| Languages: | |
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
Marian Piety
Sanctuaries of the Order "Sanctuary are places where the intercession of the Virgin is experienced in a special way should be centres of liturgical and penitential life as well as sources of spirituality and genuine popular devotion"
The Benedicta Tu In the course of the 12th Century, the famous age of devotion to Mary, little offices in honour of Our Lady and to implore her protection were common everywhere, especially among Religious Orders. One of these, still used today in some Orders, is called: The Vigil of Our Lady ("Mary, Mother of Mercy"), a prayer-watch of the Servite friars in honour of their Lady, a humble prayer of sinners to the Mother of Forgiveness. This little devotion consists of three psalms and three prayer-readings addressed directly to Our Lady, merciful and kind, close to God and humanity, seated with Son, to unite her own gracious prayer to that of her children and Servants lost and in need because of their sins. The prayer ends with the singing of the most famous Marian medieval antiphon, the Salve Regina. Even today, formulae of prayer in honour of the Blessed of the Most High are still being composed. One of these, the work of contemporary Servite friars, is called: Holy Mary, Handmaid of the Lord. This new format consists of three psalms that prophetically foreshadow the Magnificat in content and spirit, and three prayer-readings based on three vital episodes in the life of the Blessed Virgin: the Annunciation, the Visitation and Mary's compassion at the foot of Christ's cross; there are three alternatives to these, recalling the Virgin Mother's close relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The image that these texts give of Mary is a Gospel one: the humble yet strong woman who is mother of Christ and our sister, the hope of the poor, disciple of Christ and glory of the Spirit. This new prayer also concludes with the singing of a Marian antiphon. The Benedicta Tu is a community prayer, characteristic of the Servite Order, but which can be used by other Religious Orders, groups of people and families, or indeed by individuals as an act of reverence toward the Mother of God. It may be used at any time, but especially Friday evening is particularly suitable since it is the vigil of Saturday, Our Lady's day, thus in harmony with the origin of the devotion as a prayer vigil. The Angelus The Angelus is the traditional prayer with which the faithful recall the angel's annunciation to Mary and the incarnation of the Word of God three times a day – at dawn, midday and sunset. The Angelus is of uncertain date or place of origin, nor do we do know which individual or group was responsible for its format. It was probably of popular origin, and was promoted above all by the Franciscan Friars Minor and the other Mendicant Orders, including our own. For example, it is known that our Order, right from the 13th century, had included the Hail Mary among its daily 'homages' to Our Lady. In the Servite Order, devotion to the Angelus cannot be separated from the veneration of the Annunciation, the sublime expression of which is our Basilica of the Annunciation in Florence with its famous fresco. The influence of this image of the Virgin of the Annunciation on the history and spirituality of the Order has been very considerable, and which "from the middle of the 14th century, was largely centred around this shrine in Florence. It can thus be stated that a great deal of its history, directly or indirectly, stemmed from that miraculous painting, Our Lady, Holy Mary, Mother of all Graces." Besides the traditional formula, three new formats for its celebration are being propagated, on the basis of the three Gospel texts about the mystery of the Incarnation: Behold the Handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1: 26-38), What is conceived of her is born of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1: 18-25) and The Word was made flesh (John 1: 1-14). The structure is: an Invitation to prayer, an Old Testament canticle (1 Samuel 2: 1-10, Judith 16: 1, 2: 13-16, Isaiah 61: 10, 62: 5), the Gospel, the singing or recitation of the Angelus, a final prayer and dismissal. The Seven Dolours Rosary Down through the ages, different 'rosaries', expressions of devotion to Our Lady, have evolved in the church, the most famous being the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but the Rosary of the Seven Dolours of the Sorrowful Virgin Mary is also very widespread. This Dolour Rosary, largely thanks to the important contribution made by our friars to its formulation and the love with which they have propagated it among the faithful, is considered to be devotion proper to the Servite Order. There are in current use two ways of praying it: the traditional format, of undeniable intrinsic value and devoutly prayed by many generations of laypeople and Servites with great spiritual profit, and a new arrangement which retains the traditional style but in more modern terms that do not alter its essential nature. These formats are as follows: The 'seven sorrows' of the traditional rosary are these: 1. Mary accepts in faith the Prophecy of Simeon (Lk 2: 34-35), 2. Mary flees to Egypt with Jesus and Joseph (Mt 2: 13-14), 3. Mary seeks the boy Jesus, lost in Jerusalem (Lk 2: 23-45), 4. Mary meets Jesus on the road to Calvary (Lk 23: 23, 26-27), 5. Mary at the Cross of her Son (Jn 19, 25-27), 6. Mary receives Jesus taken down from the Cross (Mt 27: 57-59), 7. Mary lays Jesus to rest in the tomb, and awaits the resurrection (Jn 19, 40-42). The new scheme also consists of seven 'sorrows'. These are not in antithesis with the traditional sorrows, but merely try to see the suffering of the Blessed Virgin in a different light: 1. Jesus, Son of God, is born in a cave: there is no room for his Mother at the inn (Lk 2: 1-7), 2. Jesus, Saviour of Humanity, a sign of contradiction (Lk 2: 22-35), 3. Jesus, the newborn Messiah, is persecuted by Herod (Mt 2: 13-18), 4. Jesus, brother of all, is rejected by his fellow townsfolk (Lk 4: 28-29), 5. Jesus, the Holy One of God, is arrested by the high priests and abandoned by his disciples (Mt 26: 47-56), 7. Jesus, Master and Lord, is persecuted in his disciples (Ac 12: 1-5). The Way of the Sorrowful Mother The devotion called The Way of the Sorrowful Mother, frequently known by its Latin title, the Via Matris, consists of a procession around a church or even in the open air meditating on the sorrows suffered by the Virgin Mary, mother and co-operator of the Saviour, during the course of her life while carrying out her mission. The Via Matris, while not of Servite origin, was however lovingly embraced by our friars and they encouraged the people to practise it, so in some sense it can be called a devotion proper to the Order, and hence to the Servite Family. The basic idea of this devotion is contemplation of the life of Our Lady, from the Annunciation and the prophecy of Simeon to the death and burial of her Son, as path of faith and suffering. This is articulated in seven "stations" corresponding to seven episodes, which the Church's faithful have traditionally identified as the principal sorrows of the Mother of the Lord. In the traditional form of the devotion, these are: 1. Mary embraces in faith the prophecy of Simeon (Lk 2: 34-35); 2. Mary flees into Egypt with Jesus and Joseph (Mt 2: 13-14); 3. Mary searches for her lost Son in Jerusalem (Lk 2: 34-35); 4. Mary meets Jesus on the road to Calvary (Lk 23: 26-27); 5. Mary at the foot of the Cross of Jesus (Jn 19: 25-27); 6. Mary receives in her arms Jesus, taken down from the Cross (Mt 27: 57-59); 7. Mary entrusts the body of Jesus to the tomb, to await the Resurrection (Jn 19: 40-42). Nowadays, 5 alternative versions of the Via Matris proposed for use, with other new Gospel passages and prayers and small litanies: I. Together with Mary, mother and disciple, on the way of the Cross; II. Together with Mary on the path of faith and suffering; III. The Via Matris, a way of love of Our Lady; IV. The Via Matris, a path of life and service; V. The path of sorrow of the Blessed Virgin and of the faithful disciple. Each version consists of three parts: an introduction, a series of "stations" and a conclusion, and each part contains different elements. The Akathistos Hymn Akathistos is the name of the liturgical hymn of the 5th century Byzantine Church which was, and still is, the model for many other compositions, both ancient and modern; it takes its name, from the Greek: a "standing" hymn because it is recited or sung in honour of the Mother of God standing up, in the same way as the Gospel is listened to. In recent years, the Servites have accepted this great hymn of homage sung by the Byzantine Church as one of the ways of honouring Our Lady. The hymn is composed of 24 stanzas, each beginning with one of the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet. It is divided into two sections of 12 stanzas each. The first of these, liturgical and narrative in character, is a poetic commentary on scenes from the infancy of Jesus as recounted in the Gospels and celebrated in the Christmas season: the Annunciation, Visitation, Revelation to Joseph, Birth of the Lord, Flight into Egypt and Meeting with Simeon in the temple. The second part, doctrinal in content, presents basic articles of faith concerning the Virgin Mary: her virginal life, virginal conception, divine motherhood, virginal birth, perpetual virginity, spiritual motherhood and heavenly mediation, a real compendium of Marian doctrine. Each verse falls imperceptibly into two halves, one Christ centred and the other Church centred, so that the Mother of God is contemplated in the mystery of Christ and of the Church. Metre, rhyme, poetry, theology and spirituality come together in the Akathistos. The metric structure of the original text is unbelievably precise, a whole complex of stanzas, verses, pre-arranged accentuations, carefully counted syllables and pauses, a perfect tapestry. Litanies of Our Lady The Litanies of Our Lady have retained their appeal among the faithful and therefore occupy a special place among the forms of popular devotion. They are a straightforward, easy form of prayer: their basic structure is deliberately repetitive, an aid to contemplative prayer, and the praise of Our Lady, diverse and intense blends pleasantly into the devout request for her intercession: "pray for us", "come to our aid". Litanical forms of praise and supplication of the Mother of Christ have developed across the centuries in many local Churches and religious families, including our own Order of the Servants of Mary. The International Liturgical Commission of the Order has put together a collection of Litanies of Our Lady so that Servites, ever attentive to reverence for Our lady which is a characteristic of their charism, can renew their devotion to their Lady. 12 formats are presented in this book: 1. The Litany of Loreto; 2. Litany of the Servants of Mary; 3. Litany of Our Lady of the Servite novices; 4. Biblical Litany of Our Lady; 5. Litany of Our Lady based on the Council document Lumen Gentium; 6. Litany of Our Lady, Daughter of her people; 7. Litany of Our Lady of the Church of Aquileia; 8. Litany of Our Lady of Monte Berico; 9. Litany of Our Lady, Woman and Mother; 10. Litany of Our Lady, Queen; 11. Litany of Our Lady of Hope; 12. Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows. The Hour of the Mother Good Friday is the "Hour" of Christ, when, having loved those who were his own in the world, he loved them to the end, taking on himself their sins and those of the world and sacrificing Himself as Victim on the altar of the Cross, at the foot of which God willed that there should stand Mary, indissolubly linked with him in his suffering and self-offering. Holy Saturday is the "Hour" of the Mother, when she, Woman, the Daughter of Sion and Mother of the Church, underwent the supreme ordeal of her faith and union with God the Redeemer. The Hour of the Mother is a celebration of Byzantine inspiration, meditating on the suffering of Christ and his Mother, but overflowing with hope. It is composed of psalms, readings and "tropari" (brief verses in poetic form, for singing). The are four parts to this service: 1) an introductory rite to prepare the assembly to live again with Mary the wait for the resurrection; 2) a first part, listening to the Word of God, memorial of the faithfulness of the Son and his Mother right up to the supreme sacrifice; 3) another part based on listening to the Word, now orientated towards Easter, by now close at hand, with same sentiments of Mary who lived it beforehand; 4) the concluding rites which lead us with Mary to encounter the Risen Lord. This celebration has been deemed appropriate for Holy Saturday (although not exclusively for this day) so as to put into a proper perspective the presence of the Blessed Virgin in the paschal mystery, in accord with the traditional and present teaching of the Church. Its structure consists of: I. Introductory Rite (Acclamation of praise, greeting and invitation, penitential rite, opening prayer and hymn; II. Liturgy of the Word, first part (psalmody and tropari, first reading and response); III. Liturgy of the Word, second part (psalmody and tropari, final troparium, Gospel, response and homily); IV. Concluding Rite (final prayer, final hymn and dismissal). Although this celebration is not Servite in origin, we friars, use it to celebrate the role of Our Lady in the mystery of Christ's Redemption, and year by year it is growing in popularity in our communities and churches. The Hail Mary The Hail Mary is, without any doubt, the prayer to Our Lady that is most widely known in the worship of the Church. And not without reason. The first part, of divine inspiration, places on the lips of the person praying that selfsame greeting of praise that Almighty God, by means of the angel, addressed to Mary of Nazareth and emphatically proclaims the mystery of the holiness of the Blessed Virgin and the transformation worked in her by grace ("full of grace"), the choice of her amongst all others ("blessed are you among women"), the special favour with which God guided her in the mission he entrusted to her ("the Lord is with you"), and her Messianic and salvific motherhood ("blessed is the fruit of your womb"). The second part is the fruit of the Church's experience: of its faith in her divine motherhood ("Mother of God"), of its trust in the maternal and merciful intercession of the Blessed Virgin ("pray for us") that accompanies each and every Christian, weak and sinful ("sinners") through the journey of life: "now", the present as the expression of what is real and the only way to act, and "at the hour of our death", feared now, yet desired, darkness and light, pain and relief, end and beginning. The complete public celebration has this format: I. Introduction (Invitation to praise and greeting, opening words and hymn); II. First part: Hail Mary (1. Rejoice, O Mary, 2. Full of grace, the Lord is with you, 3. Blessed are you among women, 4. Blessed is the fruit of your womb); III. Gospel ( Lk 1: 26-38); IV. Third part (1. Holy Mary, 2. Mother of God, 3. Now, 4. And at the hour of our death); Conclusion ("My soul glorifies the Lord"). |
||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © Servite International |
 |