SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

Entrance Antiphon
Cf. Ps 81 (80): 17
He fed them with the finest wheat and satisfied them with honey from the rock.

Collect
O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
YEAR A (Lectionary: 167)
FIRST READING
Dt 8: 2-3, 14b-16a

A reading from the Book of Deuteronomy

Moses said to the people: "Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God, has directed all your journeying in the desert, so as to test you by affliction and find out whether or not it was your intention to keep his commandments. He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your fathers, in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.

"Do not forget the LORD, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery; who guided you through the vast and terrible desert with its saraph serpents and scorpions, its parched and waterless ground; who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock and fed you in the desert with manna, a food unknown to your fathers."

The Word of the Lord.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Ps 147: 12-13, 14-15, 19-20

R/. (12) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Or:
R/. Alleluia.

Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.

R/. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Or:
R/. Alleluia.

He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!

R/. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Or:
R/. Alleluia.

He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.

R/. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Or:
R/. Alleluia.

SECOND READING
1 Cor 10: 16-17

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians

Brothers and sisters: The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

The Word of the Lord.

SEQUENCE
Lauda Sion

Laud, O Zion, your salvation,
    Laud with hymns of exultation,
    Christ, your king and shepherd true:
Bring him all the praise you know,
    He is more than you bestow.
    Never can you reach his due.
Special theme for glad thanksgiving
    Is the quick'ning and the living
    Bread today before you set:
From his hands of old partaken,
    As we know, by faith unshaken,
    Where the Twelve at supper met.
Full and clear ring out your chanting,
    Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,
    From your heart let praises burst:
For today the feast is holden,
    When the institution olden
    Of that supper was rehearsed.
Here the new law's new oblation,
    By the new king's revelation,
    Ends the form of ancient rite:
Now the new the old effaces,
    Truth away the shadow chases,
    Light dispels the gloom of night.
What he did at supper seated,
    Christ ordained to be repeated,
    His memorial ne'er to cease:
And his rule for guidance taking,
    Bread and wine we hallow, making
    Thus our sacrifice of peace.
This the truth each Christian learns,
    Bread into his flesh he turns,
    To his precious blood the wine:
Sight has fail'd, nor thought conceives,
    But a dauntless faith believes,
    Resting on a pow'r divine.
Here beneath these signs are hidden
    Priceless things to sense forbidden;
    Signs, not things are all we see:
Blood is poured and flesh is broken,
    Yet in either wondrous token
    Christ entire we know to be.
Whose of this food partakes,
    Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;
    Christ is whole to all that taste:
Thousands are, as one, receivers,
    One, as thousands of believers,
    Eats of him who cannot waste.
Bad and good the feast are sharing,
    Of what divers dooms preparing,
    Endless death, or endless life.
Life to these, to those damnation,
    See how like participation
    Is with unlike issues rife.
When the sacrament is broken,
    Doubt not, but believe 'tis spoken,
    That each sever'd outward token
    doth the very whole contain.
Nought the precious gift divides,
    Breaking but the sign betides
    Jesus still the same abides,
    still unbroken does remain.

The shorter form of the sequence begins here.

Lo! the angel's food is given
    To the pilgrim who has striven;
    see the children's bread from heaven,
    which on dogs may not be spent.
Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
    Isaac bound, a victim willing,
    Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,
    manna to the fathers sent.
Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,
    Jesu, of your love befriend us,
    You refresh us, you defend us,
    Your eternal goodness send us
    In the land of life to see.
You who all things can and know,
    Who on earth such food bestow,
    Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
    Where the heav'nly feast you show,
    Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia.

ALLELUIA
Jn 6: 51

R/. Alleluia. Alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R/. Alleluia. Alleluia.

GOSPEL
Jn 6: 51-58

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint John

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."

The Gospel of the Lord.

YEAR B (Lectionary: 168)
FIRST READING
Ex 24: 3-8

A reading from the Book of Exodus

When Moses came to the people and related all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all answered with one voice, "We will do everything that the LORD has told us." Moses then wrote down all the words of the LORD and, rising early the next day, he erected at the foot of the mountain an altar and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Then, having sent certain young men of the Israelites to offer holocausts and sacrifice young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD, Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls; the other half he splashed on the altar. Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, "All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do." Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words of his."

The Word of the Lord.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Ps 116: 12-13, 15-16, 17-18

R/. (13) I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
Or:
R. Alleluia.

How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

R/. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
Or:
R. Alleluia.

Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.

R/. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
Or:
R. Alleluia.

To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.

R/. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
Or:
R. Alleluia.

SECOND READING
Heb 9: 11-15

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews

Brothers and sisters: When Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer's ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant: since a death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.

The Word of the Lord.

SEQUENCE
Lauda Sion

Laud, O Zion, your salvation,
    Laud with hymns of exultation,
    Christ, your king and shepherd true:
Bring him all the praise you know,
    He is more than you bestow.
    Never can you reach his due.
Special theme for glad thanksgiving
    Is the quick'ning and the living
    Bread today before you set:
From his hands of old partaken,
    As we know, by faith unshaken,
    Where the Twelve at supper met.
Full and clear ring out your chanting,
    Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,
    From your heart let praises burst:
For today the feast is holden,
    When the institution olden
    Of that supper was rehearsed.
Here the new law's new oblation,
    By the new king's revelation,
    Ends the form of ancient rite:
Now the new the old effaces,
    Truth away the shadow chases,
    Light dispels the gloom of night.
What he did at supper seated,
    Christ ordained to be repeated,
    His memorial ne'er to cease:
And his rule for guidance taking,
    Bread and wine we hallow, making
    Thus our sacrifice of peace.
This the truth each Christian learns,
    Bread into his flesh he turns,
    To his precious blood the wine:
Sight has fail'd, nor thought conceives,
    But a dauntless faith believes,
    Resting on a pow'r divine.
Here beneath these signs are hidden
    Priceless things to sense forbidden;
    Signs, not things are all we see:
Blood is poured and flesh is broken,
    Yet in either wondrous token
    Christ entire we know to be.
Whose of this food partakes,
    Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;
    Christ is whole to all that taste:
Thousands are, as one, receivers,
    One, as thousands of believers,
    Eats of him who cannot waste.
Bad and good the feast are sharing,
    Of what divers dooms preparing,
    Endless death, or endless life.
Life to these, to those damnation,
    See how like participation
    Is with unlike issues rife.
When the sacrament is broken,
    Doubt not, but believe 'tis spoken,
    That each sever'd outward token
    doth the very whole contain.
Nought the precious gift divides,
    Breaking but the sign betides
    Jesus still the same abides,
    still unbroken does remain.

The shorter form of the sequence begins here.

Lo! the angel's food is given
    To the pilgrim who has striven;
    see the children's bread from heaven,
    which on dogs may not be spent.
Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
    Isaac bound, a victim willing,
    Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,
    manna to the fathers sent.
Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,
    Jesu, of your love befriend us,
    You refresh us, you defend us,
    Your eternal goodness send us
    In the land of life to see.
You who all things can and know,
    Who on earth such food bestow,
    Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
    Where the heav'nly feast you show,
    Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia.

ALLELUIA
Jn 6: 51

R/. Alleluia. Alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R/. Alleluia. Alleluia.

GOSPEL
Mk 14: 12-16, 22-26

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Mark

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?"' Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there." The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover. While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

The Gospel of the Lord.

YEAR C (Lectionary: 169)
FIRST READING
Gn 14: 18-20

A reading from the Book of Genesis

In those days, Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram with these words: "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the creator of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who delivered your foes into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

The Word of the Lord.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Ps 110: 1, 2, 3, 4

R/. (4b) You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The LORD said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand
till I make your enemies your footstool."

R/. You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The scepter of your power the LORD will stretch forth from Zion:
"Rule in the midst of your enemies."

R/. You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

"Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;
before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you."

R/. You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent:
"You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."

R/. You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

SECOND READING
1 Cor 11:23-26

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians

Brothers and sisters: I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

The Word of the Lord.

SEQUENCE
Lauda Sion

Laud, O Zion, your salvation,
    Laud with hymns of exultation,
    Christ, your king and shepherd true:
Bring him all the praise you know,
    He is more than you bestow.
    Never can you reach his due.
Special theme for glad thanksgiving
    Is the quick'ning and the living
    Bread today before you set:
From his hands of old partaken,
    As we know, by faith unshaken,
    Where the Twelve at supper met.
Full and clear ring out your chanting,
    Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,
    From your heart let praises burst:
For today the feast is holden,
    When the institution olden
    Of that supper was rehearsed.
Here the new law's new oblation,
    By the new king's revelation,
    Ends the form of ancient rite:
Now the new the old effaces,
    Truth away the shadow chases,
    Light dispels the gloom of night.
What he did at supper seated,
    Christ ordained to be repeated,
    His memorial ne'er to cease:
And his rule for guidance taking,
    Bread and wine we hallow, making
    Thus our sacrifice of peace.
This the truth each Christian learns,
    Bread into his flesh he turns,
    To his precious blood the wine:
Sight has fail'd, nor thought conceives,
    But a dauntless faith believes,
    Resting on a pow'r divine.
Here beneath these signs are hidden
    Priceless things to sense forbidden;
    Signs, not things are all we see:
Blood is poured and flesh is broken,
    Yet in either wondrous token
    Christ entire we know to be.
Whose of this food partakes,
    Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;
    Christ is whole to all that taste:
Thousands are, as one, receivers,
    One, as thousands of believers,
    Eats of him who cannot waste.
Bad and good the feast are sharing,
    Of what divers dooms preparing,
    Endless death, or endless life.
Life to these, to those damnation,
    See how like participation
    Is with unlike issues rife.
When the sacrament is broken,
    Doubt not, but believe 'tis spoken,
    That each sever'd outward token
    doth the very whole contain.
Nought the precious gift divides,
    Breaking but the sign betides
    Jesus still the same abides,
    still unbroken does remain.

The shorter form of the sequence begins here.

Lo! the angel's food is given
    To the pilgrim who has striven;
    see the children's bread from heaven,
    which on dogs may not be spent.
Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
    Isaac bound, a victim willing,
    Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,
    manna to the fathers sent.
Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,
    Jesu, of your love befriend us,
    You refresh us, you defend us,
    Your eternal goodness send us
    In the land of life to see.
You who all things can and know,
    Who on earth such food bestow,
    Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
    Where the heav'nly feast you show,
    Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia.

ALLELUIA
Jn 6: 51

R/. Alleluia. Alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R/. Alleluia. Alleluia.

GOSPEL
Lk 9: 11b-17

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Luke

Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured. As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here." He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves." They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people." Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty." They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Prayer over the Offerings
Grant your Church, O Lord, we pray, the gifts of unity and peace, whose signs are to be seen in mystery in the offerings we here present. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon
Jn 6: 57
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him, says the Lord.

Prayer after Communion
Grant, O Lord, we pray, that we may delight for all eternity in that share in your divine life, which is foreshadowed in the present age by our reception of your precious Body and Blood. Who live and reign for ever and ever.