Second Day Within the Octave of the Immaculate Conception

From Dom Prosper Guéranger's Liturgical Year:

Let us consider how the immaculate Mary came into this world nine months after her Conception, and how each day of her life gave man fresh reason to hope for the great promises made him by God. Let us admire the fullness of grace which God has given to her, and contemplate the respect and the love wherewith the holy Angels look upon her as the future Mother of Him who is to be their Head and King, as well as ours. Let us follow this august Queen to the Temple of Jerusalem, where she is presented by her parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne. When but three years of age, she was initiated into all the secrets of divine love. “I always rose at midnight (thus she spoke of herself, in a revelation to St. Elizabeth of Hungary) and went before the Altar of the Temple, where I besought of God that I might observe all the commandments of his Law, and be enriched with those graces which would render me pleasing to his Majesty. I most earnestly prayed him, that I might live to see that most holy virgin who was to bring forth into this world his own divine Son. I asked him to grant me to enjoy the use of my eyes that I might see her, of my tongue that I might praise her, of my hands that I might serve her, of my feet that I might go her errands, and of my knees that I might adore the Son of God resting in her arms.”

Thou, O Mary, thou thyself wast this Virgin, who was worthy of the praises of men and Angels! But God had not yet revealed it to thee, and thy heavenly humility forbade thy thinking that the immense dignity, which thou didst so deeply venerate, could ever be thine. Nay, thou wast the first and the only one of the daughters of Israel that had renounced all hope of ever being the Mother of the Messias. To be Mother of the Messias was, indeed, an ineffable honor; but it seemed as though it could only be received on the condition of having another Spouse besides God, and this thou wouldst not suffer; thou wouldst be united to God alone, and thy vow of Virginity which made thee so, was dearer to thee than the possibility of any privilege, which would rob thee even of a tittle of that. Thy marriage with St. Joseph, therefore, was a fresh lustre added to thy incomparable purity, while, in the designs of God, it provided thee with the protection which thy coming honors would soon require. We follow thee, O Spouse of Joseph, into thy house at Nazareth, where is to be spent thy humble life. There we behold thee diligent in all thy duties, the valiant Woman (Proverbs 31:10) of the Scriptures, the object of the admiration of God and his Angels. Suffer us, O Mary! to unite our Advent devotions with the prayers which thou didst offer up for the coming of the Messias; with the veneration wherewith thou didst think upon her that was to be his Mother; and with the inflamed desires wherewith thou didst long for the divine Savior. We salute thee as the Virgin (Isaiah 7:14) foretold by Isaias; it is thyself, O blessed Mother, that deservest the praise and love of the holy people and city, the redeemed of the Lord. (Isaiah 62:12)

SEQUENCE
(Taken from the Cluny Missal of 1523)

Let us venerate the Virgin, the Mother of Grace, the sweetness of Salvation, the fount of Wisdom.

She is the palace of the King, the Queen of prudence, the Virgin full of grace, the Aurora of joy.

She is sweeter than honey, the lily of chastity; she is brighter than the jaspar, our solace in sorrow.

O fountain most admirable, source whence came the author of our faith, Mother most admirable, precious vessel of virtue.

Thou art the purest Mother of the beautiful King; thou art the perfume of precious ointment; thou art the sweetest Rose.

Rejoice, O glorious tree of life, O brightest of stars, O noblest of Mothers, O Virgin most holy!

Thou the sinner’s help, and Queen of counsel, didst bring forth the flower of flowers, Jesus the source of our joy.

Branch of Jesse, light of the Saints, help of the needy, be mindful of us sinners on the day of judgment.

Thou art the joy of the world, the model of charity, the encouragement to victory, the treasury of every fragrance.

To thee, O sweetest flower, Immaculate Virgin, be queenly honor for ever.

Amen.

PRAYER FROM THE GREGORIAN SACRAMENTARY
(In the daily Prayers for Advent)

Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord our God, that all we, who are united with upright hearts in the unity of faith, may rejoice: that so, when thy Son our Savior, shall come, we, being purified, may meet him in the society of his Saints. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.