*Hymns may not match audio. All material is used for Spiritual/Educational Purposes.
MONDAY
Morning Prayer
God, come to my assistance.- Lord, make haste to help meGlory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spiritas it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
HYMN
Mary immaculate, star of the morning,Chosen before the creation began,Chosen to bring, for thy bridal adorning,Woe to the serpent and rescue to man. Here, in an orbit of shadow and sadness,Veiling thy splendor, thy course thou hast run;Now thou art throned in all glory and gladness,Crowned by the hand of the savior and Son. Sinners, we worship thy sinless perfection;Fallen and weak for thy pity we plead;Grant us the shield of thy sovereign protection,Measure thine aid by the depth of our need. Bend from thy throne at the voice of our crying,Bend to this earth which thy footsteps have trod;Stretch out thine arms to us, living and dying,Mary immaculate, Mother of God.
Melody: Liebster Immanuel 11.10.11.10Music: Melody from Himmels-Lust 1675, adapted and harmonized by J.S. Bach, 1685-1750Text: F.W. Weatherell
Or:
Virgin of virgins,you were untouched by that stain of sin,that first of all evils,the sad inheritance of the human race.From my earliest yearsI have placed my hope in you.Where the power of evil overcomes meand makes my life too sinful for your gaze,all the more will your unbounded compassionshow me your generous love,because my suffering is so deep,my sinfulness so unworthy of your aid.
Luis de Leon (1527/1528-1591)
PSALMODYAnt.1 Oh Mother, how pure you are, you are untouched by sin; yours was the privilege to carry God within you.
or: Blessed are you, O Mary, for the world's salvation came forth from you; now in glory, you rejoice forever with the Lord. Intercede for us with your Son.
Psalm 90May we live in the radiance of GodThere is no time with God: a thousand years, a single day: it is all one (2 Peter 3:8)
O Lord, you have been our refugefrom one generation to the next.Before the mountains were bornor the earth or the world brought forth,you are God, without beginning or end.
You turn men back to dustand say: “go back, sons of men.”To your eyes a thousand yearsare like yesterday, come and gone,no more than a watch in the night.
You sweep men away like a dream,like grass which springs up in the morning.In the morning it springs up and flowers:by evening it withers and fades.
So we are destroyed in your anger,struck with terror in your fury.Our guilt lies open before you;our secrets in the light of your face.
All our days pass away in your anger.Our life is over like a sigh.Our span is seventy yearsor eighty for those who are strong.
And most of these are emptiness and pain.They pass swiftly and we are gone.Who understands the power of your angerand fears the strength of your fury?
Make us know the shortness of our lifethat we may gain wisdom of heart.Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?Show pity to your servants.
In the morning, fill us with your love;we shall exult and rejoice all our days.Give us joy to balance our afflictionfor the years when we knew misfortune.
Show forth your work to your servants;let your glory shine on their children.Let the favor of the Lord be upon us:give success to the work of our hands,give success to the work of our hands.
Ant. 2 The Lord God most high has blessed you, Virgin Mary, above all the women on the earth.
Or: You are the glory of Jerusalem, the joy of Israel; you are the fairest of our race.
Canticle Isaiah 42:10-16God victor and saviorThey were singing a new hymn before the throne of God (Revelation 14:3)
Sing to the LORD a new song,his praise from the end of the earth:Let the sea and what fills it resound,the coastlands, and those who dwell in them.Let the steppe and its cities cry out,the villages where Kedar dwells;
Let the inhabitants of Sela exult,and shout from the top of the mountains.Let them give glory to the LORD,and utter his praise in the coastlands.
The LORD goes forth like a hero,like a warrior he stirs up his ardor;He shouts out his battle cry,against his enemies he shows his might:
I have looked away, and kept silence,I have said nothing, holding myself in;But now, I cry out as a woman in labor,gasping and panting.
I will lay waste mountains and hills,all their herbage I will dry up;I will turn the rivers into marshes,and the marshes I will dry up.
I will lead the blind on their journey;by paths unknown I will guide them.I will turn darkness into light before them,and make crooked ways straight.
Ant. 3: Sinless virgin, let us follow joyfully in your footsteps; draw us after you in the fragrance of your holiness.
Or: O Virgin Mary, how great your cause for joy; God found you worthy to bear Christ our Savior.
Psalm 146Those who trust in God know what it is to be happyTo praise God in our lives means all we do must be for his glory (Arnobius)
My soul, give praise to the Lord;I will praise the Lord all my days,make music to my God while I live.
Put no trust in princes,in mortal men in whom there is no help.Take their breath, they return to clayand their plans that day come to nothing.
He is happy who is helped by Jacob's God,whose hope is in the Lord his God,who alone made heaven and earth,the seas and all they contain.
It is he who keeps faith for ever,who is just to those who are oppressed.It is he who gives bread to the hungry,the Lord, who sets prisoners free,
the Lord who gives sight to the blind,who raises up those who are bowed down,the Lord, who protects the strangerand upholds the widow and orphan.
It is the Lord who loves the justbut thwarts the path of the wicked.The Lord will reign for ever,Zion's God, from age to age.
FIRST READING Isaiah 43:1
But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel:Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine.
Or Galatians 4:4-5
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption.
Or Proverbs 8:22-31
Mary in the mind of God
"The LORD begot me, the first-born of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago;From of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth.When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no fountains or springs of water;Before the mountains were settled into place, before the hills, I was brought forth;While as yet the earth and the fields were not made, nor the first clods of the world.
"When he established the heavens I was there, when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep;When he made firm the skies above, when he fixed fast the foundations of the earth;When he set for the sea its limit, so that the waters should not transgress his command;Then was I beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day,Playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of his earth; and I found delight in the sons of men.
SECOND READING
From a sermon by St. Anselm, bishop(Oratio 52:PL 158, 955-956)
Virgin Mary, all nature is blessed in you.
Blessed Lady, sky and stars, earth and rivers, day and night – everything that is subject to the power or use of man – rejoice that through you they are in some sense restored to their lost beauty and are endowed with inexpressible new grace. All creatures were dead, as it were, useless for men or for the praise of God, who made them. The world, contrary to its true destiny, was corrupted and tainted by the acts of men who served idols. Now all creation has been restored to life and rejoices that it is controlled and given splendor by men who believe in God.
The universe rejoices with new and indefinable loveliness. Not only does it feel the unseen presence of God himself, its Creator, it sees him openly, working and making it holy. These great blessings spring from the blessed fruit of Mary’s womb.
Through the fullness of the grace that was given you, dead things rejoice in their freedom, and those in heaven are glad to be made new. Through the Son who was the glorious fruit of your virgin womb, just souls who died before his life-giving death rejoice as they are freed from captivity, and the angels are glad at the restoration of their shattered domain.
Lady, full and overflowing with grace, all creation receives new life from your abundance. Virgin, blessed above all creatures, through your blessing all creation is blessed, not only creation from its Creator, but the Creator himself has been blessed by creation.
To Mary God gave his only-begotten Son, whom he loved as himself. Through Mary God made himself a Son, not different but the same, by nature Son of God and Son of Mary. The whole universe was created by God, and God was born of Mary. God created all things, and Mary gave birth to God. The God who made all things gave himself form through Mary, and thus he made his own creation. He who could create all things from nothing would not remake his ruined creation without Mary.
God, then, is the Father of the created world and Mary the mother of the re-created world. God is the Father by whom all things were given life, and Mary the mother through whom all things were given new life. For God begot the Son, through whom all things were made, and Mary gave birth to him as the Savior of the world. Without God’s Son, nothing could exist; without Mary’s Son, nothing could be redeemed.
Truly the Lord is with you, to whom the Lord granted that all nature should owe as much to you as to himself.
RESPONSORYThe God of power has given me his strength. - The God of power has given me his strength.He has kept me in the way of holiness. - And has given me his strength.Glory to the Father... - The God of power has given me his strength.
Or:
O Virgin Mary, no other daughter of Jerusalem is your equal,for you are the mother of the King of kings,you are the Queen of heaven and of angels. - Blessed are you among womenand blessed is the fruit of your womb.Hail, full of grace; the Lord is with you. - Blessed are you among womenand blessed is the fruit of your womb.
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH Luke 1:68-79Ant. The Lord God said to the serpent: I will make you enemies, you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring; she will crush your head, alleluia.
Or: Holy Mary, ever-virgin, Mother of God, blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
The Messiah and his forerunner
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty savior,born of the house of his servant David. Through his holy prophets he promised of old, that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathersand to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham,to set us free from the hands of our enemies,free to worship him without fear,holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life. You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, To give his people knowledge of salvationby the forgiveness of their sins. In the tender compassion of our Godthe dawn from on high shall break upon us,to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,and to guide our feet into the way of peace. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
INTERCESSIONS
Let us glorify our Savior, who chose the Virgin Mary for his mother. Let us ask him: May your mother intercede for us, Lord.
Sun of Justice, the Immaculate Virgin was the white dawn announcing your rising,- grant that we may always live in the light of your coming.
Savior of the world, by your redeeming might you preserved your mother beforehand from all stain of sin,- keep watch over us lest we sin.
You are our redeemer, who made the Immaculate Virgin Mary your purest home and a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit: - make us temples of your Spirit forever.
King of kings, you lifted up your mother, body and soul, into heaven: - help us fix our thoughts on things above.
Our Father...
CONCLUDING PRAYERFather,you prepared the Virgin Maryto be the worthy mother of your Son.You let her share beforehandin the salvation Christ would bring by his death,and kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception.Help us by her prayersto live in your presence without sin.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever.
Alternative Prayer
Father,the image of the Virgin is found in the Church.Mary had a faith that your Spirit preparedand a love that never knew sin,for you kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception.Trace in our actions the lines of her love,in our hearts her readiness of faith.Prepare once again a world for your Sonwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
May the Lord bless us,protect us from eviland bring us to everlasting life. - Amen.
Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
MONDAY
Evening Prayer
God, come to my assistance.- Lord, make haste to help meGlory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spiritas it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
HYMN
Mary, crowned with living light,Temple of the Lord,Place of peace and holiness,Shelter of the Word.
Mystery of sinless lifeIn our fallen race,Free from shadow, you reflectPlenitude of grace.
Virgin-Mother of our God,Lift us when we fall,Who were named upon theCross Mother of us all.
Father, Son and Holy Ghost,Heaven sings your praise;Mary magnifies your nameThrough eternal days.
Melody: Glorification 75.75.DMusic: Gossner's Choralbach, Leipzig, 1882Text: Stanbrook Abbey
Or:
(Chanted by the Monastic Choir of the Abbey of Notre-Dame Fontgombault)Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae;vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Evae.Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentesin hac lacrimarum valle.Eia ergo, advocata nostra,illos tuos misericordes oculosad nos converte.Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria.
Melody: Salve ReginaMusic: Paris, 1634Text: 11th Century
PSALMODYAnt 1: You are all beautiful, O Mary; in you there is no trace of original sin.
Or: Mary received a blessing from the Lord and loving kindness from God her savior.
Psalm 136Easter HymnWe praise God by recalling his marvelous deeds (Cassiodorus).
I
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good,for his love endures for ever.Give thanks to the God of gods,for his love endures for ever.Give thanks to the Lord of lords,for his love endures for ever;
who alone has wrought marvellous works,for his love endures for ever;whose wisdom it was made the skies,for his love endures for ever;who fixed the earth firmly on the seas,for his love endures for ever.
It was he who made the great lights,for his love endures for ever.the sun to rule the day,for his love endures for ever.the moon and stars in the night;for his love endures for ever.
Ant. 2 You are the glory of Jerusalem, the joy of Israel; you are the fairest of our race.
Or: The Most High has made his dwelling place a holy temple.
II
The first-born of the Egyptians he smote,for his love endures for ever.He brought Israel out from their midst,for his love endures for ever;arm outstretched, with power in his hand,for his love endures for ever.
He divided the Red Sea in two,for his love endures for ever;he made Israel pass through the midst,for his love endures for ever;he flung Pharaoh and his force in the sea,for his love endures for ever.
Through the desert his people he led,for his love endures for ever.Nations in their greatness he struck,for his love endures for ever.Kings in their splendor he slew,for his love endures for ever.
Sihon, king of the Amorites,for his love endures for ever;and Og, the king of Bashan,for his love endures for ever.
He let Israel inherit their land,for his love endures for ever.On his servant their land he bestowed,for his love endures for ever.He remembered us in our distress,for his love endures for ever. And he snatched us away from out foes,for his love endures for ever;He give food to all living thingsfor his love endures for ever;To the God of heaven give thanks,for his love endures for ever.
Ant 3: The robe you wear is white as spotless snow; your face is radiant like the sun.
Or: Glorious things are said of you. O Virgin Mary.
Canticle Ephesians 1:3-10God our Savior
Praised be the God and Fatherof our Lord Jesus Christ,who has bestowed on us in Christevery spiritual blessing in the heavens.
God chose us in himbefore the world beganto be holyand blameless in his sight,to be full of love.
He predestined usto be his adopted sons through Jesus Christ,such was his will and pleasure,that all might praise the glorious favorhe has bestowed on us in his beloved.
In him and through his blood,we have been redeemed,and our sins forgiven,so immeasurably generousis God’s favor to us.
God has given us the wisdomto understand fully the mystery,the plan he was pleasedto decree in Christ.A plan to be carried outin Christ, in the fulness of time,to bring all things into one in him,in the heavens and on earth.
FIRST READING Romans 5:20-21
Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
OR Ephesians 5:25-27
Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
OR James 3:13-18
Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show his works by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. Wisdom of this kind does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.
SECOND READING
From a homily delivered at the Council of Ephesus by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishop(Hom. 4: PG 77,991,995-996)
Mary, Mother of God, we salute you. Precious vessel, worthy of the whole world’s reverence, you are an ever-shining light, the crown of virginity, the symbol of orthodoxy, an indestructible temple, the place that held him whom no place can contain, mother and virgin. Because of you the holy gospels could say: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
We salute you, for in your holy womb was confined him who is beyond all limitation. Because of you the holy Trinity is glorified and adored; the cross is called precious and is venerated throughout the world; the heavens exult; the angels and archangels make merry; demons are put to flight; the devil, that tempter, is thrust down from heaven; the fallen race of man is taken up on high; all creatures possessed by the madness of idolatry have attained knowledge of the truth; believers receive holy baptism; the oil of gladness is poured out; the Church is established throughout the world; pagans are brought to repentance.
What more is there to say? Because of you the light of the only-begotten Son of God has shone upon those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death; prophets pronounced the word of God; the apostles preached salvation to the Gentiles; the dead are raised to life, and kings rule by the power of the holy Trinity.
RESPONSORYBy this I know you have chosen me. - By this I know you have chosen me.You have not let my enemy triumph over me. - You have chosen me.Glory to the Father... - By this I know you have chosen me.
Or:
I shall glorify you, Lord, for you have rescued me. - I shall glorify you, Lord, for you have rescued me.You have not let my enemies rejoice over me - for you have rescued me.Glory to the Father... - I shall glorify you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
CANTICLE OF MARY Luke 1:46-55Ant: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, alleluia
Or: All generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me.
My soul rejoices in the Lord.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:the Almighty has done great things for me,and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear himin every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,for he has remembered his promise of mercy,The promise he made to our fathers,to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
INTERCESSIONS
Let us praise God our almighty Father, who wished that Mary, his Son's mother, be celebrated by each generation. Now in need, we ask:
Mary, full of grace, intercede for us.
O God, worker of miracles, you made the immaculate Virgin Mary share, body and soul, in your Son's glory in heaven,- direct the hearts of your children to that same glory.
You made Mary our mother. Through her intercession grant strength to the weak, comfort to the sorrowing, pardon to sinners,- salvation and peace to all.
You made Mary the mother of mercy,- may all who are faced with trials feel her motherly love.
You wished Mary to be the mother of the family in the home of Jesus and Joseph,- may all mothers of families foster love and holiness through her intercession.
You crowned Mary queen of heaven,- may all the dead rejoice in your kingdom with the saints for ever.
Our Father...
CONCLUDING PRAYERFather,you prepared the Virgin Maryto be the worthy mother of your Son.You let her share beforehandin the salvation Christ would bring by his death,and kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception.Help us by her prayersto live in your presence without sin.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever.
Alternative Prayer
Father,the image of the Virgin is found in the Church.Mary had a faith that your Spirit preparedand a love that never knew sin,for you kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception.Trace in our actions the lines of her love,in our hearts her readiness of faith.Prepare once again a world for your Sonwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever.
May the Lord bless us,protect us from eviland bring us to everlasting life. - Amen.
