To show that the Mother of Jesus occupies a special place in her worship, the Church reserves for her a preface which is said at each of her feasts, and in which are noted, at each particular feast, the different mysteries of the life of Mary. Wherefore, during all of this octave, the priest declares "that it is fitting and salutary to render thanks to God on this feast of the Immaculate Conception of Blessed Mary ever Virgin, who conceived His only son by the operation of the Holy Ghost and who without losing her virginity gave birth to Jesus Christ our Lord."Let us give thanks to God for this privilege of the Immaculate Conception and also for the feast which celebrates it each year, allowing us to imitate more and more this model of all purity.
The following hymn is originally by Dante Alighieri, and is translated by Mgr Ronald Knox.
Maiden yet a mother,
daughter of thy Son,
high beyond all other,
lowlier is none;
thou the consummation
planning by God’s decree,
when our lost creation
nobler rose in thee!
Thus his day prepared,
he who all things made
‘mid his creature tarried,
in thy bosom laid;
there his love he nourished,
warmth that gave increase
to the root whence flourished
our eternal peace.
Noon on Sion’s mountain
is thy charity;
hope its living fountain
find, on earth, in thee:
lady, such thy power,
he, who grace would buy
not as of thy dower,
without wings would fly.
No comments:
Post a Comment