Benedict’s Liturgies and Prayers
The Vatican has released the “missal” of the various liturgies and prayer services to be led by the Pope during his voyage to the United States.
Here is the link to the documents in pdf format:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/travels/2008/documents/messale_USA.pdf
And here is the Prayer at Ground Zero:
O God of love, compassion, and healing,
look on us, people of many different faiths
and traditions,
who gather today at this site,
the scene of incredible violence and pain.
We ask you in your goodness
to give eternal light and peace
to all who died here—
the heroic first-responders:
our fire fighters, police officers,
emergency service workers, and
Port Authority personnel,
along with all the innocent men and women
who were victims of this tragedy
simply because their work or service
brought them here on September 11, 2001.
We ask you, in your compassion
to bring healing to those
who, because of their presence here that day,
suffer from injuries and illness.
Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families
and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.
Give them strength to continue their lives
with courage and hope.
We are mindful as well
of those who suffered death, injury, and loss
on the same day at the Pentagon and in
Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Our hearts are one with theirs
as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.
God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred.
God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.
Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.At the conclusion of the prayer, the Holy Father blesses the ground in all four directions.
I appreciate this prayer. It has some strains of the “Gettysburg Address” though not even the Pope can match Lincoln. Still, I believe he covered what must be said and points no blame and uses no vocabulary that can be misconstued. This prayer and simple four point blessing should be quite moving…. I am reminded of the wonderful prayer/poem by Frederic Brussat (modeled on another piece) written after 9/11 — “Call Me By True Names.” I hope Benedict’s prayer silence, and blessing there will help us continue to heal.
The music seems rather on the sober and stately side. In retrospect, some of those alleged excesses of papal masses in the JPII era are looking pretty good, at least from over here.
The “our” in “our fire fighters, police officers, emergency service workers, and Port Authority personnel” : A nice touch.