ST GERARD MAJELLA DAY LITURGY

Welcome Tony Biviano

Opening Sam Kono CSsR
Family and friends, children and parents, a blessed morning to you all. I am Fr. Sam CSsR. We
acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we stand or sit. We also pay our respect to
the elders past, present and emerging.

Let us unite our hearts and minds and welcome the presence of the Lord in our midst as we honour
St. Gerard Majella CSsR. Gerard died on this day in 1755 at the age of
29. He was a Redemptorist brother.
Today we are here to celebrate families.To pray for all families to be strong, faithful and loving.
We pray for wounded families in need and we pray for broken relationships to be healed.

We have received letters of thanksgivings for the intercession of St Gerard in their needs.
Petitions from many people are increasingly sent to us.
Some are included in this basket and will be blessed after the prayers of the faithful. You may
include your prayers, too.
We also receive many messages of thanksgiving where God has answered prayers. Such as:
Dear St Gerard, thank you for helping our son through a rough patch recently. He has had a very
good outcome.
From Maria and John.

St Gerard, thank you for your intercession for the safe birth of our twins! We thank you for your
help throughout each of our six pregnancies, and for allowing each birth to occur safely. (From
Matthew)

Thank you for good news we received regarding the health of our granddaughter. (From Margaret)
Today we encourage you too to add your prayer intentions.

Let us lift up our spirit to the Lord as we sing the opening hymn which is the hymn to St. Gerard
Majella. You may sing along with us.

Opening Hymn
Hymn to Saint Gerard Majella

Strong lover of the lance-torn Heart of Jesus crucified,
And lover, too, of all souls. For whom our Saviour died.

Chorus Saint of Mercy, Saint of power Hear, Oh, hear us in this hour Saint Gerard pray for us
Saint Gerard pray for us

In all our sorrows all our pain Oh, lend swift aid and sure,
Great wonder working Saint of God, Kind brother of the poor. (Chorus)

Dear patron of prodigal, Who will forgiveness win,
Lead, lead us to our Father’s love And help us be good. (Chorus)

Sign of the Cross 

Let us pause to present our world, our people or whatever petition that we have in our hearts to
the Lord. We remember his goodness to us through the intercession of his servant St. Gerard
Majella.
……………………
Song: Goodness of God
……………………
Blessing of peace
May the peace of God be upon us to sustain us; May his Mercy come upon us to set us free; May His
Holy Spirit guide us to the way of love and peace. May he console our hearts and heal us.

Opening Prayer
Celebrant: St. Gerard, We thank God for giving you as an example of faith for us. We pray that you
may continue to be our intercessor before him. We call upon you and seek your aid for our needs at
this time. Intercede for us to the Master of Life from whom all good things come. May this moment
of grace and prayer help heal our broken world, our families who are struggling, the unloved, the
victims of unjust practices and war, the little ones who are neglected.
Recite together
Come Holy Spirit! Come Lord Jesus! Come and bless us through your servant St. Gerard Majella! Glory
to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning is now and ever
shall be, world without end, Amen.

Scripture Reading:
Reader:

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians (3:8-14)
I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For
his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may
gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but
one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know
Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in
his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it
my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my
own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Reflection  Fr Sam

Intercessory Song for peace and harmony with all creation
We Shall Love You
by Sam Kono CSsR

We shall love you, Lord We shall love you!
Really trust in you with all our hearts As we try to live in your mercy,
and in harmony with your peopleand all of creation.

Refrain
Let your spirit guide and shelter us today.
Help us to live in love (and) have courage as we go. May we always be the channels of your peace.
May we always be the channels of your peace.

Prayers of the faithful
Celebrant:
Friends and families, let us once more present our petitions to God through St Gerard.
Reader:
– Lord, as we remember Saint Gerard, the mothers’ saint, who is especially devoted to expectant
mothers, we acknowledge the love and commitment mothers have for their families. We pray for your
continued help in their very important role as mothers. Lord, hear us.
All: Lord, hear our prayers.

– Lord, watch over children everywhere and may we follow Saint Gerard’s selfless example of being
with the little ones, helping the poor and the downtrodden. Lord, hear us.
All: Lord, hear our prayers.

– For families who are struggling with family violence, and ill health that through God’s love and
mercy, they may find peace, strength and courage. Lord, hear us.
All: Lord, hear our prayers.

– That our leaders and all of us may strive to care for the earth, our common home. For those who
are experiencing natural disasters and war, may they find comfort and shelters. Lord, hear us.
All: Lord, hear our prayers.

– That vocation to the Redemptorist Congregation, especially for religious brothers may increase.
Lord, hear us.
All: Lord, hear our prayers.

– We pray that God, with his abundant love, grant all petitions presented today through the
prayers of St Gerard. Lord, hear us.
– All: Lord, hear our prayers.

Conclusion (All):
Loving God, we thank you for giving St. Gerard to us as a great role model and friend. Through his
example, he has shown us how to love and trust you.
You shower many blessings on those who call upon his assistance.
For your greater glory and our welfare, please grant us the favours which we now ask in his name.

Offering up of submitted prayers 
(you are welcome to mention your request now)

Saint Gerard,
We truly believe that through your intercession, we may experience God’s goodness. We ask this
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Our Father Prayer
Celebrant: Let us unite our hearts and prayers in the words that Jesus has taught us

Blessing with the Relic of St Gerard Majella
Celebrant: Let us end our liturgy with the blessing of the Relic of St Gerard Majella.
May the children, the unborn children, mothers and expectant mothers, motherhood, the falsely
accused, people who seek God’s mercy and love, religious brothers, all families, our country and
our wounded world, our loved ones and all of us, through the relic of St. Gerard receive God’s
abundant blessings, + In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Thank you everyone. Look after yourselves, stay safe and God bless! We now have our final hymn:
Prayer of Saint Francis.

Hymn:
Prayer of St. Francis by Sebastian Temple

Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there is hatred let me bring your love, Where there is injury your pardon Lord, And where
there’s doubt true faith in you.

Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope, Where there is darkness, only light,
And where there’s sadness, ever joy.

O Master grant that I may never seek, So much to be consoled as to console, To be understood as to
understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, In giving of ourselves that we receive.
And in dying that we’re born to eternal life.

Happy St. Gerard Majella Feast Day!
May God Bless You and your family!
Sam Kono, CSsR The Redemptorists
And all at Majellan Media