Preparing for a Holy Death: A Marian Prayer of Saint Gregory of Narek, Doctor of the Church

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Grigor Narekats‘i (Gregory of Narek). 

Գիրք աղօթից (Book of Prayers). 

Constantinople: Tparan Astuatsatrean, 1763. 

Near East Section, African and Middle Eastern Division, Library of Congress 

A Prayer to Mary

by Saint Gregory of Narek

Assist me by the wings of your prayers,

O you who are called the Mother of the living,

so that on my exit from this valley of tears

I may be able to advance without torment

to the dwelling of life

that has been prepared for us

to lighten the end of a life burdened by my iniquity.

Healer of the sorrows of Eve,

change my day of anguish into a feast of gladness.

Be my Advocate,

ask and supplicate.

For as I believe in your inexpressible purity,

so do I also believe in

the good reception that is given to your word.

O you who are blessed among women,

help me with your tears

for I am in danger.

Bend the knee to obtain my reconciliation,

O Mother of God.

Be solicitous for me for I am miserable,

O Tabernacle of the Most High.

Hold out your hand to me as I fall,

O heavenly Temple.

Glorify your Son in me:

may he be pleased to operate Divinely in me

the miracle of forgiveness and mercy.

Handmaid and Mother of God,

may your honour be exalted by me,

and may my salvation be manifested through you.

Amen.

Saint Gregory of Narek

Doctor of the Church

Anno Domini 1010

14 May: Praying for an End to the Pandemic

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Pope Francis has asked that on the 14th of May AD 2020 that we pray for an end to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.


I am reprinting below a Litany found in last Sunday's bulletin from the Parish of St Vincent Ferrer and St Catherine of Siena in New York City:


This week we reprint the beautiful Litany of Supplication devised for the Holy Father’s Urbi et Orbi blessing in time of pandemic. It will be apt for this day in this year.

We adore you, O Lord
True God and true man, truly present in this holy Sacrament.
We adore you, O Lord
Our Savior, God with us, faithful and rich in mercy
We adore you, O Lord
King and Lord of creation and of history Conqueror of sin and death
We adore you, O Lord
Friend of humankind, the Risen One, the Living One who sits at the right hand of the Father.
We adore you, O Lord

We believe in you, O Lord
Only begotten Son of the Father, descended from heaven for our salvation
We believe in you, O Lord
Heavenly physician, who bows down over our misery
We believe in you, O Lord
Lamb who was slain, who offer yourself to rescue us from evil
We believe in you, O Lord
Good Shepherd, who give your life for the flock which you love
We believe in you, O Lord
Living bread and medicine for immortality, who give us eternal life
We believe in you, O Lord

Deliver us, O Lord
From the power of Satan and the seductions of the world
Deliver us, O Lord
From the pride and presumption of being able to do anything without you
Deliver us, O Lord
From the deceptions of fear and anxiety From unbelief and desperation
Deliver us, O Lord
From hardness of heart and the incapacity to love
Deliver us, O Lord

Save us, O Lord
From every evil that afflicts humanity
Save us, O Lord
From hunger, from famine and from egoism From illnesses, epidemics and the fear of our brothers and sisters
Save us, O Lord
From devastating madness, from ruthless interests and from violence
Save us, O Lord
From being deceived, from false information and the manipulation of consciences
Save us, O Lord

Comfort us, O Lord
Protect your Church which crosses the desert 
Comfort us, O Lord
Protect humanity terrified by fear and anguish
Comfort us, O Lord
Protect the sick and the dying, oppressed by loneliness
Comfort us, O Lord
Protect doctors and healthcare providers exhausted by the difficulties they are facing 
Comfort us, O Lord
Protect politicians and decision makers who bear the weight of having to make decisions
Comfort us, O Lord

Grant us your Spirit, O Lord
In the hour of trial and from confusion
Grant us your Spirit, O Lord
In temptation and in our fragility
Grant us your Spirit, O Lord
In the battle against evil and sin
Grant us your Spirit, O Lord
In the search for what is truly good and true joy In the decision to remain in you and in your friendship
Grant us your Spirit, O Lord

Open us to hope, O Lord
Should sin oppress us
Open us to hope, O Lord
Should hatred close our hearts Should sorrow visit us
Open us to hope, O Lord
Should indifference cause us anguish Should death overwhelm us
Open us to hope, O Lord

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The Coimbra Marian Prayer against Pestilence

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There is a prayer in Portugal known by the faithful as Stella Coeli.  It began with nuns who followed the way of St. Clare of Assisi in the ancient university city of Coimbra in Portugal.  At a time when disease was killing so many, the nuns began the invocation and prayer to the Star of the Sea.

Here is an English translation of that prayer from years ago in which "the Star" refers to Saint Mary the Mother of God (Theotokos). With the COVID-19 coronavirus traversing the globe, I offer it here for all Catholics and those whose trust and love of the Lord Jesus includes love and trust for His Mother Mary:

Stella Coeli 

The Star of Heaven that nourished the Lord 
 drove away the plague of death 
which the first parents of man brought into the world.

May this bright Star now vouchsafe 
to extinguish that foul constellation 
whose battles have slain the people 
with the wound of death.

O most pious Star of the Sea, 
preserve us from pestilence; 
hear us, O Lady, for Thy Son honours Thee 
by denying Thee nothing.

Save us, O Jesus, 
for whom Thy Virgin Mother supplicates Thee.

V: Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
R: That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray

O God of mercy, God of pity, God of benign clemency, Thou Who hast had compassion on the affliction of Thy people, and hast said to the angel striking them, “Stop thy hand;” for the love of this glorious Star, whose breasts Thou didst sweetly drink as antidote for our crimes, grant the assistance of Thy grace, that we may be safely freed from all pestilence, and from unprovided death; and mercifully save us from the gulf of eternal perdition: through Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory, who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen.

Caryll Houselander: The Risen Christ

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An Excerpt from the Chapter "The Prayer of the Body"

Before Christ died he literally gave us his sacramental body in his own hands. Day after day he is born in the consecrated hands of the priest ; in a man's hands he is lifted up and offers himself to the Father. It is fitting, then, that so often our offering of self through the body must be made literally with our hands.

Caryll Houselander

What an expression of himself a man's hands are. When he comes to die, what a story his hands tell. They have taken on the shape and colour and texture of his work. They are the story of his life. When Madame Curie lay dead, the most beautiful testimonial to her life's work was in her hands lying simply on the coverlet, scarred with burns of radium.

Long before Christ gave us his body in his own hands they were hardened by toil, beautiful with the line and muscle and sinew of the hands of an artisan, and hollowed out by the wooden mallet to cup the chalice and hold the nail. But in the consummation of his self-giving, these hands which had given   in so many ways were helpless, fastened back, immovable, to a plank.

At that moment his body was broken, the heart was broken, the flesh and blood separated. Every day the suffering of the Lord's body is shown in the breaking of the bread.

Sooner or later, our prayer of the body too becomes the helpless hands, the falling away of self, the breaking of the bread.  Sickness, old age, death ; these must come, and when they come it seems that our service is ended. There is exhaustion which makes it first an effort, then an impossibility, to lift the hand up to make the sign of the cross; no more liturgical acts in daily life, gestures and symbols that worship God and give Christ's love to men.

Everything falls away from us, even memories— even the weariness of self. This is the breaking of the bread, the supreme moment in the prayer of the body, the end of the liturgy of our mortal lives, when we are broken for and in the communion of Christ's love to the whole world.

But it is not the end of the prayer of the body. To that there is no end. Our dust pays homage to God, until the endless morning of resurrection wakens our body, glorified.

Caryll Houselander

The Risen Christ

Sheed and Ward, New York

1958

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