Sacred Liturgy & Sacraments: December 2009 Archives

St John El Greco.jpg

Priest: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

All: Who made heaven and earth.

Priest: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray. If it please you, Lord God, bless + and consecrate + this vessel of wine (or any other beverage) by the power of your right hand; and grant that, through the merits of Saint John, apostle and evangelist, all your faithful who drink of it may find it a help and a protection. As the blessed John drank the poisoned potion without any ill effects, so may all who today drink the blessed wine in his honor be delivered from poisoning and similar harmful things. And as they offer themselves body and soul to you, may they obtain pardon of all their sins. We ask this through Christ our Lord

All: Amen.

Lord, bless + this creature drink, so that it may be a health-giving medicine to all who use it; and grant by your grace that all who taste of it may enjoy bodily and spiritual health in calling on your holy name. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

May the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come on this wine (or any other beverage) and remain always.

All: Amen.


At the end of the principal Mass on the feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist, (after the last Gospel if during the Mass of Blessed John XXIII), the priest, retaining all vestments except the maniple, blesses wine brought by the people. This is done in memory and in honor of Saint John, who drank without any ill effects the poisoned wine offered to him by his enemies. The wine is sprinkled with holy water. If the blessing is given privately outside of Mass, the priest is vested in surplice and stole and performs the ceremony as given above.

Carthusian monks at prayer.jpgThe Liturgy is at once both the end to which the action of the Church tends and at the same time the source from which flows all her strength. We, who have left everything to seek God alone and to possess him more fully, should carry out the liturgical functions with particular reverence. For when we accomplish the Liturgy, especially the Eucharistic celebration, we have access to the Father through his Son, the Word Incarnate who suffered and was glorified, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Thus we achieve communion with the Most Holy Trinity.

(Statutes of the Carthusian Order 41.1)

We are neither Carthusian monks nor nuns (at least I am not), but this paragraph from the Statutes should in some way focus our attention to the serious matter of prayer, redemption and the action of God, namely the Liturgy. Their sentiments must also be ours given our state in life. In what ways are we changed by the Liturgy (Mass and Divine Office)? If you are not changed, then what needs to be done in your life to be open to the divine changed hoped-for during and after the celebration of the Liturgy?

About the author

Paul A. Zalonski is from New Haven, CT. He is a member of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, a Catholic ecclesial movement and an Oblate of Saint Benedict. Contact Paul at paulzalonski[at]yahoo.com.

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This page is a archive of entries in the Sacred Liturgy & Sacraments category from December 2009.

Sacred Liturgy & Sacraments: November 2009 is the previous archive.

Sacred Liturgy & Sacraments: January 2010 is the next archive.

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