ORATIO LVI [al., LV]. AD SANCTAM VIRGINEM MARIAM. In Nativitate ejus.
A Humble Request for Mary's Help
The soul asks the holy Virgin for strength to praise her and to pray humbly against the enemies of salvation.
Deign to let me praise you, holy Virgin; give me strength against your enemies, and against the enemy of the whole human race. Give me the strength to entreat you humbly.
The Birth that Illumines the World
Mary's holy birth is celebrated as the source of joy, hope, and light for all Christendom.
Give me the strength to praise you earnestly with prayers, through the merits of your most holy birth, by which you were born into the world as the joy, the hope of life, and the solace of all Christendom. When you were born, most holy Virgin, the world was illuminated.
Blessed Fruit of a Virgin Womb
A contemplative blessing on Mary's virginity and her unique conceiving, bearing, and bringing forth of God.
Blessed lineage, holy root, and blessed is your fruit — you who alone deserved, filled with the Holy Spirit, to conceive God as a virgin, to bear God as a virgin, to bring forth as a virgin, and to remain a virgin after childbirth.✦
Mercy Sought Through Davidic Lineage
The sinner implores Mary's mercy, asking that her glorious Davidic birth bring true joy and purification from sin.
Have mercy, then, on me a sinner, and help me, Lady, so that just as your glorious birth — sprung from the seed of Abraham, born of the tribe of Judah, illustrious from the line of David — announced joy to the whole world, so too may it fill me with true joy and cleanse me from all sin.✦✦12
Indulgence and the Lily's Prayer
The prayer asks Mary's intercession for the covering of sin and closes with a tender appeal through her lily-like purity.
Pray for me, most provident Virgin, that the most joyful joys of your most wholesome birth may bring the veil of indulgence over all my sins.3 Holy Mother of God, flourishing like a lily, pray your sweet Son for me, a wretched sinner.✦
Amen
The prayer concludes with a simple doxological assent.
Amen.
Read the original Latin
Dignare me laudare te, virgo sacrata; da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos, et contra hostem totius humani generis. Da mihi virtutem te humiliter deprecandi. Da mihi virtutem te cum precibus obnixe laudandi, per merita tuae sacratissimae nativitatis, quae nata es in mundum universae Christianitati gaudium, spes vitae et solatium. Quando nata es, Virgo sanctissima, tunc illuminatus est mundus. Stirps beata, radix sancta, et benedictus fructus tuus, quae sola meruisti Spiritu sancto plena virgo Deum concipere, virgo Deum portare, virgo parere, virgo post partum permanere. Miserere igitur mihi peccatori, et adjuva me, domina, ut sicut nativitas tua gloriosa ex semine Abrahae, orta de tribu Juda, clara ex stirpe David gaudium annuntiavit universo mundo; ita me gaudio vero repleat, et emundet ab omni peccato. Ora pro me, Virgo providentissima, vel laetissima gaudia tuae saluberrimae nativitatis velamen indulgentiae conferant cunctis meis peccatis. Sancta Dei Genitrix, florens ut lilium, ora tuum dulcem natum pro me misero peccatore.
Amen.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Isa.7.14;Matt.1.23 — Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Look, the young woman will conceive and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel. Matt.1.23 — "Look, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel," which means, "God with us."
- ↩Matt.1.1-Matt.1.17;Luke.1.27 — The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Matt.1.2 — Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers. Matt.1.3 — Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered Ram. Matt.1.4 — Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon. Matt.1.5 — Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse. Matt.1.6 — Jesse fathered David the king. And David fathered Solomon by the wife of Uriah. Matt.1.7 — Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam became the father of Abijah, and Abijah became the father of Asaph. Matt.1.8 — Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, Joram fathered Uzziah. Matt.1.9 — Uzziah fathered Jotham, and Jotham fathered Ahaz, and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah. Matt.1.10 — And Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, and Manasseh fathered Amon, and Amon fathered Josiah. Matt.1.11 — Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the exile to Babylon. Matt.1.12 — And after the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel. Matt.1.13 — Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, Abiud fathered Eliakim, and Eliakim fathered Azor. Matt.1.14 — And Azor fathered Sadoc; and Sadoc fathered Achim; and Achim fathered Eliud. Matt.1.15 — Eliud became the father of Eleazar, Eleazar became the father of Matthan, and Matthan became the father of Jacob. Matt.1.16 — And Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. Matt.1.17 — So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. Luke.1.27 — to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.
- ↩Luke.2.10;Luke.1.14 — And the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.' Luke.1.14 — And there will be joy for you and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
- ↩Song.2.1-Song.2.2;Song.2.1-Song.2.2 — I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys. Song.2.2 — As a lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters. Song.2.1 — I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys. Song.2.2 — As a lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters.
Notes
- 1 ↩igitur rendered as 'then' to capture the inferential force linking the preceding praise to the petition that follows.
- 2 ↩ut…ita rendered as 'just as…so too' to preserve the correlative comparative structure.
- 3 ↩velamen indulgentiae — 'veil/covering of indulgence' — is a dense Marian-devotional image: the joys of Mary's birth are asked to serve as a covering or intercessory shield over the petitioner's sins. Rendered to preserve the metaphor without over-explaining.
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