Little Office of  the Immaculate Conception

AT MATINS

Come, my lips, and wide proclaim
The Blessed Virgin's spotless fame.
V. O LADY! make speed to befriend me.
R. From the hands of the enemy mightily defend me.
V. Glory be to the Father, etc. Alleluia.

From Septugesima to Easter, instead of Alleluia, is said:
Praise be to Thee, O
Lord, King of everlasting glory.

Hymn
HAIL, Queen of the Heavens!
Hail, Mistress of earth!
Hail, Virgin most pure
Of immaculate birth!

Clear Star or the morning
In beauty enshrined!
O Lady! make speed
To the help or mankind.

Thee God in the depth
Of eternity chose;
And formed thee all fair,
As His glorious spouse;

And called thee His Word's
 Own Mother to be,
By Whom He created
The earth, sky, and sea.
Amen.

V. God elected her, and pre-elected her.
R. He made her to dwell in His tabernacle.
V. O Lady! aid my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.

Let us pray
HOLY Mary, Queen of Heaven, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
and Mistress of the world, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one,
look upon me, O Lady! with an eye of pity, and entreat for me, of thy beloved Son,
the forgiveness of all my sins, that, as I now celebrate, with devout affection,
thy holy and Immaculate Conception, so, hereafter, I may receive
the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him Whom thou, in virginity,
didst bring forth, Jesus Christ our Lord: Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost,
liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.

V. O Lady! aid my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.
V. Let us bless the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.
V. May the souls of the faithful,
through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.
R. Amen.

AT PRIME

V. O LADY! make speed to befriend me.
R. From the hands of the enemy mightily defend me.
V. Glory be to the Father, etc. Alleluia.

Hymn
HAIL,Virgin most wise!
Hail, Deity's shrine!
With seven fair pillars,
And table Divine!

Preserved from the guilt
Which hath come on us all!
Exempt, in the womb,
From the taint of the fall!

O new Star of Jacob,
Of Angels the Queen!
O Gate of the Saints!
O Mother of men!

To Zabulon fearful
As th' embattled array!
Be thou of the faithful
The refuge and stay.
Amen.

V. The Lord Himself created her in the Holy Ghost.
R. And poured her out over all His works.

Let us pray
HOLY Mary, Queen of Heaven, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
and Mistress of the world, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one,
look upon me, O Lady! with an eye of pity, and entreat for me, of thy beloved Son,
the forgiveness of all my sins, that, as I now celebrate, with devout affection,
thy holy and Immaculate Conception, so, hereafter, I may receive
the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him Whom thou, in virginity,
didst bring forth, Jesus Christ our Lord: Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost,
liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.

V. O Lady! aid my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.
V. Let us bless the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.
V. May the souls of the faithful,
through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.
R. Amen.

AT TIERCE

V. O LADY! make speed to befriend me.
R. From the hands of the enemy mightily defend me.
V. Glory be to the Father, etc. Alleluia.

Hymn
HAIL, Solomon's Throne!
Pure Ark of the law
Fair Rainbow and Bush,
Which the patriarch saw!

Hail, Gedeon's Fleece!
Hail, blossoming Rod,
Samson's sweet Honeycomb!
Portal of God!

Well-fitting it was
That a Son so Divine
Should preserve from all touch
Of original sin,

Nor suffer by smallest
Defect to be stained
That Mother, whom He
For Himself had ordained.
Amen.

 V. I dwell in the highest
 R. And my throne is on the pillar of the clouds.

Let us pray
HOLY Mary, Queen of Heaven, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
and Mistress of the world, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one,
look upon me, O Lady! with an eye of pity, and entreat for me, of thy beloved Son,
the forgiveness of all my sins, that, as I now celebrate, with devout affection,
thy holy and Immaculate Conception, so, hereafter, I may receive
the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him Whom thou, in virginity,
didst bring forth, Jesus Christ our Lord: Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost,
liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.

V. O Lady! aid my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.
V. Let us bless the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.
V. May the souls of the faithful,
through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.
R. Amen.

AT SEXT

V. O LADY! make speed to befriend me.
R. From the hands of the enemy mightily defend me.
V. Glory be to the Father, etc. Alleluia.

Hymn
HAIL, virginal Mother!
Hail, purity's Cell!
Fair Shrine, where the Trinity
Loveth to dwell!

Hail, Garden of pleasure!
Celestial Balm!
Cedar of chastity!
Martyrdom's Palm!

Thou Land set apart
From uses profane!
And free from the curse
Which in Adam began!

Thou City of God!
Thou Gate of the east
In thee is all grace
O joy of the blest!
Amen.

V. As the lily among the thorns.
R. So is my beloved among the daughters of Adam.

Let us pray
HOLY Mary, Queen of Heaven, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
and Mistress of the world, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one,
look upon me, O Lady! with an eye of pity, and entreat for me, of thy beloved Son,
the forgiveness of all my sins, that, as I now celebrate, with devout affection,
thy holy and Immaculate Conception, so, hereafter, I may receive
the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him Whom thou, in virginity,
didst bring forth, Jesus Christ our Lord: Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost,
liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.

V. O Lady! aid my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.
V. Let us bless the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.
V. May the souls of the
faithful, through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.
R. Amen.

AT NONE

V. O LADY! make speed to befriend me.
R. From the hands of the enemy mightily defend me.
V. Glory be to the Father, etc. Alleluia.

Hymn
HAIL, City of refuge!
Hail, David's high tower,
With battlements crowned
And girded with power!

Filled at thy conception
With love and with light!
The dragon by thee
Was shorn of his might.

O Woman most valiant!
O Judith thrice blest!
As David was nursed
In fair Abisag's breast;

As the savior of Egypt
Upon Rachel's knee:
So the world's great Redeemer
Was cherished by thee. Amen.

V. Thou art all fair, my beloved.
R. And the original stain was never in thee.

Let us pray
HOLY Mary, Queen of Heaven, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
and Mistress of the world, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one,
look upon me, O Lady! with an eye of pity, and entreat for me, of thy beloved Son,
the forgiveness of all my sins, that, as I now celebrate, with devout affection,
thy holy and Immaculate Conception, so, hereafter, I may receive
the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him Whom thou, in virginity,
didst bring forth, Jesus Christ our Lord: Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost,
liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.

V. O Lady! aid my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.
V. Let us bless the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.
V. May the souls of the
faithful, through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.
R. Amen.

AT VESPERS

V. O LADY! make speed to befriend me.
R. From the hands of the enemy mightily defend me.
V. Glory be to the Father, etc. Alleluia.

Hymn
HAIL, Dial of Achaz!
On thee the true sun
Told backward the course
Which from old he had run!

And, that man might be raised,
Submitting to shame,
A little more low
Than the Angels became.

Thou, rapt in the blaze
Of His infinite light,
Dost shine as the morn
On the confines of night;

As the moon on the lost
Through obscurity dawns;
The serpent's destroyer!
A lily 'mid thorns!
Amen.

V. I made an unfailing light to arise in Heaven.
R. And as a mist I overspread the whole earth.

Let us pray
HOLY Mary, Queen of Heaven, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
and Mistress of the world, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one,
look upon me, O Lady! with an eye of pity, and entreat for me, of thy beloved Son,
the forgiveness of all my sins, that, as I now celebrate, with devout affection,
thy holy and Immaculate Conception, so, hereafter, I may receive
the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him Whom thou, in virginity,
didst bring forth, Jesus Christ our Lord: Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost,
liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.

V. O Lady! aid my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.
V. Let us bless the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.
V. May the souls of the
faithful, through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.
R. Amen.

AT COMPLINE

V. MAY Jesus Christ, thy Son, reconciled,
O Lady! convert our hearts.
R. And turn away His anger from us.

V. O LADY! make speed to befriend me.
R. From the hands of the enemy mightily defend me.
V. Glory be to the Father, etc. Alleluia.

Hymn
HAIL, Mother most pure!
Hail, Virgin renowned!
Hail, Queen with the stars,
As a diadem, crowned.

Above all the Angels
In glory untold,
Standing next to the King I
n a vesture of gold.

O Mother of mercy!
O Star of the wave!
O Hope of the guilty!
O Light of the grave!

Through thee may we come
To the haven of rest;
And see Heaven's King
In the courts of the blest!
Amen.

V. THY name, O Mary! is as oil poured out.
R. Thy servants have loved thee exceedingly.
 

Let us pray
HOLY Mary, Queen of Heaven, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
and Mistress of the world, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one,
look upon me, O Lady! with an eye of pity, and entreat for me, of thy beloved Son,
the forgiveness of all my sins, that, as I now celebrate, with devout affection,
thy holy and Immaculate Conception, so, hereafter, I may receive
the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him Whom thou, in virginity,
didst bring forth, Jesus Christ our Lord: Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost,
liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.

V. O Lady! aid my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.
V. Let us bless the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.
V. May the souls of the
faithful, through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.
R. Amen.

THE COMMENDATION

THESE praises and  prayers
I lay at thy feet,
O Virgin of virgins!
O Mary most sweet!

Be thou my true guide
Through this pilgrimage here;
And stand by my side
When death draweth near.

R. Thanks be to God.
Ant. This is the rod in which was neither knot of original sin,
nor rind of actual guilt.
V. In thy conception, O Virgin! thou wast immaculate.
R. Pray for us to the Father, Whose Son thou didst bring forth.

Let us pray