Prayer to a Virgin

HAIL, holy N., graceful virgin, unspotted spouse of Jesus, thou art full of grace and of love, lustrous with honour, resplendent with charity. O blessed N., I recall to thy mind now that ineffable grace which our Lord bestowed upon thee, when he set thee apart even from thy mother’s womb, and chose thee into the number of his especially beloved ones. Blessed be the perfection of thy snow-white purity, and the gentle charm of thy most chaste love; for with one hair of thy neck and with one of thine eyes thou hast wounded the heart of thy Lord the King. Thou art a lily of virginity glistening in thy whiteness, an unfading flower of purity, who drawest all saints after the sweet odour of thy perfumes, and dost gladden and refresh them with the marvellous radiance of thy light. Thou art a spotless lamb, clothed upon with the snowy fleece of chastity, and thou followest the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, and with most ravishing melody dost sing thy virgin hymn. I beseech thee, O blessed N., by that love wherewith Christ doth bestow on thee the rewards of everlasting bliss, blot out all the stains of my manifold corruptions, and with thy undefiled virginity cover the foulness of my defilement, and obtain for me, through the favour thou hast found with God, that I may never henceforward, by thought or word or deed, sin against the sacredness of purity. Amen.