Mass of Blessed Elisabeth
BLESSED MARY ELISABETH HESSELBLAD
VIRGIN
Blessed Mary Elisabeth Hesselblad was born in Faglavik in Sweden in 1870. She was baptised in the Lutheran Church and was later received into full communion with the Catholic Church. Following the example of St Bridget she took up residence in Rome in the same house in which the Swedish Saint had lived With the approval of Pope St Pius X she founded the Order of the Sisters of the Most Holy Saviour and St Bridget. She died in Rome in 1957 after a life of whole-hearted dedication to the ideals of religious life and to constant prayer and apostolate in favour of Church unity, especially in Northern European countries.
She was beatified by His Holiness Pope John Paul II on 9 April of the Great Jubilee Year 2000.
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
Come, bride of Christ, and receive the crown which the Lord has prepared for you for ever.
OPENING PRAYER
Almighty and merciful God,
who through your Holy Spirit
guided Blessed Mary Elisabeth (Hesselblad), in the footsteps of Saint Bridget
to the fulness of catholic truth;
grant, through her example and her intercession, that we may ardently love the Crucified Christ and dedicate our lives to the unity of your Church.
We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS
Accept, Lord, the humble gifts we offer,
in honour of the virgin, the Blessed Mary Elisabeth, and through the holy sacrifice of Christ Your Son transform us into ardent apostles of your love. Grant this though Christ Our Lord.
PREFACE
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give him thanks and praise.
Father, all-powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.
Today we honour your saints
who consecrated their lives to Christ for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.
What love you show us
as you recall mankind to its first innocence,
and invite us to taste on earth the gifts of the world to come!
Now, with the saints and all the angels we praise you for ever:
Holy, holy, holy ...
COMMUNION ANTIPHON
The wise virgin
chose the better part for herself,
and it shall not be taken away from her. (Cf. Lk. 10, 42)
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Lord God,
through the sacred power of this eucharist,
which we have celebrated in honour of Blessed Mary Elisabeth, grant us victory over sin,
health in body and spirit,
and eternal glory in your kingdom
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
LECTIONARY
FIRST READING
Outside the Easter Season
A reading from the prophet Hosea 2: 16-17. 21-22
I will betroth you to myself for ever
The Lord says this:
I am going to lead her into the wilderness
and speak to her heart.
There she will respond to me as she did when she was young, as she did when she came out of the land of Egypt.
I will betroth you to myself for ever,
betroth you with integrity and justice,
with tenderness and love;
I will betroth you to myself with faithfulness,
and you will come to know the Lord. The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM; Ps 44:11-12. 14-17
R. The bridegroom is here!
Go out and meet Christ the Lord.
Listen, 0 daughter, give ear to my words:
forget your own people and your father's house.
So will the king desire your beauty:
He is your lord, pay homage to him. R.
The daughter of the king is clothed with splendour, her robes embroidered with pearls set in gold.
She is led to the king with her maiden companions. R.
They are escorted amid gladness and joy;
they pass within the palace of the king.
Sons shall be yours in place of your fathers:
you will make them princes over all the earth. R.
FIRST READING
In the Easter Season
A reading from the book of the Apocalypse 3: 14. 20-22
Look. I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share his meal, side by side with him. Those who prove victorious I will allow to share my throne, just as I was victorious myself and took my place with my Father on his throne.
If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. The Word of the Lord
RESPONSORIAL SALM 22
R. Blessed are those who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.
Or R. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me-repose.
Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit. R.
He guides me along the right path;
He is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff; with these you give me comfort. R.
You have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil; my cup is overflowing. R.
Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life.
In the Lord's own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever. R.
SECOND READING: 12:31-13: 13
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians
Be ambitious for the higher gifts. And I am going to show you a way that is better than any of them.
If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains, but without love, then I am nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, and if I even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no good whatever.
Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.
Love does not come to an end. But if there are gifts of prophecy, the time will come when they must fail; or the gift of languages, it will not continue for ever; and knowledge - for this, too, the time will come when it must fail. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect; but once perfection comes, all imperfect things will disappear. When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and think like a child, and argue like a child, but now I am a man, all childish ways are put behind me. Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge that I have now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known.
In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love. The word of the Lord.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (cf. Jn.4: 8-12)
Alleluia, alleluia.
God is love.
As long as we love one another God will live in us,
and his love will be complete in us.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (17:20-26)
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:
«Holy Father,
I pray not only for these,
but for those also who through their words will believe in me.
May they all be one.
Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you,
so that the world may believe it was you who sent me. I have given them the glory you gave to me that they may be one as we are one.
With me in them and you in me, may they be so completely one
that the world will realise that it was you who sent me and that I have loved them as much as you loved me.
Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where Iam,
so that they may always see the glory you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Father, Righteous One, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me.
I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them.The Gospel of the Lord.
PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL
The Celebrant:
The glory of God shines forth in his saints and his grace is the source and crown of their christian perfection. After having heard the word of life, let us humbly present our prayers to the Father through Christ, our only mediator, in the Holy Spirit.
We pray for the Holy Father N.N., that through the intercession of the Blessed Mary Elisabeth, he may continue to strive for Christian unity.
We pray for peace and harmony among nations, that all peoples may recognize that they are children of the same God and Father and learn to live together as brothers and sisters.
or
We pray for Northern European countries, that through the shining example of Blessed Mary Elisabeth, who was a noble daughter of the Swedish Nation, they may always appreciate their Christian roots and traditions and may live in harmony among themselves and with all peoples.
We pray for the members of the Order of the Most Holy Saviour and St Bridget who venerate Blessed Mary Elisabeth as foundress of a renewed bridgittine family, that they may give witness to her virtues, to her great love for the Crucified Christ and to her apostolic zeal.
We pray for all those in need: for the poor, the homeless, for refugees and for pilgrims. May the hospitable spirit of Blessed Mary Elisabeth remain always present in the Church and may those who sincerely seek truth and love may always find them in the Christian community.
We pray for all those who believe in Christ and are united by one baptism, that, following the example of Blessed Mary Elisabeth, they may progress together on the road of full visible unity through constant dialogue lived out in truth and charity.
We pray for our community as it celebrates the feast of Blessed Mary Elisabeth, that through her intercession we may also experience the healing mercy and attain the perfection in love to which the Father incessantly invites us.
The Celebrant:
Father of mercies, we praise you and give you glory for the gift you have made us in the Blessed Mary Elisabeth. We ask you to look favorably on our humble prayers, through Christ Our Lord. Amen.