Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr
FIRST READING: Daniel 2: 31 - 45
31 "In your vision, O king, you saw a statue, very large and exceedingly bright, terrifying in appearance as it stood before you.
32 The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs bronze,
33 the legs iron, its feet partly iron and partly tile.
34 While you looked at the statue, a stone which was hewn from a mountain without a hand being put to it, struck its iron and tile feet, breaking them in pieces.
35 The iron, tile, bronze, silver, and gold all crumbled at once, fine as the chaff on the threshing floor in summer, and the wind blew them away without leaving a trace. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 "This was the dream; the interpretation we shall also give in the king's presence.
37 You, O king, are the king of kings; to you the God of heaven has given dominion and strength, power and glory;
38 men, wild beasts, and birds of the air, wherever they may dwell, he has handed over to you, making you ruler over them all; you are the head of gold.
39 Another kingdom shall take your place, inferior to yours, then a third kingdom, of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth.
40 There shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; it shall break in pieces and subdue all these others, just as iron breaks in pieces and crushes everything else.
41 The feet and toes you saw, partly of potter's tile and partly of iron, mean that it shall be a divided kingdom, but yet have some of the hardness of iron. As you saw the iron mixed with clay tile,
42 and the toes partly iron and partly tile, the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
43 The iron mixed with clay tile means that they shall seal their alliances by intermarriage, but they shall not stay united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
44 In the lifetime of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people; rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever.
45 That is the meaning of the stone you saw hewn from the mountain without a hand being put to it, which broke in pieces the tile, iron, bronze, silver, and gold. The great God has revealed to the king what shall be in the future; this is exactly what you dreamed, and its meaning is sure."
PSALM: Daniel 3: 57 - 61
57 Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
58 Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
59 You heavens, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
60 All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
61 All you hosts of the Lord, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
GOSPEL: Luke 21: 5 - 11
5 And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said,
6 "As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."
7 And they asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?"
8 And he said, "Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, `I am he!' and, `The time is at hand!' Do not go after them.
9 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once."
10 Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
