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 130
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.
- Litany of the Holy Ghost
- Ave Maris Stella / Hail Star of Ocean
- Litaniæ Sanctissimi Nominis Iesu Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus
- Oraison à Jésus / Prayer To Jesus: see end of page
- Pray the Rosary
+ + +
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 : Spouse of the Word Incarnate (3)
The icon portrays the Holy Mother of God with her divine Son. The intimacy of the embrace calls to mind those Patristic writers who wrote explicitly of the Holy Mother as Spouse of her Son. A further sample of these writings is included below.
The following text is my translation of an excerpt taken from chapter 5 of The Crown of Power in La triple couronne de la bien-heureuse Vierge Mère de Dieu (The Triple Crown of the Blessed Virgin Mother of God), by Fr F Poiré, This work was published in 1634 and is cited in True Devotion to Mary by St Louis-Marie de Montfort.
In the following paragraphs, Fr Poiré notes that Jesus bears the title of Father of the world to come and explains this is a further reason for Him to take a Spouse to fulfil this role, that Spouse being Mary. If the first title relaters to His Royalty...
The second title which requires the Saviour to choose a Spouse for Himself is the one given by the Prophet Isaiah, who calls Him Father of the world to come.[Is. ix. 6] The Epistles of St Paul all lead towards two men who were the founding fathers of two States or, so to speak, two worlds: one is Adam and the other is Jesus Christ. The former is sometimes called the old Adam and the latter is the new Adam. The old Adam begat natural children according to the flesh; the new Adam regenerated them spiritually through grace; the former intended to people the earth, the latter to populate Heaven; the former gave them being but with no guaranteed escape from death, the latter transmitted well-being and immortality; the former produced children subject to time, the latter for eternity. This is why some interpret the words of Isaiah as meaning Father of eternity. The old Adam was the father of death, the new Adam was the father of life; the former is the father of weariness, captivity and misfortune, but the latter is father of the world to come, a time of rest, of freedom and happiness; the former brought children into the world to make them companions in his misery, the latter regenerated them unto sharing His glory; the former, in order to populate the world, needed a helpmate whom he would make mother, but mother of the dying, the latter, in order to renew the world, vouchsafed to choose a Spouse who has the honour of being the mother of the living.
Fr Poiré goes on to set out six links between the the marriages of Eve and the Blessed Virgin Mary:
- The Lord God said of Adam: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself: namely, a woman who would serve as a companion, who would help to increase the human race and to rear the children they would have. The new Adam could have done all this alone but it was most fitting for Him to have a faithful companion who would be the Mother, the Nurse and the Governess for all His spiritual children, providing them with the gentle love and affection that are innate to mothers; taking care of that great family mansion which is the Church and of which the head as Father is Jesus Christ.
- In a certain sense, Eve was Adam's daughter, formed from one of his ribs. Mary herself was also in a sense the eldest daughter of the Redeemer.
- Eve was drawn from the side of Adam whilst he was in a deep sleep, his soul transported into an spiritual extasy. This is an image of the mysterious sleep of love which our Saviour experienced on the Cross. The Blessed Virgin was the very first of all to be drawn from His precious side and was in the same instant joined to Him as Spouse with the same spirit and flesh, producing with Him all their children by adoption.
- The Lord God built a woman from Adam's side. This proves that our Lady was not an old design reworked and restored but she was from the start a holy and august dwelling of the Divine Word , built from the foundation up to the roof with the sole intention of serving as Mother, Spouse and Companion.
- There was one man and one woman who were the heads of our race; to these two alone may be traced all human beings. In the same way, God has willed that howsoever numerous we may be, we all, as children by adoption, have our eternal happiness from one Father and from one Mother; they are the Father and Mother of the world to come, whose seed shall be be more numerous than the grains of sand of the sea and the stars of heaven [Jer. xxxiii. 22]
- Adam called the name of his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. St Athanasius explains that he gave her this name more by way of a figure that as a truth (for she received the name after the fall of our parents). She and her name were rather to be a figure for the Blessed Virgin Mary who was herself to be the true Mother of all the living by virtue of her being Mother and Spouse of Him who is the Father of life and the King of the world to come.
Prayer
O most worthy Mother of the living; most worthy Spouse, who dost honour thy nuptial couch with countless children and who dost populate Heaven with a blessed posterity; may the morning stars bathe thee with their blessings in eternity, and may the Angels around thee multiply their chants: Blessed be the Spouse and His Bride; and may Heaven's response to this prayer be millions of Amens!
+ + +
Oraison à Jésus (de Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort)
St. Louis De Montfort's Prayer to Jesus
Mon aimable Jésus, permettez-moi de m’adresser à vous pour vous témoigner la reconnaissance où je suis de la grâce que vous m’avez faite, en me donnant à votre sainte Mère par la dévotion de l’esclavage, pour être mon avocate auprès de votre Majesté, et mon supplément universel dans ma très grande misère.
O most loving Jesus, deign to let me pour forth my gratitude before Thee, for the grace Thou hast bestowed upon me in giving me to Thy holy Mother through the devotion of Holy Bondage, that she may be my advocate in the presence of Thy majesty and my support in my extreme misery.
Hélas! Seigneur, je suis si misérable que, sans cette bonne Mère, je serais infailliblement perdu. Oui, Marie m’est nécessaire auprès de vous, partout:
⮚ nécessaire pour vous calmer dans votre juste colère, puisque je vous ai tant offensé tous les jours;
⮚ nécessaire pour arrêter les châtiments éternels de votre justice que je mérite;
⮚ nécessaire pour vous regarder, pour vous parler, vous prier, vous approcher et vous plaire;
⮚ nécessaire pour sauver mon âme et celle des autres;
⮚ nécessaire, en un mot, pour faire toujours votre sainte volonté et procurer en tout votre plus grande gloire.
Alas, O Lord! I am so wretched that without this dear Mother I should be certainly lost. Yes, Mary is necessary for me at Thy side and everywhere: that she may appease Thy just wrath, because I have so often offended Thee; that she may save me from the eternal punishment of Thy justice, which I deserve; that she may contemplate Thee, speak to Thee, pray to Thee, approach Thee and please Thee; that she may help me to save my soul and the souls of others; in short, Mary is necessary for me that I may always do Thy holy will and seek Thy greater glory in all things.
Ah! que ne puis-je publier par tout l’univers cette miséricorde que vous avez eue envers moi! Que tout le monde ne connaît-il que, sans Marie, je serais déjà damné! Que ne puis-je rendre de dignes actions de grâces d’un si grand bienfait! Marie est en moi, haec facta es mihi. Oh! quel trésor! Oh! quelle consolation! Et je ne serais pas, après cela, tout à elle! Oh! quelle ingratitude, mon cher Sauveur! Envoyez-moi plutôt la mort que ce malheur m’arrive: car j’aime mieux mourir que de vivre sans être tout à Marie.
Ah, would that I could proclaim throughout the whole world the mercy that Thou hast shown to me! Would that everyone might know I should be already damned, were it not for Mary! Would that I might offer worthy thanksgiving for so great a blessing! Mary is in me. Oh, what a treasure! Oh, what a consolation! And shall I not be entirely hers'? Oh, what ingratitude! My dear Saviour, send me death rather than such a calamity, for I would rather die than live without belonging entirely to Mary.
Je l’ai mille et mille fois prise pour tout mon bien avec saint Jean l’Evangéliste, au pied de la croix et je me suis autant de fois donné à elle; mais, si je ne l’ai pas encore bien fait selon vos désirs, mon cher Jésus, je le fais maintenant comme vous le voulez que je le fasse; et si vous voyez en mon âme et mon corps quelque chose qui n’appartienne pas à cette auguste Princesse, je vous prie de me l’arracher et de le jeter loin de moi, puisque, n’étant pas à Marie, il est indigne de vous.
With St. John the Evangelist at the foot of the Cross, I have taken her a thousand times for my own and as many times have given myself to her; but if I have not yet done it as Thou, dear Jesus, dost wish, I now renew this offering as Thou dost desire me to renew it. And if Thou seest in my soul or my body anything that does not belong to this august princess, I pray Thee to take it and cast it far from me, for whatever in me does not belong to Mary is unworthy of Thee.
Ô Saint-Esprit! Accordez-moi toutes ces grâces et plantez, arrosez et cultivez en mon âme l’aimable Marie, qui est l’Arbre de vie véritable, afin qu’il croisse, qu’il fleurisse et apporte du fruit de vie avec abondance.
O Holy Spirit, grant me all these graces. Plant in my soul the Tree of true Life, which is Mary; cultivate it and tend it so that it may grow and blossom and bring forth the fruit of life in abundance.
Ô Saint-Esprit! Donnez-moi une grande dévotion et un grand penchant vers votre divine Epouse, un grand appui sur son sein maternel et un recours continuel à sa miséricorde, afin qu’en elle vous formiez en moi Jésus-Christ au naturel, grand et puissant, jusqu’à la plénitude de son âge parfait. Ainsi soit-il.
O Holy Spirit, give me great devotion to Mary, Thy faithful spouse; give me great confidence in her maternal heart and an abiding refuge in her mercy, so that by her Thou mayest truly form in me Jesus Christ, great and mighty, unto the fullness of His perfect age. Amen.
Ô Jésus vivant en Marie
O Jesus Living in Mary
Ô Jésus vivant en Marie,
venez et vivez en nous,
en votre esprit de sainteté,
en la plénitude de vos dons,
en la perfection de vos voies,
en la vérité de vos vertus,
en la communion de vos mystères.
Dominez en nous sur toutes les puissances ennemies,
le monde, le démon et la chair,
en la vertu de votre Esprit et pour la gloire de votre Père. Amen.
O Jesus living in Mary,
Come and live in Thy servants,
In the spirit of Thy holiness,
In the fullness of Thy might,
In the perfection of Thy ways,
In the truth of Thy virtues,
In the communion of Thy mysteries;
Subdue within us every hostile power,
The world, the Devil and the flesh,
In power of Thy spirit, for the glory of thy Father. Amen.
Ô Jésus vivant en Marie,
venez et vivez en nous,
en votre esprit de sainteté,
en la plénitude de vos dons,
en la perfection de vos voies,
en la vérité de vos vertus,
en la communion de vos mystères.
Dominez en nous sur toutes les puissances ennemies,
le monde, le démon et la chair,
en la vertu de votre Esprit et pour la gloire de votre Père. Amen.
O Jesus living in Mary,
Come and live in Thy servants,
In the spirit of Thy holiness,
In the fullness of Thy might,
In the perfection of Thy ways,
In the truth of Thy virtues,
In the communion of Thy mysteries;
Subdue within us every hostile power,
The world, the Devil and the flesh,
In power of Thy spirit, for the glory of thy Father. Amen.
+ + +
Je me donne tout à vous, Ô Marie… je vous prends pour tout mon bien.
I give all myself to you, O Mary... I take you for all that is good for me.
La seule grâce que je vous demande, par pure miséricorde, c’est que, tous les jours et moments de ma vie, je dise trois fois Amen / Ainsi soit-il:
The only grace I beg thee to obtain for me is that every day and every moment of my life I may say:
⮚ Ainsi soit-il, à tout ce que vous avez fait sur la terre, lorsque vous y viviez;
⮚ Ainsi soit-il, à tout ce que vous faites à présent dans le ciel;
⮚ Ainsi soit-il, à tout ce que vous faites en mon âme, afin qu’il n’y ait que vous à glorifier pleinement Jésus en moi pendant le temps et l’éternité.
Ainsi soit-il.
Amen, to all that thou hast done while on earth; Amen, to all that thou art now doing in Heaven; Amen, to all that thou art doing in my soul, so that thou alone mayest fully glorify Jesus in me for time and eternity. Amen.
+ + +
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment