Our Lady of in Honor of Our Lady of Mercy

Opening Hymn

Mother of Mercy, day by day, My love of Thee, grows more and more, Thy gifts are strewn upon my way, Like sands upon the great seashore, Like sands upon the great seashore.

Thy love for me, I know its worth, Oh, it is all in all for me; For what did love on earth, One half so tenderly as Thee, One half so tenderly as Thee.

Jesus when His three hours were run, bequeathed Thee from the Cross to me. And oh! How can I love Thy Son, Sweet Mother, if I love not Thee? Sweet Mother, if I love not Thee?

KNEEL

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

All: O God, who by means of the most glorious Mother of Thy Son, was pleased to give new offspring to Thy Church, for the deliverance of Christians, from the power of the heathen: Grant we beseech Thee, that we too, who love and honor Her as the foundress of so great a work, may by Her merits and intercession, be ourselves delivered from the power of the evil one. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Priest: Most pious Mother of Mercy People: Pray for us. Priest: Redemptress of captives People: Pray for us. Priest: Most pious Mother of Mercy People: Pray for us.

I

Oh Most Holy Mother of Mercy, behold us prostrate before Thy altar, mourning and weeping for the great offenses we have given Thy Divine Son, Our Lord, and for the most severe punishments we have deserved. We have no courage, O Mother, to appeal to God and ask for the favor we need; so we make recourse to Thee, and beg of Thee to intercede for us before the throne of Thy Son. Speak, O Mother, to Him for us and tell Him that we humbly recognize that we have offended Him grievously, and so many times, even when He was so generous to us in our many needs. Tell Him that we are sorry for our unspeakable ingratitudes, and that we firmly resolve to correct our lives, and appease His justice.

HAIL HOLY QUEEN, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To Thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To Thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate! Thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show onto us the blessed fruit of Thy womb, Jesus; O clement! O loving! O sweet Virgin Mary!

II

If Thou will speak on our behalf to Jesus, O Mother of Mercy, He will grant the grace we need. Do this then, O Mary. We have chosen Thee as our advocate in our trials, in our distresses defend O Sweet Mother, our cause before Jesus. Remember that is was never heard, that Thy divine Son ever refused to grant what Thou has asked, even for the hardest sinners. How many times has Thou overcome the striking hand of Jesus, with Thy motherly pleading? Pray for us, O Mother in this hour of confusion and discouragement and Jesus will once more grant Thy request. Hail Holy Queen…

III

O Mary, Thou art honored with so many beautiful titles, but oh how Sweet, how consoling is that of Mother of Mercy. It tells as a long, never ending, glorious story of graces and miracles and favors, obtained by those who invoked Thee. It means that Jesus has made Thee, the treasurer and dispenser of His mercy to all those who need it most. But we are among the poorest sinners, and we need now, more than ever, the Divine Mercy! Oh, do obtain for us, the mercy of God and the favor for which we humbly and fervently pray. Hail Holy Queen…

IV

It is Thy motherly love for the poor sinners; that gives Thee delight to pray for them; and all the favors obtained through Thy intercession are the shining crown of Thy glories and the consoling proof that Thou lovest the sinners. Add another jewel to this crown, O Mother of Mercy, by pleading for us, and obtaining the favor we ask. We sincerely promise Thee, O Mother, that we will not willfully fall into mortal sin again and offend Jesus and Thee. We will promote, among all, the honor and love due to Jesus and to Thee. We will speak of Thy mercies, O Mother of Mercy, and do our utmost, that the name of our Savior Jesus Christ and Thy name, be honored, reverenced and loved by all. Hail Holy Queen…

V

When we think how Thy tender motherly love, graciously and pitifully heard the heart rendering groans of thousands of Christians, crying under the hardest slavery of the Mohammedans, we feel so encouraged in our petitions. We also are slaves of sin. What we suffer is the just punishment due to our sins. But to whom shall we have recourse? Shall we despair? Oh no, O loving and merciful . Did not Jesus give Thee as a Mother to us at the foot of the Cross? Oh, pray, then, intercede for us before Jesus. Make our case Thine own, and He, Who loved Thee as God alone can love His Mother, will favorably answer our humble petitions. Hail Holy Queen…

Closing Hymn – Our Lady of Mercy

Verse I. Our Lady of Mercy, sweet and pure, We gather around thy shrine; For near to thee we feel secure From danger and from crime. Our garlands at thy loving feet We place with tender care, And raise our voices now to greet Our queen so kind and fair.

Chorus Our Lady of Mercy, sweet and pure, To thy blessed care we are secure. In mercy then thine aid bestow On thy children here below.

II. A chaplet frail thy titles form Of buds and blossoms rare; The one thy children love the best 'Tis Queen of Mercy fair, For under that sweet title Thou hast heard our every Hast pleaded with thy Son for us That He might with us bear.

Chorus

III. Thy loving heart cannot behold Thy children overcome In this vast field of strife and woe Where sin ensnares each one, Oh let thy mercy with us live Until our dying day When we to Thee our souls will give At Jesus' feet to lay.

Chorus