Saturday Prayer to the Blessed Virgin with Prayer for Purity
A historical Saturday devotion to Mary, ending with the source’s recommended short prayer for purity.
Historical edition. Historical claims and instructions are preserved as historical context.
Most Holy Virgin! Mother of God; and, by that august quality, worthy of the most profound respect from angels and men, I come to render thee my most humble homage, and to implore thy help and protection. Seated above the heavenly hosts of saints and angels, next to the throne of the Almighty, thou art most powerful, and thy goodness towards mankind equals the power thou hast in heaven.
Thou knowest, O most sacred Virgin, that I have been taught from my infancy to look up to thee as my mother, my patroness, and most powerful advocate; and thou hast vouchsafed from on high, to look down on me as one of thy children. I acknowledge, with the most humble sentiments of gratitude, that it is by the means of thy most powerful intercession I have received such innumerable graces and favours from the Almighty. Why then has not the fervour of my devotion towards thee been equal to thy zeal in succouring me in my necessities? Alas! the sense of my ingratitude overwhelms me with shame and confusion; but accept, O amiable Queen, of my determined resolution to love, honor and serve thee with more fidelity for the future.
Receive, then, O sacred Virgin, the protestation I now make of being hereafter entirely thine. Accept the unshaken confidence which I place in thy clemency and goodness. Obtain for me, most powerful advocate with thy dear Son, my Saviour, (who can refuse thee nothing that is conducive to my salvation,) a lively faith, a firm hope, and a generous, tender, and constant love. Procure for me such a purity of soul and body as nothing can defile or contaminate; such a profound humility as nothing can alter or change; and such patience and submission to the will of heaven, as nothing can perplex or disturb. Lastly, most blessed Virgin, obtain for me such a faithful imitation of thyself, in the practice of every virtue, during life, as may procure for me thy powerful aid and protection at the hour of death. Amen.
The following short ejaculatory Prayer to the BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, has been recommended and experienced by many as an excellent preventative against impure temptations.
Through thy sacred virginity and immaculate conception, O most chaste Virgin, obtain for me purity of soul and body; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.