St. Andrew's Journal

St. Andrew's Journal

by Fr Randall Allen
St Andrews CEC
Covington, GA

Octave of The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Octave of The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Octave (eight day feast) of Nativity started Sept 8th.

COLLECT OF THE DAY

Let us pray.
Grant unto us thy servants, we beseech thee, O Lord, the gift of thy heavenly grace, unto whom thou didst give the first sight of a Saviour as the offspring of a Blessed Virgin, and grant that this Feast, which they keep in honour of the same Virgin, may avail them unto the increase of peace. Through.

THE HYMN
The God, whom earth, and sea, and sky
Adore, and laud, and magnify,
Whose might they own, whose praise they swell,
In Mary's womb vouchsafed to dwell.
The Lord whom sun and moon obey,
Whom all things serve from day to day,
Was by the Holy Ghost conceived,
Of her who through his grace believed.

How blest that Mother, in whose shrine
The great Artificer divine,
Whose hand contains the earth and sky,
Once deigned, as in his ark, to lie:-

Blest in the message Gabriel brought,
Blest by the work the Spirit wrought;
From whom the Great Desire of earth
Took human flesh and human birth.

Proper Doxology
All honour, laud, and glory be,
O Jesu, Virgin-born, to thee,
Whom with the Father we adore,
And Holy Ghost, for evermore. Amen.

The Lesson is taken from a Sermon by St. Augustine the Bishop:

Dearly beloved brethren, the day for which we have longed, the Feast-day of the Blessed and Worshipful and Alway-Virgin Mary, that day is come. Let our land laugh and sing with merriment, bathed in the glory of this great Virgin's rising. She is the flower of the fields on which the priceless lily of the valleys hath blossomed. This is she whose delivery changed the nature that we draw from our first parents, and cleansed away their offence. At her that dolorous sentence which was pronounced over Eve ended its course ; to her it was never said : In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children. She brought forth a Child, even the Lord, but she brought him forth, not in sorrow, but in joy.

V. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
R. Thanks be to God.
R. This day was born the glorious Virgin Mary, a child of the seed of Abraham, a daughter of the tribe of Judah, a Princess of the lineage of David ; * This is she whose famous life still sheddeth lustre upon all the churches.
V. This day was the Blessed Virgin Mary born of the lineage of David.
R. This is she whose famous life still sheddeth lustre upon all the churches.

Eve wept, but Mary laughed. Eve's womb was big with tears, but Mary's womb was big with gladness. Eve gave birth to a sinner, but Mary gave birth to the sinless One. The mother of our race brought punishment into the world, but the Mother of our Lord brought salvation into the world. Eve was the foundress of sin, but Mary was the foundress of righteousness. Eve welcomed death, but Mary helped in life. Eve smote, but Mary healed. For Eve's disobedience, Mary offered obedience ; and for Eve's unbelief, Mary offered faith.


from the Anglican Breviary