Leader: On this feast of Mary Magdalene the empty tomb & the garden probably come to mind.
All: Our hearts are lifted – we hear our risen Lord call us by name.
Leader: Risen one, stand among us; speak your words of peace.
All: Christ is risen – he is risen indeed, alleluia!
We sit and join in the refrain of the song.
Jesus is our joy, Jesus is our joy. (Fire of Love Tr 14.).
Please say the psalm with different readers taking sections as indicated.
All: Very early on the Sunday morning, just after the sun was rising,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb.
Reader 1: I rejoiced when I heard them say, ‘Let us go to
God’s house’. And now our feet are standing within your gates O Jerusalem.
Reader 2: Jerusalem is built as a city, strongly compact. It
is there the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord.
Reader 1: For Israel’s law it is, there to praise the Lord’s name.
There were set the thrones of judgement of the house of David.
Reader 2: For the peace of Jerusalem pray: ‘Peace be to your homes!
May peace reign in your walls, in your palaces, peace’.
Reader 1: For love of my brethren & friends I say, ‘Peace upon you!’
For love of the house of the Lord I will ask for your good.
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the
Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning. is now and ever
shall be, world without end. Amen.
All: Very early on the Sunday morning, just after the
sun was rising, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb.
Please listen to or join in with the 2nd psalm
(Hiding Place. Talbot Tr4)
Unless the Lord build the house, in vain do the labourers build.
Unless the Lord guards our city in the night,
In vain does the watchman keep vigil.
Refrain: Come to him, a living stone, rejected by men,
But approved, nonetheless, & precious in God’s sight,
Your cornerstone is Jesus.
You too are living stones, built as a temple of the spirit,
With apostles & prophets as the sure foundation,
With Jesus as the cornerstone.
Refrain.
If you build your house on the sand,
The rainstorms can wash you away.
If you build your house solid on the rock,
Your house will stand for ever.
Refrain.
Reading: From the writings of Pope Francis.
By calling Mary Magdalene by name after his resurrection, Jesus shows us just how personal his relationship with us is. Mary becomes an apostle of hope for the world, announcing the Lord’s rising. How beautiful to think that the first appearance of the Risen One took place in such a personal way! That there is someone who knows us, who sees our suffering and delusion, who is moved by us, and who call us by name. After finally realizing who is speaking to her, Mary would like to run and embrace Jesus, but he is by now oriented to the heavenly Father, while she is invited to bring the announcement to her brothers. So that woman, who is the first to encounter Jesus, now has become an apostle of the new and greatest hope. Mary was the first to arrive at the tomb, she is one of the disciples who accompanied Jesus from Galilee, putting herself at his service & then at the service of the Church of her day.
Pause.
Response (sung twice):
Take O take me as I am; summon out what I shall be; set
your seal upon my heart & live in me.
Please stand to sing the Magnificat & its antiphon as indicated.
Cantors: Mary came & told the disciples that she had seen the Lord,
Alleluia!
Side 1: My being proclaims your greatness,
And my spirit finds joy in you, God my Saviour;
Side 2: For you have looked upon me, your servant, in my lowliness:
All ages to come shall call me blessed.
Side 1: God, you who are mighty, have done great things for me:
Holy is your name.
Side 2: Your mercy is from age to age
Towards those who fear you.
Side 1: You have shown might with your arm,
And confused the proud in their inmost thoughts.
Side 2: You have deposed the mighty from their thrones,
And raised the lowly to high places.
Side 1: The hungry you have given every good thing,
While the rich you have sent away empty.
Side 2: You have upheld Israel, your servant,
Ever mindful of your mercy-
Side 1: Even as you promised our ancestors,
Promised Abraham, Sarah, and their descendants for ever.
All: Give praise to the Father Almighty,
To his Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
To the Spirit who dwells in our hearts,
Both now and for ever, Amen.
All: Mary came & told the disciples that she had seen the Lord,
Alleluia!
Intercessions:
Reader: We pray on the Feast of Mary Magdalene for her spirit of risk & daring…….(pause)………
Cantors: With St Mary Magdalene, let us pray to the Lord,
All: Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Reader: Mindful of Jesus’s words which tell us that if we
love much, much will be forgiven us, we pray to be
wholehearted & generous in our relationships. ……. (pause)………
Response as above.
Reader: We pray for all those named Magdalene or names
derived from it. (mention individuals……….)
Response as above.
Reader: We pray for people who have died today – for those who will die tonight – and for those whose anniversaries occur tomorrow,
remembering especially:
Pause for people to add silently or aloud any further intentions.
Leader begins the Our Father.
Leader: Almighty ever-living God, your only begotten Son Jesus Christ chose Mary Magdalene to be the first herald of the Resurrection & of Easter joy. Grant that, following her example, & helped by her prayers, we may, by our lives, proclaim the living Lord. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
Leader: For each other & those known to us, let us pray,
All: May the Lord give you happy memories of
yesterday, joyful plans for the rest of today, &
bright hope for tomorrow. And may God’s
blessing be on us all. Amen.