"Hail and blessed be the hour and moment 

in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, 

at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold.

In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, 

to hear my prayers and grant my desires 

through the merits of our Savior Jesus Christ 

and His Blessed Mother.

Amen."

One of my favorite aspects of the prayer is how it's intentionally praying outside of time. I love that it asks our Lord to hear our prayers precisely in that miraculous and stunning moment of His birth. I love that it places us there in the stable and makes us a part of that world-changing moment in Bethlehem. I love that it focuses on the importance of those very minutes, the very real, though miraculous, birth of a very real human baby. I love that it highlights the sacredness and importance of birth. For that reason, I find myself praying the prayer for those I know who are close to birth and especially recommend it as a prayer for women as they prepare for their own births or even during the birth, regardless of the time of year. Their birth can become, in a way, a participation in that sacred birth. We can feel confident asking Our Lord and Blessed Mother to hear those heartfelt prayers for a happy, healthy, and holy birth. They recognize more than anyone the importance of the moment of birth for each mother and baby. 

(P.S. In my book I include all sorts of prayers and ways that we can actively invite God into our births.)

If it helps you to have a hard copy of the prayer text, below are two images I made that you are free to print out for your own use. Simply right click to open the image in a new tab and you should be able to print it from your menu bar. The image prints out at roughly 5x7 but you can use your printer settings to scale it smaller if you prefer. I hope they help!