Santificarnos
A call to sanctifying ourselves, our work and our world
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The Apostles Creed In Latin: Symbolum Apostolorum

Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae. Et in Iesum Christum, Filium eius unicum, Dominum nostrum, qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine, passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus, descendit ad infernos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis, ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis, inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos. Credo in Spiritum Sanctum, sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem, remissionem peccatorum, carnis resurrectionem et vitam aeternam. Amen.

Continue on for in English ...

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

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Catholic Prayers: Pange Lingua

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Pange Lingua is a hymn written by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) for the Feast of Corpus Christi, oftne called the Solemnity of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

The opening words recall another famous Latin also called Pange Lingua, by Venantius Fortunatus.

The last two stanzas, called separately Tantum Ergo, are sung at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Both the hymn and liturgical observances celebrate the Transubstantiation of the bread and wine changing into the Body and Blood of Christ.

There is also another hymn which begins "Pange, lingua, gloriosi / Lauream certaminis", which is used at Matins during Passiontide in the Divine Office. It is the middle section of the hymn "Vexilla Regis prodeunt", with the first section sung at Vespers and the third, "Lustra sex", sung at Lauds. All three parts are used during the Adoration of the Cross on Good Friday.

Pange Lingua sung in Latin (file info) — play in browser (beta)
The Latin text of Pange Lingua sung to its traditional melody, mode iii Gregorian chant.

Following is the prayer in Latin and in English:


Pange, lingua, gloriosi Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory,
Corporis mysterium, of His flesh the mystery sing;
Sanguinisque pretiosi, of the Blood, all price exceeding,
quem in mundi pretium shed by our immortal King,
fructus ventris generosi destined, for the world's redemption,
Rex effudit Gentium. from a noble womb to spring.

Nobis datus, nobis natus Of a pure and spotless Virgin
ex intacta Virgine, born for us on earth below,
et in mundo conversatus, He, as Man, with man conversing,
sparso verbi semine, stayed, the seeds of truth to sow;
sui moras incolatus then He closed in solemn order
miro clausit ordine. wondrously His life of woe.

In supremae nocte coenae On the night of that Last Supper,
recumbens cum fratribus seated with His chosen band,
observata lege plene He the Pascal victim eating,
cibis in legalibus, first fulfills the Law's command;
cibum turbae duodenae then as Food to His Apostles
se dat suis manibus. gives Himself with His own hand.

Verbum caro, panem verum Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature
verbo carnem efficit: by His word to Flesh He turns;
fitque sanguis Christi merum, wine into His Blood He changes;
et si sensus deficit, what though sense no change discerns?
ad firmandum cor sincerum Only be the heart in earnest,
sola fides sufficit. faith her lesson quickly learns.

Tantum ergo Sacramentum Down in adoration falling,
veneremur cernui: Lo! the sacred Host we hail;
et antiquum documentum Lo! o'er ancient forms departing,
novo cedat ritui: newer rites of grace prevail;
praestet fides supplementum faith for all defects supplying,
sensuum defectui. where the feeble senses fail.

Genitori, Genitoque To the everlasting Father,
laus et jubilatio, and the Son who reigns on high,
salus, honor, virtus quoque with the Holy Ghost proceeding
sit et benedictio: forth from Each eternally,
procedenti ab utroque be salvation, honor, blessing,
compar sit laudatio. might and endless majesty.

Amen. Alleluja. Amen. Alleluia.

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Latin Prayer: Tantum Ergo

Wednesday, January 31, 2007
The song/prayer is actually the last two verses of Pange Lingua, a hymn written by St Thomas Aquinas.

Tantum ergo

Tantum ergo Sacramentum
Veneremur cernui
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui:
Praestet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.
Genitori, Genitoque
Laus et iubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit et benedictio:
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio.
Amen.


V. Panem de caelis praestitisti eis.(T.P. Alleluja)
R. Omne delectamentum in se habentem.(T.P. Alleluja)

Oremus: Deus, qui nobis sub sacramento mirabili, passionis tuae memoriam reliquisti: tribue, quaesumus, ita nos corporis et sanguinis tui sacramysteria venerari, ut redemptionis tuae fructum in nobis iugiter sentiamus. Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum.

R. Amen.

Following is in the translation in English:

Down In Adoration Falling

Down in adoration falling,
Lo! the sacred Host we hail,
Lo! oe'r ancient forms departing
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith for all defects supplying,
Where the feeble senses fail.
To the everlasting Father,
And the Son Who reigns on high
With the Holy Spirit proceeding
Forth from each eternally,
Be salvation, honor blessing,
Might and endless majesty.
Amen.


R. Thou hast given them bread from heaven.
V. Having within it all sweetness.

Let us pray: O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament left us a memorial of Thy Passion: grant, we implore Thee, that we may so venerate the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, as always to be conscious of the fruit of Thy Redemption. Thou who livest and reignest forever and ever.

R. Amen.


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Latin Prayers: Pater Noster - Our Father

Thursday, September 21, 2006
The name Lord's Prayer attaches to it not because Jesus Christ used the prayer Himself (for to ask forgiveness of sin would have implied the acknowledgment of guilt) but because He taught it to His disciples.

Pater Noster
Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen


Background
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "Although the Latin term oratio dominica is of early date, the phrase "Lord's Prayer" does not seem to have been generally familiar in England before the Reformation. During the Middle Ages the "Our Father" was always said in Latin, even by the uneducated. Hence it was then most commonly known as the Pater noster. The name "Lord's prayer" attaches to it not because Jesus Christ used the prayer Himself (for to ask forgiveness of sin would have implied the acknowledgment of guilt) but because He taught it to His disciples. Many points of interest are suggested by the history and employment of the Our Father. With regard to the English text now in use among Catholics, we may note that this is derived not from the Rheims Testament but from a version imposed upon England in the reign of Henry VIII, and employed in the 1549 and 1552 editions of the "Book of Common Prayer". From this our present Catholic text differs only in two very slight particulars: "Which art" has been modernized into "who art", and "in earth" into "on earth"."

Catechism of the Catholic Church
ARTICLE 2

OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN

I. "WE DARE TO SAY"

2777 In the Roman liturgy, the Eucharistic assembly is invited to pray to our heavenly Father with filial boldness; the Eastern liturgies develop and use similar expressions: "dare in all confidence," "make us worthy of. . . . " From the burning bush Moses heard a voice saying to him, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."26 Only Jesus could cross that threshold of the divine holiness, for "when he had made purification for sins," he brought us into the Father's presence: "Here am I, and the children God has given me."27

Our awareness of our status as slaves would make us sink into the ground and our earthly condition would dissolve into dust, if the authority of our Father himself and the Spirit of his Son had not impelled us to this cry . . . 'Abba, Father!' . . . When would a mortal dare call God 'Father,' if man's innermost being were not animated by power from on high?"28

2778 This power of the Spirit who introduces us to the Lord's Prayer is expressed in the liturgies of East and of West by the beautiful, characteristically Christian expression: parrhesia, straightforward simplicity, filial trust, joyous assurance, humble boldness, the certainty of being loved.29

II. ABBA - "FATHER!"

2779 Before we make our own this first exclamation of the Lord's Prayer, we must humbly cleanse our hearts of certain false images drawn "from this world." Humility makes us recognize that "no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him," that is, "to little children."30 The purification of our hearts has to do with paternal or maternal images, stemming from our personal and cultural history, and influencing our relationship with God. God our Father transcends the categories of the created world. To impose our own ideas in this area "upon him" would be to fabricate idols to adore or pull down. To pray to the Father is to enter into his mystery as he is and as the Son has revealed him to us.

The expression God the Father had never been revealed to anyone. When Moses himself asked God who he was, he heard another name. The Father's name has been revealed to us in the Son, for the name "Son" implies the new name "Father."31

2780 We can invoke God as "Father" because he is revealed to us by his Son become man and because his Spirit makes him known to us. The personal relation of the Son to the Father is something that man cannot conceive of nor the angelic powers even dimly see: and yet, the Spirit of the Son grants a participation in that very relation to us who believe that Jesus is the Christ and that we are born of God.32

2781 When we pray to the Father, we are in communion with him and with his Son, Jesus Christ.33 Then we know and recognize him with an ever new sense of wonder. The first phrase of the Our Father is a blessing of adoration before it is a supplication. For it is the glory of God that we should recognize him as "Father," the true God. We give him thanks for having revealed his name to us, for the gift of believing in it, and for the indwelling of his Presence in us.

2782 We can adore the Father because he has caused us to be reborn to his life by adopting us as his children in his only Son: by Baptism, he incorporates us into the Body of his Christ; through the anointing of his Spirit who flows from the head to the members, he makes us other "Christs."

God, indeed, who has predestined us to adoption as his sons, has conformed us to the glorious Body of Christ. So then you who have become sharers in Christ are appropriately called "Christs."34

The new man, reborn and restored to his God by grace, says first of all, "Father!" because he has now begun to be a son.35

2783 Thus the Lord's Prayer reveals us to ourselves at the same time that it reveals the Father to us.36

O man, you did not dare to raise your face to heaven, you lowered your eyes to the earth, and suddenly you have received the grace of Christ all your sins have been forgiven. From being a wicked servant you have become a good son. . . . Then raise your eyes to the Father who has begotten you through Baptism, to the Father who has redeemed you through his Son, and say: "Our Father. . . . " But do not claim any privilege. He is the Father in a special way only of Christ, but he is the common Father of us all, because while he has begotten only Christ, he has created us. Then also say by his grace, "Our Father," so that you may merit being his son.37

2784 The free gift of adoption requires on our part continual conversion and new life. Praying to our Father should develop in us two fundamental dispositions:

First, the desire to become like him: though created in his image, we are restored to his likeness by grace; and we must respond to this grace.

We must remember . . . and know that when we call God "our Father" we ought to behave as sons of God.38

You cannot call the God of all kindness your Father if you preserve a cruel and inhuman heart; for in this case you no longer have in you the marks of the heavenly Father's kindness.39

We must contemplate the beauty of the Father without ceasing and adorn our own souls accordingly.40

2785 Second, a humble and trusting heart that enables us "to turn and become like children":41 for it is to "little children" that the Father is revealed.42

The prayer is accomplished by the contemplation of God alone, and by the warmth of love, through which the soul, molded and directed to love him, speaks very familiarly to God as to its own Father with special devotion.43

Our Father: at this name love is aroused in us . . . and the confidence of obtaining what we are about to ask. . . . What would he not give to his children who ask, since he has already granted them the gift of being his children?44

III. "OUR" FATHER

2786 "Our" Father refers to God. The adjective, as used by us, does not express possession, but an entirely new relationship with God.

2787 When we say "our" Father, we recognize first that all his promises of love announced by the prophets are fulfilled in the new and eternal covenant in his Christ: we have become "his" people and he is henceforth "our" God. This new relationship is the purely gratuitous gift of belonging to each other: we are to respond to "grace and truth" given us in Jesus Christ with love and faithfulness.45

2788 Since the Lord's Prayer is that of his people in the "endtime," this "our" also expresses the certitude of our hope in God's ultimate promise: in the new Jerusalem he will say to the victor, "I will be his God and he shall be my son."46

2789 When we pray to "our" Father, we personally address the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By doing so we do not divide the Godhead, since the Father is its "source and origin," but rather confess that the Son is eternally begotten by him and the Holy Spirit proceeds from him. We are not confusing the persons, for we confess that our communion is with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, in their one Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is consubstantial and indivisible. When we pray to the Father, we adore and glorify him together with the Son and the Holy Spirit.

2790 Grammatically, "our" qualifies a reality common to more than one person. There is only one God, and he is recognized as Father by those who, through faith in his only Son, are reborn of him by water and the Spirit.47 The Church is this new communion of God and men. United with the only Son, who has become "the firstborn among many brethren," she is in communion with one and the same Father in one and the same Holy Spirit.48 In praying "our" Father, each of the baptized is praying in this communion: "The company of those who believed were of one heart and soul."49

2791 For this reason, in spite of the divisions among Christians, this prayer to "our" Father remains our common patrimony and an urgent summons for all the baptized. In communion by faith in Christ and by Baptism, they ought to join in Jesus' prayer for the unity of his disciples.50

2792 Finally, if we pray the Our Father sincerely, we leave individualism behind, because the love that we receive frees us from it. The "our" at the beginning of the Lord's Prayer, like the "us" of the last four petitions, excludes no one. If we are to say it truthfully, our divisions and oppositions have to be overcome.51

2793 The baptized cannot pray to "our" Father without bringing before him all those for whom he gave his beloved Son. God's love has no bounds, neither should our prayer.52 Praying "our" Father opens to us the dimensions of his love revealed in Christ: praying with and for all who do not yet know him, so that Christ may "gather into one the children of God."53 God's care for all men and for the whole of creation has inspired all the great practitioners of prayer; it should extend our prayer to the full breadth of love whenever we dare to say "our" Father.

IV. "WHO ART IN HEAVEN"

2794 This biblical expression does not mean a place ("space"), but a way of being; it does not mean that God is distant, but majestic. Our Father is not "elsewhere": he transcends everything we can conceive of his holiness. It is precisely because he is thrice holy that he is so close to the humble and contrite heart.

"Our Father who art in heaven" is rightly understood to mean that God is in the hearts of the just, as in his holy temple. At the same time, it means that those who pray should desire the one they invoke to dwell in them.54

"Heaven" could also be those who bear the image of the heavenly world, and in whom God dwells and tarries.55

2795 The symbol of the heavens refers us back to the mystery of the covenant we are living when we pray to our Father. He is in heaven, his dwelling place; the Father's house is our homeland. Sin has exiled us from the land of the covenant,56 but conversion of heart enables us to return to the Father, to heaven.57 In Christ, then, heaven and earth are reconciled,58 for the Son alone "descended from heaven" and causes us to ascend there with him, by his Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension.59

2796 When the Church prays "our Father who art in heaven," she is professing that we are the People of God, already seated "with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" and "hidden with Christ in God;"60 yet at the same time, "here indeed we groan, and long to put on our heavenly dwelling."61

Christians are in the flesh, but do not live according to the flesh. They spend their lives on earth, but are citizens of heaven.62

IN BRIEF

2797 Simple and faithful trust, humble and joyous assurance are the proper dispositions for one who prays the Our Father.

2798 We can invoke God as "Father" because the Son of God made man has revealed him to us. In this Son, through Baptism, we are incorporated and adopted as sons of God.

2799 The Lord's Prayer brings us into communion with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. At the same time it reveals us to ourselves (cf. GS 22 # 1).

2800 Praying to our Father should develop in us the will to become like him and foster in us a humble and trusting heart.

2801 When we say "Our" Father, we are invoking the new covenant in Jesus Christ, communion with the Holy Trinity, and the divine love which spreads through the Church to encompass the world.

2802 "Who art in heaven" does not refer to a place but to God's majesty and his presence in the hearts of the just. Heaven, the Father's house, is the true homeland toward which we are heading and to which, already, we belong.

26 Ex 3:5.

27 Heb 1:3; 2:13.

28 St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermo 71, 3: PL 52, 401 CD; cf. Gal 4:6.

29 Cf. Eph 3:12; Heb 3:6; 4:16; 10:19; 1 Jn 2:28; 3:21; 5:14.

30 Mt 11:25-27.

31 Tertullian De orat. 3: PL 1, 1155.

32 Cf. Jn 1:1; 1 Jn 5:1.

33 Cf. 1 Jn 1:3.

34 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. myst. 3, 1: PG 33, 1088A.

35 St. Cyprian, De Dom. orat. 9: PL 4, 525A.

36 Cf. GS 22 # 1.

37 St. Ambrose De Sacr. 5, 4, 19: PL 16:450-451.

38 St. Cyprian, De Dom. orat. 11 PL 4:526B.

39 St. John Chrysostom, De orat Dom. 3: PG 51, 44.

40 St. Gregory Of Nyssa, De orat. Dom. 2: PG 44, 1148B.

41 Mt 18:3.

42 Cf. Mt 11:25.

43 St. John Cassian, Coll. 9, 18 PL 49, 788c.

44 St. Augustine, De serm. Dom. in monte 2, 4, 16: PL 34, 1276.

45 Jn 1:17; Cf. Hos 2:21-22; 6:1-6.

46 Rev 21:7.

47 Cf. 1 Jn 5:1; Jn 3:5.

48 Rom 8:29; Cf. Eph 4:4-6.

49 Acts 4:32.

50 Cf. UR 8; 22.

51 Cf. Mt 5:23-24; 6:14-15.

52 Cf. NA 5.

53 Jn 11:52.

54 St. Augustine, De serm. Dom. in monte 2, 5, 18: PL 34, 1277.

55 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. myst. 5:11: PG 33, 1117.

56 Cf. Gen 3.

57 Jer 3:19-4:1a; Lk 15:18, 21.

58 Cf. Isa 45:8; Ps 85:12.

59 Jn 3:13; 12:32; 14 2-3; 16:28; 20:17; Eph 4:9-10; Heb 1:3; 2:13.

60 Eph 2:6; Col 3:3.

61 2 Cor 5:2; cf. Phil 3:20; Heb 13:14.

62 Ad Diognetum 5: PG 2, 1173.

The name Lord's Prayer attaches to it not because Jesus Christ used the prayer Himself (for to ask forgiveness of sin would have implied the acknowledgment of guilt) but because He taught it to His disciples
8/23/2006 3:25:23 PM - -83.46.236.49

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Catholic Prayers: Traditional Catholic prayers for the entire day - In English and Latin

Tuesday, September 12, 2006
by Robert Duncan

What Christian doesn't know the prayer, Our Father- but in that knowledge there is a real danger of complacency, where we just recite the prayer as old hat and fail to get the most from this, and other, spiritual gem.

With that in mind, I'm going to begin a section that posts some of the more traditional Catholic prayers in both Latin and English. Along with those prayers I'll quite often place accompanying texts from the Catechism and other historical information. A good example of the format that I´ll use is the format shown here for the Ave Maria - Hail Mary prayer.

At a later stage these prayers will all be grouped in one heading on the sidebar, as well as an index on this post that will be updated.

If you are Catholic, there is a good chance that many of the following prayers are familiar - but there is always the chance that you didn't realize their importance. Many of these prayers are even popular among non-Catholics - although to varying degrees. In my own case, I was aware of a few of them but only upon chancing upon, and buying, a 1955 St Joseph Missal at an Anglican bargain book sale did I begin to discover the wealth of Christian prayers that have been handed down over the centuries.

With that in mind, the purpose of this section is to give a quick explainer behind the reasoning for each prayer, and their use in deepening one's Christian walk, as well as serving as a handy bookmark for remembering some of the more "elusive" ones.


List of Prayers: (this will be expanded - last updated Sept 12. 2006)


Angele Dei - Prayer to Ones Guardian Angel


Ave Maria - Haily Mary

Memorare - The Memorare
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Latin Prayers: Ave Maria

Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Ave Maria

The Hail Mary is the most familiar of all the prayers used by the Universal Church in honor of our Blessed Lady

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen


Hail Mary In English

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen

Background

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "The Hail Mary (sometimes called the "Angelical salutation", sometimes, from the first words in its Latin form, the "Ave Maria") is the most familiar of all the prayers used by the Universal Church in honour of our Blessed Lady. It is commonly described as consisting of three parts. The first, "Hail (Mary) full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women", embodies the words used by the Angel Gabriel in saluting the Blessed Virgin (Luke, I, 28). The second, "and blessed is the fruit of thy womb (Jesus)", is borrowed from the Divinely inspired greeting of St. Elizabeth (Luke 1:42), which attaches itself the more naturally to the first part, because the words "benedicta tu in mulieribus" (I, 28) or "inter mulieres" (I, 42) are common to both salutations. Finally, the petition "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen." is stated by the official "Catechism of the Council of Trent" to have been framed by the Church itself. "Most rightly", says the Catechism, "has the Holy Church of God added to this thanksgiving, petition also and the invocation of the most holy Mother of God, thereby implying that we should piously and suppliantly have recourse to her in order that by her intercession she may reconcile God with us sinners and obtainfor us the blessing we need both for this present life and for the life which has no end."

ORIGIN

It was antecedently probable that the striking words of the Angel's salutation would be adopted by the faithful as soon as personal devotion to the Mother of God manifested itself in the Church. The Vulgate rendering, Ave gratia plena, "Hail full of grace", has often been criticized as too explicit a translation of the Greek chaire kecharitomene, but the words arein any case most striking, and the Anglican words are in any case most striking, and the Anglican Revised Version now supplements the "Hail, thouthat art highly favoured" of the original Authorized Version by the marginal alternative, "Hail thou, endued with grace".

Catechism of the Catholic Church
In communion with the holy Mother of God

2673 In prayer the Holy Spirit unites us to the person of the only Son, in his glorified humanity, through which and in which our filial prayer unites us in the Church with the Mother of Jesus.27

2674 Mary gave her consent in faith at the Annunciation and maintained it without hesitation at the foot of the Cross. Ever since, her motherhood has extended to the brothers and sisters of her Son "who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties."28 Jesus, the only mediator, is the way of our prayer; Mary, his mother and ours, is wholly transparent to him: she "shows the way" (hodigitria), and is herself "the Sign" of the way, according to the traditional iconography of East and West.

2675 Beginning with Mary's unique cooperation with the working of the Holy Spirit, the Churches developed their prayer to the holy Mother of God, centering it on the person of Christ manifested in his mysteries. In countless hymns and antiphons expressing this prayer, two movements usually alternate with one another: the first "magnifies" the Lord for the "great things" he did for his lowly servant and through her for all human beings29 the second entrusts the supplications and praises of the children of God to the Mother of Jesus, because she now knows the humanity which, in her, the Son of God espoused.

2676 This twofold movement of prayer to Mary has found a privileged expression in the Ave Maria:

Hail Mary [or Rejoice, Mary]: the greeting of the angel Gabriel opens this prayer. It is God himself who, through his angel as intermediary, greets Mary. Our prayer dares to take up this greeting to Mary with the regard God had for the lowliness of his humble servant and to exult in the joy he finds in her.30

Full of grace, the Lord is with thee: These two phrases of the angel's greeting shed light on one another. Mary is full of grace because the Lord is with her. The grace with which she is filled is the presence of him who is the source of all grace. "Rejoice . . . O Daughter of Jerusalem . . . the Lord your God is in your midst."31 Mary, in whom the Lord himself has just made his dwelling, is the daughter of Zion in person, the ark of the covenant, the place where the glory of the Lord dwells. She is "the dwelling of God . . . with men."32 Full of grace, Mary is wholly given over to him who has come to dwell in her and whom she is about to give to the world.

Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. After the angel's greeting, we make Elizabeth's greeting our own. "Filled with the Holy Spirit," Elizabeth is the first in the long succession of generations who have called Mary "blessed."33 "Blessed is she who believed. . . . "34 Mary is "blessed among women" because she believed in the fulfillment of the Lord's word. Abraham. because of his faith, became a blessing for all the nations of the earth.35 Mary, because of her faith, became the mother of believers, through whom all nations of the earth receive him who is God's own blessing: Jesus, the "fruit of thy womb."

2677 Holy Mary, Mother of God: With Elizabeth we marvel, "And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"36 Because she gives us Jesus, her son, Mary is Mother of God and our mother; we can entrust all our cares and petitions to her: she prays for us as she prayed for herself: "Let it be to me according to your word."37 By entrusting ourselves to her prayer, we abandon ourselves to the will of God together with her: "Thy will be done."

Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death: By asking Mary to pray for us, we acknowledge ourselves to be poor sinners and we address ourselves to the "Mother of Mercy," the All-Holy One. We give ourselves over to her now, in the Today of our lives. And our trust broadens further, already at the present moment, to surrender "the hour of our death" wholly to her care. May she be there as she was at her son's death on the cross. May she welcome us as our mother at the hour of our passing38 to lead us to her son, Jesus, in paradise.

2678 Medieval piety in the West developed the prayer of the rosary as a popular substitute for the Liturgy of the Hours. In the East, the litany called the Akathistos and the Paraclesis remained closer to the choral office in the Byzantine churches, while the Armenian, Coptic, and Syriac traditions preferred popular hymns and songs to the Mother of God. But in the Ave Maria, the theotokia, the hymns of St. Ephrem or St. Gregory of Narek, the tradition of prayer is basically the same.

2679 Mary is the perfect Orans (pray-er), a figure of the Church. When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men. Like the beloved disciple we welcome Jesus' mother into our homes,39 for she has become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and to her. The prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary and united with it in hope.40

The Hail Mary is the most familiar of all the prayers used by the Universal Church in honor of our Blessed Lady
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Latin Prayers: Memorare

Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Memorare

The Memorare (Remember) builds upon the idea presented in the Hail Mary and is a personal prayer of petition for Mary's intercession that has a long tradition within the Church

Memoráre, o piíssima Virgo María, non esse audítum a sæculo, quemquam ad tua curréntem præsídia,tua implorántem auxília, tua peténtem suffrágia, esse derelíctum. Ego tali animátus confidéntia, ad te, Virgo Vírginum, Mater, curro, ad te vénio, coram te gemens peccátor assísto. Noli, Mater Verbi, verba mea despícere; sed áudi propítia et exáudi. Amen.


The Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word incarnate, despise not my petitions, but, in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.

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Latin Prayers: Angele Dei

Tuesday, September 12, 2006
First, in Latin:

Angele Dei, qui custos est mei, Me tibi commissum pietate superna; (Hac nocte, Hodie) illumina, custodi, rege, et guberna. Amen.


In English - Prayer To Ones Guardian Angel

Angel of God, my guardian dear, To whom his love commits me here; Ever this (day, night) be at my side, To light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.
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