Sunday

by

Monday, 9 December 2024 : Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 1 : 26-38

In the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

The Angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean. But the Angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call Him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the kingdom of David, His ancestor; He will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and His reign shall have no end.”

Then Mary said to the Angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” And the Angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the Holy Child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”

Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the Angel left her.

by

Monday, 9 December 2024 : Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Ephesians 1 : 3-6, 11-12

Blessed be God, the Father of Christ Jesus our Lord, Who, in Christ, has blessed us from heaven, with every spiritual blessing. God chose us, in Christ, before the creation of the world, to be holy, and without sin in His presence.

From eternity He destined us, in love, to be His adopted sons and daughters, through Christ Jesus, thus fulfilling His free and generous will. This goal suited Him : that His loving-kindness, which He granted us in His beloved might finally receive all glory and praise.

By a decree of Him, Who disposes all things, according to His own plan and decision, we, the Jews, have been chosen and called, and we were awaiting the Messiah, for the praise of His glory.

by

Monday, 9 December 2024 : Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3bc-4

Sing to YHVH a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

YHVH has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love, nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you, lands, make a joyful noise to YHVH, break into song and sing praise.

by

Monday, 9 December 2024 : Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Genesis 3 : 9-15, 20

YHVH God called the man saying to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard Your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree I ordered you not to eat?”

The man answered, “The woman You put with me gave me fruit from the tree and I ate it.” God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”

YHVH God said to the serpent, “Since you have done that, be cursed among all the cattle and wild beasts! You will crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will make you enemies, you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”

The man called his wife by the name of Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

by

(Usus Antiquior) Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (I Classis) – Monday, 9 December 2024 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Preface, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : White

Offertory

Luke 1 : 28

Ave, Maria, gratia plena; Dominus tecum : benedicta tu in mulieribus. Alleluja.

English translation

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you amongst women. Alleluia.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Salutarem hostiam, quam in sollemnitate immaculatae Conceptionis beatae Virginis Mariae tibi, Domine, offerimus, suscipe et praesta : ut, sicut illam Tua gratia praeveniente ab omni labe immunem profitemur; ita ejus intercessione a culpis omnibus liberemur. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Receive, o Lord, the saving oblation which we offer You on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and grant that, as we confess her to have been preserved, by Your prevenient grace, from all taints of evil, so, through her intercession, we may be freed from all sins. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Preface of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos Tibi semper et ubique gratias agere : Domine, Sancte Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus : Et Te in sollemnitate sacratissimi Rosarii de Beatae Mariae semper Virginis collaudare, benedicere et praedicare. Quae et Unigenitum Tuum Sancti Spiritus obumbratione concepit : et, virginitatis gloria permanente, lumen aeternum mundo effudit, Jesum Christum, Dominum nostrum.

Per quem majestatem Tuam laudant Angeli, adorant Dominationes, tremunt Potestates. Caeli caelorumque Virtutes ac beata Seraphim socia exsultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces ut admitti jubeas, deprecamur, supplici confessione dicentes :

English translation

It is truly meet and just, right and availing unto salvation, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, o Holy Lord, Father Almighty, Everlasting God, and on the solemnity of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, should praise and bless and proclaim You. For she conceived Your only begotten Son by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, and not losing the glory of her virginity, gave to the world the everlasting Light, Jesus Christ our Lord.

He through Whom the angels praise Your majesty, the Dominations worship it, and the Powers are in awe. The heavens and the heavenly hosts, and the blessed Seraphim join together in celebrating their joy. With these we pray to You joining also our voices, while we say with lowly praise :

Communion

Tradition of the Faith

Gloriosa dicta sunt de te, Maria : quia fecit tibi magna qui potens est.

English translation

Glorious things are spoken of you, o Mary, for He who is mighty has done great things unto you.

Post-Communion Prayer

Sacramenta quae sumpsimus, Domine, Deus noster : illius in nobis culpae vulnera reparent; a qua immaculatam Beatae Mariae Conceptionem singulariter praeservasti. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

May the sacrament which we have received, o Lord, our God, heal in us the wounds of that sin from which by a singular privilege, You had preserved immaculate the conception of Blessed Mary. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

by

(Usus Antiquior) Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (I Classis) – Monday, 9 December 2024 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : White

Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Luke 1 : 26-28

In illo tempore : Missus est Angelus Gabriel a Deo in civitatem Galilaeae, cui nomen Nazareth, ad Virginem desponsatam viro, cui nomen erat Joseph, de domo David, et nomen Virginis Maria. Et ingressus Angelus ad eam, dixit : Ave, gratia plena; Dominus tecum : benedicta tu in mulieribus.

English translation

At that time, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the Angel having come in, said unto her, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you amongst women.”

by

(Usus Antiquior) Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (I Classis) – Monday, 9 December 2024 : Gradual and Alleluia

Liturgical Colour : White

Judith 13 : 23 and Judith 15 : 10 and Canticles 4 : 7

Benedicta es tu, Virgo Maria, a Domino, Deo excelso, prae omnibus mulieribus super terram.

Response : Tu gloria Jerusalem, tu laetitia Israel, tu honorificentia populi nostri.

Alleluja, Alleluja.

Response : Tota pulchra es, Maria : et macula originalis non est in te, Alleluja.

English translation

Blessed are you, o Virgin Mary, by the Lord, the Most High God, above all women, upon the earth.

Response : You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy of Israel, you are the honour of our people.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Response : You are all fair, o Mary, and there is in you no stain of original sin. Alleluia.

by

(Usus Antiquior) Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (I Classis) – Monday, 9 December 2024 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : White

Lectio libri Sapientiae – Lesson from the Book of Wisdom

Proverbs 8 : 22-35

Dominus possedit me in initio viarum suarum, antequam faceret a principio. Ab aeterno ordinata sum, et ex antiquis, antequam terra fieret. Nondum erant abyssi, et ego jam concepta eram : necdum fontes aquarum eruperant : necdum montes gravi mole constiterant : ante colles ego parturiebar : adhuc terram non fecerat et flumina et cardines orbis terrae.

Quando praeparabat caelos, aderam : quando certa lege et gyro vallabat abyssos : quando aethera firmabat sursum et librabat fontes aquarum : quando circumdabat mari terminum suum et legem ponebat aquis, ne transirent fines suos : quando appendebat fundamenta terrae.

Cum eo eram cuncta componens : et delectabar per singulos dies, ludens coram eo omni tempore : ludens in orbe terrarum : et deliciae meae esse cum filiis hominum. Nunc ergo, filii, audite me : Beati, qui custodiunt vias meas. Audite disciplinam, et estote sapientes, et nolite abjicere eam.

Beatus homo, qui audit me et qui vigilat ad fores meas cotidie, et observat ad postes ostii mei. Qui me invenerit, inveniet vitam et hauriet salutem a Domino.

English translation

The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His ways, before He made anything, from the beginning, I was set up from eternity, and of old, before the earth was made. The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived, neither had the fountains of waters as yet sprung out, the mountains with their huge bulk had not as yet been established, before the hills I was brought forth. He had not yet made the earth, nor the rivers, nor the poles of the world.

When He prepared the Heavens, I was there, when with a certain law and compass, He enclosed the depths, when He established the sky above, and poised the fountains of waters, when He compassed the sea with its bounds, and set a law to the waters that they should not pass their limits, when He balanced the foundations of the earth.

I was with Him, forming all things, and was delighted every day, playing before Him at all times, playing in the world, and My delight is to be with the children of men. Now therefore, you children, hear Me : Blessed are those who keep My ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and do not refuse it.

Blessed is the man who hears Me, and who watches daily at My gates, and waits at the posts of My doors. He who shall find Me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord.

by

(Usus Antiquior) Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (I Classis) – Monday, 9 December 2024 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : White

Introit

Isaiah 61 : 10 and Psalm 29 : 2

Gaudens gaudebo in Domino, et exsultabit anima mea in Deo meo : quia induit me vestimentis salutis : et indumento justitiae circumdedit me, quasi sponsam ornatam monilibus suis.

Exaltabo Te, Domine, quoniam suscepisti me : nec delectasti inimicos meos super me.

Response : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God, for He had clothed me with the garments of salvation, and with the robe of justice He had covered me, as a bride adorned with her jewels.

I will extol You, o Lord, for You have upheld me, and have not made my enemies to rejoice over me.

Response : Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Collect

Deus, qui per immaculatam Virginis Conceptionem dignum Filio Tuo habitaculum praeparasti : quaesumus; ut, qui ex morte ejusdem Filii Tui praevisa eam ab omni labe praeservasti, nos quoque mundos ejus intercessione ad Te pervenire concedas. Per eumdem Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, had prepared a worthy dwelling for Your Son, we beseech You, that You, Who, by the death, foreseen by You, of the same Son, Your Son, had preserved her from all stain, will grant us also, by her intercession, to come to You pure in heart. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

by

Sunday, 8 December 2024 : Second Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we celebrate the occasion of the Second Sunday of Advent as we continue to progress through this time and season of Advent in preparation for the coming of Christmas. During this time of Advent, all of us focus our attention upon the expectation of the coming of God’s salvation, both commemorating His earlier coming and appearance in this world which had happened two millennia ago, as well as the promised Second Coming of Christ, which we have been assured and foretold, and therefore we prepare ourselves spiritually and in other means so that we may be truly ready to welcome the Lord as He comes again into our midst, dwelling among us and within us all, our Hope and our Salvation.

This Sunday, we focus on the Theme of Peace, the second of the four themes we commemorate this Advent on Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. If last Sunday we remind ourselves that Advent is the sign of God’s Hope being manifested to us all through His Son, which is what Christmas is all about, then this Sunday we focus our attention on the Peace that our Saviour, our Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, has brought into our midst. The coming of the Lord as the Prince of Peace, at His Second Coming at the end of time will herald the era and time of eternal peace, where no more conflict, struggles, wars and hardships will exist anymore around us, unlike what we are facing and dealing with in this world of ours in the present day just as how it had been in the past.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard the words of the Lord as He had spoken to His people, the Israelites through His prophet Baruch. The prophet Baruch came among the Israelites to minister to them during the time at the ending and final years of the Kingdom of Judah, to a people that had been suffering a lot of struggles and hardships amidst their inability and failures to obey the words and commandments of the Lord. He was the scribe of the prophet Jeremiah who had laboured and struggled for many long years against all those who resisted the Lord’s warning and orders. He helped Jeremiah whenever the latter had to hide from the scrutiny and attack by his enemies, helping him to proclaim the words of the Lord to His people.

According to tradition, both the prophet Baruch and Jeremiah endured the final years of the kingdom of Judah and they were there when Jerusalem was besieged and destroyed by the forces of the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar. Both of them were also brought by some rebels among the people into exile in the land of Egypt, and there together with Jeremiah, the prophet Baruch continued to speak of the words of the Lord’s assurance to His people, reminding them all that their time of sufferings and hardships will eventually come to an end. God would gather them all back from those places that they had all been scattered and exiled to, and He would restore them once again to a state of happiness and joy, with peace and harmony in their midst, no more war and conflicts and all the things that they had endured and suffered.

Then, in our second reading this Sunday from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in Philippi, we heard of the Apostle’s words reminding the faithful there of the great love and grace that they all have received from God and which He has done for all of them through His most Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, through Whom the salvation for all the whole world has been assured to us. His coming into our midst has brought forth the revelation of what God has intended for each and every one of us, guiding and leading us all into the path towards our reconciliation and reunion with God, as He taught us all how to live our lives more worthily of the Lord, in purifying ourselves from all the evils and wickedness that had afflicted us previously in our lives.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of something similar from the account in the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist in which the story of the baptism and works by St. John the Baptist was told to us all. St. John the Baptist was the one whom God had sent into our midst right before the coming of the Saviour in order to prepare His way and to call on us all mankind to welcome Him properly and worthily. And hence, he called on all of the people to repent and turn away from their many sins, and to commit themselves anew to the Lord, a commitment which was symbolised by their willingness to be baptised at the River Jordan by St. John the Baptist. The baptism of St. John is the first step for them to come and seek God’s mercy and forgiveness, to be reconciled once again with their Lord and Master.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our lives many of us are now facing a lot of struggles, hardships and challenges from various sources and for many different reasons. However, ultimately all these stem from our separation from God, our pursuit of worldly matters and attachments and our lack of genuine and strong faith in God. After all, how can we have true peace and happiness if we are separated from Him Who is the source of all peace and happiness? That is why this Advent we should focus on the Lord, our Prince of Peace, Whose coming into this world has restored our hope for the true peace and happiness that can exist once again in our lives, as we detach ourselves from the false pleasures and joys of the world and seek instead the lasting happiness in God.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Creator, the Master of Peace and Harmony bring us all into His loving and peaceful embrace. May He empower each and every one of us so that we can continue to live in true peace and harmony, and make this as the emphasis and focus of our upcoming celebrations of Christmas. Let our Christmas joy and celebration be truly meaningful and let us all celebrate Christmas with the right emphasis and intention so that they do not become empty joy and superficial jubilation just as how many of the secular Christmas celebrations all around us may show us. May all of us continue to grow ever stronger in our faith in the Lord and may all of us be always reminded of the love and kindness which God, our Lord and Master has always had for us. Amen.