Christmas Eve Night Vigil

THE

OLD TESTAMENT

OF

THE HOLY CATHOLIC BIBLE.

GENESIS

THE

BOOK OF GENESIS.

GENESIS 1

CHAPTER I.

God createth Heaven and Earth, and all things therein, in six days.

1 In the *beginning God created heaven and earth.

2 *And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved over the waters.

3 And God said: *Be light made.  And light was made.

4 And God saw the light that it was good: and he divided the light from the darkness.

5 And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night: and there was evening and morning one day.

6 And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 *And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament.  And it was so.

8 And God called the firmament, Heaven: and the evening and morning were the second day.

9 God also said: Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear.  And it was so done.

10 And God called the dry land, *Earth: and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas.  And God saw that it was good.

11 And he said: Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth.  And it was so done.

12 And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed each one according to its kind.  And God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night,* and let them be for signs, and for seasons and for days and years:

15 To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth.  And it was so done.

16 And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day, and a lesser light to rule the night: and the stars.

17 And he set them in the firmament of heaven, to shine upon the earth.

18 And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness.  And God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and morning were the fourth day.

20 God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.

21 And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind.  And God saw that it was good.

22 And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.

23 And the evening and morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds.  And it was so done.

25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth, after its kind.  And God saw that it was good.

26 And he said: *Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.

27 And God created man to his own image: *to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.**

28 And God blessed them, saying: *Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.

29 And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat:*

30 And to all the beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon.  And it was so done.

31 *And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good.  And the evening and morning were the sixth day.

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*

1:  A.M. 1, A.C. 4004.

2:  Acts xiv. 14. and xvii. 24.; Psal. xxxii. 6. and cxxxv. 5.; Eccli. xviii. 1.

3:  Heb. xi. 3.

7:  Psal. cxxxv. 5. and cxlviii. 4.; Jer. x. 12. and li. 15.

10:  Job xxxviii. 4.; Psal. xxxii. 7. and lxxxviii. 12. and cxxxix. 6.

14:  Ps. cxxxv. 7.

26:  Infra v. 1. and ix. 6.; 1 Cor. xi. 7.; Col. iii. 10.

27:  Wis. ii. 23.; Eccli. xvii. 1. --- ** Matt. xix. 4.

28:  Infra viii. 17. and ix. 1.

29:  Infra ix. 3.

31:  Eccli. xxxix. 21.; Mark vii. 37.

====================

THE

NEW TESTAMENT

OF

THE HOLY CATHOLIC BIBLE.

JOHN

THE

HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST,

ACCORDING TO S.  JOHN.

JOHN 1

CHAPTER I.

The divinity and incarnation of Christ.  John bears witness of him.  He begins to call his disciples.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

6 *There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men might believe through him.

8 He was not the light, but was to bear witness of the light.

9 *That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world.

10 He was in the world, *and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, he gave to them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name.

13 Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of will of man, but of God.

14 *And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us: we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 John beareth witness of him: and crieth out, saying: This was he of whom I spoke, He that shall come after me, is preferred before me, because he was before me.

16 *And of his fulness we all have received, and grace for grace.

17 For the law was given by Moses, grace and truth by Jesus Christ.

18 *No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites to him, to ask him: Who art thou?

20 And he confessed, and did not deny: and he confessed: I am not the Christ.

21 And they asked him: What then?  Art thou Elias? and he said: I am not.  Art thou the prophet?  And he answered: No.

22 They said therefore to him: Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us?  What sayest thou of thyself?

23 He said: *I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet, Isaias, said.

24 And they that were sent, were of the Pharisees.

25 And they asked him, and said to him: Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet?

26 John answered them, saying: *I baptize with water: but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not.

27 * The same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose.

28 These things were done in Bethania beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and he saith: Behold the lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sins of the world.

30 This is he of  whom I said: After me cometh a man, who is preferred before me, because he was before me.

31 And I knew him not, but that he may be made manifest  in Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

32 And John gave testimony, saying: *I saw the Spirit coming down as a dove from heaven, and he remained upon him.

33 And I knew him not; but he, who sent me to baptize with water, said to me: He upon whom thoiu shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, he it is that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

34 And I saw: and I gave testimony, that this is the Son of God.

35 Again, the following day, John stood, and two of his disciples.

36 And looking upon Jesus, walking, he saith: Behold the lamb of God.

37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

38 And Jesus turning, and seeing them following him, saith to them: What seek you?  They said to him: Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, master) where dwellest thou?

39 He saith to them: Come and see.  They came, and saw where he abode, and they staid with him that day: now it was about the tenth hour.

40 And Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who had heard of John, and followed him.

41 He first findeth his own brother, Simon, and saith to him: We have found the Messias; which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

42 And he brought him to Jesus.  And Jesus looking upon him, said: Thou art Simon, the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is interpreted, Peter.

43 On the following day he would go forth into Galilee, and he findeth Philip.  And Jesus saith to him: Follow me.

44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and said to him: We have found him of whom *Moses in the law, **and the prophets did write, Jesus, the son of Joseph, of Nazareth.

46 And Nathanael said to him: Can any thing of good come from Nazareth?  Philip saith to him: Come and see.

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him: and he saith of him; Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.

48 Nathanael said to him: Whence knowest thou me?  Jesus answered, and said to him: Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee.

49 Nathanael answered him, and said: Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the king of Israel.

50 Jesus answered, and said to him: Because I said to thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, thou believest: greater things than these shalt thou see.

51 And he saith to him: Amen, amen, I say to you, you shall see the heaven opened, and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

____________________

*

6:  Matt. iii. 1.; Mark i. 4.

9:  Infra iii. 19.

10:  Heb. xi. 3.

14:  Matt: i. 16.; Luke ii. 7.

16:  1 Tim. vi. 17.

18:  1 Tim. vi. 16.; 1 John iv. 12.

23:  Is. xl. 3.; Matt. iii. 3.; Mark i. 3.; Luke iii. 4.

26:  Matt. iii. 11.

27:  Mark i. 7.; Luke iii. 16.; Acts i. 5. and xi. 16. and xix. 4.

32:  Matt. iii. 16.; Mark i. 10.; Luke iii. 22.

45:  Gen. xlix 10.; Deut. xviii. 18. --- ** Is. xl. 10. and xiv. 8.; Jer. xxiii. 5.; Ezec. xxxiv. 23. and xxxvii. 24.; Dan. ix. 24. and 25.

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The Word through Whom all was created became flesh and dwelt among us.

Music of faith: Laylat Al-Milad, the night of Christmas. Arabic Carol

Music of faith: Today Christ is born of the Virgin in Bethlehem

Music of faith: Mozarabic Chant: Gloria in Excelsis Deo