Our Lady of Sorrows
Prayer for the Morning
On this feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
let us give praise and thanks to God!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia!
HYMN
All-spotless heart, no breath of sin
E’er marred thy purity;
The shining choirs of angels show
Quite dim and dark by thee.
O fountain sealed, O garden closed
Where God doth take delight,
Obtain for us pure hearts to love
And honor him aright.
Most valiant heart, that ’neath the cross
Of Jesus did not quail,
It was thy mighty love for him
That would not let thee fail.
Teach us thy self-forgetting love
And make us strong like thee;
Then ask thy Son that we may stand
Upon Mount Calvary.
Most tender heart, no floods of grief
Thy love could ever drown;
The sorrows which once pierced thee through
Are now thy fairest crown.
O Mother blest, thou to thy Son
Dost lead us in thy train;
Right well thy grateful children know
They cannot trust in vain.
PSALM 40:6-9
You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised. (Heb 10:36)
God’s Word cut deeply into Mary’s life: it cut away all the ordinary hopes a young woman might have for her future, for her family life, for her child. Yet she accepted with a courageous consent that anticipates and mirrors the obedience of her Son “even unto death on a cross.” (cf. Phil 2:8)
How many, O Lord my God,
are the wonders and designs
that you have worked for us;
you have no equal.
Should I proclaim and speak of them,
they are more than I can tell!
You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,
but an open ear.
You do not ask for holocaust and victim.
Instead, here am I.
In the scroll of the book it stands written
that I should do your will.
My God, I delight in your law
in the depth of my heart.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (Lamentations 2:18-19)
Cry out to the Lord;/ moan, O daughter Zion!/ Let your tears flow like a torrent/ day and night;/ Let there be no respite for you,/ no repose for your eyes.
Rise up, shrill in the night,/ at the beginning of every watch;/ Pour out your heart like water/ in the presence of the Lord;/ Lift up your hands to him/ for the lives of your little ones.
Those who suffer in accord with God’s will hand their souls over to a faithful creator as they do good.
(1 Pt 4:19)
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
My heart is pierced within me. (Ps 109:22)
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
Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us pray:
R/Have pity, Lord, have pity.
For all parents who bear and raise children in poverty and exile: R/
For all parents who grieve the loss of a child before birth: R/
For all parents who suffer over their children’s life choices: R/
For all parents who mourn the death of a child: R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
God our Father, the Blessed Virgin Mary took part in her Son’s redemptive suffering for love of you and for the sake of the world. Through her intercession, may all your Church’s suffering bear saving fruit in Christ our Lord. Amen.
