Common of the Blessed Virgin
Mary
FIRST NOCTURN
From the Book of Proverbs
viii: 12-17
I wisdom dwell with
prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the Lord is to
hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I
hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. By
me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even
all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me; and those that seek me
early shall find me.
viii: 18-25
Riches and honor are with
me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea,
than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver. I lead in the way of
righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: that I may cause those
that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures. The Lord
possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up
from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no
depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth.
viii: 34-36; ix: 1-5
Blessed is the man that
heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For
whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he that
sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.
Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: she hath
killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.
She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding,
she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have
mingled.
SECOND NOCTURN
A sermon of Saint John Chrysostom
At Metaphrastes
The Son of God chose for
his Mother not a woman of wealth, not a woman of substance, but that blessed
maiden whose soul was bright with grace. It was because Blessed Mary had
preserved a superhuman chastity, that she conceived the Lord Jesus Christ in her
womb. Let us then fly to this most holy Virgin Mother of God, that we may gain
the help of her patronage. Yea, all ye that be virgins, whosoever ye be, run to
the Mother of the Lord. She will keep for you by her protection your most
beautiful, your most precious, and your most enduring possession.
Verily, dearly beloved
brethren, the Blessed Virgin Mary was a great wonder. What thing greater or more
famous than she, hath ever at any time been found, or can be found? She alone is
greater than heaven and earth. What thing holier than she hath been, or can be
found? Neither Prophets nor Apostles. Neither Martyrs nor Patriarchs. Neither
Angels nor Thrones nor Dominions, neither Seraphim nor Cherubim. In truth, no
creature, visible or invisible, can be found that is greater or more excellent
than she. She is at once the Handmaid and the Parent of God, at once Virgin and
Mother.
She is the Mother of him
who was begotten of the Father before all ages, which same is acknowledged by
Angels and men to be Lord of all. Wouldst thou know how much nobler is this
Virgin than any of the heavenly Powers? They do stand before him with fear and
trembling, veiling their faces with their wings. But she is the one who dared to
bestow humanity on God before she brought him forth. And thus through her hath
come the remission of sins. Hail, then, O Mother, who art like unto heaven! O
Damsel! O Maiden! O Throne! O Adornment, and glory, and foundation of our
Church! Pray for us without ceasing to thy Son and Lord Jesus Christ, that
through thee we may find mercy in the day of judgment. And pray that all those
good things which God hath prepared for them that love him may be granted unto
us ; through the grace and goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ. To whom, with the
Father, and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all glory and honor, power and might,
now, and for ever, and world without end. Amen.
THIRD NOCTURN
Luke 11: 27-28
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Luke:
At that time, as Jesus was
speaking to the multitude, a certain woman from the crowd lifted up her voice
and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the breasts that
nursed Thee." But He said, "Rather, blessed are they who hear the word
of God and keep it."
A Homily of the Venerable Bede
Book 4, Chapter 49, on Luke 11
It is plain that this was
a woman of great earnestness and faith. The Scribes and Pharisees were at
that time both tempting and blaspheming the Lord. Whereas she alone, of
all the company there present, so clearly grasped his incarnation, and so
bravely confessed both the falsehoods of the dignitaries of that moment, and the
faithlessness of the heretics yet to come. For these Jews blasphemed the
works of the Holy Ghost, and denied that the Lord was truly the Son of God,
consubstantial with the Father, as did likewise the heretics of a later day.
Which latter denied that Mary was Ever-Virgin, and that, under the operation of
the Holy Ghost, she gave of her own flesh and blood in bringing forth the human
body of God. In consequence of which they did also deny that the
Only-begotten of God was the true Son of Man, consubstantial with his Mother.
Now if we shall say that
the human body of the incarnate Word of God did not have its origin in the flesh
of his Virgin Mother, there is no reason to bless the womb that bare him, and
the paps which he hath sucked. But the Apostle says: «God sent forth his Son,
made of a Woman, made under the Law.» And foolish it is to try to make this
passage read : Born of a Woman, made under the Law. Rather, it is truly said :
Made of a woman : for he was conceived in a virgin's womb. This cannot mean that
he took his flesh from nothing, nor that he took it elsewhere than from the
flesh of his Mother. Otherwise he could not with truth be called the Son of Man,
since he would have had no origin from mankind. Let us therefore, in
condemnation of the heresy of Eutyches, lift up our voice with the Catholic
Church, whereof this woman can be taken as a figure. And let us not only lift up
our voice from the midst of the company, but let us lift up our hearts as well,
and with the whole company of Catholic Christendom say unto the Savior: Blessed
is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts which thou hast sucked. Blessed
indeed is she, of whom one hath said : Hail, O Mother most holy, who didst give
birth to the Monarch reigning o'er heaven and earth, world without end.
Yea, rather, blessed are
they that hear the Word of God and keep it. How nobly doth the Saviour
answer his Yea to the woman's blessing! How graciously doth he declare
that not only is his Mother blessed but others also. His Mother, saith he,
is blessed in that she was meet to give bodily birth to the Word of God.
But also all others are blessed who spiritually conceive this Word by the
hearing of faith ; and who keep the same through good works ; that is, who carry
it ; and as it were travail and give birth to it ; and who then carefully
nurture it in their own hearts, and in the hearts of their neighbors. Yea,
the Mother of God truly was blessed in that she gave flesh to the Word of God in
time. But even more blessed was she in this, that through her love she
keepeth that same Word for all eternity.