Liturgical Colour : White

Genesis 1 : 1-31 and Genesis 2 : 1-2

In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram. Terra autem erat inanis et vacua, et tenebrae erant super faciem abyssi : et Spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas.

Dixitque Deus : Fiat lux. Et facta est lux. Et vidit Deus lucem, quod esset bona : et divisit lucem a tenebris. Appellavitque lucem Diem, et tenebras Noctem : factumque est vespere et mane, dies unus.

Dixit quoque Deus : Fiat firmamentum in medio aquarum : et dividat aquas ab aquis. Et fecit Deus firmamentum, divisitque aquas, quae erant sub firmamento, ab his, quae erant super firmamentum. Et factum est ita. Vocavitque Deus firmamentum, Caelum : et factum est vespere et mane, dies secundus.

Dixit vero Deus : Congregentur aquae, quae sub caelo sunt, in locum unum : et appareat arida. Et factum est ita. Et vocavit Deus aridam Terram : congregationesque aquarum appleavit Maria. Et vidit Deus, quod esset bonum.

Et ait : Germinet terra herbam virentem et facientem semen, et lignum pomiferum faciens fructum juxta genus suum, cujus semen in semetipso sit super terram. Et factum est ita. Et protulit terra herbam virentem et facientem semen juxta genus suum, lignumque faciens fructum, et habens unumquodque sementem secundum speciem suam. Et vidit Deus, quod esset bonum. Et factum est vespere et mane, dies tertius.

Dixit autem Deus : Fiant luminaria in firmamento caeli, et dividant diem ac noctem, et sint in signa et tempora et dies et annos : ut luceant in firmamento caeli, et illuminent terram. Et factum est ita.

Fecitque Deus duo luminaria magna : luminare majus, et praesset diei : et luminare minus, ut praesset nocti : et stellas. Et posuit eas in firmamento caeli, ut lucerent super terram, et praessent diei ac nocti, et dividerent lucem ac tenebras. Et vidit Deus, quod esset bonum. Et factum est vespere et mane, dies quartus.

Dixit etiam Deus : Producant aquae reptile animae viventis, et volatile super terram sub firmamento caeli. Creavitque Deus cete grandia, et omnem animam viventem atquem motabilem, quam produxerant aquae in species suas, et omne volatile secundum genus suum. Et vidit Deus, quod esset bonum.

Benedixitque Eis, dicens : Crescite et multiplicamini, et replete aquas maris : avesque multiplicentur super terram. Et factum est vespere et mane, dies quintus.

Dixit quoque Deus : Producat terra animam viventem in genere suo : jumenta et reptilia, et bestias terrae secundum species suas. Factumque est ita. Et fecit Deus bestias terrae juxta species suas, et jumenta, et omne reptile terrae in genere suo. Et vidit Deus, quod esset bonum, et ait :

Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem Nostram : et praesit piscibus maris et volatilibus caeli, et bestiis universaque terrae, omnique reptili, quod movetur in terra.

Et creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem Suam : ad imaginem Dei creavit illum, masculum et feminam creavit Eos. Benedixitque illis Deus, et ait : Crescite et multiplicamini, et replete terram, et subjicite eam, et dominamini piscibus maris et volatilibus caeli, et universis animantibus, quae moventur super terram.

Dixitque Deus : Ecce, dedi vobis omnem herbam afferentem semen super terram, et universa ligna, quae habent in semetipsis sementem generis sui, ut sint vobis in escam : et cunctis animantibus terrae, omnique volucri caeli, et universis, quae moventur in terra, et in quibus est anima vivens, ut habeant ad vescendum. Et factum est ita. Viditque Deus cuncta, quae fecerat : et erant valde bona. Et factum est vespere et mane, dies sextus.

Igitur perfecti sunt caeli et terra, et omnis ornatus eorum. Complevitque Deus die septimo opus Suum, quod fecerat : et requievit die septimo ab universo opere, quod patrarat.

English translation

In the beginning God created Heaven and earth. 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.

And God said, “Let there be light.” And light was made. And God saw the light that it was good, and He divided the light from the darkness. And He called the light Day, and the darkness Night, and there was evening and morning, the first day.

And God said, “Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters, and let it ivide the waters from the waters.” 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. And God called the firmament Heaven, and the evening and morning were, the second day.

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

And He said, “Let the earth bring forth his 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. And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yielded seed according to its kind, and the tree that bore fruit, having seed, each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And the evening and morning were, the third day.

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, to shine in the firmament of Heaven, and to give light upon the earth.” And it was so done.

And God made two great lights, a greater light to rule the day, and a lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. And He set them in the firmament of Heaven, to shine upon the earth, and to rule the day and the night, and to divide the earth, and to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And the evening and morning were, the fourth day.

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.” 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.

And He blessed them, saying, “Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea, and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.” And the evening and the morning were, the fifth day.

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

And He said, “Let Us make man to Our own 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 moved upon the earth.”

And God created man to His own image, to the image of God He created him, male and female He created them. 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.”

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

So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

Collect

Deus, qui mirabiliter creasti hominem, et mirabilius redemisti : da nobis, quaesumus, contra oblectamenta peccati, mentis ratione persistere; ut mereamur ad aeterna gaudia pervenire. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivis et regnas in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

O God, Who had wonderfully created man and more wonderfully redeemed him, grant us, we beseech You, to withstand by strength of spirit the allurements of sin, that we may deserve to arrive at everlasting joy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.