Clare of Assisi - Readings

The Feast of St. Clare
Readings for the Eucharist

First Reading: Phil 3:8-14
Responsorial Psalm: 16:1-2ab;5,7-8;11
Gospel: Matt 19:27-29

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Opening Prayer: God of mercy, you inspired St. Clare with the love of poverty. By the help of her prayers may we follow Christ in poverty of spirit and come to the joyful vision of your glory in the kingdom of heaven.

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ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
Here is the wise and faithful virgin who went with lighted lamp to meet her Lord. - Matt 25:10

PRAYER
God of mercy,
you inspired St. Clare with the love of poverty.
By the help of her prayers
may we follow Christ in poverty of spirit
and come to the joyful vision of your glory
in the kingdom of heaven.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy spirit,
one God, forever and ever.

FIRST READING          Phil 3:8-14
More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM          16:1-2ab;5,7-8;11
R. (see 5a)   You are my inheritance, O Lord.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
R.      You are my inheritance, O Lord.
They multiply their sorrows
who court other gods.
Blood libations to them I will not pour out,
nor will I take their names upon my lips.
R.      You are my inheritance, O Lord.
O LORD, my allotted portion and cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R.      You are my inheritance, O Lord.
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R.      You are my inheritance, O Lord.

GOSPEL READING          Matt 19:27-29
Then Peter said in reply, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life.

PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
Lord,
we see the wonder of your love
in the life of the virgin Clare
and her witness to Christ.
Accept our gifts of praise
and make our offering pleasing to you.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON
The bridegroom is here; let us go out to meet Christ the Lord - Matt 25:5

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Lord God,
may this Eucharist renew our courage and strength.
May we remain close to you, like Saint Clare,
by accepting in our lives
a share in the suffering of Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you for ever and ever.

The Liturgy of the Hours
Gertrude the Great

From the Common of Virgins; or of Holy Women: Religious; except the following

Office of Readings

SECOND READING

From a letter from St. Gertrude the Great to Blessed Agnes of Prague
(Edit . I. Omaechevarria, Escritos de Santa Clara, Madrid 1970, pp. 339-341)

His Indescribable Delights

Happy indeed is she who is granted a place at the divine banquet, for she may cling with her inmost heart to him whose beauty eternally awes the blessed hosts of heaven; to him whose love inspires love, whose contemplation refreshes, whose generosity satisfies, whose gentleness delights, whose memory shines sweetly as the dawn; to him whose fragrance revives the dead, and whose glorious vision will bless all the citizens of that heavenly Jerusalem. For his is the splendor of eternal glory, the brightness of eternal light, and the mirror without cloud.

Queen and bride of Jesus Christ, look into that mirror daily and study well your reflection, that you may adorn yourself, mind and body, with an enveloping garment of every virtue, and thus find yourself attired in flowers and gowns befitting the daughter and most chaste bride of the king on high. In this mirror blessed poverty, holy humility and ineffable love are also reflected. With the grace of God the whole mirror will be your source of contemplation.

Behold, I say, the birth of this mirror. Behold his poverty even as he was laid in the manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. What wondrous humility, what marvelous poverty! The King of angels, the Lord of heaven and earth resting in a manger! Look more deeply into the mirror and meditate on his humility, or simply on his poverty. Behold the many labors and sufferings he endured to redeem the human race. Then, in the depths of this very mirror, ponder his unspeakable love which caused him to suffer on the wood of the cross and to endure the most shameful kind of death. The mirror himself, from his position on the cross, warned passersby to weigh carefully this act, as he said: All of you who pass by this way, behold and see if there is any sorrow like mine. Let us answer his cries and lamentations with one voice and one spirit; I will be mindful and remember, and my soul will be consumed within me. In this way, queen of the king of heaven, your love will burn with an ever brighter flame.

Consider also his indescribable delights, his unending riches and honors, and sigh for what is beyond your love and heart's content as you cry out: Draw me on! We will run after you in the perfume of your ointment, heavenly spouse. Let me run and not faint until you lead me into your wine cellar; your left hand rests under my head, your right arm joyfully embraces me, and you kiss me with the sweet kiss of your lips. As you rest in this state of contemplation, remember your poor mother and know that I have indelibly written your happy memory into my heart, for you are dearer to me than all the others.

RESPONSORY Psalm 73:26; Philippians 3:8-9
Though my flesh and my heart may fail,
- God is my strength
and my portion for ever.

I count all that this world offers as worthless,
that I may gain Christ
and be found in him.
- God is my strength
and my portion for ever.

PRAYER
God of mercy,
you inspired St. Clare with the love of poverty.
By the help of her prayers
may we follow Christ in poverty of spirit
and come to the joyful vision of your glory
in the kingdom of heaven.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy spirit,
one God, forever and ever.

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