Saint Mary the Virgin, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The Collect
O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
~BCP pg. 243

The Psalm
34:1-9

The Readings
Isaiah 61:10-11     +     Galatians 4:4-7     +     Luke 1:46-55

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman . . . so that we might receive adoption as children.
~Gal. 4:4-5

The loving regard in which Mary has been held by so many Christian faithful through the ages, and her universal appeal, is surely not unconnected to the universal experience of birth. It is simultaneously the most ordinary and extraordinary fact of human existence: we are all born into this world. And, O magnum mysterium, even God is born into this world. God the eternal Word, the Creator of everything that has come into being, is born in time and becomes the child of Mary, so that we might become the children of God.

Hymn number 258 in our hymnal expresses this wonder beautifully. At first glance, it may seem to be a paean to Mary (and to an extent it is, rightfully--all generations shall call me blessed). But it is of course actually a hymn addressed to her Son. And this is what Mary does: she invites us to join her in adoration of Jesus our Savior, and to magnify the Lord. 

Virgin-born, we bow before thee: blessed was the womb that bore thee;

Mary, mother meek and mild, blessed was she in her Child.

Blessed was the breast that fed thee; blessed was the hand that led thee;

blessed was the parent's eye that watched thy slumbering infancy.

Blessed she by all creation, who brought forth the world's salvation,

and blessed they, forever blest, who love thee most and serve thee best.

Virgin-born, we bow before thee; blessed was the womb that bore thee;

Mary, mother meek and mild, blessed was she in her child.

The choir of Wakefield Cathedral sings the text by Reginald Heber, 

to the tune Psalm 86 by Claude Goudimel

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you for your love in coming and being born among us, that we might be reborn in you. Thank you for the great faithfulness of Mary in bearing you into our world, and give us grace that, like her, our whole being may exult in you, our Savior. Amen.