VOTIVE SHRINE OF THE

IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION
OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
ASSUMPTION LITURGY, August 15, 2023

Introduction to the Mass Response: Lord, help us to respond to your

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
Today we celebrate the feast of Mary’s
Assumption into heaven. She was a model
disciple open to God’s grace. The feast
celebrates the special place that Mary has in
the life of the Church. The Assumption is
God’s crowning of His work as Mary ends her
earthly life and enters eternity. The feast
turns our eyes in that direction, where we
will follow when our earthly life is over.
Today, we also celebrate the 77th
Independence Day of our country. Let us
pray for every Indian to be free of poverty,
sickness and insecurity and to have the
freedom to follow their religion, their
customs and traditions.
Introduction to the 1st Reading
Today’s first reading from the Book of Revelation
begins with the encouraging words to the
listeners to remain loyal to God. Here we
hear of a woman, clothed with the sun, with
the moon under her feet, and on her head a
crown of twelve stars, associating her with
the realm of God.
Introduction to the 2nd Reading
The second reading taken from the letter to
the Corinthians, Paul tells us that by his
glorious resurrection Christ became the first
fruit of those who have fallen asleep.
call.
For the pope, the bishops, the clergy and the
religious: that in imitation of Mary they may
cooperate with God’s grace to remove
inequalities and injustices from the world, we
pray:
For women activists who work for women’s
and other humanitarian causes: that their
efforts to bring about transformation in society
may be appreciated and rewarded, we pray:
For innocent people who are unlawfully
confined in prisons: that in their loss of
freedom and independence they may find
consolation in God who suffers with the
suffering, we pray:
That all citizens of India: may work, believe and
move about in the country without hindrance
of any sort, we pray:
For all of us present in this Eucharist assembly:
that the celebration of the Feast of the
Assumption may help us to truly appreciate the
freedom Christ won for us and for showing us
the Way to reach our eternal destination which
is himself, we pray:
Please pray for your local & community needs

Prayer of the Faithful: Priest: God, our Father, we thank you for giving
us Mary as our model and protectress. She gave
Priest: Assumption of Mary into heaven is an
us our Saviour and you rewarded her by
important Marian feast. Mary’s “yes” to
assuming her into heaven body and soul. Give
God’s call turned out to be a rich blessing to
us the grace that we too by following Mary, our
all humanity, for she brought forth the
Mother, may enjoy happiness and freedom in
Saviour of the world. Mary stands for
this life and eternal bliss in the next. We make
freedom and wants all peoples to be free.
this prayer through Christ our Lord
Let us place our petitions before the Lord,
we pray :