Ad Jesum per te, Maria : 3/33

The Psalms of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

By way of preparation for the great Feast of the Annunciation, I am re-posting a daily commentary on each of the Psalms of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. The commentary includes text published by Father Ethelred L. Taunton in 1903.

 

To read the commentary on today's Psalm, click on the following link:

 👉    Psalm 18

Here is an excerpt:

In sole posuit tabernaculum suum : et ipse

tamquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo

In the sun He hath set His tabernacle : and He Himself as a

Bridegroom coming forth from His chamber.

In this and the following verse the Church has, from the beginning, seen a marvellous type of the Incarnation. In the sun He hath set His tabernacle. In the literal sense, of natural objects, the sun is the best and clearest representation of the Creator. So the wise man in Ecclesiasticus : The sun when it appeareth declareth at his rising a marvellous instrument, the works of the most High. In it many nations of the earth have seen the image of the God they adore. But for us, knowing that it shall pass away and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, it is but God’s tabernacle. The true Sun is that which shall no more go down, when the Lord shall be our everlasting Light and the days of our mourning shall be ended. 

Then, in the mystical sense, the sun and the tabernacle are the Lord's abiding in the Womb of Mary ; and the writers do not fail to quote from Ecclesiasticus that text : As the sun when it ariseth in the high heavens so is the beauty of a good wife in ordering her house. The sun is also the spotless soul of Mary shining with the splendour of her pre-eminent redemption, a meet resting place for the most High God, the tabernacle He Himself hath made holy. The tabernacle is the flesh of the Lord which was united for ever to His Divinity. Or again, as they who go out to war dwell not in houses or tents, so our Lord going forth to His war with Satan dwelt in the tabernacle of His flesh while He entered into the conflict with and when He overcame His enemy. 

As a Bridegroom cometh out of His chamber. And here none can fail to see the Lord’s entrance into the world from the Womb of Mary. The Bridegroom, hereafter to be betrothed to the Church on the Cross, came forth, as it were, in the morning of that day of which the sufferings of Calvary were the evening. The Eternal Light, says St.John of Damascus (c. 756), which, proceeding from the Co-eternal Light, had His existence before all worlds, came forth bodily from the Virgin Mary, as a Bridegroom from His chamber.

Previous Psalms

Psalm 8

Psalm 94

Prayers 

The following prayers follow the model written by St Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort and are recited in preparation for the renewal of consecration* to Lord Jesus Christ our King, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, on the Feast of the Annunciation. *PEEKPTEE&A

Veni Creator Spiritus [To see a translation of this hymn to the Holy Spirit, click here:  👉 Veni Creator Spiritus ]

Ave Maris Stella

 

Magnificat

 

Gloria 

+       +        +

The Virgin of Tenderness. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

Ad Jesum per te, Maria : 2/33

The Psalms of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

By way of preparation for the great Feast of the Annunciation, I am re-posting a daily commentary on each of the Psalms of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. The commentary includes text published by Father Ethelred L. Taunton in 1903.

 

To read the commentary on today's Psalm, click on the following link:

 👉   Psalm 8

Previous Psalms

Psalm 94

👈 This is an image of King David, author of the Psalms. By Willem Vrelant (early 1460s), Bruges, Belgium. 

Prayers 

The following prayers follow the model written by St Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort and are recited in preparation for the renewal of consecration* to Lord Jesus Christ our King, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, on the Feast of the Annunciation. *PEEKPTEE&A

Veni Creator Spiritus [To see a translation of this hymn to the Holy Spirit, click here:  👉 Veni Creator Spiritus ]

Ave Maris Stella

 

Magnificat

 

Gloria 

+       +        +

The Virgin of Tenderness. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

Ad Jesum per te, Maria : 1/33

The Psalms of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

By way of preparation for the great Feast of the Annunciation in thirty-three days' time, I am re-posting a daily commentary on each of the Psalms of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. The commentary includes text published by Father Ethelred L. Taunton in 1903.

 

To read the commentary on today's Psalm, click on the following link:

 👉   Psalm 94

👈 This is an image of King David, author of the Psalms. By Willem Vrelant (early 1460s), Bruges, Belgium. 

Prayers 

The following prayers follow the model written by St Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort and are recited in preparation for the renewal of consecration* to Lord Jesus Christ our King, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, on the Feast of the Annunciation.

*PEEKPTEE&A

Veni Creator Spiritus [To see a translation of this hymn to the Holy Spirit, click here:  👉 Veni Creator Spiritus ]

Ave Maris Stella

 

Magnificat

 

Gloria 

+       +        +

The Virgin of Tenderness. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

"I am the Immaculate Conception"

From a decorative tile in Holy Cross Church,
Carshalton. Taken by author.

Sainte Bernadette Soubirous

On Thursday, February 11, 1858, fourteen-year-old Bernadette was sent with her younger sister and a friend to gather firewood, when a very beautiful lady appeared to her above a rose bush in a grotto called Massabielle. From the 11th of February until the 16th of July, the lady appeared 18 times. She revealed her identity to Bernadette in the words: 

Que soy era immaculada councepciou. ('I am the Immaculate Conception'). 

She caused a spring to pour forth water in the grotto which was to become a world-famous place of pilgrimage for the sick in soul and body from the lifetime of Bernadette until today.

  

Her life

Marie-Bernadette Soubirous est née le 4 janvier 1844 dans le bourg de Lourdes.  Ayant survécu à une épidémie de choléra, elle demeure de santé très précaire. Pour apprendre à lire et à écrire, elle est accueillie, en janvier 1858, dans la classe des petites filles pauvres de l’Hospice de Lourdes dirigé par les Sœurs de la Charité de Nevers.

Marie-Bernadette Soubirous was born on the 4th of January 1844 in the town of Lourdes. She survived a cholera epidemic but her health remained fragile. In order to learn to read and write, she was accepted in January 1858 into a class for poor little girls in a Home run by the Sisters of Charity from Nevers.

Entre le 11 février et le 16 juillet 1858, sur la grotte de Massabielle, la Vierge Marie lui apparut 18 fois. Comme Bernadette lui demandait avec insistance son nom, elle répondit: « Je suis l’Immaculée Conception. » Le 18 février 1858, la Vierge Marie dit à Bernadette : « Je ne vous promets pas de vous rendre heureuse en ce monde mais dans l’autre. »

Between the 11th of February and the 16th of July 1858, in a grotto of Massabielle, the Virgin Mary appeared to her 18 times. Bernadette asked several times for the lady's name and she replied: "I am the Immaculate Conception." On the 18th of February 1858, the Virgin Mary said to Bernadette: "I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the next." [Some say the dialect used is more accurately translated as : 'I do not promise you the happiness of this world, but of the next.']

Après avoir transmis aux prêtres l’affirmation solennelle d’identité et d’autres messages célestes, Bernadette, pour mieux échapper à la vue du monde, demanda son admission chez les Sœurs de la Charité et de l’Instruction chrétienne de Nevers. Elle arriva à Nevers en juillet 1866. Modèle de fidélité religieuse, supportant avec la plus grande patience toutes sortes de croix et des infirmités prolongées, elle se livrait fréquemment à l’oraison et à la méditation de la Parole du Seigneur. Elle avait un amour filial la Vierge Immaculée. Elle portait sur elle la Médaille Miraculeuse.  Dans l’infirmerie devenue aujourd’hui un oratoire, âgée de trente-cinq ans, elle rend le dernier soupir et s’endort dans le Seigneur à 3 heures de l'après-midi, le 16 avril 1879.

Having passed on to the priests this solemn affirmation of identity  and other heavenly messages, Bernadette, in order to flee from the prying eyes of the world, asked to be admitted into the Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction in Nevers. She arrived in Nevers in July 1866. A model of religious fidelity, enduring with the greatest patience all sorts of crosses and extended periods of illness, she gave herself over to frequent prayer  and meditation on the Word of the Lord. She had a daughter's love for the Immaculate Virgin. She wore the Miraculous Medal. Within the infirmary (which is today a place of prayer), aged 35 years, she breathed her last and fell asleep in the Lord at 3.00 pm on the 16th of April 1879. 

 

Ste Bernadette in death. [Public Domain]

Elle se tint, des années durant, silencieuse près de Marie au pied de la Croix, jusqu’au dernier moment, où elle, en murmurant:

Sainte Marie Mère de Dieu, priez pour moi, pauvre pécheresse

Year after year she stood silently next to Mary at the foot of the Cross, right up to her last moment, saying softly:

  Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me a poor sinner.

👑       👑       👑

Seeking Colloquy with Marie

Today, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, is the anniversary of my first consecration in 2019 to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through His Mother Mary, the Glorious and Blessed Virgin of Virgins, and our own dearest Mother. Laudetur Jesus Christi et Maria Immaculata!

Here is a verse I began recently and finished today. I offer it to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in thanksgiving for all the graces, favours and help she has given to me in recent years, particularly since October 2017 (when I was delivered from a great affliction).

The Virgin of Tenderness >12th century.

Seeking Colloquy with Marie

To thee Marie, divine Marie:

I fain would pen a verse to thee!

But where or whence or whither be

The theme or thought to sing of thee?

Perhaps a shelt’ring willow tree

That weeps yet gives us graces free?

Or else a lily’s purity

Whose scent is sweet sublimity?

But no, ‘tis in thine eyes I see,

As through a window wondrously,

Thy gentle soul which tenderly

Pours forth a Mother’s love for me.

Envoi

Crave of thy Son His clemency

That I a son of thine may be!

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.