Category: M

Mary, Mother of grace, Mother of mercy, Shield me from the enemy And receive me at the hour of my death.

It becomes you to be mindful of us, as you stand near Him who granted you all graces, for you are the Mother of God and our Queen. Help us for the sake of the King, the Lord God and Master who was born of you. For this reason, you are called full of grace. Remember us, most holy Virgin, and bestow on us gifts from the riches of your graces, Virgin full of graces.

Immaculate Mother of God, Queen of the Apostles, we know that God’s commandment of love and our vocation to follow Jesus Christ impels us to cooperate in the mission of the Church. Realizing our own weakness, we entrust the renewal of our personal lives and our apostolate to your intercession. We are confident that through God’s mercy and the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, you, who are our Mother, will obtain the strength of the Holy Spirit as you obtained it for the community of the apostles gathered in the upper room. Therefore, relying on your maternal intercession, we resolve from this moment to devote our talents, learning, material resources, our health, sickness and trials, and every gift of nature and grace, for the greater glory of God and the salvation of all. We wish to carry on those activities which especially promote the catholic apostolate for the revival of fatih and love of the people of God and so bring all men and women into the faith of Jesus Christ. And if a time should come when we have nothing more to offer serviceable to this end, we will never cease to pray that there will be one fold and one shepherd Jesus Christ. In this way, we hope to enjoy the results of the apostolate of Jesus Christ for all eternity. 

Amen.

Queen of heaven, rejoice. Alleluia. The Son whom you were privileged to bear, Alleluia, has risen as he said, Alleluia. Pray to God for us, Alleluia. Rejoice and be glad, Virgin Mary, Alleluia. For the Lord has truly risen, Alleluia. 

O God, it was by the Resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that you brought joy to the world. Grant that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, his Mother, we may attain the joy of eternal life. Through Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

O Blessed Virgin Mary, you are the mother and queen of every Christian family. When you conceived and gave birth to Jesus, human motherhood reached its greatest achievement. From the time of the Annunciation you were the living chalice of the Son of God made man. You are the queen of the home. As a woman of faith, you inspire all mothers to transmit faith to their children. Watch over our families. Let children learn free and loving obedience inspired by your obedience to God. Let parents learn dedication and selflessness based on your unselfish attitude. Let all families honor you and remain devoted to you so that they may be held together by your example and your intercession.

Amen.

Keep us, O God, from all pettiness. Let us be large in thought, in word, in deed. let us be done with fault-finding and leave off all self-seeking. May we put away all pretense and meet each other face to face, without self pity and without prejudice. may we never be hasty in judgment, and always be generous. let us always take time for all things, and make us to grow calm, serene and gentle. Teach us to put into action our better impulses, to be straightforward and unafraid. Grant that we may realize that it is the little things of life that create differences, that in the big things of life, we are as one. And, O Lord God, let us not forget to be kind!

Amen.

Mary, Virgin for ever, most worthy Queen of the world, pray for our peace and salvation, for you are the Mother of Christ, the Lord and Saviour of all.

You have heard it said, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weights heavily upon us. 

The price of salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent. In the eternal Word of God we all came to be, and behold, we die. In your brief response we are to be remade in order to be recalled to life. . . . 

Answer quickly, O Virgin. Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer with a word, receive the Word of God. Speak your own word, conceive the divine Word. Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word. 

Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Believe, give praise and receive. Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be presumptuous. Though modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary. Open your heart to faith, O blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator. See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving. “Behold the handmaid of the Lord,” she says, “be it done to me according to your word.”

From a homily in Praise of the Virgin Mother by Saint Bernard, Abbot.

Receive, O Holy Trinity, One God, this Holy Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which I, Your unworthy servant, desire now to offer to Your Divine Majesty by the hands of this Your minister, with all the Sacrifices which have ever been or will be offered to You, in union with that most Holy Sacrifice offered by the same Christ our Lord at the Last Supper, and on the Altar of the Cross.

I offer it to You with the utmost affection of devotion, out of pure love for Your infinite goodness, and according to the most holy intention of the same Christ our Lord, and of our Holy Mother the Church.

O God, almighty and merciful, grant us through this Holy Sacrifice, joy and peace, a holier life, time to do penance, grace and consolation of the Holy Spirit, and perseverance in good works.

Amen.

O merciful Father, who didst so love the world as to give up for our redemption Thy beloved Son; who, in obedience to Thee, and for us sinners, humbled Himself even unto the death of the Cross, and continues to offer Himself daily, by the ministry of His Priests, for the living and the dead; we humbly beseech Thee, that, penetrated with a lively faith, we may always assist with the utmost devotion and reverence at the oblation of His most precious Body and Blood, which is made at Mass, and thereby be made partakers of the sacrifice which He consummated on Calvary. 

In union with Thy Holy Church and its Ministers, and invoking the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and all the Angels and Saints, we now offer the adorable sacrifice of the Mass for Thy honour and glory, acknowledging Thy infinite perfections, Thy supreme dominion over all creatures, our entire subjection and total dependence on Thee, and in thanksgiving for all Thy benefits, and for the remission of our sins.
We offer it for the propagation of the Catholic Faith, for our most Holy Father the Pope; for our Archbishop (or Bishop), and for all the Pastors and Clergy of Thy Holy Church, that they may direct the faithful in the way of salvation; for the King (or Queen), and for all that are in high station, that we may lead a quiet and holy life; for peace and good will among all states and people; for the necessities of mankind, and particularly for the Congregation here present; to obtain all the blessings we stand in need of in this life, everlasting happiness in the next, and eternal rest to the faithful departed.

And as Jesus Christ so ordained, when He instituted, at His Last Supper, this wonderful mystery of His power, wisdom, and goodness; we offer the Mass in grateful remembrance of all He has done and suffered for the love of us, making special commemoration of His bitter Passion, and Death, and of His glorious Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven. Vouchsafe, O Almighty and Eternal God to whom alone the homage of sacrifice is due, graciously to accept it for these and all other purposes agreeable to Thy holy will. And to render it the more pleasing, we offer it to Thee, through the same Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour, our High Priest and Victim, and in the name of the most Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: to whom be honour, praise, and glory, for ever and ever. 

Amen.