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measure the fruits of our Lord's redemption. Hail Mary.

9. Virgin most resigned, although thou didst feel thine own soul transfixed with sorrow, foreseeing all the bitter Passion of thy Son, yet knowing the grief of Joseph thy spouse for thy sufferings, thou didst console him with holy words; pierce through and through our souls with true sorrow for our sins, that we may one day come to rejoice with thee in everlasting bliss, partakers of thy glory. Hail Mary.


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IN PREPARATION FOR THE FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION

(Commencing March 16)

WITH wonder I revere thee, holiest Virgin Mary, for of all God’s creatures thou wast humblest on the very day of the Annunciation, when God himself exalted thee to the sublimest dignity of his own Mother. O mightiest Virgin, make me, wretched sinner that I am, know the depths of my own nothingness, and at once, with all my heart, humble myself beneath the feet of all. Ave Maria.

2. When, Mary, holiest Virgin, Gabriel the archangel hailed thee in thy Annunciation, thou wast raised by God above all angel choirs; yet didst thou then confess thyself the handmaid of the Lord ( Ecce ancilla Domini.) O Mary, obtain for me true humility and angelic purity, that I may so live on earth as ever to be worthy of the blessings of my God. Ave Maria.

3. With thee I rejoice, O Virgin ever blest, because by the sole fiat uttered by thee so lowly, thou