Let us prepare to celebrate in wonder the memory of the King of kings and Lord of lords, who came not in glory but in the flesh of a child, and who ruled not from a throne of gold but from a cross of wood to free those condemned to die.

You, O Lord, will endure for ever

and your name from age to age.

You will arise and have mercy on Zion:

for this is the time to have mercy;

yes, the time appointed has come

for your servants love her very stones,

are moved with pity even for her dust.

The nations shall fear the name of the Lord

and all the earth’s kings your glory,

when the Lord shall build up Zion again

and appear in all his glory.

Then he will turn to the prayers of the helpless;

he will not despise their prayers.

Let this be written for ages to come

that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord;

for the Lord leaned down from his sanctuary on high.

He looked down from heaven to the earth

that he might hear the groans of the prisoners

and free those condemned to die.

Glory to the Father….

Word of God (Isaiah 11:10, 12)

On that day,/ The root of Jesse,/ set up as a signal for the nations,/ The Gentiles shall seek out,/ for his dwelling shall be glorious./ He shall raise a signal to the nations/ and gather the outcasts of Israel;/ The dispersed of Judah he shall assemble/ from the four corners of the earth.

I am the root and offspring of David,

the bright morning star. (Rv 22:16)

CANTICLE OF MARY

O Root of Jesse, who stand as a sign among the people, before whom kings shall shut their mouths, to whom the nations shall make supplication: come to deliver us, and tarry not. (Traditional O Antiphon)

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

From all the places into which we have been scattered, let us come together in prayer to say in hope to the promised One:

R/Come, Lord Jesus!

You came to gather your scattered people from every corner of the earth:

– gather us in prayer amid the distractions of this season. R/

You appointed your Church to be a sacrament of unity in a divided world:

– gather us in love from all the camps into which we have separated ourselves. R/

You will come again to free all those still in the grip of death:

– gather all peoples in joy into the heavenly Jerusalem. R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

May the blessing of almighty God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, descend upon us and remain with us for ever. Amen.

MARIAN ANTIPHON

Antiphon for the Solemnity of Christmas, December 25

This day a Virgin inviolate

has brought forth God for us,

clothed in tender members,

whom she was found worthy to suckle;

let us all adore him,

who has come to save us.

Alma Redemptoris Mater, quae pervia caeli

porta manes, et stella maris, succurre cadenti,

surgere qui curat, populo: tu quae genuisti,

natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem,

Virgo prius ac posterius, Gabrielis ab ore

sumens illud Ave, peccatorum miserere.

Loving mother of the Redeemer,

gate of heaven, star of the sea,

assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again.

To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,

yet remained a virgin after as before.

You who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting,

have pity on us, poor sinners.

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

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

Raphael BenedictLast Updated: December 20, 2020

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PRAYER FOR THIS EVENING (SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19)

Prayer for the Evening