24/05/2026
Morning Prayer for the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
May 25
Lord, open my lips.
— And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Ant. Come, let us worship Christ, the Son of Mary.
Psalm 95
Come, let us sing to the Lord
and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us.
Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving
and sing joyful songs to the Lord.
Ant. Come, let us worship Christ, the Son of Mary.
The Lord is God, the mighty God,
the great king over all the gods.
He holds in his hands the depths of the earth
and the highest mountains as well
He made the sea; it belongs to him,
the dry land, too, for it was formed by his hands.
Ant. Come, let us worship Christ, the Son of Mary.
Come, then, let us bow down and worship,
bending the knee before the Lord, our maker,
For he is our God and we are his people,
the flock he shepherds.
Ant. Come, let us worship Christ, the Son of Mary.
Today, listen to the voice of the Lord:
Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did
in the wilderness,
when at Meriba and Massah
they challenged me and provoked me,
Although they had seen all of my works.
Ant. Come, let us worship Christ, the Son of Mary.
Forty years I endured that generation.
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray
and they do not know my ways.”
So I swore in my anger,
“They shall not enter into my rest.”
Ant. Come, let us worship Christ, the Son of Mary.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Come, let us worship Christ, the Son of Mary.
HYMN
O glorious Lady, throned in rest,
Amidst the starry host above,
Who offered nurture from your breast
To God, with pure maternal love.
What we had lost through sinful Eve
The blossom sprung from you restores,
And granting bliss to souls that grieve,
Unbars the everlasting doors.
O Gate, through which hath passed the King,
O Hall, whence Light shone through the gloom;
The ransomed nations praise and sing
Life given from the Virgin womb.
All laud and honor be addressed,
O Jesus, Virgin-born, to you;
To Father and the Spirit blest
Be praised forever as is due. Amen.
𝄞 "O Glorious Lady Throned in Rest" by Kathleen Lundquist, Sara Faux • Available for Purchase • Title: O Glorious Lady Throned in Rest; Text: John Mason Neale; Artist: Kathleen Lundquist; Accompaniment: Sara Faux; Recording copyright 2017 by Surgeworks, Inc. • Albums that contain this Hymn: Hymns and Chants of Divine Office, Vol. 1
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 Each morning, Lord, you fill us with your kindness.
Psalm 90
May we live in the radiance of God
There is no time with God: a thousand years, a single day, it is all one (2 Peter 3:8).
O Lord, you have been our refuge
from one generation to the next.
Before the mountains were born
or the earth or the world brought forth,
you are God, without beginning or end.
You turn men back to dust
and say: “Go back, sons of men.”
To your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday, come and gone,
no more than a watch in the night.
You sweep men away like a dream,
like grass which springs up in the morning.
In the morning it springs up and flowers:
by evening it withers and fades.
So we are destroyed in your anger,
struck with terror in your fury.
Our guilt lies open before you;
our secrets in the light of your face.
All our days pass away in your anger.
Our life is over like a sigh.
Our span is seventy years
or eighty for those who are strong.
And most of these are emptiness and pain.
They pass swiftly and we are gone.
Who understands the power of your anger
and fears the strength of your fury?
Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?
Show pity to your servants.
In the morning, fill us with your love;
we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Give us joy to balance our affliction
for the years when we knew misfortune.
Show forth your work to your servants;
let your glory shine on their children.
Let the favor of the Lord be upon us:
give success to the work of our hands,
give success to the work of our hands.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, send your mercy and your truth to rescue us from the snares of the devil, and, happy to be known as companions of your Son, we will praise you among the peoples and proclaim you to the nations.
Ant. Each morning, Lord, you fill us with your kindness.
Ant. 2 From the farthest bounds of earth, may God be praised!
Canticle – Isaiah 42:10-16
God victor and savior
They were singing a new hymn before the throne of God (Revelation 14:3).
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth:
Let the sea and what fills it resound,
the coastlands, and those who dwell in them.
Let the steppe and its cities cry out,
the villages where Kedar dwells;
Let the inhabitants of Sela exult,
and shout from the top of the mountains.
Let them give glory to the Lord,
and utter his praise in the coastlands.
The Lord goes forth like a hero,
like a warrior he stirs up his ardor;
he shouts out his battle cry,
against his enemies he shows his might:
I have looked away, and kept silence,
I have said nothing, holding myself in;
but now, I cry out as a woman in labor,
gasping and panting.
I will lay waste mountains and hills,
all their herbage I will dry up;
I will turn the rivers into marshes,
and the marshes I will dry up.
I will lead the blind on their journey;
by paths unknown I will guide them.
I will turn darkness into light before them,
and make crooked ways straight.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. From the farthest bounds of earth, may God be praised!
Ant. 3 You who stand in his sanctuary, praise the name of the Lord.
Psalm 135
Praise for the wonderful things God does for us
He has won you for himself… and you must proclaim what he has done for you: he has called you out of darkness into his own wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9).
Praise the name of the Lord,
praise him, servants of the Lord,
who stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the Lord for the Lord is good.
Sing a psalm to his name for he is loving.
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself
and Israel for his own possession.
For I know the Lord is great,
that our Lord is high above all gods.
The Lord does whatever he wills,
in heaven, on earth, in the seas.
He summons clouds from the ends of the earth;
makes lightning produce the rain;
from his treasuries he sends forth the wind.
The first-born of the Egyptians he smote,
of man and beast alike.
Signs and wonders he worked
in the midst of your land, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
Nations in their greatness he struck
and kings in their splendor he slew.
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, the king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
He let Israel inherit their land;
on his people their land he bestowed.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Psalm-prayer
Where two or three gather in your name, Lord, you promised to be with them and share their fellowship. Look down upon your family gathered here in your name, and graciously pour out your blessing upon us.
Ant. You who stand in his sanctuary, praise the name of the Lord.
READING Isaiah 61:10
I rejoice heartily in the Lord,
in my God is the joy of my soul;
For he has clothed me with a robe of salvation,
and wrapped me in a mantle of justice,
like a bride bedecked with her jewels.
Sacred Silence – a moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.
RESPONSORY
The Lord has chosen her, his loved one from the beginning.
— The Lord has chosen her, his loved one from the beginning.
He has taken her to live with him,
— his loved one from the beginning.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
— The Lord has chosen her, his loved one from the beginning.
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
Ant. Eve shut all her children out of Paradise; the Virgin Mary opened wide its gates.
Luke 1:68-79
The Messiah and his forerunner
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Eve shut all her children out of Paradise; the Virgin Mary opened wide its gates.
INTERCESSIONS
Let us glorify our Savior, who chose the Virgin Mary for his mother. Let us ask him:
May your mother intercede for us, Lord.
Son of Justice, the immaculate Virgin was the white dawn announcing your rising,
— grant that we may always live in the light of your coming.
May your mother intercede for us, Lord.
Eternal Word, you chose Mary as the uncorrupted ark of your dwelling place,
— free us from the corruption of sin.
May your mother intercede for us, Lord.
Savior of Mankind, your mother stood at the foot of your cross,
— grant through her intercession, that we may rejoice to share in your passion.
May your mother intercede for us, Lord.
With ultimate generosity and love, you gave Mary as a mother to your beloved disciple,
— help us to live as worthy sons of so noble a mother.
May your mother intercede for us, Lord.
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.
Concluding Prayer
O God, Father of mercies,
whose Only Begotten Son, as he hung upon the Cross,
chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, his Mother,
to be our Mother also,
grant, we pray, that with her loving help
your Church may be more fruitful day by day
and, exulting in the holiness of her children,
may draw to her embrace all the families of the peoples.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
— Amen.
DISMISSAL
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.
— Amen.
