The last dayof the merry month of May

Josquin Lebloitte (Josquin des Prés)
Benedicta es Caelorum Regina

Rogamus te, Domina nostra, Mater Dei inclita,

super choros angelorum exaltata, ut cordis nostri vas caelestis gratiae impleas, auro sapientiae effulgere facias, tuae virtutis potentia consolides, lapide virtutum pretioso adornes, oleum misericordiae tuae, tu oliva benedicta, super nos effundas, quo peccatorum nostrorum multitudinem operias, qua ad caelestis gloriae altitudinem sublevari et cum beatis beatificari mereamur, praestante Iesu Christo, Filio tuo, qui te hodierna die super choros angelorum exaltavit, diademate regni coronavit et in solio aeterni luminis collocavit, cui est honor et gloria per aeterna saecula. 

Dicat omnis Ecclesia: Amen. Alleluia.

S. Antonius Patav.

Sermo in Assumptione B.M.V.

From East and West, ardent voices proclaim:Holy Queen, Sacred Empress,Sovereign of Earth and Heaven, pray for us!

Pedro de Escobar (Pedro do Porto)

1. Virgen Bendita sin par

de quien toda virtud mana,/ vos sois digna de loar.
2. Vos, Sagrada Emperadora,/ desesisteis el engaño/ y remediasteis el daño/ de la gente pecadora.
3.De los ángeles Señora,/ vos querais tan gracia dar/ que no podamos pecar/ contra aquel que carne humana/ de vos le plugo tomar. (Cancionero de Palacio)

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(1.Blessed Virgin without equal,/ from Whom all virtue comes,/ You are worthy of praise.)
(2.You, oh Sacred Empress,/ undid the error/ and remedied the harm/ of the sinful people.)
(3.Of the Angels You are the Lady,/ You so much grace wish to bestow/ that we may not sin/ against the One who human flesh/ deigned to take from You.)

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Ardent voices from the East sing out: "O Mother of God, today thou art carried into heaven on the chariots of the cherubim, the seraphim wait upon thee and the ranks of the heavenly army bow before thee."

Further: "O just, O most blessed (Joseph), since thou art sprung from a royal line, thou hast been chosen from among all mankind to be spouse of the pure Queen who, in a way which defies description, will give birth to Jesus the king." In addition: "I shall sing a hymn to the mother, the Queen, whom I joyously approach in praise, gladly celebrating her wonders in song...

Whoever finds the Immaculata, finds Jesus

Mikołaj Zieleński
Magnificat (1611)
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We cannot take rest as long as there is in the world one soul in danger, who does not yet know the Immaculata. Our human frailty, limited resources or any other worldly difficulty must not restrain us; let us confide in the Immaculata, let us place ourselves truly in Her hands and She will continue to win the battles of God, as at Lepanto, as at Vienna. We must place our Lady in every soul so that from every soul sin be expelled and Jesus introduced. Whoever finds the Immaculata, finds Jesus.

Auxiliatrix mea et Protectrix mea es

Tomás Luis de Victoria
Ave Regina Caelorum (8 v.)
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Domina Laudabilissima, atque Optima,
Misericordia Fons,
Bonitatis Abyssus,
Aqua Viva,
Peccantium Patrona,
Fluctuantium Portus,
Vitis Vera,
Vas continens manna,
Cadentium Correctio,
Cunctorum Refugium,
Totiusque mundi Vita,
Immaculatissima,
Gloriosissima,
Beneficentissima mea,
Honorabilis magis quam Cherubim,
Apostolorum Exultatio,
Martyrum Praedicatio,
Sanctorum Gaudium,
Altare aureum,
Arca vera,
Rubus incombustus:
Salve, Mater Christi,
quem decet gloria et honor,
adoratio et hymnus,
nunc, et semper, et ubique.
Amen, in saecula saeculorum.

[Composite of different prayers
to the Most Holy Mother of God
by Saint Ephrem the Syrian]

Guillaume Dufay

Nuper rosarum flores

... Igitur, alma parens/ Nati tui et filia/ Virgo decus virginum,/ Tuus te Florentiae/ Devotus erat populus,/ Ut qui mente et corpore/ Mundo quicquam exorarit.

Oratione tua/ Cruciatus et meritis/ Tui secundum carnem/ Nati Domini sui/ Grata beneficia/ Veniamque reatum/ Accipere mereatur./ Amen.

Pope prays for the Church in China

From Wednesday's General Audience:

During the Easter season, the liturgy sings to Christ risen from the dead, conqueror of death and sin, living and present in the life of the Church and in the affairs of the world. The Good news of God’s Love made manifest in Christ, the Lamb that was slain, the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, is constantly spreading until it reaches the ends of the earth, and at the same time it encounters rejection and obstacles in every part of the world. Now, as then, the Cross leads to the Resurrection.

Tuesday, 24 May, is dedicated to the liturgical memorial of Our Lady, Help of Christians, who is venerated with great devotion at the Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai:

Devotion to Mary: the sure way to Christ

Orlando di Lasso
Alma Redemptoris Mater

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Jesus, our Savior, true God and true man, must be the ultimate end of all our other devotions; otherwise they would be false and misleading. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end of everything. "We labor," says St. Paul, "only to make all men perfect in Jesus Christ."

She does not need our praise

Alexander Agricola

Ave, Domina Sancta Maria

Mater Dei, Regina caeli, Porta paradisi, Domina mundi, singularis pura: tu es enim Virgo. Tu concepisti Iesum sine peccato, tu peperisti Creatorem, Redemptorem atque Salvatorem mundi, in quo non dubito: libera nos ab omnibus malis et ora pro peccatis nostris. Amen.

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She does not need our praise. It is we who need her glory. How indeed can glory be glorified, or the source of light be enlightened? We are weaving a crown for ourselves in the doing. "I live," the Lord says, "and I will glorify those who glorify Me." Wine is truly pleasant to drink, and bread to eat. The one rejoices, the other strengthens the heart of man. But what is sweeter than the Mother of my God? She has taken my mind captive, and held my tongue in bondage. I think of her by day and night. She, the Mother of the Word, supplies my words. ... Let us then climb up the mystical mountain, where beyond the reach of worldly things, passing through the obscurity of storm, we stand in the divine light and may give praise to Almighty power.

Mater

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Mater Divinae Gratiae

Aubrey de Vere

Praise the Mother of the Redeemer

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Alma Redemptoris Mater

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O pure and immaculate and likewise blessed Virgin, who art the sinless Mother of thy Son, the mighty Lord of the universe, thou who art inviolate and altogether holy, the hope of the hopeless and sinful, we sing thy praises. We bless thee, as full of every grace, thou who didst bear the God-Man: we all bow low before thee; we invoke thee and implore thine aid. Rescue us, O holy and inviolate Virgin, from every necessity that presses upon us and from all the temptations of the devil. Be our intercessor and advocate at the hour of death and judgment; deliver us from the fire that is not extinguished and from the outer darkness; make us worthy of the glory of thy Son, O dearest and most clement Virgin Mother. Thou indeed art our only hope, most sure and sacred in God's sight, to whom be honor and glory, majesty and dominion forever and ever world without end. Amen. [Saint Ephrem the Syrian]

The Immaculata, the Exterminatrix of all heresies

Peter Philips
Gaude Maria Virgo

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[I]f it becomes children not to omit the imitation of any of the virtues of this most Blessed Mother, we yet wish that the faithful apply themselves by preference to the principal virtues which are, as it were, the nerves and joints of the Christian life - we mean faith, hope, and charity towards God and our neighbor. Of these virtues the life of Mary bears in all its phases the brilliant character; but they attained their highest degree of splendor at the time when she stood by her dying Son. Jesus is nailed to the cross, and the malediction is hurled against Him that "He made Himself the Son of God" (John xix., 7). But she unceasingly recognized and adored the divinity in Him. She bore His dead body to the tomb, but never for a moment doubted that He would rise again. Then the love of God with which she burned made her a partaker in the sufferings of Christ and the associate in His passion; with him moreover, as if forgetful of her own sorrow, she prayed for the pardon of the executioners although they in their hate cried out: "His blood be upon us and upon our children" (Matth. xxvii., 25).

Mary, the earthly paradise

Tomás Luis de Victoria

Ave Maria (in Annuntiatione B.M.)

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Mary alone found grace before God without the help of any other creature. All those who have since found grace before God have found it only through her. She was full of grace when she was greeted by the Archangel Gabriel and was filled with grace to overflowing by the Holy Spirit when he so mysteriously overshadowed her. From day to day, from moment to moment, she increased so much this twofold plenitude that she attained an immense and inconceivable degree of grace. So much so, that the Almighty made her the sole custodian of his treasures and the sole dispenser of his graces. She can now ennoble, exalt and enrich all she chooses. She can lead them along the narrow path to heaven and guide them through the narrow gate to life. She can give a royal throne, sceptre and crown to whom she wishes. Jesus is always and everywhere the fruit and Son of Mary and Mary is everywhere the genuine tree that bears that Fruit of life, the true Mother who bears that Son.

Holy Hour

The first Thursday and Friday of the month dedicated to Our Lady are at hand - and since not a few Catholics are unaware of the traditional devotional exercises dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, there are many good suggestions at Catholic Tradition. 

You are welcome to suggest other links, books, or whatever resources have helped you in your devotion to the Sacred Heart.

Note: May 15 marks the 55th anniversary of the memorable encyclical of Pope Pius XII on the Sacred Heart, Haurietis Aquas (the encyclical itself marked the 100th anniversary of the extension of the feast of the Sacred Heart to the entire Church). We had a special series dedicated to it 5 years ago. 

Respice stellam, voca Mariam!

Alfonso X, the Wise
Cantigas de Santa Maria (C - Santa Maria, strela do dia)

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Our Lady is proposed by the Church as a model of life, a life lived according to the will of God. Her pilgrimage on the path of earthly existence was a decided, total and responsible "yes" to the Lord's indications. We recall Nazareth, Bethlehem, the flight into Egypt, Cana of Galilee, Golgotha, Pentecost in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. These are stages in a pilgrimage carried out with deep faith. Blessed are you, Mary, because you have believed... because of this all generations will call you blessed! (cfr. Lk 1: 45, 48).

Mary, the foundation, the noblest after Christ

Giovanni Gabrieli
Sancta et immaculata virginitas
quibus te laudibus efferam, nescio:
quia, quem caeli capere non poterant,
tuo gremio contulisti.
Genuisti qui te fecit,
et in aeternum permanes Virgo.

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[C]an anyone fail to see that there is no surer or more direct road than by Mary for uniting all mankind in Christ and obtaining through Him the perfect adoption of sons, that we may be holy and immaculate in the sight of God? For if to Mary it was truly said: "Blessed art thou who hast believed because in thee shall be fulfilled the things that have been told thee by the Lord" (Luke i., 45); or in other words, that she would conceive and bring forth the Son of God and if she did receive in her breast Him who is by nature Truth itself in order that "He, generated in a new order and with a new nativity, though invisible in Himself, might become visible in our flesh" (St. Leo the Great, Ser. 2, De Nativ. Dom.): the Son of God made man, being the "author and consummator of our faith"; it surely follows that His Mother most holy should be recognized as participating in the divine mysteries and as being in a manner the guardian of them, and that upon her as upon a foundation, the noblest after Christ, rises the edifice of the faith of all centuries.

Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genitrix!

Claudio Monteverdi
Vespro della beata Vergine (XI. Sonata sopra Sancta Maria)

God the Father wishes Mary to be the mother of his children until the end of time and so he says to her, "Dwell in Jacob", that is to say, take up your abode permanently in my children, in my holy ones represented by Jacob, and not in the children of the devil and sinners represented by Esau. 

Just as in natural and bodily generation there is a father and a mother, so in the supernatural and spiritual generation there is a father who is God and a mother who is Mary. All true children of God have God for their father and Mary for their mother; anyone who does not have Mary for his mother, does not have God for his father. This is why the reprobate, such as heretics and schismatics, who hate, despise or ignore the Blessed Virgin,

EGO FLOS CAMPI

ET LILIUM CONVALLIUM

IESUS - MARIA - IOSEPH

Jesus, Lily of the Valleys
Mary, Queen of May
Joseph, Patron of Laborers

Orate pro nobis!