Friday, September 24, 2021

EMBER FRIDAY IN SEPTEMBER; OUR LADY OF RANSOM

 

 



EMBER FRIDAY IN SEPTEMBER
 



[Commemoration]
OUR LADY OF RANSOM

Like a "little Lent," each series of Ember Days recalls everyone to the fervent living of God's commandments. God draws men to do His will, for His own glory and their happiness, both by threats of just punishment, and by telling them of His mercy, His love, His blessings, His protection. Whether the attraction of love or the pressure of fear motivates the individual at a given moment depends upon the individual's temperament, character, and spiritual condition. But all the ways of God are just and right. For a return to God, either from serious sin or from lukewarmness and hypocrisy, God asks only sorrow, love, and penance.


Introit
Ps 104:3-4
Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord! Look to the Lord, and be strengthened; seek His face evermore.
Ps 104:1
Give thanks to the Lord, invoke His name; make known among the nations His deeds.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord! Look to the Lord, and be strengthened; seek His face evermore.


Collect
Grant, we beseech You, almighty God, that we who devoutly keep the sacred observances year by year may be pleasing unto You both in body and soul.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
 

 
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 . . .
   
Lesson
Lesson from the book of Osee the Prophet
Osee 14:2-10
Thus says the Lord God: Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the Lord; say to Him, ‘Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls. Assyria will not save us, nor shall we have horses to mount; we shall say no more: Our god, to the work of our hands; for in You the orphan finds compassion.’ I will heal their defection, I will love them freely; for My wrath is turned away from them. I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily; he shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar, and put forth his shoots. His splendor shall be like the olive tree and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar. Again they shall dwell in his shade and raise grain; they shall blossom like the vine, and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols? I have humbled him, but I will prosper him. ‘I am like a verdant cypress tree’ - because of Me you bear fruit! Let him who is wise understand these things; let him who is prudent know them. Straight are the paths of the Lord, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them.


Gradual
Ps 89:13, 1.
Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on Your servants.
V. O Lord, You have been our refute through all generations.
Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Luke
R. Glory be to Thee, O Lord.


Luke 7:36-50
At that time, one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to dine with him; so He went into the house of the Pharisee and reclined at table. And behold, a woman in the town who was a sinner, upon learning that He was at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment; and standing behind Him at His feet, she began to bathe His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with ointment. Now when the Pharisee, who had invited Him, saw it, he said to himself, This Man, were He a prophet, would surely know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he said, Master, speak. A certain money-lender had two debtors; the one owed five hundred denarii, the other fifty. As they had no means of paying, he forgave them both. Which of them, therefore, will love him more? Simon answered and said, He, I suppose, to whom he forgave more. And He said to him, You have judged rightly. And turning to the woman, He said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I came into your house; you gave Me no water for My feet; but she has bathed My feet with tears, and has wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, from the moment she entered, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil; but she has anointed My feet with ointment. Wherefore I say to you, her sins, many as they are, shall be forgiven her, because she has loved much. But he to whom little is forgiven, loves little. And they who were at table with Him began to say within themselves,
Who is this Man, Who even forgives sins? But He said to the woman, Your faith has saved you, go in peace.


Offertory
Ps 102:2, 5
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; and your youth shall be renewed like the eagle’s.
 
Secret
May the gift of our fasting, we beseech You, O Lord, be acceptable to You, and by its purifying power make us worthy of Your grace and bring us to the eternal bliss You have promised us.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
 
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
Ps 118:22, 24
Take away from me reproach and contempt, for I observe Your decrees, O Lord. Your decrees are my delight.
 

Post Communion
We beseech You, O almighty God, that, showing gratitude for the gifts we have received, we may obtain yet greater benefits.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
 

 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 . . .   


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