The Psalms of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
👈 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 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 : God the Son
God the Father wishes to have children by Mary till the consummation of the world; and He has said to her these words, In Jacob inhabita—“Dwell in Jacob,” [1] —that is to say, Make your dwelling and residence in My predestinated children, figured by Jacob, and not in the reprobate children of the devil, figured by Esau.[1] See Ecclus. xxiv. 13; also featuring in the First Lesson of Matins in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Just as, in the natural and corporal generation of children, there is a father and a mother, so in the supernatural and spiritual generation there is a Father, who is God, and a Mother, who is Mary. All the true children of God, the predestinate, have God for their Father, and Mary for their Mother. He who has not Mary for his Mother, has not God for his Father. This is the reason why the reprobate, such as heretics, schismatics, and others, who hate our Blessed Lady, or regard her with contempt and indifference, have not God for their Father, however much they boast of it, simply because they have not Mary for their Mother. For if they had her for their Mother, they would love and honour her as a true and good child naturally loves and honours the mother who has given him life.
God the Son wishes to form Himself, and, so to speak, to incarnate Himself, every day by His dear Mother in His members, and He has said to her, In Israel hæreditare—“Take Israel for your inheritance.” [2] It is as if He had said, God the Father has given Me for an inheritance all the nations of the earth, all the men good and bad, predestinate and reprobate. The one I will lead with a rod of gold, and the others with a rod of iron. Of one I will be the Father and the Advocate, the Just Punisher of others, and the Judge of all. But as for you, My dear Mother—you shall have for your heritage and possession only the predestinate, figured by Israel; and, as their good Mother, you shall bring them forth and maintain them; and, as their sovereign, you shall conduct them, govern and defend them.[2] See Ecclus. xxiv. 13; also featuring in the First Lesson of Matins in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
God the Holy Ghost says “This man and that man is born in her,” —Homo et homo natus est in ea (Ps. lxxxvi. 5). According to the explanation of some of the Fathers, the first man that is born in Mary is the Man-God, Jesus Christ; the second is a mere man, the child of God and Mary by adoption. If Jesus Christ the Head of men is born in her, the predestinate who are the members of that Head ought also to be born in her by a necessary consequence. One and the same mother does not bring forth into the world the head without the members, nor the members without the head; for this would be a monster of nature. So in like manner, in the order of grace, the Head and the members are born of one and the same Mother; and if a member of the mystical Body of Jesus Christ—that is to say, one of the predestinate—was born of any other mother than Mary, who has produced the Head, he would not be one of the predestinate, nor a member of Jesus Christ, but simply a monster in the order of grace.
Besides this, Jesus being at present as much as ever the Fruit of Mary—as heaven and earth repeat thousands and thousands of times a day, “and Blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus,” [3] —it is certain that Jesus Christ is, for each man in particular who possesses Him, as truly the fruit of the work of Mary, as He is for the whole world in general; so that if anyone of the faithful has Jesus Christ formed in his heart, he can say boldly, All thanks be to Mary! what I possess is her effect and her fruit, and without her I should never have had it. We can apply to her more truly than St. Paul applied to himself those words, Quos iterum parturio donec formetur Christus in vobis—“I am in labour again with all the children of God, until Jesus Christ my Son be formed in them in the fulness of His age.” [4]
[3] See Luc. i. 42.
[4] See Gal. iv. 19.
Prayer
After that we must cry out with the Apostle, Nec oculus vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit—“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor man’s heart comprehended,” [4] the beauties, the grandeurs, the excellences, of Mary, the miracle of the miracles of grace, of nature, and of glory. If you wish to comprehend the Mother, says a Saint, comprehend the Son; for she is the worthy Mother of God. Hic taceat omnis lingua, “Here let every tongue be mute.” [TD, English translation by Fr Faber, 1863].
[4] 1 Cor. ii. 9.
O MARY, blessed lady who found grace, mother of our life and our salvation, may we have access to thy Son through thee, so that He who was given to us through thee, may receive us through thee. May thy purity excuse the fault of our corruption. May thy humility, which is pleasing to God, implore pardon for our vanity. May thy abundant charity cover the multitude of our sins, and may thy glorious fruitfulness confer upon us an abundance of merits. Our Lady, our Mediatrix, our Advocate, reconcile us to thy Son, commend us to thy Son, and present us to thy Son. O blessed Lady, through the grace thou hast found, through the prerogatives thou hast merited, through the mercy thou didst give birth to, grant us that by thy intercession, He, who deigned to share in our infirmities and misery, will makes us sharers of His glory and blessedness, Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord, who is above all blessed God forever. Amen.
[Written by St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), Confessor, Abbot, and Doctor of the Church.
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.
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