In Festo Immaculatae Conceptionis BMV (Dec. 8)

In Festo Immaculatae Conceptionis BMV (Dec. 8)

From Matins of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 2nd Nocturn
Source: www.breviary.net

Lesson iv
Sermo sancti Hierónymi Presbyteri	The Lesson is taken from a Sermon by St. Jerome the Priest
De Assumptione B.M.V.
Ave Maria, gratia plena
Qualis et quanta esset beáta et gloriósa semper Virgo María, ab Angelo divínitus declarátur, cum dícitur : Ave, grátia plena ; Dóminus tecum : benedícta tu in muliéribus.  Tálibus namque decébat Vírginem oppignorári munéribus, ut esset grátia plena, quæ dedit cælis glóriam, terris Dóminum, pacémque refúdit, fidem Géntibus, finem vítiis, vitæ órdinem, móribus disciplínam.  Et bene plena, quia céteris per partes præstátur ; Maríæ vero simul se tota infúdit plenitúdo grátiæ.  Vere plena, quia etsi in sanctis Pátribus et Prophétis grátia fuísse créditur, non tamen eátenus plena ; in Maríam vero totíus grátiæ, quæ in Christo est, plenitúdo venit, quamquam áliter.  Et ídeo inquit : Benedícta tu in muliéribus ; id est plus benedícta quam omnes mulíeres.  Ac per hoc quidquid maledictiónis infúsum est per Hevam, totum ábstulit benedíctio Maríæ.  De ipsa Sálomon in Cánticis, quasi in laudem ejus, Veni, inquit, colúmba mea, immaculáta mea.  Jam enim hiems tránsiit, imber ábiit et recéssit.  Ac deínde inquit : Veni de Líbano, veni, coronáberis.	Who and what was the blessed and glorious ever-Virgin Mary, hath been revealed by God by the message of an Angel, in these words : Hail, thou that art full of grace, the Lord is with thee : blessed art thou among women.  It was fitting that a fulness of grace should be poured into that Virgin who hath given to God glory and to man a Saviour, who hath brought peace to earth, who hath given faith to the Gentiles, who hath killed sin, who hath given law to life, who hath made the crooked ways straight.  Verily, she is full of grace.  To others grace cometh measure by measure ; in Mary grace dwelleth at once in all fulness.  Verily, she is full of grace.  We believe that the holy Fathers and Prophets had grace ; but they were not full of grace.  But into Mary came a fulness of all the grace which is in Christ, albeit otherwise than as it is in him.  Therefore is it said : Blessed art thou among women, that is, Blessed art thou above all women.  The fulness of blessing in Mary utterly neutralized in her any effects of the curse of Eve.  In her praise Solomon writeth in the Song of Songs, Rise up, my dove, my fair one, for the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.  And again, Come from Lebanon, my Spouse, come, thou shalt be crowned.
V.  Tu autem, Dómine, miserére nobis. R.  Deo grátias.	V.  But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. R.  Thanks be to God.
R.  Ego ex ore Altíssimi prodívi, primogénita ante omnem creaturám : ego feci in cælis, ut orirétur lumen indefíciens. * Nondum erant abyssi, et ego jam concépta eram. V.  Deus enim creávit me in justítia, et apprehéndit manum meam, et servávit me. R.  Nondum erant abyssi, et ego jam concépta eram.	R.  I came out of the mouth of the Most High, the first-begotten before every creature : I made the unfading light to arise in the heavens. *Before ever were the depths, and I was already conceived. V.  For the Lord hath created me in righteousness, and hath held mine hand, and hath kept me. R.  Before ever were the depths, and I was already conceived.
V.  Jube domne, (Dómine) benedícere.	V.  Vouchsafe, Reverend Father (O Lord), thy blessing.
Benedíctio 5: Christus perpétuæ det nobis gáudia vitæ. R.  Amen.	Benediction 5: May Christ bestow upon us the joys of life eternal. R.  Amen.
Lesson v
Non immérito ígitur veníre de Líbano jubétur, quia Líbanus candidátio interpretátur.  Erat enim candidáta multis meritórum virtútibus, et dealbáta nive candídior, Spíritus Sancti munéribus, simplicitátem colúmbæ in ómnibus repræséntans : quóniam, quidquid in ea gestum est, totum púritas et simplícitas, totum véritas et grátia fuit ; totum misericórdia et justítia, quæ de cælo prospéxit : et ídeo immaculáta, quia in nullo corrúpta.  Circúmdedit enim virum in útero, sicut Jeremías sanctus testátur, et non aliúnde accépit.  Fáciet, inquit, Dóminus novum super terram, et múlier circúmdabit virum.  Vere novum, et ómnium novitátum superéminens nóvitas virtútum, quando Deus (quem ferre non potest mundus, neque vidére áliquis, ut vívere possit) sic ingréssus est hospítium ventris, ut córporis claustrum nescíret ; sicque gestátus, ut totus Deus in eo esset ; et sic exívit inde, ut esset (sicut Ezéchiel fatétur) porta omníno clausa.  Unde cánitur in eísdem Cánticis de ea : Hortus conclúsus, fons signátus, emissiónes tuæ paradísus.  Vere hortus deliciárum, in quo cónsita sunt univérsa florum génera, et odoraménta virtútum ; sicque conclúsus, ut nésciat violári, neque corrúmpi ullis insidiárum fráudibus.  Fons ítaque signátus sigíllo totíus Trinitátis.	Not unjustly then is she bidden to come from Lebanon, for Lebanon is so named on account of its stainless and glistening whiteness.  The earthly Lebanon is white with snow, but the lonely heights of Mary's holiness are white with purity and grace, brilliantly fair, whiter far than snow, sparkling with the gifts of the Holy Ghost―she is undefiled like a dove, all clean, all upright, full of grace and truth.  She is full of mercy, and of the righteousness that hath looked down from heaven, and therefore is she without stain because in her hath never been any corruption.  She hath compassed a man in her womb, saith holy Jeremiah, but she conceived not by the will of fallen man.  The Lord, saith the Prophet, hath created a new thing in the earth : a woman shall compass a man.  Verily, it is a new thing.  Verily, it was a new work of power, greater than all other works, when God, whom the world cannot bear, and whom no man shall see and live, entered the lodging of her womb, breaking not the blissful cloister of her virgin flesh.  And in her body he was borne, the Infinite inclosed within her womb.  And from her womb he came forth, so that it was fulfilled which was spoken of the Prophet Ezekiel, saying : This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it ; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.  Hence also in the Song of Songs it is said of her, A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed, thy perfumes are a garden of delights.  Verily a garden of delights, filled with the perfumes of all flowers, rich with the sweet savour of grace.  And the most holy Virgin herself is a garden enclosed, whereinto sin and Satan have never entered to sully the blossoms, a fountain sealed, sealed with the seal of the Trinity.
V.  Tu autem, Dómine, miserére nobis. R.  Deo grátias.	V.  But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. R.  Thanks be to God.
R.  Nihil inquinátum in eam incúrrit : * Candor est lucis ætérnæ et spéculum sine mácula. V.  Est enim hæc speciósior sole, et luci comparáta invenítur púrior. R.  Candor est lucis ætérnæ et spéculum sine mácula.	R.  No defiled thing can come nigh unto her ; *For she is the brightness of the everlasting light, and the unspotted mirror of the power of God. V.  She is more beautiful than the sun, and being compared with the light, she is found before it. R.  For she is the brightness of the everlasting light, and the unspotted mirror of the power of God.
V.  Jube domne, (Dómine) benedícere.	V.  Vouchsafe, Reverend Father (O Lord), thy blessing.
Benedíctio 6: Ignem sui amóris accéndat Deus in córdibus nostris. R.  Amen.	Benediction 6: May God enkindle in our hearts the fire of his holy love. R.  Amen.
Lesson vi
Ex Actis Pii Papæ noni	The Lesson is taken from the Acts of Pope Pius IX
Deíparæ autem Vírginis in sua Conceptióne de tetérrimo humáni géneris hoste victóriam, quam divína elóquia, veneránda tradítio, perpétuus Ecclésiæ sensus, singuláris episcopórum ac fidélium conspirátio, insígnia quoque summórum Pontíficum acta atque constitutiónes mirífice jam illustrábant, Pius nonus Póntifex máximus totíus Ecclésiæ votis ánnuens státuit suprémo suo atque infallíbili oráculo solémniter proclamáre.  Itaque sexto Idus Decémbris anni millésimi octingentésimi quinquagésimi quarti in basílica Vaticána, ingénti sanctæ Románæ Ecclésiæ Patrum Cardinálium et Episcopórum ex díssitis étiam regiónibus astánte cœtu, universóque plaudénte orbe, solémniter pronuntiávit et definívit : Doctrínam quæ tenet beatíssimam Vírginem Maríam in primo instánti suæ Conceptiónis fuísse, singulári Dei privilégio, ab omni originális culpæ labe præservátam immúnem, esse a Deo revelátam, ac proínde ab ómnibus fidélibus fírmiter constantérque credéndam.	The fact that the Virgin Mother of God had at the moment of her Conception triumphed over the foul enemy of man, hath ever been borne out by the Holy Scriptures, by the venerable tradition of the Church, and by her unceasing belief, as well as by the common conviction of all Bishops and faithful Catholics, and by marked acts and constitutions of the Holy See.  At length the Supreme Pontiff Pius IX, in compliance with the wishes of the Universal Church, determined to publish it as a truth of faith, on his own absolute and unerring authority, and accordingly, on the 8th day of December, 1854, in the Vatican Basilica, in presence of a great multitude composed of the Fathers Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, and Bishops from all parts of the earth, he, with the consent and jubilation of the whole world, declared and defined as follows : That doctrine which declareth that the most blessed Virgin Mary was in the first instant of her Conception preserved, by a special privilege granted unto her by God, from any stain of original sin, is a doctrine taught and revealed by God, and therefore is to be held by all faithful Christians firmly and constantly.
V.  Tu autem, Dómine, miserére nobis. R.  Deo grátias.	V.  But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. R.  Thanks be to God.
R.  Signum magnum appáruit in cælo : Múlier amícta sole, et luna sub pédibus ejus, * Et in cápite ejus coróna stellárum duódecim. V.  Induit eam Dóminus vestiméntis salútis, induménto justítiæ, et quasi sponsam ornávit eam monílibus suis. R.  Et in cápite ejus coróna stellárum duódecim. V.  Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto. R.  Et in cápite ejus coróna stellárum duódecim.	R.  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven : a Woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, * And upon her head is a crown of twelve stars. V.  The Lord hath clothed her with the garments of salvation, he hath covered her with the robe of righteousness, as a bride adorned with jewels. R.  And upon her head is a crown of twelve stars. V.  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. R.  And upon her head is a crown of twelve stars.