By the devout recital of this prayer for the above space of time, we may hope to obtain our lawful request. It is particularly recommended as a proper devotion for the time of Lent, and on the Fridays throughout the year.

EVER glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the Cross: through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His Cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, we beseech thee, on our poverty and necessities; have compassion on our anxieties and cares; assist and comfort us in all our infirmities and miseries. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet Consolatrix and refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on us, forlorn children of Eve, and hear our prayer: for since, in just punishment of our sins, we are encompassed by evils, whither can we fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than to thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, with an ear of pity, we beseech thee, to our humble and earnest request.

WE ASK it through the infinite merits of thy dear Son; through that love and condescension wherewith He assumed our nature, when, in compliance with the divine will, thou gavest thy consent; and whom, after the expiration of nine months, thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to redeem the world and to bless it with His presence.

WE ASK it through the mercy of Jesus Christ, thy Son, the Redeemer of the world. We ask it through the anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on Mount Olivet, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. We ask it through the threefold repetition of His prayer in the garden, from whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful stations of his sufferings and death. We ask it through the stripes and wounds of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. We ask it through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted, the false accusation and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. We ask it through His bitter tears and sweat of blood, His silence and resignation, His sadness and grief of heart.

WE ASK it through the blood which trickled from His royal and sacred head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with the crown of thorns. We ask it through the excruciating torments He endured when His hands and feet were fastened with large nails to the tree of the Cross. We ask it through His vehement thirst and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. We ask it through His dereliction on the Cross, when He exclaimed: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” We ask it through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul into the hands of his eternal Father before He expired, saying: “All is consummated.” We ask it through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His sacred side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy hath flowed upon us. We ask it through His immaculate life, bitter Passion, and ignominious death upon the Cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions by the bursting of rocks, the rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and darkness of the sun and moon. We ask it through His descent into hell, where He comforted the saints of the Old Law with His presence, and led captivity captive.

WE ASK it through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again into life on the third day; and through the joy which His appearance, for forty days after, gave thee, His blessed Mother, His apostles, and the rest of His disciples; and when, in thy presence and in theirs, He triumphantly ascended into heaven. We ask it through the grace of the Holy Ghost, infused into the hearts of the disciples when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world when they went to preach the Gospel. We ask it through the awful appearance of thy Son at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world by fire. We ask it through the compassion He bore thee, and the ineffable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin, comfort the hearts of thy supplicants, by obtaining for us:

AND AS we are persuaded that our divine Saviour honours thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He can refuse nothing, let us speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and the charity of His amiable Heart, who mercifully granteth the requests, and complieth with the desires of those who love and fear Him. O most blessed Virgin! besides the object of our present petition, and whatever else we may stand in need of, obtain for us of thy divine Son, our Lord and our God, lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition, a horror of sin, love of God and our neighbour, contempt of the world, and patience and resignation under the trials and afflictions of this life. Obtain likewise for us, O Sacred Mother of God, the gift of final perseverance, and grace to receive the last Sacraments worthily at the hour of death. Lastly, obtain, we beseech thee, for the souls of our parents, brethren, relations, and our benefactors, whether living and dead, life everlasting. Amen.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

O Christ when Thou shalt call me hence,
be Thy Mother my defence; be Thy Cross my victory.
(ex. Stabat Mater)

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