Masses of the BVM: 11 The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother at the Foot of the Cross I
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
John 19: 25
There by the cross of Jesus stood his Mother,
the sister of his Mother, Mary the wife of Cleophas,
and Mary Magdalene.
COLLECT
Lord our God,
in your mysterious wisdom
you fill out the Passion of Christ
through the suffering that his members endure
in the many trials of this life.
As you chose to have the mournful Mother
stand by your Son in his agony on the Cross,
grant that we too may bring love and comfort
to our brothers and sisters in distress.
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.
FIRST READING
Rom 8:31b-39
God did not spare his own Son.
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans
Brothers and sisters:
If God is for us, who can be against us?
God who did not spare his own Son
but handed him over for us all,
how will God not also give us everything else along with his Son?
Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones?
It is God who acquits us.
Who will condemn?
It is Christ Jesus who died, rather, was raised,
who also is at the right hand of God,
who indeed intercedes for us.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
As it is written:
“For your sake we are being slain all the day;
we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly
through Christ Jesus who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The word of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
Or: Col 1:21-24
In my flesh I fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians
Brothers and sisters:
You once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds;
Christ Jesus has now reconciled you
in his fleshly body through his death,
to present you holy, without blemish,
and irreproachable before him,
provided that you persevere in the faith,
firmly grounded, stable,
and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard,
which has been preached to every creature under heaven,
of which I, Paul, am a minister.
I, Paul, rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ
on behalf of his body, which is the church.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Ps 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18
℟. (17a) To you, O Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
How can I repay the LORD
for all the good done for me?
I will raise the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD.
℟. To you, O Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
Too costly in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of the faithful.
LORD, I am your servant,
your servant, the child of your maidservant;
you have loosed my bonds.
℟. To you, O Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the LORD.
I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all the people.
℟. To you, O Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
Verse Before the Gospel
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Ps 18:2-3, 5-6, 7, 19-20
℟. (7a) In my distress I called upon the Lord.
I love you, LORD, my strength,
LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,
my God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, my saving horn, my stronghold!
℟. In my distress I called upon the Lord.
The breakers of death surged round about me;
the menacing floods terrified me.
The cords of Sheol tightened;
the snares of death lay in wait for me.
℟. In my distress I called upon the Lord.
In my distress I called out: LORD!
I cried out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry to him reached his ears.
℟. In my distress I called upon the Lord.
They attacked me on a day of distress,
but the LORD came to my support.
He set me free in the open;
he rescued me because he loves me.
℟. In my distress I called upon the Lord.
VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL
There by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
stood holy Mary, mournful mother,
queen of heaven and earth.
GOSPEL
Jn 19:25-27
There by the cross of Jesus stood his mother
✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary of Magdala.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her,
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:
The Gospel of the Lord.
All reply:
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Then he kisses the book, saying quietly:
Through the words of the Gospel
may our sins be wiped away.
PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
Lord,
graciously receive the offerings of your family
and make them the sacrament of our redemption,
which Mary faithfully served
at the altar of the Cross.
Through Christ our Lord.
PREFACE: Mary at the Foot of the Cross I
Mary Remains Faithful Beside the Cross of Her Son.
℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with your spirit.
℣. Lift up your hearts.
℟. We lift them up to the Lord.
℣. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
℟. It is truly right and just.
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 in your loving providence
you decreed that Mary, the Mother of your Son,
should stand faithfully beside his Cross,
and so fulfill in her person
the prophecies of old,
and enrich the world
with her own witness of living faith.
At the Cross the Blessed Virgin appears as the new Eve,
so that, as a woman shared in bringing death,
so a woman would share in restoring life.
At the Cross with motherly love
she embraces her scattered children,
reunited through the Death of Christ,
and she fulfills the mystery of the mother of Zion.
At the Cross she stands
as the model of the Church, the Bride of Christ,
which draws inspiration from her courage
and keeps constant faith with its Bridegroom,
undaunted by peril and unbroken by persecution.
In our joy we sing to your glory
with all the choirs of Angels:
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.
COMMUNION ANTIPHON
Colossians 1: 24
In my flesh I am completing what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ
on behalf of his Body, which is the Church.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Lord God, we have received the pledge of salvation
and now we offer this prayer.
Grant that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete,
poured out upon your Church,
may descend in power on all peoples,
whom Christ, the High Priest,
claims as the reward of the sacrifice
he offered on the Cross
in the presence of his sorrowing Mother.
Through Christ our Lord.
SOLEMN BLESSING
The following Solemn Blessing may be used:
The Lord be with you.
The people reply:
And with your spirit.
The Deacon or, in his absence, the Priest himself, says the invitation:
Bow down for the blessing.
Then the Priest, with hands outstretched over the people, says
SOLEMN BLESSING
The following Solemn Blessing may be used:
The Lord be with you.
The people reply:
And with your spirit.
The Deacon or, in his absence, the Priest himself, says the invitation:
Bow down for the blessing.
Then the Priest, with hands outstretched over the people, says
Through the sacrifice of Christ,
to which his sorrowful Mother united her own loving heart,
God chose to redeem the human race.
May he draw you deeply into that great mystery of salvation.
℟. Amen.
God led the Blessed Virgin Mary to advance even further
in faith and in sorrow
until at the foot of the Cross
she reached the perfection of charity.
May he make your faith ever stronger
and inspire you to love him
with your whole heart and soul and strength.
℟. Amen.
And when the days of your life are ended,
may you reflect the image of Christ in his Passion,
that you may become sharers in his glory.
℟. Amen.
And may the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit,
come down on you and remain with you for ever.
℟. Amen.
Then the Deacon, or the Priest himself, with hands joined and facing the people, says:
Go forth, the Mass is ended.
Or:
Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.
Or:
Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.
Or:
Go in peace.
The people reply:
Thanks be to God.