Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
On January 26, 2021, Pope Francis ordered the inscription of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus into the General Roman Calendar, to replace the existing celebration of Saint Martha alone. Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus are celebrated each year as an Obligatory Memorial on July 29.
The Holy See released the proper liturgical texts in Latin, and on September 30, 2024, the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments confirmed the English translation of those texts. (An approval and confirmation process is still required for a Spanish translation.) Some existing texts have remained the same—the entrance and Communion antiphons at Mass, and indications in the Lectionary—while most have been adjusted slightly or included for the first time.
The proper texts in English for the liturgical celebration of Sts. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus are provided below:
Roman Missal
The USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship has prepared free PDF downloads of the final Mass formulary in English and interim formulary in Spanish to facilitate their use.
Entrance Antiphon
Cf. Lk 10:38
Jesus entered a village,
where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.
Collect
O God, whose Son
called Lazarus back to life from the grave
and was pleased to be a guest in the home of Martha,
grant us, we pray,
that, faithfully serving him in our brothers and sisters,
we, with Mary, may be found worthy to be nourished
by the contemplation of his word.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Prayer over the Offerings
As we proclaim your wonders in your Saints, O Lord,
we humbly implore your majesty,
that, as their homage of love was pleasing to you,
so, too, our dutiful service may find favor in your sight.
Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon
Cf. Jn 11:27
Martha said to Jesus:
You are the Christ, the Son of God,
who is coming into this world.
Prayer after Communion
May the holy reception of the Body and Blood
of your Only Begotten Son, O Lord,
turn us away from the cares of this fallen world,
so that, following the example of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus,
we may grow in sincere love for you on earth
and rejoice to behold you for eternity in heaven.
Through Christ our Lord.
Lectionary for Mass
The existing indications in the Lectionary for the Mass readings on this Memorial have been retained (see vol. II or III, Proper of Saints, no. 607): the Gospel Acclamation and Gospel are mandatory, but the First Reading and Responsorial Psalm may be taken either from the Mass readings of the day or from the Proper of Saints.
Liturgy of the Hours
From the Common of Holy Men, except for the following:
Biography
Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were siblings. When they received the Lord as a guest at Bethany, Martha attentively waited upon him, and Mary devoutly listened to him. By their prayers, they begged the Lord to raise their brother, Lazarus, from the dead.
Office of Readings
Hymn
With grateful hymns we sing your praise,
O Martha, Mary, Lazarus,
who merited to welcome Christ
so often to your gracious home.
O Martha, with attentive care
preoccupied with many things,
spurred on by zeal and sweetest love,
you entertained so great a guest.
And as with joy you fed the Lord,
your sister and your brother both
were eager to receive the food
of grace and life from his own hand.
When he was set to tread the path
that leads to death, you served him still;
your sister offered spice and nard
and you, your final meal with him.
How blest are you, who host the Lord;
inspire our hearts to burn with love,
that they may ever be for him
a place of friendship and a home.
All glory to the Three in One;
and may they grant to us at length,
that we may enter heaven’s home,
to sing with you eternal praise. Amen.
Second Reading
From the sermons of Saint Bernard, Abbot
(Sermo 3 in Assumptione beatae Mariae Virginis, 4. 5: PL 183, 423. 424)
In our home the law of love is ordered in three ways
Let us consider, brothers, how here in our home the ordering of love assigns these three things: service to Martha, contemplation to Mary, penance to Lazarus. The soul that possesses all these at the same time is complete; however, each of them seems to pertain more to distinct individuals, so that some are free for holy contemplation, others give themselves to fraternal service, while still others ponder their years in the bitterness of their soul, like wounded individuals sleeping in graves. It is therefore plainly necessary that Mary think devoutly and sublimely about her God, Martha kindly and mercifully about her neighbor, Lazarus sadly and humbly about himself.
Let each one consider where he stands. Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in this city, they could only save themselves by their righteousness, says the Lord, they could save neither son nor daughter (Ez 14:14-16). We delude no one; would that none of you fool yourself! Indeed, for those to whom no stewardship has been entrusted, no particular service assigned, you will be placed either with Mary at the feet of Jesus or with Lazarus securely within the walls of his tomb. Why should Martha, who was anxious about many people, not be concerned about many things? But to you who are under no pressure from this need, one of two things is necessary: either not to be anxious at all, but to delight rather in the Lord; or, if you are not yet able to do this, do not be anxious about many things, but, as the prophet says of himself, be anxious for yourself.
It is necessary, however, that Martha herself also be warned, for there will be a thorough search among stewards to see if any are found faithful. She will indeed be faithful who, with a pure intention, seeks not her own things but the things of Jesus Christ; nor does her own will, but the Lord’s, so that her action is well ordered. For there are some whose eye is not single, and they receive their reward. There are others who are carried on the impulses of their emotions, and all the things that they offer have been tainted because in them are displayed their own wills.
Come with me now to the wedding song of Solomon. Let us consider how the groom, when he calls the bride, neither omits nor adds to any of these three things. Arise, he says, come quickly, my friend, my fair one, my dove, and come (Sg 2:13-14). Is this friend not she who, intent upon the riches of the Lord, faithfully disposes also her very soul for his sake? For whenever she sets aside a spiritual exercise for the sake of one of the least of his, she spiritually lays down her life for him. Is she not fair who with unveiled face, by gazing upon the glory of the Lord, is transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord? Surely the dove that sighs and moans in the clefts of the rock, in the hollows of the wall, is also buried beneath a stone?
Responsory
Jn 12:1-3
After Jesus raised Lazarus, they gave a dinner for him at Bethany,
— and Martha served.
Mary then took a pound of costly perfumed oil and anointed the feet of Jesus.
— And Martha served.
Prayer, as in Morning Prayer.
Morning Prayer
Hymn
Martha, we bring you earnest prayers and praises;
and, through your merits, may they lift and help us,
for Christ has bound you to his heart in friendship
wondrously given.
Frequent his visits to your home and fam'ly,
there the Lord passes hours of peace and quiet,
gladly rejoicing in your words and service
graciously offered.
Grieving with Mary, you lament your brother
gently protesting his untimely dying;
then you behold him, summoned by the Master,
suddenly rising.
Your faith was lively, you confessed with boldness
hope in our rising, and the Lord confirmed it;
beg that we enter, after lives of fervor,
his lasting Kingdom.
Praise to the Father, to the Son all honor,
fullness of power to the Holy Spirit:
may we together gaze upon their glory
through all the ages. Amen.
Canticle of Zechariah
Ant. With his eyes lifted up, Jesus cried out in a loud voice: Lazarus, come forth!
Prayer
O God, whose Son
called Lazarus back to life from the grave
and was pleased to be a guest in the home of Martha,
grant us, we pray,
that, faithfully serving him in our brothers and sisters,
we, with Mary, may be found worthy to be nourished
by the contemplation of his word.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Evening Prayer
Hymn, as in the Office of Readings.
Canticle of Mary
Ant. Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and their brother Lazarus.
The English translation of Liturgical Texts for Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus © 2023 International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.