Liturgy suggestions for Summer Sundays
Bidding prayers etc for the Sundays and holydays of July and August are given below, beginning with next Sunday. After these suggestion sheets, you’ll find texts to welcome summer visitors from abroad.
Bidding prayers etc for the Sundays and holydays of July and August are given below, beginning with next Sunday. After these suggestion sheets, you’ll find texts to welcome summer visitors from abroad.
Happy New Year! On this first day of the Year of Our Lord 2022, we acclaim Mary as Mother of God and ask her to mind us and those we love during this new year. We pray that the world may be freed from COVID-19 through a global programme of vaccination.
[Background: The Virgin Mary was already venerated as Mother of God when, in 431, the Council of Ephesus acclaimed her Theotokos (God-bearer). Her role in the mystery of the incarnation was celebrated on this day in Rome in the seventh century but was soon eclipsed by other feasts of Mary. Restored to the liturgical calendar in 1931, and to this day in 1969, the feast celebrates from a Marian perspective the Word made flesh, and so enriches the observance of the octave of Christmas and provides a solemn beginning to the New Year.]
Opening Comment In today’s Liturgy, we praise the Lord of glory, who leads us through the darkness of Lent to the light of Easter. Penitential Rite To prepare ourselves for…
During the Easter season the Church continues to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, even in these dark pandemic days. Today, we join together to worship God, who has brought about the great victory over sin and death in which we hope.
In the dark of Christmas night, Christians proclaim the new light that has shone on the world: Jesus Christ is born! With the angels, we worship God who saves us — for through the life, death and resurrection of this child Jesus, salvation is ours.
Under the roof of your soul, you will witness the sublime intimacy, the divine, the Christ taking birth forever, as Mary grasps your hand for help, for each of us is the midwife of God, each of us.
Pádraig McCarthy
The Christmas Season ended last Sunday, and we have entered Ordinary Time, moving slowly from winter towards spring. The season of Lent begins on the 26th February: between now and then, we learn a little more each Sunday about the life and teachings of Jesus, as St Matthew recorded them.