29 October 2017

Our Lady Queen of Palestine

1st Reading: Acts 1:12-14.
Responsorial: 1 Mac 6: 14-15; Sir 45:12; Sg 4-5
2nd Reading: Rev 11: 19; 12: 1-6
The Gospel of Luke 1: 39-50

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” 

And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked upon his lowly servant. From this day, all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.”

My Spirit Rejoices in God my Saviour

The soul of Mary therefore magnifies the Lord, and her spirit rejoices in God, because with soul and spirit devoted to the Father and the Son, she worships with a pious affection the one God from whom are all things. But let every one have the spirit of Mary, so that he may rejoice in the Lord. If according to the flesh there is one mother of Christ, yet, according to faith, Christ is the fruit of all. For every soul receives the word of God if only he be unspotted and free from sin, and preserves it with unsullied purity.
St. Ambrose, Catena Aurea

Prayer to Our Lady Queen of Palestine
O Mary Immaculate,
Queen of the Holy Land and
Principal Patroness of our diocese,
grant that we may always
serve God in holiness, seeking
true justice and peace during
this life, so that by the merits
of your Son, our Lord,
and with your motherly aid,
we may pass at last from the earthly Jerusalem to the splendours of
the heavenly one.  Amen.

This week’s feasts
Wed 1 All Saints Solemnity 
Thu 2 All Souls 
Fri 3 Saint Martin de Porres, Religious 
Sat 4 Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop 

Psalter Week II

Readings for Next week’s Mass
1st: Malachi 1:14-2:2, 8-10
Psalm: 130
2nd: Thesalonians 2:7-9, 13
Gospel: Matthew 23: 1-12

The Imitation of Mary

Neither the grace of the divine Redeemer, nor the powerful intercession of His Mother and our spiritual Mother, nor yet her sublime sanctity, could lead us to the port of salvation if we did not respond to them by our persevering will to honor Jesus Christ and the Holy Virgin with our devout imitation of their sublime virtue. (…)
“Let the faithful remember that true devotion consists neither in fruitless and passing emotion, nor in a certain vain credulity. Rather, it proceeds from true faith, by which we are led to know the excellence of the Mother of God, and are moved to a filial love toward our mother and to the imitation of her virtues.” (Lumen Gentium, 67)
(…) If we then contemplate the Virgin of Nazareth in the halo of her prerogative and of her virtues, we will see her shine before our eyes as the “New Eve,” the exalted daughter of Sion, the summit of the Old Testament and the dawn of the New, in which “the fullness of time” was realized, which was preordained by God for the mission in the world of His only-begotten Son. In truth, the Virgin Mary, more than all the patriarchs and prophets, more than the “just” and “pious” Simeon awaited and implored “the consolation of Israel … the Christ of the Lord” and then greeted His advent with the hymn of “Magnificat” when He descended into her most chaste womb to take on our flesh.
Pope Paul VI, Signum Magnum, 1967

All Souls Mass Schedule: 9am at Agia Kyriaki, 12pm at Agia Kyriaki, 4pm at the cemetery chapel and 6pm in Polis.

Divine Mercy Prayer Group Anniversary Sun 5 Nov 1pm at the LPH. Prayers begin at 11:30. Food, music and surprises. All are welcome.

The Flower Arrangement Group is looking for volunteers. Meeting at the presbytery 3 Nov at 3pm. Contact Resi at 26910706.

Fr. Carlos Tandem Parachute Jump Sat 2nd Dec. Sponsor our Parish Priest to help Caritas, please see poster in the Coffee Shop.

Join us for a Meze Meal at Akis Taverna Achelia (Road to Airport) on  Fri 24 Nov at 7:30pm €15.00. Live entertainment by Dominic Holmes, to help Archangel Michael Hospice. Call 99389073 to book (limited availability)

Christmas Shopping Trip to Nicosia Tues 12 December. 3 stops M & S, Ledra Street near the border (passport required) final stop Ikea. Raffle with prizes. Bus leaves 8am from Debenhams Upper parking, returns around 7 pm. Cost €17 to help Hospice. Call Linda 99562387.

CARITAS PAPHOS currently needs

• Nοn-perishable food to help about 40 households weekly.  
• Computer whiz to manage crowdfunding appeals.
• Teachers for basic Greek and Transportation of students.

Prayers and donations always help. Contact Wendy Burdon 99 040294.

Mass Times HERE