16th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST; OUR LADY OF RANSOM (1218 A.D.)

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

[Commemoration]
OUR LADY OF RANSOM

DOUBLE / GREEN

INTROIT Ps. 85:3, 5

Have pity on me, O Lord, for to You I call all the day; for You, O Lord, are sweet and mild, and plentiful in mercy to all who call upon You.

Ps. 85:1. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am needy and poor.

V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT

O Lord, may Your grace always be with us to make us diligent in performing good deeds. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of OUR LADY OF RANSOM
This feast was extended to the whole Church in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin, for having in the thirteenth century inspired St. Peter Nolasco and St. Raymond of Pennafort to found a religious order for the release of Christians captured by the Saracens. The Mercedarians vowed to give themselves up as hostages for the imprisoned Christians when ransom and military means failed. Their heroism saved countless souls from apostasy and despair.

O God, through the glorious Mother of Your Son You enriched the Church with a new religious congregation dedicated to freeing Christians from slavery among the heathens. We venerate Mary as the foundress of this institution and pray that she may also deliver us from our sins and the slavery of the devil through her own merits and intercession. Through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord . . .
 

EPISTLE Eph. 3:13-21

Brethren: Wherefore I pray you not to faint at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named: That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened by his Spirit with might unto the inward man: That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that, being rooted and founded in charity, You may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, To know also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge: that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God.

Now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us: To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, unto all generations, world without end. Amen.

GRADUAL Ps. 101:16-17

The nations all revere Your name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth shall reverence Your glory.

V. For the Lord has built up sion, and He shall appear in His glory.

Alleluia, alleluia! V. Ps. 97:1

Sing to the Lord a new canticle, for He has done wondrous deeds. Alleluia!

GOSPEL Luke 14:1-11

At that time, when Jesus went into the house of one of the Pharisees, on the sabbath day, that they watched him. And behold, there was a certain man before him that had the dropsy. And Jesus answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying: "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?" 

But they held their peace. But he taking him, healed him and sent him away. And answering them, he said: "Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fall into a pit and will not immediately draw him out, on the sabbath day?" And they could not answer him to these things.
And he spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking how they chose the first seats at the table, saying to them: "When thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the first place, lest perhaps one more honourable than thou be invited by him: And he that invited thee and him, come and say to thee: 'Give this man place.' And then thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art invited, go, sit down in the lowest place; that when he who invited thee cometh, he may say to thee: 'Friend, go up higher.' Then shalt thou have glory before them that sit at table with thee. Because every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Ps. 39:14, 15

Look down, O Lord, to help me. Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life. Look down, O Lord, to help me.

SECRET 

Cleanse us by this Sacrifice, O Lord, and in Your mercy make us worthy to participate in it. Through our Lord . . .

Commemoration of OUR LADY OF RANSOM
O Lord, through Your mercy and the intercession of the Blessed ever-Virgin Mary, let this offering bring us prosperity and peace now and forever. Through our Lord . . .

COMMUNION ANTIPHON Ps. 70:16-17, 18
O Lord, I will be mindful of Your singular justice. O God, You have taught me from my youth, and when I am old and gray, O God, forsake me not!

POSTCOMMUNION
Purify our souls, O Lord, and instill new life into them through this Heavenly Sacrament, so that even our bodies may find strength now and for the future. Through our Lord . . .

 Commemoration of OUR LADY OF RANSOM
O Lord, grant that we who have received the Sacrament of our salvation may be protected through the intercession of the Blessed ever-Virgin Mary, in whose honor we have offered this Sacrifice to Your majesty. Through our Lord . . .