The following prayers are recited as a novena in preparation for the Feast of the Purification of Our Lady - Jan. 24th through Feb. 1st - and on the Feast (Feb. 2nd).
This is one of the oldest Feasts of Our Lady. The Blessed Virgin Mary, wishing to obey the Law of Moses, went up to Jerusalem forty days after the Birth of Jesus to offer the prescribed sacrifice of a lamb or two doves. It was in the arms of His Blessed Mother that Jesus offered Himself to His Heavenly Father as Mediator and Victim for the Redemption of mankind. It is through the Blessed Virgin Mary that we too should dedicate ourselves to God's service, by doing His holy will at all times--in joy as well as in sorrow. Let us offer the works and sufferings of our lives to God through Mary's hands for the salvation of souls, especially our own.
"And Thy own soul a sword shall pierce." (Luke 2:35)
This day the Blessed Virgin Mary presented the Child Jesus in the Temple, and Simeon, full of the Holy Ghost, took Him into his arms and praised God unceasingly. Glory be to the Father...
The root of Jesse budded; a Star rose out of Jacob; a Virgin brought forth the Saviour. O Our God, we praise Thee! Hail Mary...
O wonderful exchange! The Creator of the human race, taking upon Himself a body and a soul, deigned to be born of a Virgin, and appearing here below as man, made us partakers of His Divinity. Hail Mary...
In the bush which Moses saw burning, yet not consumed, we have a figure of the preservation of Thy glorious Virginity. O Holy Mother of God, intercede for us! Hail Mary...
Mary speaks: "I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the House of the Lord." (Ps. 121:1)
And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, His Mother: "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and the rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." (Luke 2:34-35)
Hymn: O Gloriosa Virginum
O glorious Virgin, ever blest, sublime among the stars above,
Who gavest nurture from Thy breast to God, with pure maternal love.
What man hath lost through sinful Eve, the Blossom sprung from thee restores;
Thou to the sorrowing here beneath hast opened Heaven's eternal doors.
O Gate, through which hath passed the King, O Hall, whence Light shone through the gloom!
The ransomed nations praise and sing the Offspring of Thy Virgin womb.
All honor, laud, and glory be, O Jesus, Virgin-born, to Thee:
All glory, as is ever meet, to Father and to Paraclete. Amen.
Let us Pray:
Almighty, Everlasting God, we humbly beseech Thy Majesty, that, as Thine only-begotten Son was this day presented in the Temple in the form of our flesh, so Thou wouldst grant that we, too, may be presented to Thee with hearts made pure; through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
