1st Saturday of May

This is Our Lady, Help of Christians. It is also the 1st Saturday of May, which is dedicated to Our Blessed
Mother. The following sequence was used by the Churches in Germany celebrating her Seven Joys.

O Virgin! Temple of the Trinity! the God of all goodness and mercy, being pleased with the loveliness of thy humility, meekness, and purity, is announced as having to be born of thee. The message is brought thee by the angel who hails thee full of grace. Thou askest how? and thou art told. Thou consentest: and the King of glory instantly becomes incarnate in thy womb.
We beseech thee by this Joy, that we may deserve to receive mercy from this King, be protected by Him, and, thus protected, be admitted into the land of the living.
Thy second Joy is that tho, the Star, givest birth to the Sun, as the Moon emits its ray. This birth injures thee not; thou remainest a Virgin as before. As a flower loses not its beauty by sending forth its fragrance; so neither losest thy the bloom of thy Virginity by giving birth to thy Creator.
O Mary, kind Mother! be to us the way that leads to thy Son; and, by thy second Joy, graciously intercede for us, that we be converted from our sins.
A star tells thee of thy third Joy. Thou seest a star resting over thy Child, the Magi adoring Him, and offering their varied gifts. The star expresses Unity; three Kings, Trinity; the gold signifies purity of soul; the myrrh, chastity of body; the incense, adoration.
O Mary, Star of the Sea! pray for us, that we may be cleansed from our sins, enriched with virtue, and united with thee in the happiness and bliss of the heavenly Country.
The fourth Joy, O holy Virgin! was given thee, when Jesus rose from the tomb, on the third day. By this Mystery, faith is strengthened, hope restored, and death put to flight; and thou, O full of grace, hadst thy share in effecting these wonders. The enemy is conquered: he is imprisoned, and loses his power. Man, who had been made captive, is set free, and raised from earth to heaven above.
Do thou, therefore, O Mother of our Creator! pray hourly for us, that, by this Joy, we may be associated with the choirs of the heavenly citizens, after this life's labours are over.
Thou didst receive thy fifth Joy, O Mary! when thou wast present at thy Son's Ascension into heaven. Then didst thou clearly know that He whose Mother thou wast was thy Creator. His Ascension shows us the path whereby we are to ascend to heaven. Let us then, who dwell in this miserable world, arise, and follow this path.
We beseech thee, by this Joy, to pray that we may never be made subject to Satan's power; but that we ascend to heaven, where, with thee and thy Son, we may rejoice for all eternity.
The sixth Joy was when the Holy Ghost descended, in the form of fiery tongues, from heaven, strengthening, defending, filling, cleansing, and inflaming the Apostles. The fire was given in tongues, that man, who owed his perdition to a tongue, might be saved bu such fire; and that he who, at the beginning, had been defiled by sin, might by fire be purified.
We pray thee, O Virgin! by this holy Joy, intercede for us to thy Son, that He pardon us our sins, now in this our exile, lest there be found guilt upon us at the great judgement.
Jesus invited thee to the seventh Joy, when He called thee out of this world to heaven, placed thee on thy throne, and honoured thee with special favours. Thus is honour given to thee, such as none of the blessed in heaven enjoy; nor can any mortal attain to the perfection of virtue, unless by thine intercession he receive the safeguard of virtue.
O Virgin Mother of Mercy! give us to feel the proofs of thy loving intercession, which will preserve us from sin, and lead us to eternal joys, in the company of the Blessed.
O Virgin most pure! we beseech thee, by these thy Seven Joys, pray that we may be purified from our sins; and, being made fruitful in good works, lead us, O fruitful Mother, to the blissful joys of heaven. Amen.