- from Saint Tharasius
O Mary! what praises shall we accumulate upon' thee? O Maiden undefiled! O Virgin inviolate! O glory of daughters and pride of womanhood! O holy Maiden-Mother! 'blessed art thou amongst women'; renowned art thou for thy purity; with virginity thou art signed and sealed. 'Thou art an expiation for the curse of Adam; thou art a payment of the debt of Eve. Thou art Abel's most pure oblation, the chosen of his firstlings, his spotless sacrifice. Thou art the hope of Enos, his hope in God, that knew no blush of shame. Thou art the grace that Enoch enjoyed, and his translation to a better life than this. Thou art the ark of Noah, and the second birth which reconciled us unto God. Thou art the refulgent glory of the kingship and the priesthood of Melchisedech. Thou art the unshaken trust of Abraham, and his obedient faith in the promise of future progeny. Thou art the new sacrifice of Isaac and his reasonable holocaust. Thou art the cause of that going-up on the ladder of Jacob, and the most noble evidence of the enduring fruitfulness of the twelve tribes. Thou hast come forth, the daughter of the race of Juda; thou art the modesty of Joseph, and the overthrow of that old Egypt, to wit, the synagogue of the Jews, O spotless One! Thou art the book of Moses, the Lawgiver, in which, divinely prepared, was written the mystery of our redemption, and on whose tablets the law was scriptured by the finger of God, as though on Mount Sinai, wherein the new Israel shall be freed from the slavery of a spiritual Egypt, as of old that people in the desert were filled with manna and with water from the rock - that Rock which was Christ, who was to come forth from thy womb like a bridegroom from his bridal-chamber. Thou art the flowering rod of Aaron; thou art that daughter of David who was clad in cloth of gold wrought upon with divers colours. Thou art the mirror of the Prophets and the fulfillment of all that they foretold. It is thou whom Ezechiel boldly proclaimed in prophecy as the closed gate, by which no man shall ever pass save the Lord God alone, who shall leave it still unopened, Thou art the rod of Jesse, of whom Isaias, that great master of speech, foretells, from which the flower, which is Christ, shall bloom, who, rooting out the fruits of vice, shall set in His field the plants of a knowledge that is divine. Thou art she whom Jeremias pointed out beforehand in the words: 'Behold! the days shall come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda, not according to. the covenant which I made with their fathers' (31:31,32), thereby signifying the coming and the birth of thy Son, and calling all the nations to worship God even to the very ends of the earth. 'Thou art also the great mountain spoken of by Daniel, the man of desires, whence should be hewn the corner- stone which shall reduce to ruin and utterly destroy the image of the serpent of many shapes.
Thee I honour as an immaculate ewe-lamb; thee I proclaim as full of grace; thee I sing as the pure and spotless tabernacle of God. And indeed, 'Where sin abounded, grace did more abound' (Romans 5:20). By a woman we have death for heritage; through a woman He once more shall restore all things. Through the serpent we have had given us food of bitter taste, but through Him we shall partake of the food of immortality once again. Eve, our first mother, brought Cain into the world, the head of all hatred and of all wickedness; thine only-begotten Son shall be the first-begotten of life and resurrection. O unheard-of prodigy! O marvellous new thing! O wisdom which no words can fitly tell!
[And we, the people of God, a holy nation, an acceptable congregation, progeny of the dove and children of grace, let us, with pure minds and unpolluted lips, raise in many divers tongues our sweet-sounding hymns on this our Lady's festival. Let us celebrate this high and illustrious festivity, this primal solemnity, which is a joy to the Angels, and is most worthy of the praise of men, honouring, as is meet, that Ave of Gabriel with reverence and with holy joy.] Hail! delight of the Father, through whom the knowledge of God has flowed to the uttermost bounds of the earth. Hail! dwelling-place of the Son, whence He came forth incarnate. Hail! tabernacle of the Holy Ghost, whose praise no words can tell. Hail! thou that art more holy than the Cherubim; hail! thou that art more glorious than the Seraphim; hail! thou that art more comprehensive than the heavens; hail! thou that art more splendid than the sun; hail! thou that shinest brighter than the moon; hail! thou manifold glory of the stars; hail! light cloud that droppest down in rain from heaven; hail! holy breeze, that clearest the earth of the breath of sin, Hail! noble subject of the praise of the Prophets; hail! sound gone forth into all the earth from the lips of the Apostles; hail! excelling theme of the praise of the Martyrs; hail! worthy of all the loud-voiced praise of the Patriarchs; hail! thou greatest glory of all the saints; hail! source of health to all mortals; hail, O Queen! for us achieving peace; hail! spotless glory of all motherhood. Hail! advocate of all beneath the sky; hail! reparation of the whole world. 'Hail, full of grace! the Lord is with thee' - who was before thee, and who was born of thee, and who is with us. To Him, with the Father and the most holy and life-giving Spirit, be praise now and ever, world without end. Amen.
Let us pray
Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God! that, by the intercessions and prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the souls of the faithful departed may obtain forgiveness, and we the gifts of Thy grace and the rewards of everlasting life. Who livest and reignest, 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