Introductory Rite:
God, come to my assistance R/ Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
R/ as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
#78 in Breaking Bread Music Issue)
Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.
It came, a flow’ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.
Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright,
She bore to men a Savior,
When half spent was the night.
This Flow’r, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere.
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us,
And lightens every load.
PSALMODY
Antiphon 1: O marvelous exchange! Our Creator has become man, born of a virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
Psalm 113
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed
both now and for evermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting
praised be the name of the Lord!
High above all nations is the Lord,
above the heavens his glory.
Who is like the Lord, our God,
who has risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the heights to look down,
to look down upon heaven and earth?
From the dust he lifts up the lowly,
from the dungheap he raises the poor
to set them in the company of princes,
yes, with the princes of his people.
To the childless wife he gives a home
and gladdens her heart with children. Glory…
Antiphon 1 O marvelous exchange! Our Creator has become man, born of a virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
Antiphon 2: By your miraculous birth of the Virgin you have fulfilled the Scriptures: like a gentle rain falling upon the earth you have come down to save your people, O God.
Psalm 114:12-20
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Zion praise your God!
He has strengthened the bars of your gates
he has blessed the children within you.
He established peace on your borders,
he feeds you with finest wheat.
He sends out his word to the earth
and swiftly runs his command.
He showers down snow white as wool,
he scatters hoar-frost like ashes.
He hurls down hailstones like crumbs.
The waters are frozen at his touch;
he sends forth his word and it melts them:
at the breath of his mouth the waters flow.
He makes his word known to Jacob,
to Israel his laws and decrees.
He has not dealt thus with other nations;
he has not taught them his decrees. Glory…
Antiphon 2: By your miraculous birth of the Virgin you have fulfilled the Scriptures: like a gentle rain falling upon the earth you have come down to save your people, O God.
.Antiphon 3: Your blessed and fruitful virginity is like the bush, flaming yet unburned, which Moses saw on Sinai. Pray for us, Mother of God.
Canticle – Ephesians 1:3-10
Praised be the God and Father *
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has bestowed on us in Christ *
every spiritual blessing in the heavens.
God chose us in him * before the world began to be holy * and blameless in his sight.
He predestined us * to be his adopted sons through Jesus Christ, such was his will and pleasure, † that all might praise the glorious favor * he has bestowed on us in his beloved.
In him and through his blood, we have been redeemed, * and our sins forgiven, so immeasurably generous * is God’s favor to us.
God has given us the wisdom * to understand fully the mystery, the plan he was pleased * to decree in Christ.
A plan to be carried out * in Christ, in the fullness of time, to bring all things into one in him, * in the heavens and on earth. Glory…
Antiphon 3: .Your blessed and fruitful virginity is like the bush, flaming yet unburned, which Moses saw on Sinai. Pray for us, Mother of God.
Gloria (stand)
OPENING PRAYER
All sit for the Liturgy of the Word.
After the Homily:
INTERCESSIONS (Universal Prayer)
Blessed be the Lord Jesus, who brings us peace. He came to unite what had been separated. Let us pray to him:
Lord, give your peace to all.
By your coming you revealed your goodness and humanity to mankind:
– let us remain forever grateful for what you have done for us.
You filled Mary your Mother with grace:
– pour out an abundance of grace on us all.
You came to announce the Good News of God to the world:
– may ever more people proclaim your word, and ever more people hear it.
Youcondescended to become our brother by being born of the Virgin Mary:
– teach men to love one another as brothers.
You appeared to the world like the sun at dawn:
– may the dead see with their own eyes the brightness of your face.
Presider:
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that the newness of the Nativity in the flesh
of your Only Begotten Son may set us free,
for ancient servitude holds us bound
beneath the yoke of sin.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
(All are seated for the Liturgy of the Eucharist)
Lord’s Prayer
Pater noster, qui es in cælis
Sanctificétur nomen tuum
Advéniat regnum tuum
Fiat volúntas tua
Sicut in cælo et in terra
Panem nostrum quotidiánum da nobis hódie
Et dimítte nobis débita nostra
Sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris
Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem
Sed libera nos a malo
After Holy Communion, all stand for the Magnificat.
MAGNIFICAT (Canticle of Mary)
Antiphon: In his great love for us, God sent his Son in the likeness of our sinful nature, born of a woman and subject to the law.
(Luke 1: Magnificat by Bernadette Farrell: Breaking Bread Music Issue #825)
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
my spirit sings to God, my saving God,
who on this day above all others favored me
and raised me up, a light for all to see.
Through me great deeds will God make manifest,
and all the earth will come to call me blest.
Unbounded love and mercy sure will I proclaim
for all who know and praise God´s holy name.
God´s mighty arm, protector of the just,
will guard the weak and raise them from the dust.
But mighty kings will swiftly fall from thrones corrupt.
The strong brought low, the lowly lifted up.
Soon will the poor and hungry of the earth
be richly blest, be given greater worth.
And Israel, as once foretold to Abraham,
will live in peace throughout the promised land.
All glory be to God, Creator blest,
to Jesus Christ, God´s love made manifest,
and to the Holy Spirit, gentle Comforter,
all glory be, both now and ever more.
Antiphon: In his great love for us, God sent his Son in the likeness of our sinful nature, born of a woman and subject to the law. .