from Saint John Damascene
Today the sacred and living Ark of the living God, who conceived the Creator in her womb, sinks to rest in that temple of the Lord which is not made with hands; and David, her ancestor, dances before her, and with him the Angels lead the dance, the Archangels sing aloud, the Virtues glorify her, the Principalities exult, the Powers rejoice together, the Dominations are made glad, the Thrones make holiday, the Cherubim sing songs of praise, the Seraphim proclaim her greatness. Today Eden receiveth that living paradise of the Second Adam, wherein the condemnation was annulled, wherein the Tree of Life was planted, wherein our nakedness was veiled. To-day the spotless Virgin, undefiled by any earthly desire, and addicted only to celestial thoughts, returned not to the dust, but, herself a living heaven, took her place amidst the heavenly mansions. For how should she taste of death, from whom true life had flowed for us all? She obeyed the law which He had made whom she brought forth, and, as a daughter of the old Adam, she was subject to the olden condemnation, since her own Son, who is Life itself, did not withdraw Himself from its effect; but as the Mother of the living God, she is worthily assumed by Him unto Himself.
Eve, who gave assent to the suggestion. of the serpent, is condemned to bring forth in sorrow and to die the death, and has her place in the bowels of the earth. But this truly blessed being - who lent her ears to the Word of God, who, knowing not man nor any pleasure of sex, conceived the Son of God at the Archangel's salutation by the operation of the Holy Ghost, and brought Him forth without travail, and who consecrated herself wholly unto God - how should death feed upon her? How should the grave receive her? How should corruption invade that body, of which Life had been the guest? Tor her the way to heaven had been made straight, and smooth, and easy. For if Christ, who is the Life and the Truth, has said, 'Where I am, there also shall My minister be' (John 12:26), how much rather shall His own Mother be with Him!
An ancient tradition has been handed down to us which says that when the Blessed Virgin so gloriously fell asleep, all the holy Apostles, who were wandering through the world for the salvation of the nations, were borne through the air, and in one moment of time were assembled in Jerusalem; and that being there, there appeared unto them a vision of Angels, and there was heard the psalmody of heavenly Powers; and so, with such circumstance of divine glory, she yielded up her holy soul into the hands of God. But her body, which in an ineffable manner God had tenanted, was carried forth, amid the hymnody of the Angels and the Apostles, and was buried in Gethsemani; and there for three whole days the singing of the Angels never ceased.
But when three days were over and the Angels' songs were done, and Thomas, the only one of their number to be absent, had now arrived after three days, and wished to worship that body which had encompassed God, the Apostles who were still there opened up the tomb once more; but the sacred body could not anywhere be found. All they could discover was the shroud wherein it had been wrapped, which gave forth some unspeakable sweetness of which it was full; and so they closed the tomb again. Wonder-struck by this miracle and mystery, they could only conclude that He who was pleased to become Incarnate of the Virgin Mary and to be made Man and be born of her, being all the while the Word of God and the Lord of glory, and who had preserved her virginity inviolate even in her motherhood, had been pleased also, after her passing, to honour her immaculate body, preserved from all corruption, by translating it hence before the general resurrection common to us all. There were present at that time with the Apostles the most holy Timothy, first Bishop of the Ephesians, and Dionysius the Areopagite, as this latter bears witness in these words which he wrote to the aforesaid Timothy about the blessed Hierotheus, who was also of their company: 'When, as thou knowest, we and many of our holy brethren had come together to our God-inspired prelates in sacred things, to gaze upon that body which was the source of life and the tabernacle of God (there were there also James, the brother of the Lord, and Peter, the highest and oldest and most excellent of theologians), we, having seen the sacred body, were all right glad, every man as well as he was able, to celebrate in canticles the infinite goodness of the power of God.'
Let us pray
O Lord! we beseech Thee, pardon the sins of Thy servants; and since by our own deeds we are unable to please Thee, may we be saved by the intercession of the Mother of Thy Son, our Lord, 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