Masses of the BVM: 13 The Commending of the Blessed Virgin Mary
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
Cf. Psalm 113: 4, 9
The Lord is enthroned above all nations,
God’s glory is above the heavens.
The Lord makes a home for the Blessed Virgin in the Church
as the joyful mother of children.
COLLECT
All-holy Father, you chose the Easter Mystery
as the way of our salvation;
grant that we, whom Jesus entrusted from the Cross
to his Virgin Mother,
may be numbered among your adopted children.
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
2 Mc 7:1, 20-29
Because of her hope in the Lord, this admirable mother bore their deaths with honor.
A reading from the second Book of Maccabees
It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested
and tortured with whips and scourges by the king,
to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law.
Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother,
who saw her seven sons perish in a single day,
yet bore it courageously because of her hope in the LORD.
Filled with a noble spirit that stirred her heart with courage,
she exhorted each of her sons
in the language of their ancestors with these words:
“I do not know how you came into existence in my womb;
it was not I who gave you the breath of life,
nor was it I who set in order
the elements of which each of you is composed.
Therefore, since it is the Creator of the universe
who shapes each person’s beginning,
as he brings about the origin of everything,
the Creator, in his mercy,
will give you back both breath and life,
because you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his law.”
King Antiochus, suspecting insult in her words,
thought he was being ridiculed.
As the youngest brother was still alive, the king appealed to him,
not with mere words, but with promises on oath,
to make him rich and happy
if he would abandon his ancestral customs:
the king would make the youngest brother his Friend
and entrust him with high office.
When the youth paid no attention to him at all,
the king appealed to the mother,
urging her to advise her boy to save his life.
After he had urged her for a long time,
she went through the motions of persuading her son.
In derision of the cruel tyrant,
she leaned over close to her son and said in their native language:
“Son, have pity on me, who carried you in my womb for nine months,
nursed you for three years, brought you up,
educated and supported you to your present age.
I beg you, child, to look at the heavens and the earth
and see all that is in them;
then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things;
and in the same way the human race came into existence.
Do not be afraid of this executioner,
but be worthy of your brothers and accept death,
so that in the time of mercy I may receive you again with them.”
The word of the Lord.
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 you.
℟. In my distress I called upon the Lord.
VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL
The mother of Jesus stood by the cross
and tenderly looked on the wounds of her Son,
whose death she knew would redeem the world.
GOSPEL
Jn 19:25-27
Woman, this is your son.
✠ 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, receive the gifts we joyfully present,
that they may become the Body and Blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who on the Cross entrusted all his followers
in the person of John
to the Virgin Mother as her children,
and entrusted her to them
as living signs of his own love for her.
He lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Through Christ our Lord.
PREFACE: The Commending of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary and John are Commended to Each Other’s Care.
℣. 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.
For at the foot of the Cross of Jesus,
by his solemn and dying wish,
a deep bond of love is fashioned
between the Blessed Virgin Mary
and his faithful disciples:
the Mother of God is entrusted to the disciples
as their own mother,
and they receive her
as a precious inheritance from their Master.
She is to be for ever
the mother of those who believe,
and they will look to her
with great confidence in her unfailing protection.
She loves her Son in loving her children,
and in heeding what she says
they keep the words of their Master.
Through him the Angels of heaven
offer their prayer of adoration
as they rejoice in your presence for ever.
May our voices be one with theirs
in their triumphant hymn of praise:
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
2 Timothy 2: 10
I endure all for the sake of the elect,
so that they too may achieve salvation in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Lord God,
let this sacred table increase our filial love,
for here we are nourished
by the Body and Blood of Christ,
who when dying on the Cross
delivered his spirit into your hands
and entrusted us to his Virgin Mother as her children.
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.