from Saint Bernard
The Blessed Virgin's martyrdom is put before us in Simeon's prophecy, and also in the history of the Passion of our Lord. 'Behold, this Child is set,' says the holy old man of the Infant Jesus, 'for a sign which shall be contradicted; and thy own soul,' he says to Mary, 'a sword shall pierce' (Luke 2:34,35). And, indeed, O Blessed Mother! it did pierce thy soul; for, unless it had passed through thy soul first, it could never have penetrated the flesh of thy Son. Yea, when thine own Jesus had given up the ghost, the cruel lance that pierced His side did certainly not touch His soul, but as certainly it pierced thine through and through; for His soul was no longer there, while thine could thence be even torn away. The power of sorrow, then, went through and through thy soul, so that we may, and not untruly, call thee martyr, since in thee the pain of thy co-passion exceeded the sufferings of sense. Was not that word, 'Woman, behold thy Son!' sharper than any sword to thee, transpiercing as it did thy soul, and 'reaching even unto the division of the soul and the spirit?' (Hebrews 4:12). Ah, what an exchange! John is given thee for Jesus, the servant instead of the Lord, the disciple in the place of the Master, the son of Zebedee for the Son of God, a mere man for the very God. The words that fell upon thine ears, how could they but transpierce thy most loving soul, seeing that our stony hearts - nay, our iron hearts - are broken by the mere remembrance of them?
Wonder not, my Brethren! that Mary is said to have been a martyr in her soul; or let him only wonder who does not remember to have heard Saint Paul mentioning, as among the greatest crimes of the Gentiles, that they were without affection. It was far otherwise in' Mary's heart. Let it be far otherwise with her lowly servants. But someone, perhaps, may say: Did she not foreknow that Jesus would die? She did with certainty. Did she not hope that He would at once rise again? Faithfully she hoped. And yet she wept over Him when He was crucified? She did vehemently. If you think differently, who are you, my Brother! and whence this wisdom of yours, that the co-passion of Mary should seem to you more strange than the Passion of Mary's Son? Is it to be said that He could even die in the body, and that she in her heart could not die along with Him? The one thing was done from a love greater than which no man has had, and the other from a love the like of which has never been since then.
Let us pray
O God! in whose Passion, according to the prophecy of Simeon, a sword of sorrow transfixed the most tender soul of Thy most glorious Virgin-Mother, Mary, mercifully grant that we who, with veneration, call to mind her Transfixion and her sorrow may, by the intercession of the glorious merits and prayers of all the Saints who stood faithfully beneath the Cross, experience the happy effect of Thy Passion. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, 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