Announcement to Mary readings

Ephesians 1:1-14
Salutation / Spiritual Blessings in Christ
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory. Praise be to God always!

Luke 1:39-45
During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

Prayer of the Faithful, vol. 1
SEDRO
O God,
Creator of the universe,
we now present to you the aroma of this incense (our prayers).
O God, ever to be worshipped and adored,
please accept it from our feeble hands and through it pardon all our evil deeds.
In your mercy do not forget to forgive your people,
for we are truly sinners,
yet because you are merciful and compassionate accept our
petitions.
Through this incense (our prayers) grant forgiveness of the sins and faults of your servants;
heal all who are sick and suffering;
provide the hungry and the needy with their daily bread;
fill the earth with your blessings;
increase the yield of its fruits and crops;
keep us safe and grant us your mercy,
for your are rich in every goodness.
Give a place to those who have fulfilled their lives in this world in the heavenly Jerusalem where you wipe away all their sins.
Accept our petitions for them
along with the prayers of all those who have pleased you.
On their behalf and for them we offer thanksgiving to you, your Father, and your Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.
Amen.

Meditation:
O pure and immaculate and likewise blessed Virgin, who art the sinless Mother of thy Son, the mighty Lord of the universe, thou who art inviolate and altogether holy, the hope of the hopeless and sinful, we sing thy praises. We bless thee, as full of every grace, thou who didst bear the God-Man: we all bow low before thee; we invoke thee and implore thine aid. Rescue us, O holy and inviolate Virgin, from every necessity that presses upon us and from all the temptations of the devil. Be our intercessor and advocate at the hour of death and judgement; deliver us from the fire that is not extinguished and from the outer darkness; make us worthy of the glory of thy Son, O dearest and most clement Virgin Mother. Thou indeed art our only hope, most sure and sacred in God’s sight, to whom be honor and glory, majesty and dominion, for ever and ever, world without end. Amen.
Saint Ephrem the Syrian, 306-373 A.D