Friday, 22 February, 2008
THE CHAIR OF ST. PETER (II)
(Day of fast and abstinence.)
“The Feast of St. Peter’s Chair in Antioch formerly on this day, has been merged with that of his Chair in Rome, formerly on Jan. 18th. The Feast of St. Peter’s Chair is now kept on Febr. 22nd."


Collect: O God, Who by delivering to Thy blessed Apostle Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, didst confer upon him the pontifical power of binding and loosing, grant that, by the help of his intercession, we may be freed from the bonds of sin. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who livest and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end.
Epistle: From the First Letter of Bl. Peter the Apostle, 1:1-7.
[The first Pope gives thanks to God for the benefit of our being called to the true Faith and to eternal life; into which we are to enter by many tribulations.]
Gospel: Continuation of the hoy Gospel according to St. Matthew, 16:13-19.
[Peter’s confession of the Godhead of Christ. He is declared by our Lord to be the Rock on which the Church rests securely.]

FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT (III)
(Day of fast and abstinence.)


Collect: Grant, we beseech Thee O almighty God, that cleansed by this holy fast, we may arrive in the right dispositions at the holy Feast which is to come. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who livest and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end.
Lesson: From the Book of Genesis, 37:6-22.
[Joseph and his brethren.]
Gospel: Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, 21:33-46.
[Parable of Christ: the destiny of the heathen and that of the Jews.]

Remarks are abstracted from The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual, from Editio Typica of the Roman Missal and Breviary, 1962
(Baronius Press Limited, London, 2004, in conjunction with the Fraternal Society of St. Peter, www.baroniuspress.com)