Venerable Louis Brisson will be beatified this Saturday, September 22. Founder of the Oblates of St Francis de Sales and Confessor to the Visitandines for over 40 years, Venerable Brisson was a fount of Salesian wisdom after his patron, St. Francis de Sales.
May this Novena help you to prepare for his beatification and celebration of a new Blessed in our Church!
http://www.franz-sales-verlag.de/brisson2012_en/liturgie/index.html
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Beatification Mass Liturgy and Office of Readings
Liturgy of Blessed Father Brisson
LOUIS BRISSON
Born in Plancy (France) in 1817, Louis Brisson was ordained to the priesthood in 1840, was chaplain to the Visitation nuns of Troyes for 40 years, and thus became imbued with the spirituality of St Francis of Sales. He created apostolates for young working girls and founded the Congregations of the Oblate Sisters and of the Oblates of St Francis de Sales. As a result of the anticlerical laws of 1900, his work and apostolates were nearly all destroyed. Despite those trials, he held fast to his flawless and constant faith in God’s Providence and in the future of his two religious families. Having retired to his birthplace ofPlancy, he died there on February 2, 1908.
INTRODUCTORY ANTIPHON (Lk. 4:18)
“The Spirit of God is upon me; he has anointed me. He sent me to bring good news to the poor, and to heal the broken-hearted.”
COLLECT
God of infinite goodness,
who gave to the Priest Blessed Louis
the apostolic fervour of a lively faith and an ardent charity,
grant us, through his intercession,
the grace of following in the footsteps of Christ,
as joyful and courageous witnesses of his Gospel.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING Phil. 2:1-11
Be of the same mind, in full accord.
Beloved, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 118 (119): 1-2,4-5,47-48
R I find my delight in your commandments, O Lord. – R
Happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Happy are those who keep his decrees,
who seek him with their whole heart; – (R)
You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
O that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes! – (R)
I find my delight in your commandments,
because I love them.
I revere your commandments, which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.
R I find my delight in your commandments, O Lord.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION 1 John 4:16
Alleluja. Alleluja.
God is lov, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
Alleluja.
GOSPEL John 15:1-11
Remain in my love
Jesus said to his disciples:
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.
Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.
As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.
UNIVERSAL PRAYER – PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL
Celebrant:
Gathered in Christ, let us give thanks to God for all his benefits and pray to him for ourselves and for all the world.
R: It is good to trust and hope in the Lord.
Reader:
1. Blessed Louis Brisson loved the Church and bore witness to her with an inviolable fidelity.
Lord, we entrust to you our Holy Father the Pope, the bishops, priests and deacons. On the threshold of this Year of Faith, renew your servants in the grace of their ministry at the service of the new evangelization, we pray to the Lord.
2. Blessed Louis Brisson took great care to form witnesses of the Gospel.
Lord, we entrust to you all those whom we encounter every day in our families, our schools, our workplaces, and our leisure activities. May we allow your Word to enlighten our hearts, so that it may “take flesh” in our lives, we pray to the Lord.
3. Blessed Louis Brisson was for his daughters and sons a spiritual companion.
Lord, we pray to you for the Sisters of the Visitation, the Oblate Sisters, the Oblates and all members of religious orders around the world. May the grace of the beatification be for us all a new Pentecost of faith and missionary zeal, we pray to the Lord.
4. Blessed Louis Brisson was attentive to the needs ofhis time.
Lord, we pray to you for the leaders of nations. May they be courageous servants of the common good and of those values that will help each one of us to grow in humanity, we pray to the Lord.
5. Blessed Louis loved young people in particular and wanted the best for them.
Lord, we pray to you for all youth, for those who believe and for those who do not know you. All of us are searching for meaning in our life. Help us to discover that you love us and to root our life in you, we pray to the Lord.
Celebrant:
God of love, our shelter and our strength, listen to the prayer of your Church and grant us today what we ask ofyou in faith and hope. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.
or:
Celebrant:
We celebrate today a priest of exception, of ardent temperament, a son of St. Francis de Sales, who was born and died in Plancy. May his example raise up, in our village and in our diocese, men and women ready to take him as their model.
R: Lord, hear our prayer.
Reader:
1. Blessed Louis Brisson was an inventor.
Let us pray for scholars and for all creators, that they may place their talents at the service of all humankind and each individual, we pray to the Lord.
2. Blessed Louis Brisson was a founder and an organizer.
Let us pray for political and economic leaders, that they may care for the common good, that they may work for the improvement of the fmancial and social standing of the populations and persons in the service of whom they were placed, and that they may be bearers of peace, we pray to the Lord.
3. Blessed Louis Brisson was an educator.
Let us pray for all teachers and parents, that they may know how to set the boundaries as well as grant the freedoms which their children, for whom they are responsible, need to structure themselves and to grow, we pray to the Lord.
4. Blessed Louis Brisson was a priest imbued with spirituality, a man of prayer.
Let us pray for priests and for men and women religious, that their lives may radiate the joyful hope that comes from the source of the Eucharist and that their witness may inspire young people to commit themselves as well to the following of Christ, we pray to the Lord.
Celebrant:
God of love, may this call to a life of intense prayer and to commitment in the world, to which the whole life of Blessed Louis Brisson bore witness, today resound to the four comers of the universe. Through Jesus Christ, your Son, Our Lord. Amen.
PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS
Father of mercy,
we have these gifts to offer in honor of blessed Louis
who bore witness to your mighty power.
May the power of the eucharist bring us your salvation.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
or:
Grant our supplication, we pray almighty God,
t hat these sacrificial offerings of your people,
which we bring in commemoration of blessed Louis Brisson,
You may graciously mingle with the gifts of heaven.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
PREFACE
It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, Holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.
For, as on the festival of Blessed Louis Brisson you bid your Church rejoice,
so, too, you strengthen her by the example of his holy life,
teach her by his words of preaching,
and keep her safe in answer to his prayers.
And so, with the company of Angels and Saints,
we sing the hymn of your praise,
as without end we acclaim:
COMUNION ANTIPHON Mt 28:20
I, the Lord, am with you always, until the end of the world.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
All-powerful God,
by our love and worship may we
who share this holy meal
always follow the example of blessed Louis.
Grant this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Amen.
or:
As we rejoice at the feast day of Blessed Louis Brisson,
we have received the pledge of eternal redemption, O Lord,
and now we pray that it may be of help to us,
both now and for the life to come.
Through Christ our Lord.
SOLEMN BLESSING
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
Bow down for the blessing.
May almighty God bless you with his kindness and pour out saving wisdom upon you.
Amen.
May he nourish you always with the teachings of the faith and make you persevere in holy deeds.
Amen.
May he turn your steps towards himself and show you the path of charity and peace.
Amen.
And may the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit, come down on you and remain with your for ever.
Amen.
Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.
Thanks be to God.
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Office of Readings
Second reading
From the Writings of Blessed Louis Brisson, priest.
(Instructions faites aux chapitres des Oblates de Saint-Francois de Sales à Troyes, Sujets divers, 1868-1904, 7 mars 1869: Cité du Vatican, 1942, pp. 32-34)
Called to reproduce the Saviour’s life
When we read the writings of St Francis de Sales, we see that very often he repeated, ‘We must greatly encourage ourselves; we must possess a good courage.’ At first sight, his words seem strange, since the cloister protected the Visitandines from all dangers. Yet, it is indeed true that they have need of a great courage. St Francis de Sales does not impose any extraordinary corporal mortifications on his daughters, but the basic element of his spirit and of his rule is a perpetual dependence upon God and upon his holy will, which is to say, a permanent martyrdom of the human will and its inclinations. That martyrdom leads us to a perfect and intimate union with God in all things. And in that lies our aim, we have no other end than that.
The great model whom we desire to imitate, [my dear children], is Jesus Christ. It is his life in its entirety, as shown in the Gospel, that we are bound to reproduce in our own lives. As he was in his prayer, in his daily renouncements, in his zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, so must we be. Other religious orders take one of the Son of God’s virtues, one of the aspects of his life as their aim. Some endeavor to reproduce his life of preaching, of the apostolate; others, his humility; his life of renunciation. As for us, we must strive to make all the virtues and all the activities of the God-Man live again in our own lives. And if, as a reward for our fidelity in being united to him, God deigns to make use of us in order to bring about conversions, or even to work miracles, it will be he alone, who will be the cause and the principle of those acts by means of his action in us. For did our Lord not say to his disciples: ‘I tell you truly that you, who believe in Me, will perform the works that I do, and you will do even greater works’ (Jn 14:12)?
And there you have our life. Each one of us must represent Jesus Christ and be his living image in all his actions. But we do not arrive at such a result in a single day, and it is for that reason that St Francis de Sales repeats that we must have courage, great courage, in order to begin again continually and thus attain perfection.
Responsory Rom 12:2; Eph 4:23-24
R/. Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, * so that you may be able to discover what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.
V/. You must be renewed in mind and spirit, and put on the new man.
R/. So that you may be able to discover what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.
Prayer
God of infinite goodness, who gave to the Priest Blessed Louis the apostolic fervour of a lively faith and an ardent charity, grant us, through his intercession, the grace of following in the footsteps of Christ, as joyful and courageous witnesses of his Gospel. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.