2010-08-22

Lectio Divina: Zephaniah 3:14-18

Give praise, O daughter of Sion: shout, O Israel: be glad, and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgment, he hath turned away thy enemies: the king of Israel the Lord is in the midst of thee, thou shalt fear evil no more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not: to Sion: Let not thy hands be weakened. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, he will save: he will rejoice over thee with gladness, he will be silent in his love, he will be joyful over thee in praise.




I read this in a Marian light, as it was the first reading for Gaudete Sunday. Daughter of Zion is a Marian title. I composed a Marian prayer using the imagery from this reading, to be a sort of expanded-upon version of the Hail Mary:

Lord God of Israel, and of the nations, in the son of Mary you have wonderfully fulfilled that which your Spirit spoke by the prophet Zephaniah. "Hail, daughter Zion, hail, daughter Jerusalem, hail, O you who among man is singularly able to exult with the whole of your heart, to magnify the Lord with your soul. O you who are the Immaculate Conception, truly the Lord has removed judgement against you, preserving you in the state in which man was meant to be. Your loving heart cooperated wholeheartedly with this singular, plenary grace. O mother Mary, the King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst. In a singular way you have ever heard and kept the words of the Word your Son. Blest is he in having so magnificent a mother, in whom he can rejoice and whom he can renew in his own love.
O Mary, you who's only fear is at the same time the beginning of wisdom, in whose midst the Lord God has been with unique profundity, in the midst of your joyful song to your Son, we beg you beg him to remove the judgement against us, as he has so removed it from against you. Amen.

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