Daily Reading for February 2 • The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple
Opening Sentence
Her hands steadied the first steps
of him who steadied the earth to walk upon;
her lips helped the Word of God
to form his first human words.
Canticle
God chose to be our mother in all things
and so made the foundation of this work,
most humbly and most pure, in the virgin’s womb.
God the perfect wisdom of all,
was arrayed in this humble place.
Christ came in our poor flesh
to share a mother’s care.
Our mothers bore us for pain and for death;
our true mother, Jesus, bears us for joy and endless life.
Christ carried us within him in love and travail,
until the full time of his passion.
And when all was completed
and he had carried us so for joy,
still all this could not satisfy
the power of his wonderful love.
Blessing
Holy One, who has loved us from our first cry to this day and this hour,
help us to find within ourselves the nurture and tenderness you have for all creation.
Help us to be your mothering love for our beautiful and strife-torn planet.
We ask this in the name of him who was once a child of this earth. Amen.
Opening sentence from John of Damascus; Canticle based on Julian of Norwich, from Community of St. Francis Office Book; Blessing by Penelope Duckworth. All quoted in Mary’s Hours: Daily Prayer with the Mother of God by Penelope Duckworth. Copyright © 2009. Used by permission of Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. www.morehousepublishing.com