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September 15 — Our Lady of Sorrows
Invitation to Worship
We make the Sign of the Cross over our lips as we begin.
O Holy ONE + open my lips,
~And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
All you who pass this way, look and see;
~ Is any sorrow like the sorrow that afflicts me!
MORNING HYMN HONORING MARY
All may sing or alternate the verses of any Morning Hymn .
O Mary of all women, you are the chosen one,
Who, ancient prophets promised, would bear God’s only Son;
All Hebrew generations prepared the way to thee,
That in your womb the God-man might come to see us free.
O Mary, you embody all God taught to our race,
For you are first and foremost in fullness of God’s grace;
We praise this wondrous honor that you gave birth to Him
Who from you took humanity and saved us from our sin.
Text: Michael Gannon
PSALMODY
Antiphon
O Mary, your heart was broken with sorrow;
pray for us, that we may stand with all those who suffer.
Psalm 91/90
Adonai, you have been our refuge
from one generation to the next.
Before the mountains were born
or the earth or the world brought forth,
you are God, without beginning or end.
You turn us back to dust
and say: “go back, children of earth.”
To your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday, come and gone,
no more than a watch in the night.
You sweep us away like a dream,
like grass which springs up in the morning.
In the morning it springs up and flowers:
by evening it withers and fades.
So we are destroyed by our foolishness,
struck with terror by what we have done.
Our guilt lies open before you;
our secrets in the light of your face.
All our days pass away before you.
Our life is over like a sigh.
Our span is seventy years
or eighty for those who are strong.
And most of these are emptiness and pain.
They pass swiftly and we are gone.
Who understands the mystery of suffering
or stands in awe before the strength of your power?
Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Adonai, relent! It seems you are angry.
Show pity to your servants.
In the morning, fill us with your love;
we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Give us joy to balance our affliction
for the years when we knew misfortune.
Show forth your work to your servants;
let your glory shine on their children.
Let the favor of Adonai be upon us:
give success to the work of our hands,
give success to the work of our hands.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
And to the BREATH of Love;
as always before,
so now and evermore. Amen.
O Mary, your heart was broken with sorrow;
pray for us, that we may stand with all those who suffer.
Reading Colossians 1:24-25
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church, of which I am a minister in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God.
Silent Prayer
Responsory
V. At the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to Jesus to the last V. Is there one who would not weep, whelmed in misery so deep, Christ’s dear mother to behold. V. Mary, ever interceding, Hear me in my fervent pleading: Fire me with your love of Christ.
Canticle of Zachary– Luke 1:68-79
Antiphon
Rejoice, O sorrowful Mother;
for your Son is truly Risen as the dayspring from on high!
Blessed + be Adonai, the God of Israel,
Who visits this people to set us free
Raising for us a sign of salvation
In the house and family of David.
God promised throughout past ages
In words of holy prophets
To save us from our enemies,
And from the control of our oppressors.
Adonai favored our ancestors
And remembered the sacred covenant.
The pledge to Abraham and Sarah
Is now renewed for us;
That freed from the grip of our foes
We might worship without fear
And be both just and holy
For the rest of our days.
And you, child, called “prophet of the Most High,”
Will go ahead to prepare the way,
By teaching this people of salvation
Through forgiveness of their sins.
For the loving compassion of the Holy One
As the Rising Sun will shine upon us
To illumine the darkness and dispel death’s shadow
To Guide our feet on the way of peace.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
and to the BREATH of Love!
As always before,
so now and evermore. Amen
Rejoice, O sorrowful Mother;
for your Son is truly Risen as the dayspring from on high!
Intercessory Prayer
Prayer of Jesus
Our Father …
May your mercy embrace all the faithful,
~From one generation to the next.
Lift up the lowly,
~And fill the hungry with good things.
Rescue your servants from suffering,
~Show us your loving kindness.
Send forth your Spirit and they will be created;
~And you will renew the face of the earth.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
~ And fill us with your Holy Spirit.
Gracious God, you showed great favor to Mary of Nazareth and graced her to bring your eternal Word into the world and to stand beside him through his passion and death. May we follow her example and carry your word into a world that still longs for the poor to be lifted up, the hungry to be filled with good things and those in sorrow to be comforted with consolation and peace. We ask this through Jesus, the Incarnate Word, who lives and loves with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen
Blessing
May the Incarnate Word, born of Mary, bless us with her courage, compassion and strength. ~Amen.
Let us bless Adonai.
~Thanks be to God.