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The Lord is now nigh: come, let us adore.
The Church does not read anything from the Prophet Isaias today; she merely gives, in the Office of Matins, a sentence of that chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel which relates the mystery of our Lady’s Visitation: and to this she subjoins a fragment of St. Ambrose’s Homily upon that passage. The considerations and affections with which this important event of our Lady’s life ought to inspire the faithful shall be given further on, in the Proper of the Saints.
The Station for today is in the Church of the Holy Apostles, which many suppose to have been first built by Constantine, and in which the glorious bodies of the two holy Apostles Philip and James the Less, buried under the altar, await the second Coming of Him who chose them as his cooperators in the work of the first, and who, on the last day, will give them to sit upon thrones near his own, judging the twelve Tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:28)
That we may the better conform to the intentions of our Holy Mother the Church, who offers to our contemplation the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, let us recite the following Hymn, composed in honor of this Mystery, during the ages of faith:
A PROSE IN HONOR OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
(Taken from the Ancient Roman-French Missals)
Hail, Mother of the divine Word! Hail, most humble and most spotless Virgin!
Rejoice, thou Mother of a Son who supports thee! Rejoice, thy burden is a burden most sweet to bear!
Hail, Branch of Jesse, Fruit-bearing Branch! Hail, Gate of the Temple, closed to all but God!
Be glad, thou Fleece of Gedeon, full of the dew of the Holy Spirit! Be glad, thou tent of Solomon, of all the first in beauty!
Hail, shining Star of Jacob, lighting up the sea! Hail, thou sealed-up Sanctuary, thou Burning Bush!
What bliss is thine, that thou the humble Star shouldst be clad with the Sun, and then bring forth the Sun! What bliss is thine, that thou shouldst be elected the bright Ladder reaching up to heaven.
Sing to thy God, thou Aurora rising in the light of the new Star! Sing, thou Ark of the covenant, bearing unto us sinners thy three treasures.
Oh! let thy soul magnify Jesus! and oh! sweet Mary, pray that, with thee, we too may magnify him. Amen.
PRAYER FROM THE GALLICAN SACRAMENTARY
(In Adventu Domini, Collect)
O Lord God, Father Almighty, purify the recesses of our heart, and mercifully wash away all the stains of our sins; and grant, O Lord, that cleansed from our sins by thy merciful blessing, we may await in confidence the dread and terrible Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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