Pentecost Vigil and Mass, 2013

For the Year of Faith

(For use on Sat. 18th May. Supplied by Fr. Kieran O’Mahony OSA)

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

Gal. 5:22-23

The Vigil  is in four parts:
I. The Opening Rite

II. The Vigil of Readings

III. The Renewal of Confirmation

IV. The Liturgy of the Eucharist

I. The Opening Rite

As in the Roman Missal

Penitential Litany

Awaken me, Lord, to your light:

Open my eyes to your presence.

Awaken me, Lord, to your love:

Open my heart to your indwelling.

Awaken me, Lord, to your life:

Open my mind to your abiding.

Awaken me, Lord, to your purpose:

Open my will to your guiding.

Gloria

Opening Prayer

II. The Vigil of Readings

Short Litany of the Holy Spirit

All who are lead by the Spirit are children of God. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.       (Silence)

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit:

Fill us with your Holy Spirit!

When the doors are closed and we are afraid to move.

Fill us with your Holy Spirit!

When we are weak and unable to act.

Fill us with your Holy Spirit!

When we are hesitant and unable to speak.

Fill us with your Holy Spirit!

When we lack energy and are unable to cope

Fill us with your Holy Spirit!

That we may go out in your power.

Fill us with your Holy Spirit!

That we may live and work for you.

Fill us with your Holy Spirit!

That we may be part of your mission.

Fill us with your Holy Spirit!

The full texts of the readings are given in the appendix below. Sung responses work best; there are many settings of Psalm 104.

A reading from the book of Genesis ch. 11

The Tower of Babel

Psalm 104

Response:        Send forth your Spirit, O Lord,

and renew the face of the earth.

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles ch. 2

The Story of Pentecost

Response:        quiet reflection

A reading from the letter of Paul  to the Romans ch. 8

God’s spirit helps us in our weakness

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Send forth your Spirit, O Lord

and renew the face of the earth.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

4th Reading from the gospel of John 20:19-23

Receive the Holy Spirit

Quiet Prayer for five minutes

Homily

III. The Anointing with Holy Oil

Brothers and sisters,

on the holy night of Easter

we renewed our baptismal promises.

In this vigil of Pentecost,

by which we are led to rediscover

the presence and action of the Holy Spirit,

let us remember that we have all been confirmed.

May the Lord open our hearts,

that we may see God’s Holy Spirit in all creation.

May the Lord open our ears,

that we may ear God’s word in our inner being.

May the Lord open our hands,

that all we know by our love that we are his disciples.

May we all open our hearts,

that God’s love may be poured into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit given to us.

Let your Holy Spirit come upon us once more,

as we pray for a renewed spiritual anointing.

Silent Prayer

Veni, sancte Spiritus.(The Taizé version is very reflective, with a quiet energy; this can be sung by the choir or a recording can be used. Any other suitable music may be us, of course.)

Each person comes forward and is anointed.

The following response is said for each person.

V. Send forth your Spirit, O Lord

R. and renew the face of the earth.

When all have been anointed, there follows the Invocation of the Holy Spirit. The form recommended here comes from Alleluia! Amen! (Margaret Daly). This includes very suitable sung intercessions. The tune is based on the plainchant of Veni creator spiritus. Any other suitable song may be used, of course.

Invocation of the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, alleluia.

Come, greatest gift of God Alleluia.

Come, renew the face of the earth.

IV. The Liturgy of the Eucharist

Use the preface for Pentecost and Eucharistic Prayer for Special Needs III (p. 674 in the Roman Missal)

During Communion

Stay with us Lord, we pray you, alleluia.

You are the bread come down from heaven;

you are the food of life eternal.

You are the light which illumines the world;

brightening our way, dispelling our darkness.

You are the Christ the divine Son of God,

you are the pledge of life eternal.

Or

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me (us, all)

Melt me, mould me, fill me, use me,

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

Meditation

Veni, sancte Spiritus (plainchant, on a recording)

At the end, some suitable hymn, such as

God’s spirit is in my heart

or

You are slat for the earth, O people

or

Let us build the city of God

You are salt for the earth, O people (854)

 

PENTECOST VIGIL READINGS 2013

A reading from the book of Genesis

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.  And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.  And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.  Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”  The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built.  And the Lord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”  So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.  Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

The word of the Lord

Thanks be to God.

 

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.  And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.  Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?  And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?  Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,  Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,  Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”  All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”  But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.  Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.  No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

‘In the last days it will be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams.

The word of the Lord

Thanks be to God.

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now;  and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.  For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.  And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

The word of the Lord

Thanks be to God.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

The Gospel of the Lord

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.