Contents O Beata Virgo Maria
O Blessed Virgin Mary
BVM


Written by Bishop Fulbert of Chartres (ca 951-ca 1029), it appears in his Sermo IX, De Annuntiatione Dominica. The prayer is sometimes attributed to St. Augustine, Book 10, Sermon 18, de Sanctis, since Bishop Fulbert's sermon appeared in the collected works of St. Augustine at one time. However, it is now known that the sermon is not Augustine's, but Bishop Fulbert's.

O BEATA Virgo Maria, quis tibi digne valeat iura gratiarum ac laudum praeconia rependere, quae singulari tuo assensu, mundo succurristi perdito? Quas tibi laudes fragilitas humani generis persolvat, quae solo tuo commercio recuperandi aditum invenit? O BLESSED Virgin Mary, who can worthily repay thee thy just dues of praise and thanksgiving, thou who by the wondrous assent of thy will didst rescue a fallen world? What songs of praise can our weak human nature recite in thy honor, since it is by thy intervention alone that it has found the way to restoration?
Accipe itaque quascumque exiles, quascumque meritis tuis impares gratiarum actiones, et cum susceperis vota, culpas nostras orando excusa. Admitte nostras preces intra sacrarium exauditionis et reporta nobis antidotum reconciliationis. Sit per te excusabile quod per te ingerimus; fiat impetrabile quod fida mente poscimus. Accept, then, such poor thanks as we have here to offer, though they be unequal to thy merits; and, receiving our vows, obtain by thy prayers the remission of our offenses. Carry thou our prayers within the sanctuary of the heavenly audience, and bring forth from it the antidote of our reconciliation. May the sins we bring before Almighty God through thee, become pardonable through thee; may what we ask for with sure confidence, through thee be granted.
Accipe quod offerimus, redona quod rogamus, excusa quod timemus, quia Tu es spes unica peccatorum. Per te speramus veniam delictorum et in te, beatissima, nostrorum est expectatio praemiorum. Sancta Maria, succurre miseris; iuva pusillanimes; refove flebiles; ora pro populo; interveni pro clero; intercede pro devoto femineo sexu: sentiant omnes tuum iuvamen, quicumque celebrant tuam sanctam commemorationem. Take our offering, grant us our requests, obtain pardon for what we fear, for thou art the sole hope of sinners. Through thee we hope for the remission of our sins, and in thee, O blessed Lady, is our hope of reward. Holy Mary, succor the miserable, help the fainthearted, comfort the sorrowful, pray for thy people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God; may all who keep thy holy commemoration feel now thy help and protection.
Assiste parata votis poscentium et reporta nobis optatum effectum. Sint tibi studia assidua orare pro populo Dei, quae meruisti, benedicta, Redemptorem ferre mundi, qui vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Be thou ever ready to assist us when we pray, and bring back to us the answers to our prayers. Make it thy continual care to pray for the people of God, thou who, blessed by God, didst merit to bear the Redeemer of the world, who liveth and reigneth, world without end. Amen.

From the Raccolta #341. (Secret Mem., May 19, 1854; S. P. Ap., Feb. 5, 1932)


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