Blessed she by all creation,
Who brought forth the world's salvation.
Blessed they who ever blest,
Love you most and serve you best.
Virgin-born, we bow before you;
Blessed was the womb that bore you;
Mary, Mother meek and mild,
Blessed was she in her Child.
Melody: Mon Dieu, Prete Moi L'Orielle 88-77D (Genevan Psalm 86); Music: German Psalter, 1543; Text: R. Heber, 1783-1826, alt.


PSALMODY

Antiphon: O marvelous exchange! Our Creator has become man, born of a virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.

Psalm 122

I rejoiced when I heard them say:
Let us go to God's house.
And now our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is built as a city
strongly compact.
It is there that the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord.

For Israel's law it is,
there to praise the Lord's name.
There were set the thrones of judgment
of the house of David.

For the peace of Jerusalem pray:
"Peace be to your homes!
May peace reign in your walls!
In your palaces, peace!"

For love of my brethren and friends
I say: Peace upon you.
For love of the house of the Lord
I will ask for your good. Glory...

Antiphon: O marvelous exchange! Our Creator has become man, born of a virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.


Antiphon: By your miraculous birth of the Virgin you have fulfilled the Scriptures: like a gentle rain falling upon the earth you have come down to save your people, O God.

Psalm 127

If the Lord does not build the house,
in vain do its builders labor;
if the Lord does not watch over the city,
in vain does the watchman keep vigil.

In vain is your earlier rising,
your going later to rest,
you who toil for the bread you eat,
when he pours gifts on his beloved while they slumber.

Truly sons are a gift from the Lord,
a blessing, the fruit of the womb.
Indeed the sons of youth
are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.

O the happiness of the man
who has filled his quiver with these arrows!
He will have no cause for shame
when he disputes with his foes in the gateways.  Glory...

Antiphon:By your miraculous birth of the Virgin you have fulfilled the Scriptures: like a gentle rain falling upon the earth you have come down to save your people, O God.


Antiphon:Your blessed and fruitful virginity is like the bush, flaming yet unburned, which Moses saw on Sinai. Pray for us, Mother of God.

Canticle – Ephesians 1:3-10

Praised be the God and Father *
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has bestowed on us in Christ *
every spiritual blessing in the heavens.

God chose us in him *
before the world began
to be holy *
and blameless in his sight.

He predestined us *
to be his adopted sons through Jesus Christ,
such was his will and pleasure, †
that all might praise the glorious favor *
he has bestowed on us in his beloved.

In him and through his blood, we have been redeemed, *
and our sins forgiven,
so immeasurably generous *
is God's favor to us.

God has given us the wisdom *
to understand fully the mystery,
the plan he was pleased *
to decree in Christ.

A plan to be carried out *
in Christ, in the fullness of time,
to bring all things into one in him, *
in the heavens and on earth. Glory...

Antiphon:Your blessed and fruitful virginity is like the bush, flaming yet unburned, which Moses saw on Sinai. Pray for us, Mother of God.


READING                                                       Galatians 4:4-5
When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption.


RESPONSORY          
The Word was made flesh; and lived among us.
 - The Word was made flesh and lived among us.
From his fullness we have all received,
 - and he lived among us.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
 - The Word was made flesh and lived among us.


MAGNIFICAT (Canticle of Mary)
Antiphon: Blessed is the womb which bore you, O Christ, and the breast that nursed you, Lord and Savior of the world, alleluia.


INTERCESSIONS
To Christ, Emmanuel, whom the Virgin conceived and brought forth, let us give praise and pray to him:

                            Son of the Virgin Mary, hear us.

You gave Mary the joy of motherhood,
- give all parents true joy in their children.

King of peace, your kingdom is one of justice and peace,
- help us to seek the paths of peace.

You came to make the human race the holy people of God,
- bring all nations to acknowledge the unifying bond of your love.

By your birth you strengthened family ties,
- help families to come to a greater love for one another.

You desired to be born into the days of time,
- grant that our departed brothers and sisters may be born into the day of eternity.


Our Father...


COLLECT
O God, who through the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary
bestowed on the human race
the grace of eternal salvation,
grant, we pray,
that we may experience the intercession of her,
through whom we were found worthy
to receive the author of life,
our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


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