Rejoice Mary, Mother of God, Virgin, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, for thou hast borne the Savior of our souls. It is truly meet to glorify thee, O Birthgiver of God, ever blessed, and all undefiled, the Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, thou who without stain didst bear God the word, true Birthgiver of God, we magnify thee.
O my beloved Queen, my hope, O Mother of God, protector of orphans and protector of those who are hurt, the savior of those who perish and the consolation of all those who are in distress, thou seest my misery, thou seest my sorrow and my loneliness. Help me--I am powerless; give me strength. Thou knowest what I suffer, thou knowest my grief: Lend me thy hand, for who else can be my hope but thee, my protector and my intercessor before God? I have sinned before thee and before all people. Be my Mother, my consoler, my helper. Protect me and save me, chase grief away from me, chase my lowness of heart and my despondency. Help me, O Mother of my God!*
O gracious Mother of the gracious God, O most pure and blessed Mary, the Mother of God: Pour the mercy of thy Son and our God upon my impassionate soul, and with thine intercessions set me unto good works, that I may pass the rest of my life without blemish and, with thine aid, attain heaven. O Virgin Mother of God, the only one who art pure and blessed; O Queen of the Heavenly Host, Defender of our souls: Being delivered from evil, as thy servants, O Mother of God, we offer unto thee the hymns of thanks and victory; but as thou hast power invincible, deliver us from all calamity, that we may cry unto thee: Rejoice, O ever-Virgin Bride!
* A prisoner in a Soviet Gulag overheard an Orthodox priest by the name of Father Arseny praying this prayer before an icon of the Theotokos.
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