Happy Feast of the Assumption!

Here is a Maronite Catholic Hymn for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary taken from the Book of Offering, Maronite Catholic Church.

Prayer:

Alleluia! O Mother who gave Life to us, petition on our behalf the Son who appeared from you: may he remove from us the blows of punishment, and keep away divisions and disputes. May he lead us in the path of life in which we journey at all times. On your memorial day, we sing praise to your only Son.

Alleluia! Blessed are you, O Mary, for God, who feeds all creatures, was nourished by you and rested on your breast. O Wonder! The Son of God was nourished by a human creature! He assumed what is ours and gave us what is his. On his mother’s memorial let us proclaim: Glory to you, O Lord.

Alleluia! As dew was falling gently over the city of Ephesus Saint John wrote to its people. He instructed them to celebrate the memory of the Blessed Mary, three times each year: In January, during the time of planting of the seeds; in May, during the time of harvest; and in August, during the time of the grapes. For the mysteries of life are prefigured in these months.

Alleluia! On your memorial day, O Blessed Mary, angels and mortals are overwhelmed with joy. The dead rejoice in their tombs because of the glory in creation. God will bless those who celebrate your memory with faith and pour his mercy upon them.

Alleluia! Who is to see a new ship sustaining the One who is mighty; the One who sustains and rules all creation. Mary bore him, yet he bears all creation. He nourishes all living creatures, yet she nourished him with her milk. He is the Maker of all infants, yet he dwelt, as an infant, in her womb. The fiery beings in the heights sing hymns of praise to him! Alleluia!

Prayer Source: CatholicCulture.org

Things to Do :

Traditionally the feast of the Assumption is marked by the blessing of herbs:

In the Germanic countries, the custom of blessing herbs is associated with 15 August. This custom, received into the Rituale Romanum, represents a clear example of the genuine evangelization of pre-Christian rites and beliefs: one must turn to God, through whose word “the earth produced vegetation: plants bearing seeds in their several kinds, and trees bearing fruit with their seed inside in their several kinds” (Gen 1, 12) in order to obtain what was formerly obtained by magic rites; to stem the damages deriving from poisonous herbs, and benefit from the efficacy of curative herbs.

This ancient use came to be associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary, in part because of the biblical images applied to her such as vine, lavender, cypress and lily, partly from seeing her in terms of a sweet smelling flower because of her virtue, and most of all because of Isaiah 11, 1, and his reference to the “shoot springing from the side of Jesse”, which would bear the blessed fruit of Jesus.

This Blessing of Herbs is included in the prayers library.
In an age of sensuality and materialism the Assumption points out the dignity and destiny of our human body, extols the dignity of womanhood, and turns our eyes to the true life beyond the grave. At Mass on this day ask Mary for the grace to keep your mind fixed on things above and to aspire continually to be united with her and to be brought to the glory of the Resurrection.

Text Source: CatholicCulture.org