First
Sunday of Advent
November 30, 2025
Cycle A
Purple priestly
vestments
symbolize penance and preparation.
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Liturgical Year Cycle C 2024-2025
Introductory Acts of Worship
The Entrance Prayers:
On Sunday, usually a hymn praising
God is sung in place
of reciting a Psalm from the Bible which invites us to enter
more deeply into
the mystery of God's love for us. The recited weekday
Psalm expresses a
youthful heart and spirit, delighted that we may come before
the living God.
Entrance Song /
Entrance Psalm
(Antiphon)
Entrance
Song
Psalm 24:1-3 To you, my God I
lift my soul, I trust in
you; let me never come to shame. Do not let my enemies
laugh at me.
No one who waits for you is ever put to shame.
The Priest Approaches and
Kisses the
Altar:
The
altar is a symbol of Christ. In it are cut five
crosses to recall the
five wounds of Christ. The altar also represents the
Church and has
embedded in it the relics of her saints. The priest
comes to the altar to
celebrate the Sacrifice in the Church's name. Because
of the glory
surrounding the altar upon which the divine Sacrifice will
be made, the kiss of
the priest unites the Church to Christ, its Redeemer.
Priest:
In the
name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
The Greeting:
We
are welcomed in God's name. Our response unites us to
our neighbor, to
the priest and to God. (The priest may select from
several forms of
greeting).
Priest:
Grace
to
you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
All: And with your spirit.
The Penitential Prayers:
We
recognize our guilt for past sins, express our sorrow for
them, and ask that
Mary, the angels, the saints, and our brothers and sisters
in Christ pray for
the Lord God's mercy. (The priest may select from
several forms).
Priest:
Brothers
and
sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves
to celebrate
the sacred mysteries.
Priest: Have mercy on us, O Lord.
All: For we have sinned against you.
Priest: Show us, O Lord, your
mercy.
All: And grant us your
salvation.
The Absolution:
Priest:
May
almighty God have
mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting
life.
All:
Amen.
The Collect:
The
priest lifts
the united prayers and petitions of the congregation to God
the Father through
the merits of Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.
Priest:
Let
us
pray.
Priest: Grant your faithful, we pray,
almighty God, the
resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at
his coming, so
that, gathered at his right hand, they may be worthy to possess
the heavenly
Kingdom. 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.
Liturgy of the Word
Christ
is made known to us through the Old Testament which prepares
us to recognize
Him. In those days, God inspired men who spoke His
message. Now,
the New Testament Gospel reading
announces His presence to us directly through His Son.
Both readings
bring God's message to us. Our responsibility is to
respond.
The First Reading: From the Old Testament
Priest/Reader:
A
reading from the prophet Isaiah
First Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5
This is
what Isaiah, son
of Amos, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to
come, the
mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest
mountain and
raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward
it; many peoples
shall come and say: "Come, let us climb the Lord's mountain, to
the house
of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we
may walk in
his paths." For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and
the word
of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the
nations, and
impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords
into
plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall
not raise the
sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.
O house of
Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
Priest/Reader:
The
Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks
be to God.
The Responsorial
Psalm: This
Psalm praising God, is a prayer to God, or recommends the
practice of
virtue. It is sung as an interlude between the
scriptural readings.
It provides yet another instructional setting and invites
the assembly to
imitate the cantor who sings a repeated response to the
verses of an ancient
Psalm many of which are attributed to King David. The
verses are sung
first by a cantor (song leader) accompanied by instruments,
the refrain is sung
by the people.
Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Cantor: Let
us
go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
All: R/. Let us go rejoicing to
the house of the
Lord.
Cantor: I rejoiced because they said to me,
"We will go
up to the house of the Lord." And now we have set foot
within your
gates, O Jerusalem.
All: R/. Let us go rejoicing to
the house of the
Lord.
Cantor: Jerusalem, built as a city with
compact unity.
To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord.
All: R/. Let us go rejoicing to
the house of the
Lord.
Cantor: According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks
to the name of the Lord. In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the
house of David.
All: R/. Let us go rejoicing to
the house of the
Lord.
Cantor: Pray for the peace of
Jerusalem! May
those who love you prosper! May peace be within your
walls, prosperity in
your buildings.
All: R/. Let us go rejoicing to
the house of the
Lord.
Cantor: Because of my brothers and
friends I will say,
"Peace be within you!" Because of the house of the Lord,
our
God, I will pray for your good.
All: R/. Let us go rejoicing to
the house of the
Lord.
The Second Reading: Taken from
the New Testament, often from a letter written by St. Paul.
Priest/Reader:
A
Reading from the
second letter of Saint Paul to the Romans.
Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour
now for you to
awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than
when we first
believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let
us then throw
off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us
conduct
ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness,
not in
promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put
on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the
flesh.
The Alleluia:
An
ancient expression of joy anticipating the Lord's message we
will hear in the
Gospel.
Psalm
85:8
Cantor: Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia!
ALL: R/. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia!
Cantor: Show us, Lord your love; and
grant us your
salvation.
ALL: R/. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia!
The
Gospel: The
Liturgy of the Word is completed by the reading of the
Gospel. Before its
reading, the members of the assembly trace the sign of the
cross upon the
forehead to indicate their mental acceptance of the Truth,
on the lips to
indicate their readiness to announce it, and over the heart
to indicate their
sincere desire to accept it into their lives. The
"Good News"
of the Gospel tells that God's kingdom has come for all to
hear, accept, and
announce to the world for its salvation. It is God who
is speaking to
us. Christ comes to teach us by the example of His
life and by His own
words.
Priest: Cleanse
my heart and my
lips, almighty God, that I may worthily proclaim your holy
Gospel.
Through the words of the Gospel may our sins be wiped away.
Priest: The
Lord be with you.
All: And
also with you.
Priest/Deacon: A reading from the holy
Gospel according to
Matthew.
All: Glory
to you, Lord.
The Gospel: Matthew 24:37- 44
Matthew
wrote
to show that Christ was the
Messiah and fulfilled the Jewish prophecies.
Jesus
said to his
disciples: "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at
the coming of
the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they
were eating and
drinking, marrying and given in marriage, up to the day that
Noah entered the
ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried
them all
away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of
Man. Two men
will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be
left. Two
women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one
will be
left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know
on which day your
Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the
house had known the
hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed
awake and not let
his house be broken into. So too, you also must be
prepared, for at an
hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."
Priest: The
Gospel of the Lord.
All: Praise
to you, Lord
Jesus Christ.
The Priest's Sermon: The
priest develops, explains, and comments upon the Master's
words, so our minds
may be enlightened, and our hearts enriched.
(A
priestly
reflection upon this Gospel)
Profession of Faith: We
state in the Nicene Creed the principles of our faith in
precise and definite
terms.
All: I
believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that
is seen and
unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only
Begotten Son of
God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with
the Father;
through him all things were made. For us men and for our
salvation he
came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of
the Virgin Mary
and became man. For our sake he was crucified under
Pontius Pilate, he
suffered death and was buried and rose again on the third day in
accordance
with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated
at the right
hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge
the living and
the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in
the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and
the Son, who with
the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken
through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I
confess one
Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look for the
resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
General Intercessions:
We pray for the needs of the pope,
civic leaders, our
own needs, those of others, the sick, the dying, those who
have died, the
church, and the world. The response of all to each
intercession:
Lord, hear our prayer.
All: Lord,
hear our prayer.
The Liturgy of the Eucharist
Gifts
of bread and wine symbolizing ourselves are presented to the
priest who will
offer them to God the Father. Through the Holy Spirit,
they will become
the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ whom we receive in Holy
Communion.
Jesus unites Himself with us for our spiritual nourishment
and strength.
Today, when individuals do not present their own personal
offerings of bread
and wine, the monetary contribution symbolizes the material
of their united
sacrifice. The priest makes and offering of the bread
and wine to God.
Preparation of the Bread and
Wine:
Priest: Blessed
are you, Lord
God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received
the bread we
offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will
become for us
the bread of life.
All: Blessed
be God for ever.
Priest: By the
mystery of this
water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ,
who humbled
himself to share in our humanity.
Priest: Blessed
are you, Lord
God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received
the wine we
offer you; fruit of the vine and work of human hands it will
become our
spiritual drink.
All: Blessed
be God for ever.
Priest: Lord
God, we ask you to
receive us and be pleased with the sacrifice we offer you with
humble and
contrite hearts.
The Priest's Hands are
Washed: This
act was traditionally necessary because the priest
handled the various gifts presented by the people.
Now, the cleansing act
using water reminds the priest and ourselves of the need to
cleanse not only
the hands but the soul. Soon, the priest's hands will
hold the actual
body of Christ, and we will become His dwelling
place.
Priest: Lord,
wash away my
iniquity; cleanse me from my sin.
Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be
acceptable to God,
the almighty Father.
All: May the
Lord accept the
sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name,
for our good and
the good of all his holy Church.
Prayer over the Gifts:
Speaking
in our name, the priest asks the Father to accept the gifts
we offer through
him.
Priest:
Accept,
we
pray, O Lord, these offerings we make, gathered from among your
gifts to us,
and may what you grant us to celebrate devoutly here below gain
for us the
prize of eternal redemption. Through Christ our Lord.
Eucharistic Prayer:
(Number Two: The priest may
select from
several forms).
Priest: The
Lord be with you.
All: And
also with you.
Priest: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them up to the
Lord.
Priest: Let us
give thanks to
the Lord, our God.
All: It is
right to give him
thanks and praise.
Preface Prayer:
Priest: It is
truly right and
just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give
you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our
Lord. For
he assumed at his first coming the lowliness of human flesh, and
so fulfilled
the design you formed long ago, and opened for us the way to
eternal salvation,
that, when he comes again in glory and majesty and all is at
last made
manifest, we who watch for that day may inherit the great
promise in which now
we dare to hope. And so, with Angels and Archangels, with
Thrones and
Dominions, and with all the hosts and Powers of heaven, we sing
the hymn of
your glory, as without end we acclaim:
Acclamation:
Priest
and
All:
Holy,
Holy, Holy Lord,
God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your
glory. Hosanna in
the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Priest:
You
are
indeed Holy, O Lord, the fountain of all holiness. Make
holy,
therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit
upon them like the
dewfall, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of
our Lord Jesus
Christ.
The priest repeats the words which
Christ used at his
Last Supper when He changed the bread into His Body and the
wine into His
Blood. His Body and Blood are truly present but under
the appearance of
bread and wine. The death of Christ is prolonged in
each of those who
receive Him worthily. We apply His death to ourselves
so that we may
share His glory. This moment is the most solemn on
earth because it is
Divine act which enables us to apply to ourselves the Cross
which Christ willingly
took upon Himself.
We are called to die to sin and lift
our very selves to
God so that we become changed; to do as God would have us
do, to become what
God would have us become. Our own little cross can
lift us into union
with Christ's Cross so we may earn the joys of everlasting
happiness with God
the Father.
The Lord's Supper: At the time he was
betrayed and entered
willingly into his Passion, he took
bread and, giving thanks,
broke it, and 
gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take
this,
all of you, and eat of it, for this is my Body, which will
be given up
for you.
In
a similar way, when
supper was ended, he took the chalice and, once more giving
thanks, he gave it
to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of
you, and drink from it, for
this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and
eternal covenant,
which will be poured out for you and for many for the
forgiveness of
sins. Do this in memory of me.
Memorial
Acclamation:
(The
priest may select from several forms).
Priest: The
mystery of faith.
Priest
/ All: Save
us, Savior of the
world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.
Memorial Prayer: (The
priest may select from several forms).
Priest:
Recalls
Christ's
Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, the Church, the dead, and
ourselves.
Therefore,
O
Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of his Death and
Resurrection, we offer
you, Lord, the Bread of life and the Chalice of salvation,
giving thanks that
you have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to
you.
Humbly we pray that, partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ,
we may be
gathered into one by the Holy Spirit.
Remember,
your Church,
spread throughout the world, and bring her to the fullness of
charity, together
with _____ our Pope, and _____ our Bishop, and all the
clergy. Remember
also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope
of the resurrection,
and all who have died in your mercy: welcome them into the light
of your
face. Have mercy on us all, we pray, that with the Blessed
Virgin Mary,
Mother of God, with Blessed Joseph, her spouse, with the blessed
Apostles, and
all the Saints who have pleased you throughout the ages, we may
merit to be
coheirs to eternal life, and may praise and glorify you through
your Son, Jesus
Christ.
Doxology
Prayer of Praise:
Through
him, with him,
and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, all glory
and honor is yours, for ever and ever.
All:
Amen.
Communion Rite
In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we
symbolically offer
ourselves to the Lord through the gifts of bread and
wine. At the
Consecration, we offer our very lives to be united the God
the Father through
the Cross of Christ. In Communion, we find that we
have not died at all
but have come to life. We have surrendered ourselves
to God through His
Divine Son, Jesus Christ. In return, we become
ennobled and enriched.
We give up time and we get eternity, we give up our sin and
we receive grace,
we surrender our self-will and receive the strength of the
Divine Will, we give
up ourselves and we receive everything. For the Son of
God says to us
that unless we receive Him, we shall not have Divine life in
us. But it
is not really we who receive Christ as it is Christ who
receives us, bringing
us into Himself.
God makes His Cross the very means
of our salvation and
our life. While we have crucified Him, His eternal
love cannot be
extinguished. Christ willed to give us the very life
we crucified in our
Redemption, the Consecration of Holy Thursday into
Communion, His death into
our everlasting life.
The Lord's Prayer:
Priest:
At
the
Savior's command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say:
Priest
and
All: Our
Father,
who art in heaven, hallowed be they name; Thy kingdom come; Thy
will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread and
forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us; and lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Priest:
Deliver
us,
Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our
days, that,
by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and
safe from all
distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our
Savior, Jesus
Christ.
All: For the kingdom, the
power and the glory are
yours now and forever.
Prayer for Peace:
Priest:
Lord
Jesus
Christ, who said to your Apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I
give
you, look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and
graciously
grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will.
Who live and
reign for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
Priest:
The
peace
of the Lord be with you always.
All: And with your spirit.
Priest: Let us offer each other the sign of
peace.
Breaking of the Bread:
Priest:
May
this
mingling of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring
eternal life
to us who receive it.
Priest
and
All: Lamb
of
God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have
mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant
us peace.
Priestly
Preparation:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son
of the living God, who,
by the will of the Father and the work of the Holy Spirit,
through your Death
gave life to the world, free me by this, your most holy Body and
Blood, from
all my sins and from every evil; keep me always faithful to your
commandments,
and never let me be parted from you.
Priest: Behold the Lamb of God,
behold him who takes
away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to
the supper of the
Lamb.
Priest
and
All: Lord, I
am not worthy
that you should enter under my roof but only say the world and
my soul shall be
healed.
Priest: May the
Body of Christ
keep me safe for eternal life.
May the Blood of Christ keep me safe for eternal
life.
Communion Antiphon:
Psalm 85:13
The
Lord
will bestow his bounty, and our earth shall yield its increase.
Communion of the Faithful:
Priest: The
Body of Christ.
The
Faithful: Amen.
Priest/Deacon/
Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister: The Blood of
Christ.
The
Faithful: Amen.
Cleansing of the
Vessels:
Priest:
What
has
passed our lips as food, O Lord, may we possess in purity of
heart, that
what has been given to us in time may be our healing for
eternity.
Prayer after Communion:
Priest: Let us
pray.
Priest: May these mysteries, O Lord, in which we
have
participated, profit us, we pray, for even now, as we walk amid
passing things,
you teach us by them to love the things of heaven and hold fast
to what
endures. Through Christ our Lord.
Concluding Rite
Greeting:
Priest: The
Lord be with you.
All: And with your
spirit.
Priest: Bow
down for the
blessing.
Dismissal Prayer:
Priest:
May
the
almighty and merciful God, by whose grace you have placed your
faith in the
First Coming of his Only Begotten Son and yearn for his coming
again, sanctify
you by the radiance of Christ's Advent and enrich you with his
blessing.
All: Amen.
Priest: As you run the race of this present life,
may he make you
firm in faith, joyful in hope and active in charity.
All: Amen.
Priest: So that, rejoicing now with devotion at the
Redeemer's
coming in the flesh, you may be endowed with the rich reward of
eternal life
when he comes again in majesty.
All: Amen.
Final Blessing:
Priest:
And
may
the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the
Holy Spirit,
come down on you and remain with you forever.
All: Amen.
Dismissal:
Priest:
Go
in
peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.
All: Thanks be to God.
O my
Jesus, forgive us our sins.