PRAYER FOR THIS MORNING (SATURDAY, JANUARY 16)

Blessed Virgin Mary

Prayer for the Morning

Through our Blessed Mother Mary,

we poor banished children of Eve

entrust ourselves to you, O Lord.

Glory to the Father…. Alleluia!

HYMN

Holy Mary, we implore thee,

By thy purity divine;

Help us bending here before thee,

Help us truly to be thine.

Thou unfolding wide the portals

Of the kingdom in the skies,

Holy Virgin, hast to mortals

Shown the land of paradise.

Thou, when deepest night infernal

Had for ages shrouded man,

Gavest us that Light eternal

Promised since the world began.

God in thee hath showered plenty

On the hungry and the weak;

Sending back the mighty empty,

Setting up on high the meek.

Teach, oh teach us, holy Mother,

How to conquer every sin,

How to love and help each other,

How the prize of life to win.

Thou to whom a child was given,

Greater than the sons of men,

Coming down from highest heaven,

To create this world again.

PSALM 84:6-13

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,/ whose hope is the Lord. (Jer 17:7)

The papal motto of Saint John Paul II was Totus Tuus (“totally yours”). This statement of trust in the Blessed Virgin Mary is not an unimportant factor in reflecting on the life of this great pope. John Paul, following the Marian piety of Saint Louis de Montfort, entrusted all his prayers and works to the Blessed Virgin Mary. We would do well to entrust all our cares and our very lives to her, for she is “the safest, easiest, shortest, and most perfect way” to Jesus and to sanctity (Treatise on the True Devotion to Mary 55).

They are happy, whose strength is in you,

in whose hearts are the roads to Zion.

As they go through the Bitter Valley

they make it a place of springs,

the autumn rain covers it with blessings.

They walk with ever growing strength,

they will see the God of gods in Zion.

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer,

give ear, O God of Jacob.

Turn your eyes, O God, our shield,

look on the face of your anointed.

One day within your courts

is better than a thousand elsewhere.

The threshold of the house of God

I prefer to the dwellings of the wicked.

For the Lord God is a rampart, a shield;

he will give us his favor and glory.

The Lord will not refuse any good

to those who walk without blame.

Lord, God of hosts,

happy the man who trusts in you!

Glory to the Father….

Word of God (John 19:25-27)

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

Jesus is Mary’s only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save.(CCC 501)

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

She reaches out her hands to the poor,/ and extends her arms to the needy. (Prv 31:20)

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;

he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior,

born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old

that he would save us from our enemies,

from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

free to worship him without fear,

holy and righteous in his sight

all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet

of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

to give his people knowledge of salvation

by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God

the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

to shine on those who dwell in darkness

and the shadow of death,

and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father…

INTERCESSIONS

In union with Mary our Mother, we entrust these prayers to our heavenly Father.

R/Lord, hear our prayer.

That, like Mary, we may trust completely in divine providence,

– we pray: R/

For an increase in Marian devotion,

– we pray: R/

For a greater closeness to Jesus Christ,

– we pray: R/

That we may never stray from the path which leads to our Father’s house,

– we pray: R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

God our Father, you gave us the Blessed Virgin Mary as our mother. We thank you for the great goodness of this sublime gift. May we ever become more faithful children of this worthy Mother, that, being led by her maternal hand through the bitter valley of this life, we may arrive safely upon the heights of your heavenly Zion. 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. Amen.