Lenten Sunday Gospels in the Different Rites

[patrick457]

Let’s do timely (at least I hope) topic! Why don’t we make a list of the gospel readings in the different liturgical rites for the Sundays of Lent?

Roman Rite (Extraordinary Form)

First Sunday of Lent: Matthew 4:1-11 (The Temptation of Jesus)
Second Sunday of Lent: Matthew 17:1-9 (The Transfiguration)
Third Sunday of Lent: Luke 11:14-28 (The Beelzebul Controversy)
Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday): John 6:1-15 (The Feeding of the Five Thousand)

Passion Sunday (Iudica Sunday): John 8:46-59 (“Before Abraham was, I am”)

• In the EF, ‘Passion Sunday’ (aka ‘Iudica Sunday’) refers to the Sunday before Palm Sunday. Passion Sunday was back then reckoned as the start of Passiontide (then ‘Passion Week, from Passion Sunday to Passion Saturday + Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday’). When the Order (Ordo) of Holy Week was revised in 1955, Palm Sunday was given the name “Second Sunday of the Passion or Palm Sunday,” and when the Ordinary Form was promulgated in 1969-1970, that simply became “Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord.” What was until then ‘Passion Sunday’ then simply became the Fifth Sunday of Lent, with the distinction that until then existed between Lent and Passiontide (albeit with overlaps) being removed.

Roman Rite (Ordinary Form)

First Sunday of Lent: Matthew 4:1-11 (Cycle A) / Mark 1:12-15 (Cycle B) / Luke 4:1-13 (Cycle C) (The Temptation of Jesus)
Second Sunday of Lent: Matthew 17:1-9 / Mark 9:2-10 / Luke 9:28b-36 (The Transfiguration)
Third Sunday of Lent: John 4:5-42, or 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42 (The Samaritan Woman) / John 2:13-25 (The Cleansing of the Temple) / Luke 13:1-9 (Repent or Perish)
Fourth Sunday of Lent: John 9:1-41 (The Man Born Blind) / John 3:14-21 (“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent”) / Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 (The Prodigal Son)
Fifth Sunday of Lent: John 11:1-45 (The Raising of Lazarus) / John 12:20-33 (Greeks Seek Jesus) / John 8:1-11 (The Woman Caught in Adultery)

 

[patrick457]

(Continued)

Mozarabic Rite (Liber Comicus, 11th c.)

Sunday of the Removal of Meat (de Carnes Tollendas): Matthew 4:1-11 (The Temptation of Jesus)
First Sunday [after the Removal of Meat?]: John 4:5-42 (The Samaritan Woman)
Second Sunday: John 9:1-38 (The Man Born Blind)
Sunday of “the Middle of the Feast:” John 7:14-30 (Jesus at the Feast of Booths)
Sunday of Lazarus: John 11:1-52 (The Raising of Lazarus)

Mozarabic Rite (Pre-1995 Revision, Missale Mixtum, 16th century)

First Sunday of Lent: John 4:3-42 (The Samaritan Woman)
Second Sunday of Lent: John 9:1-38 (The Man Born Blind)
Third Sunday of Lent: John 11:1-52 (The Raising of Lazarus)
Fourth Sunday of Lent: John 7:2-24 (Jesus at the Feast of Booths)
Fifth Sunday of Lent: John 10:1-16 (The Good Shepherd)

Mozarabic Rite (Post-1995 Revision)

First Sunday of Lent (de Carnes Tollendas): Matthew 4:1-11 (The Temptation of Jesus)
Second Sunday of Lent (Mass of the Samaritan Woman): John 4:3-42 (The Samaritan Woman)
Third Sunday of Lent (Mass of the Man Born Blind): John 9:1-38 (The Man Born Blind)
Fourth Sunday of Lent (Mass of “the Middle of the Feast”): John 7:2-30 (Jesus at the Feast of Booths)
Fifth Sunday of Lent (Mass of Lazarus): John 11:1-52 (The Raising of Lazarus)

• Lent currently begins with the First Sunday of Lent in the Mozarabic liturgy. Now at one time, there was an Ash Wednesday (named Feria Quarta in Capite Ieiunii ‘Fourth Feria (= Wednesday) of the Beginning of the Fast’ in the Missale Mixtum), but that was a Roman import that somewhat disturbed the original order - i.e. Lent beginning with the reading about the temptation of Jesus - to which the current form of the rite reverts to. (For the record, the current Mozarabic lectionary has a two-year cycle of readings.)

 

[patrick457]

Ambrosian Rite (pre-revision)

First Sunday of Lent: Matthew 4:1-11 (The Temptation of Jesus)
Second Sunday of Lent (of the Samaritan Woman): John 4:5-29 (The Samaritan Woman)
Third Sunday of Lent (of Abraham): John 8:31-59 (“Before Abraham was, I am”)
Fourth Sunday of Lent (of the Blind Man): John 9:1-17 (The Man Born Blind)
Fifth Sunday of Lent (of Lazarus): John 11:1-44 (The Raising of Lazarus)

Ambrosian Rite (new)

First Sunday of Lent: Matthew 4:1-11
Second Sunday of Lent: John 4:5-29
Third Sunday of Lent (of Abraham): John 8:31-59
Fourth Sunday of Lent (of the Blind Man): John 9:1-38b
Fifth Sunday of Lent (of Lazarus): John 11:1-53

• There’s no Ash Wednesday in the Ambrosian Rite either; Lent begins with the first Sunday. To be precise, Roman Lent also originally began with the first Sunday before Ash Wednesday was introduced ca. the 8th century - the Ambrosian kept the original order, and for a time at least (before the 16th century and after 1995), the Mozarabic.

(Also note: The current form of the Ambrosian Rite had adopted the three-year-cycle model of the Roman lectionary, albeit the readings are (obviously) different. For Lent, the gospel readings do not change.)

Those are the readings for the Roman, Ambrosian (Milan and surrounding areas), and Mozarabic (Toledo, Spain) liturgies for Lent. What they all have in common is having Lent begin with the gospel reading about Jesus’ temptation in the desert. Both the Mozarabic and the Ambrosian reserve three out of five Sundays to the the Samaritan woman, to the man born blind, and to Lazarus. (The Tridentine/EF lectionary has them in the Friday after the third Sunday of Lent (Samaritan woman; John 4:5-42), the Wednesday after the fourth Sunday (man born blind; John 9:1-38), and the Friday after the fourth Sunday (Lazarus; John 11:1-45), respectively.)

Also note the readings in some Gallican lectionaries (all from a period between the 6th to the 9th century), which are quite interesting in their differences. At least three or four them agree in giving the gospel for the second Sunday of Lent as that of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-24 or 15.11-32), while one notes that the Sunday is ‘of the Samaritan woman’ (de Sammaridana), in agreement with the Mozarabic and the Ambrosian tradition - which we might assume was the gospel reading for that area. Most of the lectionaries also call the fourth Sunday the “middle” of Lent (media quadragesima).

From the Eastern/Oriental side:

Byzantine Lectionary

Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee: Luke 18:10-14
Sunday of the Prodigal Son: Luke 15:11-32
Judgment Sunday (Meat Fare Sunday): Matthew 25.31-46 (The Parable of the Last Judgment)
Forgiveness Sunday: Matthew 6:14-21 (On Forgiveness / On Fasting / Treasures in Heaven)

First Sunday of Great Lent (Sunday of Orthodoxy): John 1:43-51 (Philip and Nathanael Follow Jesus)
Second Sunday of Great Lent (St. Gregory Palamas): Mark 1:35-44 (Jesus Preaches in Galilee / The Leper)
Third Sunday of Great Lent (Sunday of the Holy Cross): Mark 8:34-9:1 (“If anyone would come after me…”)
Fourth Sunday of Great Lent (St. John Climacus): Mark 9:17-31 (The Possessed Boy)
Fifth Sunday of Great Lent (St. Mary of Egypt): Mark 10:32-45 (Jesus Foretells His Death / James and John’s Request)

Saturday of Saint Lazarus the Righteous: John 11:1-45

• In the Byzantine tradition, Great Lent begins on the Monday after forgiveness Sunday (the so-called ‘Clean Monday’).

===

Coptic Lectionary

Sunday of the Week Before Great Lent: Matthew 6:1-18 (On Alms / On Prayer / On Forgiveness / On Fasting)

Sunday of the First Week of Great Lent: Matthew 6:19-33 (Treasures in Heaven / Consider the Lilies)
Sunday of the Second Week of Great Lent: Matthew 4:1-11 (The Temptation of Jesus)
Sunday of the Third Week of Great Lent: Luke 15:11-32 (The Prodigal Son)
Sunday of the Fourth Week of Great Lent: John 4:1-42 (The Samaritan Woman)
Sunday of the Fifth Week of Great Lent: John 5:1-18 (The Paralytic at Bethesda)
Sunday of the Sixth Week of Great Lent: John 9:1-41 (The Man Born Blind)

Lazarus Saturday of Great Lent: John 11:1-45

I’d really appreciate it if someone has more readings from the Eastern or Oriental rites.

 

[patrick457]

Armenian

Eve of Great Lent (Great Barekendan, ‘Sunday of Good Living’): Matthew 6:1-21 (On Alms / On Prayer / On Forgiveness / On Fasting)

Second Sunday of Great Lent (Sunday of the Expulsion): Matthew 5:17-48 (Jesus Came to Fulfill the Law)
Third Sunday of Great Lent (Sunday of the Prodigal Son): Luke 15:11-32
Fourth Sunday of Great Lent (Sunday of the Steward): Luke 16:1-31
Fifth Sunday of Great Lent (Sunday of the Judge): Luke 17:20-18:14
Sixth Sunday of Great Lent (Sunday of Advent): Matthew 22:34-23:39 (Jesus and the Pharisees)

Lazarus Saturday: John 11:55-12:11

===

Maronite

Cana Sunday (Entrance into Great Lent): John 2:1-11
Ash Monday
Second Sunday of Great Lent: Mark 1:35-45 (The Leper)
Third Sunday of Great Lent: Luke 8:40-56 (The Haemorrhaging Woman)
Fourth Sunday of Great Lent: Luke 15:11-32 (The Prodigal Son)
Fifth Sunday of Great Lent: Mark 2:1-12 (The Paralytic)
Sixth Sunday of Great Lent: Mark 10:46-52 (Bartimaeus)

Lazarus Saturday: John 11:55-12:11

===

Malankara

First Sunday of Great Lent (Kothine Sunday): John 2:1-11

Second Sunday of Great Lent: Luke 5:12-16, 4:40-41 (The Leper)
Third Sunday of Great Lent: St. Mark 2:1-12 (The Paralytic)
Fourth Sunday of Great Lent: Matthew 15:21-31 (The Canaanite Woman)
Fifth Sunday of Great Lent: Luke 13:10-17 (Woman with a Disabling Spirit)
Sixth Sunday of Great Lent: John 9:1-41 (The Man Born Blind)

Saturday before Hosanna (Lazarus Saturday): John 11:28-46

===

Chaldean, Syro-Malabar

Sunday before the Great Fast: Matthew 3:16-4:11 (The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus)

Second Sunday of the Fast: Matthew 7:15-27 (Beware of False Prophets)
Third Sunday of the Fast: Matthew 20:17-28 (Jesus Foretells His Death / The Request of the Mother of Zebedee’s Sons)
Fourth Sunday of the Fast: Matthew 21:23-46 (The Authority of Jesus Challenged / The Tenants in the Vineyard)
Fifth Sunday of the Fast: John 7:37-53; 8:12-20 (The Last Day of the Feast of Booths)
Sixth Sunday of the Fast: John 9:39-10:21 (The Good Shepherd)

Lazarus Friday: John 11:1-45
If there’s any mistakes, please correct me. (Particularly for the Eastern/Oriental readings - which is outside my area. )

 

[Casilda]

Maronite, Eastern Catholic

Sunday before Great Lent: John 2:1-11(Miracle of Cana of Galilee)
1st Sunday: Mark 1:35-43 (Cleansing of the Leper)
2nd Sunday: Luke 8:40-56 (The Hemorrhaging Woman)
3rd Sunday: Luke 15:11-32 (The Prodigal Son)
4th Sunday: Mark 2:1-12 (The Paralytic)
5th Sunday: Mark 10:46-52 (Bartimaeus the Blind)

 

[patrick457]

There’s also this ca. 8th-century Georgian recension of the lectionary tradition once used in Jerusalem itself. Rather interestingly, all the readings for the Sundays of Lent are parables from Luke.

Pre-Lent (Holy Lord’s Day of the Removal of Cheeses): Matthew 6:1-33

First Sunday (Holy Lord’s Day of the Holy Fast): Luke 15:1-10 (The Lost Sheep / The Lost Coin)
Second Sunday: Luke 15:11-32 (The Prodigal Son)
Third Sunday: Luke 18:1-14 (The Persistent Widow / The Pharisee and the Publican)
Fourth Sunday: Luke 10:25-37 (The Good Samaritan)
Fifth Sunday: Luke 16:19-31 (The Rich Man and Lazarus)

Saturday of Palms (Commemoration of Lazarus - Synaxis in Bethany): John 11:55-12:11

 

[patrick457]

The rather confusing/frustrating thing about the Ethiopian liturgy is that available sources do not agree on the specifics of the readings. I’ve based this off of four different websites, and Abune Mathias’ Twitter account. So here’s the readings for Ethiopian Great Lent (Abiy Tsom or Hudadi):

Ze’werede (ዘወረደ “He who descended”) / Hirqal (ህርቀል “Heraclius”): John 3:10-25 [3:10-21; 3:11-21]

Qidist (ቅድስት “Holy”): Matthew 4:1-11 [Matthew 6:16-25]
Mikurab (ምኩራብ “Temple”): John 2:12-25
Metsagu’e (መጻጉዕ “Paralytic”): John 5:1-25 or Mark 2:1-12
Debre Zeyit (ደብረ ዘይት “Mount of Olives”): Matthew 24:1-15 [24:1-36; 24:5-36] or Luke 21:25-30
Gebir’ Her (ገብር ሄር “Good Servant”): Matthew 25:14-31 [25:14-30; 25:14-35]
Niqodimos (ኒቆዲሞስ “Nicodemus”): John 3:1-15 [3:1-10; 3:1-3?]