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 1 Peter 2:2
Like newborn children you should thirst for milk, on which
your spirit can
grow to strength, alleluia.
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: The Lord be with you. 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: You were sent to heal the contrite of
heart: Lord, have
mercy. All: Lord, have mercy. Priest: You came to call sinners: Christ,
have mercy. All: Christ, have mercy. Priest: You are seated at the right hand of the
Father to
intercede for us: Lord, have mercy. All: Lord, have mercy.
Absolution:
Priest: May almighty God have mercy on us,
forgive us our sins,
and bring us to everlasting life. All:Amen.
The Gloria:The Glory of God prayers have existed from the second
century. They
repeat the angels praise of God which heralded the birth of
Christ on
earth. Our praise is lifted again through the years as
we rejoice at His
coming as Lord, God, the most high Jesus Christ, who at
Christmas took on our
human nature while at the same time being the son of Man.
This ancient hymn
expresses our recognition of God's glory and love. It
calls upon Christ
as our holy and divine mediator, and the Holy Spirit who
forever binds us
together in God's love.
Priest and All: Glory to God in the
highest, and on
earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we
bless you, we adore
you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great
glory. Lord God,
heavenly King, O God, almighty Father. Lord Jesus Christ,
Only Begotten
Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the
sins of the
world, have mercy on us; you take away the sins of the world,
receive your
prayer; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have
mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you
alone are the most
High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God
the Father.
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: God of everlasting mercy, who in the
very recurrence
of the paschal feast kindle the faith of the people you have
made your own,
increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed, that all may
grasp and rightly
understand in what font they have been washed, by whose Spirit
they have been
reborn, by whose Blood they have been redeemed. 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 book,
Acts of the
Apostles.
First Reading: Acts 5:12-16
Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the
hands of the
apostles. They were all together in Solomon's
portico. None of the
others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them.
Yet more than
ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women,
were added to
them. Thus, they even carried the sick out into the
streets and laid them
on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow
might fall on
one or another of them. A large number of people from the
towns in the
vicinity of Jerusalem also gathered, bringing the sick and those
disturbed by
unclean spirits, and they were all cured.
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 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
Cantor: Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is
everlasting. All: Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
his love is
everlasting. Cantor: Let the house of Israel say, “His
mercy endures
forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His mercy endures
forever.”
Let those who fear the Lord say, “His mercy endures forever.” All: Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
his love is
everlasting. Cantor: I was hard pressed and was falling,
but the Lord
helped me. My strength and my courage is the Lord, and he
has been my
savior. The joyful shout of victory in the tents of the
just. All: Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
his love is
everlasting. Cantor: The stone which the builders rejected
has become the
cornerstone. By the Lord has this been done; it is
wonderful in our
eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad
and rejoice in
it. All: Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
his love is
everlasting.
The Second Reading:Taken from the New Testament, often from a letter
written by St. Paul.
Second Reading: Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13,
17-19
I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the
kingdom, and the
endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called
Patmos because I
proclaimed God's word and gave testimony to Jesus. I was
caught up in
spirit on the Lord's Day and heard behind me a voice as loud as
a trumpet,
which said, "Write on a scroll what you see." Then I
turned to
see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I
saw seven gold
lampstands and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of
man, wearing an
ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest.
When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as
though dead.
He touched me with his right hand and said, "Do not be
afraid. I am
the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was
dead, but now I am
alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the
netherworld. Write down, therefore, what you have seen,
and what is
happening, and what will happen afterwards."
Priest/Reader: The word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God.
The Alleluia:An ancient expression of joy anticipating the Lord's
message we will hear
in the Gospel.
John 20:29
Cantor: Alleluia!
Alleluia!
Alleluia!
All: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Cantor: You believe in me, Thomas,
because you have
seen me; happy those who have not seen me but still believe! All: 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: Areading from the holy Gospel according
to John. All:Glory to
you, Lord.
The Gospel: John 20:19-31
John wrote to show that Christ was
the Messiah, the Divine Son of God.
On the evening of that
first day of the
week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for
fear of the
Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side The
disciples
rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again,
“Peace be with
you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And
when he had
said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the
Holy
Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and
whose sins you
retain are retained.”
Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with
them when Jesus
came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen
the Lord.”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his
hands and put
my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I
will not
believe.”
Now, a week later his disciples were again inside and
Thomas was with
them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and
stood in their
midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to
Thomas, “Put your
finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it
into my side, and
do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and
said to him, “My
Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to
believe because
you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and
have believed.”
Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his
disciples that are
not written in this book. But these are written that you
may come to
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
through this belief
you may have life in his name.
Priest/Deacon: 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.
Profession of Faith:We state
in the
Nicene Creed the principles of our faith in precise and
definite terms.
All: We believe in one God,
the Father, the
Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and
unseen. We
believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of
the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true
God, begotten,
not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all
things were
made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from
heaven: by the
power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and
became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered,
died, and was
buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of
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. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the
giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father
and the Son he
is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the
Prophets. We
believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We
acknowledge one
baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We 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:With
humble spirit
and contrite heart may we be accepted by you, O Lord, and may
our sacrifice in
your sight this
day be pleasing to you, Lord God.
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:Wash me O Lord, from my
iniquity and
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, O Lord, we pray, the oblations of
your people,
that renewed by confession of your name and by Baptism, they may
attain
unending happiness. 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:
It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation at
all times, to
acclaim you, O Lord, but in this time above all to laud you yet
more
gloriously, when Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.
Through him the children of light rise to eternal life and
the halls of
the heavenly Kingdom are thrown open to the faithful; for his
Death is our
ransom from death, and in his rising the life of all has risen.
Therefore, overcome with paschal joy, every land, every
people exult in
your praise and even the heavenly Powers with the angelic hosts,
sing together
the unending hymn of your glory, as they 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.
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.
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 Lord'sSupper: 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:We proclaim your Death O Lord, and
profess your
Resurrection, until you come again.
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 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, and in return, 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.
Communion of the Priest:
Priestly Preparation: May the
receiving of
your Body and Blood Lord Jesus Christ, not bring me to judgment
and
condemnation, but through your loving mercy be for me protection
in mind and
body and a healing remedy.
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:
John 20:27
Bring your hand and feel the place of the nails, and do not
be unbelieving
but believing,
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: Grant, we pray, almighty God, that our
reception of this
paschal Sacrament may have a continuing effect in our minds and
hearts.
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 God, who by the Resurrection of his Only Begotten Son
was pleased to
confer on you the gift of redemption and of adoption, give you
gladness by his
blessing. All: Amen. Priest: May he, by whose redeeming work you have
received the gift
of everlasting freedom, make you heirs to an eternal
inheritance. All: Amen. Priest: And may you, who have already risen with
Christ in Baptism
through faith by living in a right manner on this earth, be
united with him in
the homeland of heaven. 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 and announce the Gospel of the Lord alleluia, alleluia.
All:Thanks be to God, alleluia,
alleluia. Jesus, I trust in you!
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.
