O Mary, most pure and immaculate Virgin, chaste Spouse of St. Joseph, most tender Mother of Jesus, perfect model of wives and mothers; I turn to Thee filled with respect and confidence.
With the deepest sentiments of veneration, I cast myself at thy feet and implore thy help. Behold, O purest Mary, my needs and the needs of my family. Heed the desires of my heart, for it is to thy most tender and kind heart that I entrust them.
I hope, through thine intercession, to obtain from Jesus the grace to conscientiously fulfil my obligations as a wife and mother. Obtain for me a holy fear of God, a love for work and good deeds, for holy things and for prayer, sweetness, patience and wisdom – all the virtues that the Apostle recommends for Christian women, and that constitute the happiness and adornment of families.
Teach me to honour my husband, as Thou didst honour St. Joseph, and as the Church honours Jesus Christ; may he find in me a wife according to his heart, and may the holy union we contracted on earth endure eternally in Heaven. Protect my husband and guide him along the path of goodness and justice, because his happiness is as dear to me as my own.
I also entrust my poor children to thy maternal heart. Be their Mother; incline their hearts to piety, do not permit them to stray from the path of virtue and grant them happiness. Remind them to pray to God for their father and mother after our deaths; may they honour our memory with their virtues. Tender Mother, make them devout, charitable and always good Christians, so that their lives, filled with good works, may be crowned by a holy death.
O Mary, grant that all of us may one day be reunited in Heaven, there to contemplate thy glory, celebrate thy gifts, enjoy thy love, and eternally praise thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Prayer that Dona Lucilia was accustomed
to recite after her marriage
