Our Morning Offering – 4 March – The Memorial of St Casimir (1458-1484 -aged 25)
Prince Casimir chose a life of celibacy and asceticism. He died at the age of twenty-six from tuberculosis, on 4 March 1484. He was buried in the cathedral at Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania). When in 1604 his tomb was opened for translation to the church that Sigismund III built in his name, his body was found to be fresh and whole. He was holding this prayer to the Virgin in his hands, in perfect condition.
His Memorial is today, 4 March.
Every day, O my soul,
pay your respects to Mary,
Make her feasts solemn
and celebrate her brilliant virtues.
Contemplate and admire her elevation;
Proclaim her blessedness
both as Mother and Virgin.
Honour her, so that she delivers you
from the weight of your sins.
Invoke her, so as not to be driven
by the torrent of passion.
I do know if anybody
can honour Our Lady worthily
Yet, he who keeps silent
in her praises is senseless.
Everyone should exalt
and love her in a special way,
And never cease to cherish and pray to he.
O Mary, the honour and glory of all women,
You who God has raised above all creatures,
O Virgin of Mercy, hear the prayers of those
who never stop praising you.
Purify those who are guilty
and make them worthy of heaven.
Hail, O holy Virgin,
through whom the gates of heaven
were opened to undeserving souls
You, who, the old serpent’s snares
never managed to seduce.
You repair and console despairing souls,
Preserve us from the evils
that will fall on the wicked,
Obtain perpetual peace for me,
And save us from the misfortune
of the flames of Gehenna;
Obtain for us the virtues of chasty and modesty,
and male us gentle, kind, sober, pious, prudent, upright
and the enemy of all falsehood.
Grant me meekness, love of harmony and purity.
Make me strong and constant
on the path of righteousness.
Amen
AnaStpaul 