The church provides many books to help support the faithful in their liturgical worship and in practice of their faith. Some of these I have referred to many times, including the Roman Missal (the large book the priest uses throughout Mass), the lectionary(the readings for Mass), and the Book of Gospels(a decorated book including the Gospels used for processions and proclamation). The Book of Blessings is a very helpful book which can be used to supplement Mass as well as be used outside of Mass.

In Fiddler on the Roof (one of my favorite musicals) people are constantly asking the Rabbi if there is a blessing for all manner of things. The Rabbi always responds that there is a blessing (even for the Czar). This prominence and preponderance of blessings is a commonality we as Catholics have with our Jewish brethren. We incorporate prayers of blessing in the Mass a few times, have specific special blessings for use during Mass, and more spontaneous blessings outside of Mass as well.

One of the main reasons people come to Mass is to seek a personal and intimate connection with God. We do this most tangibly through the reception of the Eucharist, but many people spiritually connect with God through their personal prayers. However, there is tension within the Mass between the communal nature of Mass and personal spiritual growth. An oft expressed critique of the Tridentine (pre-Vatican II) Mass is that since the people didn’t know the language, with the priest facing the altar, and I would guess less than ideal sound systems, the assembly's ability to hear and follow what was going on at Mass must have been significantly impacted. So the image of people simply praying the rosary while Mass occurs became prevalent. So much so that bells were rung to bring people’s attention back up to the altar at most sacred moments. Vatican II sought to develop ways to enhance the communal nature of worship at Mass by making changes to encourage the full, active, and conscious participation of all of the faithful in the Mass. Therefore, personal prayer has rightfully been diminished during the Mass in favor of communal prayer (vocally and with liturgical ministers).

Mary Queen Parish Offices will be closed Holy Thursday - Easter Monday. Staff will return on Tuesday, April 22.

Continuing in our series on prayer at Mass, we have now come to the Lord’s Prayer. When people think of or are asked to say a prayer this is the most likely candidate to be mentioned. There are a few reasons for this. It is found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke as the example of how Jesus says we should pray. So this prayer is foundational to our Christian faith. It is also commonly shared with all of the Christian faithful, so it is one of ways we can truly show our unity as the faithful. ++ Continuando con nuestra serie sobre la oración, en la Misa llegamos al Padrenuestro. Cuando la gente piensa en una oración o se le pide que la rece, este es el más común. Hay varias razones para ello. Se encuentra en los Evangelios de Mateo y Lucas como ejemplo de cómo Jesús dice que debemos orar. Por lo tanto, esta oración es fundamental para nuestra fe cristiana. También se comparte comúnmente con todos los fieles cristianos, por lo que es una de las maneras en que podemos mostrar verdaderamente nuestra unidad como fieles.

On April 1 over 300 people from all over Lexington attended the BUILD Rally at MQHR. We were reminded about the necessity of working for the needs of our people through the power of the people. We reflected on some of Dr. Martin Luther King’s quotes from the Letter from the Birmingham jail. Such as: “But the judgement of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of missions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.”

Continuing our series of various types of prayers, let’s focus on the special prayers unique to our upcoming celebration of Holy Week. This week holds not only our most visual symbols of worship(palms, cross, footwashing, candles, etc…) but also feast of deep prayer. The Triduum (three days) includes prolonged periods of prayer both prescribed and for personal devotional time. The prayers for this week reflect some of the hallmarks of our faith: praying for the world, adoring Christ, and encountering our history in word and action.

The Season of Lent is not only a season of penance, austerity, and sacrifice. It is a very special season of preparation for those who will be coming into the church at Easter. At any point during the year, those who have considered becoming Catholic have entered into Christian Initiation (formerly Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults and now called Order of CIA) which has several different phases beginning with Inquiry. We have over 30 people who will be baptized this Easter (what a tremendous blessing) many of whom are children (in the eyes of the church anyone eight and older is considered an adult).

Continuing our series of various types of prayers, this is our second article breaking down the Eucharistic Prayer. We left off at the first acclamation of the Sanctus (Holy, Holy...). In response to this proclamation of God’s holiness, we adjust our posture by kneeling and prepare for the most sacred moments of the Mass. The priest then offers more words of thanksgiving concerning the nature of God as holy and as creator. Which then leads into the epiclesis. This is when the priest extends his hands over the offerings of bread and wine and implores the Holy Spirit to make them holy. At Mary Queen this moment is accompanied by bell ringing (if we have enough servers).

The Season of Lent is not only a season of penance, austerity, and sacrifice. It is a very special season of preparation for those who will be coming into the church at Easter. At any point during the year, those who have considered becoming Catholic have entered into Christian Initiation (formerly Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults and now called Order of CIA) which has several different phases beginning with Inquiry. We have over 30 people who will be baptized this Easter (what a tremendous blessing) many of whom are children (in the eyes of the church anyone eight and older is considered an adult). ++ El Tiempo de Cuaresma no es solo un tiempo de penitencia, austeridad y sacrificio. Es un tiempo de preparación muy especial para quienes se acercarán a la iglesia en Pascua. En cualquier momento del año, quienes han considerado convertirse al catolicismo han entrado en la Iniciación Cristiana (anteriormente Rito de Iniciación Cristiana para Adultos y ahora llamado Orden de la CIA), que consta de varias fases, comenzando con la Indagación. Tenemos más de 30 personas que se bautizarán esta Pascua (¡qué gran bendición!), muchas de las cuales son niños (para la Iglesia, cualquier persona de ocho años o más se considera adulta).

To prepare for the Nehemiah Action, where we will ask our city officials for specific ways to make Lexington a better place for us all, all Justice Ministry Network Members will gather at MQ for the Rally, April 1, 7 PM. Here we will get the latest updates on what we will ask at the Nehemiah Action and the officials that we will be asking. Then, to win the necessary help for our neighbors we need LOTS of people at the May 6 Nehemiah Action at Central Bank Center. Plan to attend! We will carpool from MQ at 6. Action starts at 7. Mark your calendars, more information will be coming.

The most important sequence of events in our Masses lead to the consecration of the Eucharist. These prayers which transform common bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are called the Eucharistic Prayer. Though the term is familiar, all of the various components can make this one of the more confusing parts of the Mass to understand. We will take a couple of weeks to break it down. In one missal I have for use at Masses, we have twenty seven pages dedicated to the order of the Mass fifteen of which are dedicated to the Eucharistic Prayer. ++ La secuencia más importante de eventos en nuestras Misas conduce a la consagración de la Eucaristía. Estas oraciones que transforman el pan y el vino común en el cuerpo y la sangre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo se llaman Plegaria Eucarística. Aunque el término es familiar, todos los diversos componentes pueden hacer que esta sea una de las partes más confusas de entender de la Misa. Nos tomará un par de semanas para analizarlo. En un misal que tengo para usar en las Misas, tenemos veintisiete páginas dedicadas al orden de la Misa, quince de las cuales están dedicadas a la Plegaria Eucarística.

We tend to think of Lent as a season of penance, so for this series on Liturgical prayer we will explore our prayers of penance during Mass. We may not be aware of it but we do pray for cleansing at the beginning of each Mass (just after the entrance chant and greeting). There are three options for the penitential acts, and are all structured in different formats. ++ Tendemos a pensar en la Cuaresma como una temporada de penitencia, por lo que para esta serie sobre oración litúrgica exploraremos nuestras oraciones de penitencia durante la Misa. Puede que no seamos conscientes de ello, pero oramos por la limpieza al comienzo de cada Misa (justo después del canto y saludo de entrada). Existen tres opciones para los actos penitenciales, y todas están estructuradas en diferentes formatos.

BUILD Our MQ BUILD Network Meeting is coming up soon - MONDAY, Feb, 24, 7 PM in the church. This is for all Justice Ministry Network Members and anyone else that would like to know more about our issues and what we are working on to make Lexington a City for God. Come and learn more about the 3 issues being worked on:

For our continuing series on liturgical prayers today we discuss the universal prayer. You may not be exactly sure what is meant by this term as the church has been in a habit of changing the title with each iteration of the Missal. This is the prayer in which we offer our petitions after proclaiming the Nicene Creed. Other names we know this by are the General Intercessions and Prayers of the Faithful. ++ Para nuestra serie continua sobre oraciones litúrgicas, hoy analizamos la oración universal. Es posible que no esté exactamente seguro de lo que significa este término, ya que la iglesia tiene la costumbre de cambiar el título con cada iteración del Misal. Ésta es la oración en la que ofrecemos nuestras peticiones después de proclamar el Credo de Nicea. Otros nombres por los que conocemos esto son Intercesiones Generales y Oraciones de los Fieles.

For our continuing series on liturgical prayers we will discuss the orations. These are the three prayers that the priest specifically offers on behalf of the people during the Mass. + Para nuestra serie continua sobre oraciones litúrgicas discutiremos las oraciones. Estas son las tres oraciones que el sacerdote ofrece específicamente en nombre del pueblo durante la Misa.

Our experience of the Mass has multiple modes and means. One of the primary is prayer. In a sense you can look at Mass as an extended form or prayer which opens with the sign of the cross. Within the Eucharistic liturgy though there are several types of prayer. Over the next few weeks we will dig deeper into the various types of liturgical prayer not just at Mass but also including the liturgy of the hours. Nuestra experiencia de la Misa tiene múltiples modos y medios. Una de las oraciones principales. En cierto sentido, la Misa puede verse como una forma extendida de oración que comienza con la señal de la cruz. Dentro de la liturgia eucarística existen varios tipos de oración. Durante las próximas semanas profundizaremos en los diversos tipos de oración litúrgica, no solo en la Misa sino también en la liturgia de las horas.

BUILD is deep into the season of research and I want to give you some updates and then dates coming up. READ MORE HERE BUILD Rally: Tues., April 1, 7 PM, MQHR BUILD Nehemiah Action: Tues., May 6, 6:30, Central Bank Center BUILD Celebration: TH. June 12, 6:30 MQHR All are welcome. Contact Kabby with questions (kakers@cdlex.org.)

When you enter a Catholic church, compared to most other churches, you will often find many unattended and lit candles-a rare sight in this world of insurance regulations. We could intuit that candles are an essential part of our faith. + Cuando ingresa a una iglesia católica, en comparación con la mayoría de las otras iglesias, encontrará muchas velas encendidas y desatendidas, algo poco común en este mundo de regulaciones de seguros. Podríamos intuir que las velas son parte esencial de nuestra fe.