Feast of Saint Gabriel the Archangel: Missa “Benedicite Dominum“
The Jews venerated Gabriel as the angel of judgment, and in both Jewish and Christian tradition he is one of the seven archangels. Gabriel is also known to the Mohammedans, who believe him to be the angel who served as the mouthpiece of God in dictating the Koran to their prophet. Mention of St. Gabriel occurs four times in the Scriptures. He first appears to Daniel in the guise of a man and proceeds to interpret a vision Daniel has had of a ram with two horns, which is overcome by a he-goat. Gabriel explains that the ram is the empire of the Medes and the Persians which will be destroyed by the he-goat, the king of the Greeks (Alexander the Great). This vision came to Daniel in the year 554 B.C., while the Israelites were in captivity in Babylonia. The prophecy was to be fulfilled nearly two hundred years later. The angel Gabriel again appears to Daniel (Daniel ix, 21-27) to fore tell the coming of the Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem and its sanctuary. The next appearance of Gabriel is recorded in Luke i, 11-20, where he predicts to the priest Zachary as he is burning incense at the altar in the temple that his wife is to bear a son whose name shall be John. The final mention of Gabriel is found a little later in the same chapter of Luke, where he goes to the Blessed Virgin Mary with the tidings that she is to be the Mother of the Messiah. Thus we see that Gabriel comes as the bearer of good tidings and as the comforter and helper of men. In Milton’s , book iv, Gabriel is placed at the eastern gate of Paradise as chief of the angelic guards. Christian tradition holds that Gabriel was the unnamed angel who appeared to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. A fresco of this angel figures prominently in a chapel on the Appian Way, indicating that he was honored very early in the history of the Church. The Hebrew word from which Gabriel is derived means “hero of God.”
Saint Gabriel, Archangel. Scriptural Saint. Celebration of Feast Day is March 24. Taken from “Lives of Saints”, Published by John J. Crawley & Co., Inc.
INTROIT Psalm 102:20
Bless the Lord, all ye His angels: you that are mighty in strength, and execute His word, harkening to the voice of His orders. (Ps. 102: 1) Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is within me bless His holy name. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Repeat Bless the Lord…
COLLECT
O God, Who, out of all the angels, chose the Archangel Gabriel to announce the mystery of Your incarnation, mercifully grant that we who keep his feast on earth, may have him as our patron in heaven. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.
R. Amen
Let us pray.
Commemoration Feria Secunda infra Hebdomadam III in Quadragesima
O Lord, we beseech You, in Your mercy, pour forth Your grace into our hearts, that, as we abstain from material food, so may we restrain our senses from sin. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.
EPISTLE Dan 9:21-26.
Lesson from the book of Daniel. In those days, behold, Gabriel, the one whom I had seen before in vision, came to me in rapid flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me in these words: Daniel, I have now come to give you understanding. When you began your petition, an answer was given which I have come to announce, because you are beloved. Therefore, mark the answer and understand the vision. ‘Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and for your holy city: then transgression will stop and sin will end, guilt will be expiated, everlasting justice will be introduced, vision and prophecy ratified, and a Most Holy will be anointed. Know and understand this: from the utterance of the word that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt until one who is anointed and a leader, there shall be seven weeks. During sixty-two weeks it shall be rebuilt, with streets and trenches, in time of affliction. After the sixty-two weeks an anointed shall be cut down when he does not possess the city; and the people of a leader who will come shall destroy the sanctuary. Then the end shall come like a torrent; until the end there shall be war, the desolation that is decreed.’
GRADUAL Ps 102:20, 1
Bless the Lord, all you His Angels, you mighty in strength, who do His bidding. V. Bless the Lord, O my soul; and, all my being, bless His holy name. Luke 1:28, 42, 31, 35 Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. V. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. V. Behold, you shall conceive and shall bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Emmanuel. V. The Holy Spirit shall come upon you and the power of the Most High shall over-shadow you. V. And therefore the Holy One to be born shall be called the Son of God.
GOSPEL Luke 1:26-38.
At that time, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And when the angel had come to her, he said, Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. When she had heard him she was troubled at his word, and kept pondering what manner of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God. Behold, you shall conceive in your womb and shall bring forth a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father, and He shall be king over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. But Mary said to the angel, How shall this happen, since I do not know man? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you; and therefore the Holy One to be born shall be called the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth your kinswoman also has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month; for nothing shall be impossible with God. But Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Apoc 8:3-4
An Angel stood near the altar of the temple, having a golden censer in his hand, and there was given to him much incense; and the smoke of the perfumes ascended before God. Alleluia.
SECRET
May this gift from us, Your servants, and the prayer of the blessed Archangel Gabriel be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, so that he whom we honor on earth may plead our cause with You in heaven. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.
Commemoration Feria Secunda infra Hebdomadam III in Quadragesima
O Lord, make for us a sacrament of salvation the gift of homage which we offer to You. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
PREFACE of Lent
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who by this bodily fast, dost curb our vices, dost lift up our minds and bestow on us strength and rewards; through Christ our Lord. Through whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, the Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with these we entreat Thee that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted while we say with lowly praise:
COMMUNION ANTIPHON Dan 3:58
All you Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: sing a hymn, and exalt Him above all forever.
POSTCOMMUNION
O God, our Lord, having received the sacrament of Your Body and Blood, we ask of Your mercy that, as Your incarnation was made known to us by the message of Gabriel, so by his help we may reap the benefits of that same incarnation. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.
R. Amen
Let us pray.
Commemoration Feria Secunda infra Hebdomadam III in Quadragesima
Grant, we beseech You, almighty and merciful God, that what we take into our mouth, we may eat with a pure heart. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.
PROPER LAST GOSPEL Luke 4:23-30
At that time, Jesus said to the Pharisees: You will surely quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure Yourself! Whatever things we have heard of as done in Capharnaum, do here also in Your own country!’ But He said, Amen I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country. In truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elias, when heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land; and to none of them was Elias sent, but rather to a widowed woman in Sarepta of Sidon. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. And all in the synagogue, as they heard these things, were filled with wrath. And they rose up and put Him forth out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill, on which their town was built, that they might throw Him down headlong. But He, passing through their midst, went His way.