Order for the Blessing of Pro-Life Pilgrims As They Return from Their Journey

Introductory Rites

Celebrant: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Assembly: Amen.

Celebrant: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Assembly: Who made heaven and earth.

Celebrant
: Our pilgrimage has been a privileged period of grace given us by God. As we return home, let us live up to the vocation God has given us: to be a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people God claims for his own, everywhere proclaiming with charity, courage and conviction the inherent dignity and incomparable worth of every human life from conception till natural death.

Reading of the Word of God

(An appropriate text of sacred Scripture may be read here, e.g., Tobit 12:6-7; Acts 8:26-35; or Luke 24:28-35.)

Responsorial Psalm

(An excerpt may be chosen from, for example, Psalm 15, 19, 23, 31, 34, 40 or other appropriate Psalm  text.)

Intercessions

(Intercessions may be taken or adapted from the Book of Blessings (pp. 268-269), or other appropriate intentions may be composed.)

Prayer of Blessing

Celebrant: Blessed are you, O God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
From all races of the earth
you have chosen a people dedicated to you,
eager to do what is right. Your grace has moved the hearts of these, your friends,
to love you more deeply and to serve you more generously.
We ask you to bless them, so that they may tell of your wondrous deeds
and give proof of them in their lives.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Assembly: Amen.