Prayer Cycle / Birthing the Holy / Day 7
Day 7: Madonna Protectress & Mirror of Justice
Video, Audio and Written Guides for Morning and Evening Prayer
Morning Prayer: Madonna Protectress
OPENING PRAYER
Madonna Protectress, you hear the cries of your people and respond. Gather us under your mantle of care and protection so we may pursue right action. Guard our tender hearts and lives so they may bear fruit in the fullness of time. Spread your generous cloak wide to all who live on the edges of society that they too may know the strength and love of the Protector.
OPENING SONG: Calling Maria
FIRST READING: Elizabeth A. Johnson
The Spirit’s outstretched wings “morphed” into the outstretched cloak of the strong medieval Madonna of the Protective Mantle, and the Spirit’s birthing and renewing powers were attributed to her gracious work in salvation.
SUNG PSALM OPENING
O Justice, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise. (Repeat)
PSALM 17
Great Mother, hear my prayer.
It is as sincere as I can make it.
Take my heart, be with me in the night
melt me down to my essence.
Help me live in love and justice. Guide me—
Teach me your love.
Shield me from those who would hurt me
Help me to leave this world a better place
And to see your face in it all.
SUNG DOXOLOGY
Glory to the Maker, Lover, and Keeper; as ago, in this breath, and will be ever. Amen, Amen.
As we listen to scripture this morning, may our hearts sing with Mary her profound canticle of justice and praise.
SECOND READING: The Gospel According to Luke (Luke 1:46-55)
Modern Magnificat
My soul sings in gratitude.
I’m dancing in the mystery of God.
The light of the Holy One is within me
and I am blessed, so truly blessed.
This goes deeper than human thinking.
I am filled with awe
at Love whose only condition
is to be received.
The gift is not for the proud,
for they have no room for it.
The strong and self-sufficient ones
don’t have this awareness.
But those who know their emptiness
can rejoice in Love’s fullness.
It’s the Love that we are made for,
the reason for our being.
It fills our inmost heart space
and brings to birth in us, the Holy One.
SILENT CONTEMPLATION
PRAYERS OF CONCERN
We offer prayers now for all that is on our hearts.
Encircling God, we thank you that you have given us images to help remind us that we are protected. Thank you that we can place ourselves under the Mantle of our Mother when we are afraid or weary. Instead of imagining possible catastrophes and disasters, help us picture our Mother extending her cloak of protection over us and shielding us from harm.
SUNG RESPONSE
O Protectress, be our guide. Creator God, empower us.
Thank you, Mother that you are fierce in the defense of your children. We mourn and grieve for all those who have not known how to protect their children from harm. We carry the children to you in prayer, asking you to shelter them under your cloak. We call on you and your Warrior heart to help us be fierce in protecting those who are vulnerable and ask your forgiveness for the times we stay silent.
SUNG RESPONSE
O Protectress, be our guide. Creator God, empower us.
O Protectress, help us learn to say no. Flooded by messages of non- stop productivity and the promise of abundance, our lives become depleted of joy. Forgive our addictions and the never-ending pursuit of more. Help us know that we can call on you to help us live within limits and find contentment and deep peace. Like Juan Diego, may we hear you whisper “Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms?”
SUNG RESPONSE
O Protectress, be our guide. Creator God, empower us.
Please add the prayers you are longing to express.
SUNG RESPONSE
O Protectress, be our guide. Creator God, empower us.
CLOSING SONG: Mother Earth
CLOSING BLESSING
Holy Mary, Protectress of us all,
Gather us under your wide mantle
and guard us from harm
when the storms of the world gather.
Provide us with a shelter and sanctuary,
protect us with your fierce boundaries,
and teach us to say no
to all that drains life away.
Offer your boundless care
to those most vulnerable,
to all those who dwell on the edges.
Shield them from violence and hunger,
from trauma and harm.
Keep us all safe
from those who wish us ill
as we draw your holy cloak
around us, a circle of protection.
SUNG AMEN
Credits
All songs and texts used with permission
Opening Prayer written by Christine Valters Paintner, arranged by Melinda Thomas
Opening Song: Calling Maria by Alexa Sunshine Rose from the album Birthing the Holy: Singing with Mary and the Sacred Feminine
First Reading from Elizabeth A. Johnson, Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints. New York: Continuum (2009) page 78-79.
Sung Psalm Opening and Doxology by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan from the album Monk in the World: Songs for Contemplative Living
Interpretation of Psalm 17 by Rev. Christine Robinson
Second Reading from Joy Cowley, Modern Magnificat
Prayers of Concern written by Polly Paton-Brown
SUNG RESPONSE based on Litany of Mary by Laura Ash. Adapted & recorded by Simon de Voil and Alexa Sunshine Rose.
Closing Song: Mother Earth by Betsey Beckman from the album Earth, Our Original Monastery: Singing Our Way to the Sacred
Closing Blessing: written by Christine Valters Paintner from Birthing the Holy: Wisdom from Mary to Nurture Creativity and Renewal used with permission from Ave Maria Press
Please note: All of the songs and prayer responses are published on CDs in the Abbey of the Arts collection. In addition, these songs & responses have accompanying gesture prayers and/or dances created by Betsey Beckman that can be found on the corresponding DVD (each album has a DVD companion). Audio and video recordings of the Prayer Cycles are available at AbbeyoftheArts.com.
Evening Prayer: Mirror of Justice
OPENING PRAYER
Mirror of Justice, you lift up all those on the margins; reflect the justice of Christ who redistributes power structures and gives amplification to the most vulnerable. You call us to solidarity with those who are in need and to remember that our own liberation is intimately entwined with the liberation of the whole human community and the whole natural world. With cries of lament for this hurting world we ask you, Mary, that in the midst of our holy birthing we too can be midwives of a new vision and a new way of being that allows all beings to be nourished and to thrive.
OPENING SONG: Magnificat
SUNG PSALM OPENING
O Justice, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise. (Repeat)
PSALM 14
We wonder, in our hearts, if there is a God,
or meaning, or hope.
Even our humanism is shaken, when it seems that people care only
about themselves.
The ideals we have and the airs we take on
seem foolish and vain.
Is there anyone who is wise?
Is there anyone who is just?
Any who treat their neighbors
as persons of worth and dignity?
Or who are centered and mature in their faith?
There is only ourselves; half-wise, attracted
to justice, trying to be good.
Only ourselves and the ideals that burn like fire in our hearts.
What will open our eyes?
What will soften our greed?
What will give us a passion for justice?
Only the voice that speaks in the longing of our hearts
That lifts our spirits and makes us sing.
SUNG DOXOLOGY
Glory to the Maker, Lover, and Keeper; as ago, in this breath, and will be ever. Amen, Amen.
READING OF THE NIGHT: Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza
In the center of the Christian story stands not the lovely ‘white lady’ of artistic and popular imagination, kneeling in adoration before her son. Rather it is the young pregnant woman, living in occupied territory and struggling against victimization and for survival and dignity.
SILENT CONTEMPLATION
CLOSING SONG: Litany of Mary
CLOSING BLESSING:
Holy Mary, Mirror of Justice,
you reflect back to us what is possible
in a world of corruption and suffering.
You hold the vision of a new creation,
your very being magnifies the Divine
and reveals a pathway of justice
where each person and being
is well nourished and loved.
Where everyone has more than enough,
an abundance for flourishing.
Where each one is cherished
for exactly who they are.
You call on us to care for those
who dwell on the edges,
to bring them to the center of our care.
You empower us to resist violence
in all its forms and to shower
this world with care and kindness.
Help us transform this world
with love, compassion, and justice.
SUNG AMEN
Credits
All songs and texts used with permission
Opening Prayer written by Christine Valters Paintner, arranged by Melinda Thomas
Opening Song: Magnificat by Simon de Voil from Birthing the Holy: Singing with Mary and the Sacred Feminine
Psalm Opening and Doxology by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan from the album Monk in the World: Songs for Contemplative Living
Interpretation of Psalm 14 by Rev. Christine Robinson
Reading of the Night from Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Jesus: Miriam’s Child, Sophia’s Prophet (New York: Continuum, 1994), 187.
Closing Song: Litany of Mary by Tomás Pascual (1595-1635), adapted by Laura Ash, from the album Birthing the Holy: Singing with Mary and the Sacred Feminine
Closing Blessing written by Christine Valters Paintner from Birthing the Holy: Wisdom from Mary to Nurture Creativity and Renewal used with permission from Ave Maria Press
Please note: All of the songs and prayer responses are published on CDs in the Abbey of the Arts collection. In addition, these songs & responses have accompanying gesture prayers and/or dances created by Betsey Beckman that can be found on the corresponding DVD (each album has a DVD companion). Audio and video recordings of the Prayer Cycles are available at AbbeyoftheArts.com.
