Vigil for the Solemnity of the Assumption 5

SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION FINAL VIGIL

Immaculate Conception Parish 15 August 2015, 7:00 PM to 12:00 MN

Solemnity of the Assumption Final Vigil

Introduction

Opening Verse

Hymn: Dakilang Tanda

Opening Prayer

Psalmody

Brief Silence

First Reading (from Sacred Scripture)

Brief Silence

Second Reading (from homilies of the Popes)

Silent Meditation (5 to 10 minutes)

Rosary

Hymn: Salve Regina

Intercessions

The Lord’s Prayer

Closing Prayer

Blessing

Closing Hymn: Paalam sa Inang Birhen

Immaculate Conception Parish Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary

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INTRODUCTION

The circumstances of the Dormition of the Mother of God were known from apostolic times. The Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory”. Many see in the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady the root reason for her Assumption, body and soul, into heaven. The two privileges are intimately linked together. This doctrine was dogmatically defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950, in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus by exercising papal infallibility.

This solemnity celebrates that God has indeed “lifted up the lowly” – Mary has been assumed body and soul into heaven. Mary was lifted up by God because of her faithfulness to God’s saving mystery, her generosity of life toward others, and her acknowledgement of God as the source of her grace and goodness. When we too are faithful, humble, and generous as Mary models for us, like her we are lifted up to share in “a place prepared by God” where “in Christ shall all be brought to life”.

This final vigil is being offered for our dear departed and for all souls in purgatory.

Let us all stand and begin our vigil.

OPENING VERSE

God, () come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me.

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Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: (All bow at the words Glory to…) as it was in the beginning, is now,

and will be for ever. Amen.

HYMN

Dakilang tanda ang sumikat sa langit, babaeng nararamtan ng araw. S’ya’y nakatuntong, sa maliwanag na buwan, labindalawang bituin ang kanyang korona.

Ref: Dakilang tanda, ikaw O Maria, kahanga-hanga ang iyong tagumpay.

At bakit ganyan ang iyong kagandahan, bakit nga ganyan ‘yong pag-aalab? Tinatanghal ka ng tanang nilalang, Kinalulugdan kang kawangis ng Manlilikha (R.)

Ina ng habag at Ina ng pag-ibig, sa ‘yo nagniningas ng liwanag. Sa ‘yo’y may apoy, bumubukal ang buhay, Ang sangnilikha’y nabubuhay sa ‘yong tagumpay. (R.)

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray [that with the help of Mary’s prayers we too may reach our heavenly home]. (Pause for silent prayer.)

Father in heaven, all creation rightly gives you praise, for all life and all holiness come from you.

In the plan of your wisdom, she who bore the Christ in her womb

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CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray.

All –powerful and ever-living God, you raised the sinless Virgin Mary, mother of your Son, body and soul to the glory of heaven. May we see heaven as our final goal and come to share her glory.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

BLESSING

May the all-powerful Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death. Amen.

CLOSING HYMN

Paalam Inang Birhen, Kasing ningning ng buwan. Paalam na, paalam. Kami ay bendisyunan, Kami ay bendisyunan. Kami ay pagpalain, Birheng maawain. Kami ay kalingain, Mahal na Ina naming.

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O magiliw, maawain, matamis na Birheng Maria.

Pray for us, o holy Mother of God That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

INTERCESSIONS

Let us praise God our almighty Father, who wished that Mary, his Son’s mother, be celebrated by each generation. Now in need we ask:

(R.) Mary, full of grace, intercede for us.

O God, worker of miracles, you made the immaculate Virgin Mary share, body and soul, in your Son’s glory in heaven, Help all of us to fix our thoughts on things above and

make us worthy to share this glory. (R.)

You made Mary our mother. Through her intercession grant strength to the weak, healing to the sick, comfort to the sorrowing, pardon to sinners, salvation and peace to all. (R.)

You made Mary mother of mercy, may all young people, especially those who are faced

with trials, feel her motherly love. (R.)

You wished Mary to be the mother of the family in the home of Jesus and Joseph, may all mothers of families foster love and holiness

through her intercession. (R.)

Lord of heaven and earth, you crowned Mary queen of heaven, may all the dead rejoice in your kingdom with the saints

forever. (R.)

THE LORD’S PRAYER

(All sing the Lord’s Prayer in English, Tagalog or Latin.)

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was raised body and soul in glory to be with him in heaven.

May we follow her example in reflecting your holiness and join in her hymn of endless life and praise.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen

PSALMODY

Ant. Christ ascended into heaven / and prepared an everlasting place / for his immaculate Mother, / alleluia.

Psalm 113 Praise the name of the Lord

He has cast down the mighty and has lifted up the lowly (Luke 1:52).

a Praise, O servants of the Lord, b praise the name of the Lord! A May the name of the Lord be blessed B both now and for evermore! c From the rising of the sun to its setting D praised be the name of the Lord! a High above all nations is the Lord, b above the heavens his glory. A Who is like the Lord, our God,

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B who has risen on high to his throne c yet stoops from the heights to look down, D to look down upon heaven and earth? a From the dust he lifts up the lowly, b from his misery he raises the poor A to set him in the company of princes, B yes, with the princes of his people. c To the childless wife he gives a home D and gladdens her heart with children. a Glory to the Father, and to the Son, B and to the Holy Spirit: c as it was in the beginning is now D and will be forever. Amen.

Ant. Christ ascended into heaven / and prepared an everlasting place / for his immaculate Mother, / alleluia.

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FIRST READING

From the Book of Revelation Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab

God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the

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All kneel to pray the Five Glorious Mysteries of the rosary beginning immediately with the First Glorious Mystery. (Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory Be). Each mystery is to be led by a different member of the congregation.

After the Glory Be of the Fifth Glorious Mystery, all stand to sing the Salve Regina

SALVE REGINA

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae; vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae. Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.

O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria.

or

O Santa Maria, O Reyna’t Ina ng Awa, Ika’y aming buhay, pag-asa’t katamisan. Sa ‘yo nga kami tumatawag, pinapanaw na ‘nak ni Eva; Sa ‘yo rin kami tumatangis, dini sa lupang bayang kahapis-hapis.

Kaya’t ilingon mo sa amin Ang mga mata mong maawain, At saka kung matapos aming pagpanaw, Ipakita mo sa amin: Ang iyong Anak na si Hesus.

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Thus, the Feast of the Assumption is an invitation to trust in God and also to imitate Mary in what she herself said: Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; I put myself at the Lord's disposal.

This is the lesson: one should travel on one's own road; one should give life and not take it. And precisely in this way each one is on the journey of love which is the loss of self, but this losing of oneself is in fact the only way to truly find oneself, to find true life.

Let us look to Mary, taken up into Heaven. Let us be encouraged to celebrate the joyful feast with faith: God wins. Faith, which seems weak, is the true force of the world. Love is stronger than hate.

And let us say with Elizabeth: Blessed are you among women. Let us pray to you with all the Church: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

End of the reading from a homily on the Assumption by Pope Benedict XVI

SILENT MEDITATION

Five to ten minutes of silence to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.

After the silent meditation, all pray the rosary beginning with the First Glorious Mystery.

ROSARY

Let us all kneel and pray the Five Glorious Mysteries.

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woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed One.”

The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

BRIEF SILENCE

SECOND READING

From a Homily on the Assumption by Pope Benedict XVI

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In his great work De Civitate Dei, St Augustine says once that the whole of human history, the history of the world, is a struggle between two loves: love of God to the point of losing oneself, of total self-giving, and love of oneself to the point of despising God, of hating others. This same interpretation of history as a struggle between two loves, between love and selfishness, also appears in the reading from the Book of Revelation that we have just heard.

Here, these two loves appear in two great figures. First of all, there is the immensely strong, red dragon with a striking and disturbing manifestation of power without grace, without love, of absolute selfishness, terror and violence.

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The words of Sacred Scripture always transcend the period in history. Thus, not only does this dragon suggest the anti-Christian power of the persecutors of the Church of that time, but also anti-Christian dictatorships of all periods.

Today too, the dragon exists in new and different ways. It exists in the form of materialistic ideologies that tell us it is absurd to think of God; it is absurd to observe God's commandments: they are a leftover from a time past. Life is only worth living for its own sake. Take everything we can get in this brief moment of life. Consumerism, selfishness and entertainment alone are worthwhile. This is life. This is how we must live. And once again, it seems absurd, impossible, to oppose this dominant mindset with all its media and propagandist power. Today too, it seems impossible to imagine a God who created man and made himself a Child and who was to be the true ruler of the world.

Even now, this dragon appears invincible, but it is still true today that God is stronger than the dragon, that it is love which conquers rather than selfishness.

Having thus considered the various historical forms of the dragon, let us now look at the other image: the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, surrounded by 12 stars. This is also a multidimensional image.

Without any doubt, a first meaning is that it is Our Lady, Mary, clothed with the sun, that is, with God, totally; Mary who lives totally in God, surrounded and penetrated by God's light. Surrounded by the 12 stars, that is, by the 12 tribes of Israel, by the whole People of God, by the whole Communion of Saints; and at her feet, the moon, the image of death and mortality.

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Mary has left death behind her; she is totally clothed in life, she is taken up body and soul into God's glory and thus, placed in glory after overcoming death, she says to us: Take heart, it is love that wins in the end!

The message of my life was: I am the handmaid of God, my life has been a gift of myself to God and my neighbour. And this life of service now arrives in real life. May you too have trust and have the courage to live like this, countering all the threats of the dragon.

This is the first meaning of the woman whom Mary succeeded in being. The “woman clothed with the sun” is the great sign of the victory of love, of the victory of goodness, of the victory of God; a great sign of consolation.

Yet, this woman who suffered, who had to flee, who gave birth with cries of anguish, is also the Church, the pilgrim Church of all times. In all generations she has to give birth to Christ anew, to bring him very painfully into the world, with great suffering. Persecuted in all ages, it is almost as if, pursued by the dragon, she had gone to live in the wilderness.

However, in all ages, the Church, the People of God, also lives by the light of God and as the Gospel says is nourished by God, nourishing herself with the Bread of the Holy Eucharist. Thus, in all the trials in the various situations of the Church through the ages in different parts of the world, she wins through suffering. And she is the presence, the guarantee of God's love against all the ideologies of hatred and selfishness.

We see of course that today too the dragon wants to devour God who made himself a Child. Do not fear for this seemingly frail God; the fight has already been won. Today too, this weak God is strong: he is true strength.