Last Updated on October 21, 2022 by GMC
Friday of the Second Week of Advent
Isaiah 48:17-19; Matthew 11:16-19
Thus says the Lord, your redeemer,
Isaiah 48:17
the Holy One of Israel:
I am the Lord, your God,
teaching you how to prevail,
leading you on the way you should go.
Blessed Virgin Mary, Star of the Sea, thank you for guiding us through the stormy sea of life with wisdom and tranquility.
If only you would attend to my commandments,
Isaiah 48:18a
your peace would be like a river,
Holy Virgin of Virgins who conceived the Son of the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit, by your prayers may peace like a river flow through us by that same Spirit.
your vindication like the waves of the sea,
Isaiah 48:18b-19
Your descendants like the sand,
the offspring of your loins like its grains,
Their name never cut off
or blotted out from my presence.
Mother of our Creator and Gate of Heaven, the promise to Abraham that his descendants would be “as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore” was fulfilled in you (Genesis 15:5; 22:17). Pray for us that we may shine like stars with the Light of Christ in your tender and Immaculate Heart.
Queen of angels, pray for us.
Queen of patriarchs, pray for us.
Queen of prophets, pray for us.
Queen of apostles, pray for us.
Queen of martyrs, pray for us.
Queen of confessors, pray for us.
Queen of virgins, pray for us.
Queen of all saints, pray for us.
Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, you are vindicated by all your children! (Luke 7:35)1
Reference
1 Matthew’s Gospel reads, “But wisdom is vindicated by her works.” Luke’s version preserves the original saying, according to scholarly analysis. See the New American Bible (Revised Edition) footnote to Matthew 11:16-19.
Mary has been given many beautiful titles. In addition to familiar ones for prayer, others have been added by persons in particular need. In our Parish she is named Our Lady of the Cenacle. Often we’d invoke her with “Our Lady of the Last Minute” when she intervened just when we thought nothing could be done. In a school where I taught, one teacher would begin the prayer, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, …” when he was exasperated trying to explain something to his students. Those with him would join in and continue the prayer until “pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” One never knows the ways and under which titles, Mary will help us. Don’t forget, “Mary, Untier of knots.” Her intercession goes beyond our imagination.
Mary’s titles weave a beautiful tapestry of grace and glory!