Hymns of the Annunciation

The Office of the Annunciation

From Matins.

The God whom earth, and sea, and sky

Adore, and laud, and magnify,

Who o'er their threefold fabric reigns,

The Virgin's spotless womb contains.

The God, whose will by moon and sun

And all things in due course is done,

Is borne upon a maiden's breast,

By fullest heavenly grace possest,

How blest that mother, in whose shrine

The great artificer divine,

Whose hand contains the earth and sky,

Vouchsafed, as in his ark, to lie.

Blest, in the message Gabriel brought;

Blest, by the work the Spirit wrought;

From whom the great desire of earth

Took human flesh and human birth.

All honour, laud, and glory be,

O Jesu, Virgin-born to thee;

All glory, as is ever meet,

To Father and to Paraclete.

Amen.

From Lauds.

O glorious lady! throned on high

Above the star-illumined sky;

Thereto ordained, thy bosom lent

To thy creator nourishment

Through thy sweet offspring we receive

The bliss once lost through hapless Eve;

And heaven to mortals open lies

Now thou art portal of the skies.

Thou art the door of heaven's high King,

Light's gateway fair and glistering;

Life through a virgin is restored;

Ye ransomed nations, praise the Lord!

All honour, laud, and glory be,

O Jesu, Virgin-born, to thee;

All glory, as is ever meet,

To Father and to Paraclete.

Amen.

From Vespers.

Ave, star of ocean,

Child divine who barest,

Mother, ever-virgin,

Heaven's portal fairest.

Taking that sweet Ave

Erst by Gabriel spoken,

Eva's name reversed,

Be of peace the token.

Break the sinners' fetters,

Light to blind restoring,

All our ills dispelling,

Every boon imploring.

Show thyself a mother

In thy supplication;

He will hear who chose thee

At his incarnation.

Maid all maids excelling,

Passing meek and lowly,

Win for sinners pardon,

Make us chaste and holy.

As we onward journey

Aid our weak endeavour,

Till we gaze on Jesus

And rejoice forever.

Father, Son, and Spirit,

Three in One confessing,

Give we equal glory

Equal praise and blessing.

Amen.

Black Mass Sacrilege on this Holy Day. - O Mary assumed into heaven, ever-glorious Virgin Mother of God, pray for us.

https://gloria.tv/article/qz6ooBQUJPGwJnDnnToAo8z7i

Urgent Prayer Request - Cardinal Burke; Planned Black Mass: Please help take action

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I am outraged and most profoundly saddened by the news that a public sacrilegious Black Mass is scheduled to take place in Oklahoma City on the 15th of August, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I have also been informed that, after the horrible sacrilege of the Black Mass, a further blasphemy will be perpetrated directly against the Blessed Virgin Mary. All of this is being done with the official sanction of the legitimate authorities.

For this reason, let us turn to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, through the recitation of the Holy Rosary, to storm Heaven with our prayers to make reparation for these sins and blasphemies that further provoke God's just wrath upon our beloved Nation.

It is the fundamental obligation of every faithful Catholic to stand up for the honor and glory of God and the honor of the Mother of God. In this critical hour, may we not fail to fulfill our obligation of love and devotion toward Our Lord and His heavenly mother.

I ask and beseech each of you to unite with me on this day as I offer Holy Mass and pray a Holy Rosary in reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Let us also pray for the poor souls that are perpetrating these blasphemies.

I urge you to invite your family members, your friends and other fellow Catholics to join in this act of reparation.

Yours devotedly in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke

* ** *** **** ***** ****** ***** **** *** ** *
Take Immediate Action:

Call the Mayor of Oklahoma City, Mick Cornett, and the governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin, to voice your opposition to a Black Mass to be followed by the desecration of a Blessed Mother statue, scheduled to take place by satanists at their civic center on Monday, the Feast of the Assumption.

Both offices are taking calls and keeping a tally. Unbelievable that they are allowing this on the grounds of free speech! This situation begs for a moral compass to be applied.

In the United States, call:
Mayor Mick Cornett - 405-297-2424

Ave Regina Caelorum - Isabella Leonarda

We are at the door of Lent. Since February 3, the seasonal Marian Antiphon is now Ave Regina Caelorum. 

It is the one, when Easter is early, that is the least known and sung. Given that, it was not often set to polyphony. In my time as part of the Toronto Oratory Choir we would sing this yearly.

Isabella Leonarda was a Religion of the Ursuline Order from the age of sixteen. She died in 1704 after eight-four years - an extraordinary age and talent. Putting to rest the lie that the Catholic Church oppressed women, it was through the Church that a holy artist such as Leonarda was able to put her talents to full use and the glory of God and the Blessed Mother.

A full biography can be read at Women's Sacred Music Project.

Ever-virgin Mary's "yes" was the beginning of our salvation

Today's Second Reading from the Office of Readings, more traditionally known as Matins, is a lesson for all Protestants and those Catholics who downplay, or disdain in the case of some, the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in our salvation. When one reads this sermon by St. Bernard one can readily see that our Salvation by Our Lord Jesus Christ was totally dependant on her yes. True, if she said no, God would have found someone else but it may have not happened even to now. I recall in the Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich's writings that she asked her angel why it took so long for the Father to send His Son, the Messiah. She was told that it took 4000 years for a man and wife, Sts. Joachim and Anna, to be holy enough to bear Mary - the Immaculate Conception, who was conceived as all of us would have been had there been no Fall of our first parents, also something noted by Blessed Anne in her book, The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

They embraced each other with holy joy, and each told the other their good tidings. They were in a state of ecstasy and enveloped in a cloud of light. I saw this light issuing from a great host of angels, who were carrying the appearance of a high shining tower and hovering above the heads of Anna and Joachim. The form of this tower was the same as I see in pictures, from the litany of the Blessed Virgin, of the Tower of David, the Tower of Ivory, and so forth. I saw that this tower seemed to disappear between Anna and Joachim, who were enveloped in a glory of brightness. I understood that, as a result of the grace here given, the conception of Mary was as pure as all conceptions would have been but for the Fall. I had at the same time an indescribable vision. The heavens opened above them, and I saw the joy of the Holy Trinity and of the angels, and their participation in the mysterious blessing here bestowed on Mary's parents. Anna and Joachim returned, praising God, to the exit under the Golden Gate; …

It was explained to me here that the Blessed Virgin was begotten by her parents in holy obedience and complete purity of heart, and that thereafter they lived together in continence in the greatest devoutness and fear of God. I was at the same time clearly instructed how immeasurably the holiness of children was encouraged by the purity, chastity, and continence of their parents and by their resistance to all unclean temptations; and how continence after conception preserves the fruit of the womb from many sinful impulses. In general, I was given an overflowing abundance of knowledge about the roots of deformity and sin.

Let us thank the Blessed Mother, for her, "be it done unto me according to thy word."

The whole world awaits Mary's reply     

You have heard, 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 weighs heavily upon us. 

The price of our 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.         

Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it, David begs it. All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet. It is right in doing so, for on your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed, salvation for all the sons of Adam, the whole of your race.   

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.

Responsory       

Virgin Mary, receive the word of the Lord brought to you by the angel: You will conceive and bear a son, both God and man. You will be called, Blessed among all women.

You will indeed bear a son, yet suffer no loss of virginity; you will be with child, yet remain a mother ever undefiled. You will be called, Blessed among all women.

In reparation for the blasphemous display in Rome - Eia, mea labia

In reparation for the blasphemous display at St. Peter's Basilica and in honour of the glorious and ever Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception, I am honoured to present here for your peace and edification and mediation a hymn with original music composed by my good friend Jon Parr Vijinski and sung by Marie Parr.

It shows the beauty of our great God and Lord's creation interspersed with artwork of the Blessed Mother with the text selected from the "Little Office of the Immaculate Conception" (Officium parvum Conceptionis Immaculatae). 

O Mary, conceived without sin...

You are all beautiful, Mary,
and the original stain is not in you.
Your clothing is white as snow,

and your face is like the sun.
You are all beautiful, Mary,
and the original stain is not in you.
You are the glory of Jerusalem,
you are the joy of Israel,
you give honour to our people.
You are all beautiful, Mary

Missa Solemnis in Toronto - Immaculate Conception

A Solemn High Mass (Missa Solemnis) will be held in Toronto on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary this Thursday, December 8 at 7:30PM.

The Mass will be celebrated at St. Lawrence the Martyr Scarborough at 2011 Lawrence Avenue East, just west of Kennedy Road on the north side. The Mass is sponsored by Una Voce Toronto and a reception will follow in the Church Hall. More infomration is here and here on Facebook.

The Liturgical progrma of Sacred Music includes:

Organ Prelude: Alvus Tumescit Virgo - Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)

Processional Hymn: The God Whom Earth and See and Sky Quem terra, pontus, aethera -Venantius Fortunatus, 539-609
Missa cum Jubilo-Gregorian Mass IX
Credo III
Gregorian Chant Propers - Liber Usualis
Ave  Maria - Jacques Arcadelt-Pierre-Louis Dietsch
Jesu Rex Admirablis - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Alma Redemptoris Mater - Tonus Simplex
Immaculate Mary - Lourdes Hymn
Organ postlude: Ricercar pro Tempore Adventus super Initium Cantilenae: Ave Maria klare - J.K.F. Fischer  1656 - 1746 

On this day

To our Heavenly Mother and all of our mothers.

Assumpta est Maria

Our Lady of America, Pray for Us

A fascinating and little known but growing awareness of Sister Mary Ephrem (Mildred Neuzil) 1916-2000 and her visions of the Blessed Virgin under the title of Our Lady of America approved by her spiritual director, the late Archbishop Paul Francis Liebold.

Could we consider for a moment what would happen if the American Bishops erected the statue shown below in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington and the consecrated America to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

From the incredible and powerful history and testimony at the official website.

A movement of great consequence has commenced for a definite response by the United States Catholic Bishops in response to private revelations which long ago received official Church recognition as having occurred in the United States. The revelations included apparitions of Our Lord and St. Joseph as well as St. Gabriel and St. Michael, as well as apparitions of The Blessed Virgin Mary as "Our Lady of America" to Sister Mary Ephrem (Mildred Neuzil), of the Precious Blood Sisters (1933-1979) who was later a Contemplative of the Indwelling Trinity (1979 - until death) . Sister Mary Ephrem, deceased on January 10th, 2000, said she was asked by The Blessed Virgin Mary to draw a picture according to the vision of Our Lady of America and have a statue constructed accordingly and placed after a solemn procession into the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, in Washington, D.C.. The Blessed Virgin Mary wishes to be honored in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at Washington D.C. as Our Lady of America. Our Lady says that if this is done, the United States of America would turn back toward morality and the shrine would become a place of "wonders."

Prayer to Our Lady of America, Patroness of our Land Written at the behest of Our Lady, October 5, 1956 by Sister Mary Ephrem

Oh Immaculate Mother, Queen of our country, open our hearts, our homes, and our land to the coming of Jesus, your Divine Son. With Him, reign over us, O heavenly Lady, so pure and so bright with the radiance of Gods light shining in and about you. Be our leader against the powers of evil set upon wresting the world of souls, redeemed at such a great cost by the sufferings of your Son and of yourself, in union with Him, from that same Savior, Who loves us with infinite charity.

We gather about you, O chaste and holy Mother, Virgin Immaculate, Patroness of our beloved Land, determined to fight under your banner of holy purity against the wickedness that would make all the world an abyss of evil, without God and without your loving maternal care.

We consecrate our hearts, our homes, our Land to your Most Pure Heart, O great Queen, that the kingdom of your Son, our Redeemer and our God, may be firmly established in us.

We ask no special sign of you, sweet Mother, for we believe in your great love for us, and we place in you our entire confidence. We promise to honor you by faith, love, and the purity of our lives according to your desire.

Reign over us, then, O Virgin Immaculate, with your Son Jesus Christ. May His Divine Heart and your most chaste Heart be ever enthroned and glorified among us. Use us, your children of America, as your instruments of peace among men and nations. Work your miracle of grace in us, so that we may be a glory to the Blessed Trinity, Who created, redeemed, and sanctifies us.

May your valiant spouse, St. Joseph, with the holy Angels and Saints, assist you and us in "renewing the face of the earth." Then when our work is over, come, Holy Immaculate Mother, and as our Victorious Queen, lead us to the eternal kingdom, where your Son reigns forever as King.

Amen
(200 days)

Nihil Obstat: Daniel Pilarczyk, S.T.D.
Imprimatur: +Paul F. Leibold, V.G.
Cincinnati, Jan. 25, 1963