from Saint Ildephonsus
O my Lady and my Sovereign, who bearest rule over me, Mother of my Lord, handmaid of thy Son, who gavest birth to the Creator of the world! I pray thee, I beg of thee, I beseech thee, that I may be endued with the spirit of thy Lord, the spirit of thy Son, yea, the spirit of my Redeemer; that I may give heed to things true and worthy of thee, that I may speak things true and worthy, that I may love all things whatsoever that are true and worthy of thee. For thou wast chosen of God, assumed of God, called of God; thou art very near to God, thou cleavest to God, thou art bound unto God; thou wast visited by an Angel, saluted by an Angel, blessed by an Angel, made happy by an Angel; thou wast troubled at his words, astounded at thine own thought, confounded at his salutation, and in wonderment at what his words announced unto thee.
Thou art told that thou hast found grace with God, and thou art bidden not to fear. By this thou art strengthened in thy trust, thou art instructed in the knowledge of wonderful things, thou art borne forward to a new, an unheard-of, glory. The Angel tells thee of thy Child to be - and after His birth thou remainest a Virgin still inviolate. Then we are given the assurance of thy virginity; and the Angel imparts to thee the glad tidings that the Holy One, the Son of God, shall be born of thee, and announces to thee in his wondrous way the power of the new-born King. Thou askest how this shall be - thou seekest to know the source of this, thou inquirest as to the reason of it, thou askest how it shall be, thou wouldst know in what order it shall be: Listen to an oracle hitherto unheard; look upon an unwonted work, behold this secret yet unknown, wait for this wonder hitherto unseen: 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee' (Luke 1:35).
By all the Trinity shall this conception be wrought invisibly within thee, but only the person of the Son of God shall take flesh from thee and of thy body shall be born. And, therefore, the Holy Thing which shall be conceived in thee, which shall be born of thee, which shall come forth from thee, which shall bud forth from thee - ' which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God.' For ' He shall be great,' He shall be the God of power, the King of all ages, the Maker of all things. Behold, 'blessed art thou amongst women' - maiden among mothers, Lady among handmaids, Queen among thy sisters. Behold, for this all generations shall call thee blessed, all the powers of heaven know thee to be blessed, all the prophets proclaim thee blessed, all the nations honour thee as blessed. Our faith finds thee blessed, our souls find thee blessed, our love finds thee blessed; and I, I bless thee by the praise and the preaching of my lips.
Let us pray
O almighty and merciful God! who, for the succour of the human race, didst will that the Blessed Virgin Mary should be the Mother of Thine only-begotten Son, grant us, we beseech Thee, that, by her intercession, we may be enabled to avoid all diabolical contagion, and to serve Thee with sincere mind. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Magnificat
My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid; for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me; and holy is His name. And His mercy is, from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him. He hath showed might in His arm: He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel, His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our fathers - to Abraham and to His seed, for ever. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Salve Regina!
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 towards us, and, after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God! That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Petition
We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God! despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin!
- from The May-Book of the Breviary, by Father John Fitzpatrick