All posts by 3 churches

Christ the King bidding prayers, 20 May 2018 (Pentecost Sunday)

bidding prayers, Christ the King

PRIEST: My dear friends, after the weeks of Lent and Eastertide, we come with joy to celebrate the birthday of the Church, and to bring to our loving God our own needs and the needs of all the world.

 

Reader: The response is…renew us through your Holy Spirit.

 

We pray for the continuing conversion of the people of God.  May we become living

gospels in the world through the gifts freely given us by the Holy Spirit.

PAUSE       Merciful Father…

 

Let us pray that the many voices pleading for peace may lead to a change of heart

in those who promote wars, terror attacks and suffering in so many lands.

PAUSE       Merciful Father…

 

 

 

We pray for the people faced with natural disasters: drought, famine, flood and

earthquake; and for aid workers everywhere.

PAUSE       Merciful Father…

 

 

 

Let us pray for refugees, those displaced in their own country as well as those

forced to seek shelter elsewhere.

PAUSE       Merciful Father…

 

 

Let us pray for our children and young people, who recently received the gift of the

Holy Spirit in First Communion and Confirmation.  We pray for them and for their

families, that they may always be valued members of our parishes.

PAUSE             Merciful Father……

 

We pray for those who have died, that they may enjoy the happiness of God’s

Kingdom. We remember especially Joyce Jones, Mother of Rosemary Mathews

and Kazyk Baldy who have both died recently.

PAUSE       Merciful Father…

 

For a few moments, let us pray quietly in our own way… LONGER PAUSE (no response).

 

Mary, Mother of the Church, shared so much with her Son’s apostles.  Let us ask her to share our concerns, as we say…Hail Mary…

 

 

PRIEST: God of hope and mercy, we offer all these prayers through your Son, risen and ascended, and your Holy Spirit, who gives us life.  Amen.

Holy Spirit memory

newsletter

Pope Francis writes about a particular role of the Holy Spirit – to remind us…

“The Holy Spirit reminds us; he reminds us of all that Jesus said. He is the living memory of the Church, and when he reminds us, he helps us understand the words of the Lord.

This remembrance in the Spirit and by virtue of the Spirit . . . is an essential aspect of Christ’s presence within us and within his Church. The Spirit of truth and charity reminds us of all that Christ said and helps us enter ever more fully into the meaning of his words. We all have this experience: one moment, in any situation, there is an idea and then another connects with a passage from Scripture. . . . It is the Spirit who leads us to take this path: the path of the living memory of the Church. And he asks us for a response: the more generous our response, the more Jesus’ words become life within us, becoming attitudes, choices, actions, testimony. In essence the Spirit reminds us of the commandment of love and calls us to live it.

A Christian without memory is not a true Christian but only halfway there: a man or woman, a prisoner of the moment, who doesn’t know how to treasure his or her history, doesn’t know how to read it and live it as salvation history. With the help of the Holy Spirit, however, we are able to interpret interior inspirations and life events in light of Jesus’ words. And thus within us grows the knowledge of memory, knowledge of the heart, which is a gift of the Spirit. May the Holy Spirit rekindle the Christian memory within all of us! And there, that day with the apostles, was Our Lady of Memory, who from the beginning meditated on all those things in her heart. Mary, our Mother, was there. May she help us on this path of memory.”

from Walking with Jesus: A Way Forward for the Church by Pope Francis

 

The Angel of the Lord

newsletter,

The Angelus is a devotion that focuses our attention on the Incarnation. Its name comes from its opening word in Latin. It is prayed by reciting three Biblical verses narrating the mystery, alternating with the prayer “Hail Mary”. It is an ancient devotion, already well established 700 years ago. It probably originated with the 11th-century monastic custom of reciting three Hail Marys during the evening bells. The first written documentation stems from the 1260s. The devotion has traditionally been recited in churches, convents, and monasteries three times daily: 6:00am, noon, and 6:00pm, and some churches still follow the devotion, while many people pray it at home. The Angelus is often accompanied by the ringing of the Angelus bell. The manner of ringing the Angelus – the triple stroke repeated three times, followed by a longer peal – is also long established, and was described in the 15th-century constitutions of Syon monastery.

The Angel of the LORD declared unto Mary, 
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary...

Behold the handmaid of the LORD.
Be it done unto me according to thy word.
 Hail Mary...

And the Word was made flesh. 
And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary...

Pray for us, O' Holy Mother of God.
That we might be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 
Let us pray,

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O LORD, Thy grace into our hearts; that, we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen

Christ the King bidding prayers, 10 May 2018 (Feast of the Ascension)

bidding prayers, Christ the King

The Celebrant will introduce and also conclude the prayer. The reader should pause for several moments between the intercession and its response. Leave about 20 seconds for quiet prayer.

There is no response after this – move straight to the Hail Mary.

 

CELEBRANT:Brothers and Sisters, how infinitely great is the power that Christ has exercised for us believers.Let us pray in the certainty that He will hear us:

 

READER:The response is : Lord, graciously hear us.

 

READER: Let us pray for the Church. May we be witnesses to the Risen Lord to the ends of the Earth, spreading the Good News.……. (PAUSE)……Risen Lord, hear us……Lord, graciously hear us.

 

READER: We pray for those given the gift of being pastors, teachers and leaders. May they use their gifts wisely to guide and inspire their people.….. (PAUSE) ……Risen Lord, hear us. …Lord, graciously hear us.

 

READER: Let us pray for those suffering from natural disasters such as volcanic eruption, earthquake, dust storms and torrential rain. May they find help and hope from those less unfortunate.  ..… (PAUSE)……Risen Lord, hear us. … Lord, graciously hear us.

 

READER: May we do all we can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds us together.

…….. (PAUSE)……Risen Lord, hear us. …Lord, graciously hear us.

 

 

READER:In a few moments of silence let us consider our needs and those of the parish ….. (Long Pause)…. Let us ask help of Mary who sits with Jesus in HeavenHail Mary, full of grace, etc.

 

After a short pause the Celebrant will conclude the prayer.

 

CELEBRANT: Lord, You are our refuge and strength, we trust in You. Grant then our petitions,we ask, through the risen Christ Jesus, Amen.