The Psalms of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Previous Psalms
👈 Taken from a book of hours, this is an image of King David, author of the Psalms, by Willem Vrelant (early 1460s), Bruges, Belgium.
Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
The following prayers follow the model for consecration written by St Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort and are recited in preparation for the renewal of our family's consecration to Lord Jesus, Christ our King, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the Feast of the Annunciation.
Veni Creator Spiritus
Ave Maris Stella
Magnificat
Gloria
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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.
I have for some time been closing my posts with a triple seal:
* the beautiful icon of the Holy Mother of God known to many as the Vladimirskaya Icon;
* the Sub tuum præsidium, said to be the oldest prayer to Our Lady; and
* a short prayer of consecration to the Immaculate heart of Mary.
Over the coming weeks, I shall include a short commentary on one or other of these prayers, (recalling that holy icons are traditionally said to be written like prayers rather than painted).
The Vladimirskaya Icon : Mary as the grand and divine World of God
In the previous post, we noted the expressive silence communicated in the icon by Holy Mother of God and her Son, the Holy Infant |Jesus.
St Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), priest and Mariologist, echoed this observation in his treatise True Devotion to Mary [TD, English translation by Fr Faber, 1863]
God the Father consented that she should do no miracle, at least no public one, during her life, although He had given her the power. God the Son consented that she should hardly ever speak, though He had communicated His wisdom to her. God the Holy Ghost, though she was His faithful Spouse, consented that His Apostles and Evangelists should speak but very little of her, and no more than was necessary to make Jesus Christ known. [T.D., Intro.]
Most Holy Mary is intimately connected with the three Persons of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, being daughter of the Father, Spouse of the Holy Ghost and mother of the Son. St Louis-Marie de Montfort reveals numerous layers of meaning within this magnificent mystery.
Mary is the excellent masterpiece of the Most High, of which He has reserved to Himself both the knowledge and the possession. Mary is the admirable Mother of the Son, who took pleasure in humbling and concealing her during her life, in order to favour her humility, calling her by the name of woman (mulier)[1], as if she was a stranger, although in His heart He esteemed and loved her above all angels and all men. Mary is the sealed fountain [2] and the faithful Spouse of the Holy Ghost, to whom He alone has entrance. Mary is the sanctuary and the repose of the Holy Trinity, where God dwells more magnificently and more divinely than in any other place in the universe, without excepting His dwelling between the Cherubim and Seraphim. Neither is it allowed to any creature, no matter how pure, to enter into that sanctuary without a great and special privilege. [T.D., Intro.]
[1] Woman, behold thy son. Mulier, ecce filius tuus. [John xix. 26.]
[2] My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up.[Cant. iv. 12]
I say with the Saints, The divine Mary is the terrestrial Paradise of the New Adam, where He is incarnate by the operation of the Holy Ghost, in order to work there incomprehensible marvels. She is the grand and divine World of God, where there are beauties and treasures unspeakable. She is the magnificence of the Most High, where He has hidden, as in her bosom, His only Son, and in Him all that is most excellent and most precious. Oh, what grand and hidden things that mighty God has wrought in this admirable creature! How has she herself been compelled to say it, in spite of her profound humility: Fecit mihi magna, qui potens est! [He that is mighty, hath done great things to me]. The world knows them not, because it is at once incapable and unworthy of such knowledge.
The Saints have said admirable things of this Holy City of God; and, as they themselves avow, they have never been more eloquent and more content than when they have spoken of her. Yet, after all they have said, they cry out that the height of her merits, which she has raised up to the throne of the Divinity, cannot be fully seen; that the breadth of her charity, which is broader than the earth, is in truth immeasurable; that the grandeur of her power, which she exercises even over God Himself, incomprehensible; and finally, that the depth of her humility, and of all her virtues and graces, is an abyss which never can be sounded. O height incomprehensible! O breadth unspeakable! O grandeur immeasurable! O abyss impenetrable! [T.D., Intro.] [3]
[3] You may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth: ut possitis comprehendere cum omnibus sanctis, quae sit latitudo, et longitudo, et sublimitas, et profundum :
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As we note the golden trimming of Mary's maphorion and cuffs in the icon, let us following the call from St Louis-Marie de Montfort and say with the Holy Ghost:
Omnis gloria ejus filiæ regis ab intus, in fimbriis aureis.
All the glory of the king's daughter is within in golden borders. [Psalm xliv. 14-15]
It is as if all the outward glory, which heaven and earth rival each other in laying at her feet, is nothing in comparison with that which she receives within from the Creator, and which is not known by creatures, who in their littleness are unable to penetrate the secret of the secrets of the King. [T.D., Intro.]
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SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.
WE fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from all dangers always Glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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