Ambrose
St. John, The Raccolta: Or, Collection of Indulgenced Prayers & Good
Works (1950; repr. Victoria, Canada: Must Have Books, 2021)
Sub
tuum praesidium dating:
C. H. Roberts Dating the Sub tuum praesidium to the Fourth Century
? Fourth century. . .
. .This prayer, written in brown ink on a small sheet of papyrus (the verso is
blank), is probably a private copy; there are no indications that it was
intended for liturgical use. (Catalogue of the Greek and Latin Papyri in the
John Rylands Library Manchester, ed. C. H. Roberts [Manchester: Manchester
University Press, 1938], 3:46, emphasis in bold added)
Theodore De Bruyn: The Sub tuum praesidium dates probably to the sixth
or seventh century, or even later
Much has been made of P.Ryl. III
470, which preserves an early witness to the antiphon Sub tuum
praesidium, a prayer for protection addressed directly to the Theotokos.
But it is less certain now that this papyrus should be assigned to the fourth
century, let alone the third century; it probably belongs to the sixth
or seventh century, or even later, though scholars of the cult of Mary have
been either unaware of, or slow to accept, recent paleographical examinations
of the papyrus. The most common name for churches or other sites dedicated to
Mary in Egypt is “holy Mary,” an expression that appears from the fifth century
onward. Considerably fewer sites are dedicated to the Theotokos, a
name that first appears in the sixth century. In fact, the predominance of
“holy Mary,” a form of regard used for other saints as well, has prompted the
suggestion that Mary was revered as one saint among many others in Egypt.
Indeed, at Oxyrhynchus in the early sixth century, liturgies were celebrated
either more frequently or as frequently at churches dedicated to several other
saints than at the church dedicated to Mary. (Theodore De Bruyn, “Appeals to
the Intercessions of Mary in Greek Liturgical and Paraliturgical Texts from
Egypt,” in Presbeia Theotokou: The Intercessory Role of Mary across
Times and Places in Byzantium (4th–9th Century), ed. Leena Mari Peltomaa,
Andreas Külzer, and Pauline Allen [Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademia
der Wissenschaften, 2015], 116-17, emphasis in bold added)
Oxford Dictionary of the
Christian Church (4th ed.) on dating of STP:
Belief in the efficacy of Mary’s
intercession and hence direct prayers to her is prob. very old. It is attested
in a Gk form of the well-known prayer ‘Sub tuum praesidium’ found in a papyrus
dating from the late 3rd to early 4th cent. In the W. the honour accorded to
Mary reached a high point in the 11th and 12th cents. Thomas Aquinas formulated
the doctrine of the ‘hyperdulia’ proper to her, which, though infinitely
inferior to the ‘latria’ (worship of adoration) due to her son, surpasses that
befitting angels and saints.
Sarah Jane Boss, “Mary, the Blessed Virgin,” in The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. Andrew Louth, 2 vols. (4th
ed.; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022), 2:1230
Indulgences
Granted by the Keys held by the Pontiff:
Council of Trent:
Decree Concerning
Indulgences
989 [DS 1835]
Since the power of granting indulgences was conferred by Christ on the Church,
and she has made use of such power divinely given to her, [cf. Matt. 16:19;
18:18] even in the earliest times, the holy Synod teaches and commands that the
use of indulgences, most salutary to a Christian people and approved by the
authority of the sacred Councils, is to be retained in the Church, and it
condemns those with anathema who assert that they are useless or deny that
there is in the Church the power of granting them.… [1]
Pohle:
An indulgence has two essential characteristics or notes:
(1) it is a remission of temporal punishments; (2) it is granted outside the
Sacrament of Penance.
An indulgence, therefore, is not identical with the
sacramental penance enjoined by the confessor, which blots out punishments ex opere operato. It is a remission of
temporal punishments granted by the Church outside the Sacrament, by an
exercise of the power of the keys entrusted to her by her Divine Founder. It follows that indulgences
can be granted only by those who possess the power of the keys, i. e. the pope and the bishops.[2]
Catholic Encyclopedia:
The power to grant indulgences
Once it is admitted that Christ left the Church the power to
forgive sins (see PENANCE), the power of granting indulgences is logically
inferred. Since the sacramental forgiveness of sin extends both to the guilt
and to the eternal punishment, it plainly follows that the Church can also free the penitent from the
lesser or temporal penalty. This becomes clearer, however, when we consider the
amplitude of the power granted to Peter (Matthew 16:19): “I will give to
thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon
earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shaft loose on
earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.” (Cf. Matthew 18:18, where like power is conferred on all
the Apostles.) No
limit is placed upon this power of loosing, “the power of the keys”, as it is
called; it must, therefore, extend to any and all bonds contracted by sin,
including the penalty no less than the guilt. When the Church, therefore, by an
indulgence, remits this penalty, her action, according to the declaration of
Christ, is ratified in heaven.[3]
Ludwig Ott:
Pope Leo X in the Indulgence Decretal “Cum postquam” (1518),
bases the Church’s power to grant Indulgences on the power of the keys. This
must not be understood as referring in the narrow sense to the power of
forgiving sins, but rather as referring in the wider sense to the jurisdiction
of the Church. [4]
CCC:
X. Indulgences
1471 The doctrine
and practice of indulgences in the Church are closely linked to the effects of
the sacrament of Penance.
What is an
indulgence?
“An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal
punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the
faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed
conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of
redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the
satisfactions of Christ and the saints.”
“An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes
either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.” The faithful can
gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.[5]
Aquinas, Summa Theologica, STh.,
Supplementum q.25 a.2 ad 1:
Reply Obj. 1. As
stated above (Q. XIX., A. 3) there
are two keys, the key of Orders and the key of jurisdiction. The key of
Orders is a sacramental: and as the effects of the sacraments are fixed, not by
men but by God, the priest cannot decide in the tribunal of confession how much
shall be remitted by means of the key of Orders from the punishment due; it is
God Who appoints the amount to be remitted. On the other hand the key of
jurisdiction is not something sacramental, and its effect depends on a man’s
decision. The remission
granted through indulgences is the effect of this key [RB: I.e., the key of jurisdiction],
since it does not belong to the dispensation of the sacraments, but to the
distribution of the common property of the Church:—hence it is that
legates, even though they be not priests, can grant indulgences. Consequently
the decision of how much punishment is to be remitted by an indulgence depends
on the will of the one who grants that indulgence. If, however, he remits punishment
without sufficient reason, so that men are enticed to substitute mere nothings,
as it were, for works of penance, he sins by granting such indulgences,
although the indulgence is gained fully.[6]
Prayers to/through
Mary from the 1950 ed. of The Raccolta:
PRAYER TO THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN.
Mary, dear mother! Mother most amiable! Tender
mother! Mother full of love and sweetness for thy clients and children! We pray
thee, by this our loving act of thanksgiving to the Most Holy Trinity, obtain
for all of us grace ever to employ the powers of our soul, and our five senses,
to the honour and glory o God, One in Three Persons, directing all our actions
to Him, and loving Him with pure Heart, even as thou didst love Him here on
earth; that thus we may be able to attain to the enjoyment of Him in the bliss
of heaven with thee for ever and ever. (pp. 16-17)
TO THE MOST BLESSED VIRGIN.
I acknowledge thee and I venerate thee, most
holy Virgin, Queen of Heaven, Lady and Mistress of the Universe, as Daughter of
the Eternal FATHER, Mother of his well-beloved SON, and most loving Spouse of
the HOLY SPIRIT. Kneeling at the feet of thy great Majesty, with all humility I
pray thee, through that divine charity with which thou wast so bounteously
enriched on thy Assumption into heaven, to vouchsafe me favour and pity,
placing me under thy most safe and faithful protection, and receiving me into
the number of thy happy and highly-favoured servants. Deign, Mother and Lady
most tender, to accept my miserable heart, memory, will, powers, and senses,
internal and external; govern them all in conformity to the good pleasure of
thy Divine Son, as I intend by my every thought and deed to give thee glory and
honour. And, by that wisdom with which thy well-beloved Son glorified thee, I
pray and beseech thee to obtain for me light that I may clearly know myself and
my own nothingness, and in particular my sins, that so I may hate and loathe
them ; and that I may discern the snares of the infernal enemy, and all his
modes of attack, whether open or hidden. Above all, most tender Mother, I beg
of thee the grace of N.
Say three times,
Virgo singularis,
Inter omnes mitis,
Nos culpis solutos
Miltes fac et castos
Virgin of all virgins
to thy shelter take us;
Gentlest of the gentle!
Chaste and gentle make us. (p. 19)
THE PRAYER, “O JESU, VIVENS IN
MARIA,” ETC.
By a Rescripto f Oct. 14, 1859,
his Holiness Pope Pius IX, granted—The indulgence of 300 days to all the
faithful who with contrite heart and with devotion shall say the following
prayer:
. . .
TRANSLATION.
O Jesus, who dost live in Mary (O
Jesu, vivens in Maria), come and live in Thy servants, in the spirit
of Thine own holiness, in the fullness of Thy power, in the reality of Thy
virtues, in the perfection of Thy ways, in the communion of Thy
mysteries,--have Thou dominion over every adverse power, in Thine own spirit,
to the glory of Thy Father. Amen. (p. 50)
TO THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN,
MOTHER OF SORROWS.
Mary, Virgin Mother of God,
Martyr of love and sorrow, in that thou didst witness the pains and torments of
Jesus; truly didst thou concur in the great work of my redemption, first by thy
innumerable afflictions, and then by the offering thou didst make to the
Eternal Father of his and thy only-begotten for a holocaust and victim of
propitiation for my sins. I thank thee for that love, well-nigh infinite,
through which thou didst bereave thyself of the fruit of thy womb, very God and
very Man, to save me, sinner that I am; let thy intercession, which never
returneth to thee void, interpose with the Father and the Son for me; that I
may steadily amend my evil ways, and never by further faults crucify afresh my
loving Saviour; that so, persevering in his grace until death, I may obtain
eternal life through the merits of his painful Passion and Death upon the Cross.
. . .
Let us pray.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who at the
sixth hour of the day didst, for the redemption of the world, mount the
scaffold of the Cross, and shed thy Precious Blood for the remission of sins;
we humbly beseech Thee grant us that after our death we may joyfully enter the
gates of Paradise.
Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord
Jesus Christ, that now, and at the hour of our death, blessed Mary ever Virgin,
thy Mother, may intercede for us, through whose most holy soul the sword passed
in the hour of thy Passion. Through Thee, Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world,
who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest for ever and ever.
Amen. (pp. 77, 78)
PRAYERS FOR A VISIT TO THE
MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OR TO MOST HOLY MARY (FROM ST. ALPHONSO DE’ LIQUORI).
The Sovereign Pontiff Pius IX.,
by a Rescript of Sept. 7, 1851, which is preserved in the venerable house of
the Oblates of Toree de’ Specchi, granted for ever—
300 days of indulgence to the
faithful every time they shall say the following prayers, composed by St.
Alphonso for a visit to the most holy Sacrament, before the tabernacle, where
our Lord is enclosed, or to the Blessed Virgin Mary before her image.
The plenary indulgence, moreover,
to be gained once am onth, when, having used one or other of these devotions in
the manner above indicated, they shall, having Confessed and Communicated,
prayer for the wants of the holy Church, according to the intention of the
Sovereign Pontiff.
. . .
THE PRAYER FOR A VISIT TO THE
MOST HOLY MARY.
O most holy Virgin, Immaculate
Mary my Mother, to thee, who art the Mother of my Lord, the Queen of the
world, the advocate, hope and refuge of sinners, I, most wretched sinner, have
recourse this day; and I give thee thanks for all the favours thou hast
bestowed on me up to this moment, especially for having freed us from hell,
which I have so many times deserved. I love thee, O most loving Mother, and for
the love which I bear thee I promise to be ready always to serve thee, and to
do my best to make thee beloved by others. In thee I let all my hopes repose,
all my salvation; accept me for thy servant, and gather me beneath thy robe, O
Mother of mercy. And since thou art so powerful with God, free me from
all temptations, or, at any rate, obtain for me strength to overcome them up to
the moment of my death. O my Mother, for the love thou bearest to God, I pray
thee to aid me always, but most in the last moment of my life. Leave me not
till thou dost see me safe in heaven, there to bless thee and sing thy mercies
for all eternity. Amen. This is my hope. Amen. (pp. 110, 111-12)
ROSARY
. . .
IN order to animate all the
faithful often to have recourse to the Blessed Virgin by using this devotion,
Pope Benedict XII, granted, by his Brief, Sanctissimus, of April 13,
1726, to all who say with contrition the whole Rosary of fifteen decades, or
the third part of it of five decades—
i. An indulgence of 100 days for
every Pater noster and every Ave Maria.
ii. A plenary indulgence to all
who shall say the third part of it once every day for a year; on any Confession
and Communion.
The present Sovereign Pontiff
Pius IX., by a decree of the S. Cong. of Indulgences of Mary 12, 1851,
confirmed these Indulgences, and granted besides—
iii. An Indulgence, on the last
Sunday in every month, to all who are in the habit of saying with others, at
least three times a week, the said third part of the Rosary; provided that on
that Sunday they shall, after Confession and Communion, visit a church or
public oratory, and pray there for a time according to the mind of his
Holiness. (pp. 122, 123)
INVOCATION OF THE MOST HOLY
NAME OF MARY
Mary is the name of our tender
Mother, our loving Mediatrix, the Stewardess of God’s graces, the Queen of the
Universe, and Mother of God. This name has many mystic meanings—as, Star of the
Sea, who dost illuminate the world, Princess; titles of glory to her, and
consolation to us. The name of Mary, then, ought to be ever in our hearts, and
often on our lips during life, and specially at the moment of our death. To
animate the faithful often to invoke this name in union with the name of Jesus,
Pope Sixtus V., in his Bull Reddituri, of July 11, 1587, granted many
Indulgences afterwards confirmed by Benedict XIII. (p. 135)
PSALMS IN HONOR OF HER MOST
HOLY NAME
Amongst the devout practices
invented to honour the most holy name of Mary, our Mother and our Queen, one of
the most ancient is that of saying Five Psalms whose initial letters compose
her name. This devotion, well known in Italy and France, and in other kingdoms,
has been much more extensively circulated ever since the Venerable Pope
Innocent XI., in 1684, established throughout the whole Catholic world the
Feast of this Glorious Name of Mary, at the same the time he instituted the
archconfraternity of the Name of Mary, with power to aggregate to itself other
confraternities out of Rome; to all of whose members who should recite these
five psalms in honour of the name of the great Virgin, he granted certain
Indulgences, confirmed by subsequent Popes.
Pope Pius VII., desirous that all
the faithful should practice this devotion, by a decree of the S. Cong. of
Indulgences of June 13, 1815, granted the following fresh Indulgences:
i. The Indulgence or seven years
and seven quarantines for each recitation of these psalms.
ii. A plenary indulgence once a
month to all who recite them daily for a month, on any one day when, after
Confession and Communion, they pray according to the intention of the Sovereign
Pontiff.
iii. A plenary indulgence on the
Sunday in the octave of our Lady’s Nativity (the Feast of her Name), provided
that on that day, after Confession and Communion, they pray as above.
. . .
V. Blessed be the name of Mary
the Virgin.
R. From henceforth and for ever more.
Let us pray.
Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty
God, that Thy faithful people, wino rejoice in the shelter of the name and
protection of the most Holy Virgin Mary, may by her loving intercession be
delivered from all evils here on earth, and be made worthy to attain eternal
glory, in the life to come. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (pp. 135-36, 138)
PRAYER TO THE IMMACULATE HEART
OF MARY
The devotion to the Sacred Heart
of Jesus having been firmly established in the Catholic world, it seemed
fitting that a similar devotion should be established in honour of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary. Accordingly, Benedict XIV., with a Bull of March 7,
1753, erected in the church of the Most Holy Redeemer, near Ponte Sisto in
Rome, the first Confraternity which took its name from the Immaculate Heart of
Mary; and Pope Pius VII., whilst approving the devotion, by a decree of the S.
Congreg. of Rites of Aug. 31, 1805, granted also an office and Mass for the
feast of it, to kindle thereby the love of the faithful towards it.
In the year 1807, in order still
more to advance this devotion, he erected in Rome, in the deaconry of St.
Eustachius, a “Primary Congregation” (Congregazione Primario) of the
Sacred Heart of Mary,” granting to its members many Indulgences, with power to
aggregate other confraternities out of Rome, which should also participate in
the Indulgences. Moreover, in order that not only the members of both sexes of
the said confraternities and congregations in Rome and elsewhere, but that all
the faithful every where, might he moved to honour the Sacred Heart of Mary,
the same Pope Pius VII., at the prayer of many bishops and priests, by
Rescripts given from the Segretaria of the Memorials, Aug. 18, 1807, Fen. 1,
1816, and Sept. 26, 1817 (all of which are preserved in the Archivium of the
Pious Union of the Sacred Heart of Jesus before named), granted—
i. The indulgence of sixty days,
once a day, to all who say devoutly the following prayer to the Sacred Heart of
Mary, with the act of praise to the SS. Hearts of Jesus and Mary; and—
ii. The plenary indulgence to
those who say it every day for a year, on each of the following three feasts of
our Lady, viz., the Nativity, Assumption, and her Immaculate Heart provided
that, after Confession and Communion, they visit a church or altar dedicated to
the Blessed Virgin and pray there according to the Pope’s intention.
Lastly, he granted—
iii. The plenary indulgence at
the hour of death to all who in life shall not omit to say this prayer.
THE PRAYER.
Heart of Mary, Mother of God and
our Mother, Heart most amiable, on which the adorable Trinity ever gazes with
complacency, worthy of all the veneration and tenderness of angels and of men;
Heart most like the Heart of Jesus, whose most perfect image thou art; Heart
full of goodness, ever compassionate towards our miseries; vouchsafe to thaw
our icy hearts, that they may be wholly changed to the likeness of the Heart of
Jesus. Infuse into them the love of thy virtues, inflame them with that blessed
fire with which thou dost ever burn. In thee let the Holy Church find safe
shelter; protect it and be its sweet asylum, its tower of strength, impregnable
against every inroad of its enemies. Be thou the road leading to Jesus; be thou
the channel whereby we receive all graces needful for our salvation. Be thou
our help in need, our comfort in trouble, our strength in temptation, our
refuge in persecution, our aid in all dangers; but especially in the last
struggle of our life, at the moment of our death, when all hell shall be
unchained against us to snatch away our souls: in that dread moment, that hour
so terrible, whereon our eternity depends, ah, then, most tender Virgin, make
us feel how great is the tenderness of thy maternal Heart, and how mighty thy
power with the Heart of Jesus, opening to us a safe refuge in the very fount of
mercy itself, that so we too may join with thee in Paradise in blessing that
same Heart of Jesus for ever and for ever. Amen.
ACT OF PRAISE TO THE HEARTS OF
JESUS AND MARY.
May the Divine Heart of Jesus and
the Immaculate Heart of Mary be known, praised, blessed, loved, worshipped, and
glorified always and in all places! Amen. (pp. 142-43)
EJACULATION, “SWEET HEART OF
MARY,” ETC.
At the humble prayer of a pious
promoter of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Mary, our Sovereign Pontiff
Pius IX., by a decree of the S. Congr. of Indulgences, dated Sept. 30, 1852,
granted to the faithful—
i. An indulgence of 300 days,
every time they say with a contrition and devotion the following ejaculation.
ii. A plenary indulgence, once a
month, to all who say it daily devoutly for a month; provided that, after
Confession and Communion, they visit a church or public oratory, and pray there
according to the mind of his Holiness.
THE EJACULATION.
Sweet heart of Mary, be my
salvation. (pp. 143-44)
LITTLE CHAPLET IN HONOUR OF
THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
His Holiness Pope Pius IX., in
order that the fervour of the devotion of the faithful might be the more
inflamed towards the Sacred and Immaculate Heart of Mary, granted at the prayer
of the Bishop of Verona—
i. An Indulgence of 300 days,
once a day, to every one who should say with a contrite heart the following
little chaplet.
ii. A plenary indulgence to all
who have the devout custom of saying it once a day; to be gained once a month,
on the day when, after Confession and Communion, they shall visit a church or
public oratory, and pray there for a while according to the mind of his
Holiness. See decree of the S. Congreg. of Indulgences, Dec. 11, 1854.
THE LITTLE CHAPLET.
V. Deus in adjutorium meum
intendo. (O God, I see your help)
R. Domine ad adjuvandum me
festina. (O Lord, hurry to help me)
V. Gloria Patri, &c.
R. Sicut erat, &c.
i. Immaculate Virgin, who, being
conceived without sin, didst direct every movement of thy pure heart to God,
ever the object of thy love, and who wast ever most submissive to His will;
obtain for me the grace to hate sin with my whole heart, and to learn of thee
to live in perfect resignation to the will of God.
One Pater, & c.; Heart
of Mary, &c.
Heart of Mary, pierced with
grief, set my heart on fire with the love of God.
Or else,
My heart, O heart of Mary,
Sore pierced for me with pain,
With burning fire of charity,
Cleanse thou from sinful stain.
ii. Mary, I wonder at thy deep
humility, troubling thy blessed heart at the gracious message brought thee by
Gabriel the Archangel, how that thou wast chosen to be Mother of the Son of God
Most High, and making thee proclaim thyself His humble handmaid; and, in great
confusion at my pride, I ask thee for the grace of a contrite humbled
heart, that, knowing my own misery, I may obtain that crown of glory promised
to those who are truly humble of heart.
One Pater, & c.; Heart
of Mary, &c.
iii. Sweetest Heart of Mary,
precious treasury, wherein the Blessed Virgin kept the words of Jesus whilst
she thought upon the high mysteries which she had heard from the lips of her
Son, and whereby she learned to live for God alone; how does the coldness of my
heart confound me! Dearest Mother, obtain for me grace so to mediate within my
heart upon the holy law of God, that I may strive to follow thee in the fervent
practice of every Christian virtue.
One Pater, & c.; Heart
of Mary, &c.
iv. Glorious Queen of Martyrs,
whose sacred heart was cruelly transfixed in the bitter Passion of thy Son by
the sword foretold by the holy old man Simeon, obtain for my heart true courage
and a holy patience to bear well the troubles and adversities of this miserable
life, and, by crucifying my flesh with its desires in following the
mortifications of the cross, to show myself truly thy one.
One Pater, & c.; Heart
of Mary, &c.
v. O Mary, Mystic Rose, whose
loving heart, burning with the living fire of charity, accepted us for thy sons
at the foot of the cross, whereby thou didst become our most tender Mother;
make me fee the sweetness of thy maternal heart, and thy power with Jesus in
all the perils of this moral life, and especially in the terrible hour of
death, so that my heart, united with thine, may love Jesus now and throughout
all ages. Amen.
One Pater, & c.; Heart
of Mary, &c.
Let us entreat the Most Sacred
Heart of Jesus to inflame us with His holy love O Divine Heart of Jesus, I
consecrate myself to Thee, full of deep gratitude for the many blessings I have
received, and daily receive, from Thy infinite charity. I thank Thee with my
whole heart for having also vouchsafed to give me thine own Mother to be my
Mother, consigning me to her as son in the person of the beloved disciple.
Grant unto me that my heart may be ever ardently inflamed with this love of
Thee, and that it may ever find it Thy most sweet Heart its peace, its refuge,
and its happiness. (pp. 157-58)
THE HYMN “STABAT MATER.”
The “venerable” Pope Innocent
XI., desirous that all faithful Christians should often call to mind the bitter
sorrow endured by most holy Mary whilst she stood beneath the cross of her
divine Son Jesus, entreating her through that great sorrow of hers to obtain
for them spiritual favours in their life and in their death,--granted, by his
Brief, Commissae nobis, of Sept. 1, 1861—
An indulgence of 100 days to all
the faithful every time that, in honor of the sorrow of the B. V. Mary, they
devoutly say the sequence or hymn Stabat Mater, a hymn which, * though
not composed by St. Gregory the Great or St. Bonaventure, as some suppose, yet
acknowledge for its author the learned Pope Innocent III., as attested by many
writers of great authority.
* Benedict XIV. on the Feat of
our Lord and B.V.M. Part ii. cap. iv. §
1, at the end.
. . .
Sancta Mater istud agas,
Crucifixi fige plagas
Cordi meo valide.
. . .
Holy Mother! pierce me through;
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified. (pp. 163, 164, 166)
FIFTH NOVENA.
IN PREPARATION FOR THE FEAST
OF THE ASSUMPTION.
(Beginning Aug. 6.)
. . .
SIXTH DAY. Aug. 11.
. . .
GLORY OF MARY AFTER DEATH.
In her Assumption into heaven.
Let us meditate how gloriously
Mary was taken up to Heaven, being escorted thither by many legions of the
heavenly host and of blessed souls drawn by her merits out of Purgatory; and
rejoicing in that majestic triumph, let us with all humility offer to her our
supplications:
i. Great Queen, who wast assumed
so royally into the Kingdom of eternal peace ; obtain for us that all sordid,
earthly thoughts be taken away from us, and our hearts be fixed upon the
contemplation of the unchangeable happiness of Heaven.
Three Ave Marias.
ii. Great Queen, who wast assumed
to Heaven amidst a company of the Angelic Hierarchy; obtain for us strength to
overcome the wiles of all our enemies, and that we may lend a docile ear to the
counsels of that good angel who continually assists and governs us.
Three Ave Marias.
iii. Great Queen, who wast
assumed to Heaven most gloriously, in the company of souls drawn by thy merits
out of Purgatory ; free us from the slavery of sin, and make us worthy to
praise thee for all eternity. Ave Maria thrice. Let us not cease to applaud the
royal triumph of Mary ; and uniting our homage with the sixth Choir of angels,
let us honour the singular glory of her Assumption into Heaven, while we say:
Litanies, Then V. and R. and Oremus
as before.
SEVENTH DAY. Aug. 12.
. . .
GLORY OF MARY AFTER DEATH.
In her Assumption into heaven.
Let us meditate how glorious Mary
is in Heaven, because she is enthroned there as Queen of the universe,
"and is ever receiving homage and veneration from countless hosts of
angels and of saints; and assisting at her royal throne, let us implore her
aid:
i. Sovereign Queen of the
universe, who for thy incomparable merit art raised to such high glory in the
heavens; in thy pity look upon our miseries, and rule us with the gentle sway
of thy protection, Ave Maria thrice. Sovereign Queen of the universe, who art
ever receiving- worship and homage from all the heavenly host; accept, we pray
thee, these our invocations, offered with such reverence as befits thy dignity
and greatness.
Three Ave Marias.
ii. Sovereign Queen of the
universe, by that glory which thou hast by reason of thy high place in Heaven;
vouchsafe to take us into the number of thy servants, and obtain for us grace
that with quick and ready will we may faithfully keep the precepts of God our Lord.
Three Ave Marias.
iii. Let us take part in the joy
of the angels praising Mary, and rejoice with the seventh Choir, because we
know that she is raised to the dignity of Queen of the universe, while with the
seventh choir we sing:
Litanies. Then V. and
R. and Oremus as before.
EIGHTH DAY. Aug. 13.
. . .
GLORY OF MARY AFTER DEATH.
For the crown which decks her
brow.
Let us meditate how glorious Mary
is in Heaven by reason of the royal crown wherewith her divine Son has crowned
her, and for the full knowledge which she now has of the deep mysteries of GOD,
past, present and to come; and full of veneration for the incomparable honour
bestowed upon our Queen, let us have recourse to her and say:
i. Queen unrivalled, who in
Heaven above dost enjoy the high glory of being crowned by thy divine Son with
a royal diadem ; help us to share thy matchless virtues, and ask for us that,
purified in heart, we may be made worthy to be crowned with thee in Paradise.
Three Ave Marias.
ii. Queen unrivalled, in the full
knowledge granted thee of all things on earth ; for thy own glory’s sake obtain
pardon for our past evil deeds, that we may never offend again by froward
tongue or wanton thought. Ave Maria thrice. Queen unrivalled, whose desire it
is to see men pure and clean of heart, that so they may be made worthy of thy
GOD; obtain for us forgiveness of our sins, and help us, that all our looks,
words and deeds may please his heavenly Majesty.
Three Ave Marias.
iii. Let us then purify our
hearts, in order that we may be worthy to give praise to Mary; and to the glory
she possesses in that bright crown which decks her royal brow, let us add
humble tokens of our love, rejoicing in union with the eighth choir we joyfully
sing:
Litanies. Then V. and R. and Oremus
as before.
NINTH DAY. Aug. 14.
. . .
GLORY OF MARY AFTER DEATH.
In her patronage of man.
Let us meditate how glorious Mary
is in Heaven by reason of her patronage of man, and for the power she has to
aid him with great watchfulness in all his necessities ; wherefore with lively
confidence in the patronage of the very Mother of our GOD, let us implore her
aid.
i. Mary, our most powerful
patroness, whose glory it is in Heaven to be the advocate of man; oh! take us
from the hands of the enemy and place us in the arms of our GOD and CREATOR.
Three Ave Marias.
ii. Mary, our most powerful
patroness, who being in Heaven the advocate of men wouldst that all men should
be saved; make it thy care that none of us succumb at the thought of our past
relapses into sin.
Three Ave Marias.
iii. Mary, our most powerful
patroness, who to fulfil thy office dost love to be continually invoked by men;
obtain for us such true devotion that we may ever call upon thee in life, and
above all at the awful moment of our death. Ave Maria thrice. Now with all our
hearts let us celebrate the glories of Mary; and consoled at having- Mary for
our advocate in Heaven, let us join in the ninth choir of the angels in praying
her while we sing:
Litanies. Then V. and R. and Oremus
as before. (pp. 186, 192-95)
Paragraphs 967-970 of the Catechism on Mary’s current
“saving office”:
… she is our Mother in the order of grace
967 By her
complete adherence to the Father’s will, to his Son’s redemptive work, and to
every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church’s model of
faith and charity. Thus she is a “preeminent and … wholly unique member of the
Church”; indeed, she is the “exemplary realization” (typus) of the Church. (2679;
507)
968 Her role in
relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. “In a wholly
singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity
in the Savior’s work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason
she is a mother to us in the order of grace.” (494)
969 “This
motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the
consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained
without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfilment of all the
elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her
manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.…
Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of
Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.” (149; 501; 1370)
970 “Mary’s
function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique
mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin’s
salutary influence on men … flows forth from the superabundance of the merits
of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its
power from it.” “No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate
Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various
ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is
radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of
the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation
which is but a sharing in this one source.”514 (2008; 1545; 308)[7]
Alphonsus
Liguori (1696-1787): Additional Prayers to Mary in the Context of Eucharistic
Adoration
Source:
Alphonsus
Liguori, Visits to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin
Mary (Rockford, Ill.: TAN Books, 2012)
Graces
Obtained through Visits to The Blessed Virgin Mary
In Father
Auriemma’s little book, Affetti Scambievoli (p. 2, c. 3), we
read of innumerable favors granted by the Mother of God to those who practiced
the most profitable devotion of often visiting her in her churches or before
some image. We read of the graces which she granted in these visits to Blessed
Albert the Great, to the Abbot Rupert, to Father Suarez—especially when she
obtained for them the gif of understanding, by which they afterward became so
renowned throughout the Church for their great learning. We read of the graces
which she granted to the Venerable [now St.] John Berchmans of the Society of
Jesus who was in the daily habit of visiting Mary in a chapel of the Roman
College; he declared that he renounced all earthly love, to love no other after
God than the Most Blessed Virgin, and he had written at the foot of an image of
his beloved Lady: “I will never rest until I shall have obtained a tender love
for my Mother.” We read also of the graces when she granted to Bernadine of
Siena, who in his youth also went every day to visit her in a chapel near the
city gate and declared that the Lady had ravished his heart. Hence he called
her his beloved and said that he could not do less than visit her often; and by
her means he afterward obtained the grace to renounce the world and to become
what he afterward was, a great Saint and the apostle of Italy.
Do you,
then, be also careful always to join to your daily visit to the Most Blessed
Sacrament a visit to the most holy Virgin Mary in some church, or at least
before a devout image of her in your own house. If you do this with tender
affection and confidence, you may hope to receive great things from this most
gracious Lady, who as St. Andrews of Crete says, always bestows great gifts on
those who offer her even the last act of homage (In Dorm. B.V., s
3).
Mary,
queen of Sweetest hope,
Who can e’er forget thee?
By thy mercy, by thy love,
Have pity, Queen, on me! (pp. xxiii-xxv)
Prayer
To Our Lady After Each Visit
Most holy
Virgin Immaculate, my Mother Mary, it is to you, who are the Mother of My Lord,
the Queen of the world, the advocate, the hope and the refuge of sinners, that
I have recourse today, I, who most of all am deserving of pity. Most humbly do
I offer you my homage, O great Queen, and I thank you for all the graces you
have obtained for me until now, and particularly for having saved me from Hell,
which, by my sins, I have so often deserved.
I love
you, O most lovable Lady, and because of my love for you, I promise to serve
you always and to do all in my power to win others to love you also. In your
hands I place all my hopes; I entrust the salvation of my soul to your care.
Accept me as your servant, O Mother of Mercy; receive me under your mantle. And
since you have such power with God, deliver me from all temptations, or rather,
obtain for me the strength to triumph over them until death. Of you I ask the
grace of perfect love for Jesus Christ. Through help I hope to die a happy
death. O my Mother, I beg you, by the love you bear to God, to help me at all
times, but especially at the last moment of my life. Do not leave me, I beseech
you, until you see me sae in Heaven, blessing you and singing your mercies for
all eternity.
Amen, so
I hope, so may it be. (pp. 3-4)
Our own
most loving Lady, the whole Church declares you to be our hope and salutes you
under that title. Since you are the hope of us all, be my hope too. T. Bernard
called you the whole foundation of his hope and said: let him who is in
despair, hope in Mary. And so will I too address you: My own Mary, you save
even those who are in despair; in you I place all my hope. (p. 23)
Allow me,
too, my most sweet Queen, to call you, with your own St. Bernard, the whole
ground of my hope, and to say with St. John Damascene that I have placed all my
hope in you. You must obtain for me the forgiveness of my sins, perseverance
until death and deliverance from Purgatory. It is through you that all who are
saved obtain their salvation. And so, O Mary, it is you who must save me. He
whom you wish to be saved, will be saved. Only wish my salvation, and I shall
be saved. You save all those who call on you. I am now calling on you and say
to you:
Aspiration: O salvation of those who call on
you, save me! (p. 46)
The
saintly Bernadine de Bustis says: “Do not despair, O
Sinner, but go with confidence to Our Lady. You will find her hands filled with
grace and mercy.” “And remember,” he adds, “that is Queen, who is so full of
sympathy, is more anxious to help and assist you than you yourself can be that
she should do so.” O my Lady, I always thank God for having taught me about
you. I should be unfortunate indeed if I did not know of you, or if I were to
forget you. My very salvation would be in danger. O my Mother, I bless you, I
love you. And so great is the confidence I have in you that I entrust my soul
to your keeping.
Aspiration: O Mary, happy is the one who
knows you and puts his trust in you! (p. 58)
My most
gracious Lady and Mother, by committing sin I have rebelled against your Son.
Btu I am sorry, and I appeal to your mercy to obtain forgiveness for me. Do not
say that you have not the power. St. Bernard says that you are the mediatrix
who obtains forgiveness for us. It is your duty to help those who are in the
danger, for St. Ephrem calls you the helper of those in peril. And who, my
Lady, is in greater danger than I? I have lost God and have certainly deserved
Hell. I do not know if God has yet forgiven me. I may lose Him again. But you
can obtain everything for me, and it is through you that I hope for every
favor, for pardon, perseverance and paradise. I hope, in Heaven, to be among
those of the blessed who will be loudest in praising your mercy because you
will have saved me in your prayers.
Aspiration: I will sing the mercy of Mary
for eternity. I will sing of it forever and ever. Amen. (pp. 68-69)
[1]
Henry Denzinger and Karl Rahner, eds., The
Sources of Catholic Dogma, trans. Roy J. Deferrari (St. Louis, MO: B.
Herder Book Co., 1954), 300.
[2]
Joseph Pohle and Arthur Preuss, The
Sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise,
vol. 3, Dogmatic Theology (St. Louis, MO; London: B. Herder, 1918), 234.
[3]
William Kent, “Indulgences,” in The
Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution,
Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, ed. Charles G.
Herbermann et al. (New York: The Encyclopedia Press; The Universal Knowledge
Foundation, 1907–1913).
[4]
Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic
Dogma (St. Louis: Bischöfliches Seminar St. Willibald, Copyright Baronius
Press, 1957), 441.
[5]
Catholic Church, Catechism of the
Catholic Church, Second Edition (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana,
2019), 370.
[6] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican
Province, vol. 9 (London: Burns Oates & Washbourne, n.d.), 569.
[7]
Catholic Church, Catechism of the
Catholic Church, Second Edition (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana,
2019), 252–253.
