I'm afraid that with the best will in the world, it seems to me that the "Evening Prayer [sic!] to Our Lady" gives to Mary the place that belongs only to Christ. I don't think she or her son would like it!
Please don't "pray" it. You can read it here for research purposes only!
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 wailing 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.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
(p22)
Capital letters for Mary seems to me to give her far too high a status.
Better to go straight to Christ, knowing that he is the only mediator between God and man and that anyone who comes to him he will by no means turn away.
This prayer seems to me obviously to pray to Mary whereas I have heard some try to distinguish talking to Mary and asking her to pray for us, which sounds like as a bit of a fudge to me anyway.
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2 comments:
Doesn't this break some sort of canon law or something?
And if not, why not?
It certainly breaks the first commandment.
It would certainly be illegal for an Anglican clergyman to use this prayer in most places in most acts of public worship. Could it be included in the intercessions in a Service of the Word? More debatable.
Above all, one would have to argue that it is contrary to the faith revealed in Holy Scripture to which the historic formularies of the church of England bare witness. Of course this would be harder to prove, but I for one would like to see a test case.
The book is intended for use by all faiths and not only in public prayer so the book itself is not illegal, even if its misguided.
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