A Concord Pastor Comments: Search results for Ave Maria: May, the Month of Mary

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5/30/26

Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 5/30

Madonna of the Streets by Roberto Ferruzzi

May is a month of special devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. On this last Saturday of May, I'm pleased to feature the well known Ferruzzi Madonna (above). It was a favorite of my mother and this image graced our living room for many years. This morning's prayer is a very contemporary Marian litany, written by Joseph Lackner, a priest of the Society of Mary.

A Marianist Litany to Mary

Holy Mary, pray for us!
Mother of God, pray for us!
Mother of our redemption, pray for us!
Mother of a lost child, pray for us!
Mother of comfort and understanding, pray for us!
Mother who shares our joys, pray for us!
Mother who endures our sorrows,pray for us!

Mother whose heart

was pierced by a sword, pray for us!

Mother most merciful, pray for us!

Woman responsive to God's word, pray for us!
Woman willing to believe the impossible, pray for us!
Woman who rejoices in her lowliness, pray for us!
Woman with an undivided heart, pray for us!
Woman of perfect freedom, pray for us!
Woman wrapped in mystery, pray for us!
Woman moved by the Spirit, pray for us!
Woman champion of the poor and lowly, pray for us!
Woman graced by a husband's love, pray for us!
Woman widowed by a husband's death, pray for us!
Woman at the cross, pray for us!
Woman patient and waiting, pray for us!
Woman clothed with the sun, pray for us!

Queen of the fullness of times, pray for us!
Queen of beauty unalloyed, pray for us!
Queen of integrity, pray for us!
Queen of painful meetings, pray for us!
Queen of all our heart's treasure, pray for us!
Queen of our destiny, pray for us!
Queen of peace, pray for us!

Mary, you are

mother and virgin,

wife and widow,

peasant and queen,

blessed for all time.

We need the comfort of your prayers.

Remember us always to our Father

through your Son, Jesus Christ,

who is our Lord for ever and ever.

Amen.

- Rev. Joseph H. Lackner, S.M.

We often hear the Schubert Ave Maria sung at weddings and funerals. Here's an instrumental performance by Emmanuel Rossfelder which is stunning in its artistry, simplicity and interpretation.

Ave Maria (Schubert)

performed by Emmanuel Rossfelder

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5/23/25

Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 5/24

Photo by M. Rutledge

May is a month of special devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. On the Saturdays of May, Pause for Prayer will focus on a particular Marian prayer and a musical setting for it. So, today I share with you Franz Biebl's exquisite Ave Maria (composed in the context of the Angelus), flawlessly performed here by Chanticleer. (Scroll down for the lyrics in Latin and English.) The music gives voice to the beauty of the iris in the photo, a delicate blossom dressed in traditional Marian hues of blue and white. I hope you'll take the time to pause, listen and pray...

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Angelus Domini, nuntiavit Mariae,
et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.
The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary
and she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum;
benedicta tu in mulieribus
et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.

Maria dixit, ecce ancilla Domini,
fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.
Mary said: behold the servant of the Lord,
let it be done to me according to your word.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum;
benedicta tu in mulieribus
et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesu.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.

Et verbum caro factum est,
et habitavit in nobis.
And the word became flesh
and dwelled among us.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum;
benedicta tu in mulieribus
et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesu.
Sancta Maria, mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God,
pray for us, sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

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5/3/25

Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 5/3

May is a month of special devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. On the Saturdays of May, Pause for Prayer will focus on Mary. Each post will feature an appropriate musical selection: today, Ave Maria by Gregory Norbet.

O, Mary, our sister,

Mary, our Mother,

Mother of Jesus,

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

Spouse of the Spirit,

Woman of the Promise,

Mystical Rose,

Consoler of souls,

Queen of Peace

Mother of Mercy,

Star of the Sea,

Seat of Wisdom,

Doorway to Glory,

Help of all Christians:

pray for us all

in good times and bad,

in sorrow and joy,

in sickness and health;

pray for us sinners

in need of God's mercy,

pray for us now,

every day, every night

and then at the end

at the hour of our death...

Amen.

This song interpolates some Latin phrases from

the Hail Mary with some expanded translation

of the same.

Ave Maria by Gregory Norbet

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Ave Maria, gratia plena
O holy Mary, full of grace
Dominus tecum

with you the Holy One,
such is your gift to know God in your heart.

Benedicta,

blest among women
Benedictus

the child that you bore,
Jesus the saviour, God's love incarnate
Benedicta

deep woman of faith.

Ave Maria, Ave, Ave Maria

Sancta Maria

Holy Mary
Mater Dei

Mother of God
Ora pro nobis

pray for our faithfulness
All through the seasons of life

with hope and with love
Ora pro nobis

pray for our faithfulness
all through the seasons of life

with hope and with love.

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5/27/23

Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 5/27

Art by Pietro Annigoni

May is a month of special devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. On the Saturdays of May, Pause for Prayer will focus on Mary. The scriptures tell us that Mary was with the apostles and others in the upper room when the Holy Spirit came down upon them at Pentecost. What memories might have been stirring in Mary's mind as the Holy Spirit (by whom she had conceived Jesus) once again came upon her and the others with the wind, fire and power of the most high God. Mary's memories of her son's life... Luke's gospel tells us "she kept all these, reflecting on them in her heart..."

Who could know all you kept, Mary,
   all you held, all you pondered in your heart?
Only a mother, I think, might know the joys,
   the hopes and fears and dreams,
   the bonds that bound your soul in love
        to the child of your womb...

As he grew you watched

    and saw the man be came to be,
       and you took pride and joy in him, your own;
as you watched to see the friends he chose,
   as you listened to his words

and wondered at his wisdom,
was there room enough within your heart

to store your love for him,

your faith in what he'd come to do?

And in those last few years and in his final days
when you saw where his path led,
did the simple joys of years before

suffice to soothe the ache,

the pain you held within,

as you watched and saw his suffering,

the pain he bore for all of us?

Like your heart, Mary, mine too, fills and overflows

as I keep and hold and ponder

all the joys and all the sorrows
I gather day to day, month by month

and year to year...

Whatever my heart carries

I know your Son will reach

to lift me up and keep me safe,

to ease the burdens on my soul

and heal my wounded heart

with his mercy and his grace...

O Mary, you held, you kept

so much within your heart
where you carried Christ within you,

where he found a place to dwell;

help me make a place in my heart, too,

where Christ can come

to mend my broken spirit

and heal my wounded soul...

Lord...

help me treasure in my own heart

all your Mother kept in hers:

all the burdens and the blessings,

all the sorrows and the joys

where you come with peace to meet me,

where my life is one with yours...

Amen.

Ave Maria by Frank LaRocca

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5/20/23

Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 5/20

Anta Frirean, Ukrainian Madonna

MMMMM

May is a month of special devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. On the Saturdays of May, Pause for Prayer will focus on Mary. Today we'll pray with images, poetry and song. The images are "Maria Lactans" (Mary Breastfeeding), a genre of Marian art. The painting above, (Anta Frirean, a Ukrainian artist based in Germany) is from 2022 (background here). The image below (Solario) is from the 1500's.

Maria Lactans by Andrea Solario

In 2008, the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, published an article affirming that "loving, tender images of Mary breast-feeding the baby Jesus need an artistic and spiritual rehabilitation."

A vast iconography of traditional Christian art has been "censored by the modern age" because images depicting Our Lady's naked breast for her child were deemed too "unseemly," the paper said.

Artists began depicting a fully clothed nursing Mary in sacred art in an attempt to make her seem less "carnal," but the depictions unfortunately also diminished her human, loving and tender side "that touches the hearts and faith of the devout," the newspaper said.

The article (one of two) titled Those Marys, Too Human, Censored by the Modern Age was written by Christian historian Lucetta Scaraffia. The Vatican paper published the two commentaries along with a Renaissance portrait of Mary baring her breast, nursing a swaddled baby Jesus (Maria Lactans)

Here's a list of links to other examples of Maria Lactans.

Poetry

This nativity poem, written by St. Ephrem, includes unabashed reference to the milk of a mother's breast and Jesus as an image of the breast from which we all draw nourishment and life:

Mary bore a mute Babe
though in Him were hidden all our tongues.
Joseph carried Him,
yet hidden in Him was a silent nature older than everything.
The Lofty One became like a little child,
yet hidden in Him was a treasure of Wisdom
that suffices for all.
He was lofty
but He sucked Mary's milk,
and from His blessings all creation sucks.
He is the Living Breast of living breath;
by His life the dead were suckled, and they revived.
Without the breath of air no one can live;
without the power of the Son no one can rise.
Upon the living breath of the One Who vivifies all
depend the living beings above and below.
As indeed He sucked Mary's milk,
He has given suck -- life to the universe.
As again He dwelt in His mother's womb,
in His womb dwells all creation.
Mute He was as a babe,
yet He gave to all creation all His commands.
For without the First-Born no one is able to approach Being,
for He alone is capable of it.

Song

If you'd like some musical accompaniment for this post, listen to my favorite a cappella group, Chanticleer, singing my favorite setting (Biebl) of Ave Maria. For some background on this piece, refer back to my series of posts on the Ave Maria, especially this one.

Ave Maria by Bielbl, performed by Chanticleer

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Angelus Domini, nuntiavit Mariae,
et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.

The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary
and she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum;
benedicta tu in mulieribus
et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.

Maria dixit, ecce ancilla Domini,
fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.

Mary said: behold the servant of the Lord,
let it be done to me according to your word.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum;
benedicta tu in mulieribus
et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesu.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.

Et verbum caro factum est,
et habitavit in nobis.

And the word became flesh
and dwelled among us.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum;
benedicta tu in mulieribus
et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesu.
Sancta Maria, mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God,
pray for us, sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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5/12/23

Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 5/13

Madonna of the Streets by Roberto Ferruzzi

May is a month of special devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. On the Saturdays of May, Pause for Prayer will focus on Mary. I'm pleased to feature today the well known Ferruzzi Madonna (above). It was a favorite of my mother and this image graced our living room. For today's prayer, I offer you this contemporary Marian litany, written by Joseph Lackner, a priest of the Society of Mary. A musical piece follows the litany.

A Marianist Litany to Mary

Mary, you are

mother and virgin,

wife and widow,

peasant and queen,

blessed for all time.

We need the comfort of your prayers.

Remember us always to our Father

through your Son, Jesus Christ,

who is our Lord for ever and ever.

Amen.

- Rev. Joseph H. Lackner, S.M.

We hear the Schubert Ave Maria quite often at weddings and funerals: sometimes beautifully performed and other times, well, not so beautifully rendered. Here's an instrumental performance by Emmanuel Rossfelder which is stunning in its artistry, simplicity and interpretation.

Ave Maria (Schubert) performed by Emmanuel Rossfelder

If a video doesn't appear below, click here!

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SUBSCRIBE HERE!