Churches of the Day
Pictorial Thought for Today
Photo by Hilary Musgrave
Jun 5 - St Boniface, (2) 674-754AD, martyr
Desmond O'Grady tells his story
In the spring of AD 718 a blonde emaciated, pale-complexioned monk in a Benedictine habit reached the Pope's Roman residence, the Lateran, seeking an audience. The visitor, called Wynfrith, who had entered the monastery in Exeter at the age of seven was to be one of the makers of Christian Europe. After studying in Exeter he became an eminent teacher in the monastery, where he composed poetry and innumerable riddles and wrote a Latin grammar, but, at the age of forty, conscious of his Saxon descent, he felt called to minister to the Saxon pagans in their German homeland.
Mission to the Dutch
But first, for a few months, the lad joined another Anglo-Saxon monk, Willibrord, in his mission to the Frisians (the Dutch). That mission had not been very fruitul, partly because the Frisians were warring with the Catholic Franks. When Wynfrith returned to his monastery in Wessex a bishop convinced him that he needed papal backing to have missionary success.
Pope Gregory II probed the Benedictine's scriptural knowledge and political acumen for months before approving his mission. It meant a new life and Gregory gave the monk a new name, Boniface. Boniface set to work in Thuringa and Hesse where some missionaries had already been in action but he reported to Rome that the Church was lax and that the priests he met, many of them Anglo-Saxon, were ignorant. Some sacrificed to the pagan god, Thor; some baptized in the name of the Fatherland, the Daughter and the Holy Spirit. Many of them had concubines.
Signs of Corruption
After four years Gregory asked Boniface to return to Rome where he made him, at the age of fifty, bishop for all Germany and directly responsible to the Pope. Snow blocking the Brenner Pass prevented his return until spring. When he left he took a papal letter to Charles Martel, the most powerful figure among the Franks who had recently beaten the Muslms at Poitiers, threatening Western Europe.
Boniface was well received by Martel but was shocked by the crudity of his soldiers and far more by the avaricious, immoral court prelates. More interested in hunting and fighting than in priestly duties, they sometimes celebrated Mass in hunting garb. By exploiting the poor and using Church property, these gluttonous, drunken men lived sumptuously and amused themselves by playing dice, which was expressly forbidden. Some had mistresses and had fathered illegitimate children.
Efforts at reform
Shortly after leaving Martel's court, Boniface came across some pagans lying prostrate before a sacred giant oak on a mountain in Hesse. Boniface held a cross high as two monks felled the tree. The pagans warned of the wrath of the god, Thor, but he remained silent. From the tree's wood Boniface built a chapel dedicated to St Peter and shortly after built nearby a monastery, one of a series which were centres of learning but also economic powerhouses because of the monks' agricultural know-how.
In response to Boniface's queries Rome supplied answers on what should be done with food offered to idols, the remarriage of widows, whether a spouse's sickness affected marital rights and how to handle 'unworthy bishops and priests full of vice'.
Gregory II died in AD 731. His successor, Gregory III, supported Boniface against those bishops who opposed him because he was too rigorous. Gregory III’s successor, Zachary, gave Boniface a free hand to hold a synod of the lax Frankish church (In many places, he had written to Zachary, 'episcopal sees are assigned to greedy laymen or corrupt clergy') and depose unworthy bishops and priests. Boniface held a synod but clerical hostility to him continued.
On the death of Charles Martel, his son Pepin asked Pope Zachary's assent to a coup d'etat. The inept King Childeric III was packed off to a monastery and in November A.D. 751, at Soissons near Paris, Boniface as papal legate poured oil on the head of Pepin to show he was King of the Franks 'with the Lord's aid'. Pepin was the first Westerner to receive such a consecration.
Archbishop of Mainz
It meant a strong power well-disposed to the Church in the vast area from the Atlantic to the Elbe, from the Pyrenees to the Danube. It also meant that Rome had an ally against the threatening Lombard King, Astolf. It probably meant also that some of the Franks' enemies could not distinguish between them and the Church.
Boniface, who was by this stage Archbishop of Mainz (opposition from local clergy prevented him from being appointed Archbishop of Cologne) kept asking Pope Zachary for guidance on questions such as the attitude to lepers, what made it possible to ordain priests under the normal age of thirty and what should be done about a new people who had arrived at the frontier asking to live in Christian lands - the Slavs.
Zachary said he wanted time to think about that but he did not have much time left: he died on 15th March 752. His successor, Stephen II, received a tardy letter of homage from Boniface who explained that thirty churches and monasteries had been destroyed by barbarians. Perhaps they identified the Church with the civil power.
Stephen himself came to what is now France to obtain Pepin's military support against the Lombards and recognition of what were to become the papal States. Boniface had made an essential contribution to the alliance with the Franks. But this scrupulous, dedicated monk, who was later called the Apostle of the Germans, did not retire to rest on his laurels and await his death at the huge monastery he had established at Fulda.
Martyrdom at eighty
At the age of eighty, after forty years as a missionary, he set out again along the Rhine with fifty-two men: priests, monks, deacons, novices; servants and ten soldiers. Nothing if not tenacious, he wanted to complete the conversion of the Frisians and of his Saxons. In Frisian territory, he arranged a big meeting of converts near the Zuidersee but, just before they arrived, Boniface's camp was overrun by brigands who slaughtered him and his many companions.
This article first appeared in The Messenger (June 1998), a publication of the Irish Jesuits.
Friday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2
Saint of the Day: 5 June; St Boniface , bishop and martyr
C/f A short life of be this saint can be found below todays' Readings and Reflection.
READING
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to Timothy 3: 10-17
Anybody who tries to live in devotion to Christ is certain to be attacked.
You know, though, what I have taught, how I have lived, what I have aimed at; you know my faith, my patience and my love; my constancy and the persecutions and hardships that came to me in places like Antioch, Iconium and Lystra - all the persecutions I have endured; and the Lord has rescued me from every one of them. You are well aware, then, that anybody who tries to live in devotion to Christ is certain to be attacked; while these wicked impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and deceived themselves.You must keep to what you have been taught and know to be true; remember who your teachers were, and how, ever since you were a child, you have known the holy scriptures - from these you can learn the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and can profitably be used for teaching, for refuting error, for guiding people's lives and teaching them to be holy. This is how the man who is dedicated to God becomes fully equipped and ready for any good work.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Ps 118; 157, 160, 161, 165, 168
Response The lovers of your law have great peace.
1. Though my foes and oppressors are countless I have not swerved from your will.
Your word is founded on truth: your decrees are eternal. Response
2. Though princes oppress me without cause I stand in awe of your word.
The lovers of your law have great peace; they never stumble. Response
3. I await your saving help, a Lord, I fulfil your commands.
I obey your precepts and your will; all that I do is before you. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 18: 9
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words gladden the heart, O Lord, they give light to the eyes.
Alleluia!
Or Jn 14: 23
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
A reading from the Gospel according to Mark 12: 35-37
The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand.
While teaching in the Temple, Jesus said,'How can the scribes maintain that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, moved by the Holy Spirit, said:
The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand and I will put your enemies under your feet.
David himself calls him Lord, in what way then can he be his son?' And the great majority of the people heard this with delight.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ
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Gospel Reflection Friday, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Mark 12:35-37
In today’s first reading Saint Paul reminds Timothy of the value of the Scriptures, how they can teach us the wisdom that leads to salvation because they are inspired by God, how they can guide our lives. When Paul speaks of the Scriptures there, he is of course referring to what we call the Old Testament, the Jewish Scriptures, because at that time there was no New Testament, no Christian books that had become canonical or authoritative.
The first believers greatly valued the Jewish Scriptures; they were the only Scriptures they had. In this, they were following in the path of Jesus who himself was steeped in the Jewish Scriptures. In the gospel reading, Jesus quotes from one of the psalms to show that the Messiah is more than the Son of David; he is also David’s Lord. Because Jesus and his first followers valued the Jewish Scriptures so much, the church ever since has valued them. That is why the first reading on Sunday and even on weekday is regularly drawn from the Jewish Scriptures.
They may not speak to us as powerfully at times as they spoke to Jesus and his first followers, because they are further from us in time and in culture. Yet as Christians we venerate them because, like Jesus and the early church, we recognize that there is a great wisdom there, in the words of our first reading, ‘the wisdom that leads to salvation’.
The scripture readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/The Gospel reflection comes from WEEKDAY REFLECTIONS 2019-20: The Word of God is Living and Active by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications c/f https://www.messenger.ie/product/the-word-of-god-is-living-and-active-reflections-on-the-weekday-readings-for-the-liturgical-year-c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
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Saint of the Day: 5 June; St Boniface , bishop and martyr
Boniface was born in Devon (England) about 675; died in the Netherlands on this day in 754. A monk and teacher who went to evangelise the Germanic peoples. He was ordained bishop and given wide-ranging papal commissions throughout Germany and Gaul. He founded monasteries and established dioceses, presided at synods, and maintained close associations with various emperors. He was honoured as a determined missionary and as a Church organiser and reformer whose work shaped the future of Europe. He is buried at his abbey of Fulda (near Frankfurt).
Patrick Duffy tells his story.
Early life as a monk
Born and baptised Winfrid about 673 in Crediton, Devon, England, and educated at Exeter, he entered the Benedictine abbey at Nursling near Southampton. As a monk he studied, expounded the Bible and compiled the first Latin grammar written in England. He went to preach the gospel in Holland, Germany and France where he had significant influence in establishing the Church.First mission to the Frisians
In 716 Winfrid went on a mission to the Frisians (the Dutch), where the language was similar to his own Anglo-Saxon, but war between King Charles Martel of the Franks and King Radbod of the Frisians forced him to return to Nursling.
Commissioned by Pope Gregory II
In 718 he went to Rome where Pope Gregory II (715-731) commissioned him to preach the gospel and organise the Church in Germany and latinised his name to Boniface.
Expansion of his mission in north Germany
The Church in Germany had lapsed into paganism and Boniface worked here for a short time until death of the Frisian King Radbod allowed him work among the Frisians alongside his fellow Englishman, St Willibrord (See 7th November). After four years Pope Gregory called him back to Rome and ordained him bishop with jurisdiction over all of Germany, directly dependent on the Holy See. He also gave him letters to Charles Martel, King of the Franks, asking for protection. Martel and his Carolingian successors did indeed afford him support and because of this he was enabled to reorganise the Church in Hesse, Thuringia, and Frisia.
The Thor oakAt the town of Fritzlar in Hesse he came across many pagans prostrating themselves before an ancient tree sacred to the God Thor. To show the people how powerless their gods were, Boniface began to cut down the tree, calling on Thor to strike him down if this was really his holy tree. (c/f image right)When Boniface was not struck down, and a mighty wind helped him finish off the job, many of the people converted to Christianity. Probably because of this, tradition has credited Boniface with inventing the Christmas tree. From the wood of the tree he had a chapel built which he dedicated to St Peter.
Expansion in south Germany
Boniface went to Rome again in 732 and the next pope, Gregory III (731-741), made him an archbishop, giving him Bavaria as a new mission territory. During the next nine years he worked there setting up the dioceses of Salzburg, Regensburg, Freising and Passau, all east of the Rhine and he had his own see as archbishop at Mainz. In 741 through one of his disciples, Sturm, he founded the famous abbey of Fulda. This later became and still is today a meeting place for the German bishops. Boniface appointed his own followers as bishops and in this way tried to maintain independence of the Carolingians.
Last Mission and Martyrdom
In 754 at the age of eighty, after forty years as a missionary, Boniface set out for Frisia again along the Rhine with fifty-two men: priests, monks, deacons, novices, servants and ten soldiers, desiring to complete the conversion of the Frieslanders. In Frisian territory, he arranged a meeting of converts near the Zuidersee, intending to administer confirmation to them. But just before they arrived, Boniface's camp at Dokkum was overrun by a hostile force. They slaughtered him and his many companions.Buried at Fulda
Boniface's body was taken to Fulda. Although he had enlisted many English men - Saints Lull and Willibald - and women - Saints Walburga and Lioba - to work with him as missionaries, he is much better remembered in Germany than among his fellow countrymen. Many of his letters written in Latin still survive.
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Memorable Saying for Today
“There is no success without sacrifice.
If you succeed without sacrifice it is because someone has suffered before you.
If you sacrifice without success it is because someone will succeed after you.”
~ Adoniram Judson ~
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Sliocht as dara litir Naomh Pól chuig Tiomóid 3:10-17
Cloígh-se, áfach, leis an teagasc a fuair tú.
A clann ionúin, tá eolas maith curtha agat ar mo theagascsa, ar mo bhéasa, agus ar mo chuspóirí. Tá eolas curtha agat ar mo chreideamh, ar m’fhoighne, agus ar mo ghrá. Tá eolas curtha agat ar mo ghéarleanúintí agus m’angair, mar a d’éirigh dom in Aintíoch agus in Iocoiniam agus i Liostra agus ar ghabh mé tríothu de ghéarleanúintí. Ach thug an Tiarna slán mé uathu uile. Gach duine arb áil leis maireachtáil go diaganta i gCríost Íosa, déanfar géarleanúint air mar an gcéanna. Ach is in olcas a rachaidh na drochdhaoine agus na mealltóirí – daoine atá ag dul amú iad féin agus ag cur daoine eile amú.Cloígh-se, áfach, leis an teagasc a fuair tú, teagasc a bhfuil tú suite go daingean de. Tuigeann tú cé uathu a fuair tú an teagasc sin, agus tuigeann tú chomh maith go raibh eolas agat ó aois na hóige ar na scríbhinní naofa a bhfuil de chumas acu tú a dhéanamh eagnaí agus tú a sheoladh chun do shlánaithe trí chreideamh i gCríost Íosa.
Gach cuid den scrioptúr, tá tinfeadh Dé faoi agus tá tairbhe ann chun teagasc a thabhairt, chun earráidí a bhreagnú, chun daoine a cheartú agus iad a mhúineadh chun fíréantachta ar shlí go mbeadh óglach Dé lánoilte ar a cheird agus ullamh i gcomhair gach cineál dea-oibre.
Salm le Freagra Sm 118; 157, 160, 161, 165, 168
Freagra Bíonn mórshuaimhneas ar lucht do dhlí a ghráú.
1. Is líonmhar lucht mo ghéarleanúna agus mo bhuartha; ní chlaonaim ó do phroiceapta.
Is í an bhuaine buaic do bhriathair; maireann do reachtanna go brách. Freagra
2. Déanann flatha géarleanuint orm gan fáth; ach is eagal liom do bhriathra.
Bíonn mórshuaimhneas ar lucht do dhlí a ghráú; ní bhíonn aon cheap tuisle rompu. Freagra
3. Bím ag súil le do chúnamh slánaithe, a Thiarna; agus comhlíonaim d’aitheanta.
Coimeádaim do phroiceapta agus d’orduithe; bíonn mo shlite uile i d’fhianaise. Freagra
SOISCÉAL
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Marcas 12:35-37
Dúirt an Tiarna le mo Thiarna: Suigh ar mo dheis.
San am sin fad is a bhí Íosa ag teagasc sa Teampall d’fhreagair sé agus dúirt:“Conas is féidir leis na scríobhaithe a rá gur Mac do Dháiví an Críost?
Is é Dáiví féin a dúirt faoi luí an Spioraid Naoimh:
‘Dúirt an Tiarna le mo Thiarna:
'Suigh ar mo dheis, nó go gcuirfidh mé do naimhde mar stól faoi do chosa.’
“Glaonn Dáiví féin Tiarna air, agus cad a bheir ina mhac dó é?” D’éist an slua mór leis le háthas.
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
- The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ - Corpus Christi -
FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of Deuteronomy 8:2-3. 14-16
He fed you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had known.
Moses said to the people:‘Remember how the Lord your God led you for forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, to test you and know your inmost heart - whether you would keep his commandments or not. He humbled you, he made you feel hunger, he fed you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had known, to make you understand that man does not live on bread alone but that man lives on everything that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Do not then forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery: who guided you through this vast and dreadful wilderness, a land of fiery serpents, scorpions, thirst;
who in this waterless place brought you water from the hardest rock;
who in this wilderness fed you with manna that your fathers had not known.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 147:12-15. 19-20. R/v 12
Response O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
or Alleluia!
1. O praise the Lord, Jerusalem! Zion, praise your God!
He has strengthened the bars of your gates, he has blessed the children within you. Response
2. He established peace on your borders, he feeds you with finest wheat.
He sends out his word to the earth and swiftly runs his command. Response
3. He makes his word known to Jacob, to Israel his laws and decrees.
He has not dealt thus with other nations; he has not taught them his decrees. Response
SECOND READING
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians 10:16-17
There is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body.
The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ,
and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ.
The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us,
we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Sequence
(Choice: We may use the whole sequence or the final three stanzas marked with an asterisk*)
Sing forth, O Zion, sweetly sing
The praises of thy Shepherd-King,
In hymns and canticles divine;
Dare all thou canst, thou hast no song
Worthy his praises to prolong,
So far surpassing powers like thine.
Today no theme of common praise
Forms the sweet burden of thy lays-
The living, life-dispensing food
That food which at the sacred board
Unto the brethren twelve our Lord
His parting legacy bestowed.
Then be the anthem clear and strong,
Thy fullest note, thy sweetest song,
The very music of the breast:
For now shines forth the day sublime
That brings remembrance of the time
When Jesus first his table blessed.
Within our new King's banquet-hall
They meet to keep the festival
That closed the ancient paschal rite:
The old is by the new replaced;
The substance hath the shadow chased;
And rising day dispels the night.
Christ willed what he himself had done
Should be renewed while time should run,
In memory of his parting hour:
Thus, tutored in his school divine,
We consecrate the bread and wine;
And lo - a Host of saving power.
This faith to Christian men is given
Bread is made flesh by words from heaven:
Into his blood the wine is turned:
What though it baffles nature's powers
Of sense and sight? This faith of ours
Proves more than nature e'er discerned.
Concealed beneath the two-fold sign,·
Meet symbols of the gifts divine,
There lie the mysteries adored:
The living body is our food;
Our drink the ever-precious blood;
In each, one undivided Lord.
Not he that eateth it divides
The sacred food, which whole abides
Unbroken still, nor knows decay;
Be one, or be a thousand fed,
They eat alike that living bread
Which, still received, ne'er wastes away.
The good, the guilty share therein,
With sure increase of grace or sin,
The ghostly life, or ghostly death:
Death to the guilty; to the good
Immortal life. See how one food
Man's joy or woe accomplisheth.
We break the Sacrament; but bold
And firm thy faith shall keep its hold;
Deem not the whole doth more enfold
Than in the fractured part resides:
Deem not that Christ doth broken lie;
'Tis but the sign that meets the eye;
The hidden deep reality
In all its fullness still abides.
*Behold the bread of angels, sent
For pilgrims in their banishment,
The bread for God's true children meant,
That may not unto dogs be given:
Oft in the olden types foreshowed;
In Isaac on the altar bowed,
And in the ancient paschal food,
And in the manna sent from heaven.
*Come then, good shepherd, bread divine,
Still show to us thy mercy sign;
Oh, feed us still, still keep us thine;
So may we see thy glories shine
In fields of immortality;
*O thou, the wisest, mightiest, best,
Our present food, our future rest,
Come, make us each thy chosen guest,
Co-heirs of thine, and comrades blest
With saints whose dwelling is with thee.
Gospel Acclamation Jn 6: 51-52
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven says the Lord.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to John 6:51-58 Glory to you, O Lord
My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
Jesus said to the Jews:
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.'
Then the Jews started arguing with one another: 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' they said.
Jesus replied:
I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him.
As I, who am sent by the living Father, myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven; not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.'
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here: https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/
Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966, by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.
- SOLLUNTAS CHORP CHRIOST -
CÉAD LÉACHT
Sliocht as an Leabhar Deotranaimí 8:2-3. 14-16
Chothaigh thú le manna nárbh eol duit féin ná do d’aithreacha
Dúirt Moois leis an bpobal:
‘Cuimhnigh ar an gcaoi go léir ar threoraigh an Tiarna do Dhia thú le daichead bliain san
fhásach, d’fhonn tú a umhlú, tú a phromhadh, agus eolas a chur ar rún do chroí féachaint an gcoimeádfá a aitheanta nó nach ndéanfá. D’umhlaigh sé thú agus d’fhág ocrach thú agus chothaigh thú le manna nárbh eol duit féin ná do d’aithreacha, d’fhonn é a chur in iúl duit nach ar arán amháin a mhaireann an duine, ach go maireann an duine ar gach ní a thagann ó bhéal Dé.Ná déan dearmad ansin ar an Tiarna do Dhia a thug amach thú as tír na hÉigipte, as teach na daoirse; a threoraigh thú tríd an bhfásach mór uafásach seo, dúiche nathracha tintí agus scairpeanna, agus tarta; a thug uisce as an gcarraig chrua san áit róthirim seo; a chothaigh san fhásach thú le manna nárbh eol do d’aithreacha, d’fhonn go n-úmhlódh sé thú agus tú a phromhadh agus tairbhe a dhéanamh duit i ndeireadh na dála.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Salm le Freagra Sm 147: 12-15. 19-20. R/v 12
Freagra Mol an Tiarna, a Iarúsailéim.
Malairt Freagra Alleluia!
I. Mol an Tiarna, a Iarúsailéim, mol do Dhia, a Sión;
toisc gur dhaingnigh sé boltaí do dhoirse, is gur bheannaigh sé do chlann istigh ionat. Freagra
2. Dhaingnigh sé síocháin i do chríocha, bheir sé do sháith duit de smior na cruithneachta.
Cuireann sé a ordú uaidh chun na talún, ritheann a bhriathar go mear. Freagra
3. Foilsíonn sé a bhriathar do lácób, a chánacha is a phroiceapta d’ Isráél
Ní dhearna sé amhlaidh do náisiúin eile; níor nocht sé dóibh a phroiceapta. Alleluia! Freagra
DARA LÉACHT
Sliocht as céad Litir Naomh Pól chuig Coirintigh 10:16-17
Ós aon arán amháin é, níl ionainne dá líonmhaire sinn ach aon chorp amháin.
A bhráithr,:cupa an altaithe a bheannaímid, nach páirtíocht i bhfuil Chríost é? Agus an t-arán a bhrisimid nach páirtiocht i gcorp Chríost é?
Ós aon arán amháin é, níl ionainne dá líonmhaire sinn
ach aon chorp amháin toisc go gcaithimid go léir an t-aon arán amháin.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Rosc
Gabh ag moladh an tSlánaitheora,
a Sión, mol an t-aoire, an treoraí
in iomainn is í gcainticí.
Moltar leat le dícheall croí é,
mar gach moladh sháraigh Iosa,
is ni leor do ghradam dó.
Abhar speisialta molta farat
arán beo agus lón na beatha
go sonrách an taca seo.
An t-arãn is léir gur dáileadh
do dhilbhuion an dârêag bràthar
i naomhphroinn na heaspartan.
Moladh iomlán dó, moladh ceolmhar,
lúchâir dhílis chroiúil chórach,
ardach aoibhinn aigne.
Mar i gcuimhne chruinn an lae seo
céadchaitheadh proinn na féile
a bunaíodh ar mhaithe linn.
Sa phroinn sin an nuareachta
is an nuaRi, chuir nuaPhasca
deireadh leis an seanreacht.
Chuir an nuaiocht an ruaig ar ársacht,
chuir an fhire ar dibirt scáthacht,
chuir an lá an oiche in anbhroid.
An t-éacht a rinne Críost ag bord ann,
ina dhilchuinihne dúinne d’ordaigh
é a dhéanamh fairis sin.
Ag gêileadh d’ordú an té a thug grâ dúinn
arán is fíon go fíor sacrãlam
in iobartach ár leasaithe.
Alt dár gcreideamh fíor go ndéantar
feoil de arãn, den fhion fuil cheart,
don ChrIostai mar a theagasctar.
An rud nach bhfeictear is nach smaoinítear
le dlúthchreideamh daingítear
thar ghnáthréim an aiceanta.
Ceiltear faoi éagsúlaeht gnéithe,
faoi chomharthaí nach nithe in aon chor,
seoda caoine rafara.
Feoil an t-arán, fuil an fíon ann,
in iomlãine fanann Criost ann
faoi gach gné go dearfa.
An caitheoir, gan roinnt gan pléascadh,
gan aon bhriseadh, gan aon réabadh,
glacann slán an tabhartas.
Glacann duine é, glacann míle,
ni mó cion slua de nâ cion aoinfhir,
ná ní idíonn caitheamh é.
Glacann daoine, an t-olc is an maith, é,
glacann fós faoi mhalairt ratha é,
bheireann bâs nó beatha dóibh.
Don dea-thear beatha, bâs don drochfhear
dáiltear; féach nach ionann toradh,
cé gurb ionann caitheamh dóibh.
An tsacraimint faoi dheoigh ma bhristear,
créid go bhfaightear i ngach giota
n méid go cruinn a bhi san uile,
an t-iomlán gan easnamh.
Ar aon ní ni théann an briseadh,
ach amháin ar chomharthaí nithe,
a d’flág an ní faoin gcomhartha againne
slAn i gcló is i gcalmacht.
Féach, arãn na n-aingeal
á thabhairt mar bhia don slua ar marthain:
arán is taca is is lón na leanai
nach caite chun na madraí.
Is léir a réamhchomharthaí le hinsint:
Isác ma iobartach mar a sineadh,
uan na Cásca mar a ídíti,
mar a dháilti manna ó thlaitheasa.
A Aráin chirt, a Aoire dhílis,
dáil do thrócaire orainn, a Iosa,
beathaigh sinn, tabhair ión an chroi dOinn,
las le do thaitneamhacht ár n-intinn
sa saol úd thall na marthana.
A Rí na gcumhacht, an ulle ós léir duit,
ós ár lón thú ar an saol seo,
bímis is na naoimh le chéile
inár gcomhoidhrí ar do naomhríocht
ag an bhfleá in ardbhrú parthais.
Amen! Alleluia!
Alleiuia Vearsa Eo 6:51-52
Alleluia, alleluia!
Is mise an t-arân beo a tháinig anuas ó neamh, a deir an Tiarna.
Má itheann duine an t-arán seo mairfidh sé go deo.
Alleluia
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Eoin 6:51-58 Glóir duit, a Thiarna.
Is bia go fíor mo chuid feola agus is deoch go fíor mo chuid fola.
San am sin dúirt Íosa leis na sluaite:
Is mise an t-arán beo a tháinig anuas ó neamh. Má itheann duine an t-arán seo mairfidh sé go deo, agus an t-arán a thabharfaidh mé uaim is é m’fheoil é [a thabharfar] ar son bheatha an domhain.”
Bhí na Giúdaigh ansin ag aighneas le chéile á rá: “Conas is féidir don duine seo a fheoil
a thabhairt dúinn le hithe?”
Dúirt Íosa leo:
“Amen, Amen, a deirim libh, mura n-íosfaidh sibh feoil Mhac an Duine,
agus a chuid fola a ól, ní bheidh beatha agaibh ionaibh.
An té a itheann m’fheoil agus a olann m’fhuil, tá an bheatha shíoraí aige,
agus tógfaidh mé suas é an lá deireanach.
Is bia go fíor mo chuid feola agus is deoch go fíor mo chuid fola.
An té a itheann m’fheoil agus a ólann m’fhuil cónaíonn sé ionamsa agus cónaímse ann. Amhail mar a chuir an tAthair beo mise uaidh, agus mar is beo mise tríd an Athair, mar an gcéanna, an té a itheann mise, mairfidh sé tríom.
Is é seo an t-arán a tháinig anuas ó neamh. Ní ionann is an manna ar ith bhur n-aithreacha é agus go bhfuil siad marbh; an té a itheann an t-arán seo, mairfidh sé go deo.”
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
