Beata Dei Genetrix

Each morning at Lauds of the Blessed Virgin, the Benedictus antiphon is as follows:

Beata Dei Genitrix Maria, Virgo perpetua, templum Domini, sacrarium Spiritus Sancti:

sola sine exemplo placuisti Domino nostro Jesu Christo:

ora pro populo, interveni pro clero, intercede pro devoto femineo sexu.

(Blessed Mother of God Mary, ever a Virgin, temple of the Lord, shrine of the Holy Ghost:

alone without peer thou didst please our Lord Jesus Christ:

pray for the people, intervene for the clergy, intercede for consecrated women.)

Interestingly, this Marian anthem is composed of three parts - the first is a series of Our Lady's titles; the second, a slightly expanded quotation from Sedulius (Carmen paschale, II, 69 - Sola sine exemplo placuisti femina Christo); the third, part of the prayer of Fulbert of Chartres long attributed to St Augustine (Serm. IX - ora pro populo; interveni pro clero; intercede pro devoto femineo sexu).

Sedulius also gives us the Introit for Our Lady, Salve sancta Parens (at which words the Carthusians genuflect in memory of the Incarnation): his verses were Salve, sancta parens, enixa puerpera regem, / Qui caelum terramque tenet per saecula... (Carmen paschale, II, 63f), but these the Church has expanded upon by changing the last words to regit in saecula saeculorum.

Salve, sancta parens,

enixa puerpera Regem,

qui caelum, terramque regit

in saecula saeculorum.

(Hail, holy Parent,

a woman in labour who didst bring forth the King,

Who ruleth heaven and earth

for ever and ever.)

From his abecedarian hymn A solis ortus cardine come some wonderful Christmas and Epiphany hymns, though his full text extends from the Infancy to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. From the Carmen comes also the following lines (II, 66-68):

...quæ ventre beato
Gaudia matris habens cum virginitatis honore
Nec primam similem visa es nec habere sequentem:

(... by whose blessed womb

having the joys of a mother with the honour of virginity:

neither was one like seen before thee nor shall there be another)

These appear reused in various places in the Liturgy, such as in this antiphon sung before Christmas in some rites:

O Virgo virginum, quomodo fiet istud?

Quia nec primam similem visa es nec habere sequentem.

Filiæ Jerusalem, quid me admiramini?

Divinum est mysterium hoc quod cernitis.

(O Virgin of Virgins, how shall this be?

For neither before thee was any like thee, nor shall there be after.

Daughters of Jerusalem, why marvel ye at me?

The thing which ye behold is a divine mystery.)

As Gambero notes, Sedulius offers a synthesis and summary of all Mariology in a short passage of his Carmen (II, 63-69), parts of which have already been quoted above, parts taken up into the official Liturgy of Christ's Church:

Hail, O holy mother; you gave birth to the King

Who governs heaven and earth forever, whose

Divinity and dominion embrace everything in one eternal realm

And endure without end. In your blessed womb

You hold a mother's joy, yet you enjoy the honour of virginity.

No woman like you was seen before, nor did one appear after;

You alone, without comparison, were the woman who pleased Christ.

May the Blessed Virgin intercede for us with her Son, Who refuses nothing to His Mother in whom He is well-pleased.

Exitus et Reditus

All of Creation and Redemption and Sanctification is in essence exitus and reditus: the Creation of creatures by God, their falling away into sin, and His bringing them back into union with Him by His mighty works and wonders. The whole Summa of Aquinas is designed along these lines.

A reader asked whether there be a counterpart to the Itinerarium to be said upon the happy return of pilgrims. I wasn't sure, but, having checked, have found that there is.

Firstly, if the Itinerarium be not said by the one travelling, but instead if it be said on one's behalf as a blessing over one by a priest, it is augmented as follows:

Pilgrims ought obtain a letter of recommendation from their Ordinary or parish priest, go to Confession, hear Mass (at which the orations for pilgrims ought be inserted by the celebrant), receive Communion, and then after Mass be blessed. The Itinerarium is recited not in the first person singular or plural as the case would be by oneself ("I/me/my/mine") or by a group ("we/us/our/ours"), but is recited over the pilgrims in the second person singular or plural ("thou/thee/thy/thine" or "you/your/yours") as appropriate. However, the last prayer of the Itinerarium is shorn of its doxological conclusion, and instead a fifth prayer is added, plus a blessing, in place of the Procedamus, and holy water is sprinkled upon the pilgrim(s):

Hear, Lord, our prayers, and kindly accompany your servants on their journey; and as you are present everywhere lend them your aid at all times, so that with you as their shield they will be defended from all dangers and pay you their homage of gratitude; through Christ our Lord. R/. Amen.

May the peace and blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever. R/. Amen.

Secondly, on the return of the pilgrim(s), the following is said in thanksgiving, ending with the sprinkling of the pilgrim(s) with holy water - BTW, sorry about the mix of Latin and English, but it's the best I can do at short notice:

V/. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.
R/. Qui fecit caelum et terram.

Ant. See, thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord. (Ps 127:4)

Psalm 127

Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee.
Thy wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of thy house.
Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.
May the Lord bless thee out of Sion: and mayest thou see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
And mayest thou see thy children's children, peace upon Israel.
Glory be...
As it was...

Ant. See...

Kyrie...
Pater noster... (the rest inaudibly until:)
V/. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.
R/. Sed libera nos a malo
V/. Blessed are they who come in the name of the Lord.
R/. Blessed be you by the Lord who made heaven and earth.
V/. Look with favor, Lord, on your servants and their works.
R/. And keep them in the way of your precepts.
V/. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
R/. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
V/. Dominus vobiscum.
R/. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Oremus.

We beg you, Lord, be appeased, and lavish on your servants pardon and peace, so that being cleansed of all their transgressions they may serve you with tranquil hearts.
Almighty everlasting God, the ruler of our lives and destinies, grant to your servants continual and abundant peace, so that those whom you have brought back safely to their various occupations may bask in the security of your protection.
God, the support of the lowly, you who console us by the love of our brethren; bestow your grace on our brotherhood, so that we may always see your presence in those in whom you live by your grace; through Christ our Lord. R/. Amen.

May the peace and blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever. R/. Amen.