07
October
Our Lady of the Rosary
White
The feast of the Holy Rosary was instituted by Pope Pius V to celebrate the anniversary of the defeat of the Turkish fleet at the battle of Lepanto which ended the threat of Muslim domination of the Mediterranean and was ascribed in part to the prayers and processions of the Rosary confraternity in Rome.
Entrance Antiphon : Lk 1: 28, 42
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
Collect
Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading: Malachi 3:13-20
You say harsh things about me, says the Lord. You ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ You say, ‘It is useless to serve God; what is the good of keeping his commands or of walking mournfully before the Lord of Hosts? Now we have reached the point when we call the arrogant blessed; yes, they prosper, these evil-doers; they try God’s patience and yet go free.’ This is what those who fear the Lord used to say to one another. But the Lord took note and heard them: a book of remembrance was written in his presence recording those who fear him and take refuge in his name. On the day which I am preparing, says the Lord of Hosts, they are going to be my own special possession. I will make allowances for them as a man makes allowances for the son who obeys him. Then once again you will see the difference between an upright man and a wicked one, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him. For the day is coming now, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and the evil-doers will be like stubble. The day that is coming is going to burn them up, says the Lord of Hosts, leaving them neither root nor stalk. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will shine out with healing in its rays.
Psalm 1:1-4,6
R/ Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
1. Happy indeed is the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked; nor lingers in the way of sinners nor sits in the company of scorners, but whose delight is the law of the Lord and who ponders his law day and night.
2. He is like a tree that is planted beside the flowing waters, that yields its fruit in due season and whose leaves shall never fade; and all that he does shall prosper.
3. Not so are the wicked, not so! For they like winnowed chaff shall be driven away by the wind: for the Lord guards the way of the just but the way of the wicked leads to doom.
Gospel Acclamation : Jn14:6
Alleluia, alleluia! I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord; No one can come to the Father except through me. Alleluia!
Gospel: Luke 11:5-13
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, “My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him”; and the man answers from inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it you.” I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants. So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
Prayer over the Offerings
Grant, we pray, O Lord, that we may be rightly conformed to these offerings we bring and so honour the mysteries of your Only Begotten Son, as to be made worthy of his promises. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Communion Antiphon : Lk 1: 31
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Jesus.
Prayer after Communion
We pray, O Lord our God, that, just as we proclaim in this Sacrament the Death and Resurrection of your Son, so, being made partakers in his suffering, we may also merit a share in his consolation and his glory. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Meditation
The Lord’s Prayer also tells us of the love of the Father and how much he gives to us. However, the reading points to something which is important for us: to ask. It is not that the Lord does not know what we need even before we ask him, but that in seeking the Lord, the heart of him who seeks gets transformed, and learns of the Father’s love which invariably extends to others.