Liturgy Alive Friday, January 24, 2020

print
Friday, January 24, 2020

Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and  Doctor of the Church, Memorial 
January 24

Introduction

Brilliant, spirited, humorous, and very kind, St. Francis was bishop of Geneva during the Reformation. Both through his eloquence and his personal contact with people, he convinced many not to become Protestants and won many back to Catholicism.

He wanted to lead the simple life of everyone. Wearing ordinary clothes, he mixed with the people in the street, in the café around the corner, in restaurants. In his writings, especially in his Introduction to the Devout Life, he showed how everyone can become a saint in one’s own environment and everyday work. With St. Frances de Chantal he founded the Order of the Visitation.

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
we thank you for St. Francis de Sales,
who showed in his amiability to people
how good you are 
and how close you want to be to us. 
Make us open and gentle with everyone 
the way he was,
uncomplicated and understanding
and devoted to you, our living God.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord, our gentle God,
in these signs of bread and wine
we sit at table with your Son.
Let us feel how much you love us
as he calls us his friends.
Keep us in your love
and make us spread it to others
by our disarming friendship for one another
that attracts to you as well as to us
even people hard to deal with.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
we have listened to the words of your Son 
that we are called his friends and yours 
if we live the life of the gospel.
Let the bread of the eucharist
make us gentle, understanding
and unassuming men and women
who grow together in the joy
of the good news of Jesus Christ our Lord.

share :