Wednesday 8 May 2013

Prayer for England, Mary's Dowry - during the 1893 Dedication of England to the Mother of God.


Prayer of the Bishops of England and Wales in 1893 during the ceremony of the Dedication of England to the Mother of God, the last part of which (from the let us pray) is taken from an 8th century prayer found in the Book of Cerne which belonged to Ethelwald, Bishop of Sherbourne, AD 760:


O Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ!

Mother of Grace, and Queen of the Kingdom of Thy Son!

Humbly kneeling before thee, we offer thee this country in which we live!

It was once thine.

Before it was robbed of the Holy Faith, all its children were thy children and thou wert honoured throughout its length and breadth as its Protectress and its Queen.

Again do we consecrate it to thee; again do we dedicate it as thy own Dowry.

We offer our own hearts, that their love and service may ever grow and increase.

We offer all our brethren – those multitudes who know thee so little – or know thee not at all.

May thy prayer bring back the country’s ancient Faith!

May thy intercession lead us to a closer union with thy Divine Son.

We consecrate ourselves to Him through thee.

Obtain for us, and for England, Thy Dowry, every grace and blessing, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Holy Mother of God, Virgin ever blest, O Mary Immaculate, pray for us, intercede for us, disdain not to help us.  For we are all confident and know for certain that thou canst obtain all thou willest from thy Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty, the King of Ages, Who liveth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

what a beautiful prayer. I have just written a blogpost about prayer for the House of Lords and the forthcoming bill for same sex marriage. I found out about the prayer for Mary's dowry as a result.
God bless you in your work.