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Short prayers to say in front of a crucifix

raphael

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September 14, 2020

Short prayers to say in front of a crucifix

Express your love of God, who showed his love for you on the cross.

At times we may grow accustomed to seeing Jesus on the cross and forget the power of that image. The crucifix is there to remind us of the love God has for us and to elicit a response of love in return.Here are a few short prayers that can be said when passing a crucifix, returning to God your love and acknowledging the great sacrifice he made for you.

You gave yourself entirely to me; I now give myself entirely to you.

You did not abandon me when I strayed away from you; abandon me not, I ask you, now that I would seek you.

Sweet Jesus, let me not be separated from you. Who can separate me from the love of Jesus?

Lord Jesus Christ, by your sufferings when your pure and innocent soul left your most holy body, have pity on my poor soul when it shall leave my body. Amen.

My Jesus, you died for love of me; I would die for love of you.

AND TODAY WE CELEBRATE… The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14)

raphael

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September 14, 2020

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AND TODAY WE CELEBRATE… The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14)

“We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”

The meaning of the celebration

Early in the fourth century, Saint Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ’s life. She razed the second-century Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition held was built over the Savior’s tomb, and her son built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher on that spot. During the excavation, workers found three crosses. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman.

The cross immediately became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem toward the end of the fourth century, according to an eyewitness, the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus’ head: Then “all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on.”

To this day, the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox alike, celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the September anniversary of the basilica’s dedication. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, 15 years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross back into Jerusalem himself, but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim.

The cross is today the universal image of Christian belief. Countless generations of artists have turned it into a thing of beauty to be carried in procession or worn as jewelry. To the eyes of the first Christians, it had no beauty. It stood outside too many city walls, decorated only with decaying corpses, as a threat to anyone who defied Rome’s authority—including Christians who refused sacrifice to Roman gods. Although believers spoke of the cross as the instrument of salvation, it seldom appeared in Christian art unless disguised as an anchor or the Chi-Rho until after Constantine’s edict of toleration.

For prayer and reflection

“Are we able to understand that in the Crucified One of Golgotha, our dignity as children of God, tarnished by sin, is restored to us? Let us turn our gaze towards Christ. It is he who will make us free to love as he loves us, and to build a reconciled world. For on this Cross, Jesus took upon himself the weight of all the sufferings and injustices of our humanity. He bore the humiliation and the discrimination, the torture suffered in many parts of the world by so many of our brothers and sisters for love of Christ.”—Pope Benedict XVI

Vocations

Through the centuries, a handful of religious communities have taken their names from the Cross of Christ. To learn about some of these communities, visit the links below:

The priests and brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross: www.holycrosscongregation.org

The Brothers of Holy Cross: https://www.holycrossbrothers.org/

The Benedictine Monks of Holy Cross Monastery (Chicago): http://chicagomonk.org

The Trappist Monks of Holy Cross Abbey (Berryville, VA): www.virginiatrappists.org

The Crosier Fathers and Brothers: www.crosier.org

The Sisters of the Holy Cross: https://www.cscsisters.org/

The Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross: http://www.holycrosssisters.org/

The Daughters of the Cross: http://www.daughtersofthecross.org.uk/

The Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Monastery of the Holy Cross (Iron Mountain, MI): www.holycrosscarmel.com

Prayer

O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son

should undergo the Cross to save the human race,

grant, we pray,

that we, who have known his mystery on earth,

may merit the grace of his redemption in heaven.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.

AND TODAY WE CELEBRATE… The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14)

raphael

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September 14, 2020

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The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Prayer for the Morning

Behold the wood of the cross,

on which has hung our salvation: come, let us adore!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia!

HYMN

R/Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim,

Till all the world adore his sacred Name.

Led on their way by this triumphant sign,

The hosts of God in conquering ranks combine. R/

O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree,

As thou hast promised, draw the world to thee. R/

So shall our song of triumph ever be:

Praise to the Crucified for victory. R/

PSALM 92:2-7, 9

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Gal 6:14)

The cross, instrument of torture and death, raised aloft as a sign of glory, continues to confound the wisdom of this world. God’s work of salvation stands human expectations on their head: humility is exaltation, wounds are healing, death is life.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

to make music to your name, O Most High,

to proclaim your love in the morning

and your truth in the watches of the night,

on the ten-stringed lyre and the lute,

with the murmuring sound of the harp.

Your deeds, O Lord, have made me glad;

for the work of your hands I shout with joy.

O Lord, how great are your works!

How deep are your designs!

The foolish man cannot know this

and the fool cannot understand.

But you, Lord, are eternally on high.

Glory to the Father….

Word of God (1 Corinthians 1:20-25)

Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish? For since in the wisdom of God the world did not come to know God through wisdom, it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith. For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Christ humbled himself,/ becoming obedient to death,/ even death on a cross.

(cf. Phil 2:8)

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

Because of this, God greatly exalted him/ and bestowed on him the name/ that is above every name. (Phil 2:9)

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;

he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior,

born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old

that he would save us from our enemies,

from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

free to worship him without fear,

holy and righteous in his sight

all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet

of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

to give his people knowledge of salvation

by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God

the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

to shine on those who dwell in darkness

and the shadow of death,

and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father…

INTERCESSIONS

To Christ our Lord most high, we pray:

R/We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world!

You emptied yourself and took the condition of a slave to set us free: R/

You became obedient even unto death to deliver us from the fruits of disobedience: R/

You arose from the dead to raise us out of the shadow of death into endless light: R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

Lord Jesus Christ, by your death on the cross, you triumphed over sin and death. Raise our fallen world to the glory no human wisdom can expect, who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

PRAYER FOR THIS EVENING (SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13)

raphael

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September 13, 2020

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PRAYER FOR THIS EVENING (SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13)

Prayer for the Evening

We are happy, whose God is the Lord:

let us give thanks and praise!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia!

HYMN

I would sing thy love, my Savior,

O, how can I silent be!

Though more sweetly, more sublimely

Many touch the chords to thee.

In thy mercy in abundance,

Not a stream but boundless main:

Let me but rehearse the riches

Jesus doth for worlds contain!

PSALM 48:10-15

For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. (Rom 14:8)

We who live for Christ must live as Christ lived: in compassion, in mercy, and in love. Thus do we show that we are indeed “the Lord’s,” his people, dearer to him than all other possessions. As those who dwell in the light of his love, we offer him our grateful worship.

O God, we ponder your love

within your temple.

Your praise, O God, like your name

reaches to the ends of the earth.

With justice your right hand is filled.

Mount Zion rejoices;

the people of Judah rejoice

at the sight of your judgments.

Walk through Zion, walk all round it;

count the number of its towers.

Review all its ramparts,

examine its castles,

that you may tell the next generation

that such is our God,

our God for ever and always.

It is he who leads us.

Glory to the Father….

Word of God (Exodus 19:5-6)

If you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. That is what you must tell the Israelites.

You are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood,

a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out

of darkness into his wonderful light.

(cf. 1 Pt 2:9)

CANTICLE OF MARY

You are a people sacred to the Lord, your God, who has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth to be a people peculiarly his own. (Dt 14:2)

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel

for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

the promise he made to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father…

INTERCESSIONS

As God’s people, made holy in Christ, we pray:

R/We trust in your holy name!

You are our God, and we your people:

– keep us in your ways, we pray: R/

You are our light and our salvation:

– enlighten us in your love, we pray: R/

You are our joy and our hope:

– bring to everlasting life all those who are your own, we pray: R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

The Lord bless us and keep us!/ The Lord let his face shine upon us, and be gracious to us!/ The Lord look upon us kindly and give us peace! Amen. (cf. Nm 6:24-26)

MARIAN ANTIPHON

Antiphon for the Feast of the Nativity

of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

8 September

With joy let us celebrate the nativity of blessed Mary,

that she may intercede for us

before the Lord Jesus Christ.

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae;

vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Evae.

Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes

in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia ergo, advocata nostra,

illos tuos misericordes oculos

ad nos converte.

Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,

nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.

O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy,

our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

To you do we cry,

poor banished children of Eve.

To you do we send up our sighs,

mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn then, O most gracious advocate,

your eyes of mercy toward us,

and after this our exile

show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

V/ Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,

R/ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

AND TODAY WE CELEBRATE… Saint of the Day: St. John Chrysostom (SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13)

raphael

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September 13, 2020

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AND TODAY WE CELEBRATE… Saint of the Day: St. John Chrysostom (SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13)

The Patron Saint of Preachers, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (ca. 347-407)

Saint John Chrysostom’s Story

The ambiguity and intrigue surrounding John, the great preacher (his name means “golden-mouthed”) from Antioch, are characteristic of the life of any great man in a capital city. Brought to Constantinople after a dozen years of priestly service in Syria, John found himself the reluctant victim of an imperial ruse to make him bishop in the greatest city of the empire. Ascetic, unimposing but dignified, and troubled by stomach ailments from his desert days as a monk, John became a bishop under the cloud of imperial politics.

If his body was weak, his tongue was powerful. The content of his sermons, his exegesis of Scripture, were never without a point. Sometimes the point stung the high and mighty. Some sermons lasted up to two hours.

His lifestyle at the imperial court was not appreciated by many courtiers. He offered a modest table to episcopal sycophants hanging around for imperial and ecclesiastical favors. John deplored the court protocol that accorded him precedence before the highest state officials. He would not be a kept man.

His zeal led him to decisive action. Bishops who bribed their way into office were deposed. Many of his sermons called for concrete steps to share wealth with the poor. The rich did not appreciate hearing from John that private property existed because of Adam’s fall from grace any more than married men liked to hear that they were bound to marital fidelity just as much as their wives were. When it came to justice and charity, John acknowledged no double standards.

Aloof, energetic, outspoken, especially when he became excited in the pulpit, John was a sure target for criticism and personal trouble. He was accused of gorging himself secretly on rich wines and fine foods. His faithfulness as spiritual director to the rich widow, Olympia, provoked much gossip attempting to prove him a hypocrite where wealth and chastity were concerned. His actions taken against unworthy bishops in Asia Minor were viewed by other ecclesiastics as a greedy, uncanonical extension of his authority.

Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria, and Empress Eudoxia were determined to discredit John. Theophilus feared the growth in importance of the Bishop of Constantinople and took occasion to charge John with fostering heresy. Theophilus and other angered bishops were supported by Eudoxia. The empress resented his sermons contrasting gospel values with the excesses of imperial court life. Whether intended or not, sermons mentioning the lurid Jezebel and impious Herodias were associated with the empress, who finally did manage to have John exiled. He died in exile in 407.

John Chrysostom’s preaching, by word and example, exemplifies the role of the prophet to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. For his honesty and courage, he paid the price of a turbulent ministry as bishop, personal vilification, and exile.

For prayer and reflection

“Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.” — Saint John Chrysostom

Spiritual bonus

On this day, we also remember Blessed Margaret of Cashel. A laywoman of the diocese of Cashel, Ireland, she was martyred for her adherence to the Catholic Faith in 1647. She was beatified with other Irish martyrs in 1992.

Prayer

O God, strength of those who hope in you,

who willed that the Bishop Saint John Chrysostom

should be illustrious by his wonderful eloquence

and his experience of suffering,

grant us, we pray,

that, instructed by his teachings,

we may be strengthened through the example

of his invincible patience.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.

PRAYER FOR THIS MORNING (SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13)

raphael

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September 13, 2020

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PRAYER FOR THIS MORNING (SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13)

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Prayer for the Morning

Jesus Christ is God’s peace: come, let us adore!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia!

HYMN

Though unseen, O Lord, I love thee,

Wondrous is thy saving might,

Thus to wean my soul so sweetly

From its sinful chief delight:

More thou did in one short instant

Than a world could e’er have done,

Winning thee a happy dwelling

In this sterile heart of stone.

PSALM 37:3-9

Wrath and anger are hateful things,/ yet the sinner hugs them tight. (Sir 27:30)

Anger is a spontaneous emotional response to injury. To deny that we sometimes feel angry when offended is foolish and harmful. However, to nurse our anger is to harden our hearts so that we shut ourselves out of the life of love that animates Christ’s body and delights the human spirit.

If you trust in the Lord and do good,

then you will live in the land and be secure.

If you find your delight in the Lord,

he will grant your heart’s desire.

Commit your life to the Lord,

trust in him and he will act,

so that your justice breaks forth like the light,

your cause like the noon-day sun.

Be still before the Lord and wait in patience;

do not fret at the man who prospers;

a man who makes evil plots

to bring down the needy and the poor.

Calm your anger and forget your rage;

do not fret, it only leads to evil.

For those who do evil shall perish;

the patient shall inherit the land.

Glory to the Father….

Word of God (Ephesians 4:31-32)

All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. [And] be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

Bear with one another and forgive one another,

if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.

(cf. Col 3:13)

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

See that no one returns evil for evil; rather, always seek what is good [both] for each other and for all. (1 Thes 5:15)

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;

he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior,

born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old

that he would save us from our enemies,

from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

free to worship him without fear,

holy and righteous in his sight

all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet

of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

to give his people knowledge of salvation

by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God

the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

to shine on those who dwell in darkness

and the shadow of death,

and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father…

INTERCESSIONS

In the spirit of Christ, our peace, let us pray:

R/Have mercy, Lord our God!

For those who have angered us:

– grant them peace, we pray. R/

For those who have harmed our loved ones:

– grant them your forgiveness and ours, we pray. R/

For those whose hearts are hardened against forgiving:

– grant them healing, we pray. R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

God of mercy and compassion, you have forgiven us our sins through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which we remember with special gratitude on this holy day of worship. Remake our own hearts in his likeness, that we may forgive and love all those who offend us, as you have forgiven and loved us through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

PRAYER FOR THIS EVENING (SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12)

raphael

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September 12, 2020

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PRAYER FOR THIS EVENING (SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12)

Prayer for the Evening

Vigil of the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus Christ is the mercy of God: come, let us adore!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia!

HYMN

Jesus, your mercies are untold

Through each returning day;

Your love exceeds a thousandfold

Whatever we can say.

That love which in your passion drained

For us your precious blood;

That love whereby the saints have gained

The vision of their God.

Lord, you have loved us from the womb,

Pure Source of all our bliss,

Our only hope of life to come,

Our happiness in this.

Lord, grant us, while on earth we stay,

Your love to feel and know;

And, when from hence we pass away,

To us your glory show.

PSALM 133

If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions. (Mt 6:14-15)

As Christ has loved us, so must we love one another. As Christ has obtained peace for us through the forgiveness of our sins, so must we offer peace to one another by forgiving one another. Then we show ourselves to be the community of peace which Christ creates and sustains through the Eucharist, fulfilling his Father’s desire for us.

How good and how pleasant it is,

when brothers live in unity!

It is like precious oil upon the head

running down upon the beard,

running down upon Aaron’s beard

upon the collar of his robes.

It is like the dew of Hermon which falls

on the heights of Zion.

For there the Lord gives his blessing,

life for ever.

Glory to the Father….

Word of God (Jeremiah 33:8-9)

I will cleanse them of all the guilt they incurred by sinning against me; all their offenses by which they sinned and rebelled against me, I will forgive. Then Jerusalem shall be my joy, my praise, my glory, before all the nations of the earth, as they hear of all the good I will do among them. They shall be in fear and trembling over all the peaceful benefits I will give her.

Blessed are the merciful,/

for they will be shown mercy. (Mt 5:7)

CANTICLE OF MARY

When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your transgressions. (Mk 11:25)

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel

for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

the promise he made to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father…

INTERCESSIONS

As members of the body of Christ, joined together in love through the Death and Resurrection by which he obtains the forgiveness of our sins, let us pray:

R/God of mercy, show us your compassion!

For a spirit of true forgiveness in our homes, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and our world, we pray: R/

For the courage to forgive as we have been forgiven, we pray: R/

For those servants of mercy who have died at the hands of those they were sent to serve, we pray: R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard our hearts in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. (cf. Phil 4:7)

MARIAN ANTIPHON

Antiphon for the Feast of the Nativity

of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

8 September

With joy let us celebrate the nativity of blessed Mary,

that she may intercede for us

before the Lord Jesus Christ.

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae;

vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Evae.

Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes

in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia ergo, advocata nostra,

illos tuos misericordes oculos

ad nos converte.

Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,

nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.

O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy,

our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

To you do we cry,

poor banished children of Eve.

To you do we send up our sighs,

mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn then, O most gracious advocate,

your eyes of mercy toward us,

and after this our exile

show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

V/ Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,

R/ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

AND TODAY WE CELEBRATE… The Commemoration of the Most Holy Name of Mary (SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12)

raphael

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September 12, 2020

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AND TODAY WE CELEBRATE… The Commemoration of the Most Holy Name of Mary (SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12)

“He has exalted your name”

The meaning of the celebration

+ The celebration of the name of Mary dates to 1513 when it was first celebrated in Spain.

+ The feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary was extended to the Universal Church after King John III Sobieski of Poland defeated the forces of the Ottoman Empire as they were preparing to invade Vienna, Austria. Before the battle, he entrusted himself and his troops to the Blessed Virgin.

+ This celebration of the Mother of God is a compliment to the celebration of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (January 3). Pope Saint John Paul II re-inserted both celebrations into the Universal Calendar of the Church in 2002.

+ The entrance antiphon for today’s commemoration reminds of the meaning of this celebration:

Blessed are you, O Virgin Mary, by the Lord God Most High,

above all women on the earth;

for he has so exalted your name,

that your praise shall be undying on our lips.

+ This celebration reminds us of Mary’s special role as an intercessor for all people of faith.

For prayer and reflection

Mary always points us to God, reminding us of God’s infinite goodness. She helps us to open our hearts to God’s ways, wherever those may lead us. Honored under the title “Queen of Peace,” Mary encourages us to cooperate with Jesus in building a peace based on justice, a peace that respects the fundamental human rights of all peoples.

“Mary helps us to open our hearts to God’s ways, wherever they may lead us. Honored under the title ‘Queen of Peace,’ Mary encourages us to cooperate with Jesus in building a peace based on justice, a peace that respects the fundamental human rights (including religious rights) of all people.”—Enzo Lodi, Saints of the Roman Calendar

Spiritual bonus

While many religious communities have special devotion to the Mother of God, the Commemoration of the Most Holy Name of Mary is celebrated as the patron feast of the Society of Mary (the Marianists) and the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Prayer

Grant, we pray, almighty God,

that, for all who celebrate the glorious Name

of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

she may obtain your merciful favor.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.

PRAYER FOR THIS MORNING (SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12)

raphael

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September 12, 2020

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PRAYER FOR THIS MORNING (SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12)

The Most Holy Name of Mary; Blessed Virgin Mary

Prayer for the Morning

In company with the Blessed Virgin Mary,

let us offer our prayers and praises to God!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia!

HYMN

O Queen of heaven and of earth,

Weighed down by sin we cry to you,

The hope of those who refuge seek,

Hear now our lowly prayer for aid.

Dear Mother of our Lord and King,

Implore for us the grace of life,

That we may strive to make amends

For all the faults of bygone years.

Most holy Mary, when you pray

The saints in heaven intercede;

A word from you as suppliant

Will reconcile us with the Lord.

Our Mother and most pow’rful Queen,

Fulfill your children’s chief desire,

And bring us when this life is done

To everlasting joy and peace.

CANTICLE OF SIRACH 39:13-16a

Like cinnamon, or fragrant balm, or precious myrrh,/ I give forth perfume;/ Like galbanum and onycha and sweet spices,/ like the odor of incense in the holy place. (Sir 24:15)

On earth, the Blessed Virgin Mary offered her life in that obedient service that is true worship of God. In heaven, she leads the song of eternal praise that rises like incense before the throne of God.

Listen, my faithful children: open up your petals,

like roses planted near running waters;

send up the sweet odor of incense,

break forth in blossoms like the lily.

Send up the sweet odor of your hymn of praise;

bless the Lord for all he has done!

Proclaim the greatness of his name,

loudly sing his praises,

with music on the harp and all stringed instruments;

sing out with joy as you proclaim:

The works of God are all of them good.

Glory to the Father….

Word of God (Exodus 40:25-27)

He set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded him. He placed the golden altar in the meeting tent, in front of the veil, and on it he burned fragrant incense, as the Lord had commanded him.

You shall worship the Lord, your God,/

and him alone shall you serve.

(Lk 4:8)

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma. (Eph 5:1-2)

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;

he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior,

born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old

that he would save us from our enemies,

from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

free to worship him without fear,

holy and righteous in his sight

all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet

of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

to give his people knowledge of salvation

by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God

the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

to shine on those who dwell in darkness

and the shadow of death,

and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father…

INTERCESSIONS

Let us offer the incense of our prayer to God, praying:

R/We praise you, O Lord!

You chose the Blessed Virgin Mary to bear your Son, the Eternal Word:

– instill in us her willingness to take our place in the work of redemption. R/

You inspired the Blessed Virgin Mary to sing a hymn of praise to your name:

– teach us so to live that we might pray without

ceasing. R/

You sustained the Blessed Virgin Mary with the faith and courage to stand beneath the cross:

– grant us the patience to accept our sufferings in service to your glory. R/

You made of the Blessed Virgin Mary a worthy sacrifice of praise for your glory and our good:

– shape our lives into an offering fit to bring before you at the hour of our death. R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

O God, worthy of all praise, the Mother of your Word sings for all eternity the hymn of your praise that she began on earth. By her example and intercession, lead all the Church so to live in this world that we may praise you for ever with her in the next. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Tantum Ergo Sacramentum Hymn

raphael

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September 11, 2020

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Thomas Aquinas (1225 to 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar, priest, and Doctor of the Church, and is also regarded as one of the great philosophers of all times. He is famous for attempting to reconcile Aristotelian logic with the principles of Christianity; at the core of his teaching is the belief that God’s will can be found in the human capacity for reason. Today, the Catholic Church holds Thomas Aquinas as a saint, and his works are essential reading for anyone studying to be a priest.

Thomas Aquinas’ steadfast celebration of Aristotelian logic and philosophy was regarded as heretical by some in the Catholic Church in his day, and between 1210 and 1277, Aristotelian teachings received official condemnation from the University of Paris. Over time, though, as secular philosophy influenced the Church, Thomas Aquinas’ work becomes not only accepted but celebrated as a core part of the Catholic thought and practice, since it offered a way to marry modern logical thought with original teachings of the faith. Fifty years after this death, on 18 July 1323, Pope John XXII pronounced Thomas a saint, and today there are few Catholics who are unfamiliar with Thomas Aquinas’ role in church history.

The Tantum Ergo is an excerpt from the last two verses of the Pange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium, a hymn written by Thomas Aquinas in about 1264 for the Feast of Corpus Christi. It is most commonly sung today at exposition and benediction when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for adoration and thus is familiar to most Catholics, as well as other Protestant denominations that practice this ritual. The words have been set to the music of composers including Palestrina, Mozart, Bruckner and Faure. In other contexts, the Tantum Ergo is sometimes recited in spoken word.

The hymn is given here in Latin, with an English translation below:

The Hymn in Latin

Tantum ergo Sacramentum

Veneremur cernui:

Et antiquum documentum

Novo cedat ritui:

Præstet fides supplementum

Sensuum defectui. Genitori, Genitoque

Laus et iubilatio,

Salus, honor, virtus quoque

Sit et benedictio:

Procedenti ab utroque

Compar sit laudatio.

Amen.

The Hymn in English Translation

Down in adoration falling,

Lo! the sacred Host we hail;

Lo! o’er ancient forms departing,

newer rites of grace prevail;

faith for all defects supplying,

where the feeble senses fail.

To the everlasting Father,

and the Son who reigns on high,

with the Holy Ghost proceeding

forth from Each eternally,

be salvation, honor, blessing,

might and endless majesty. Amen.

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