During
Eastertide our recitation of the Angelus at dawn, noon and before retiring is
replaced by the recitation of the Regina
Cœli:
Queen of
Heaven, rejoice, alleluia.
For He whom you did merit to bear, alleluia.
Has risen, as He said, alleluia.
Pray for us to God, alleluia.
Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.
For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
O God, who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grant we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Spring has
come at last to our area of New England, and violets are blooming in profusion
on the edges of sidewalks and all over the lawns of the monastery. The
low-growing violet is a symbol of humility. And our Father, Saint Bernard of
Clairvaux, described the Virgin Mary as the "violet of humility." In
paintings the violet was also used to denote the humility of Christ in assuming
our humanity. The violets we see everywhere remind us of the Virgin Mary and
her Son, risen from the dead.
