FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple or the Candlemas. Which is also the international day of Consecrated Life.

The new Roman Martyrology reads:

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Known as Hypapante by the Greeks: forty days after Christimas, Jesus was brought to the Temple by Mary and Joseph. What seemed to be the compliance to the Mosaic law is converted into his joyful encounter with his believing people. Jesus Christ manifested himself as a light to shine to the nations and the glory of his people, Israel.

Aside from the beautiful liturgy of the light and the solemn entrance to the Church , one of the highlights of today's liturgy is the act of thanksgiving for the gift of consecrated life after the homily. Here is the text which we have adapted for our community celebration.


Thanksgiving to God for the Gift of the Consecrated Life

Dear Brothers:
On this feast of
the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, let us thank the Lord for the gift of the consecrated life that the
Holy Spirit has raised up in the Church.
(pause)
We who are consecrated
to the service of God, in a marvelous form of ecclesial vocation renew together
the pledge to follow the obedient, poor and chaste Christ, until, through our evangelical
witness, Christ the Lord, light of the people, shines in the church and
illuminates the world.
(All pray in silence for a few moments)

May you Lord, holy
Father, be blessed because in your
infinite goodness, with the voice of the
Spirit in every age you have called men and women, already consecrated to you in Baptism, that
they may be within the Church a sign of the radical following of Christ, a living
witness of the Gospel, a proclamation of the values of the Kingdom and a prophecy
of the ultimate and new City.

Together: Glory and praise to you, Lord.

Reader 1: We glorify you,
Father and we bless you! Because in Jesus Christ, your Son , You have given us
the perfect image of the obedient servant: He made your will his food; Service,
the rule of life and Love, the supreme law of the Kingdom.

All: Thank you, Father,
for the gift of Christ, Son of your Handmaid, A servant obedient unto death. Today, with joy we reconfirm our pledge of
obedience to the Gospel, to the voice of the Church to our rule of life.

Together: Glory and praise to you, Lord.

Reader 1: We glorify you,
Father, and we bless you because in Jesus Christ, our brother, You have given
us the highest example of the gift of self: He, who was rich, became poor for
us, He proclaimed as blessed the poor in spirit and opened to the small the
treasury of the Kingdom.

All: Thank you, Father,
for the gift of Christ, Son of man, meek, humble and poor, Who had no place to
lay his head. Today we happily reconfirm
our pledge to live soberly and with austerity, to conquer the anxiety of possession with the
joy of giving and to use the goods of this world for the cause of the Gospel and human
promotion.

Together: Glory and praise to you, Lord.

Reader 1: We glorify you,
Father, and we bless you! Because in Jesus Christ, son of the Virgin Mother You
have given us the supreme model of consecrated love; He, the Lamb without
stain, lived loving you and others, and died forgiving and opening the doors of
the Kingdom.

All: Thank you, Father,
for the gift of Christ, Virgin bridegroom of the virgin Church. Today, with
joy, we reconfirm our pledge to keep our bodies chaste and our hearts pure, to
live with undivided love for your glory and the salvation of mankind.

Together: Glory and praise to you, Lord.

Conclusion:
Look benignly Lord on these your sons, firm in faith and joyful in hope. Let us be, through your
grace, a reflection of your light, an instrument of your Spirit of pe. ace, an extension among men of the presence of Christ. Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

After this rite, the community shall offer the lighted candles before the altar and we shall put the lighted candles at the foot of the Virgin which usually presides the community of the Students' recreation room.

Here is the text of the final blessing


Solemn Blessing:

P: The Lord be with you.
R:
And also with you.

P: Bow down your heads and pray for God’s blessing.

P: May God, who from darkness, called you to his admirable light, Pour out his blessing
upon you that you may be rendered firm in faith, in hope, and in love.
R. Amen.

P: May God make you witnesses of his truth to the brethren, as true disciples of Christ a
light that shines in the darkness.
R. Amen.

P: As Simeon and Anna waited for and found Christ, the light of the world, so may you find,
at the end of your pathway, with immense joy, Christ, the light of the world.
R. Amen.

P: And may the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, descend on you and
remain with you forever.
R. Amen.

HAPPY FEASTDAY TO ALL!



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