MONDAY OF HOLY WEEK
God is divinely patient with human persons, for He has endowed all men with the freedom to choose good and evil. Among those closest to our Lord were many who loved and served Him sincerely and devotedly. But there was one, a thief, who became a betrayer of his indulgent Master. Both the anointing by Mary and the treachery of Judas prepared for the holocaust of God's Son, a holocaust that was to merit the grace for every act of love and for every forgiveness of sin.
INTROIT (Ps. 34:1-2)
Fight,
O Lord, against those who fight me; war against those who make war upon
me. Take Your sword and shield, and rise up to help me, O Lord, the
source of my salvation.
Ps. 34:3. Bring
up Your lance, and block the way against my persecutors; say to my
soul, "I am your salvation." Fight. O Lord, against those . . .
COLLECT
Almighty
God, may the merits of the passion of Your only-begotten Son give us
new strength, for our own weakness brings nothing but failure in the
face of so many difficulties; who lives and rules with You . . .
Commemoration of SAINT RICHARD
Richard was canonized on January 22, 1262, by Pope Urban IV. He
is venerated in both the Catholic and Anglican Church with his feast day
celebrated April 3. In England, his feast day is especially observed in
the dioceses of Westminster, Birmingham, and Southwark. Richard is the
patron saint of coachmen, a once common profession before the modern age
and the invention of the automobile. He is often depicted either
holding a chalice as he is in our church, or with a chalice on its side
at his feet. He is also portrayed kneeling with the chalice before him,
working a plough, and as a bishop blessing the people with a chalice
nearby.
Legend has it that once when Richard
was celebrating Mass, he accidentally knocked his chalice, filled with
the precious blood of Christ, to the floor, but not a drop was spilled
from the chalice. This is why St. Richard is so often portrayed with a
chalice either in his hand or somewhere near his person.
O God, who didst make Thy Church to shine with glorious miracles, by
the merits of blessed Richard, Thy Confessor and Bishop, grant that
through his intercession, we, Thy servants, may reach the glory of
everlasting blessedness. Through our Lord . . .
LESSON (Isa. 50:5-10)
In
those days, Isaias said, "The Lord God hath opened my ear, and I do not
resist: I have not gone back. I have given my body to the strikers, and
my cheeks to them that plucked them: I have not turned away my face
from them that rebuked me, and spit upon me. The Lord God is my helper,
therefore am I not confounded: therefore have I set my face as a most
hard rock, and I know that I shall not be confounded. He is near that
justifieth me, who will contend with me? let us stand together, who is
my adversary? let him come near to me. Behold the Lord God is my helper:
who is he that shall condemn me? Lo, they shall all be destroyed as a
garment, the moth shall eat them up. Who is there among you that feareth
the Lord, that heareth the voice of his servant, that hath walked in
darkness, and hath no light? let him hope in the name of the Lord, and
lean upon his God."
GRADUAL (Ps. 34:23, 3)
Arise, O Lord, and be watchful in my defense and my cause, my God and my Lord. V. Bring up Your lance and block the way against my persecutors.
TRACT (Ps. 102:10; 78:8-9)
O Lord, repay us not according to the sins we have committed, nor according to our iniquities. V. O Lord, remember not our iniquities of the past; let Your mercy come quickly to us, for we are being brought very low. (Here all kneel.) V. Help us, O God our Saviour, and for the glory of Your name, O Lord, deliver me; and pardon us our sins for Your name's sake.
GOSPEL (John 12:1-9)
Jesus
therefore, six days before the pasch, came to Bethania, where Lazarus
had been dead, whom Jesus raised to life. And they made him a supper
there: and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that were at table
with him. Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of right spikenard,
of great price, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with
her hair. And the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
Then
one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, he that was about to betray him,
said: "Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence and given
to the poor?" Now he said this not because he cared for the poor; but
because he was a thief and, having the purse, carried the things that
were put therein. Jesus therefore said:
"Let her alone, that she may keep it against the day of my burial. For
the poor you have always with you: but me you have not always."
A
great multitude therefore of the Jews knew that he was there; and they
came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus, whom he
had raised from the dead.
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON (Ps. 142:9-10)
Rescue me from my enemies, o Lord; I flee to You. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God.
SECRET
O
Lord, may these sacred rites we perform cleanse us, so that we may be
purified and brought closer to God who is their Founder. Through Our
Lord . . .
Commemoration of SAINT RICHARD
Vouchsafe,
we beseech Thee, O merciful God, that the oblation we offer in the
sight of Thy Majesty may, by the intercession of blessed Richard, Thy
Confessor and Bishop, obtain for us the grace to live a good life now,
and win for us everlasing glory. Through our Lord . . .
COMMUNION ANTIPHON (Ps. 34:26)
Let
all who rejoice at my misfortune be put to shame and confounded. Let
those who speak maliciously of me be clothed with shame and disgrace.
POSTCOMMUNION
O
Lord, may Your Sacraments fill us with holy fervor so that we may
delight in the celebration and grace of this sacred rite. Through Our
Lord . . .
Commemoration of SAINT RICHARD
May the
reception of these most holy Mysteries, O Lord, which blessed Richard,
Thy Confessor and Bishop, devoutly ministered, avail us unto salvation.
Through our Lord . . .
PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
Help
us, O God of our salvation! Grant that we may come with joy to
commemorate Your mercies through which we have been restored to a new
life. Through Our Lord . . .
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