Novena to Mary, Ivory Tower

Original nova of rezaelrosario.org.
The meditations and prayers of this page have been expressly prepared to accompany this devotion for nine days. They are not transcription or covert adaptation of other issues.

Mary, Ivory Tower

Among the most delicate invocation of the Lauretana Lethanias is the "Ivory Tower." With it, Christian piety contemplates Mary under an image of serene beauty: that of a tower carved in ivory, precious material that evokes the bleach without blemish, the incorruptible nobility and a firmness that does not lose its finality. It is not a historical fact or a concrete place, but a figurative and traditional reading: a way of saying with the beauty of the things created what faith recognizes in the soul of the Mother of the Lord, adorned by God with the fullness of grace.

This novena of nine days wants to help us look at that beauty without stopping in it as in an end, because all the beauty of Mary refers to Christ and leads us to Him. It is necessary to remember it from the first moment, to pray in truth: God is only worshipped; Mary is venerated and asked for her intercession, and that intercession does not take us away from her Son, but approaches us to Him. By invoking it as a ivory tower we do not worship a creature, but we bless God for what his grace did in it and ask that, considering it, we also learn to keep the heart clean.

Essential data of the advocation

• Invocation: "Ivory Tower" (in Latin, Turris eburnea), one of the advocations of the Lauretana Letanias or Letanias de Loreto.
• Origin: Lethanic invocation; it comes not from a particular sanctuary, apparition or date, but from the prayer of the Church who is naming Mary with images taken from Scripture.
• Feeling: figurative and traditional reading. The ivory suggests whiteness, nobility, incorruptible beauty and a delicate firmness; tradition applies it to the purity and integrity of Mary, adorned by God's grace.
• Biblical foundation: the image is born of the Song of the Songs 7,5 ("your neck, a ivory tower"); it is also illuminated by Psalm 45, which sings to the queen, and by the bliss of the clean in heart (Matthew 5,8).
• For whom: for those who want to grow in purity of heart and integrity of life, for those who go through trials and seek firmness without hardness, and for anyone who wants to be led by Mary to Christ.

How to prepare to pray the novena

To pray a novena is to hold for nine days the same plea, with the simple confidence of those who ask for company for the road. It is appropriate to choose a quiet moment and place, even if short, and to go to them every day with fidelity. It does not matter that the prayer is short: it matters that it is true and constant. It can help to light a candle, have in sight a simple image of the Virgin or open the Bible by the verse of the day, so that memory and senses will accompany the heart.

Before we start, it's good to put the intention right. We are not here to worship Mary, but to bless God for the work of his grace in her and to ask for her maternal intercession. The image of the ivory tower is not a talisman or a magic formula: it is a way to contemplate the beauty of a soul full of grace to desire that same cleansing in ours. In asking Mary to intercede, we ask her to take us to her Son, the only Savior, in whose name every Christian prayer is addressed to the Father.

Finally, the heart should be given to sincerity. A novena on purity and integrity invites you to look inside with peace, without anguish or scruple, recognizing what needs to be straightened out and thanking what God has already done. If possible, it will accompany these days with some concrete gesture of conversion: to forgive, to reconcile, to care for language, to flee from what the look is dirty. So the novena will not only be a word, but also a way.

Proposed order for each day

1. Sign of the cross.
2. Initial prayer for every day.
3. Invocation to the Holy Spirit.
4. Reading of the historical memory of the day.
5. Meditation of the day.
6. Palabra de Dios suggested.
7. Specific purpose for the day.
8. Prayer of the day.
9. Father, Avemaría, Gloria and Hail.

Opening prayer for every day

God and our Father, the source of all beauty and grace, which you wanted to prepare in Mary a dwelling worthy of your Son, we bless you for the cleanliness and integrity with which you adorned her heart. In venerating her as a ivory tower, we do not place in her the worship that is due only to you, but we recognize your work and ask for her maternal intercession. Grant us, through your mediation that brings us to Christ, a clean, firm and delicate heart, able to love you over all things. We ask you for Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Invocation to the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, and purify that which is stained in me; pray that which is dry, heal that which is wounded, straighten that which is twisted. You who filled Mary with grace and made her all beautiful for Christ, illuminate my understanding to contemplate her beauty without staying in her, and move my will to seek purity of heart. Teach me to pray in these days with truth and trust, that my whole life may refer, like that of the Virgin, to the glory of the Father. Amen.

Day one - The ivory tower in the Song

Historical report

The invocation "Ivory Tower" of the Lauretana Lethanias takes its image of the Song of the Songs, where the husband describes the beauty of the beloved saying: "Your neck, a ivory tower" (Sing 7.5). It should be noted that this is a figurative and traditional reading: the Song is a poem of spontaneous love that the Church, following a long interpretative tradition, has also read as a figure of God's love for her people and the mystery of Mary. To name the Virgin with this image does not add a historical fact, but rather expresses with beauty what faith recognizes in her.

Meditation

The ivory is both precious and serene: white, noble, resistant and yet capable of receiving the finest work. Applied to Mary, he evokes a soul without blemish, adorned by God with delicacy. The tower, for its part, suggests elevation and firmness. By uniting both images, tradition does not exalt a vain beauty, but the inner beauty of those who have been filled with grace. And this beauty is not for itself: like all Scripture, it points to Christ, to whom the Mother leads us.

Suggested word of God

"Your neck, a ivory tower" (Sing of the Songs 7.5).

Purpose

Today I will contemplate some simple beauty of creation - a light, a face, a silence - and, instead of stopping in it, I will offer it as a step to raise my heart to God, who is the origin of all beauty.

Prayer of the day

Lord, you inspired the words of the Song and allowed your Church to read in them the beauty of Mary, teach me to look at all beauty as a reflection of yours. May it be that by venerating the Virgin as a ivory Tower I do not remain in the image, but by her intercession I reach Christ, in whom every beautiful thing finds its meaning. Amen.

Second Day - The purity of Mary, the gift of God

Historical report

The Christian tradition has seen in the whiteness of ivory an image of Mary's purity. It is important to remember that this purity is not attributed to a merit conquered by itself, but to a gift received: the Church confesses that Mary was preserved and filled by the grace of God. The lethal image does not invent a story, but rather sings with delicacy this mystery that faith recognizes.

Meditation

There is nothing in Mary that does not come from God; her cleansing is also the fruit of grace. This frees us of two dangers: to believe that purity is an achievement to be proud of, or to think it is impossible and to desist. In Our Lady we learn that purity is first and foremost welcome: to let God work the soul as the artisan works the ivory, with patience and tenderness. To ask him for his intercession is to ask that we too be formed by that same grace.

Suggested word of God

"Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1: 28).

Purpose

Today I will give up on my merits and give thanks to God for some good I recognize in me, knowing that all good is his gift and asking him to purify it from vanity.

Prayer of the day

God, the author of every perfect gift, who filled Mary with grace and made her pure from her origin, do not let her trust in my own strength. By the intercession of the Virgin, grant me a cleansing that is humble welcome to your grace, so that, formed by you, I may more fully belong to Christ. Amen.

Third Day - Beauty that Reminds Christ

Historical report

In the Lauretana Lethanias, the beautiful images with which Mary is named are never closed in her: each advocation is prayed within the prayer of the Church, which always guides Christ. The same tradition that calls Mary a "ivory tower" confesses that she is Mother of the Saviour and all concerning her Son. The beauty that is attributed to him is beauty received and ordained to Christ.

Meditation

The moon is beautiful, but its light is loaned from the sun; so the beauty of Mary shines because it reflects Christ, the Sun that does not set. To look at it as a ivory tower is not to worship him, but to admire in it the work of God and to be carried to his Son. When the veneration of the Virgin is healthy, it never obscures Christ: on the contrary, it shows it, as she said in Cana, "Do what he tells you." That's why his beauty is also a way.

Suggested word of God

"Do as he tells you" (John 2.5).

Purpose

Today, every time I address a prayer to Mary, I will end up turning myself expressly to Christ, asking her to always take me to her Son.

Prayer of the day

Lord Jesus, the Father's eternal beauty, you wanted your Mother to reflect your light. Grant me that by venerating her as a ivory tower, I will never stop in the creature, but that by her intercession it will always come to you, the only Savior and Redeemer. Amen.

Fourth day - delicate signature in the test

Historical report

The image of the tower adds a different feature to the ivory whiteness: firmness. The tradition has read in it the serene strength of Mary, who remained faithful in the dark hours, to the foot of the cross. It is not a cold hardness, but a delicate firmness, capable of sustaining without losing tenderness.

Meditation

A tower resists the wind while being beautiful. Thus was Mary in the test: firm in faith when everything seemed to collapse, and at the same time close, compassionate, maternal. We usually oscillate between two extremes: either we yield for weakness, or we become hardened to defend ourselves. Our Lady shows us a third path, that of a firmness that is born of love and therefore does not become hard. To ask for your intercession is to ask for that soft strength that you hold in difficulty without hurting anyone.

Suggested word of God

"By the cross of Jesus was his mother" (John 19: 25).

Purpose

In the face of today's contrariness, instead of giving in or harming myself, I will ask to remain firm in good with peace and without losing delicacy with others.

Prayer of the day

Father of mercy, who you held Mary firm by the cross, give me a strength that is not broken in the test or hardened in suffering. By the intercession of the Virgin, a firm and delicate tower, make me faithful and compassionate at the same time, in the image of your Son. Amen.

Fifth day - Integrity of life

Historical report

Ivory is an entire material, without cracks or added. Tradition has seen in him the integrity of Mary: a life without double, consistent inside and outside, all of it given to God. The invocation does not describe an episode, but rather celebrates this inner unity that faith recognizes in the Mother of the Lord.

Meditation

Integrity means being one, not being divided between what is said and what is done, between what is shown and what is hidden. Mary was complete: her heart, her words and her works sang the same. It costs us that unity; we often live divided. To contemplate the Virgin as a whole tower invites us to ask for sincerity and consistency, to let God gather our pieces in a single life offered to Him.

Suggested word of God

"Be done in me according to your word" (Luke 1: 38).

Purpose

Today I will take care of the coherence between what I think, say and do; I will avoid double and half-truths, even if it costs me, asking God for a more unified life.

Prayer of the day

God of truth, who made Mary a whole and unfolded life, heals my inner divisions. By his intercession, grant me integrity and sincerity, that my heart, my words and my works may praise you in unison and make me more like Christ. Amen.

Sixth Day - The purity of heart

Historical report

The traditional reading of the ivory tower is illuminated by the bliss of the clean of heart (Matthew 5,8). In naming Mary in this image, the Church does not proclaim an event, but recognizes in her the fullness of that purity of heart which the Lord declared blessed, for "you will see God."

Meditation

The purity of heart is not only the absence of a stain, but a heart without double, completely God-oriented. It is the clean look that recognizes the Lord in life and in brothers. Mary possessed it to an eminent degree: her heart was transparent, and therefore she could welcome God without reservation. The ivory tower tells us about that transparency. To ask for his intercession is to ask God to clean our eyes, to begin with, here, to see him in everything, and one day to see him face to face.

Suggested word of God

"Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5: 8).

Purpose

Today I will watch my eyes and my thoughts; I will flee from what makes my heart dirty and seek to see God in the people and situations I find.

Prayer of the day

Lord, who called the clean in heart blessed, purifies mine from all that my eyes are in. By the intercession of Mary, ivory tower, give me a transparent heart that can recognize you today in life and long to contemplate you forever. Amen.

Day 7 - Blancure of the soul and conversion

Historical report

The whiteness that evokes ivory has been read by tradition as an image of the clean soul. In Mary's case, this whiteness is full of grace; in ours, it is also the fruit of conversion and forgiveness, for Scripture promises that you will blame them, even if they are like the crane, to be white as snow.

Meditation

Unlike Mary, we know sin; but that is not why the whiteness is forbidden. God offers unabated forgiveness, which washes and returns to the soul its beauty. Conversion is not discouragement for what we have stained, but trust in Who can whiten everything. To contemplate the purity of the Virgin must not sink us, but encourage us: she intercedes for sinners and encourages us to return again and again to the source of forgiveness, which is Christ.

Suggested word of God

"Even if your sins are like the crane, they will be white as the snow" (Isaiah 1: 18).

Purpose

Today I will examine my conscience with peace, I will ask forgiveness for what needs to be amended and, if I may, I will have the heart for the sacrament of reconciliation.

Prayer of the day

God rich in mercy, that you wash up sins and return to the soul his whiteness, do not let the weight of my faults sink me. By the intercession of Mary, the refuge of sinners, entrust me to the conversion and forgiveness of your Son, to walk towards you with the clean soul. Amen.

8th Day - Mary, worshipped by grace

Historical report

The tradition illuminates the image of the tower with Psalm 45, which sings to the queen "dressed in gold," brought before the king in his beauty. Read in the light of faith, this psalm has been applied to Mary as a queen adorned, not by vain luxuries, but by the grace of God. The litanic invocation collects this contemplation without adding events, singing the beauty that God himself put in it.

Meditation

Mary's true ornament is not the jewels, but the grace. His whole beauty is a gift, and that gift is entirely ordained to Christ, the King. Thus every superficial look is corrected: the beauty that faith venerates in the Virgin is inner, spiritual, work of the Holy Spirit. And it is also a promise to us, for our soul is also called to be worshipped by grace. To ask for Mary's intercession is to ask God to review us of that beauty that does not leave.

Suggested word of God

"Every splendid, the king's daughter, comes in with pearls and brocade" (Psalm 45,14).

Purpose

Today I will look after the inner ornament more than the outside: I will seek to grow in some virtue - charity, humility, patience - asking that it be God who will embellish me within.

Prayer of the day

Lord, who you adorned Mary with the beauty of your grace, do not allow me to put my trust in what happens. By his intercession, he bears my soul of virtues, so that, embellished by your Spirit, he may present me to you one day as your son in Christ. Amen.

9th Day - Continue clean to the sky

Historical report

The Lauretanas, after naming Mary with so many images of beauty, end up calling her Queen of heaven. The tradition has thus united the purity of the Virgin with her glorification: the one that was all beautiful by grace already fully participates in the glory of God. The ivory tower, like all claims, is not closed on earth, but opens to the sky to which we are called.

Meditation

Purity is not just a state to preserve, but a path to the end. To contemplate Mary glorified gives us hope: what in her is fullness, in us is goal and promise. We do not walk alone: she intercedes for us, that we may persevere clean and firm until the encounter with God. The bliss promised to the clean in heart - "you will see God" - is the end of this novena and every Christian life. To that vision leads us, by hand, the Mother of the Lord.

Suggested word of God

"We know that when he is manifested, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is" (1 John 3.2).

Purpose

Today I will renew my desire from heaven and intend to persevere in good; I will entrust to Mary's intercession my way, asking her to hold me clean and firm to the end.

Prayer of the day

Eternal God, the end of all desire, who glorified Mary and made her Queen from heaven, hold my hope. By his intercession, grant me to persevere clean and firm in good, so that, after the end of the road, I may contemplate you face to face with all the saints, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Novena prepared by the rezaelrosario.org team as original devotional material. The historical data are offered in accordance with the tradition and the Magisterium of the Church; devotion is addressed to God, and Mary is asked to intercession.