In the Maronite calendar, all of the Sundays of the Season of Resurrection deal with the aftermath of the Resurrection, the first six with Jesus's appearances to his disciples after the Resurrection. The Sixth Sunday is no different, and like all of the prior Sundays except New Sunday repeats the Easter liturgy. However, the Sixth Sunday of the Resurrection also looks forward to the Ascension, which separates it from the Seventh Sunday of the Resurrection.
The first Sunday in May is also always the feast of Our Lady of Lebanon, Notre Dame du Liban. The feast was instituted in 1908 at the dedication of the major Lebanese national shrine to Our Lady of Lebanon, in Harissa, which had begun to be built to mark the Golden Jubilee of the definition of the Immaculate Conception in 1854.
Sixth Sunday of the Resurrection
Romans 10:1-13; Luke 24:36-48
By Your death, O Lord, we are reconciled with God;
being reconciled, we are saved by Your rising,
knowing the sure hope of life and resurrection,
nourished by Your great sacrament.
In hope of victory we fight the great battles;
in hope we prepare for the light beyond all light.
You are our hope, for You are our means and our end,
and we are drawn upward with You.
In stupor, in confusion, the apostles stared,
astounded by Your ascension to Your Father;
they returned to Jerusalem in great wonder,
pondering with an Easter faith.
Are You not the one who comes forth from Your Father;
are You not the one who returns to His right hand?
Do you not from there send the Spirit as a help,
and there prepare a place for us?
From faith in Your ascension comes great and pure love,
a heart that bursts with great fire to ascend on high,
a heart that in Spirit is with our great High Priest,
present by prayer, hoping for more.
You have ascended to be present with Your Church,
working through her and in her in Your mysteries;
by sacrament we participate Your priesthood,
as if heaven were brought to earth.
In hope, in greatest hope, we fulfill our duties;
through Your rising and ascending we are raised high,
preparing to enter the light of God's glory,
on the day we rise and ascend.
Our Lady of Lebanon
Hebrews 7:1-10; Matthew 12:46-50
Blessings are great upon you, O Lady,
for you had faith and did the will of God.
O Cedar of Lebanon, high-enthroned,
look on your children with guidance and love.
Beautiful you are, pure of heart;
no blemish can be found in you.
Come from Lebanon, beloved!
Come from Lebanon, O fair bride!
Pray for us that we may have faith like yours;
intercede that we may withstand great winds,
like cedars that do not bend in the storm
but fearlessly hope for returning sun.
Beautiful you are, pure of faith;
no blemish can be found in you.
Come from Lebanon, beloved!
Come from Lebanon, O fair bride!
Pray for us that we may hope in Your Son;
intercede that we may know His great joy,
believing well what your Son has revealed,
and loving with the love He has shown us.
Beautiful you are, pure of hope;
no blemish can be found in you.
Come from Lebanon, beloved!
Come from Lebanon, O fair bride!
Mother of the Church, pray that we might love:
that we might love the blessed Trinity,
and also love you as our fair mother,
and complete these with true love of neighbor.
Beautiful you are, pure of love;
no blemish can be found in you.
Come from Lebanon, beloved!
Come from Lebanon, O fair bride!
