wednesday 07 October 2020
Our Lady of the Rosary
The feast of the Holy Rosary was instituted by Pope Pius V to celebrate the anniversary of the defeat of the Turkish fleet at the battle of Lepanto which ended the threat of Muslim domination of the Mediterranean and was ascribed in part to the prayers and processions of the Rosary confraternity in Rome.
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White
Entrance Antiphon : Lk 1: 28, 42
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
Collect
Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading: Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14
It was not till fourteen years had passed that I went up to Jerusalem again. I went with Barnabas and took Titus with me. I went there as the result of a revelation, and privately I laid before the leading men the Good News as I proclaim it among the pagans; I did so for fear the course I was adopting or had already adopted would not be allowed. On the contrary, they recognised that I had been commissioned to preach the Good News to the uncircumcised just as Peter had been commissioned to preach it to the circumcised. The same person whose action had made Peter the apostle of the circumcised had given me a similar mission to the pagans. So, James, Cephas and John, these leaders, these pillars, shook hands with Barnabas and me as a sign of partnership: we were to go to the pagans and they to the circumcised. The only thing they insisted on was that we should remember to help the poor, as indeed I was anxious to do. When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, since he was manifestly in the wrong. His custom had been to eat with the pagans, but after certain friends of James arrived he stopped doing this and kept away from them altogether for fear of the group that insisted on circumcision. The other Jews joined him in this pretence, and even Barnabas felt himself obliged to copy their behaviour. When I saw they were not respecting the true meaning of the Good News, I said to Cephas in front of everyone, ‘In spite of being a Jew, you live like the pagans and not like the Jews, so you have no right to make the pagans copy Jewish ways.’
Psalm 116(117)
R/ Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News.
- O praise the Lord, all you nations, acclaim him all you peoples!
- Strong is his love for us; he is faithful for ever.
Gospel Acclamation : Ps 118:24
Alleluia, alleluia! Train me, Lord, to observe your law, to keep it with my heart. Alleluia!
Gospel: Luke 11:1-4
Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray: ‘“Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come; give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. And do not put us to the test.”’
Prayer over the Offerings
Grant, we pray, O Lord, that we may be rightly conformed to these offerings we bring and so honour the mysteries of your Only Begotten Son, as to be made worthy of his promises. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Communion Antiphon : Lk 1: 31
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Jesus.
Prayer after Communion
We pray, O Lord our God, that, just as we proclaim in this Sacrament the Death and Resurrection of your Son, so, being made partakers in his suffering, we may also merit a share in his consolation and his glory. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Meditation
If we analyse more particularly the sentiments of the Lord’s Prayer, we will observe that is a model prayer for all people. It shows (1) Filial faith in “our Father,” (2) reverence in “hallowed,” (3) loyalty in “thy kingdom come,” (4) a conformed spirit in “thy will be done,” (5) recognition of providence in “give us … our daily bread,” (6) dependence upon grace in “forgive us our debts,” (7) sincere charity in “for we forgive…” (8) and dependence upon the Holy Spirit in “Lead us not…,” etc. Do I have any of these traits in me?