Coronation of the Virgin

“ HAIL, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
V. Make me worthy to praise thee, holy Virgin.
R. Give me strength against thine enemies. ”

“ To the most holy and undivided Trinity, to the manhood of our crucified Lord Jesus Christ, to the fruitful virginity of the most blessed and glorious Mary, ever a virgin, to the entire assembly of the saints, be ascribed everlasting praise, honor, power, and glory, by every creature ”

“ There can be no doubt, that if so many virgins have consecrated their hearts and bodies to His Divine Majesty, by indissoluble vows, it was that they might imitate the example of the Most Holy Virgin. ”

“ MOST holy and immaculate Virgin, my Mother Mary, it is to thee, the Mother of my God, the Queen of the world, the advocate, the hope, and the refuge of sinners, that I have recourse to-day: I, who am the most miserable of all. I love thee, O most amiable Sovereign, and for the love I bear thee, I promise to serve thee always, and do all in my power to make others love thee also. I place in thee, after God, all my hopes. I confide my salvation to thy care. ”

“ What outfit of sanctity, what fulness and redundance of grace, what exuberance of merits must have been hers, on the supposition, which the fathers justify, that her Maker regarded them at all, and took them into account, when he condescended "not to abhor the Virgin's womb?" Is it surprising, then, that on the one hand she should be immaculate in her conception? or on the other that she should be exalted as a queen, with a crown of twelve stars? Men sometimes wonder that we call her mother of life, of mercy, of salvation ”

“ So we, to gain the truest idea of our destiny, must lift up our eyes to the Blessed Virgin on her heavenly throne, and say: Oh! my soul, see for what thou art created. Think of this my brethren, as often as you kneel before her image, or meditate on her greatness. You cannot be what she is, but you can be like her. She is a creature like you. She is a human being like you. She is a Christian like you. And her joy, her beauty, her glory, her wealth, her knowledge, her power—nay, even the mighty efficacy of her intercession—are only what, in their measure, God offers to you. ”

“ Holy Mary, All ye holy men and women, saints of God, intercede for us to our Lord, that we may be made worthy to receive help and salvation at His hands. Amen.
TO THE MOST BLESSED VIRGIN.
I acknowledge thee, most holy Virgin, Queen of Heaven, Lady and Mistress of the Universe, Daughter of the Eternal Father, Mother of His well-beloved Son, most loving Spouse of His most Holy Spirit; and in these names I worship thee. ”

“ The day has dawned, the long-wished for day of the blessed and venerable Virgin Mary. Well may this earth of ours rejoice and be glad for having been honored and sanctified by the birth of such a virgin. ”

“ O IMMACULATE Mary, bright dawn of the sun of justice, I rejoice with thee, and wonder that in the moment of thy conception thou wast confirmed in grace and preserved from all sin. I thank and extol the most holy Trinity for having distinguished thee alone with this special privilege. Ah, obtain for me, O holy Virgin, an entire and constant abhorrence of sin above every other evil, and that I may sooner die than commit it any more. ”

“ One day this good Mother answered him, "I salute thee, my son Bernard. "
The Ave Maria is a prayer that is never wearisome. The devotion to the Holy Virgin is delicious, sweet, nourishing. When we talk on earthly subjects or politics, we grow weary; but when we talk of the Holy Virgin, it is always new. All the saints have a great devotion to Our Lady; no grace comes from Heaven without passing through her hands. We cannot go into a house without speaking to the porter; well, the Holy Virgin is the portress of Heaven. ”

“ EVER glorious and blessed Virgin, Queen of virgins, Mother of mercy, hope and comfort of dejected souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart, whilst thine only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John; take pity, we beseech thee, on our poverty and necessities; have compassion on our anxieties; assist and comfort us in all our infirmities and miseries. ”

“ Though unimportant in comparison with the comprehensive and magnificent church altar-pieces already described, there is no class of pictures so popular and so attractive, none on which the character of the time and the painter is stamped more clearly and intelligibly, than on these simple representations.
The Virgin is not here the dispenser of mercy; she is simply the mother of the Redeemer. She is occupied only by her divine Son. She caresses him, or she gazes on him fondly. She presents him to the worshipper. She holds him forth with a pensive joy as the predestined offering. ”

“ May the glorious pleading of the blessed and glorious Mary, ever a virgin, shield us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and bring us to life everlasting. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. ”

“ Most holy Virgin, elevated in heaven above all the angels and saints, I honor thee with my whole heart, as the beloved Spouse of the Holy Ghost, and I consecrate to thee my heart with all its affections, beseeching thee to obtain from the most Holy Trinity all the graces necessary for my salvation. ”

“ The following Responsory is omitted when the Te Deum is said.
R. Receive, O Virgin Mary, the word which the Lord hath sent thee through an angel: Thou shalt conceive, and shalt bring forth both God and man, that thou mayest be called blessed amongst all women.
V. Yea, thou shalt bring forth a Son, and shalt suffer no loss of virginity: thou shalt be with child, and shalt be a mother ever undefiled. That thou mayest be called blessed amongst all women.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. That thou mayest be called blessed amongst all women. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In fact, the Virgin remains calm and serene beside her enraged son, and reassures our heart also with her confidence. If she presents the Son of God to the world under a terrifying aspect, at the same time she presses him so tenderly against her breast, and her features, under the splendour of the divine radiance, shine with such purity that we feel the flame that purifies all passing within ourselves.49 The Virgin appears here like the dawning light. She advances from right to left, beautiful as the skies, light as the cloud that bears her. ”

“ The religious sentiment of the age forbade the portrayal of any sign of decrepitude in the Virgin even at the hour of her death, and except for the substitution of the palm for the lily and the reversal of the usual places of the figures, the Virgin being placed on the left and the angel on the right, it would be difficult to distinguish the scene where the Virgin receives the news of her approaching death, from that in which her approaching motherhood is announced to her. ”

“ It is rare indeed to meet with persons wanting in tenderness for the Blessed Virgin, and in an inclination towards that love which we should have for Mary, and that singular veneration which we owe her. ”

“ No one doubted that their salvation was owing to the prayers which had been addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary."'—Univers, 30th November, 1856.
Prayer.—O most humble of Virgins, holy Mother of God, Mistress of life and Lady of the universe, teach me humility and the true love of this precious virtue. How great is the pride of my heart, who am but dust and ashes; I have eagerly sought for the praises of men, when shame and confusion for my innumerable infidelities should have made me feel my nothingness! ”

“ I can find no sentiment implying invocation, or religious worship of any kind, or in any degree; I find no allusion to her Assumption.
Pope Leo, who is frequently in these documents [Vol. v. p. 1418.] called Archbishop of Rome, in a letter to Julianus, Bishop of Cos, speaks of Christ as born of "A Virgin," "The blessed Virgin," "The pure, undefiled Virgin;" and in a letter to the empress Pulcheria, he calls Mary simply "The Virgin Mary." ”

“ The cynic who sneers at our worship of Mary and, with satirical satisfaction, paints the Virgin as the corpulent mother of four or five boys, will laugh at an Altötting Virgin but grow silent and earnest before a Sistine Madonna! For here the divinity in which he does not wish to believe confronts him in the work of art and compels his reverence. ”

“ It was during this same eleventh century, when a woman had helped to strengthen the power of the Church, that the influence of the Madonna--of Mary, the mother of Christ--began to make a profound impression upon the form of worship. A multitude of Latin hymns may be found which were written in honor of the Virgin as far back as the fifth century, and in the mediæval romances of chivalry, which were so often tinged with religious mysticism, she often appears as the Empress and Queen of Heaven. ”

“ The large image of the Virgin, in its massive frame, occupies the seat of honor. A priest and a deacon, clad in crimson velvet and gold vestments, their heads unprotected, even in the most severe weather, by anything but their own thick hair, sit respectfully with their backs to the horses. When the Virgin drives along, passers-by pause, salute, and cross themselves. Evidently, under these circumstances, it is difficult for a foreigner to get a view of the original Virgin. ”

“ More beautiful and more acceptable to our feelings are those graceful representations of the Virgin as dispenser of mercy on earth; as protectress and patroness either of all Christendom, or of some particular locality, country, or community. In such pictures she stands with outstretched arms, crowned with a diadem, or in some instances simply veiled, her ample robe, extended on each side, is held up by angels, while under its protecting folds are gathered worshippers and votaries of all ranks and ages—men, women, children,—kings, nobles, ecclesiastics,—the poor, the lame, the sick. ”

“ O Mary! conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee! By thy most Holy Virginity and thy Immaculate Conception, O most Holy Virgin! obtain for us purity of heart and body, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen!"
But this does not satisfy the prelate's piety; he also entreats the Sovereign Pontiff that the belief in the Immaculate Conception be expressed in the litanies of the Blessed Virgin. The Holy Father grants this petition, and permits the addition to the litany of the invocation: "Regina sine labe concepta, ora pro nobis." ”

“ To the first, she says, that the Virgin is simply a creature, yet so holy, so perfect, so closely united to her Son, and so much loved by God, as to render it impossible to love the Son sincerely without loving and honouring the Mother. ”

“ However, though the brilliancy of precious stones does not diminish, yet it does not increase; whilst the love of the Most Holy Virgin never remained in the same state, but made continual and incredible progress until she entered heaven. With good reason, then, is Our Lady called the Mother of pure Love—that is to say, the most lovable amongst all creatures, and the most beloved by her only Son, Who is loved by her as the most lovable and loving of Sons. ”

“ A virgin bore Him Whom this world cannot contain or support. He, born of the womb of Mary, preserved inviolate her chastity, and the seal of her virginity. Therefore Christ found in the Virgin what He would take for His own, what the Lord of all would assume to Himself. By the woman and the man our flesh was cast out of Paradise, by the Virgin it was re-united to God. ”

“ I say, that we ought also to call more particularly upon the Holy Virgin than the other Saints: Because she is the Mother of God, would it not be impious to say, that she deserves not to be invok’d? Who is more proper than a Mother to obtain Favour from a Son? Who can better reconcile us with God than the Virgin? She flies to the Holy Altar of Reconciliation, and does not only repair thither as a Supplicant, but as an Empress, according to the very Words of St. Peter Damien, Serm. ”

“ HOW I love the Blessed Virgin! Had I been a Priest, oh! how I should have spoken of her. She is represented as unapproachable, rather ought she to be shown as imitable. She is more Mother than Queen. I have heard it said that all the Saints are eclipsed by her radiant brightness as the sun at rising makes the stars disappear. How strange that seems—a mother eclipsing the glory of her children! I think quite the contrary. I believe that she will immensely increase the splendour of the elect . ”