Praying to the Mother of God for Ireland

Ancient Irish Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In preparation for the consecration of Ireland to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, announced for August 15th at the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock, readers of Vultus Christi may want to pray the following  very ancient litany  of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  This particular litany is a fine example of the forms of prayer peculiar to the early Irish Church, and a strong proof of the veneration in which our forefathers held the Holy Mother of God. Dating from at least the middle of the 8th century, the litany consists of sixty invocations.  In place of “pray for us” I propose that, in preparation for August 15th, we say, “pray for Ireland.”  The litany was indulgenced by Blessed Pope Pius IX.

O GREAT MARY,
pray for Ireland.

Mary, greatest of Marys,
pray for Ireland.

Most great of women,
pray for Ireland.

Queen of the angels,
pray for Ireland.

Mistress of the heavens,
pray for Ireland.

Woman full and replete with the grace of the Holy Spirit,
pray for Ireland.

Blessed and most blessed,
pray for Ireland.

Mother of eternal glory,
pray for Ireland.

Mother of the heavenly and earthly Church,
pray for Ireland.

Mother of love and indulgence,
pray for Ireland.

Mother of the golden light,
pray for Ireland.

Honor of the sky,
pray for Ireland.

Harbinger of peace.
pray for Ireland.

Gate of heaven,
pray for Ireland.

Golden altar,
pray for Ireland.

Couch of love and mercy,
pray for Ireland.

Temple of the Divinity,
pray for Ireland.

Beauty of virgins,
pray for Ireland.

Mistress of the tribes,
pray for Ireland.

Fountain of the gardens,
pray for Ireland.

Cleansing of sins,
pray for Ireland.

Washing of souls,
pray for Ireland.

Mother of orphans,
pray for Ireland.

Breast of the infants,
pray for Ireland.

Refuge of the wretched,
pray for Ireland.

Star of the sea,
pray for Ireland.

Handmaid of God,
pray for Ireland.

Mother of Christ,
pray for Ireland.

Abode of the Godhead,
pray for Ireland.

Graceful as the dove,
pray for Ireland.

Serene like the moon,
pray for Ireland.

Resplendent like the sun,
pray for Ireland.

Undoing of Eve’s disgrace,
pray for Ireland.

Regeneration of life,
pray for Ireland.

Perfection of women,
pray for Ireland.

Chief of the virgins,
pray for Ireland.

Garden enclosed,
pray for Ireland.

Fountain sealed,
pray for Ireland.

Mother of God,
pray for Ireland.

Perpetual Virgin,
pray for Ireland.

Holy Virgin,
pray for Ireland.

Prudent Virgin,
pray for Ireland.

Serene Virgin,
pray for Ireland.

Chaste Virgin,
pray for Ireland.

Temple of the Living God,
pray for Ireland.

Throne of the Eternal King,
pray for Ireland.

Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit,
pray for Ireland.

Virgin of the root of Jesse,
pray for Ireland.

Cedar of Mount Lebanon,
pray for Ireland.

Cypress of Mount Sion,
pray for Ireland.

Crimson rose in the land of Jacob,
pray for Ireland.

Fruitful like the olive,
pray for Ireland.

Blooming like the palm,
pray for Ireland.

Glorious Son-bearer,
pray for Ireland.

Light of Nazareth,
pray for Ireland.

Glory of Jerusalem,
pray for Ireland.

Beauty of the world,
pray for Ireland.

Noblest born of the Christian people,
pray for Ireland.

Queen of life,
pray for Ireland.

Ladder of Heaven,
pray for Ireland.

V. Hear the petition of the poor.
R. Spurn not the wounds and the groans of the miserable.

V. Let our devotion and our sighs be carried through thee to the presence of the Creator,
R. For we are not ourselves worthy of being heard because of our evil deserts.

V. O powerful Mistress of heaven and earth,
R. Wipe out our trespasses and our sins.

V. Destroy our wickedness and depravity.
R. Raise the fallen, the debilitated, and the fettered.

V. Loose the condemned.
R. Repair through thyself the transgressions of our immorality and our vices.

V. Bestow upon us through thyself the blossoms and ornaments of good actions and virtues.
R. Appease for us the Judge by thy prayers and thy supplications.

V. Allow us not, for mercy’s sake, to be carried off from thee among the spoils of our enemies.
V. Allow not our souls to be condemned,but take us to thyself for ever under thy protection.

We, moreover, beseech and pray thee, holy Mary, to obtain, through thy potent supplication, before thy only Son, that is, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, that God may defend us from all straits and temptations. Obtain also for us from the God of Creation the forgiveness and remission of all our sins and trespasses, and that we may receive from Him further, through thy intercession, the everlasting habitation of the heavenly kingdom, through all eternity, in the presence of the saints and the saintly virgins of the world; which may we deserve, may we enjoy, in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

PIUS PP. IX.
FOR A PERPETUAL RECORD.

Our beloved Son, Monsignor Bartholomew Woodlock, one of our Chamberlains of Honor, and Rector of the Catholic University in the City of Dublin, has lately caused to be laid before Us a certain Pious Prayer, or Form of Supplication, to the Honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the beginning of which is, in the English tongue “O Great Mary ! Mary Greatest ” in the Italian language, “O Maria, eccelsa Signora” and has also caused it to be set forth to Us that it was lately recovered from oblivion by one of the Professors of the said University, and that it is the same which used to be recited in the Churches by the Irish faithful in their primitive language from the most remote period. But, now, Our aforesaid beloved Son has caused Us to be informed that he himself, and very many others, have it extremely at heart that, with the view of increasing more and more, in the minds of Christ s faithful of Ireland, piety and devotion towards the Immaculate Mother of God. We should vouchsafe, of Our Apostolic favor, to unlock the heavenly treasures of Indulgences for the faithful who shall recite that prayer. We, who regard with fatherly charity and special good will all Christ’s faithful of Ireland, from whom We have always had peculiar proofs of dutiful service towards this Holy See, have been pleased to meet the prayers they have addressed to Us, and to grant Indulgence as below.

Wherefore, unto all and singular the faithful of Christ of either sex, now or temporarily residing in Ireland, being at least contrite in heart, who shall on any day devoutly recite the aforesaid Prayer, translated into whatsoever language, provided only the version be faithful, whereof We have ordered a copy, written in the English and Italian languages, to be kept in the Registry of the Briefs of Our Secretary s Office, We, relying on the mercy of the Almighty God, and by the authority of His Apostles, the Blessed Peter and Paul, do remit, in the wonted form of the Church, on the day whereon they shall do this, One Hundred Days from penances enjoined, or otherwise in what manner soever due, of which relaxations of penances.  We grant also in the Lord the application, by way of suffrage, to the souls of Christ s faithful who shall have departed from this life united in charity to God. Anything making to the contrary notwithstanding. These presents to hold to all future times. And We will have precisely the same confidence which would be accorded to these presents, if they were exhibited or shown, to be accorded to translations or copies, even printed, of the present Letters, inscribed by the hand of some public notary, and furnished with the seal of a person placed in an ecclesiastical dignity.

Given in Rome, at St. Peter’s, under the Ring of the Fisherman, 5th day of September, 1862, in the 17th year of Our Pontificate.