March 31, 2023 — Friday of the Temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness

Wa Habibi

O My Son, o My Beloved. See the plight love brings You to. Who has seen you and not mourned you? You! You are the Redeemer! O my Love, what kind of guilt has the slave made his king bear? They disfigured you and maimed you with no hope for any cure

Look on me daughter of Sion. Crushed beneath this mighty wave. Anguish fills my very marrow and it leads me to the grave. There is none to be a friend now. And this angry mob to brave. For the suff'ring I endure.

When in the garden at night, the redeemer did bow down. While the earth echoed His plight. the source of all reverent sound. The trees of olives are crying. And lips are calling for Him. My Love, why are You departing? Has faithfulness grown dim?

March 28, 2023

O Lord, we stand before you with all the prophets and Apostles, and we adore you. In your mercy, perfect us in our faith. Let your living and Holy Spirit come and consecrate this oil. Fill it with your might and let your divinity abide in it.

May those who believe and are signed and anointed with this oil, become holy and pure. Once they are perfected in baptism, call them to stand at your right hand, shining in the glory of your kingdom, and they will raise glory to the most exalted Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for ever.

Amen.

From the Consecration of the Holy Oils Divine Liturgy

O Christ, our King and Redeemer, you prepared your disciples and sent two of them to bring you a donkey colt. You rode it through the streets of Jerusalem among the crowds and the children, who were shouting to you: “Hosanna!” We, too, prepare ourselves to meet you, for we believe that you are truly the Son of God.

By the road, as Christ walked along, sat a man who could not see.
Bartimaeus began to shout: ”Son of David, pity me! I believe you are the Lord, who can give light to my eyes.
Since you let me hear your voice, let me also see your face. Give me light that I may see.”

Make us worthy, O Lord, to stand before You with pure hearts and to believe in Your birth from a virgin as Joseph, Your chosen one, believed after You revealed Your mystery to him. As You appointed the angel in the garden of Eden to guard the tree of life, so have You chosen Joseph and appointed him guardian of Your virgin mother in whom You dwelt. Grant us, O Lord, to taste the cherished fruit of Your tree, so that we may glorify You, Your Holy Father and Your blessed Spirit, now and forever.

Holy One, through you, sinners are sanctified and the penitent seek you who desire our salvation and well being.
Do not look on the weakness of our humanity and the insignificance of our deeds. but treat us according to your mercy, for we take refuge in you.
orgive our offenses, for who besides you can pardon?
Full of joy, we shall give you glory, now and for ever.

The governor of Sebaste in Armenia wished to force forty soldiers to renouce Christ. First he imprisoned them and then he threw them into a frozen pond. They prayed with one heart.

"We forty have entered the arena, O Lord, grant that we may be able to receive the crown,”

One of them escaped and renounced Christ, but their guard, a pagan, took his place. In the morning the guards broke their legs and burned their bodies. They received the crown of martyrdom around the year 322. May their prayers be with us. Amen.

Though cherubim fear the One who is clothed with fire,
a woman takes hold of his cloak and is not burnt.
Though fiery ranks tremble in awe before their Lord,
this woman who kisses his cloak fears not at all.

Jesus Christ our Lord, true High Priest, you called our father, Saint John Maron to the order of holy priesthood, ordained him a bishop, and then chose him as the first Patriarch of Antioch for our Maronite Church. Now make us worthy to remember him and to celebrate his glorious feast with prayers and hymns. With him we raise glory and thanks to you, to your Father, and to your Holy Spirit, now and for ever.

O Christ our God, Physician of souls and bodies, in your plan of salvation, you had pity on the leper, who was outcast, and healed him by your word. We lift up our eyes and hearts to you at all times, and we implore you never to keep your mercy and grace from us but to look upon us with compassion as you did with the leper. Cleanse us and make us holy.

During these forty days of Lent, may we meditate on the benefits of fasting and prayer. Through fasting and prayer souls are made pure, bodies are made chaste, spirits are uplifted, passions are restrained, mercy abounds, and the Holy Spirit dwells in the soul that was created to be the temple of God.

O Christ, the only-begotten Son, on this day you chose to sit among the invited guests, enriching them with the abundance of your divine gifts. As your disciples believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, we also believe in you. In place of the old Law, you have given us your new Gospel, and instead of the fruit of the vine, you have quenched our thirst with the chalice of your redeeming blood.

Jesus Christ our Lord, make us worthy to remember the faithful departed who professed their faith in you and received your Body and Blood as nourishment and blessings. Grant them rest, and may they share in your eternal banquet and your everlasting joy. Count them among your chosen ones, and may they raise glory and thanks to you, to your Father, and to your Holy Spirit, for ever.

Amen.

Lord, you appointed Saint Maron as father and shepherd of a portion of your people. You supported him with your strength and righteousness, gave him victory over your enemies and guided him in your truth. Grant us who celebrate his memory today a constant faith, and we will glorify and praise you, now and for ever.
Amen.

O Lord, today we are gathered to celebrate your holy and righteous ones By their prayers grant us pardon and repentance and make us worthy of their destiny in heaven.

Simeon, the faithful one, held the Son of God, made man, whom his parents brought this day to the temple of the Lord. He took him into his arms and spoke good news, giving thanks to God.

“I have seen, with my own eyes, the Redeemer of the world. Dismiss me in peace, for the nations have been saved.”

This has been fulfilled by Christ, the Lord of all, who was born from Mary’s womb.

Blessed are you O priests who left this passing world trusting in God’s mercy. May the body of Christ that you bore, the baptism with which you were clothed and the mysteries that you administrated enable you to escape eternal torments, inherit life and enter in to the kingdom.

January 22, 2023 — 3rd Sunday after the Glorious Epiphany

May we be worthy to praise, confess and glorify the only hidden Father Who thundered from the heavens and acknowledged His only beloved and praiseworthy Son; the only Son Who was revealed at the river and baptized by His servant; the only Holy Spirit Who was seen in heaven and on earth in order to make known His Chosen One.

Jan. 15, 2023: Feast of Our Lady of the Sowing

Alleluia!

In the land of Ephesus the dew was falling when John wrote and taught the Church to honor Mary three times a year. January when we plant the seeds, May for all the wheat, and the month of August for the grapes we harvest.
Mary, these three feasts depict the life God gives us.

Alleluia! We ask for your prayers.

Jan. 8, 2023: The First Sunday after the Glorious Epiphany of Our Lord

Almighty God and Savior Jesus Christ, You are the Merciful One Who inclined Your everlasting mercy to the salvation of our weak and feeble race. For the sake of mankind You became Man of the holy Virgin Mary. From the Magi and shepherds You received mystical and royal gifts. You were baptized in the Jordan River by John, Your forerunner, so that, by Your baptism, water would be made holy for us unto a new birth.