EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Word of god every day

Memory of the Mother of the Lord

Memory of the dedication of the Cathedral of Rome, the Basilica of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran. Prayer for the Church of Rome. Memory of the "Crystal Night," the beginning of the Nazi persecution of the Jews.
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Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Mother of the Lord

Memory of the dedication of the Cathedral of Rome, the Basilica of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran. Prayer for the Church of Rome. Memory of the "Crystal Night," the beginning of the Nazi persecution of the Jews.


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Revelation 14,1-5

Next in my vision I saw Mount Zion, and standing on it the Lamb who had with him a hundred and forty-four thousand people, all with his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.

I heard a sound coming out of heaven like the sound of the ocean or the roar of thunder; it was like the sound of harpists playing their harps.

There before the throne they were singing a new hymn in the presence of the four living creatures and the elders, a hymn that could be learnt only by the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the world.

These are the sons who have kept their virginity and not been defiled with women; they follow the Lamb wherever he goes; they, out of all people, have been redeemed to be the first-fruits for God and for the Lamb.

No lie was found in their mouths and no fault can be found in them.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

After the vision of the two Beasts, John sees a third vision: Mount Zion, upon which sits the glorious Lamb, Christ, who now fully reappears on stage. We already know that the Lamb symbolically represents docility and a destiny of paschal sacrifice. It is therefore the appropriate sign for Christ, because of his death on the cross (he is "slaughtered") but also because of his paschal glory. He is depicted "standing" on the mountain of the temple: standing upright is a sign of victory and glory. Zion becomes the point of convergence of the entire community redeemed by the blood of the Lamb (v. 1). On the slopes of this mountain marches the immense procession of the elect, the just, and the martyrs. The difference from the preceding procession of the Beast’s followers is clear: they had received the mark of slavery and violence, but these people bear the seal of God and Christ. No matter how much Evil works against believers, no one can tear them from the hand of God. The apostle certainly recalls the prayer Jesus spoke to the Father before leaving the disciples, "not one of them was lost" (Jn 17:12). This is the picture - opposed to the one given in the previous chapter - that shows the Church of Christ remained faithful during the great tribulation. Rather than the community that has reached heaven, the one hundred and forty-four thousand represent the believers who are still exposed to the assaults of the Enemy. They are the Christians who faithfully listen to the Gospel and persevere in following the Lord "wherever he goes," all the way to death and all the way to martyrdom. They have been "redeemed from the earth," and therefore they are the property and possession of the Lord; "they are virgins," that is, they have not been contaminated by the idols of this world (fornication is always a symbol of idolatry). "They" - the apostle continues - "have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb." They will not be abandoned to the blind destiny of the world; on their forehead is written the name of God and the Lamb, not the name of the Beast. They, and they alone, can understand that song that comes down from heaven (which is communion between God and the saints) and join in praising the Lord.

WORD OF GOD EVERY DAY: THE CALENDAR

Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
 The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!

WORD OF GOD EVERY DAY: THE CALENDAR