'Holy Virgin Mary, there is none like unto thee born amongst women' — the antiphon Francis wrote for his Office of the Passion, prayed before and after every psalm.
Holy Virgin Mary, there is none like unto thee born amongst women, daughter and handmaid of the Eternal King of our heavenly country; holy Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ; spouse of the Holy Ghost; pray for us with St. Michael the Archangel, with all the celestial powers, and with all the Saints, to thy most holy Son, our most dear Lord and Master. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.
With the psalms of the Office of the Passion; on 4 October; in the Franciscan family.
Francis composed an Office of the Passion — psalms he arranged from Scripture for the hours of the day — and set before and after every psalm a single antiphon to the Mother of God. It is one of the few prayers we can be sure are his own words, and it shows what his devotion to her was: she is daughter and handmaid of the King, Mother of the Lord, spouse of the Holy Spirit, and she is asked to pray 'with St. Michael the Archangel and all the powers of heaven and all the saints' — the whole court of heaven, with Mary at its head, interceding with her Son.
The English is that printed in the Novenas, Hymns, and Litanies in honour of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare (London, 1863), a manual of the Poor Clares.
