Masses of the BVM: 44 The Blessed Virgin Mary, Health of the Sick
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
Cf. Psalm 35: 3; Jonah 2: 3
I am the Savior of my people.
Whatever their troubles I will answer their cry.
COLLECT
Grant, Lord God, that we, your servants,
may rejoice in unfailing health of mind and body,
and, through the glorious intercession of Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, may
we be set free from present sorrow
and come to enjoy eternal happiness.
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
Is 53:1-5, 7-10
He bore our sufferings himself.
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Who would believe what we have heard?
To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
The servant grew up like a sapling before him,
l ike a shoot from the parched earth;
there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him,
nor appearance that would attract us to him.
He was spurned and avoided by people,
a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity,
one of those from whom people hide their faces, spurned,
and we held him in no esteem.
Yet it was our infirmities that the servant bore,
our sufferings that he endured,
while we thought of him as stricken,
as one smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our offenses,
crushed for our sins,
upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,
by his stripes we were healed.
Though he was harshly treated,
he submitted and opened not his mouth;
like a lamb led to the slaughter
or a sheep before the shearers,
he was silent and opened not his mouth.
Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away,
and who would have thought any more of his destiny?
When he was cut off from the land of the living,
and smitten for the sin of his people,
a grave was assigned him among the wicked
and a burial place with evildoers,
though he had done no wrong
nor spoken any falsehood.
But the LORD was pleased
to crush his servant in infirmity.
If he gives his life as an offering for sin,
he shall see his descendants in a long life,
and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8 and 10
℟. (1a, 3b) My soul, bless the Lord, who heals all your ills.
Bless the LORD, my soul;
all my being, bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, my soul;
do not forget all the gifts of God.
℟. My soul, bless the Lord, who heals all your ills.
Who pardons all your sins,
heals all your ills,
delivers your life from the pit,
surrounds you with love and compassion.
℟. My soul, bless the Lord, who heals all your ills.
The LORD does righteous deeds,
brings justice to all the oppressed.
God’s ways were revealed to Moses,
mighty deeds to the people of Israel.
℟. My soul, bless the Lord, who heals all your ills.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger, abounding in kindness.
God has not dealt with us as our sins merit,
nor requited us as our deeds deserve.
℟. My soul, bless the Lord, who heals all your ills.
VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL
See Lk 1:45
℟. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, O Virgin Mary, for firmly believing
that the promises of the Lord would be fulfilled
℟. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
Lk 1:39-56
Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my Lord?
✠ 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.”
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
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.
He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
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,
according to his promise to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.”
Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months
and then returned to her 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
Look, O Lord, upon the prayers and offerings of your faithful,
presented in the commemoration of Blessed Mary,
the Mother of God, that they may be pleasing to you
and may confer on us your help and forgiveness.
Through Christ our Lord.
PREFACE: Mary, Health of the Sick
The Blessed Virgin Is a Sign of Salvation for the Sick.
℣. 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 in a wonderful way you gave the Blessed Virgin Mary
a special share in the mystery of pain.
She now shines radiantly
as a sign of health, of healing, and of divine hope
for the sick who call on her patronage.
To all who look up to her in prayer
she is the model of perfect acceptance of your will
and of wholehearted conformity with Christ,
who, out of love for us,
endured our weakness and bore our sufferings.
Through Christ 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
Psalm 118: 14
The Lord, my strength and my song, has become my Savior.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Lord our God,
on this memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the Mother of Jesus,
we have received with joyful hearts
the healing Sacrament
of the Body and Blood of your only Son;
may this Sacrament bring us blessings in this life
and in the world to come.
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.
