Ave Regina Caelorum

Beginning at Compline on the Feast of the Purification (also known as the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord or Candlemas) the seasonal Marian Antiphon changes from the Alma Redemptoris to the Ave Regina Caelorum. This Antiphon is used until the Triduum.

Ave, Regina Caelorum, Ave, Domina Angelorum: Salve, radix, salve, porta Ex qua mundo lux est orta: Gaude, Virgo gloriosa, Super omnes speciosa, Vale, o valde decora, Et pro nobis Christum exora.

Hail, O Queen of Heaven enthroned. Hail, by angels mistress owned. Root of Jesse, Gate of Morn Whence the world’s true light was born: Glorious Virgin, Joy to thee, Loveliest whom in heaven they see; Fairest thou, where all are fair, Plead with Christ our souls to spare.

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary outside of the Cathedral of the Assumption in Zagreb, Croatia. (image source)

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Father, all-powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks
as we do honour the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of Carmel.

Your word filled her heart
and inspired her actions,
making her constant in prayer with the Apostles,
and, through her share in our salvation,
constituting her the spiritual mother of all mankind.
She watches unceasingly with a mother’s loving care
over the brethren of her Son,
and lights us along our pilgrim way
to the Mount of your Glory,
our beacon of comfort,
and the embodiment or all our hopes
as members of the Church.
Now, with all the saints and angels,
we praise you forever:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

(Preface of Our Lady of Mount Carmel I, Carmelite Missal)

May Crowning Before Mass

I believe this is the first time I have seen a May Crowning since I was in the 1st grade.

This video was taken by Tom Ryan, a man with powerful friends:

The Seven Sorrows Of Mary

In the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite even though today is Friday in Passion Week (the 5th Week of Lent) the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary are also commemorated. A commemoration means that the Collect, the Secret, and the Postcommunion of the Feast of the Seven Sorrows are said after the same prayers of the day.

Collect
O God, in whose passion, according to the prophecy of Simeon, the sword of sorrow did pierce the most sweet soul of the glorious Mary, Virgin and Mother; mercifully grant that we who call to mind with veneration her anguish and suffering, may obtain the blessed fruit of Thy passion through the glorious merits and prayers of all the Saints who have faithfully stood by the cross interceding for us: Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Secret
We offer unto Thee our prayers and oblations, O Lord Jesus Christ, and humbly beseech Thee that, even as in our prayers we recall the piercing of the most sweet soul of Thy Blessed Mother Mary, so through the merits of Thy death, and the repeated loving intercession of Thy Mother and her holy companions at the foot of the cross, we may share in the reward of the blessed: Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God world without end. Amen.

Postcommunion
O Lord Jesus Christ, may the sacrifice of which we partook while devoutly recalling the anguish of Thy virgin Mother, win for us from Thy mercy all good and healthful fruit: Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God world without end. Amen.

The Seven Sorrows themselves are:

The Prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34-35)
The Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-14)
The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:43-45)
The Meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross (Luke 23:27)
The Crucifixion (John 19:25-27)
The Taking Down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross (Mark 15:43-46)
Jesus laid in the Tomb (John 19:38-42)

Of the Seven Sorrows only the first one, the Prophecy of Simeon, is specifically mentioned in the prayers of the Mass today.

The Sorrows of Mary can also be seen in the Sequence Stabat Mater which is very commonly used during the Stations of the Cross:

At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to Jesus to the last.

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
all His bitter anguish bearing,
now at length the sword has passed.

O how sad and sore distressed
was that Mother, highly blest,
of the sole-begotten One.

Christ above in torment hangs,
she beneath beholds the pangs
of her dying glorious Son.

Is there one who would not weep,
whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ’s dear Mother to behold?

By the Cross with thee to stay,
there with thee to weep and pray,
is all I ask of thee to give.

For the sins of His own nation,
She saw Jesus wracked with torment,
All with scourges rent:

She beheld her tender Child,
Saw Him hang in desolation,
Till His spirit forth He sent.

Can the human heart refrain
from partaking in her pain,
in that Mother’s pain untold?

O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above,
make my heart with thine accord:

Make me feel as thou hast felt;
make my soul to glow and melt
with the love of Christ my Lord.

Holy Mother! pierce me through,
in my heart each wound renew
of my Savior crucified:

Let me share with thee His pain,
who for all my sins was slain,
who for me in torments died.

Let me mingle tears with thee,
mourning Him who mourned for me,
all the days that I may live:

Let me, to my latest breath,
in my body bear the death
of that dying Son of thine.

Virgin of all virgins blest!,
Listen to my fond request:
let me share thy grief divine;

Wounded with His every wound,
steep my soul till it hath swooned,
in His very Blood away;

Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
lest in flames I burn and die,
in His awful Judgment Day.

Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
by Thy Mother my defense,
by Thy Cross my victory;

When my body dies,
let my soul be granted
the glory of Paradise. Amen.

The Circumcision of the Lord

Yesterday, the 1st of January, was a Holy Day of Obligation. It was the Octave Day of Christmas – the 8th day of Christmas. In the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite it is also known as the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. But, in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite it is known as the Feast of the Circumcision.

Even though the name has been changed and the Blessed Mother is now more emphasized the Octave Day of Christmas is still a celebration of the Circumcision of the Lord. The Gospel Reading makes this clear:

When eight days were completed for his circumcision,
he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21 NAB)

When we look at what the Old Testament has to say about circumcision it becomes clear why we celebrate this event on the 8th day of the Nativity:

This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you that you must keep: every male among you shall be circumcised. Circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that shall be the mark of the covenant between you and me. Throughout the ages, every male among you, when he is eight days old, shall be circumcised, including houseborn slaves and those acquired with money from any foreigner who is not of your blood. (Genesis 17: 10-12 NAB)

We celebrate the Circumcision of the Lord on the 8th day because the Lord was circumcised on the 8th day in obedience to the Mosaic Law.

Now that we know why we celebrate the Circumcision on the 8th day of Christmas another question comes to mind: why do we celebrate it at all?

Because it is the first time Christ shed his blood for us. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen explains it better than I ever could:

In the Circumcision of the Divine Child there was a dim suggestion and hint of Calvary, in the precocious surrendering of blood. The shadow of the Cross was already hanging over a Child eight days old. He would have seven bloodsheddings of which this was the first, the others being the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging, the Crowning with Thorns, the Way of the Cross, the Crucifixion, and the Piercing of His Heart. But whenever there was an indication of Calvary, there was also some sign of glory; and it was at this moment when He was anticipating Calvary by shedding His blood that the name of Jesus was bestowed on Him.

A Child only eight days old was already beginning the bloodsheddings that would fulfill His perfect manhood. The cradle was tinged with crimson, a token of Calvary. The Precious Blood was beginning its long pilgrimage. Within an octave of his birth, Christ obeyed a law of which He Himself was the Author, a law which was to find its last application in Him. There had been sin in human blood, and now blood was already being poured out to do away with sin. As the East catches at sunset the colors of the West, so does the Circumcision reflect Calvary.

Must he begin redeeming all at once? Cannot the Cross wait? There will be plenty of time for it. Coming straight from the Father’s arms to the arms of His earthly mother, He is carried in her arms to His first Calvary. Many years later He will be taken from her arms again, after the bruising of the flesh on the Cross, when the Father’s work is done.

(The Life Of Christ pp. 37-38 )