A Simple Prayer

Mary, Mother of Jesus,
Help me to be only
All for Jesus, holy.

Mother Theresa

Pope Saint Pius X's Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe,
Mystical Rose,
make intercession for the holy Church,
protect the Sovereign Pontiff,
help all those who invoke thee in their necessities,
and since thou art the ever Virgin Mary
and Mother of the true God,
obtain for us from thy most holy Son
the grace of keeping our faith,
sweet hope in the midst of the bitterness of life,
burning charity,
and the precious gift of final perseverance.
Amen.

During the reign of Pope Saint Gregory the Great (590 - 604), human hearts had grown hard and cynical.
A devastating plague broke out in Rome. Vast numbers of people suffered horribly and died violently.
The stench of death was everywhere. Medical science had no remedy. The Pope turned in prayer to Mary
as Mother of God and mother of the human race. In a public act of faith, and defiant of the disease that
was wiping out the population of Rome, Saint Gregory the Great carried a highly sacred icon, reputedly
painted by St. Luke, in solemn procession from the Church of Saint Mary Major to Saint Peter's Basilica.
Stories survive even to these times that those who witnessed the solemn procession heard angelic
choirs chanting the glorious Resurrection Hymn that acknowledges and praises God's gifts to Mary.
People, stooped with sorrow, were suddenly filled with joy at the sound of the angels on high.
They joined their voices with the angels to cry out this prayer:

O Queen of Heaven, rejoice, Alleluia,
For He Whom you were privileged to bear,
Alleluia,
Has risen, as He said, Alleluia.
Pray for us to God, Alleluia. Rejoice and be glad,
O Virgin Mary,
Alleluia.

For the Lord has risen indeed,
Alleluia.

Let us pray.
O God, Who gave joy to the world
Through the resurrection of Your Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ;
Grant, we beseech You
That through His Mother, the Virgin Mary,
We may obtain the joys of everlasting life.
Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
May the Divine Assistance remain always with us.
Amen.

This prayer was approved and enriched with an indulgence of five hundred days by
Pope Pius X at an audience held on August, 1908, and was included in the official
edition of approved indulgenced prayers (1950).

A Prayer for Humility

I come to thee, glorious Mother of God, whom
the Church of the Saints call Mother of Humility,
Mother of Mercy. Thou art she, O Mary, who has
never refused the company of anyone; whose
mercy has never failed anyone, or whose clemency
rejected any supplicant. God forbid, mediatrix of
men, and their only hope, after thy Son, that my
sins should be an obstacle to exercising towards me
thy merciful office. Ah, no; assuredly, I hope that
thou wilt deign to obtain for me the grace to
expiate them, to repent of them sincerely.
Amen.

Saint William of Paris (c. 1148 - 1203)