Novena to the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Day 3

Day 3 – September 8 – Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Prayers-

Collect for the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Deus, in cuius passióne, secúndum Simeónis prophétiam, dulcíssimam ánimam gloriósæ Vírginis et Matris Maríæ dolóris gladius pertransívit: concéde propítius; ut, qui transfixiónem eius et passiónem venerándo recólimus, gloriósis méritis et précibus ómnium Sanctórum Cruci fidéliter astántium intercedéntibus, passiónis tuæ efféctum felícem consequámur: Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre, in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

O God, in Whose Passion the sword, according to the prophecy of blessed Simeon, pierced through the soul of Mary, the glorious Virgin and Mother, mercifully grant that we, who reverently commemorate her piercing through and her suffering, may, by the interceding glorious merits of all the saints faithfully standing by the Cross, obtain the abundant fruit of Your passion. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Collect for the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Famulis tuis, quaesumus, Domine, caelestis gratiae munus impertire: ut quibus beatae Virginis partus exstitit salutis exordium, Nativitatis eius votiva solemnitas pacis tribuat incrementum.  Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Filium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

Grant unto us thy servants, we beseech thee, O Lord, the gift of thy heavenly grace, unto whom Thou didst give the first sight of a Saviour as the offspring of a Blessed Virgin, and grant that this Feast, which they keep in honour of the same Virgin, may avail them unto the increase of peace. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.  Amen.

Excerpt from the Sequence Stabat Mater dolorósa
Quis est homo, qui non fleret, Matrem Christi si vidéret In tanto supplício? Quis non posset contristári, Christi Matrem contemplári Doléntem cum Fílio?	Is there one who would not weep ‘Whelmed in miseries so deep Christ’s dear Mother’s pain untold. Can the human heart refrain From partaking in her pain, In that Mother’s pain untold?

Prayer by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri

Then, oh Mary, even after thy Son hath died by the hands of men who persecuted him unto death, have not these ungrateful men yet ceased from persecuting him with their sins, and continuing to afflict thee, oh mother of sorrows ? And I also, oh God, have been one of these. Ah, my most sweet mother, obtain for me tears to weep for such ingratitude. And then, by the sufferings thou didst experience in the journey to Egypt, assist me in the journey that I am making to eternity, that at length I may go to unite with thee in loving my persecuted Saviour, in the country of the blessed. Amen.

Reading for Mediation-

Excerpt from the Discourse on the Second Dolor of Mary by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri

The Second Dolor - Of the flight of Jesus into Egypt

Every one can imagine how much Mary must have suffered on this journey. It was a long distance to Egypt. Authors generally agree with Barrada that it was four hundred miles; so that at least it was a journey of thirty days. The way, as St. Bonaventure describes it, was rough, unknown, through woods, and little frequented. The season was winter, and therefore they had to travel in snow, rain, wind, and storms, and through bad and difficult roads. Mary was then fifteen years of age, a delicate virgin, unaccustomed to such journeys. They had no servant to attend them. Joseph and Mary, said St. Peter Chrysologus, had no man servant nor maid-servant; they were themselves both masters and servants. Oh God, how piteous a spectacle it was to see that tender Virgin, with that newly born infant in her arms wandering through this world! St. Bonaventure asks, Where did they obtain food? Where did they rest at night? How were they lodged ? What other food could they have, than a piece of hard bread which Joseph brought with him or begged in charity? Where could they have slept (particularly in the two hundred miles of desert through which they travelled, where, as authors relate, there were neither houses nor inns) except on the sand, or under some tree in the wood, in the open air, exposed to robbers, or those wild beasts with which Egypt abounded ? Ah, if any one had met these three greatest personages of the world, what would he have believed them to be but three poor, roving beggars?

Prayers for each day.