Readings
for the Feast of
SAINT ALOYSIUS GONZAGA
Religious
June 21
MASS
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON See Ps. 24:4,3
Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord and stand in his holy place? The innocent man, the pure of heart!
OPENING PRAYER
Father of love,
giver of all good things,
in Saint Aloysius you combined remarkable innocence
with the spirit of penance.
By the help of his prayers
may we who have not followed his innocence
follow his example of penance.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
A reading from the first letter of John 5:1-5
Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God, and every one who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
PSALM RESPONSE 111:7a
Your works, O Lord, are justice and truth.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, to test Him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" And He said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."
PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
Lord,
help us to follow the example of Saint Aloysius
and always come to the Eucharist
with hearts free from sin.
By our sharing in this mystery
make us rich in your blessings.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord
COMMUNION ANTIPHON Ps. 77:24-25
God gave them bread from heaven; men ate the bread of angels.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Lord,
you have nourished us with the bread of life.
Help us to serve you without sin.
By following the example of Saint Aloysius
may we continue to spend our lives in thanksgiving.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Liturgy of the Hours
Aloysius Gonzaga
From the Common of Holy Men: religious, except for the following:
Office of Readings
SECOND READING
From a letter to his mother by Saint Aloysius
(Acta Sanctorum, Iunii 5, 878)
God's mercies shall be my song for ever
May the comfort and grace of the Holy Spirit be yours for ever, most honored lady. Your letter found me lingering still in this region of the dead, but now I must rouse myself to make my way on to heaven at last and to praise God for ever in the land of the living; indeed I had hoped that before this time my journey there would have been over. If charity, as Saint Paul says, means to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who are glad, then, dearest mother, you shall rejoice exceedingly that God in his grace and his love for you is showing me the path to true happiness, and assuring me that I shall never lose him.
The divine goodness, most honored lady, is a fathomless and shoreless ocean, and I confess that when I plunge my mind into thought of this it is carried away by the immensity and feels quite lost and bewildered there. In return for my short and feeble labours, God is calling me to eternal rest; his voice from heaven invites me to the infinite bliss I have sought so languidly, and promises me this reward for the tears I have so seldom shed.
Take care above all things, most honoured lady, not to insult God’s boundless loving kindness; you would certainly do this if you mourned as dead one living face to face with God, one whose prayers can bring you in your troubles more powerful aid than they ever could on earth. And our parting will not be for long; we shall see each other again in heaven; we shall be united with our Saviour; there we shall praise him with heart and soul, sing of his mercies for ever, and enjoy eternal happiness. When he takes away what he once lent us, his purpose is to store our treasure elsewhere more safely and bestow on us those very blessings that we ourselves would most choose to have.
I write all this with the one desire that you and all my family may consider my departure a joy and favor and that you especially may speed with a mother’s blessing my passage across the waters till I reach the shore to which all hopes belong. I write the more willingly because I have no clearer way of expressing the love and respect I owe you as your son.
RESPONSORY Psalm 41:13;84:11
You upheld me because of my innocence;
- you let me stand in your sight for ever.
I would rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God
than live in the tents of the wicked.
- you let me stand in your sight for ever.
PRAYER
Father of love,
giver of all good things,
in Saint Aloysius you combined remarkable innocence
with the spirit of penance.
By the help of his prayers
may we who have not followed his innocence
follow his example of penance.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.