broad place. The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man can do to me. The Lord is my helper, and I will look in triumph on my enemies. It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in man; it is better to hope in the Lord than to hope in princes. All the nations

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Ἐλευθερωθεὶς δὲ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καὶ υἱὸς τῆς σῆς παιδίσκης γινόμενος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τῶν προτέρων ἀνέθην ἁμαρτημάτων διὰ τῆς σῆς χάριτος. Σοὶ θύσω θυσίαν αἰνέσεως, καὶ ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου ἐπικαλέσομαι. Τὰς εὐχάς μου τῷ Κυρίῳ ἀποδώσω ἐναντίον παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἐν αὐλαῖς οἴκου Κυρίου, ἐν μέσῳ σου, Ἱερουσαλήμ. Προκοπὴν σημαίνει τῷ ταῦτα λέγοντι, φημὶ δὲ τῷ ἐξ ἐθνῶν λαῷ. Τῷ γὰρ, Σοὶ θύσω θυσίαν αἰνέσεως, τοῦ σώματος καὶ τοῦ αἵματος, φησὶ, μεταλήψομαι, καὶ ἐν τῇ τούτων μεταλήψει τὸ ὄνομά σου ἐπικαλέσομαι, καὶ τὰς εὐχαριστηρίους εὐχάς σοι τῷ Κυρίῳ ἀποδώσω ἔνδον ἐν μέσῳ τῆς ἀληθοῦς Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ ἐναντίον παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας ἅς ποτε ἐποιησάμην. ΑΛΛΗΛΟΥΙΑ. ΡΙʹ. Αἰνεῖτε τὸν Κύριον, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, ἐπαινέσατε αὐτὸν, πάντες οἱ λαοί· ὅτι ἐκραταιώθη τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ ἐφ' ἡμᾶς, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ Κυρίου μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Ἀνακαλεῖται τοίνυν ὁ λόγος ἐπὶ τὸν ὕμνον τοῦ Θεοῦ πάντα τὰ ἀλλογενῆ καὶ ἀλλόφυλα ἔθνη· εἶτα ἀποδιαστείλας τῶν ἐθνῶν τοὺς λαοὺς ἐπιλέγει· Ἐπαινεσάτωσαν αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ λαοί. Νοήσεις δὲ τὴν διαφορὰν ἐπιστήσας τῇ προφητείᾳ τῇ λεγούσῃ παρὰ τῷ Ζαχαρίᾳ· Χαῖρε καὶ εὐφραίνου, θύγατερ Σιών· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἔρχομαι καὶ κατασκηνώσω ἐν μέσῳ σου, λέγει Κύριος. Καὶ καταφεύξονται ἔθνη πολλὰ ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ἔσονται αὐτῷ εἰς λαὸν, κἀγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς Θεόν. Τέως μὲν γὰρ ἔθνη τυγχάνοντα, οὔπω λαὸς ἦν αὐτοῦ, μεταβαλόντα δὲ τοῦ προτέρου βίου, καὶ μετασχόντα τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ μυστηρίων δι' ἀναγεννήσεως καὶ λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας, γίνονται αὐτοῦ λαοί. Ὃ δὴ εἰσέτι καὶ νῦν πληροῦται καθ' ὅλης τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἰκουμένης, μυριάνδρων λαῶν ὥσπερ κατὰ χοροὺς ἱσταμένων καὶ τὸν παρ' Ἑβραίοις προφητῶν Θεὸν ὑμνούντων, καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ ἀναγνώσματα, μαθήματά τε καὶ δόγματα διδασκομένων. Ταῦτα γοῦν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρώμενα, οὐκ ἄλλως ἢ διὰ μόνης τῆς σωτηρίου δυνάμεως καθ' ὅλης συνέστη τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν οἰκουμένης. ΑΛΛΗΛΟΥΙΑ. ΡΙΖʹ. Ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὅτι ἀγαθὸς, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ. Εἰπάτω δὴ ὁ οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ, ὅτι ἀγαθὸς, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ· εἰπάτω δὴ οἶκος Ἀαρὼν, ὅτι ἀγαθὸς, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ. Εἰπάτωσαν δὴ πάντες οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν Κύριον, ὅτι ἀγαθὸς, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἐν τοῖς προκειμένοις, τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς χάριτος ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη χυθείσης, ὧν ἐθνῶν μέρος τι ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐκ περιτομῆς λαὸς, καὶ μέρος τὸ πρώτιστον, εἰκότως πρώτους αὐτοὺς ὁ λόγος ἐπὶ τὴν ἐξομολόγησιν καλεῖ· ἔπειτα τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν προσεληλυθότας τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ, κατὰ τό· Ἰουδαίῳ τε πρῶτον καὶ Ἕλληνι. Εἰ δέ 23.1364 τις ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάσειε, καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ μάλιστα τοὺς Ἰουδαίους εὐχαριστεῖν δεῖ. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ ἐναντία ὑπέμειναν, ἀλλ' οὐ παρὰ τὸν παραγενόμενον, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀγνωμοσύνην. Αὐτὸς μὲν γὰρ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀφικνεῖτο, καὶ συνεχῶς ἔλεγεν· Οὐκ ἦλθον ἀλλ' εἰς τὰ πρόβατα τὰ ἀπολωλότα οἴκου Ἰσραήλ· εἰ δὲ ἀνάξιοι τῆς εὐεργεσίας ἐφάνησαν, ταῖς ἑαυτῶν λογιζέσθωσαν παρανομίαις καὶ τῇ τῆς ἀγνωμοσύνης ὑπερβολῇ. Ἐκ θλίψεως ἐπεκαλεσάμην τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ἐπήκουσέ μου εἰς πλατυσμόν. Κύριος ἐμοὶ βοηθὸς, καὶ οὐ φοβηθήσομαι τί ποιήσει μοι ἄνθρωπος. Κύριος ἐμοὶ βοηθὸς, κἀγὼ ἐπόψομαι τοὺς ἐχθρούς μου. Ἀγαθὸν πεποιθέναι ἐπὶ Κύριον, ἢ πεποιθέναι ἐπ' ἄνθρωπον· ἀγαθὸν ἐλπίζειν ἐπὶ Κύριον, ἢ ἐλπίζειν ἐπ' ἄρχουσι. Πάντα τὰ ἔθνη