Prayers for all Occasions, Needs, and Intentions

THE LITTLE OFFICE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Join with me in a Prayer of Praise

WEDNESDAY - MORNING PRAYERS

The Morning Prayer is suggested as you start your day and begins with the verse "God, come to my assistance. Lord make haste to help me." The elements or outline of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary shown below, are provided to help with the recitation of prayers for both the Morning and Evening Prayers. The Evening Prayer concludes with the recitation of "May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

Elements of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Wednesday Morning 

Introduction

Verse

God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me.   

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Doxology

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.   

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Hymn

O Mary, of all women

Thou art the chosen one,

Who ancient prophets promised

Would bear God’s only Son;

All Hebrew generations

Prepared the way to thee,

That in your womb the God-man

Might come to set man free.

O Mary, you embody

All God taught to our race,

For you are first and foremost

In fullness of his grace;

We praise this wondrous honor

That you gave birth to him

Who from you took his manhood

And saved us from our sin.  

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Psalmody

Antiphon 1

Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town of Judah.   

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Psalm 108

My heart is ready, 0 God; I will sing, sing your praise. Awake, my soul; awake, lyre and harp. I will awake the dawn. 

I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples, among the nations I will praise you, for your love reaches to the heavens and your truth to the skies.

O God, arise above the heavens; may your glory shine on earth!  

O come and deliver your friends; help with your right hand and reply. From his holy place God has made this promise: “I will triumph and divide the land of Shechem; I will measure out the valley of Succoth. 

Gilead is mine and Manasseh. Ephraim I take for my helmet, Judah for my commander’s staff. Moab I will use for my washbowl, on Edom I will plant my shoe. Over the Philistines I will shout in triumph.” 

But who will lead me to conquer the fortress? Who will bring me face to face with Edom? Will you utterly reject us, 0 God, and no longer march with our armies? 

Give us help against the foe: for the help of man is vain. With God we shall do bravely and he will trample down our foes.  

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Antiphon 2

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the in­fant in her womb leaped for joy, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.  

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OT Testament Canticle   

I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. 

As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, so will the Lord God make justice and praise spring up before all the nations. 

For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch.  

Nations shall behold your vindication, and all kings your glory; you shall be called by a new name pronounced by the mouth of the Lord. You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem held by your God.  

No more shall men call you “Forsaken,” or your land “Desolate,” but you shall be called “My delight,” and your land “Espoused.” For the Lord delights in you, and makes your land his spouse. 

As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.  

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Antiphon 3

Blessed are you, Mary, because you believed that the Lord’s words to you would be fulfilled.   

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Psalm 144

Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my arms for battle, who prepares my hands for war. 

He is my love, my fortress; he is my stronghold, my savior, my shield, my place of refuge. He brings peoples under my rule. 

Lord, what is man that you care for him, mortal man, that you keep him in mind; man, who is merely a breath, whose life fades like a passing shadow?

 Lower your heavens and come down; touch the mountains; wreathe them in smoke. Flash your lightnings; rout the foe, shoot your arrows and put them to flight.

 Reach down from heaven and save me; draw me out from the mighty waters, from the hands of alien foes whose mouths are filled with lies, whose hands are raised in perjury.

 To you, 0 God, will I sing a new song; I will play on the ten-stringed harp to you who give kings their victory, who set David your servant free.  

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First Reading  

You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel; I am the Lord, your God, and there is no other; my people shall nevermore be put to shame.

Then afterward I will pour out my spirit upon all mankind.

Your sons and daughters shall prophesy.   

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Second Reading  

When Elizabeth greeted her young kinswoman coming from Nazareth, Mary replied with the Magnificat. In her greeting, Elizabeth first called Mary “blessed” because of “the fruit of her womb,” and then she called her “blessed” because of her faith. These two blessings referred directly to the Annunciation. Now, at the Visitation, when Elizabeth’s greeting bears witness to that culminating moment, Mary’s faith acquires a new consciousness and a new expression. That which remained hidden in the depths of the “obedience of faith” at the Annunciation can now be said to spring forth like a clear and life-giving flame of the spirit.

The words used by Mary on the threshold of Elizabeth’s house are an inspired profession of her faith, in which her response to the revealed word is expressed with the religious and poetical exultation of her whole being toward God. In these sublime words, which are simultaneously very simple and wholly inspired by the sacred texts of the people of Israel, Mary’s personal experience, the ecstasy of her heart, shines forth. In them shines a ray of the mystery of God, the glory of his ineffable holiness, the eternal love which, as an irrevocable gift, enters into human history.

Mary is the first to share in this new revelation of God and, within the same, in this new “self-giving” of God. Therefore she proclaims: “For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” Her words reflect a joy of spirit which is difficult to express:

“My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Indeed, “the deepest truth about God and the salvation of man is made clear to us in Christ, who is at the same time the mediator and the fullness of all revelation.”

In her exultation Mary confesses that she finds herself in the very heart of this fullness of Christ. She is conscious that the promise made to the fathers, first of all “to Abraham and to his posterity for ever,” is being fulfilled in herself. She is thus aware that concentrated within herself as the Mother of Christ is the whole salvific economy, in which “from age to age” is manifested he who, as the God of the Covenant, “remembers his mercy.”    

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Responsory

The Lord has chosen her, his loved one from the beginning. 

The Lord had chosen her, his loved one from the beginning.

He has taken her to live with him, his loved one from the beginning.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

The Lord has chosen her, his loved one from the beginning.  

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Antiphon 4

In his great love for us, God sent his Son in the likeness of our sinful nature.  

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Canticle  of Zechariah 

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior, born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.   

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Intercessions

Let us glorify our Savior, who chose the Virgin Mary for his mother. Let us ask him: May your mother intercede for us, Lord.

Sun of Justice, the immaculate Virgin was the white dawn announcing your rising, grant that we may always live in the light of your coming.

Lord, help us imitate Mary, your mother, who chose the best part, may we seek the food that will sustain us forever. 

Savior of the world, by your redeeming might you pre­served your mother beforehand from all stain of sin, keep watch over us, lest we sin. 

You are our redeemer, who made the immaculate Virgin Mary your purest home and the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, make us temples of your Spirit forever. 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.   

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Concluding Prayer

Eternal Father, you inspired the Virgin Mary, mother of your Son, to visit Elizabeth and assist her in her need. Keep us open to the working of your Spirit, and with Mary may we praise you forever. 

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 

May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.    

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Conclusion    

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