This document contains prayers and readings for a celebration of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It includes an opening prayer asking God for help, strength, and peace. It also contains the Psalm 150, a passage from John describing Mary at the foot of the cross, and intercessory prayers asking for Mary's guidance. It concludes with the Memorare, a prayer asking for Mary's protection.

3. Opening Prayer:
• God Our Father,
Give your chosen people
your help and strength.
The birth of the Virgin Mary's son
was the dawn of our salvation.
May our celebration of her nativity
bring us closer to lasting peace
and may the virtues that she modeled
develop in our lives,
to love you and our neighbors more perfectly.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen

4. Psalm 150
Antiphon: Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you
Alleluia! Praise God in his holy place; praise him in his mighty
firmament.
Praise him for his powerful deeds;
praise him for his boundless grandeur.
O praise him with sound of trumpet; praise him with lute and harp.
Praise him with timbrel and dance;
praise him with strings and pipes.
O praise him with resounding cymbals; praise him with clashing of
cymbals.
Let everything that breathes
praise the Lord! Alleluia!
Glory be to the Father …

5. John 19:25-28:
Mary and the Beloved Disciple at the foot
of the Cross
Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the
cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He
loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, "Woman,
behold, your son!"
Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" From
that hour the disciple took her into his own household.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been
accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, "I am thirsty."

6. Marial Prayer Intercessions:
• Let us rejoice in the Holy Spirit who throughout the centuries has
inspired the faithful to call upon God through the intercession of Mary:
• R/. Lead us in the way of truth.
• O God, be praised through Mary, help of Christians. Help us all to
proclaim the gospel with our lives.
• R/. We praise you, Lord, with our lives.
• O God, be praised through Mary, refuge of sinners. Teach us, in our
turn, to support one another in our efforts to follow your will. R/. We
praise you, Lord, in our struggles to be faithful.

7. • O God, be praised through Mary, who conceived in her
heart as well as her womb. Let our lives bear witness to your
abiding presence in us.
• R/. We praise you, Lord, for your presence in our lives.
• O God, be praised in Mary, mother of good counsel. Form
us continually to be attentive and discerning people.
• R/. We praise you, Lord, as you lead us to life in you.

8. • The Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it
known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored
thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, O Virgin of
virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand,
sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and
answer me.
Amen.