'I am the Immaculate Conception'

The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, El Greco, painted 1608-13

Introit

Gaudens gaudébo in Dómino,

et exsultábit ánima mea in Deo meo;

quia índuit me vestiméntis salútis,

et induménto iustítiæ circúmdedit me,

quasi sponsam ornátam monílibus suis.

Entrance Antiphon

I rejoice heartily in the Lord, 

in my God is the joy of my soul; 

for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation,

and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, 

like a bride adorned wit her jewels.

Collect

O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin

prepared a worthy dwelling for your Son,

Grant, we pray,

that, as you preserved her from every stain

by virtue of the Death of your Son, which you foresaw,

so, through her intercession,

we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to your presence.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

I never knew until now that the melody of the Lourdes Hymn is a traditional Pyreneean one.

Lourdes is at the foot of the Pyrenees and on my visits to the shrine there was always an 

afternoon trip to one of the towns in the mountains.

There are many different sets of lyrics to the melody. I had never heard these before. They

are from England and include a reference to that country as 'The Dowry of Mary'. The English

are second to none - except, perhaps, to their neighbours the Welsh - when it comes to 

hymn-singing.