Dear Friends, the Church is NOT closed, we will be offering the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, daily, 7 days per Week!! From 10am – 1pm. We hope to see you there…
Health and Safety Measures for Pastoral Life in the Diocese of Paterson
Effective Immediately by Mandate of the Bishop
I – Suspension of Church Activities
A – Suspension of Public Masses until further notice. However, Priests will offer private daily Mass for the intentions of those who made an offering for the Mass.
B – Monday night confession is suspended.
C – Penance Services or Penitential Liturgies are suspended.
D – Private devotions, Stations of the Cross are suspended.
E – Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation is suspended.
F – First Penance & First Holy Communion are to be deferred until further notice.
G – Baptisms, Weddings, and Funerals are left to the discretion of the Pastor.
II – What is to be Observed, Our
Lady of Mount Carmel will remain open for 3 hours each day (including
weekend) from 10 an to 1 pm for private prayers, exposition of the
Blessed Sacrament, Adoration and Benediction.
III – Holy Week, the Chrism Mass and the Sacred Triduum Parishes will be advised in due time.
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The Blessed Sacrament – Eucharistic Adoration
During this period there should be
appropriate prayers, songs, readings from scripture, and a brief homily
to help the congregation focus its attention to the worship of the
Lord. It is important to remember that the Eucharist is the “Real Presence” of Jesus Christ.
After a period of meditation and reflection
the celebrant goes to the altar, genuflects, and kneels. The following or
another suitable eucharistic hymn is sung
O Salutaris Hostia is a moving
tribute to our Lord, a wonderful hymn written by Saint Thomas Aquinas
(pictured below), the preeminent theologian and Doctor of the Church, in
the 13th century. Saint Thomas composed its text for the feast of
Corpus Christi, which was established by the Church in 1264 to honor our
Lord in the Eucharist (in His Body and Blood). It actually comprises
the last two stanzas of a larger hymn that Saint Thomas wrote about our
Lord’s institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper and His Passion.
It is often sung during adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as part of
what is known as a liturgical service of Eucharistic Exposition and
Benediction. The text is given in Latin with an English translation
below:
O salutaris Hostia,
Quae caeli pandis ostium:
Bella premunt hostilia,
Da robur, fer auxilium.
Uni trinoque Domino
Sit sempiterna gloria,
Qui vitam sine termino
Nobis donet in patria.
Amen.
O saving Victim, opening wide,
The gate of heaven to man below!
Our foes press on from every side;
Thine aid supply, thy strength bestow.
To Thy great name by endless praise,
Immortal Godhead, one in Three;
Oh, grant us endless length of days,
In our true native land with Thee. Amen
This hymn has had many musical
settings over the centuries by such composers as Palestrina, Beethoven,
Gounod, and Liszt. The music in this
video is often used in services.
Note the text’s inspiring references
to our Lord’s saving mission in reconciling us to His Father, and thus
opening for us the gates of heaven, through his Passion. We are invited
here to ask for His help in persevering in our often difficult spiritual
journey towards
Eternal Life with Him in our “true native land,” heaven!
St. Thomas himself once quoted St.
Augustine as saying that in heaven “we will see, we will love, and we
will praise.” This hymn reminds us to keep our eyes on the prize!
push the arrow in the video to play.
Down in adoration
falling, This great Sacrament we hail;
Over ancient forms
of worship Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith will tell us
Christ is present, When our human senses fail.
To the everlasting Father, And the Son who made us free, And the Spirit, God proceeding
From them Each eternally, Be salvation, honor, blessing, Might and endless majesty. Amen.
Tantum ergo Sacramentum Veneremur cernul, Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritul;Praestet fides supplementum Sensuum defectful.
Genitori Gentioque Laus et jubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque Sit et benedictio;Procedenti ab utroque
compar sit laudatio. Amen.
Priest/Deacon:
You have given them Bread from heaven (P.T. Alleluia) ALL: Having
all sweetness with it (P.T. Alleluia)
Priest/Deacon:
Lord Jesus Christ, you gave us the Eucharist as the memorial of your
suffering and death. May our worship of this sacrament of your body and
blood, help us to experience the salvation won for us and the peace of the
kingdom, where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for
ever and ever.
ALL: Amen. The celebrant will
then bless all present with the Eucharist.
REPOSITION
When the priest or deacon has blessed
everyone he then replaces the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle and
genuflects. The following acclamation may be said at this time. This
acclamation is called the Divine Praises.
Blessed be God.
Blessed be his holy name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man.
Blessed be the name of Jesus.
Blessed be his most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be his most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the most holy sacrament of the altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be
the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.
Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, virgin and Mother.
Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in his angels and in his saints.
Amen.
As the celebrant is leaving the following or another suitable hymn may be sung.
After a period of meditation and reflection the celebrant goes to the altar, genuflects, and
kneels. The following or another suitable eucharistic hymn is sung.
O saving Victim, open wide
The gate of heaven to us below.
Our foes press on from every side;
Your aid supply, your strength bestow.To your great name be endless praise,
Immortal Godhead, One in Three;
O grant us endless length of days
In our true native land to be. Amen.
O salutaris Hostia
Quae caeli pandis ostium;
Bella premunt hostilla,
Da robur, fer auxillium.Uni trinoque Domino
Sit sempiterna gloria,
Qui vitam sine termino
Nobis donet in patria. Amen.
Since the 16th century
Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The
Church traditionally encouraged the month of April for increased
devotion to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. “The Church in the course of
the centuries has introduced various forms of this Eucharistic worship
which are ever increasing in beauty and helpfulness; as, for example,
visits of devotion to the tabernacles, even every day; Benediction of
the Blessed Sacrament; solemn processions, especially at the time of
Eucharistic Congresses, which pass through cities and villages; and
adoration of the Blessed Sacrament publicly exposed . . . These
exercises of piety have brought a wonderful increase in faith and
supernatural life to the Church militant upon earth and they are
re-echoed to a certain extent by the Church triumphant in heaven, which
sings continually a hymn of praise to God and to the Lamb
‘Who was slain.’” —Pope Pius XII
ACT OF ADORATION
I adore Thee, 0 Jesus, true
God and true Man, here present in the Holy Eucharist, humbly kneeling
before Thee and united in spirit with all the faithful on earth and all
the blessed in heaven. In deepest gratitude for so great a blessing, I
love Thee, my Jesus, with my whole heart, for Thou art all perfect and
all worthy of love.
Give me grace nevermore
in any way to offend Thee, and grant that I, being refreshed by Thy
Eucharistic presence here on earth, may be found worthy to come to the
enjoyment with Mary of Thine eternal and everblessed presence in heaven.
Amen.
FAITH IN THE EUCHARIST
O my God, I firmly believe
that Thou art really and corporally present in the Blessed Sacrament of
the altar. I adore Thee here present from the very depths of my heart,
and I worship Thy sacred presence with all possible humility. O my soul,
what joy to have Jesus Christ always with us, and to be able to speak
to Him, heart to heart, with all confidence. Grant, O Lord, that I,
having adored Thy divine Majesty here on earth in this wonderful
Sacrament, may be able to adore it eternally in Heaven. Amen.
FOR THE PEACE OF CHRIST
O most sacred, most loving
heart of Jesus, Thou art concealed in the Holy Eucharist, and Thou
beatest for us still. Now as then Thou sayest, “With desire I have
desired.” I worship Thee, then, with all my best love and awe, with my
fervent affection, with my most subdued, most resolved will. O make my
heart beat with Thy heart. Purify it of all that is
earthly, all that is proud and sensual, all that is hard and cruel, of
all perversity, of all disorder, of all deadness. So fill it with Thee,
that neither the events of the day nor the circumstances of the time may
have power to ruffle it; but that in Thy love and Thy fear it may have
peace. —Cardinal Newman
ACT OF LOVE
I believe Thou art present
in the Blessed Sacrament, O Jesus. I love Thee and desire Thee. Come
into my heart. I embrace Thee, O never leave me. I beseech Thee, O Lord
Jesus, may the burning and most sweet power of Thy love absorb my mind,
that I may die through love of Thy love, who wast graciously pleased to
die through love of my love. —St. Francis of Assisi
ACT OF REPARATION Saint Margaret Mary
Alacoque, well known in connection with devotion to the Sacred Herat of
Jesus, led the way in making reparation to Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament for the coldness and ingratitude of men. This prayer of hers
can become our own as we attempt to make amends for our own and others’
neglect of the great Sacrament of His love, the Eucharist.
O kind and merciful savior, from my heart I earnestly desire to return
Thee love for love. My greatest sorrow is that Thou art not loved by
men, and, in particular, that my own heart is so cold, so selfish, so
ungrateful. Keenly aware of my own weakness and poverty, I trust that
Thy own grace will enable me to offer Thee an act of pure love. And I
wish to offer Thee this act of love in reparation for the coldness and
neglect that are shown to Thee in the sacrament of Thy love by Thy
creatures. O Jesus, my supreme good, I love Thee, not for the
sake of the reward which Thou hast promised to those who love Thee, but purely for Thyself.
I love Thee above all things that can
be loved, above all pleasures, and above myself and all that is not
Thee, promising in the presence of heaven and earth that I will live and
die purely and simply in Thy holy love, and that if to love Thee thus I
must endure persecution and suffering I am completely satisfied, and I
will ever say with Saint Paul: Nothing “will be able to separate us from
the love of God.” 0 Jesus, supreme master of all hearts, I love Thee, I
adore Thee, I praise Thee, I thank Thee, because I am now all Thine
own. Rule over me, and transform my soul into the likeness of Thyself,
so that it may bless and glorify Thee forever in the abode of the
saints. —Saint Margaret
Mary Alacoque
OFFERING
My Lord, I offer Thee
myself in turn as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Thou hast died for me,
and I in turn make myself over to Thee. I am not my own. Thou hast
bought me; I will by my own act and deed complete the purchase. My wish
is to be separated from everything of this world; to cleanse myself
simply from sin; to put away from me even what is innocent, if used for
its own sake, and not for Thine. I put away reputation and honor, and
influence, and power, for my praise and strength shall be in Thee.
Enable me to carry out what I profess. Amen. —Cardinal Newman
Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O’Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954
Litany of the Most Blessed Sacrament
Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy, Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us, Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us, Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
O Living Bread, Who from Heaven descended, have mercy on us.
Hidden God and Savior, have mercy on us.
Grain of the elect, have mercy on us.
Vine sprouting forth virgins, have mercy on us.
Wholesome Bread and delicacy of kings, have mercy on us.
Perpetual sacrifice, have mercy on us.
Clean oblation, have mercy on us.
Lamb without spot, have mercy on us.
Most pure feast, have mercy on us.
Food of Angels, have mercy on us.
Hidden manna, have mercy on us.
Memorial of God’s wonders, have mercy on us.
Supersubstantial Bread, have mercy on us.
Word made flesh, dwelling in us, have mercy on us.
Holy Victim, have mercy on us.
O Cup of blessing, have mercy on us.
O Mystery of faith, have mercy on us.
O Most high and venerable Sacrament, have mercy on us.
O Most holy of all sacrifices, have mercy on us.
O True propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead, have mercy on us.
O Heavenly antidote, by which we are preserved from sin, have mercy on us.
O stupendous miracle above all others, have mercy on us.
O most holy Commemoration of the Passison of Christ, have mercy on us.
O Gift transcending all abundance, have mercy on us.
O extraordinary memorial of Divine love, have mercy on us.
O affluence of Divine largess, have mercy on us.
O most holy and august mystery, have mercy on us.
Medicine of immortality, have mercy on us.
Awesome and life-giving Sacrament, have mercy on us.
Unbloody Sacrifice, have mercy on us.
Food and guest, have mercy on us.
Sweetest banquet at which the Angels serve, have mercy on us.
Bond of love, have mercy on us.
Offering and oblation, have mercy on us.
Spiritual sweetness tasted in its own foutain, have mercy on us.
Refreshment of holy souls, have mercy on us.
Viaticum of those dying in the Lord, have mercy on us.
Pledge of future glory, have mercy on us.
Be merciful, spare us, O Lord.
Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Lord.
From the unworthy reception of Thy Body and Blood, deliver us, O Lord.
From passions of the flesh, deliver us, O Lord.
From the concupiscence of the eyes, deliver us, O Lord.
From pride, deliver us, O Lord.
From every occasion of sin, deliver us, O Lord.
Through that desire, with which Thou desiredst to eat the Passover with Thy disciples, deliver us, OLord.
Through that profound humility with which Thou didst wash Thy disciples’ feet, deliver us, O Lord.
Through that most ardent love, with which Thou instituted this Divine Sacrament, deliver us, O Lord.
Through the most precious Blood, which Thou hast left for us upon the altar, deliver us, O Lord.
Through those Five Wounds of Thy most holy Body, which was given up for us, deliver us, O Lord.
Sinners we are, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst graciously preserve and augment the faith, reverence, and devotion in us towards
this admirable Sacrament, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst graciously lead us through the true mconfession of we beseech Thee, hear us.
our sins to a frequent reception of the Eucharist, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst graciously free us from every heresy, falsehood, and blindness of the heart,we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst graciously impart to us the Heavenly and precious
fruits of this most Holy Sacrament, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst graciously protect and strengthen us in our hour of
death with this Heavenly Viaticum, we beseech Thee, hear us.
O Son of God, we beseech Thee, hear us.
Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the
world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us, O Lord.
Christ, hear us, Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us, Christ, graciously hear us.
Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy, Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy.
Our Father . . .
Hail Mary . . .
V. Thou didst furnish them with
Bread from Heaven, Alleluia.
R. Having in it every delight.
Let us pray.
O God, Who under a
marvelous Sacrament has left us a memorial of Thy Passion; grant us; we
beseech Thee; so to venerate the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood,
that we may ever perceive within us the fruit of Thy Redemption. Thou,
Who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.
From the Manuale Sacerdotum, P.
Josephus Schneider, S. J., 1867
