Saturday after Ascension in the 7th Week of Easter

COLLECT:
Praesta, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus,
ut, qui paschalia festa peregimus,
haec, te largiente, moribus et vita teneamus.

Don’t miss the fact that peregimus is past tense.  This time of the verb drives home the fact that we have come to the end of Paschaltide in the Novus Ordo calendar. 

SUPER LITERAL VERSION:
Grant, we beg You, Almighty God,
that we who have carried through the paschal feasts
may, You bestowing it, hold to them in morals and in life.

OTHERWISE:
Almighty God, we beg You,
that we who have completed our observance of days of the paschal cycle,
may as You lavish this grace upon us, hold fast to them still in our life and outward conduct.

We are coming to that time of year again when we observe no special liturgical cycle concerning the mysteries of the Lord, such as Advent/Christmas or Lent/Easter.  I often mention to people that what we call the Tempus per annum or "Ordinary Time", is an "Orderly Time" in which we practice putting into practice what we have learned in the most specialized cycles of the calendar.  Today’s prayer carries with it a hint of this idea.  We are asking God to make it possible by His actual graces to continue even after the end of Paschaltide to remember and put into practice the dying and rising of the Lord.

Today perhaps there is rather too much emphasis in preaching and literature on the Resurrection aspect of our Christian lives to the detriment of the reality of the Cross.  Remembering that we are all destined for the Resurrection is of great importance in all we do, course, especially in the way we treat others.  It helps in our daily dealings with people to see them also as people destined for the Resurrection.  At the same time, there is no resurrection without the Cross.  We also have our daily crosses to bear, and so do those around us.  In our words and actions both the Resurrection and the Cross must be evident.  There will sometimes be more emphasis on the one than the other, depending on the circumstances.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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6 Comments

  1. Don Marco says:

    Grant, we beseech you, Almighty God,
    that, having celebrated these paschal festivals,
    we may, by your gracious gift,
    hold fast to them in our conduct and in our life.

  2. Don Marco says:

    And for those of you who may be celebrating the memorial of the Martyrs of Uganda:

    O God
    who willed that the blood of martyrs
    should become the seed of Christians,
    graciously grant that the field of your Church,
    irrigated by the blood of Saint Charles and his companions,
    may ceaselessly yield for you
    the fruit of a plentiful harvest.

  3. Don Marco says:

    And a collect to conclude today’s General Intercessions:

    Almighty and ever-living God,
    by whose Holy Spirit
    the Blessed Virgin Mary and the apostles
    were drawn into the Cenacle
    to prepare in persevering prayer
    the universal mission of your Church;
    mercifully grant that by passing this day in a ready silence,
    close to the Mother of your Son,
    we may rejoice in the outpouring of the Paraclete,
    your promised Gift.

  4. Don Marco says:

    And I also translated these;

    Prayer Over the Offerings

    Lord, may your Holy Spirit, by his coming,
    prepare our minds for these divine sacraments,
    since he himself is the forgiveness of all sins.
    Through Christ our Lord.

    Prayer After Communion

    Lord, in your mercy, listen to our prayers,
    that we who have been brought from the former things
    to the sacraments of new life,
    may thus, having cast aside what is old,
    be renewed in holiness of mind.
    Through Christ our Lord.

  5. 1973 ICEL Collect for the Martyrs:

    Father,
    you have made the blood of the martyrs
    the seed of Christians.
    May the witness of Saint Charles and his companions
    and their loyalty to Christ in the face of torture
    inspire countless men and women
    to live the Christian faith.

    The old ICEL was careful to explain more concretely things like (for instance) “the fruit of a plentiful harvest”.

  6. animadversor says:

    Grant, we beg, Almighty God, that we who have celebrated the paschal feasts may by Thy bountiful gift hold on to them in our manners and life.

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