RELIGION AND ART

PRAYER BEFORE MASS Go before us O Lord, in this our sacrifice of Prayer and Praise, and grant that we say and sing with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and practice and show forth in our daily lives. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.   PRAYER AFTER MASS Bless, O Lord, our hearts and minds, and grant that as we leave Your house, we may continue to be aware of Your presence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.  by Saint John Berchmans, Patron Saint of Altar Boys. Readings   Lectures   Reflection   The Visitation First Reading   Zephaniah 3:14-18   The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst Shout for joy, daughter of Zion, Israel, shout aloud! Rejoice, exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has repealed your sentence; he has driven your enemies away.   The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst; you have no more evil to fear. When that day comes, word will come to Jerusalem: Zion, have no fear, do not let...

PRAYER BEFORE MASS Go before us O Lord, in this our sacrifice of Prayer and Praise, and grant that we say and sing with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and practice and show forth in our daily lives. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.   PRAYER AFTER MASS Bless, O Lord, our hearts and minds, and grant that as we leave Your house, we may continue to be aware of Your presence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.  by Saint John Berchmans, Patron Saint of Altar Boys. Readings  Lectures   Reflection    First Reading    Deuteronomy 4:32-34,39-40 The Lord is God indeed, He and no other Moses said to the people: ‘Put this question to the ages that are past, that went before you, from the time God created man on earth: Was there ever a word so majestic, from one end of heaven to the other? Was anything ever heard? Did ever a people hear the voice of the living God speaking from the heart of the fire, as you heard it, and remain alive? Has any god ventured to ...

PRAYER BEFORE MASS Go before us O Lord, in this our sacrifice of Prayer and Praise, and grant that we say and sing with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and practice and show forth in our daily lives. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.   PRAYER AFTER MASS Bless, O Lord, our hearts and minds, and grant that as we leave Your house, we may continue to be aware of Your presence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.  by Saint John Berchmans, Patron Saint of Altar Boys.  Reading s  Lectures  Reflection  First reading Ecclesiasticus 51:17-27 Glory be to him who has given me wisdom I will thank you and praise you,   and bless the name of the Lord. When I was still a youth, before I went travelling,  in my prayers I asked outright for wisdom. Outside the sanctuary I would pray for her,  and to the last I will continue to seek her. From her blossoming to the ripening of her grape  my heart has taken its delight in her. My foot has pursue...

PRAYER BEFORE MASS Go before us O Lord, in this our sacrifice of Prayer and Praise, and grant that we say and sing with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and practice and show forth in our daily lives. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.   PRAYER AFTER MASS Bless, O Lord, our hearts and minds, and grant that as we leave Your house, we may continue to be aware of Your presence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.  by Saint John Berchmans, Patron Saint of Altar Boys.  Readings   Lectures   Reflection    First Reading Ecclesiasticus 44:1,9-13 Let us praise illustrious men Let us praise illustrious men,  our ancestors in their successive generations. Some have left no memory,  and disappeared as though they had not existed, they are now as though they had never been,  and so too, their children after them. But here is a list of generous men   whose good works have not been forgotten. In their descendants there remains  a ric...

PRAYER BEFORE MASS Go before us O Lord, in this our sacrifice of Prayer and Praise, and grant that we say and sing with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and practice and show forth in our daily lives. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.   PRAYER AFTER MASS Bless, O Lord, our hearts and minds, and grant that as we leave Your house, we may continue to be aware of Your presence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.  by Saint John Berchmans, Patron Saint of Altar Boys.  Readings   Lectures   Reflection    First Reading Ecclesiasticus 42:15-26 The work of the Lord is full of his glory I will remind you of the works of the Lord,   and tell of what I have seen. By the words of the Lord his works come into being   and all creation obeys his will. As the sun in shining looks on all things, so the work of the Lord is full of his glory. The Lord has not granted to the holy ones  to tell of all his marvels which the Almighty Lord has s...

PRAYER BEFORE MASS Go before us O Lord, in this our sacrifice of Prayer and Praise, and grant that we say and sing with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and practice and show forth in our daily lives. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.   PRAYER AFTER MASS Bless, O Lord, our hearts and minds, and grant that as we leave Your house, we may continue to be aware of Your presence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.  by Saint John Berchmans, Patron Saint of Altar Boys.  Readings   Lectures   Reflection   Saint Philip Neri First Reading   Ecclesiasticus 36:1-2,5-7,13-19   Lord, let the nations acknowledge you Have mercy on us, Master, Lord of all, and look on us,  cast the fear of yourself over every nation. Let them acknowledge you, just as we have acknowledged   that there is no God but you, Lord. Send new portents, do fresh wonders,   win glory for your hand and your right arm. Gather together all the tribes of Jacob,...

PRAYER BEFORE MASS Go before us O Lord, in this our sacrifice of Prayer and Praise, and grant that we say and sing with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and practice and show forth in our daily lives. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.   PRAYER AFTER MASS Bless, O Lord, our hearts and minds, and grant that as we leave Your house, we may continue to be aware of Your presence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.  by Saint John Berchmans, Patron Saint of Altar Boys. Readings   Lectures   Reflection. First reading   Eccle:35:2-15 Give to the Most High as he has given to you A man multiplies offerings by keeping the Law;   he offers communion sacrifices by following the commandments. By showing gratitude he makes an offering of fine flour,  by giving alms he offers a sacrifice of praise. Withdraw from wickedness and the Lord will be pleased,   withdraw from injustice and you make atonement. Do not appear empty-handed in the Lord’s pres...

MARY MOTHER OF CHIRST MOTHER OF THE CHURCH PRAYER BEFORE MASS Go before us O Lord, in this our sacrifice of Prayer and Praise, and grant that we say and sing with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and practice and show forth in our daily lives. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.   PRAYER AFTER MASS Bless, O Lord, our hearts and minds, and grant that as we leave Your house, we may continue to be aware of Your presence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.  by Saint John Berchmans, Patron Saint of Altar Boys. Readings   Lectures   Reflection   First Reading  Genesis 3:9-15,20 The Mother of all those who live After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard thesound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit,...