Marian Prayer Book by Catholic Truth Society

MARIAN PRAYER BOOK

PRAYERS & DEVOTIONS TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

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Latin text of Missale Romanum, Libreria Editrice Vaticana omnia sibi vindicat iura. Sine eiusdem licentia scripto data liceat hunc Missale denuo imprimere aut in aliam linguam vertere.

The following prayers are extracted from The cult of the Virgin Mary in Anglo-Saxon England, Mary Clayton © Cambridge University Press 1990, reproduced with permission. Page 55: St Aldhelm’s Prayer, In Basilica Beatæ Mariæ semper Virginis (c. 685). Page 56: St Bede’s Prayer, In natali sanctæ Dei genitricis. Page 57: The Prayer from the Book of Nunnaminster (9th century). Page 59: Book of Cerne (9th century); Winchcombe Psalter Prayer (Mid eleventh century). Page 60: Aelfwine Winchester Prayer and the Litany (Written between 1023 and 1035). Page 61: Oratio ad dei Genitricem.

ISBN 978 1 86082 797 6

INTRODUCTION

The Mother of the Redeemer has a precise place in the plan of salvation, for “when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Ga 4:4-6)

These words of the Apostle Paul celebrate together the love of the Father, the mission of the Son, the gift of the Spirit, the role of the woman from whom the Redeemer was born, and our own divine filiation. In the Incarnation, the Church encounters Christ and Mary indissolubly joined: he who is the Church’s Lord and Head and she who, uttering the first fiat of the New Covenant, prefigures the Church’s condition as spouse and mother.

Strengthened by the presence of Christ (Mt 28:20), the Church journeys through time towards the consummation of the ages and goes to meet the Lord who comes. But on this journey she proceeds along the path already trodden by the Virgin Mary, who “advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and loyally persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross.”

(Adapted from Redemptoris Mater, “The Mother of the Redeemer,” 1, 2, Pope John Paul II, 1987)

STANDARD MARIAN PRAYERS

Hail Mary

The first line is the Salutation of the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary the future mother of Jesus. The second and third lines are the words of Elizabeth, her cousin; the addition of the word ‘Jesus’ is attributed to Pope Urban IV (1261-64), while the concluding petition reached its present form in 1514.

Ave María, gratia plena, Dóminus tecum; benedícta tu in muliéribus, et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostræ. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Morning Offering Prayer

This Morning Offering prayer is said by many Catholics throughout the world, each morning, to fulfil the request of Our Lady of Fatima for the sanctification of daily duties as a condition for the conversion of all people.

O My God, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary (here kiss your Brown Scapular), I offer Thee the Precious Blood of Jesus from all the altars throughout the world, joining with it the offering of my every thought, word and action of this day.

O My Jesus, I desire today to gain every indulgence and merit I can and I offer them, together with myself, to Mary Immaculate that she may best apply them to the interests of Thy most Sacred Heart. Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on us!

Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we consecrate ourselves, in an act of total entrustment to the Lord. By you we will be led to Christ. By Him and with Him we will be led to the Father.

We will walk in the light of faith, and we will do everything so that the world may believe that Jesus Christ is the One sent by the Father. With Him we wish to carry His Love and Salvation to the ends of the earth. Under the protection of your Immaculate Heart, we will be one People with Christ. We will be witnesses of His Resurrection. By Him we will be led to the Father, for the glory of the Most Holy Trinity, Whom we adore, praise and bless forever. Amen.

Magnificat

This is Mary’s hymn of praise to God in St Luke’s Gospel (Lk 1:46-55) on the occasion of her Visitation to St Elizabeth.

Magnificat ánima mea dóminum, et exsultávit spíritus meus in deo salvatóre meo, quia respéxit humilitátem ancíllæ suæ. Ecce enim ex hoc beátam me dicent omnes generatiónes, quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est, et sanctum nomen eius,

My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my saviour. He looks on his servant in her lowliness; henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

The Almighty works marvels for me, holy his name! His mercy is from age to age, on those who fear him.

et misericórdia eius in progénies et progénies timéntibus eum.

Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo, dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui; depósuit poténtes de sede et exaltávit húmiles. Esuriéntes implévit bonis et dívites dimísit inánes.

Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum, recordátus misericórdiæ, sicut locútus est ad patres nostros, Ábraham et sémini eius in sæcula.

Glória patri et fílio et spirítui sancto. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc et semper, et in sæcula sæculórum. Amen.

He puts forth his arm in strength and scatters the proud hearted. He casts the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly. He fills the starving with good things, sends the rich away empty. He protects Israel, his servant, remembering his mercy, the mercy promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his sons for ever.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Hail Holy Queen - Salve, Regina

Attributed to several sources, the probable author is Herman the Lame (1013-1054), a monk of Reichenau Abbey in Germany.

Salve, Regína, mater misericórdiæ, vita, dulcédo et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamámus, éxsules fílii evæ.

Ad te suspirámus geméntes et flentes in hac lacrimárum valle. eia ergo, advocáta nostra, illos tuos misericórdes

óculos ad nos convérte.

Et Iesum benedíctum fructum ventris tui, nobis, post hoc exsílium, osténde.

O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo María!

V. Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genitrix.

R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail, our life, our sweetness and our hope.

To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve: to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.

Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Memorare

The Memorare is a famous Marian prayer attributed to St Bernard (1090-1153)

Memoráre, o piíssima

Virgo María, non esse audítum a sæculo, quemquam ad tua curréntem præsídia, tua implorántem auxília, tua peténtem suffrágia esse derelíctum.

Ego tali animátus confidéntia

ad te, Virgo Vírginum, Mater, curro, ad te vénio, coram te gemens peccátor assísto.

Noli, Mater Verbi, verba mea despícere, sed audi propitia et exáudi. Amen.

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother.

To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.

O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

The Angelus

The custom of saying the Angelus three times a day, at 6 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. goes back to the thirteenth century.

V. Angelus Dómini nuntiávit Maríæ,

R. Et concépit de Spíritu Sancto.

Ave María...

V. Ecce ancilla Domini.

R. Fiat mihi secúndum verbum tuum.

Ave María...

V. Et Verbum caro factum est,

R. Et habitávit in nobis.

Ave María...

V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Génetrix,

R. Ut digni efficiámur promissiónibus Christi.

Orémus.

Grátiam tuam, quaésumus, Dómine, méntibus nostris infúnde;

V. The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,

R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary...

V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

R. Be it done to me according to thy word.

Hail Mary...

V. And the word was made flesh, R. And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary...

V. Pray for us O holy Mother of God,

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray. Pour forth, we beseech thee O Lord, thy grace into our hearts

ut qui, ángelo nuntiánte, Christi Fílii tui incarnatiónem cognóvimus, per passiónem eius et crucem ad resurrectiónis glóriam perducámur. Per eúndem Christum Dóminum nostrum.

R. Amen.

that we to whom the incarnation of Christ, thy son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by his passion and cross be brought to the glory of his resurrection through the same Christ, Our Lord.

R. Amen.

PRAYERS FROM THE MISSAL AND BREVIARY

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

This feast commemorates the unity and love of Jesus, Mary his mother and Joseph, his foster father, as lived out in Bethlehem, Egypt, and Nazareth, and promotes the life they lived as the ideal of family life which all Christian families should seek to emulate. It is celebrated on the Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord, or, if there is no Sunday on 30 December.

Collect from the Missal

O God, who were pleased to give us the shining example of the Holy Family, graciously grant that we may imitate them in practising the virtues of family life and in the bonds of charity, and so, in the joy of your house, delight one day in eternal rewards. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Concluding Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours God our Father, in the Holy Family of Nazareth you have given us the true model of a Christian home. Grant that by following Jesus, Mary and Joseph in their love for each other and in the example of their family life we may come to your home of peace and joy.

1

January

- Solemnity of

Mary,

the Holy Mother of God

This feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, or Mother of God, is held on the first day of the New Year, the Octave day of Christmas. It celebrates Mary’s motherhood of Jesus, and the term Theotokos or God-bearer was adopted by the First Council of Ephesus (431), in order to safeguard the Divinity and humanity of Christ.

Collect from the Missal

O God, who through the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary bestowed on the human race the grace of eternal salvation, grant, we pray, that we may experience the intercession of her, through whom we were found worthy to receive the author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

2 February - the Presentation of the Lord

The Presentation of the Lord, popularly known as ‘Candlemas,’ traditionally concludes the celebration of the season of Christmas. It commemorates the presentation of Jesus in the Temple by Our Lady and St Joseph, forty days after his birth, an occasion when offerings were made and the mother was ritually purified.

Collect from the Missal Almighty ever-living God, we humbly implore your majesty that, just as your Only Begotten Son was presented on this day in the Temple in the substance of our flesh, so, by your grace, we may be presented to you with minds made pure. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

11 February - Our Lady of Lourdes

The feast marks the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1858 to fourteen-year-old St Bernadette Soubirous. There were eighteen apparitions in all, the last of which was on 16 July 1858. The message of Lourdes is a call to personal conversion, prayer and charity. In a special way, the shrine has become closely associated with the sick.

Collect

from the Missal

Grant us, O merciful God, protection in our weakness, that we, who keep the Memorial of the Immaculate Mother of God, may, with the help of her intercession, rise up from our iniquities. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Concluding prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours Lord of mercy, as we keep the memory of Mary, the immaculate Mother of God, who appeared to Bernadette at Lourdes: grant us through her prayer strength in our weakness and grace to rise up from our sins. (We make our prayer) through our Lord.