Editing Roman Breviary (section)

=== Lessons ===
The lessons, as has been seen, are drawn variously from the Bible, the [[Acts of the Saints]] and the [[Fathers of the Church]]. In the primitive church, books afterwards excluded from the canon were often read, e.g. the letters of [[Clement of Rome]] and the [[Shepherd of Hermas]]. In later days the churches of Africa, having rich memorials of martyrdom, used them to supplement the reading of Scripture. Monastic influence accounts for the practice of adding to the reading of a biblical passage some patristic commentary or exposition. Books of homilies were compiled from the writings of SS. [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]], [[Hilary of Poitiers|Hilary]], [[Athanasius]], [[Isidore of Seville|Isidore]], [[Pope Gregory I|Gregory the Great]] and others, and formed part of the library of which the Breviary was the ultimate compendium. In the lessons, as in the psalms, the order for special days breaks in upon the normal order of ferial offices and dislocates the scheme for consecutive reading. The lessons are read at Matins (which is subdivided into three nocturns).<ref name=EB1911/>