NOVENA PRAYERS
1⃣ CHRISTMAS NOVENA
2⃣ NOVENA TO THE HOLY FAMILY
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1⃣ CHRISTMAS NOVENA
DAY 7 - DECEMBER 22
FLIGHT OF THE CHILD JESUS INTO EGYPT
Dear Infant Jesus, crying so bitterly! Well hast Thou reason to weep in seeing Thyself persecuted by men whom Thou lovest so much. I, too, O God, have once persecuted Thee by my sins. But Thou knowest that now I love Thee more than myself, and that nothing pains me more than the thought that I have so often spurned Thee, my sovereign Good.
Forgive me, O Jesus, and let me bear Thee with me in my heart and all the rest of the journey that I have still to make through life, so that together with Thee I may enter into eternity. So often have I driven Thee from my soul by my sins. But now I love Thee above all things, and I regret above other misfortunes that I have offended Thee. I wish to leave Thee no more, my beloved Lord. But do Thou give me the strength to resist temptations. Never permit me to be separated from Thee again. Let me rather die than ever again lose Thy good grace.
O Mary, my hope, make me always live in God's love and then die in loving Him. Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be...
PRAYER: Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment at which the Son of God was born of a most pure Virgin at a stable at midnight in Bethlehem. In the piercing cold at that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, to hear my prayers and grant my desires...
(State your intentions here…)
Through Jesus Christ and His most Blessed Mother. Amen.
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2⃣ NOVENA TO THE HOLY FAMILY
DAY 3 - DECEMBER 22
THE HOLY FAMILY - MODEL OF PRAYERFULNESS
Prayer is a cornerstone for the Holy Family. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are prayerful as persons and as a family in their practice of the Jewish faith. Joseph and Mary taught Jesus His prayers and they prayed as a family. They kept the Commandments, kept holy the Sabbath and Holy Days (Luke 2:22-41), and gave thanks for their blessings at mealtime. As parents, grandparents, godparents, aunts and uncles, are we teaching our children how to pray? As children, are we praying for others or only for ourselves? Are we remembering to say grace before our meals at home and when we dine in public? Are we keeping Sundays and Days of Obligation holy by attending Mass and celebrating family life with special activities, or are we instead shopping and doing work that could be done on other days of the week? Consider how Jesus, Mary, and Joseph prayed everyday and especially lived their lives on the ‘Sunday' of their week. Amen.
(State your intentions here…)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be...
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, your grace reaches us through the hands of your most precious Son, Jesus. His response to the prayers of Mary and Joseph are assured, so we ask for their prayers during this Novena. Lord, send light to our understanding, inspiration to our decisions, and the fire of pure love to our hearts, so that we will respond to the blessing of your grace in our lives which comes through the prayers of the Holy Family. And you, our Guardian Angels and all the Saints in Heaven, intercede for us so that we may honour Jesus, Mary, and Joseph by the way we live. Help us to find ways to live as they did and to avoid looking for excuses for not changing our ways. Through this Novena in honour of the Holy Family, place in us the desire to pursue and imitate the virtues of the Holy Family and to accept your answer to our requests as your will for our lives. Amen.