| Dear Parents & Students please check your names against this list and correct them as needed. I need to submit them by 24th August to prepare the First Holy Communion certificate.Thanks | ||
| STD 4 PAUL 2014 | ||
| STUDENT'S NAMES | CORRECTED SPELLING / NAMES | |
| 1 | Adrian Praveen Alexander | |
| 2 | Alysher Jane Ravi | |
| 3 | Amanda Wong Ee Fern | |
| 4 | Anndrea Christine Raj | |
| 5 | Ayden Ainsley Pereira | |
| 6 | Benjamin Jezu Gregory | |
| 7 | Bethanie Khoo Shi Ann | |
| 8 | Brandon Chin Wei Chung | |
| 9 | Brian Teo Se Ken | |
| 10 | Canicee Joey | |
| 11 | Casandra Anne d/o Fabian Peter | |
| 12 | Catherina Anne Victor | |
| 13 | Christopher Foo Chia Keith | |
| 14 | Elisha Roshni Jason | |
| 15 | Ezra Gabrielle Federicks | |
| 16 | Fabian Saravanan | |
| 17 | Homer Ignatius Jeremiah III | |
| 18 | Ian Yeo Jung Yong | |
| 19 | Isaac Lim Xai Zack | |
| 20 | Jaden Vishal Kumeren | |
| 21 | Jarred Sharan Sebastian | |
| 22 | Joachim Chuah Han Wen | |
| 23 | Joelynn Shalini James | |
| 24 | Jolene Ng Sue Juin (NEW) | |
| 25 | Joseph Yong Jing Ming-RETAIN | |
| 26 | Joshua Zemario Sharma | |
| 27 | Laney Pio Matharasi | |
| 28 | Lynnette Elyssa Lopez | |
| 29 | Mabel Freya Stalin | |
| 30 | Marcus Tan Chee Hann | |
| 31 | Matthew Praveen Rao | |
| 32 | Naden Singgam | |
| 33 | Nasya Elianna Martinez | |
| 34 | Safena Tevernesan | |
| 35 | Samuel Merino Roy | |
| 36 | Zoe Ong Xin Xian |
Saturday 23 August 2014
NAME SPELLING CHECK PLEASE-URGENT
The Purity of Soul Necessary for Holy Communion
http://catholic-church.org/grace/eu/sacri-communion.htm
When St. Jerome was brought Holy Viaticum at the end of his life, the Saint prostrated himself on the ground in adoration and he was heard to repeat with profound humility the words of St. Elizabeth and those of St. Pete, "How is this, that my Lord should come to me?" "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8). And how many times was the angelic and seraphic St. Gemma tempted to not receive Holy Communion, holding herself to be nothing else than a vile dunghill!"
Padre Pio of Pietrelcina used to repeat with trepidation to his brethren, "God sees blights even in the angels. What must He see in me!" For this reason he was very diligent in making his sacramental Confessions.
"Oh, if we could only understand Who is that God Whom we receive in Holy Communion, then what purity of heart we would bring to Him!" exclaimed St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi.
For this reason St. Hugh, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis de Sales, St. Ignatius, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Francis Borgia, St. Louis Bertrand, St. Joseph Cupertino, St. Leonard of Port Maurice and many other saints went to Confession every day before celebrating Holy Mass.
St. Camillus de Lellis never celebrated Holy Mass without first going to Confession, because he wanted at least "to dust off" his soul. Once, at sundown in a public square in Livorno, before taking leave of a priest of the same religious order, foreseeing that he would not have a priest to confess to on the following morning before his Mass, paused, took off his hat, made the sign of the Cross and went to Confession right there in the square to his confrere.
Also St. Alphonsus, St. Joseph Cafasso, St. John Bosco, St. Pius X, and Padre Pio of Pietrelcina went to Confession very often. And why did St. Pius X wish to lower the age for First Holy Communion to seven years, if not to allow Jesus to enter into the innocent hearts of children, which are so similar to angels. And why was Padre Pio so delighted when they brought him children five years old who were prepared for First Holy Communion?
The saints applied to perfection the directive of the Holy Spirit, "Let everyone first examine himself, and then eat of that Bread and drink of that Chalice; because he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks unto his own condemnation" (1Cor. 11:28-29).
To examine themselves, to repent, to accuse themselves in Confession and to ask pardon of God, and in this way even every day profit from the Sacrament of Confession, was something natural for the saints. How fortunate they were to be capable of so much! The fruits of sanctification were constant and abundant because the purity of soul with which each saint welcomed into himself Jesus, "the Wheat of the elect," (Zach. 9:17) was like the good ground "… which brings forth fruit in patience" (Luke 8:15).
St. Anthony Mary Claret illustrates this fact very well: "When we go to Holy Communion, all of us receive the same Lord Jesus, but not all receive the same grace nor are the same effects produced in all. This comes from our greater or lesser disposition. To explain this fact, I will take an example from nature. Consider the process of grafting, the more similar the one plant is to the other, the better the graft will succeed. Likewise, the more resemblance there is between the one that goes to Communion and Jesus, so much the better will the fruits of Holy Communion be." The Sacrament of Confession is in fact the excellent means whereby the similarity between the soul and Jesus is restored.
For this reason St. Francis de Sales taught his spiritual children "Go to Confession with humility and devotion … if it is possible, every time that you go to Holy Communion, even though you do not feel in your conscience any remorse of mortal sin."
In this regard it is well to recall the teaching of the Church. Holy Communion must be received only while one is in the grace of God. Therefore, when one has committed a mortal sin, even if one has repented of it and has a great desire to receive Holy Communion, it is necessary and indispensable to confess oneself first before receiving Holy Communion, otherwise one commits a most grave sin of sacrilege, for which Jesus said to St. Bridget, "there does not exist on earth a punishment which is great enough to punish it sufficiently!"
St. Ambrose said that persons who commit this sacrilege "come into church with a few sins, and leave it burdened with many." St. Cyril wrote something yet stronger: "They who make a sacrilegious Communion receive Satan and Jesus Christ into their hearts - Satan, that they may let him rule, and Jesus Christ, that they may offer Him in sacrifice as a Victim to Satan."
Thus the Catechism of the Council of Trent (De Euch., v.i) declares: "As of all the sacred mysteries… none can compare with the … Eucharist, so likewise for no crime is there heavier punishment to be feared from God than for the unholy or irreligious use by the faithful of that which … contains the very Author and Source of holiness."
On the other hand, Confession made before Holy Communion to render a soul already in the state of Sanctifying Grace more pure and more beautiful, is something precious even though not required. It is precious because it clothes the soul with a more beautiful "wedding garment" (cf Matt. 22:12) with which it may take its place at the table of the angels.
For this reason the most conscientious souls have always made frequent use (at least one a week) of the sacramental cleansing of absolution, even for venial sins. If you want great purity of soul in order to receive Jesus, no purity shines brighter than that which one obtains when he makes a good confession, where the cleansing Blood of Jesus renders the repentant soul divinely bright and beautiful. "The soul that receives the Divine Blood becomes beautiful, as being clothed in a more precious garment, and it appears so beautiful aglow that if you could see it you would be tempted to adore it," declared St. Magdalen di Pazzi.
Let us not forget what St. Cyril said above: "They who make a sacrilegious Communion receive Satan and Jesus Christ into their hearts - Satan, that they may let him rule, and Jesus Christ, that they may offer Him in sacrifice as a Victim to Satan." We too have to be merciful and protect those in the state of serious sin not to become even worse, as the Lord said above to St. Bridget, "there does not exist on earth a punishment which is great enough to punish it sufficiently!"
First Communion Saints
http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/2010/05/first-communion-saints/
The first time a believer receives the flesh and blood of the eternal Son of God in holy Communion ought to be one of the greatest occasions in that person’s life. The amount of preparation, waiting and longing that normally accompanies one’s first Communion only makes the reception more special still. But what makes one’s first Communion a truly blessed event is not the adjective but the substantive: not the “first” but the “communion.” Because of whom we receive, the second, third, next, and last Communion should always be as special.
The Church teaches that the communion we enter into with the Lord Jesus is not meant to last only as long as it takes our body to digest the sacred host; rather, our communion is supposed to continue in all our actions throughout the day. In short, the reception of the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist is meant to lead to a truly Eucharistic Life, one in which Jesus in the Eucharist becomes the source, summit, root and center of a person’s existence.
This reality, which the Church puts before all believers, is modeled in a particular way for young first Communicants by some great young saints in Church history. Today we briefly look at four of them and propose them as exemplars to young Catholics preparing to receive Him for the first time.
Blessed Imelda Lambertini (1322-1333)
There’s a prayer that’s been made popular among Catholics in which they ask the Lord for the grace to receive Him in Holy Communion that day with the same love with which they received him in their first Communion, with the same love with which they hope to receive him at their last communion, and with which they would want to receive him if that were the only communion of their life. The three parts of this beautiful prayer all came together on May 12, 1333 for an 11 year-old girl in Bologna, Italy called Imelda Lambertini.
When Imelda turned nine, she begged her parents to allow her to go to the school at the Dominican convent in her city. There she endeared herself to everyone by her great piety, goodness and zeal. She fervently desired to be able to receive Jesus in Holy Communion like the sisters and several of the older students, but this was six centuries prior to St. Pius X’s lowering the first Communion age to the “age of reason,” or about the age of 8. Prior to that 20th century change, many young people received the Lord for the first time during their teenage years, in some places as late as 18.
In place of being able to receive Jesus in holy Communion, Imelda used to go to the chapel to adore him. She would also make many “spiritual communions” throughout the day and especially when others were receiving him at Mass. She was always asking those who were older and able to receive communion what the experience was like. She used to pepper them with the question, “Tell me, can anyone receive Jesus in his heart and not die?” That question would turn prophetic.
On the vigil of the Ascension, she was praying in Church after Mass. The sisters were preparing to leave the church when some of them were startled to see a strange light, what appeared to be a small sacred host, hovering in the air above her head as she was kneeling before the tabernacle. They ran to get the parish priest. Knowing of her burning desire to receive holy Communion and taking this theophany as a sign from heaven that she was ready, the priest gave her Jesus in holy communion. To her enormous joy, she devoutly received her long awaited for the first time. And the last and only time.
Soon after receiving holy Communion she fell first into what seemed like an ecstasy of love. She had a most serene and angelic smile on her face. While all the sisters were praying with her in thanksgiving, they watched her slowly sink to the floor. They thought that she had simply fainted and felt her arm. But she had died out of love for Christ in the Eucharist, with her face transfixed by a smile that has never worn off. With the Lord within the temple of her body, her soul ascended out of her body with the Lord into heaven. Her body remains incorrupt seven centuries later and lies in a Church in Bologna.
In 1826, Pope Leo XII declared her blessed and proclaimed her to be the patroness of first communicants.
St Gemma Galgani (1878-1903)
Gemma was born in Camigliano, Italy in 1878, the fourth of eight children. Her mother used to take her as a young girl to daily Mass and passed on to her a great love for Jesus in Holy Communion. Around the time of her mother’s death when she was seven, Gemma began to have intense experiences of prayer. Her father sent her to be educated at the convent of the Sisters of St. Zita in Lucca. Under the guidance of the sisters she developed a deep love for the passion of the Lord, for the Blessed Virgin Mary, and for Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.
She begged her parish priest to allow her to make her first Communion. “You are too young,” he replied. She declared to him, to the sisters and others, “Give me Jesus and you will see how good I will be: I will not sin again. I shall be quite changed!” Eventually her desire became all consuming. Her wise pastor recognized that there was “no alternative but to admit her to holy Communion; otherwise we will see her die of grief.”
During her retreat in preparation for first Communion, the preacher, Fr. Raphael Cinetti, repeated as a homiletic refrain, “He who eats of Jesus will live of his life.” She commented later, “These words filled me with much consolation and I reasoned with myself: Therefore, when Jesus comes to me I will no longer live of myself because Jesus will live in me. And I nearly died of the desire to be able to say these words soon, ‘Jesus lives in me’. Sometimes I would spend whole nights meditating on these words, being consumed with desire.”
On the feast of the Sacred Heart in 1887, when she was nine, she received the Love of her life within for the first time. She said innocently to one of her friends afterward, “I feel a fire burning here,” and pointed to her breast. “Do you feel like that, too?” She couldn’t fathom that there was anything exceptional in her own experience.
Lest she ever take receiving Jesus in holy Communion for granted, she made certain resolutions, which showed her deep and precocious spiritual wisdom. The first two were specifically about the Eucharist: “I will receive Confession and Communion each time as though it were my last, and I will visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament often, especially when I am afflicted.”
Her love for Jesus in the Eucharist only grew the more she received the Lord as if it were the last time. She would write later to Jesus in prayer, “What would become of me if I did not dedicate all my affections to the Sacred Host? Oh yes, I know it, Lord; that in order to make me deserve paradise in heaven, you give me Communion here on earth!” She would call the Eucharist “the school of paradise where one learns how to love.”
In a passage that would be good for all communicants — first and veteran — to contemplate, she wrote to her priest spiritual director. “Oh, what precious moments are those at Holy Communion! Communion is a happiness, Father, that seems to me cannot be equaled even by the beatitude of the saints and angels. They admire the face of Jesus, and are certain of not committing sin or of being lost; and I admire those two things, and I should like to be of their company, but I, too, have reason for exulting, for Jesus enters everyday into my heart. Jesus gives me all of Himself!”
St. Tarcisius (246-258)
St. Tarcisius was an altar boy during the ferocious anti-Christian persecution of the Roman emperor Valerian. The Christians would meet each morning in a hidden part of the catacombs to celebrate Mass and then normally a deacon would take the Eucharist to those Christians condemned to die in prison. After the death of Pope St. Sixtus and several of the deacons with him, there were no deacons left to transport the Eucharist as viaticum to the Christians on death row, so they entrusted the task to the young altar boy who knew the routine and had long shown a both fidelity and courage.
As he was heading up the Appian Way with the blessed Sacrament concealed under his shirt, a group of pagan boys met him. They asked them to join their games but he politely declined. They noticed he was carrying something. They had some sense that he was a forbidden Christian and they surmised that he might be carrying the Christian “mysteries.” So the small mob of boys started to gang up on him to get him to show them what he was transporting. Tarcisius knew the boys and had no doubt that they would treat the Eucharist sacrilegiously, so he refused to allow them to get their hands on the Eucharist, even as they beat, clubbed, kicked and stoned him until death.
The Roman Martyrology wrote, “At Rome, on the Appian Way, [occurred] the passion of St. Tarcisius the acolyte, whom pagans met carrying the sacrament of the Body of Christ and asked him what it was he was carrying. He deemed it a shameful thing to cast pearls before the swine, and so was assaulted by them for a long time with clubs and stones until he gave up the ghost. When they turned over his body, the sacrilegious assailants could find no trace of Christ’s Sacrament either in his hands or in his clothing. The Christians took up the body of the martyr and buried it with honor in the cemetery of Callistus.”
A little over a century later, Pope St. Damasus wrote a poem about this “boy martyr of the Eucharist,” saying that, like St. Stephen, he was willing to suffer a violent death at the hands of a mob rather than give up the sacred Body of the Lord to “raging dogs.”
His life points to the reality that all those who receive and give holy Communion are called to remember: the Eucharist is not something but Someone, and St. Tarcisius indicates the true value of Jesus in the Eucharist. Most times, thanks be to God, we will not be killed in order to receive or protect Jesus in the Eucharist, but St. Tarcisius shows all of us how we’re called to live and even die for the one who died out of love for us.
St. Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)
St. Therese of the Child Jesus, the Little Flower, is clearly the most famous of the four saints we are profiling in this article. She lived a relatively hidden life as a Carmelite nun in Lisieux, France, from the age of 15. After her death of tuberculosis at 24, her spiritual autobiography, “The Story of a Soul,” written under obedience, became an international sensation. It brought to the attention of Catholics across the world St. Therese’s “little way,” to please God along the path of humility. She recognized that not everyone can be like the roses and the lilies in the garden, the spectacularly beautiful flowers that everyone notices. She was content to be a “little flower,” knowing that her existence, too, pleased enormously the divine Gardener.
Like Blessed Imelda and Saint Gemma, she, too, longed to receive Jesus earlier than what was typically permitted at the time. What she wrote in her autobiography about the day of her first Communion at age 11 is one of the most beautiful passages on the joy of holy Communion ever written. Composed more than 10 years after the event, her immense joy was still fresh.
“At last the most wonderful day of my life arrived,” she wrote, “and I can remember every tiny detail of those heavenly hours: my joyous waking up at dawn, the tender, reverent kisses of the mistresses and older girls, the room where we dressed — filled with the white ‘snowflakes’ in which one after another we were clothed — and above all, our entry into chapel and the singing of the morning hymn ‘O Altar of God, Where the Angels are Hovering.’
“How lovely it was, that first kiss of Jesus in my heart — it was truly a kiss of love. I knew that I was loved and said, ‘I love You, and I give myself to You forever.’ Jesus asked for nothing, He claimed no sacrifice. Long before that, He and little Thérèse had seen and understood one another well, but on that day it was more than a meeting — it was a complete fusion. We were no longer two, for Thérèse had disappeared like a drop of water lost in the mighty ocean. Jesus alone remained — the Master and the King. Had she not asked Him to take away her liberty, the liberty she feared? She felt so weak and frail that she wanted to unite herself forever to His Divine Strength.
“And her joy became so vast, so deep, that now it overflowed. Soon she was weeping, to the astonishment of her companions, who said to one another later on: ‘Why did she cry? Was there something on her conscience? Perhaps it was because her mother [who had died] was not there, or the Carmelite sister she loves so much.’
“It was beyond them that all the joy of Heaven had entered one small, exiled heart, and that it was too frail and weak to bear it without tears. As if the absence of my mother could make me unhappy on the day of my First Communion! As all Heaven entered my soul when I received Jesus, my mother came to me as well. Nor could I cry because you [her older sister who was a Carmelite, at whose command she was writing the autobiography] were not there, we were closer than ever before. It was joy alone, deep ineffable joy that filled my heart.”
It’s interesting that Pope Benedict, during his address at the 2005 World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, spoke to young people about the proper meaning of “adoration.” He said it is a Latin word that means, precisely, a “kiss.” From that “first kiss” of Therese Martin and Jesus in holy Communion, she began to adore him within, to “fuse” with him, lost in the mighty ocean of his love, with a Eucharistic awe that never left her.
This Year’s First Communicants
These four child Eucharistic saints are just some of the many who have been led through communion with the Lord on the altar here on earth to an eternal communion with him around the celestial throne. Together let us pray that the children making their first holy Communion this Spring may imitate their love for Jesus in the Eucharist, follow their example in living Eucharistic lives and be spurred on to become, themselves, Eucharistic saints for children of future generations.
The Holy Father speaks to Children
The Holy Father speaks to Children:Your First Holy Communion
Pope John Paul II speaks directly to children about the solemn importance of First Holy Communion in this excerpt from his "Letter to Children" written in 1994 during the "Year of the Family".
Dear friends, There is no doubt that an unforgettable meeting with Jesus is First Holy Communion, a day to be remembered as one of life's most beautiful.
The Eucharist, instituted by Christ at the Last Supper on the night before His passion, is a sacrament of the New Covenant -- the greatest of the sacraments. In this sacrament, the Lord becomes food for the soul under the appearances of bread and wine.
Children receive this sacrament solemnly a first time -- in First Holy Communion -- and are encouraged to receive it afterward as often as possible in order to remain in close friendship with Jesus.
To be able to receive Holy Communion, as you know, it is necessary to have received baptism: this is the first of the sacraments and the one most necessary for salvation. Baptism is a great event! In the Church's first centuries, when baptism was received mostly by grownups, the ceremony ended with receiving the Eucharist, and was as solemn as first Holy Communion is today. Later on, when baptism began to be given mainly to newborn babies -- and this is the case of many of you, dear children, so that in fact you do not remember the day of your baptism -- the more solemn celebration was transferred to the moment of First Holy Communion.
Every boy and every girl belonging to a Catholic family knows all about this custom: First Holy Communion is a great family celebration. On that day, together with the one who is making his or her First Holy Communion, the parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, godparents, and sometimes also the instructors and teachers, generally receive the Eucharist.
The day of First Holy Communion is also a great day of celebration in the parish. I remember as though it were yesterday when, together with the other boys and girls of my own age, I received the Eucharist for the first time in the parish church of my town. This event is usually commemorated in a family photo, so that it will not be forgotten. Photos like these generally remain with a person all through his or her life. As time goes by, people take out these pictures and experience once more the emotions of those moments; they return to the purity and joy experienced in that meeting with Jesus, the one who out of love became the Redeemer of Man.
For how many children in the history of the Church has the Eucharist been a source of spiritual strength, sometimes even heroic strength! How can we fail to be reminded, for example, of holy boys and girls who lived in the first centuries and are still known and venerated throughout the Church? Saint Agnes, who lived in Rome; Saint Agatha, who was martyred in Sicily; Saint Tarcisius, a boy who is rightly called the "martyr of the Eucharist" because he preferred to die rather than give up Jesus, whom he was carrying under the appearance of bread.
John Paul II
Saturday 9 August 2014
The Eucharistic Celebration Explained For Children
The Eucharistic Celebration Explained For Children
Introduction
As you age and grow in your faith children, you will have a deeper spiritual understanding of the Eucharistic Celebration unravel for you. In other words like a cabbage, when you peel away the first layer you will see a new layer and when you peel that one away yet another will revealed. For now let us embark on this little journey of understanding the basics so that you can have a deeper appreciation for what takes place when you are in Church on Sunday.
So let us first begin with what it means; Eucharist actually means ‘Thanksgiving’ in other words we celebrate by giving thanks to God our Father for His undying love for us and to thank him for giving us Jesus. In addition, the Eucharistic Celebration is also a solemn reminder of the sacrifice of Jesus who died for us on the cross to take away our sins, rose from the dead and who now lives with our Father in heaven and in our hearts.
Now here is something to remember and keep close to your heart. God so loved the world, he gave us his only begotten Son Jesus Christ. And Jesus loved us so much that He could not bear to leave us completely alone. So being the Son of God, he instituted (provided) a way to be with us always. By giving us His real body which takes the appearance of the bread(Communion Host) we offer at the altar and His blood which takes the appearance of the wine we offer at the altar. Jesus lovingly shares this truth with us;”The man who feeds on My Flesh and drinks My Blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the Father Who has life sent Me and I have life because of the Father, so the man who feeds on Me will have life because of Me.”
Jesus gives himself to us in the Eucharist as our spiritual nourishment for which we are in Holy Communion (fellowship) with God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, His Church (all of us) and together with the Angels and Saints in the Heavenly Liturgy where Christ eternally intercedes for us.
Now with true faith, you understand that your are receiving Jesus the Son of God (Which is His Divine Body ), so then you must receive him in a state of grace. ( Pure without having committed mortal Sin) If we had committed a mortal sin which basically means a terrible sin which would lead us away from God the Father, example breaking one of the Ten Commandments, or close to it. Then we must first go for the Sacrament of Reconciliation to be pardoned of that sin first. Only having done that, can we receive Jesus and reap the spiritual benefits the Eucharist has to offer. The Eucharist is a sacrament of unity because it unites us more closely with God and with one another through the growth of sanctifying grace in our soul. The same grace, that helps us to love our neighbour for the love of God.
Jesus is present in the Eucharistic celebration in four ways, in the person of the Celebrant (The Priest ), in his Word ( The Gospel), in the bread and wine when He through the Priest offers it to us. And he is present with us, the assembled people, as we pray and sing. For he promised, “Where two or three are gathered in my name there am I in the midst of them.” (Mt 18:20)
So children as we gather together in God’s house and knowing that Jesus is present, we pray quietly and prepare ourselves for the Celebrant ( The Priest ) to arrive so that he may lead us in this joyous Eucharistic Celebration.
INTRODUCTORY RITES
ENTRANCE PROCESSION
After the people have assembled, the entrance antiphon is sung (an entrance hymn is usually sung) or recited as the priest and the ministers enter the church. We do this to welcome Jesus and praise God.
SIGN OF THE CROSS
We Call Upon the Holy Trinity
We begin with the sign of the cross like we do for any prayer. We are calling God to be with us as we pray to Him.
Priest: in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
GREETING
We Are Welcomed in God’s Name
The priest greets us and welcomes us to church both in his own name and in God’s name.
Priest: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
People: And with your spirit.
PENITENTIAL RITE
We Express Sorrow For Our Sins
The priest now invites us to reflect on our sins and to tell God how truly sorry we are for them. We want to say sorry for all the times we were selfish and for having sinned so that we can listen to God’s word and receive His body and blood with a pure heart. We then say :-
I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned,
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
The priest says a short prayer asking for God’s mercy.
KYRIE
We Ask Jesus For Mercy
Priest : Lord, have mercy. People: Lord have mercy.
Priest : Christ, have mercy. People: Christ have mercy.
Priest : Lord, have mercy. People: Lord have mercy.
Sometimes instead of the longer prayers, the priest asks for God’s mercy by calling upon God three times. He finishes his prayer with “Lord have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.” We repeat those last words each time he says them.
GLORIA
We Praise God
Now we are so happy God has promised us forgiveness that we celebrate with joy. We do this by saying or singing loudly the song the angels sang so long ago when they celebrated the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
COLLECT
We Join in Prayer Together
This is followed by the Opening Prayer. There are different prayers for each day of the year. In this prayer, the priest asks God to be with us in a very special way as we open our hearts to him.
Priest : Forever and ever.
People: Amen.
FIRST READING (SIT)
God Speaks To Us Through The Prophets
We sit and listen to the Word of God as it was spoken in the Old Testament, especially through his prophets. The reader takes their place in speaking to us.
At the end of the reading:
Reader : The Word of the Lord.
People : Thanks be to God.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
We Respond To God’s Word
The people repeat the response said by the reader or sung by the cantor.
SECOND READING
God Speaks To Us through the Apostles
We now listen to readings taken from the letters of Paul and the other Apostles.
At the end of the reading :
Reader: The Word of the Lord.
People : Thanks be to God.
ALLELUIA VERSE (STAND)
We Praise Jesus Who Comes To Speak To Us
Jesus will speak to us in the Gospel. We rise now out of respect and prepare for his message with the alleluia verse.
GOSPEL
God Speaks To Us Through Christ
Priest: The Lord be with you.
People: And with your spirit
Priest: A reading from the holy Gospel according to N.
People: Glory to you, Lord.
We now listen to the priest read the Gospel.
At the end of the Gospel:
Priest: The Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
HOMILY (SIT)
God Speaks To Us Through The Priest
These readings are God’s message to us, but at times they may be difficult to understand. This is why the priest explains the meaning of the readings to us in a homily. The homily also tells us how to live God’s Word in our lives.
PROFESSION OF FAITH (STAND)
We Profess Our Faith
After having heard God’s Word in the readings, we proclaim before everyone that we believe. We believe what God has told; we believe that he has called us; we believe that he loves us. To say all this we profess our faith with the creed.
THE NICENE CREED
NICENE CREED: (NEW)
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
(or)
APOSTLES’ CREED (NEW)
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting. Amen.
GENERAL INTERCESSIONS
We Pray For Our Brothers And Sisters In Christ
We close the first part of the Mass by saying the General Intercessions also known as the Prayer of the Faithful. In other words we not only pray for ourselves but for all who need God’s help. The Priest usually begins and ends the General Intercessions and someone else reads the intentions for which are praying together. We add our voices to the prayer by repeating the response that has been chosen. egs. People : Lord, hear our prayer.
We begin by praying of the Church. We pray for the Pope, Bishops, Priests, clergy and all the people of God. We pray we might all answer God’s call in a loving manner.
We pray for public authorities, the leaders of our nation and all the people of the world.
We also pray for those who have a special need. We pray for the poor, for the sick, for those who are sad and for anyone else who might need prayers.
We pray for those who have died. We remember them because we want to share our love with them and pray that they might be with God in heaven.
Finally, we pray for our own local community and our particular needs.
The Prayer closes the first part of the Mass which is called the Liturgy of the Word.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST (SIT)
Preparation Song
While the gifts of the people are being brought forward to the priest and placed on the altar, a song is sung. The gifts are bread and wine and whatever else we offer for the needs of the Church and for the poor. We are also encouraged to offer a gift of ourselves to Jesus examples: Peace, Love, Justice, and Humility.
PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS
We Place Bread On The Altar
The priest takes the bread and says in a quiet voice (or sometimes sings) :
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you:
fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.
We may respond: Blessed be God forever.
We Place The Wine On The Altar
He then takes the wine and says in a quiet voice (or sings):
[By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity]
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you:
fruit of the vine and work of human hands, it will become our spiritual drink.
We may respond: Blessed be God forever.
The Priest washes his hands, asking God to wash away his sins. He then says,
INVITATION TO PRAYER (STAND)
We Ask God To Accept Our Sacrifice
Priest: Pray, brethren, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God , the almighty Father.
People:
PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS
We Pray For God’s Grace
The priest says the Prayer over the Gifts. Like the Opening Prayer, there is a special one for each day of the year.
Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God,
the almighty Father.
People :May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church.
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
The priest now begins the Eucharistic Prayer. This is the prayer that will change the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord.
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 right and just.
The priest then calls upon the Lord with a prayer called the Preface. We respond to that prayer by singing or saying the same prayer that the angels sing before God’s throne :
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
We Praise God In Union With The Angels
Priest and People:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might.
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.
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.
WORDS OF INSTITUTION
The Bread And Wine Becomes Christ’s Body And Blood
There are a number of different Eucharistic Prayers that the priest can use, but they use the words that Jesus said over the bread and wine. The priest takes the bread and says,
Before he was given for death,
a death he freely accepted,
he took bread and gave you thanks.
He broke the bread,
gave it to his disciples and said:
Take this all of you, and eat it:
this is my body which will be given up for you.”
a death he freely accepted,
he took bread and gave you thanks.
He broke the bread,
gave it to his disciples and said:
Take this all of you, and eat it:
this is my body which will be given up for you.”
The priest holds up the body of Christ for all the people to see.
The priest then takes the cup filled with the wine and says,
The priest then takes the cup filled with the wine and says,
When supper was ended, he took the cup.
Again he gave you thanks and praise,
gave the cup to his disciples and said:
Again he gave you thanks and praise,
gave the cup to his disciples and said:
“Take this all of you, and drink from it:
this is the cup of my blood,
the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.
It will be shed for you and for all
so that sins may be forgiven.
Do this in memory of me.”
this is the cup of my blood,
the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.
It will be shed for you and for all
so that sins may be forgiven.
Do this in memory of me.”
The priest holds up the cup that contains the blood of Christ for all the people to see.
MEMORIAL ACCLAMATION
We Proclaim The Mystery Of Faith
We are so happy that God is giving us this very special gift that we feel like crying out for joy. The priest invites us to do this in the Memorial Acclamation. This prayer is a short profession of faith. There are four different ones that we can use:
Priest: Let us proclaim the mystery of faith.
People:
A)
Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
OR
B)
Dying you destroyed our death,
rising you restored our life,
Lord Jesus, come in glory.
rising you restored our life,
Lord Jesus, come in glory.
OR
C)
When we eat this bread and drink this cup,
we proclaim your death, Lord Jesus,
until you come in glory.
we proclaim your death, Lord Jesus,
until you come in glory.
OR
D)
Lord, by your cross and resurrection
you have set us free.
You are the Saviour of the world.
you have set us free.
You are the Saviour of the world.
GREAT AMEN
We Give Our Assent To All That Has Taken Place
At the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, we join the priest in giving glory to the Father through Jesus:
Priest Only:
Through him, with him, In him,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honor is yours,
almighty Father
forever and ever.
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honor is yours,
almighty Father
forever and ever.
People: Amen
COMMUNION RITE (STAND)
We Speak To God Our Father In The Words Jesus Taught Us
After the Eucharistic Prayer is finished, we prepare to receive Jesus in communion by saying the prayer that Jesus taught us. We praise God, ask for our daily bread, and beg forgiveness for our sins.
Priest and People:
The Lord’s Prayer
At the Saviour’s command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Priest:Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil,
graciously grant peace in our days,
that, by the help of your mercy,
we may be always free from sin
and safe from all distress,
as we await the blessed hope
and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
People:For the Kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever.
SIGN OF PEACE
We Offer A Sign Of Peace To Each Other
Before we receive the body and blood of Jesus, we have to make peace with each other.
The priest says a prayer for peace and unity that ends with:
Priest: Forever and ever.
People: Amen.
Priest: The peace of the Lord be with you always.
People: And with your spirit.
Priest: Let us offer each other the sign of peace.
We give a sign of peace to those around us.
BREAKING OF THE BREAD
We Ask For Mercy And Peace
We then call upon Jesus to prepare us so that we might be ready to receive communion. We say,
People:
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world:
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world:
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world:
grant us peace.
grant us peace.
COMMUNION
We Ask God To Make Us Worthy To Receive Communion
The priest invites us to receive Jesus our Saviour who comes to us in communion. He prays with us, asking God to make us worthy to receive his great gift.
Priest and People:
Lord, I am not worthy
that you should enter under my roof,
but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.
He then receives communion.
It is important that we remind ourselves of what we are about to do when we receive communion. We do not want to go up to receive it just because everyone else is going or just because we do it every Sunday. We should remind ourselves that this is the precious body and blood of Jesus. We should receive it because we want to be one with Jesus and we want to be like him.
We Receive Jesus
We then go up to receive the body and blood of Jesus. The priest of the Eucharist says :
Priest: The body of Christ.
Communicant: Amen
Priest: The blood of Christ.
Communicant: Amen
This response means that we really want to be one with God. The communion song is sung while communion is given to the faithful.
PERIOD OF SILENCE OR SONG OF PRAISE (SIT)
We Praise God
After the communion there may be a period of silence, or a song of praise may be sung.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
We Ask For The Grace Of Communion
Priest: Let us pray.
When everyone has finished receiving communion, the priest says a prayer called the Prayer After Communion. Like the Opening Prayer and the Prayer Over the Gifts, it is different for each day of the year. The prayer usually asks that we might be able to live with our whole heart and our entire love the things that we have promised to do when we received communion.
At the end:
Priest : Through Christ our Lord.
People : Amen.
CONCLUDING RITE
The Mass closes with a sign of the cross, just as it began with one. This time the sign of the cross is a blessing.
BLESSING
We Receive God’s Blessing From The Priest
Priest: The Lord be with you.
People:And with your spirit.
Priest: May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
DISMISSAL
We Are Sent Out To Bring Christ To Others
Priest: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. OR The Mass is ended, go in peace. OR Go in peace of Christ.
People: Thanks be to God.
The Recessional Song ends our celebration.
As we go forth from the Church, we realize that we have been changed. We had received the body and blood of our Lord, and this has made us apostles. We now go forth into the world to carry the love of Jesus to everyone whom we meet.