The Church’s prayer today
United States Roman Calendar · Year C → Year A at Advent · Cycle II. Liturgical color: green.
Scripture for the liturgy
Eph 5:21-33/Lk 13:18-21 (480)
These references follow the annual calendar, including permitted reading choices. Optional memorials ordinarily retain the weekday readings. Daily reading pages for this future year may not yet be published. Use these references with the USCCB Bible, or open the annual calendar.
Mary, the faithful echo of God
Finally, because you never think of Mary but that Mary, in your place, thinks of God; you never praise or honor Mary but that Mary with you praises and honors God. Mary is wholly relative to God, and I might very well call her the relation of God, who exists only with reference to God, or the echo of God, who says and repeats only God. If you say Mary, she says God. Saint Elizabeth praised Mary and called her blessed because she had believed; Mary, the faithful echo of God, intoned: Magnificat anima mea Dominum: My soul glorifies the Lord. What Mary did on that occasion, she does every day; when one praises her, loves her, honors her, or gives to her, God is praised, God is loved, God is honored; one gives to God through Mary and in Mary.
Make this prayer your own
Most holy Virgin, obtain for us the love of prayer and of solitude, so that, detaching ourselves from the love of creatures, we may aspire to God alone and to Paradise, where we hope one day to see you and for ever to praise and love together with you your Son Jesus, world without end. Amen.
St. Alphonsus de Liguori · The Glories of Mary · On the Prayer of MaryOne faithful act
Thank God for one grace received today, and ask Mary to help you persevere in prayer and praise.
Give thanks in prayerCalendar scope and local observance
Dates, ranks, and reading references follow the official calendar for the dioceses of the United States, with Ascension on Sunday. Diocesan, parish, patronal, and religious-family calendars may differ. Consult your parish for Mass schedules and obligations. The Marian meditation is a devotional aid accompanying the day.