Masses of the BVM: 34 The Blessed Virgin Mary, Cause of Our Joy
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
Cf. Luke 1: 28, 30-31
Rejoice, Virgin Mary, you have found favor with God!
Listen; you will conceive and bear a son,
and you shall call his name Jesus.
COLLECT
Lord our God, you were pleased to bring joy to the world
through the Incarnation of your Son.
Grant that we who honor his Mother,
the cause of our joy,
may always walk in the way of your commandments
with our hearts set on true and lasting joy.
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
Zec 2:14-17
Rejoice and be glad, Daughter of Zion.
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Zechariah
Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!
See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,
and they shall be his people,
and he will dwell among you,
and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,
and he will again choose Jerusalem.
Silence, all people, in the presence of the LORD!
for the LORD stirs forth from his holy dwelling.
The word of the Lord.
Or: Is 61:9-11
I exult for joy in the Lord.
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah
The descendants of my people shall be renowned among the nations,
and their offspring among the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them
as a race the LORD has blessed.
I rejoice heartily in the LORD,
in my God is the joy of my soul;
for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation,
and wrapped me in a mantle of justice,
like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem,
like a bride bedecked with her jewels.
As the earth brings forth its plants,
and a garden makes its growth spring up,
so will the Lord GOD make justice and praise
spring up before all the nations.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Lk 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54
℟. (See Is 61:10b) My spirit rejoices in my God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
℟. My spirit rejoices in my God.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
The Lord’s mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.
℟. My spirit rejoices in my God.
The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
The Lord has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy.
℟. My spirit rejoices in my God.
VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL
℟. Alleluia, alleluia.
Hail, holy Mary, joy of humankind,
remaining a virgin, you gave birth
and brought forth for us
the One who is our salvation and joy.
℟. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
Lk 1:39-47
As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb.
✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God ,my savior.”
Or: Jn 15:9-12
May my joy be with you.
✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you
and your joy may be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”
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 offerings of your joyful Church,
and as you have given us every good gift
in Christ the Savior,
born of the immaculate Virgin,
grant us a share in his harvest of everlasting joy.
Through Christ our Lord.
PREFACE: Mary, Cause of Our Joy
The Life of the Blessed Virgin, Cause of Our Joy.
℣. 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, and, as we honor the memory
of the Blessed Virgin,
the daughter of your love,
to proclaim with fitting praise
the greatness of your name.
Her blessed birth
heralded joy for all the world.
Her virgin-motherhood
brought forth the true Light,
the source of all joy.
Her hidden life brings
light and warmth
to all the Churches of the world.
Her passing into glory
raised her to the heights of heaven,
where, as our sister and our Mother,
she waits for us with loving care
until we too enjoy the vision of your glory for ever.
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
Psalm 46: 5
The streams of a river make glad the city of God,
the holy dwelling-place of the Most High.
Or: Luke 1: 48-49
All generations will call me blessed,
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Confirm in our minds the mysteries of the true faith,
we pray, O Lord,
so that, confessing that he who was conceived of the Virgin Mary,
is true God and true man,
we may, through the saving power of his Resurrection,
merit to attain eternal joy.
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
Ordinary Time I
May the Father of all mercy,
through the love with which he cherished
the Mother of his Son,
bless you with health of mind and body.
℟. Amen.
May Jesus Christ, the blessed fruit of Mary’s womb,
adorn you with the virtues
that will make you more pleasing to him.
℟. Amen.
May the Holy Spirit,
whose power overshadowed the Blessed Virgin,
give you serenity and peace,
that you may live as one in mind and heart
in the household of the Church.
℟. 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.
Ordinary Time II
May God, who through the childbearing of the Blessed Virgin Mary
willed in his great kindness to redeem the human race,
be pleased to enrich you with his blessing.
℟. Amen.
May you know always and everywhere the protection of her,
through whom you have been found worthy to receive the author of life.
℟. Amen.
May you, who have devoutly gathered to celebrate this memorial of our Lady,
carry away with you the gifts of spiritual joys and heavenly rewards.
℟. 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.
Ordinary Time III
May the Father of mercies bless you
through the intercession of Blessed Mary ever-Virgin
through whom he chose to remedy the fall of our first parents.
℟. Amen.
May Jesus Christ, who in the womb of the Blessed Virgin
became our brother and our Savior,
free your hearts from every trace of sin.
℟. Amen.
May the Holy Spirit
increase in you the grace of true faith and of hope for heaven,
that you may walk in the ways of the Gospel
and so reach your eternal home.
℟. 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.
