Divine Office -Liturgy of the Hours for the Memorial of Saint Gemma Galgani, May 16

Jesus Resurrection

Liturgy of the Hours  -Divine Office of Readings for the Memorial of Saint Gemma Galgani, May 16 (or April 11)

GEMMA GALGANI, Virgin

Memorial

Saint Gemma Galgani was born in 1878 in Camigliano (near Lucca), Italy. From her childhood she dedicated herself to meditation on the Passion of Jesus Christ, leading an innocent life, and longing for heaven. She was orphaned and then charitibly welcomed into the home of the Giannini family, who were deeply Christian. Consecrating herself to God by a vow of virginity, she joyfully applied herself to run the way of perfection. She had a singular devotion towards the Eucharist and towards Jesus Crucified. Graced with extraordinary supernatural charisms, she offered herself to God for the conversion of sinners. Although her ardent desire to enter the Passionist Nuns was never realised because of various difficulties, she distinguished herself as an extraordinary example of holiness as a layperson in the midst of the world. She died at Lucca on Holy Saturday, April 11, 1903.

MORNING PRAYER

Responsory: (Mt 11:25-26, Cor. 6:17)

Father, Lord of heaven and earth, to You I offer praise, for what You have hidden from the learned a clever You have revealed to the merest children.

Father, it is true. You have graciously willed it so, alleluia.

Whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.

Father, it is true. You have graciously willed it so, alleluia.

HYMN

O’ Gemma, flower of the Passion

Set among the brambles and briars of this world.

You are a lily, gleaming white,

yet bedewed with drops of blood.

The Hosts of heaven come to you,

And your own guardian Angel teaches, protects and makes you bright.

The most holy Mother offers to you Her Son,

affixed to a Cross.

And you, as a sharer in the sorrow,

Offer your love to the Man of Sorrows.

You are like the turtle-dove

Desiring what the world calls foolish,

The joys of the blessed enclosure and sacred solitude.

O’ Gemma, see that the Passion of Christ

Be revived in our hearts

So that we might enjoy Its fruits

In the blessed abode of heaven.

Glory be to You, O Christ, most holy King,

And to the Father, together with the Spirit Paraclete,

Now and forever, AMEN +

Psalm taken from the Divine Praises for Holy Saturday (Anniversary of the holy death of S. Gemma Galgani)

Psalm 95

Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Ant. Come, let us worship Christ, who for our sake suffered death and was buried.

Come, let us sing to the Lord
and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us.
Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving
and sing joyful songs to the Lord.

Ant. Holy Virgins, praise the Lord of the heavens, alleluia.

The Lord is God, the mighty God,
the great king over all the gods.
He holds in his hands the depths of the earth
and the highest mountains as well
He made the sea; it belongs to him,
the dry land, too, for it was formed by his hands.

Ant. My spirit thirsts for You, O Lord, my flesh longs for You ardently, alleluia.

Come, then, let us bow down and worship,
bending the knee before the Lord, our maker,
For he is our God and we are his people,
the flock he shepherds.

Ant. There is a burning fire in my heart; I struggle but cannot contain it, alleluia.

Today, listen to the voice of the Lord:
Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did in the wilderness,
when at Meriba and Massah they challenged me and provoked me,
Although they had seen all of my works.

Ant. Come, let us worship Christ, who for our sake suffered death and was buried.

Forty years I endured that generation.
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray
and they do not know my ways.
So I swore in my anger,
“They shall not enter into my rest.”

Ant. Holy Virgins, praise the Lord of the heavens, alleluia.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen

Ant. My spirit thirsts for You, O Lord, my flesh longs for You ardently, alleluia.

READING   (Hebrews 12: 1-2)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.

RESPONSORY

-My heart says to You: I shall seek your face, alleluia, alleluia.

Hide not Your face from me, O’ Lord

-My heart says to You: I shall seek your face, alleluia, alleluia.

 Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

- My heart says to You: I shall seek your face, alleluia, alleluia.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

-My heart says to You: I shall seek your face, alleluia, alleluia.

CANTICLE (Isaiah 38:10-14, 17-20)

Once I said,
“In the noontime of life I must depart!
To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned
for the rest of my years.”

I said, “I shall see the Lord no more
in the land of the living.
No longer shall I behold my fellow men
among those who dwell in the world.”

My dwelling, like a shepherd’s tent,
is struck down and borne away from me;
you have folded up my life, like a weaver
who severs the last thread.

Day and night you give me over to torment;
I cry out until the dawn.
Like a lion he breaks all my bones;
day and night you give me over to torment.

Like a swallow I utter shrill cries;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes grow weak, gazing heaven-ward:
O Lord, I am in straits; be my surety!

You have preserved my life
from the pit of destruction,
when you cast behind You
all of my sins.

For it is not the nether world that gives you thanks,
nor death that praises you;
Neither do those who go down into the pit
await your kindness.

The living, the living give you thanks,
as I do today.
Fathers declare to their sons,
O God, your faithfulness.

The Lord is our savior;
we shall sing to stringed instruments
in the house of the Lord
all the days of our life.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

PRAYER

All powerful God, You made the virgin, Saint Gemma Galgani, a living image of your crucified Son. Through her prayers, may we suffer with Christ and so share in His glory, fe He lives and reigns in union with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

EVENING PRAYER 

O’ Virgin; precious gem and diadem of Christ,

Once hidden to the eyes of the world,

But now sparkling like a star,

You shine in the heavens

And gleam with a reddish hue.

For once you were a partner of the suffering Jesus,

Now joyful you reign as a sharer in His glory

And a beseeching people call upon you in their prayers.

Graciously you accede to their requests

And obtain help to those weak and body, and tortured in soul.

Glory be to the Father,

And to His only-begotton Son,

And to you, the Spirit, the power eternally proceeding from both,

One God, forever and ever. Amen

 PSALMODY

Psalm 122

I was glad when they said to me,
    “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
Our feet are standing    within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem—built as a city
    that is bound firmly together.
To it the tribes go up,    the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,    to give thanks to the name of the Lord.


Antiphon: I pledge myself to Christ and await Him with with burning heart; I desire to be with Him forever, alleluia.

For there the thrones for judgment were set up,
    the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
    “May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,    and security within your towers.”

Ant: The life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me, alleluia.

 For the sake of my relatives and friends
    I will say, “Peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,    I will seek your good.

 Ant: May I never boast of anything but the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ! Through it, the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world, alleluia.


CANTICLE  (Ephesians 1: 3-10)

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.  He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 

 READING  (1 Peter 4: 13-14)

But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.  If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.


RESPONSORY

The Virgins enter the nuptial feast with joy, alleluia, alleluia.

- The Virgins enter the nuptial feast with joy, alleluia, alleluia.

They are led into the palace of the King

-The Virgins enter the nuptial feast with joy, alleluia, alleluia.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

-The Virgins enter the nuptial feast with joy, alleluia, alleluia.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.

-The Virgins enter the nuptial feast with joy, alleluia, alleluia.