SUNDAY Prime

God, come to my assistance
Lord, make haste to help me

Your help, propitious Mother, lend us
And from the dreadful foe defend us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Hail, Virginal wisdom; hail, mansion of God, Where sevenfold pillars befit his abode.
All stately without and all perfect within, He chose Him a dwelling undarkened by sin.
For even before your miraculous birth you were free from the stain that has sullied the earth.
Mother of all saints Living and dead, New star that shone Over Israel's head,
Sovereign of angels, Terror of hell, Be you our refuge, Who love you so well.

In His Holy Spirit He created Her
And exalted Her above all His works.


Psalm 51
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy.
And according to the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my iniquity.

Wash me yet more from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my iniquity,
and my sin is always before me.

To you only have I sinned,
and have done evil before you

that you may be justified in your words,
and may overcome when you are judged.

For behold I was conceived in iniquities
and in sins did my mother conceive me.

For behold you have loved truth
the uncertain and hidden things of your wisdom you have made manifest to me.

You shall sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed:
you shall wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.

To my hearing you shall give joy and gladness
and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.

Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.

Create a clean heart in me, O God
and renew a right spirit within my bowels.

Cast me not away from your face
and take not your holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of your salvation,
and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.

I will teach the unjust your ways
and the wicked shall be converted to you.

Deliver me from blood, O God,
God of my salvation
and my tongue shall extol your justice.

O Lord, you will open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.

For if you had desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it
with burnt offerings you will not be delighted.

A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit
a contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise.

Deal favorably, O Lord, in your good will with Zion
that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.

Then shall you accept the sacrifice of justice,
oblations and whole burnt offerings
then shall they lay calves upon your altar.

The Trisagion
Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us.
Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us.
Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Angel's prayer at Fatima
It is truly right to bless you, O God-bearing One, as the ever-blessed and immaculate Mother of our God. More honorable than the cherubim and by far more glorious than the seraphim; ever a virgin, you gave birth to God the Word, O true Mother of God, we magnify you.O my God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee.

St. Sophronius
Truly, you are blessed among women. For you have changed Eve's curse into a blessing; and Adam, who hitherto lay under a curse, has been blessed because of you.

Truly, you are blessed among women. Through you the Father's blessing has shone forth on mankind, setting them free of their ancient curse.

Truly, you are blessed among women, because through you your forebears have found salvation. For you were to give birth to the Savior who was to win them salvation.

Truly, you are blessed among women, for without seed you have borne, as your fruit, him who bestows blessings on the whole world and redeems it from that curse that made it sprout thorns.

Truly, you are blessed among women, because, though a woman by nature, you will become, in reality, God's mother. If he whom you are to bear is truly God made flesh, then rightly do we call you God's mother. For you have truly given birth to God.

The Virgin has given birth to the Savior: a flower has sprung from Jesse's stock and a star has risen from Jacob. O God, we praise you.

Psalm 118
Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.
Let Israel now say, that he is good: that his mercy endures for ever.
Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endures for ever.
Let them that fear the Lord now say, that his mercy endures for ever.
In my trouble I called upon the Lord: and the Lord heard me, and enlarged me.
The Lord is my helper: I will not fear what man can do unto me.
The Lord is my helper: and I will look over my enemies.
It is good to confide in the Lord, rather than to have confidence in man.
It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in princes.
All nations compassed me about; and in the name of the Lord I have been revenged on them.
Surrounding me they compassed me about: and in the name of the Lord I have been revenged on them.
They surrounded me like bees, and they burned like fire among thorns: and in the name of the Lord I was revenged on them.
Being pushed I was overturned that I might fall: but the Lord supported me.
The Lord is my strength and my praise: and he is become my salvation.
The voice of rejoicing and of salvation is in the tabernacles of the just.
The right hand of the Lord has wrought strength:
the right hand of the Lord has exalted me:
the right hand of the Lord has wrought strength.
I shall not die, but live: and shall declare the works of the Lord.
The Lord chastising has chastised me:
but he has not delivered me over to death.
Open to me the gates of justice: I will go into them, and give praise to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it.
I will give glory to you because you have heard me: and become my salvation.
The stone which the builders rejected; the same is become the head of the corner.
This is the Lord's doing: and it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day which the Lord has made: let us be glad and rejoice therein.
O Lord, save me: O Lord, give good success.
Blessed be he that comes in the name of the Lord.
We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God, and he has shone upon us.
Appoint a solemn day, with shady boughs, even to the horn of the altar.
You are my God, and I will praise you: you are my God, and I will exalt you.
I will praise you, because you have heard me, and become my salvation.
O praise the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.

Mary has given birth to our Savior. John the Baptist saw him and cried out:
This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

Daniel 3
Blessed are you, O Lord the God of our fathers:
and worthy to be praised, and glorified, and exalted above all for ever:
and blessed is the holy name of your glory:
and worthy to be praised, and exalted above all in all ages.
Blessed are you in the holy temple of your glory:
and exceedingly to be praised, and exceeding glorious for ever.
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
and exceedingly to be praised, and exalted above all for ever.
Blessed are you, that behold the depths, and sit upon the cherubims;
and worthy to be praised and exalted above all for ever.
Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven:
and worthy of praise, and glorious for ever.
All you works of the Lord, bless the Lord:
praise him above all for ever.

The robe you wear is white as spotless snow; your face is radiant like the sun.

Psalm 150
Praise the Lord in his holy places:
praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts:
praise him according to the multitude of his greatness.
Praise him with sound of trumpet:
praise him with psaltery and harp.
Praise him with timbrel and choir:
praise him with strings and organs.
Praise him on high sounding cymbals:
praise him on cymbals of joy:
let every spirit praise the Lord.
Alleluia.

Sirach 24
As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odor:
and my flowers are the fruit of honor and riches.
I am the mother of fair love,
and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope.
In me is all grace of the way and of the truth,
in me is all hope of life and of virtue.
Come over to me, all you that desire me,
and be filled with my fruits.
For my spirit is sweet above honey,
and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb.
My memory is unto everlasting generations.
They that eat me, shall yet hunger:
and they that drink me, shall yet thirst.
He that hearkens to me, shall not be confounded:
and they that work by me, shall not sin.

St. Athanasius
What was born of Mary was therefore human by nature, in accordance with the inspired Scriptures, and the body of the Lord was a true body: It was a true body because it was the same as ours. Mary, you see, is our sister, for we are all born from Adam.
The words of Saint John: The Word was made flesh, bear the same meaning, as we may see from a similar turn of phrase in Saint Paul: Christ was made curse for our sake. Man's body has acquired something great through its communion and union with the Word. From being mortal it has been made immortal; though it was a living body it has become a spiritual one; though it was made from the earth it has passed through the gates of heaven.

Even when the Word takes a body from Mary, the Trinity remains a Trinity, with neither increase nor decrease. It is for ever perfect. In the Trinity we acknowledge one Godhead, and thus one God, the Father of the Word, is proclaimed in the Church.

St Aelred
She is our mother--the mother of our life, the mother of our incarnation, the mother of our light. As the Apostle says of our Lord, He became for us by God's power our Wisdom and Justice, and Holiness and Redemption.
She then, as mother of Christ, is the mother of our wisdom and justice, of our holiness and redemption. She is more our mother than the mother of our flesh. Our birth from her is better, for from her is born our holiness, our wisdom, our justice, our sanctification, our redemption. Praise the Lord in His holy ones, say the Scriptures. If our Lord is to be praised in those holy ones through whom he brings to being deeds of power and miracles, how much more is he to be praised in her in whom he fashioned himself, who is wonderfully beyond all wonders.

St. Alphonsus de Ligouri
O Virgin Mary, no other daughter of Jerusalem is your equal, for you are the mother of the King of kings, you are the Queen of heaven and of angels
Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Hail, full of grace; the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Ah, my Blessed Mother, it is not one sword only with which I have pierced your heart, but I have done so with as many as are the sins which I have committed.

The Song of Zechariah
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
because he has visited and wrought the redemption of his people:
And has raised up an horn of salvation to us,
in the house of David his servant:
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who are from the beginning:
Salvation from our enemies,
and from the hand of all that hate us:
To perform mercy to our fathers,
and to remember his holy testament,
The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father, that he would grant to us,
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies, we may serve him without fear,
In holiness and justice before him, all our days.
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Highest:
for you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways:
To give knowledge of salvation to his people,
unto the remission of their sins:
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God,
in which the Orient from on high has visited us:
To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death:
to direct our feet into the way of peace.

Marvelous is the mystery proclaimed today: man's nature is made new as God becomes man; he remains what he was and becomes what he was not. Yet each nature stays distinct and for ever undivided.

Father, source of light in every age, the virgin conceived and bore your Son who is called Wonderful God, Prince of Peace. May her prayer, the gift of a mother's love, be your people's joy through all ages. May her response, born of a humble heart, draw your Spirit to rest on your people. Grant this through Christ our Lord.

May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.