Isaiah 61, Day 3

I will rejoice heartily in the Lord,
my being exults in my God.

Isaiah 61:10a

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Canticle of the Bride

Holy Mother Church, the new Jerusalem, rejoices as one Body and one Bride. In the Liturgy of the Hours, the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary draws its first canticle from Isaiah 61:10–62:3 with this prefatory reflection: I saw the new Jerusalem, the holy city, prepared as a bride adorned for her bridegroom (Revelation 21:2).

Be glad, Virgin Mary, for you have deserved to bear the Christ, the creator of heaven and earth; you have brought forth the Savior of the world.

Antiphon for the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Celebrating the restoration of Zion, the canticle unfolds with exultant nuptial and agricultural imagery and concludes,

You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord,
a royal diadem held by your God.

Isaiah 62:3

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation,
and wrapped me in a robe of justice,
Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem,
as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
As the earth brings forth its shoots,
and a garden makes its seeds spring up,
So will the Lord God make justice spring up,
and praise before all the nations.

Isaiah 61:10-11