Louis, King, 1270

The Collect:

Rite I:
O God, who didst call thy servant Louis of France to an earthly throne that he might advance thy heavenly kingdom, and gave him zeal for thy church and love for thy people: Mercifully grant that we who commemorate him this day may be fruitful in good works and attain to the glorious crown of thy saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Rite II:
O God, you called your servant Louis of France to an earthly throne that he might advance your heavenly kingdom, and gave him zeal for your church and love for your people: Mercifully grant that we who commemorate him this day may be fruitful in good works and attain to the glorious crown of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Wisdom 7:1-6 

¹ I also am mortal, like everyone else,
a descendant of the first-formed child of earth;
and in the womb of a mother I was moulded into flesh,
² within the period of ten months, compacted with blood,
from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage.
³ And when I was born, I began to breathe the common air,
and fell upon the kindred earth;
my first sound was a cry, as is true of all.
⁴ I was nursed with care in swaddling cloths.
⁵ For no king has had a different beginning of existence;
⁶ there is for all one entrance into life, and one way out.

Psalm: Psalm 21:1-7

¹ The king rejoices in your strength, O Lord; *
       how greatly he exults in your victory!
² You have given him his heart’s desire; *
       you have not denied him the request of his lips.
³ For you meet him with blessings of prosperity, *
       and set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
⁴ He asked you for life, and you gave it to him: *
       length of days, for ever and ever.
⁵ His honor is great, because of your victory; *
       splendor and majesty have you bestowed upon him.
⁶ For you will give him everlasting felicity *
       and will make him glad with the joy of your presence.
⁷ For the king puts his trust in the Lord; *
       because of the loving-kindness of the Most High, he will not fall.

Second Lesson: Colossians 2:6-10 

⁶ As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰ and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.

Gospel: Mark 2:13-17

¹³Jesus went out again beside the lake; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. ¹⁴As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

¹⁵And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax-collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ ¹⁷When Jesus heard this, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

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