EVERYDAY PRAYER

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

Memory of the Mother of the Lord

Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, a sixteenth-century Jesuit missionary in India and Japan Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Tuesday, December 3

Psalmody

Psalm 135

Antiphon

Praise the Lord for all his wonders.

O give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his love endures for ever.

Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his love endures for ever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his love endures for ever;

who alone has wrought marvellous works,
for his love endures for ever;

whose wisdom it was made the skies,
for his love endures for ever;

who fixed the earth firmly on the seas,
for his love endures for ever.

It was he who made the great lights,
for his love endures for ever,

the sun to rule in the day,
for his love endures for ever,

the moon and stars in the night,
for his love endures for ever.

The first-born of the Egyptians he smote,
for his love endures for ever.

He brought Israel out from their midst,
for his love endures for ever;

arm outstretched, with power in his hand,
for his love endures for ever.

He divided the Red Sea in two,
for his love endures for ever;

he made Israel pass through the midst,
for his love endures for ever :

he flung Pharaoh and his force in the sea,
for his love endures for ever.

Through the desert his people he led,
for his love endures for ever.

Nations in their greatness he struck,
Kings in their splendour he slew,
for his love endures for ever.

Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his love endures for ever;

and Og, the king of Bashan,
for his love endures for ever.

He let Israel inherit their land,
for his love endures for ever.

On his servant their land he bestowed,
for his love endures for ever.

He remembered us in our distress,
for his love endures for ever.

And he snatched us away from our foes,
for his love endures for ever.

He gives good to all living things,
for his love endures for ever.

To the God of heaven give thanks,
for his love endures for ever.

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