| Tuesday, August 22, 2006 The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Memorial) |
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O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
| Psalm 101 (102) |
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| Prayers and vows of an exile |
| Lord, listen to my prayer and let my cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me: whenever I am troubled, turn to me and hear me. Whenever I call on you, hurry to answer me. For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones are dry as tinder. My heart is cut down like grass, it is dry – I cannot remember to eat. The sound of my groaning makes my bones stick to my flesh. I am lonely as a pelican in the wilderness, as an owl in the ruins, as a sparrow alone on a rooftop: I do not sleep. All day long my enemies taunt me, they burn with anger and use my name as a curse. I make ashes my bread, I mix tears with my drink, because of your anger and reproach – you, who raised me up, have dashed me to the ground. My days fade away like a shadow: I wither like grass. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Psalm 101 (102) |
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| But you, Lord, remain for ever and your name lasts from generation to generation. You will rise up and take pity on Sion, for it is time that you pitied it, indeed it is time: for your servants love its very stones and pity even its dust. Then, Lord, the peoples will fear your name. All the kings of the earth will fear your glory, when the Lord has rebuilt Sion and appeared there in his glory; when he has listened to the prayer of the destitute and not rejected their pleading. These things shall be written for the next generation and a people yet to be born shall praise the Lord. Because he has looked down from his high sanctuary, – the Lord has looked down from heaven to earth – and heard the groans of prisoners and freed the children of death so that they could proclaim the Lord’s name in Sion and sing his praises in Jerusalem, where people and kingdoms gather together to serve the Lord. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Psalm 101 (102) |
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| He has brought down my strength in the midst of my journey; he has shortened my days. I will say, “My God, do not take me away half way through the days of my life. Your years last from generation to generation: in the beginning you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will pass away but you will remain; all will grow old, like clothing, and like a cloak you will change them, and they will be changed. “But you are always the same, your years will never run out. The children of your servants shall live in peace, their descendants will endure in your sight”. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Reading | Isaiah 7:1 - 17 © |
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| In the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Razon the king of Aram went up against Jerusalem with Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, to lay siege to it; but he was unable to capture it. The news was brought to the House of David. ‘Aram’ they said ‘has reached Ephraim.’ Then the heart of the king and the hearts of the people shuddered as the trees of the forest shudder in front of the wind. The Lord said to Isaiah, ‘Go with your son Shear-jashub, and meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the Fuller’s Field road, and say to him: “Pay attention, keep calm, have no fear, do not let your heart sink because of these two smouldering stumps of firebrands, or because Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah have plotted to ruin you, and have said: Let us invade Judah and terrorise it and seize it for ourselves, and set up a king there, the son of Tabeel. The Lord says this: It shall not come true; it shall not be. The capital of Aram is Damascus, the head of Damascus, Razon; the capital of Ephraim, Samaria, the head of Samaria, the son of Remaliah. Six or five years more and a shattered Ephraim shall no longer be a people. But if you do not stand by me, you will not stand at all.”’ Once again the Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above’. ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’ Then he said: Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too? The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel. On curds and honey will he feed until he knows how to refuse evil and choose good. For before this child knows how to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings terrify you will be deserted. The Lord will bring times for you and your people and your father’s House, such as have not come since Ephraim broke away from Judah (the king of Assyria). |
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| Reading | From a homily by St. Amadeus of Lausanne, bishop |
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| Queen of the world and of peace | |
| Observe how fitting it was that even before her assumption the name of Mary shone forth wondrously throughout the world. Her fame spread everywhere even before she was raised above the heavens in her magnificence. Because of the honour due her Son, it was indeed fitting for the Virgin Mother to have first ruled upon earth and then be raised up to heaven in glory. It was fitting that her fame be spread in this world below, so that she might enter the heights of heaven on overwhelming blessedness. Just as she was borne from virtue to virtue by the Spirit of the Lord, she was transported from earthly renown to heavenly brightness. So it was that she began to taste the fruits of her future reign while still in the flesh. At one moment she withdrew to God in ecstasy; at the next she would bend down to her neighbours with indescribable love. In heaven angels served her, while here on earth she was venerated by the service of men. Gabriel and the angels waited upon her in heaven. The virgin John, rejoicing that the Virgin Mother was entrusted to him at the cross, cared for her with the other apostles here below. The angels rejoiced to see their queen; the apostles rejoiced to see their lady, and both obeyed her with loving devotion. Dwelling in the loftiest citadel of virtue, like a sea of divine grace or an unfathomable source of love that has everywhere overflowed its banks, she poured forth her bountiful waters on trusting and thirsting souls. Able to preserve both flesh and spirit from death she bestowed health-giving salve on bodies and souls. Has anyone ever come away from her troubled or saddened or ignorant of the heavenly mysteries? Who has not returned to everyday life gladdened and joyful because his request had been granted by the Mother of God? She is a bride, so gentle and affectionate, and the mother of the only true bridegroom. In her abundant goodness she has channelled the spring of reason’s garden, the well of living and life-giving waters that pour forth in a rushing stream from divine Lebanon and flow down from Mount Zion until they surround the shores of every far-flung nation. With divine assistance she has redirected these waters and made them into streams of peace and pools of grace. Therefore, when the Virgin of virgins was led forth by God and her Son, the King of kings. amid the company of exulting angels and rejoicing archangels, with the heavens ringing with praise, the prophecy of the psalmist was fulfilled, in which he said to the Lord: At your right hand stands the queen, clothed in gold of Ophir. |
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| A concluding prayer may follow here. |