The Mass of Our Lady of the Pillar

Today is the feast of our lady of the pillar. It is also the famed Dia de Hispandad when the Hispanic countries celebrate their common culture and Christian roots. Though not celebrated in East Asia , with a very deep bond the province maintain with the Spanish Church and due to our Spanish and South American brethren, we celebrate it as a memorial in our community. The proper prayers and the readings are from the proper Mass of the Feast and were translated by yours truly.
 May the Virgin, the pillar of perseverance and faith, inspire us to be steadfast in our faith and in our vocation.

12 October
OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR

Optional memoria

According to the most ancient of traditions, the Virgin visited Saint James the Apostle by the banks of the Ebro River in the Roman city of Cesaraugusta (Zaragoza) when she was still alive.  As a sign of her presence she brought with her a column or a pillar. Honoured as the “Pillar of Faith” for having sustained the Apostle Saint James in a moment of weariness and discouragement, the Blessed Virgin Mary is also the Destroyer of All Heresies and the Succour of Christians in distress. The Blessed Virgin offers a pillar of stability in our inconstancy and, when necessary, she comes to our rescue, against the powers of darkness.
This Marian title later evolved into a symbol of national unity and Catholic identity among Spaniards. In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered the American continent on this day, thus is also known as the Day of Hispanity.

Entrance Antiphon:     (Wis 18:3; Ex 13: 21ss)

You gave your people a pillar of blazing fire to guide them,
to give them light, so that they could march by day and by night.
Or    (cf. Wis 18:3; Ex 13:21–22)
You, O Virgin Mary, are like the pillar of light that by day and by night went before the people in the desert to show them the way of life.
Or:
Glorious Mother of Christ, you conceived your Son in faith and believed that after suffering for us He would rise again. You, O loving one, are the guardian of our faith.

Collect

All powerful and ever-living God, through the glorious Mother of Your Son, you have given heavenly protection to all who invoke her under the title of the Pillar. Through her intercession, grant us strength in faith, security in hope, and constancy in love. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Your Son, who lives and reigns, with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen.

Or

Almighty and eternal God, who gave the Blessed Virgin Mary, the glorious Mother of your Son, as a pillar of strength to all who call upon her, grant that, by her intercession, we may be strong in faith, steadfast in hope, and constant in charity. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.

 

LITURGY OF THE WORD

Reading 1    (1 Chr 1: 3-4, 15-16; 16: 1-2).

A reading from the First Book of Chronicles.
They brought the ark of God in and put it inside the tent.

David then summoned all Israel to Jerusalem, to move the ark of Yahweh to the place which he had prepared for it. David also called the sons of Aaron and the Levites together: the Levites carried the ark of God with the shafts on their shoulders, as Moses had ordered in accordance with the word of Yahweh. David also told the heads of the Levites to appoint their kinsmen as singers with the accompaniment of musical instruments, lyres, harps, and cymbals to play joyfully. They brought the ark of God in and put it inside the tent which David had erected for it, and brought burnt offerings and made communion sacrifices in God's presence. And when David had finished making burnt offerings and communion sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh. ——The Word of the Lord.

Or    (Acts 1: 12-14).
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles 
With one heart they were constantly in prayer,
 including Mary the mother of Jesus.

From the Mount of Olives, as it is called, they went back to Jerusalem, a short distance away, no more than a Sabbath walk; and when they reached the city they went to the upper room where they were staying; there were Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Jude son of James. With one heart all these joined constantly in prayer, together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

——The Word of the Lord.
 

Responsorial Psalm:    (Ps 26: 1, 3, 4, 5)

R.   THE LORD HAS CROWNED ME,
      HE SETS ME HIGH ON A ROCK.

The Lord is my light and my salvation,

whom should I fear?
The Lord is the fortress of my life,
whom should I dread?

Though an army pitch camp against me,

my heart will not fear,
though war break out against me,
my trust will never be shaken.

For he hides me away under his roof on the day of evil,

he folds me in the recesses of his tent,
sets me high on a rock.

Gospel Acclamation    (Ps 26: 5d; 39:4a)

R. Alleluia, Alleluia.
V.  He sets me high upon a rock,
     and put a fresh song in my mouth.
R. Alleluia.
Gospel:  (Lk 11: 27-28)
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke  
More blessed still are those
who hear the word of God and keep it!
At that time, it happened that as Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, 'Blessed the womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you!' But he replied, 'More blessed still are those who hear the word of God and keep it!'

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Prayer over the Offerings
All powerful and ever-living God, You made the light of faith shine upon us.  Grant that by the gifts we now present to you and the prayers we offer, and through the intercession of Mary, most holy, the Virgin of the Pillar, would enable us to remain firm in the faith and generous in love. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Or

Lord, Holy Father, who have brightened our minds with the light of faith, grant that, through the intercession of the loving Mother of the Redeemer, the Virgin of the Pillar the gifts that we offer you and the prayers we pour out may render us constant in faith and quick in charity. Through Christ our Lord.

Preface Proper Preface of the Virgin of the Pillar

Mary is the hope of the faithful and the joy of our race.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up to the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R. It is right and just.

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, for the countless wonders of love and of grace that you have mercifully worked in the Blessed Virgin Mary.

You preserved her unstained from the contagion of original sin and untouched by the corruption of the tomb. Remaining inviolate in her virginity, she became the beauteous bridal chamber from which Christ came forth as the light of the nations and the Bridegroom of the Church.

She is the glorious shoot whose shining gives hope to the faithful; she is their pillar of faith.

And so, with the Virtues of the heavens, we celebrate you ceaselessly on earth, forever proclaiming your majesty: Holy, holy, holy…

Communion Antiphon   (Cfr Bar 3:38)
God appeared on earth and lived among human beings.

Or    (Lk 1:48–49)

Henceforth all generations shall call me blessed,
because He that is mighty has done great things for me.

Prayer after Communion:

O God who in many ways are present to your Church, we give you thanks for the sacraments we have received and humbly implore that, sustained by the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Lady of the Pillar, we may follow the precepts of the faith on earth, and at length be found worthy of contemplating your glory in heaven. Through Christ our Lord.

Solemn Blessing

God the Father chose Mary to be the Ark of the new covenant; to fulfill His promise of renewal and salvation. May He enjoin us into his plan of redemption. 

R.   Amen.

Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word took upon Himself our human nature, in the pure womb of Mary the Virgin; May He lead us towards the true path of peace and happiness.

R.   Amen.

The Holy Spirit inflamed the hearts of the disciples who united with Mary, were filled with sheer joy and happiness to preach the Word of life. May He confirm us in the one faith we share and renew us in His love.

R.   Amen.

And may Almighty God, bless you, the Father, + and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

R.   Amen.