The Psalms of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
To read the commentary on today's Psalm, click on the following link: 👉 Psalm 116
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.
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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 : She shall crush thy head
At one level, the icon shows a woman and her seed, which is to say, a Mother and her Son. This recalls the very beginning of human history when, after the sin of our first parents in yielding to Satan's temptation, the Lord God pronounced the following words:
I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem, et semen tuum et semen illius : ipsa conteret caput tuum, et tu insidiaberis calcaneo ejus. [Gen. iii. 15]
Let us ponder on the words of St Louis-Marie de Montfort (1673-1716), taken from his treatise on True Devotion to Mary (Transl. by Fr Faber, 1903).
God has never made or formed but one enmity; but it is an irreconcilable one, which shall endure and develop even to the end. It is between Mary, His worthy Mother, and the devil—between the children and the servants of the Blessed Virgin and the children and instruments of Lucifer. The most terrible of all the enemies which God has set up against the devil is His holy Mother, Mary. He has inspired her, even since the days of the earthly Paradise, though she existed then only in His idea, with so much hatred against that cursed enemy of God, with so much industry in unveiling the malice of that old serpent, with so much power to conquer, to overthrow, and to crush that proud impious rebel, that he fears her not only more than all Angels and men, but in some sense more than God Himself. It is not that the anger, the hatred, and the power of God are not infinitely greater than those of the Blessed Virgin, for the perfections of Mary are limited, but it is, first, because Satan, being proud, suffers infinitely more from being beaten and punished by a little and humble handmaid of God, and her humility humbles him more than the Divine power; and, secondly, because God has given Mary such a great power against the devils, that, as they have often been obliged to confess, in spite of themselves, by the mouths of the possessed, they fear one of her sighs for a soul more than the prayers of all the Saints, and one of her menaces against them more than all other torments.
What Lucifer has lost by pride, Mary has gained by humility. What Eve has damned and lost by disobedience, Mary has saved by obedience. Eve, in obeying the serpent, has destroyed all her children together with herself, and has delivered them to him; Mary, being perfectly faithful to God, has saved all her children and servants together with herself, and has consecrated them to His Majesty.
God has not only set an enmity but enmities, not simply between Mary and the devil, but between the race of the holy Virgin and the race of the devil; that is to say, God has set enmities, antipathies, and secret hatreds between the true children and the servants of Mary, and the children and servants of the devil. They do not love each other mutually. They have no inward correspondence with each other. The children of Belial, the slaves of Satan, the friends of the world (for it is the same thing), have always up to this time persecuted those who belong to our Blessed Lady, and will in future persecute them more than ever; just as of old Cain persecuted his brother Abel, and Esau his brother Jacob, who are the figures of the reprobate and the predestinate. But the humble Mary will always have the victory over that proud spirit, and so great a victory that she will go the length of crushing his head, where his pride dwells. She will always discover the malice of the serpent. She will always counterwork his infernal mines and dissipate his diabolical counsels, and will guarantee even to the end of time [protection and deliverance of] her faithful servants from his cruel claw.
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Prayer
Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?
Quæ est ista quae progreditur quasi aurora consurgens, pulchra ut luna, electa ut sol, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata? [Canticles (Solomon) vi. 9]
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O sacred Virgin. Give me strength against thy enemies.
Dignare me laudare te, Virgo sacrata! Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos. [Found after the Ave Regina Cælorum in the Little Office]
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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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