Almighty everlasting God, who hast taken body and soul into heaven the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of Thy Son: grant, we beseech Thee, that by steadfastly keeping heaven as our goal we may be counted worthy to join her in glory. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth God, world without end.
O most sweet Lady and our Mother, by the merits of thy happy death obtain for us holy perseverance in the divine friendship, that we may finally leave this life in God’s grace; and unite with the blessed spirits in praising thee and singing thy glories as thou deservest. Amen.
O Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God and Mother of men.
We believe with all the fervour of our faith in your triumphal Assumption, both in body and soul, into heaven, where you are acclaimed as Queen by all the choirs of angels and all the legions of saints; and we unite with them to praise and bless the Lord who has exalted you above all other pure creatures, and to offer you the tribute of our devotion and our love.
We know that your gaze, which on earth watched over the humble and suffering humanity of Jesus, is filled in heaven with the vision of that Humanity glorified, and with the vision of Uncreated Wisdom; and that the joy of your soul in the direct contemplation of the adorable Trinity causes your heart to throb with overwhelming tenderness.
And we, poor sinners, whose body weighs down the flight of the soul, beg you to purify our hearts, so that, while we remain here below, we may learn to see God, and God alone, in the beauties of His creatures.
We trust that your merciful eyes may deign to glance down upon our miseries and our sorrows, upon our struggles and our weaknesses; that your countenance may smile upon our joys and our victories; that you may hear the voice of Jesus saying to you of each one of us, as He once said to you of His beloved disciple: behold thy son.
And we who call upon you as our Mother, like John, take you as the guide, strength, and consolation of our mortal life.
We are inspired by the certainty that your eyes which wept over the earth, watered by the Blood of Jesus, are yet turned toward this world, held in the clutch of wars, persecutions, and oppression of the just and the weak.
And from the shadows of this vale of tears, we seek in your heavenly assistance and tender mercy comfort for our aching hearts and help in the trials of the Church and of our fatherland.
We believe, finally, that in the glory where you reign, clothed with the sun and crowned with the stars, you are, after Jesus, the joy and gladness of all the angels and of all the saints.
And from this earth, over which we tread as pilgrims, comforted by our faith in the future resurrection, we look to you, our life, our sweetness, and our hope; draw us onward with the sweetness of your voice, that one day, after our exile, you may show us Jesus, the blessed Fruit of your womb, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
O Most Holy Virgin, Queen of Heaven and Mistress of the Universe, I acknowledge and venerate thee as the Daughter of the Eternal Father, as the Mother of the Eternal Son, as the loving Spouse of the Holy Ghost.
Prostrate at the feet of thy august Majesty, I beseech thee, by that divine charity with which thou wast filled to overflowing at thy assumption into Heaven, mercifully to take me under thy most powerful and secure protection, and to receive me into that fortunate company of thy happy servants whom thou bearest and cherish-est in thy virginal bosom.
Condescend, O my Mother and most gentle Lady, to accept of this miserable heart of mine; accept my memory, my will, my faculties, my senses, both exterior and interior; accept my eyes, my ears, my month, my hands and my feet; regulate them in conformity to the will of thy Divine Son, and direct them all to His infinite glory. By that wisdom with which thy beloved Son enriched thee, I pray and beseech thee to obtain for me light to know myself, to know my own nothingness, and especially to know my sins, that I may hate and detest them ; obtain for me light to perceive the snares of my infernal enemy and his assaults, whether they be hidden or manifest, and especially, O Most Merciful Mother, obtain for me the grace of final perseverance.
Repeat three times:
Virgin of all virgins!
To thy shelter take us ;
Gentlest of the gentle !
Chaste and gentle make us.
LET US PRAY.
Pardon, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the sins of Thy servants; that we, who by our own actions are unable to please Thee, may, through the intercession of the Mother of our Lord, Thy Son, obtain eternal salvation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen
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