Circumcision of Our Lord

CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD
Ramsho
INTRODUCTION
DOXOLOGY
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as we begin and until we conclude.
May mercy and compassion be poured forth upon us
in this world and the next.
O Lord, our God, to you be glory for ever.
Amen.
OPENING PRAYER
O God,
may we celebrate your incarnation with pure souls
and consciences,
freed from the shackles of sin and in control of wayward
passions.
Then we will give your thanks for being subject to the law
for our sake
and praise you with your Father and Holy Spirit,
now and for ever. Amen.
GREETING
Peace be with the Church and her children.
PRAISE OF THE ANGELS
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace on earth and good will to all.
Praise the Lord all you nations,
glorify him all you peoples,
for steadfast is his mercy toward us,
and the truth of the Lord endures for ever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.
and peace on earth and good will to all.

First Prayer
Lord, have mercy on us and save us. O God, bless us as we today celebrate the entry of Saints Basil and Gregory into the heavenly Church, crowned with holiness and glory. May we follow their path here below in order to arrive at the eternal happiness which is their destiny, and we will praise and glorify you, now and for ever. Amen
PSALM OF THE DAY
Antiphon:
May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the
peoples praise you.

Psalm 67
May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.

So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.

May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!

May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on earth you guide.

May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!

The earth has yielded its fruits;
God, our God, has blessed us.

May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
SECOND PRAYER
Lord, have mercy on us and save us.
O God,
you are the just One who rewards the just
and clothes them in the robe of glory.
May we today honor our fathers Basil and Gregory
and follow in their footsteps throughout our lives.
Then, through their intercession,
we shall be worthy to participate in your glorious
procession on the day of your Second Coming.
and glorify and thank you,
now and for ever. Amen.
EVENING PSALMS
Psalm 141:1-4
O Lord, to you I call; hasten to me;
harken to my voice when I call upon you.
Let my prayer come like incense before you;
the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice.
O Lord, set a watch before my mouth,
a guard at the door of my lips.
Let not my heart incline to the evil
of engaging in deeds of wickedness
With men who are evildoers;
and let me not partake of their dainties.

Psalm 142
With aloud voice I cry out to the Lord;
with a loud voice I beseech the Lord.
My complaint I pour out before him;
before him I lay bare my distress.
When my spirit is faint within me,
you know my path.
In the way along which I walk
they have hid a trap for me.
I look to the right to see,
but there is no one who pays me heed.
I have lost all means of escape;
there is no one who cares for my life.
I cry out to you, O Lord:
I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land
of the living.”
Attend to my cry,
for I am brought low indeed.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
Lead me forth from prison,
that I may give thanks to your name.
The just shall gather around me
when you have been good to me.
Psalm 119: 105-112
A lamp to my feet is your word,
a light to my path.
I resolve and swear
to keep your just ordinances.
I am very much afflicted;
O Lord, give me life according to your word.

Accept, O Lord, the free homage of my mouth,
and teach me your decrees.
Though constantly I take my life in my hands,
yet I forget not your law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
but from your precepts I have not strayed.
Your decrees are my inheritance forever;
the joy of my heart they are.
I intend in my heart to fulfill you statutes
always to the letter.
Psalm 117
Praise the Lord, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
For stecy toward us,
and the truth of the Lord endures for ever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever. Amen.
Alleluia.

HOOSOYO
PROEMION
Praise, glory and honor to the One who fulfilled the words
of prophets,
established the mosaic law and fulfilled it by his birth and
circumcision.
To the Good One is due glory and honor this morning,
and all the days of our lives,
now and for ever. Amen.

SEDRO
Glory to you, only Word of God,
born of the Father from eternity
and dwelling in his eternal glory.
You willed to be born of Mary that
we might be spiritually reborn;
you submitted yourself to the law of circumcision
eight days after your birth,
so that we could submit ourselves to the law
of baptism,
which you instituted for our sanctification and rebirth.
You were clothed with our humanity,
and assumed our way of life
so that we could cast off our old self,
become like you, and take on your way of life.
And now we ask you Lord:
protect your Church from scandals and conflict,
cleanse us from all our faults;
renew our thoughts by your teaching, our souls
by your baptism and our life by your grace.
Grant us a year of holiness
in which we grow closer to you,
confess your name and honor your saints,
and with them glorify and praise you,
now and for ever. Amen.
QOLO
Holy are you, O God, you descended from heaven and took a
body from the Virgin.
Holy are you, O Strong One, you humbled yourself to take on
the condition of a slave.
Holy are you, O Immortal One, you were born a mortal man,
fulfilled the law of circumcision, were crucified and died on a cross to give us life by your death.

ETRO
Lord,
receive our incense and our prayers on this feast of
your circumcision
and on the memorial of Basil and Gregory, teachers of
the true faith.
By their prayers, grant us good weather,
fruitful seasons and a blessed year.
Pour out on your Church the light of their teachings
and the fragrance of their sanctity.
With them we will praise you,
now and for ever. Amen.
READINGS
MAZMOORO
Moses instituted the law of circumcision and our Savior himself submitted to it.
Praise the Lord, all you peoples, because the Lord carried out the law; glorify him, all nations, because he fulfilled the
prophecies.
Blessed be Christ who gave baptism to the Church, life and
salvation instead of the ancient law.
SYNAXARION
The entire Maronite liturgical year is centered on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The Season of Announcement recalls for us the great events in the history of our salvation leading up to the Birth of our Lord.
Today, we commemorate an event in the life of Jesus which took place eight days after his birth: his naming an circumcision.
According to Hebrew law, every male child was to be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth (Genesis 17: 11-12). Circumcision was the sign God gave to Abraham of his covenant with his chosen people. Through circumcision the Hebrew child received the physical sign of his
membership in the chosen people of god. At the time of circumcision the child was also given the name by which he was to be known among God’s people.
It is thus that Jesus is circumcised an given his name which means, “Yahweh is Savior.”
Jesus, as God’s true Son had no need of circumcision and yet, in order to show that he was the fulfillment of the law, he submitted to its prescriptions. Jesus was already a member of God’s chosen people; for, in fact, he was God’s chosen One, the Son of the Most High. And yet, Jesus not only observed the prescriptions of the law, he also surpassed them since after his death and resurrection, the New Covenant would be established and the Old Covenant would be abolished.
The infant church questioned whether circumcision was necessary for those who wished to become Christians. Saint Paul who brought the gentiles into the Church asserted that circumcision is no longer required in the light of the death and resurrection of Jesus. One becomes a member of the new Israel, not by circumcision of the flesh, but by faith and baptism in Christ Jesus. (Colossians 2: 11f).
SCRIPTURE READINGS
A Reading from the Book of Deuteronomy
Deut. 6: 4-9
“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
A Reading from the First Letter of John
1 John 2: 7-17
Beloved, I am writing no new commandment to you but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.
And yet I do write a new commandment to you, which holds true in him and among you, for the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him to cause a fall. 1 Whoever hates his brother is in darkness; he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one. Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world. Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever.

SUPPLICATION
O Lord of night and Master of all time, hear our supplications and have mercy on us.
You reconciled heaven and earth, grant peace to your Church,
and keep her children in the light of the cross.
Basil and Gregory were like two stars in the Church and the light of their faith shone in the world like the day; they led the
flock of the son to fountains of living water.
Like John they proclaimed the faith; like Peter they taught the doctrine of truth. They were lights enlightening all around
them.
They were living members in the body of the Church whose head
is Christ; they protected it from sin and nourished it with
the doctrine of truth.
Glory to the Father, who sanctified and exalted the saints;
adoration to the Son, who makes them living members in
his mystical body; thanksgiving to the Holy Spirit, who
alone, by his grace, gives perfection to the body. Glory to
you, O blessed Trinity.
The Virgin Mary, your Mother, and the apostles, prophets and
martyrs intercede for us; O God, through their prayers
strengthen the weak, comfort the sick, grant pardon to the
deceased, and forgive the faults of us poor sinners.
Exalt, O Lord, the memory of your Mother and your saints:
through their prayers grant pardon to us and our deceased.
Through the prayers of your Mother, the prophets, apostles
and martyrs, watch over the living, and in your mercy,
forgive those who have died
.

HOOTOMO
Let us thank, adore, and praise the holy and glorious Trinity: Father, Son, ✛Holy Spirit. Amen.
TRISAGION
Lord, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
Holy are you, O God;
Holy are you, O Strong One;
Holy are you, O Immortal One;
have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Lord, forgive us and have mercy on us.
Lord, hear us and have mercy on us.
Lord, accept our worship and our prayers.
Lord, come to our assistance and have mercy on us.
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who are in heaven;
hallowed be your name;
your kingdom come;
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen.
O Lord, the night and the day are yours;
you uphold the light and the sun.
Through your power you direct the sequence of the seasons.
O Lord,
you have brought the day to its close and called forth the night; be for us that great Day that never ends.
In the evening let your light shine in our hearts,
and in the darkness of the night

enlighten us with the knowledge of your truth.
And so, through all the days of our lives,
we shall praise you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
To you be glory and may your mercy rest upon us,
now and for ever.
Amen.
EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE
Let us thank God for all the graces he has bestowed on us
this day which has passed in calm and peace.
Let us recall our failings against the commandments of God
and the Church in thought, word, deed and omission
We ask for God’s pardon as we pray:
“Forgive us, Jesus!”
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Glory be to you, O Lord.
Glory be to you, O Lord.
Glory be to you, O Lord.
God,
Father in heaven,
by your living and holy name,
keep us from evil an lead us not into temptation;
for we call upon you, O Lord, our God, our constant hope,
glory to you for ever.
O Lord, our Lord,
may our humble worship be pleasing to you;
may our prayers come before you and our actions give
you honor.
Let you mercy, kindness, help, graces and divine love
be poured abundantly upon us poor sinners,
both in heaven and on the earth
which you have created in your goodness.
O Lord, our God, to you be glory for ever.
Amen.

DISMISSAL
Peace be with you.
And also with you.
O God,
through the prayers of your Mother and the saints who have
believed in you;
through the prayers of the prophets, apostles, martyrs and
confessors;
through the prayers of the just, the priests, the holy fathers, pastors and teachers of the truth faith;
and through the prayers of N., Pope of Rome, N., our Patriarch, and N., our Bishop,
forgive your people and have mercy on your flock.
May God bless, forgive, sanctify, purify, and keep each of the faithful united with us in this spiritual office.
May mercy and compassion be upon us and all the faithful who
dwell here.
May peaceful rest be granted to those who have died in the faith.
May the faithful who live here experience the protection of
Christ’s victorious cross.
May we and all his servants, who adore him with bowed heads,
receive the mercy of the holy and glorious Trinity
Father, Son, ✛ Holy Spirit, to whom be glory now and for ever.
Amen.
May God forgive your sins,
pardon your failings,
and deliver you from the power of the enemy.
May he grant you the remission of your offenses.
Go in peace, and pray to Christ for me.