Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. God, the Father of heaven, Have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us. God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God. Have mercy on us.
Response for the following: Pray for us.
Holy Mary Holy Mother of God Holy Virgin of virgins, Mother of Christ Mother of the Church Mother of divine grace Mother most pure Mother most chaste Mother inviolate Mother undefiled Mother most amiable Mother most admirable Mother of good counsel Mother of our Creator Mother of our Saviour Virgin most prudent Virgin most venerable Virgin most renowned Virgin most powerful Virgin most merciful Virgin most faithful Mirror of justice Seat of wisdom Cause of our joy Spiritual vessel Vessel of honour Singular vessel of devotion Mystical rose Tower of David Tower of ivory House of gold, Ark of the covenant Gate of heaven Morning star Health of the sick Refuge of sinners Comforter of the afflicted Help of Christians Queen of angels Queen of patriarchs Queen of prophets Queen of apostles Queen of martyrs Queen of confessors Queen of virgins Queen of all saints Queen conceived without original sin Queen assumed into heaven Queen of the most holy Rosary Queen of families Queen of peace
Lamb of God, You take away sins of the world; Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world; Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world; Have mercy on us.
V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
Grant, we beg You, O Lord God, that we Your servants may enjoy lasting health of mind and body and by the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, be delivered from present sorrow and enter into the joy of eternal happiness. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen
During Advent:
Let us pray: O God, You willed that, at the message of an angel, Your word should take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary; grant to Your suppliant people, that we, who believe her to be truly the Mother of God, may be helped by her intercession with You. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen
Our Morning Offering – 10 December – The Second Sunday of Advent and the First Universal Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto
Maiden yet a Mother By Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Tr Msgr Ronald A Knox (1888-1957)
Maiden yet a mother,
daughter of thy Son,
high beyond all other,
lowlier is none;
thou the consummation
planned by God’s decree,
when our lost creation
nobler rose in thee!
Thus His place prepared,
he who all things made
‘mid his creatures tarried,
in thy bosom laid;
there His love He nourished,
warmth that gave increase
to the root whence flourished
our eternal peace.
Nor alone thou hearest
When thy name we hail;
Often thou art nearest
When our voices fail;
Mirrored in thy fashion
All creation’s gird,
Mercy, might compassion
Grace thy womanhood.
Lady, let our vision
Striving heavenward, fail,
Still let thy petition
With thy Son prevail,
Unto whom all merit,
prayer and majesty,
With the Holy Spirit
And the Father be.
Maiden Yet A Mother is a translation of a poem by Durante (Dante) degli Alighieri (c 1265–1321). It is based upon the opening verses of Canto 33 of the Paradiso from his Divine Comedy in which St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) praises and prays to the Virgin Mother on behalf of Dante. It was translated from the original Italian into English by the Catholic convert, Monsignior Ronald A Knox (1888-1957).
Saint of the Day – 10 December – The First Universal Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto
The Holy House of Loreto – The feast is so named from the tradition that the house where the Holy Family lived in Nazareth, was transported by angels to the city of Loreto, Italy. The Holy House is now encased by a basilica. It has been one of the famous shrines of the Blessed Virgin since the 13th century.
A complete background here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/12/10/the-feast-of-the-our-lady-of-loreto-and-the-holy-house-10-december/
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
DECREE
on the celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loreto to be inscribed in the General Roman Calendar
Since the Middle Ages veneration for the Holy House of Loreto has been the origin of that particular shrine which still today is visited by many faithful pilgrims in order to nourish their faith in the Word of God made flesh for us.
This shrine recalls the mystery of the Incarnation, leading all those who visit it to consider “the fullness of time,” when God sent His Son, born of a woman, as well as to meditate, both on the words of the Angel announcing the Good News and on the words of the Virgin in response to the divine call. Overshadowed by the Spirit, the humble handmaid of the Lord so became the dwelling-place of divinity, the purist image of the holy Church.
Closely bound to the Apostolic See this shrine, praised by Popes and known throughout the world, has, over the years and no less than Nazareth in the Holy Land, been able to illustrate powerfully the evangelical virtues of the Holy Family.
In the Holy House, before the image of the Mother of the Redeemer and of the Church, Saints and Blesseds have responded to their vocation, the sick have invoked consolation in suffering, the people of God have begun to praise and plead with Mary using the Litany of Loreto, which is known throughout the world . In a particular way, all those who travel via aircraft have found in her their heavenly patron.
In light of this, Pope Francis has decreed, by his own authority, that the optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loreto should be inscribed in the Roman Calendar on 10 December, the day on which the feast falls in Loreto and celebrated every year. This celebration will help all people, especially families, youth and religious to imitate the virtues of that perfect disciple of the Gospel, the Virgin Mother, who, in conceiving the Head of the Church also accepted us, as her own.
Therefore, the new Memorial must appear in all Calendars and Liturgical Books for the celebration of Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours, the relative texts are attached to this decree and their translations, approved by the Episcopal Conferences, will be published after confirmation by this Dicastery.
Anything to the contrary nothwithstanding.
From the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 7 October 2019, the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary.
Robert Cardinal Sarah Prefect
The shrine of Our Lady of Loreto is located on the Adriatic coast of Italy, three hours from Rome. It is the third largest shrine to Mary in Europe, next to Lourdes and Fatima. The ministry of the shrine is the hospitality shown to pilgrims especially through the Sacrament of Penance.
Basilica of Loreto in which the Holy House resides
The tradition of the shrine at Loreto goes back to the year 1291. As the last of the crusaders returned to Western Europe they brought with them a number of relics, objects of devotion and remembrances of holy shrines. It happened that the dwelling of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the house which both tradition and Christian devotion had maintained, as the site of the appearance of the archangel Gabriel and, therefore, the Incarnation of our Saviour, was moved from Nazareth to Christian Europe. The house arrived at Loreto on 10 December 1294.
We firmly believe that by the power of the Holy Spirit, God has become man in Jesus Christ – a man like us in all things but sin. In His humanity the eternal Word was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in His humanity He died on the cross, at the foot of which stood the Blessed Virgin Mar, in His humanity He rose from the dead and appeared to the disciples and to Mary in the upper room. The holy house of Mary at Loreto has been preserved by our fathers and mothers in the faith, to serve for generations as a reminder of the faith of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of her love of God in Jesus Chris,t by the power of the Holy Spirit. We, too, are called to be homes, dwellings and tabernacles of the Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit.
It is our mission as Catholics now to recall for one another, for our neighbourhoods, our communities and our world, that Jesus Christ became man, that He rose from the dead and that He is alive. This we are called to do, above all, by showing to the world that Jesus Christ lives in us, that Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, has made His home in us, as He did in the womb of Mary and in the house of Nazareth. Amen
First Universal Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto +2019
The title Our Lady of Loreto refers to the Holy House of Loreto, the house in which Mary was born and where the Annunciation occurred and to an ancient statue of Our Lady which is found there. Tradition says that a band of angels scooped up the little house from the Holy Land and transported it first to Tersato, Dalmatia in 1291, then Recanati, Italy in 1294 and finally to Loreto, Italy where it has been for centuries. It was this flight that led to her patronage of people involved in aviation and the long life of the house that has led to the patronage of builders, construction workers, etc. It is the first shrine of international renown dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and has been known as a Marian center for centuries. Popes have always held the Shrine of Loreto in special esteem and it is under their direct authority and protection.
The Holy House of Loreto – The feast is so named from the tradition that the house where the Holy Family lived in Nazareth, was transported by angels to the city of Loreto, Italy. The Holy House is now encased by a basilica. It has been one of the famous shrines of the Blessed Virgin since the 13th century. A complete background here:
St Abundius
St Albert of Sassovivo
St Angelina of Serbia
Bl Brian Lacey
BL Bruno of Rommersdorf
St Caesarius of Epidamnus
St Carpophorus
St Deusdedit of Brescia
St Edmund Gennings
St Emérico Martín Rubio
St Florentius of Carracedo
St Fulgentius of Afflighem
St Gemellus of Ancyra
St Gonzalo Viñes Masip St Pope Gregory III (Died 741) Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/10/saint-of-the-day-10-december-st-pope-gregory-iii-died-741/
Bl Guglielmo de Carraria
St Guitmarus
St Hildemar of Beauvais
Bl Jerome Ranuzzi
Bl John Mason
St Julia of Merida
St Lucerius
Bl Marco Antonio Durando
St Maurus of Rome
St Mercury of Lentini
St Pope Miltiades
St Polydore Plasden
Bl Sebastian Montanol
Bl Sidney Hodgson
St Sindulf of Vienne
St Swithun Wells
St Thomas of Farfa
Bl Thomas Somers
St Valeria
Martyrs of Alexandria – 3 saints – A group of Christians murdered for their faith in the persecutions of Galerius Maximian – c312. The only details that have survived are three of the names – Eugraphus, Hermogenes and Mennas.
Thought for the Day – 9 December – The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Infallible Teaching of the Catholic Church
On the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
“Wherefore, in humility and fasting, we unceasingly offered our private prayers as well as the public prayers of the Church, to God the Father through His Son, that He would deign to direct and strengthen our mind by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In like manner did we implore the help of the entire heavenly host as we ardently invoked the Paraclete.
Accordingly, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the honour of the Holy and undivided Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith and for the furtherance of the Catholic religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and by our own:
We declare, pronounce and define, that the Doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her Conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a Doctrine revealed by God and, therefore, to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful. Hence, if anyone shall dare — which God forbid! — to think otherwise than as has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned by his own judgment, that he has suffered shipwreck in the faith, that he has separated from the unity of the Church and that, furthermore, by his own action, he incurs the penalties established by law if he should dare to express in words or writing, or by any other outward means, the errors he think in his heart.”
Blessed Pope Pius IX (1792-1878), Ineffabilis Deus, 8 December 1854
“That one woman is both Mother and Virgin, not in spirit only but even in body. In spirit she is mother, not of our Head, who is our Saviour Himself—of whom all, even she herself, are rightly called children of the bridegroom—but plainly she is the mother of us, who are His members, because by love, she has cooperated, so that the faithful, who are the members of that Head, might be born in the Church. In body, indeed, she is the Mother of that very Head”
Saint Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of the Church
Act of Consecration By St Maximillian Kolbe (1894-1941)
O Immaculate, Queen of heaven and earth,
Refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother,
God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to You,
I, an unworthy sinner, cast myself at Your feet,
humbly imploring You
to take me with all that I am and have,
wholly to Yourself as Your possession and property.
Please make of me,
of all my powers of soul and body,
of my whole life, death and eternity,
whatever pleases You.
If it pleases You,
use all that I am and have without reserve,
wholly to accomplish what has been said of You:
“She will crush your head”,
and “You alone have destroyed all heresies in the whole world.”
Let me be a fit instrument in Your immaculate
and most merciful hands for introducing and increasing Your glory
to the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls
and thus help extend as far as possible,
the blessed Kingdom of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
For, wherever You enter,
You obtain the grace of conversion and sanctification,
since it is through Your hands,
that all graces come to us.
from the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Quote/s of the Day – 9 December – The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
From the Fathers
“He was the Ark formed of incorruptible wood. For by this, is signified, that His Tabernacle was exempt from putridity and corruption.”
Saint Hippolytus (c 170-c 235)
Hippolytus was one of the most important
second-third century Christian theologians.
“This Virgin Mother of the Only begotten of God is called Mary, worthy of God, immaculate of the immaculate, one of the one.”
Origen (c 185-253)
Priest and Theologian
Origen of Alexandria, also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic and theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria.
“Thou alone and Thy Mother are in all things fair, there is no flaw in Thee and no stain in Thy Mother.”
Saint Ephrem of Syria (306-373)
Both Father and Doctor Deacon, Theologian, Hymnist
“Mary, a virgin not only undefiled but a virgin, whom grace has made inviolate, free of every stain of sin.”
Sermon 22, in the year 338
Saint Ambrose (340-397)
Both Father and Doctor – One of the original four Fathers of the Latin Church, Bishop of Milan
“A Virgin, innocent, spotless, free of all defect, untouched, unsullied, holy in soul and body, like a lily, sprouting among thorns.”
Saint Theodotus of Ancrya (Died c 446)
Bishop, Theologian
“The very fact that God has elected her, proves that none was ever holier than Mary, if any stain had disfigured her soul, if any other virgin had been purer and holier, God would have selected her and rejected Mary.”
Saint Jacob of Sarug (c 451-521)
Jacob of Sarug, also called Mar Jacob, was one of the foremost Syriac poet-theologians, perhaps only second in stature to Ephrem the Syrian and equal to Narsai. Where his predecessor Ephrem is known as the ‘Harp of the Spirit’, Jacob is the ‘Flute of the Spirit’.
“Today, humanity, in all the radiance of her immaculate nobility, receives its ancient beauty. The shame of sin had darkened the splendour and attraction of human nature but when the Mother of the Fair One par excellence is born, this nature again regains in her person. its ancient privileges and is fashioned according to a perfect model, truly worthy of God…. The reform of our nature begins today and the aged world, subjected to a wholly divine transformation, receives the first fruits of the second creation.”
Saint Andrew of Crete (650-740)
Bishop, Theologian
Saint Andrew of Crete, also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was an 8th-century Bishop, theologian, homilist and hymnist.
Advent Reflection on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – 9 December – Readings: Genesis 3:9-15, 20, Psalm 98:1-4, Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12, Luke 1:26-38
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it what you have said be done to me.” … Luke 1:38
REFLECTION – “May the holy divinity of Your glory, my God, O my gentleness, with which You deigned to fill and to inhabit for nine months the chaste viscera of the Virgin Mary, bless You. May the highest virtue of Your divinity, which bent to the humbleness of the virginal valley, bless You. May the utmost art of Your almightiness, God most high, with which You imparted onto the Virgin Rose, such virtue, radiance and comeliness as You, Yourself could yearn for, bless You. May Your wondrous wisdom, whose copious grace made all of Mary’s life and body, as well as her soul, comparable with Your worthiness, bless You. May You, strong, wise and most dulcet love which made You, the flower and spouse of virginity, become the Son of a virgin, bless You. (…)
May the worthiest heart and soul of the most glorious Virgin Mother Mary (whom, because of my need for salvation, You chose for Yourself as mother and that her motherly clemency might always be open to me) be jubilant to You, on my behalf. May that most faithful concern which is Yours for me (by which You have provided me with an advocate and patron saint of such capability that through her I may easily be able to find Your grace and in whom, I trustfully believe, Your eternal mercy is preserved for me) be jubilant to You. May that wonderful tabernacle of Your glory, which alone has ministered to You worthily, as a holy dwelling place and through which, You can best make amends for me, to Yourself, for the due measure of praise and glory that I owe You, be jubilant to You.” … Saint Gertrude of Helfta the Great (1256-1301) – Exercises VI, SC 127
MEDITATION – “All things came to be through him and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life and this life was the light of the human race.” … John 1:3-4
ADVENT ACTION – Remember the Babe in the Manger, keep Him before your eyes and you will not be able to forget what our sins do. Our actions with God and those, in this life, will determine our union with God and others, in eternal life. That is our great hope.
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, help us to imitate Your Immaculate Daughter Mary in her love for You. Grant us the grace to love You as much as she, all our lives and grant, that through her help and her prayers, we ourselves may come to You , cleansed from our sins. O Mary Immaculate, mother of our Lord, Pray for us! Amen
Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Nine – 9 December
By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr
OPENING PRAYER
How fair you are, 0 Mary!
The original stain is not in you.
You are the boast of Jerusalem,
You are the joy of Israel.
You are the pride of our people.
You are the advocate of sinners.
0 Mary!
You are the wisest of virgins.
You are the kindest of mothers.
Pray for us.
Intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Virgin, you were spotless
from the very moment of your conception.
Because you bore His Son, pray to the Father for us.
Through the spotless conception of the Virgin, 0 God,
You made ready a dwelling place worthy of Your Son.
In anticipation of Your Son’s death,
You preserved her from every stain.
Please purify us by her intercession,
so that we might find our way to You.
We ask this through Christ our lord.
Amen
Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.
Day 9: The Immaculata’s Fullness of Love
Reading:
The Immaculata never knew the slightest stain, in other words, her love was always full, without flaw. She loved God with all her being and from the first instant of her existence her love united her with God so perfectly, that on the day of the Annunciation the angel could say to her, “Full of grace! the Lord is with you!” (cf. Lk 1:28). She is, then, God’s creature, God’s image, God’s child and in all these respects, she is all this in the most perfect manner possible, among the ranks of mere creatures (“Sketches for a book,”1940). Intelligent creatures love God in a conscious manner, through this love, they unite themselves more and more closely with Him and so find their way back to Him. The creature most completely filled with this love, filled with God Himself, was the Immaculata. . . . In the Holy Spirit’s union with Mary, we observe more than the love of two beings, in one, there is all the love of the Blessed Trinity, in the other, all of creation’s love. So it is, that in this union, heaven and earth are joined, all of heaven with all the earth, the totality of eternal love with the totality of created love. It is truly the summit of love (“Sketches for a book,” 17 February 1941).
Meditation:
To channel all our spiritual, physical and psychological energies into their fullest human expression, means simply to love God, as totally as possible. May the Immaculata’s flawless love of God, inspire each of u,s to channel our love, in that same ultimate direction.
Closing prayers
Novena Prayer to the Immaculata
I greet you, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God throne of grace,
miracle of almighty power!
I greet you, sanctuary of the most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the universe,
Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners!
Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you
and beg of you, to obtain for me of your dear Son
the favour I request in this novena
………………………… (here mention you request).
Obtain for me also, Queen of Heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely,
those virtues which you practised so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all I beg you to be my mother
and protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.
Do not reject my petitions, Mother of mercy!
Have pity on me and do not abandon me
during life or at the moment of my death.
Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Mother of the Eternal Son,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Temple of the adorable Trinity,
pray for me.
Immaculate and tender Heart of Mary,
refuge of the needy and hope of sinners,
filled with the most lively respect, love and gratitude,
I devote myself forever to your service
and I offer you my heart,
with all that I am and all that belongs to me.
Accept this offering,
sweet Queen of Heaven and earth
and obtain for me of your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
the favours I ask through your intercession in this novena.
Obtain for me also a tender, generous, constant love of God,
perfect submission to His adorable will,
the true spirit of a Christian
and the grace of final perseverance.
Amen
Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata
O Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother,
live in me, act in me, speak in and through me.
Think your thoughts in my mind,
love through my heart.
Give me your own dispositions and feelings.
Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus.
Correct, enlighten and expand my entire personality and life.
Replace me with yourself.
Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving,
pray in and through me.
Let me live in you
and keep me in this union always.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 9 December – Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Mary, Ever-Spotless Virgin Breviary Morning Hymn
O Virgin Mary, words cannot describe you,
Clothed with the beauty of the sun at noonday,
Twelve stars to crown you
and the moon beneath you,
Queen of creation.
Through your submission,
death and hell were conquered,
Now you are seated by your Son and Saviour,
Strong to protect us by your intercession,
As we entreat you.
Guard and watch over those within the sheepfold,
Lead to the Shepherd those who are far distant,
Pity the nations groping in the darkness,
Graciously guide them.
Tenderly pleading, win us all forgiveness,
Help those in trouble, poverty or sickness,
Hope of salvation, as a star to pilgrims
Shine through the darkness.
Praise be forever, Trinity Almighty,
Who crowned you, Mary, ever-spotless Virgin,
Making you also Queen of men and angels,
Most loving Mother.
Amen.
Lebet Den Herren, Alle, 11.11.11.5 Music: Johann Crüger, 1598-1662 Text: Solis, O Virgo, Victorius Genovesi SJ 1887–1967
Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Eight – 8 December
By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr
OPENING PRAYER
How fair you are, 0 Mary!
The original stain is not in you.
You are the boast of Jerusalem,
You are the joy of Israel.
You are the pride of our people.
You are the advocate of sinners.
0 Mary!
You are the wisest of virgins.
You are the kindest of mothers.
Pray for us.
Intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Virgin, you were spotless
from the very moment of your conception.
Because you bore His Son, pray to the Father for us.
Through the spotless conception of the Virgin, 0 God,
You made ready a dwelling place worthy of Your Son.
In anticipation of Your Son’s death,
You preserved her from every stain.
Please purify us by her intercession,
so that we might find our way to You.
We ask this through Christ our lord.
Amen
Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.
Day 8: The Immaculata’s Fruitfulness
Reading:
God sends to us the one who personifies His love – Mary, the spouse of the Spirit—a spirit of maternal love—immaculate, all beautiful, spotless, even though she is our sister, a true daughter of the human race. God confides to her the communication of His mercy to souls. He makes of her the Mediatrix of the graces merited for us by her divine Son, for she is full of grace, the mother of all souls born of grace, reborn and always being reborn, becoming ever more godlike (Commentary on MI “Act of Consecration,” 1940).
Meditation:
Productivity is one of the chief “virtues” upheld by modern society as a measure of worldly success. May the Immaculata give witness to each of us that her (and our) ongoing spiritual fruitfulness, in bearing Christ to others, is a far greater achievement than material productivity.
Closing prayers
Novena Prayer to the Immaculata
I greet you, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God throne of grace,
miracle of almighty power!
I greet you, sanctuary of the most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the universe,
Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners!
Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you
and beg of you, to obtain for me of your dear Son
the favour I request in this novena
………………………… (here mention you request).
Obtain for me also, Queen of Heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely,
those virtues which you practised so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all I beg you to be my mother
and protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.
Do not reject my petitions, Mother of mercy!
Have pity on me and do not abandon me
during life or at the moment of my death.
Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Mother of the Eternal Son,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Temple of the adorable Trinity,
pray for me.
Immaculate and tender Heart of Mary,
refuge of the needy and hope of sinners,
filled with the most lively respect, love and gratitude,
I devote myself forever to your service
and I offer you my heart,
with all that I am and all that belongs to me.
Accept this offering,
sweet Queen of Heaven and earth
and obtain for me of your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
the favours I ask through your intercession in this novena.
Obtain for me also a tender, generous, constant love of God,
perfect submission to His adorable will,
the true spirit of a Christian
and the grace of final perseverance.
Amen
Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata
O Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother,
live in me, act in me, speak in and through me.
Think your thoughts in my mind,
love through my heart.
Give me your own dispositions and feelings.
Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus.
Correct, enlighten and expand my entire personality and life.
Replace me with yourself.
Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving,
pray in and through me.
Let me live in you
and keep me in this union always.
Amen
Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Seven – 7 December
By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr
OPENING PRAYER
How fair you are, 0 Mary!
The original stain is not in you.
You are the boast of Jerusalem,
You are the joy of Israel.
You are the pride of our people.
You are the advocate of sinners.
0 Mary!
You are the wisest of virgins.
You are the kindest of mothers.
Pray for us.
Intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Virgin, you were spotless
from the very moment of your conception.
Because you bore His Son, pray to the Father for us.
Through the spotless conception of the Virgin, 0 God,
You made ready a dwelling place worthy of Your Son.
In anticipation of Your Son’s death,
You preserved her from every stain.
Please purify us by her intercession,
so that we might find our way to You.
We ask this through Christ our lord.
Amen
Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.
Day 7: The Immaculata’s Discipleship
Reading:
The Immaculata is God’s instrument. With full consciousness and total willingness she allows God to govern her, she consents to His will, desires only what He desires and acts according to His will in the most perfect manner, without failing, without ever turning aside from His will. She makes perfect use of the powers and privileges God has given her, so as to fulfil, always and in everything, whatever God wants of her, purely for love of God, One and Three. This love of God reaches such a peak that it bears the divine fruits proper to God’s own love. Her love for God brings her to such a level of union with Him that she becomes the Mother of God. The Father confides to her His Son, the Son descends into her womb and the Holy Spirit fashions out of her perfectly pure body, the very body of Jesus! (“Sketches for a book,” 1940).
Meditation:
The only way to guarantee that we are on the “right track” in our everyday activities is to listen to God’s Word and live it out. That’s discipleship! May the Immaculata’s discipleship of total conformity to God’s Word inspire us to be similar instruments of his will.
Closing prayers
Novena Prayer to the Immaculata
I greet you, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God throne of grace,
miracle of almighty power!
I greet you, sanctuary of the most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the universe,
Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners!
Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you
and beg of you, to obtain for me of your dear Son
the favour I request in this novena
………………………… (here mention you request).
Obtain for me also, Queen of Heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely,
those virtues which you practised so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all I beg you to be my mother
and protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.
Do not reject my petitions, Mother of mercy!
Have pity on me and do not abandon me
during life or at the moment of my death.
Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Mother of the Eternal Son,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Temple of the adorable Trinity,
pray for me.
Immaculate and tender Heart of Mary,
refuge of the needy and hope of sinners,
filled with the most lively respect, love and gratitude,
I devote myself forever to your service
and I offer you my heart,
with all that I am and all that belongs to me.
Accept this offering,
sweet Queen of Heaven and earth
and obtain for me of your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
the favours I ask through your intercession in this novena.
Obtain for me also a tender, generous, constant love of God,
perfect submission to His adorable will,
the true spirit of a Christian
and the grace of final perseverance.
Amen
Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata
O Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother,
live in me, act in me, speak in and through me.
Think your thoughts in my mind,
love through my heart.
Give me your own dispositions and feelings.
Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus.
Correct, enlighten and expand my entire personality and life.
Replace me with yourself.
Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving,
pray in and through me.
Let me live in you
and keep me in this union always.
Amen
Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Six – 6 December
By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr
OPENING PRAYER
How fair you are, 0 Mary!
The original stain is not in you.
You are the boast of Jerusalem,
You are the joy of Israel.
You are the pride of our people.
You are the advocate of sinners.
0 Mary!
You are the wisest of virgins.
You are the kindest of mothers.
Pray for us.
Intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Virgin, you were spotless
from the very moment of your conception.
Because you bore His Son, pray to the Father for us.
Through the spotless conception of the Virgin, 0 God,
You made ready a dwelling place worthy of Your Son.
In anticipation of Your Son’s death,
You preserved her from every stain.
Please purify us by her intercession,
so that we might find our way to You.
We ask this through Christ our lord.
Amen
Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.
Day 6: The Immaculata’s Sinlessness
Reading:
Who then are you, 0 Immaculate Conception? Not God, of course, because He has no beginning. Not an angel, created directly out of nothing. Not Adam, formed out of the dust of the earth (Gn 2:7). Not Eve, moulded from Adam’s rib (Gn 2:21). Not the Incarnate Word, who exists before all ages and of Whom we should use the word “conceived” rather than “conception.” Humans do not exist before their conception, so we might call them created “conceptions.” But you, 0 Mary, are different from all other children of Eve. They are conceptions stained by original sin, whereas you, are the unique, Immaculate Conception (“Sketches for a book,” 17 February 1941).
Meditation:
Confronting the reality of sin is one of the fundamental struggles that we face in daily life. May the Immaculata, the sinless New Eve, confirm our hope in the victorious liberation from sin which Christ, the New Adam, won for each of us.
Closing prayers
Novena Prayer to the Immaculata
I greet you, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God throne of grace,
miracle of almighty power!
I greet you, sanctuary of the most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the universe,
Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners!
Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you
and beg of you, to obtain for me of your dear Son
the favour I request in this novena
………………………… (here mention you request).
Obtain for me also, Queen of Heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely,
those virtues which you practised so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all I beg you to be my mother
and protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.
Do not reject my petitions, Mother of mercy!
Have pity on me and do not abandon me
during life or at the moment of my death.
Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Mother of the Eternal Son,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Temple of the adorable Trinity,
pray for me.
Immaculate and tender Heart of Mary,
refuge of the needy and hope of sinners,
filled with the most lively respect, love and gratitude,
I devote myself forever to your service
and I offer you my heart,
with all that I am and all that belongs to me.
Accept this offering,
sweet Queen of Heaven and earth
and obtain for me of your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
the favours I ask through your intercession in this novena.
Obtain for me also a tender, generous, constant love of God,
perfect submission to His adorable will,
the true spirit of a Christian
and the grace of final perseverance.
Amen
Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata
O Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother,
live in me, act in me, speak in and through me.
Think your thoughts in my mind,
love through my heart.
Give me your own dispositions and feelings.
Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus.
Correct, enlighten and expand my entire personality and life.
Replace me with yourself.
Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving,
pray in and through me.
Let me live in you
and keep me in this union always.
Amen
Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Five – 5 December
By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr
OPENING PRAYER
How fair you are, 0 Mary!
The original stain is not in you.
You are the boast of Jerusalem,
You are the joy of Israel.
You are the pride of our people.
You are the advocate of sinners.
0 Mary!
You are the wisest of virgins.
You are the kindest of mothers.
Pray for us.
Intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Virgin, you were spotless
from the very moment of your conception.
Because you bore His Son, pray to the Father for us.
Through the spotless conception of the Virgin, 0 God,
You made ready a dwelling place worthy of Your Son.
In anticipation of Your Son’s death,
You preserved her from every stain.
Please purify us by her intercession,
so that we might find our way to You.
We ask this through Christ our lord.
Amen
Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.
Day 5: The Immaculata’s Dignity as a Human Person
Reading:
The Mother of God is a creature. It follows that all she is, she has from God. But she is God’s most perfect creature. For this reason, the homage paid to her is, by the very nature of the case, paid to God Himself. If we admire a statue, we honour the artist who created this masterpiece. If we honour Mary most holy we honour God. The more we pay homage to the divine perfections found in Mary, the more perfect is our homage to God, this is perfectly in order, since God created her in the highest state of perfection (Conference, 9 April 1938).
Meditation:
The greatness of every work of art is directly proportionate to the mastery of the artist who forms it. Accordingly, the dignity of every human person derives from God who has created each of us in His image. May the Immaculata teach us always, to mirror, as she did, the dignity and perfection of our God.
Closing prayers
Novena Prayer to the Immaculata
I greet you, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God throne of grace,
miracle of almighty power!
I greet you, sanctuary of the most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the universe,
Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners!
Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you
and beg of you, to obtain for me of your dear Son
the favour I request in this novena
………………………… (here mention you request).
Obtain for me also, Queen of Heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely,
those virtues which you practised so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all I beg you to be my mother
and protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.
Do not reject my petitions, Mother of mercy!
Have pity on me and do not abandon me
during life or at the moment of my death.
Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Mother of the Eternal Son,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Temple of the adorable Trinity,
pray for me.
Immaculate and tender Heart of Mary,
refuge of the needy and hope of sinners,
filled with the most lively respect, love and gratitude,
I devote myself forever to your service
and I offer you my heart,
with all that I am and all that belongs to me.
Accept this offering,
sweet Queen of Heaven and earth
and obtain for me of your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
the favours I ask through your intercession in this novena.
Obtain for me also a tender, generous, constant love of God,
perfect submission to His adorable will,
the true spirit of a Christian
and the grace of final perseverance.
Amen
Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata
O Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother,
live in me, act in me, speak in and through me.
Think your thoughts in my mind,
love through my heart.
Give me your own dispositions and feelings.
Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus.
Correct, enlighten and expand my entire personality and life.
Replace me with yourself.
Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving,
pray in and through me.
Let me live in you
and keep me in this union always.
Amen
Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Day Four – 4 December
By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr
OPENING PRAYER
How fair you are, 0 Mary!
The original stain is not in you.
You are the boast of Jerusalem,
You are the joy of Israel.
You are the pride of our people.
You are the advocate of sinners.
0 Mary!
You are the wisest of virgins.
You are the kindest of mothers.
Pray for us.
Intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Virgin, you were spotless
from the very moment of your conception.
Because you bore His Son, pray to the Father for us.
Through the spotless conception of the Virgin, 0 God,
You made ready a dwelling place worthy of Your Son.
In anticipation of Your Son’s death,
You preserved her from every stain.
Please purify us by her intercession,
so that we might find our way to You.
We ask this through Christ our lord.
Amen
Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.
Day 4: The Immaculata’s Self-Understanding
Reading:
When our Blessed Mother was asked by Bernadette to tell her name, she answered, “I am the Immaculate Conception,” this is the Immaculata’s definition of herself (Conference, 26 July 1931). By these luminous words (at Lourdes) she tells us not only that she was immaculate in her conception but beyond this that she is the Immaculate Conception as such. Something white is one thing; the whiteness of a thing is some-thing else. Something perfect is one thing; the perfection of a thing is something else. When God said to Moses, “I am the one who is,” God was telling him: “What is proper to my essence is that I should always be, by my very nature, of myself, with no other principle of being.” The Immaculate Virgin, of course, was created by God; she is a creature; she is a conception; still, she is the Immaculate Conception! What depths of mystery lie hidden in those words! (Miles Immaculatae, I, 1938, p. 294).
Meditation:
In our contemporary world, great emphasis is placed on the importance of getting to “know one-self.” May the Immaculata’s example of authentic self-understanding lead each of us to find our own true meaning as participants in the very being of God.
Closing prayers:
Novena Prayer to the Immaculata
I greet you, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God throne of grace,
miracle of almighty power!
I greet you, sanctuary of the most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the universe,
Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners!
Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you
and beg of you, to obtain for me of your dear Son
the favour I request in this novena
………………………… (here mention you request).
Obtain for me also, Queen of Heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely,
those virtues which you practised so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all I beg you to be my mother
and protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.
Do not reject my petitions, Mother of mercy!
Have pity on me and do not abandon me
during life or at the moment of my death.
Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Mother of the Eternal Son,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Temple of the adorable Trinity,
pray for me.
Immaculate and tender Heart of Mary,
refuge of the needy and hope of sinners,
filled with the most lively respect, love and gratitude,
I devote myself forever to your service
and I offer you my heart,
with all that I am and all that belongs to me.
Accept this offering,
sweet Queen of Heaven and earth
and obtain for me of your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
the favours I ask through your intercession in this novena.
Obtain for me also a tender, generous, constant love of God,
perfect submission to His adorable will,
the true spirit of a Christian
and the grace of final perseverance.
Amen
Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata
O Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother,
live in me, act in me, speak in and through me.
Think your thoughts in my mind,
love through my heart.
Give me your own dispositions and feelings.
Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus.
Correct, enlighten and expand my entire personality and life.
Replace me with yourself.
Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving,
pray in and through me.
Let me live in you
and keep me in this union always.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 4 December – The Memorial of St John Damascene (675-749) Father and Doctor of the Church
O Mary, my Hope! St John Damascene (675-749)
I salute you, O Mary!
you are the hope of Christians.
Receive the prayer of a sinner,
who loves you tenderly,
honours you in a special manner
and places in you the whole hope
of his salvation.
From you I have my life.
You reinstate me in the grace of your Son:
you are the sure pledge of my salvation.
I beseech of you, therefore, to deliver me
from the burden of my sins,
dispel the darkness of my mind,
banish from my heart the love of the world,
repress the temptations of my enemies
and so rule my whole life, that by your means
and under your guidance,
I may obtain everlasting happiness in heaven.
Amen
Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Three – 3 December
By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr
OPENING PRAYER
How fair you are, 0 Mary!
The original stain is not in you.
You are the boast of Jerusalem,
You are the joy of Israel.
You are the pride of our people.
You are the advocate of sinners.
0 Mary!
You are the wisest of virgins.
You are the kindest of mothers.
Pray for us.
Intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Virgin, you were spotless
from the very moment of your conception.
Because you bore His Son, pray to the Father for us.
Through the spotless conception of the Virgin, 0 God,
You made ready a dwelling place worthy of Your Son.
In anticipation of Your Son’s death,
You preserved her from every stain.
Please purify us by her intercession,
so that we might find our way to You.
We ask this through Christ our lord.
Amen
Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.
Day 3: The Immaculata’s Place in God’s Plan of Creation and Salvation
Reading:
The Immaculata appears in this world, without the least stain of sin, the masterpiece of God’s hands, full of grace. God, the most Holy Trinity, beholds the lowliness (i.e., the humility, the root of all her other virtues) of His handmaid and “does great things” for her (cf. Lk 1:49). God the Father gives her, His own Son to be her Son, God the Son descends into her womb and God the Holy Spirit forms the Body of Christ in the womb of this most pure virgin. “And the Word was made flesh” (Jn 1:14). The Immaculata becomes the Mother of God.
The fruit of the love of God in His Trinitarian life and of Mary the Immaculata, is Christ, the God-man. Henceforth, all the other sons of God must be modelled after this first Son of God, the God-man, the infinite One. They must reproduce His traits, by imitating Christ, souls reach sanctity. . . . This is the union brought about by the spousal love of the soul for Christ, through its resemblance to Him and by God’s action.
But if anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his Mother, he will not have Christ for his Brother. . . . Since the firstborn Son, the God-man was conceived only with the specific consent of the most Blessed Virgin, the same must hold true for all men, who must be conformed to their first model in all things (“Sketches for a book,” 1940).
Meditation:
From all eternity, God has designed a unique plan for each one of us, no two being identical. His ultimate aim, is that we all be fully united to the Lord. May the Immaculata, from her unique position in God’s plan, foster our growing conformity to Christ.
Closing prayers:
Novena Prayer to the Immaculata
I greet you, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God throne of grace,
miracle of almighty power!
I greet you, sanctuary of the most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the universe,
Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners!
Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you
and beg of you, to obtain for me of your dear Son
the favour I request in this novena
………………………… (here mention you request).
Obtain for me also, Queen of Heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely,
those virtues which you practised so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all I beg you to be my mother
and protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.
Do not reject my petitions, Mother of mercy!
Have pity on me and do not abandon me
during life or at the moment of my death.
Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Mother of the Eternal Son,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Temple of the adorable Trinity,
pray for me.
Immaculate and tender Heart of Mary,
refuge of the needy and hope of sinners,
filled with the most lively respect, love and gratitude,
I devote myself forever to your service
and I offer you my heart,
with all that I am and all that belongs to me.
Accept this offering,
sweet Queen of Heaven and earth
and obtain for me of your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
the favours I ask through your intercession in this novena.
Obtain for me also a tender, generous, constant love of God,
perfect submission to His adorable will,
the true spirit of a Christian
and the grace of final perseverance.
Amen
Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata
O Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother,
live in me, act in me, speak in and through me.
Think your thoughts in my mind,
love through my heart.
Give me your own dispositions and feelings.
Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus.
Correct, enlighten and expand my entire personality and life.
Replace me with yourself.
Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving,
pray in and through me.
Let me live in you
and keep me in this union always.
Amen
Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Two – 2 December
By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr
OPENING PRAYER
How fair you are, 0 Mary!
The original stain is not in you.
You are the boast of Jerusalem,
You are the joy of Israel.
You are the pride of our people.
You are the advocate of sinners.
0 Mary!
You are the wisest of virgins.
You are the kindest of mothers.
Pray for us.
Intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Virgin, you were spotless
from the very moment of your conception.
Because you bore His Son, pray to the Father for us.
Through the spotless conception of the Virgin, 0 God,
You made ready a dwelling place worthy of Your Son.
In anticipation of Your Son’s death,
You preserved her from every stain.
Please purify us by her intercession,
so that we might find our way to You.
We ask this through Christ our lord.
Amen
Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.
Day 2: The Immaculata as Spouse of the Holy Spirit
Reading:
United to the Holy Spirit as His Spouse, the Immaculata is one with God in an incomparably more perfect way than can be predicated of any other creature. What sort of union is this? It is above all an interior union, a union of her essence with the “essence” of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in her, lives in her. This was true from the first instant of her existence. It was always true, it will always be true.
In what does this life of the Spirit in Mary consist? He himself is uncreated Love in her, the Love of the Father and of the Son, the Love by which God loves Himself, the very love of the most Holy Trinity. He is a fruitful love, a “Conception.” Among creatures made in God’s image the union brought about by married love is the most intimate of all (cf. Mt 19:6). In a much more precise, more interior, more essential manner, the Holy Spirit lives in the soul of the Immaculata, in the depths of her very being. He makes her fruitful, from the very first instant of her existence, all during her life and for all eternity (“Sketches for a book,” 17 February 1941).
Meditation:
To grow in daily awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence within us is a constant challenge that God gives to each and all of us. May the Immaculata’s perfect life in the Holy Spirit, cause a sharpening, of our own attentiveness, to His presence at the core of our inner selves.
Closing prayers:
Novena Prayer to the Immaculata
I greet you, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God throne of grace,
miracle of almighty power!
I greet you, sanctuary of the most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the universe,
Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners!
Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you
and beg of you, to obtain for me of your dear Son
the favour I request in this novena
………………………… (here mention you request).
Obtain for me also, Queen of Heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely,
those virtues which you practised so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all I beg you to be my mother
and protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.
Do not reject my petitions, Mother of mercy!
Have pity on me and do not abandon me
during life or at the moment of my death.
Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Mother of the Eternal Son,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Temple of the adorable Trinity,
pray for me.
Immaculate and tender Heart of Mary,
refuge of the needy and hope of sinners,
filled with the most lively respect, love and gratitude,
I devote myself forever to your service
and I offer you my heart,
with all that I am and all that belongs to me.
Accept this offering,
sweet Queen of Heaven and earth
and obtain for me of your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
the favours I ask, through your intercession in this novena.
Obtain for me also a tender, generous, constant love of God,
perfect submission to His adorable will,
the true spirit of a Christian
and the grace of final perseverance.
Amen
Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata
O Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother,
live in me, act in me, speak in and through me.
Think your thoughts in my mind,
love through my heart.
Give me your own dispositions and feelings.
Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus.
Correct, enlighten and expand my entire personality and life.
Replace me with yourself.
Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving,
pray in and through me.
Let me live in you
and keep me in this union always.
Amen
Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day One – 1 December
By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr
OPENING PRAYER
How fair you are, 0 Mary!
The original stain is not in you.
You are the boast of Jerusalem,
You are the joy of Israel.
You are the pride of our people.
You are the advocate of sinners.
0 Mary!
You are the wisest of virgins.
You are the kindest of mothers.
Pray for us.
Intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Virgin, you were spotless
from the very moment of your conception.
Because you bore His Son, pray to the Father for us.
Through the spotless conception of the Virgin, 0 God,
You made ready a dwelling place worthy of Your Son.
In anticipation of Your Son’s death,
You preserved her from every stain.
Please purify us by her intercession,
so that we might find our way to You.
We ask this through Christ our lord.
Amen
Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.
Day 1: The Immaculata’s Relationship to the Trinity
Reading:
From all eternity the Father begets the Son and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son. This life of the most Holy Trinity is re-echoed in numberless and various ways, by the creatures that issue from God’s hands. . . . Every act of love in God comes forth from the Father through the Son and the Holy Spirit.
God creates, maintains in existence, gives life and growth in the natural as well as in the supernatural order. In His love, God supports in existence all His innumerable limited created resemblances and the love-reaction that is provoked in the creature, can return to the Father only through the Holy Spirit and the Son.. .
Among creatures, the summit of this love that goes back to God is the Immaculata, the one being totally without any stain of sin, all beautiful, all divine. At no time did her will ever deviate from God’s will. With all its strength, her will was always at one with His. In her there came about the marvellous union of God with creation. (Kolbe’s “Sketches for a Book,” 1940).
Meditation:
Cultivating a personal relationship with each member of the Holy Trinity is an obligation for every individual. May the Immaculata’s love-response to each of the Three Divine Persons, serve as a model and stimulus for each of us.
Closing prayers:
Novena Prayer to the Immaculata
I greet you, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God throne of grace,
miracle of almighty power!
I greet you, sanctuary of the most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the universe,
Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners!
Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you
and beg of you, to obtain for me of your dear Son
the favour I request in this novena
………………………… (here mention you request).
Obtain for me also, Queen of Heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely,
those virtues which you practiced so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all I beg you to be my mother
and protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.
Do not reject my petitions, Mother of mercy!
Have pity on me and do not abandon me
during life or at the moment of my death.
Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Mother of the Eternal Son,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Temple of the adorable Trinity,
pray for me.
Immaculate and tender Heart of Mary,
refuge of the needy and hope of sinners,
filled with the most lively respect, love and gratitude,
I devote myself forever to your service
and I offer you my heart,
with all that I am and all that belongs to me.
Accept this offering,
sweet Queen of Heaven and earth
and obtain for me of your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
the favours I ask through your intercession in this novena.
Obtain for me also a tender, generous, constant love of God,
perfect submission to His adorable will,
the true spirit of a Christian
and the grace of final perseverance.
Amen
Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata
O Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother,
live in me, act in me, speak in and through me.
Think your thoughts in my mind,
love through my heart.
Give me your own dispositions and feelings.
Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus.
Correct, enlighten and expand my entire personality and life.
Replace me with yourself.
Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving,
pray in and through me.
Let me live in you
and keep me in this union always.
Amen
During Advent, as we prepare for the birth of Christ at Christmas, we also celebrate one of the great feasts of the Catholic Church. The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (8 December-moved to 8 December in 2019) is not only a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary but a foretaste of our own redemption.
In keeping the Blessed Virgin free from the stain of sin from the moment of her conception, God presents us with a glorious example of what mankind was meant to be. Mary is truly the second Eve, because, like Eve, she entered the world without sin. Unlike Eve, she remained sinless throughout her life—a life that she dedicated fully to the will of God. The Eastern Fathers of the Church referred to her as “without stain” (a phrase that appears frequently in the Eastern liturgies and hymns to Mary), in Latin, that phrase is immaculatus: “immaculate.”
The Immaculate Conception was not, as many people mistakenly believe, a precondition for Christ’s act of redemption but the result of it. Standing outside of time, God knew that Mary would humbly submit herself to His will and in His love for this perfect servant, He applied to her at the moment of her conception the redemption, won by Christ, that all Christians receive at their Baptism.
It is appropriate, then, that the Church has long declared the month in which the Blessed Virgin not only was conceived but gave birth to the Saviour of the world, as the Month of the Immaculate Conception.
The star of Mary Immaculate shines down on the path of Advent….
What person is more luminous than Mary?
Who can be for us, better than her, the star of hope,
the sunrise that proclaims the day of salvation?
Pope Benedict XVI
Holy light on earth’s horizon, Star of hope to those who fall, Light amid a world of shadows, Dawn of God’s design for all.
Mary, Virgin of Advent, may we always walk with you in the light of the Lord, Jesus, the fruit of your womb! Amen
Announcing a Novena in honour of the Immaculate Conception Begins 1 December
As the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is moved forward by one day this year, from 8 to 9 December, due to the 8th being the 2nd Sunday of Advent, we will start the Novena a day later than usual.
This year we will use Reflections and Meditations from St Maximillian Kolbe.
Thought for the Day – 21 November – The Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
She Who Believed by Faith, Conceived by Faith
Saint Augustine (354-430)
Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church
An excerpt from Sermon 25
“Stretching out His hand over His disciples, the Lord Christ declared: Here are my mother and my brothers; anyone who does the will of my Father who sent me is my brother and sister and my mother. I would urge you to ponder these words. Did the Virgin Mary, who believed by faith and conceived by faith, who was the chosen one from whom our Saviour was born among men, who was created by Christ before Christ was created in her—did she not do the will of the Father? Indeed the blessed Mary certainly did the Father’s will and so it was for her, a greater thing, to have been Christ’s disciple, than to have been His mother and she was more blessed in her discipleship than in her motherhood. Hers was the happiness of first bearing in her womb, Him, whom she would obey as her master.
Now listen and see if the words of Scripture do not agree with what I have said . The Lord was passing by and crowds were following Him. His miracles gave proof of divine power and a woman cried out: Happy is the womb that bore you, blessed is that womb! But the Lord, not wishing people to seek happiness in a purely physical relationship, replied: More blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Mary heard God’s word and kept it and so she is blessed. She kept God’s truth in her mind, a nobler thing than carrying His body in her womb. The Truth and the Body were both Christ – He was kept in Mary’s mind, insofar as He is Truth, He was carried in her womb, insofar as He is man but, what is kept in the mind, is of a higher order than what is carried in the womb.
The Virgin Mary is both holy and blessed and yet, the Church is greater than she. Mary is a part of the Church, a member of the Church, a holy, an eminent—the most eminent—member but still only a member of the entire body. The body undoubtedly is greater than she, one of its members. This body has the Lord for its head and head and body together make up the whole Christ. In other words, our head is divine—our head is God.
Now, beloved, give me your whole attention, for you also are members of Christ, you also, are the body of Christ. Consider how you yourselves can be among those, of whom the Lord said: Here are my mother and my brothers. Do you wonder how you can be the mother of Christ? He Himself said: Whoever hears and fulfils the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and my sister and my mother. As for our being the brothers and sisters of Christ, we can understand this, because, although there is only one inheritance and Christ is the only Son, His mercy would not allow Him to remain alone. It was His wish, that we too should be heirs of the Father and co-heirs with Himself.
Now having said that all of you are brothers of Christ, shall I not dare to call you His mother? Much less would I dare to deny His own words. Tell me how Mary became the mother of Christ, if it was not by giving birth to the members of Christ? You, to whom I am speaking, are the members of Christ. Of whom were you born? “Of Mother Church,” I hear the reply of your hearts. You became sons of this mother at your baptism, you came to birth then as members of Christ. Now you, in your turn, must draw to the font of baptism as many as you possibly can. You became sons when you were born there yourselves and now, by bringing others to birth in the same way, you have it in your power, to become the mothers of Christ. Amen!”
Quote of the Day – 21 November – Thursday of the Thirty Third week in Ordinary Time, Year C and Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
“Hail, holy throne of God, divine sanctuary, house of glory, jewel most fair, chosen treasure house and mercy seat for the whole world, heaven showing forth the glory of God.
Purest Virgin, worthy of all praise, sanctuary dedicated to God and raised above all human condition, virgin soil, unploughed field, flourishing vine, fountain pouring out waters, virgin bearing a child, mother without knowing man, hidden treasure of innocence, ornament of sanctity, by your most acceptable prayers, strong with the authority of motherhood, to our Lord and God, Creator of all, your Son who was born of you without a father, steer the ship of the Church and bring it to a quiet harbour.”
St Germanus (378-448)
“Give thanks to Almighty God who resists the proud and gives grace to the humble and offer Him all the glory that this Maiden, accorded to His majesty, by her practice of the richest humility, during her childhood and throughout the rest of her life.”
One Minute Reflection – 21 November – Thursday of the Thirty Third week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 19:41-44 and Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace!”…Luke 19:41-42
REFLECTION – “I rejoiced because they said to me, ‘We will go up to the house of the Lord.’ And now we have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem” (Ps 122[121]:1-2). What Jerusalem is this? On earth there is a city of this name but it is a mere shadow of that other Jerusalem. What kind of happiness is there in standing in a Jerusalem here below that is unable to stand of itself but which fell to the ground in ruins?… It is not of the Jerusalem here below that someone speaks who has such great love, such great longing, such great desire to come to the Jerusalem, “our mother”, of which Saint Paul says that it is “eternal in the heavens” (Gal 4:26; 2 Cor 5:1)…
“O Jerusalem, may your peace be in your strength” (Ps 122[121]:7). That is to say, may your peace be in your love, for your love is your strength. Hear the Song of Songs: “Love is strong as death” (8:6)… And indeed, love destroys what we have been, so that we might become, through a sort of death, what we were not… This was the sort of death that was working in him who said: “The world is crucified to me and I to the world” (Gal 6:14). It was of this death that the same apostle was speaking when he said: “You have die, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3). Yes, “love is strong as death”. If love is strong, then it is powerful, it has great strength, it is strength itself… So may your peace be in your strength, O Jerusalem. May your peace be in your love.” … St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor – Discourses on the Psalms, Ps 121[122]:1, §3,12
PRAYER – Lord, as we honour the memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary and seek her help, grant that we, like her, may shine in the fullness of Your grace. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Quote of the Day – 19 November – Tuesday of the Thirty Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 19:1–10 and the Memorial of St Matilda/Mechtilde of Hackeborn (c 1241-1298)
Devotion of the Three Hail Marys
St Matilda of Hackeborn was distressed over her eternal salvation and prayed that the Most Holy Virgin would assist her at the hour of death.
The Blessed Virgin appeared to her and reassured her, saying:
“Yes, I will! But I wish, for your part, that you recite three Hail Marys everyday, remembering, in the first, the power received from the Eternal Father, in the second, the wisdom received from the Son, with the third one, the love that has filled the Holy Spirit”.
The Blessed Virgin taught her to pray and to understand especially, how the Three Hail Mary’s, honour, the three persons of the Bles
Quote/s of the Day – 18 November – The Memorial of Saint Odo of Cluny (c 880–942) Monk and Abbot
“My Lady, Mother of Mercy, who on this night gave birth to the Saviour, pray for me. May your glorious and unique experience of childbirth, O Most Devout Mother, be my refuge.”
“Jesus took upon Himself the scourging, that would have been our due, in order to save the creature, He formed and loves.”
“]This is the] sacrosanct mystery of the Lord’s Body, in whom the whole salvation of the world consists.”
Thought for the Day – 16 November – The Memorial of St Edmund Rich of Abingdon (1175-1240) Archbishop of Canterbury
St Edmund’s best-known work in the Middle Ages was his Speculum Ecclesie. It’s a work on the contemplative life, offering (among other things) meditations on different moments in the life of Christ, aiming to help the reader to enter imaginatively into the scenes of His Passion and feel intense compassion for His sufferings. I don’t know whether people read the Speculum Ecclesie today, but most students of Middle English will have read a poem which survives as part of it. This is one of the earliest, shortest and most popular devotional poems in Middle English:
Nou goth sonne under wod,
Me reweth, Marie, thi faire rode.
Nou goth sonne under tre,
Me reweth, Marie, thi sone and thee.
Now goes the sun under the wood, I grieve, Mary, for your fair face. Now goes the sun under the tree, I grieve, Mary, for thy son and thee.
This short poem is designed to be a spur to meditation on the Crucifixion, perhaps at the appropriate hour of the day when the sun begins to set. Apparently very simple, the poem is dense with meaningful wordplay – as the sun sets behind the wood, so Christ the Son is shrouded in darkness on the wood of the cross, the tree; that is, the ‘rode’, which means both ‘face’ and ‘rood’ (cross). And here we have another pair of a mother and her son, and their strong emotional bond (like St Edmund himself and his mother). The poem encourages the reader to meditate and dwell on Christ’s Crucifixion by approaching the Son through the Mother, to feel compassion for His suffering as it is reflected in her grief (underlined by that wordplay on ‘rode’ – (His cross and her face). How wonderful it is that this poem should be associated with a saint whose mother was such an important presence in his life.
Back in Abingdon, the Catholic church is dedicated to him and to the Virgin Mary, the mother and bride who was so constant a presence in his spiritual life.
Quote/s of the Day – 15 November – The Memorial of St Albert the Great OP (1200-1280) Doctor of the Church and of Bl Mary of the Passion FMM (1839-1904)
“The whole world is indebted to Jesus for His Passion. Similarly, all of us, are indebted to our Lady, for her compassion.”
“…By ourselves, we never could have accomplished our vocation. It is for this reason, that the exposed Holy Eucharist, has become our weapon, our banner and our sovereign strength to fight the Lord’s battles.”
“…Let us continue Immaculate Mary’s mission. All is included in it. May [we].. follow her example and be the handmaid of the Lord in everything, everywhere and always.”
Sunday Reflection – 27 October – Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 18:9–14
Mary Receives Him
St John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
I see thee after the Ascension.
This is a time of bereavement but still of consolation.
It was still a twilight time but not a time of grief.
The Lord was absent but He was not on earth, He was not in suffering.
Death had no power over Him.
And He came to her, day-by-day in the Blessed Sacrifice.
I see the Blessed Mary at Mass and Saint John celebrating.
She is waiting for the moment of her Son’s Presence – now she converses with Him in the Sacred rite and what shall I say now? She receives Him, to whom once she gave birth …..
O Holy Mother, stand by me now at mass time, when Christ comes to me, as thou did minister to thy infant Lord – as thou did hang upon His words when He grew up, as thou was found under His Cross.
Stand by me, Holy Mother, that I may gain somewhat of thy purity, thy innocence, thy faith and He may be the one object of my love and my adoration, as He was of thine. Amen
Our Morning Offering – 27 October – Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Adoro te Devote, latens Deitas! I Devoutly Adore You, hidden Deity By St John Paul II (1920-2005)
We adore You, O wonderful Sacrament
of the presence of the One
who loved His own “to the end.”
We thank You, O Lord,
who edifies,
gathers together
and gives life to the Church.
O divine Eucharist, flame of Christ’s love
that burns on the altar of the world,
make the Church, comforted by You,
evermore caring, in wiping away,
the tears of the suffering
and in sustaining the efforts
of all who yearn for justice and peace.
And you, Mary, “Eucharistic” Woman
who offered your virginal womb
for the incarnation of the Word of God,
help us to live the Eucharistic Mystery
in the spirit of the “Magnificat.”
May our lives be a never-ending praise
of the Almighty who concealed Himself
beneath the humility of the Eucharistic signs.
Adoro te devote, latens Deitas. .. Adoro te… adiuva me!
I Devoutly Adore You, hidden Deity I Adore You, help me!
AnaStpaul 
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