Now Madeleine is carried to the Lady Altar, where a Mass of Thanksgiving was offered to Our Lady before the Baptism. Madeleine, clothed with Christ, is now dedicated to His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who constantly offers her tender motherly care by praying for us before God’s throne in Heaven. We pray that Madeleine may enjoy Mary’s special maternal protection throughout life and at the hour of death.Madeleine’s parents and godparents, together with the priest, recite the following Act of Consecration:
Blessed Virgin Mary,
Queen of Heaven and Earth,
to your immaculate Heart,
the channel of all graces,
we consecrate Madeleine
whom we have received from God’s goodness.
We offer her to you
that you may present her to your Divine Son,
that you may take her under your loving, maternal protection,
that you may preserve her from all dangers,
that you may keep her from all sin,
that you may make her grow in piety
and in all virtue
so that she may always be worthy
to call herself your child.
May she grow daily in wisdom and in grace,
may she go through life having you always as her refuge and mother.
May all virtues shine in her
and may she never offend your maternal heart.
May the Eternal Father always look upon her with delight
and see in her
a ray and reflection of your Immaculate Beauty.
And as today she gladdens our home,
so may she one day gladden the Eternal Home
which we pray will be hers.
Amen.
Finally we sing the Salve
Hail Holy Queen,
Mother of Mercy,
Hail our life, our sweetness and our Hope!
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.
To Thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious Advocate,
thine eyes of mercy towards us,
and after this, our exile,
show unto us the blessed
fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving,
O sweet Virgin Mary.
PRIEST: Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
Part 1: The Mass
Part 2: The Baptism
All the colour photos contained in this post are courtesy of Mr. Peter Gosling and are copyrighted to him.
Matt and Wendy, if you are ever in Paris, do try to visit the Church of Our Lady of Victories with Madeleine. It is really special and it was the church in which St Therese of Lisieux made an act of consecration to Our Lady as a very young girl.
ReplyDeleteThanks Father, will definately do that! I've looked at a guide of the Birmingham Oratory; and the Statue of Our Lady you can see at the Lady Altar is, indeed, a wooden replica of the one at Notre Dame des Victoires in Paris. It was generously donated by the Feeny family in the early 20th Century, with its 17th century altar and rails from the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome. Interestingly the two siberian onyx columns were originally part of a set of 6 for westminster cathedral, but were added to the lady chapel in 1914.
ReplyDeleteI noticed I've been taken off your blogroll, Fr. Richard. Does this mean I am no longer a 'friend of Christ'?
No, certainly not.
ReplyDelete