Revelations of St. Bridget/Chapter 2. Prayer of Praise and Thanksgiving, on the Life of the Blessed Virgin
CHAPTER II.
PRAYER OF PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING, ON THE LIFE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
Blessed and venerated be thou, my Lady Virgin Mary, most holy Mother of God, whose noblest creature thou art, and who was never so closely loved as by thee, O glorious Lady.
Glory be to thee, my Lady Virgin Mary, Mother of God, who by the same angel, by whom Christ was announced to thee, was announced to thy father and mother, and wast conceived and born in their most holy union.
Blessed be thou, my Lady Virgin Mary, who in thy most holy infancy, immediately after being weaned, wast borne by thy parents to God’s temple, and committed, with other virgins, to the care of the devout high priest.
Praise be to thee, my Lady Virgin Mary, who when thou didst attain an age to know that God, thy Creator, existed, didst immediately begin to love him intensely, above all things, and didst then most discreetly order thy day and night, in different offices and exercises to the honor of God; and didst so curtail the food and sleep of thy glorious body as to be apt to serve God.
Infinite glory be to thee, my Lady Virgin Mary, who didst humbly vow thy virginity to God, and, therefore, didst not care who espoused thee, because thou didst know, that he to whom thou didst first pledge thy faith, was more powerful and better than all.
Blessed be thou, my Lady Virgin Mary, who wast alone inflamed with the ardor of divine love, contemplating with all thy mind, and with all the elevated virtue of thy powers, the most high God, to whom with ardent love thou hadst offered thy virginity, when the angel of God was sent to thee, and saluting thee, announced to thee the will of God. To whom, thou replying, didst most humbly declare thyself the handmaid of God; and the Holy Ghost wonderfully filled thee with all virtue. God the Father sent thee his coeternal and coequal Son, who, coming in thee, then assumed to himself a human body of thy flesh and blood. And so, in that blessed hour, the Son of God became in thee thy son, living with all his members, yet not losing his divine Majesty.
Blessed be thou, my Lady Virgin Mary, who didst constantly feel the body of Christ, created of thy blessed body, grow and move in thy womb till the time of his glorious nativity. Whom thou before all others didst touch with thy sacred hands, wrap up in clothes, and, according to the oracle of the prophet, didst lay in a manger, and didst maternally nurture him with the sacred milk of thy blessed breasts, in great joy of exultation.
Glory be to thee, O my Lady Virgin Mary, who, inhabiting a contemptible house, — a stable, — didst see powerful kings come from afar, to thy Son, humbly offering royal gifts with great reverence to thy Son. Whom afterwards thou didst present with thy precious hands in the Temple, and didst diligently lay up in thy blessed heart all things seen and heard in his infancy.
Blessed be thou, my Lady Virgin Mary, who didst fly to Egypt with thy most holy Son, whom thou didst afterwards bring with joy to Nazareth, and behold him, thy Son, as he increased bodily, humble and obedient to thee and Joseph.
Blessed be thou, my Lady Virgin Mary, who didst behold thy Son preaching, working miracles, and choosing his Apostles, who, enlightened by his example, miracles, and doctrine, were made witnesses of the truth, announcing to all nations that thy Jesus was truly the Son of God, that it was he who had accomplished in himself the oracles of the prophets, when he had patiently endured a most atrocious death for the human race.
Blessed be thou, my Lady Virgin Mary, who didst long beforehand know that thy Son was to be arrested, and didst afterwards, with thy blessed eyes, mournfully see him bound and scourged, crowned with thorns, and fastened naked to the cross, and many despising . him and calling him a seducer.
Honor be to thee, my Lady Virgin Mary, who didst painfully hear with thy blessed ears thy Son speaking to thee in pain from the cross,, and crying to the Father in the agony of death, and commending his soul to his Father’s hands.
Praise be to thee, my Lady Virgin Mary, who in bitter grief didst behold thy Son hanging on the cross, livid and stained with his own blood from the top of his head to the sole of his feet, and thus cruelly die. And didst most bitterly see his feet and hands, together with his glorious side, transpierced, and his whole skin torn without any mercy.
Blessed be thou, my Lady Virgin Mary, who with tearful eyes didst behold thy Son taken down, wrapped in winding-sheets, laid in the sepulchre, and there guarded by soldiers.
Blessed be thou, my Lady Virgin Mary, who didst depart from the sepulchre of thy Son, with intense grief of thy deeply wounded heart, and wast borne, all full of grief, to John’s house by thy friends, and didst there immediately feel a relief of thy great grief, because thou didst most certainly foreknow that he would quickly rise again.
Rejoice, my most worthy Lady Virgin Mary, that the very moment thy Son rose from the dead, he wished this to be known to thee, his most blessed Mother, because he at once appeared in person to thee, then showed to others that he was risen from the dead, who underwent death in his living body.
Rejoice, then, my most worthy Lady Virgin Mary, who, death being conquered, and the agent of death supplanted and the way of heaven laid open, didst see thy Son rising triumphant with the crown of victory; and on the fortieth day after his resurrection, didst behold him honorably ascend in the sight of many, to his heavenly kingdom, attended like a king by angels.
Exult, my most worthy Lady Virgin Mary, that thou didst deserve to see how thy Son, after his ascension, sent down on his Apostles and disciples the Holy Ghost, wherewith he had already filled thee entirely; and increasing in them the fervor of charity and uprightness of Catholic faith, wonderfully enlightened their hearts.
Rejoice, especially, my Lady Virgin Mary, and let the whole earth rejoice with thy joy, that thy Son permitted thee to remain many years in this world after his ascension, to console his friends and strengthen them in faith, to help the needy, and sagely counsel the Apostles.
And then, by thy most prudent words, most virtuous behavior, and holy deeds, he converted to the Catholic faith innumerable Jews and Pagan infidels, and wonderfully enlightened them to confess thee to be his Virgin Mother, and himself thy Son, and God with a real humanity.
Blessed be thou, my Lady Virgin Mary, who from thy ardent charity and maternal love didst unceasingly, hour by hour, desire to go to thy beloved Son, now sitting in heaven; and thou living in this world, by sighing for heavenly things, didst humbly conform thyself to the divine will, whereby, as divine justice dictated, thou didst unspeakably increase thy eternal glory.
Eternal honor and glory be to thee, my Lady Virgin Mary, who, when it pleased God to take thee from the exile of this world, and to honor thy soul eternally in his kingdom, vouchsafed to announce it to thee by his angel, and who wished thy venerable body, when dead, to be interred by the Apostles, with all reverence, in the sepulchre.
Rejoice, O my Lady Virgin Mary, that in thy calm death thy soul was embraced by the power of God, who paternally guarding it, protected it from all adversity. And then God the Father subjected all that is created to thy power; and the Son of God most honorably placed thee, his most worthy mother, on a most exalted throne beside him; and the Holy Ghost wonderfully exalted thee to his glorious kingdom, a Virgin espoused to himself.
Rejoice eternally, my Lady Virgin Mary, that for some days after thy death, thy body lay buried in the tomb, until, by the power of God, it was again honorably united to thy soul.
Exult, O mother of God, glorious Lady Virgin Mary, that thou didst deserve to see thy soul quickened after death, assumed with thy soul with angelic honors to heaven, and didst see thy glorious Son, God with humanity, and with exulting joy behold him to be the most just judge of all men, and the rewarder of good works.
Rejoice also, my Lady Virgin Mary, that the sacred flesh of thy body knew that it existed Virgin Mother in heaven, and saw itself immaculate from all mortal and venial stain; nay, knew that thou hadst done all virtuous deeds so in love that it behooved God to honor thee with the highest honor. Then also didst thou understand, that whoso loves God more ardently in this world, will be placed nearer to himself by God, in heaven. And as it was manifest to all the court of heaven that no one, of angels or of men, loved God with as much charity as thou, therefore it was just and worthy that God himself should honorably place thee, soul and body, on the highest seat of glory.
Blessed be thou, O my Lady Virgin Mary, that every faithful creature praises the Trinity for thee, because thou art his most worthy creature; who, dost most promptly obtain pardon for wretched souls, and art the most faithful advocate and pleader for all sinners.
Praised then be God, supreme Emperor and Lord, who created thee to so great honor, that thou shouldst become perennially Empress and Lady in the kingdom of heaven, to reign with him eternally through ages of ages. Amen.