[Magdalen] Earliest Known Marian Prayer

[Joseph Cirou]

-----Original Message-----
>From: Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com>
>Sent: Jul 17, 2016 10:23 AM
>To: "magdalen at herberthouse.org" <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
>Subject: [Magdalen] Earliest Known Marian Prayer
>
>I don't know how old this discovery is. A friend (who, incidentally, was
>brought up Lutheran and is now a pagan but is interested in devotion to all
>female deities and quasi-deities) shared this on Facebook. I think it is a
>most beautiful prayer. It certainly shows that devotion to the Blessed
>Mother goes back a LONG way!
>
>Beneath thy compassion, we take refuge, O Mother of God:  do not despise
>our petitions in time of trouble,  but rescue us from dangers,  only pure
>one, only blessed one.
>
>http://aleteia.org/2016/07/08/let-us-pray-the-earliest-known-marian-prayer/
Pod toyo Milost/sub tuum praesidium/ We fly to the Patronage is indeed an ancient hymn to the Theotokos dating or the 3rd century of the common era. It is sung at the end of vespers and is  a popular hymn to the Mother of God in the Western church

Joe (lots of musical setting in English, Latin and Old Slavonic at least)