NOVENA PRAYERS
1⃣ NOVENA TO ST. PATRICK
2⃣ NOVENA TO ST. JOSEPH
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1⃣ NOVENA TO ST. PATRICK
DAY 8 - MARCH 15
REFLECTION: St. Patrick worked mostly in the western regions of Ireland. It seems obvious that nature in Ireland helped St. Patrick connect with God when, as a young slave, he tended his master's sheep. We too, can draw closer to God through nature, whether we are walking, sailing, gardening, watching birds, tending houseplants or simply relaxing in nature.
PRAYER: God, You have given us a world of great natural wonder and beauty. Too often, God, we have polluted and destroyed our fragile environment. I pray, today, that we will learn to nurture and protect our environment for the enjoyment and use of future generations. I ask You, also, to guide me to make choices that will benefit nature, not harm it.
Our Heavenly Father sent St. Patrick to preach the Gospel and bring the Holy Eucharist to the people of Ireland. By St. Patrick's intercessory prayer and saintly example, may we always enjoy his protection from every evil. May he always lead us to the truth of the Triune God and the human face of Divine Truth, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(State your intentions here…)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be...
O Glorious Saint Patrick, pray for us and seek my intention through this Novena but may “God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.
V. Pray for us, O glorious St. Patrick
R. And obtain for us the intention of this Novena.
LET US PRAY: O God, Who didst send Thy blessed servant St. Patrick to instruct and save Thy people, and didst infuse into his heart so great a share of Thine own tenderness, charity, and zeal, listen, we beseech Thee, to the prayers which we now offer up in union with the prayers of this glorious patron and father in heaven, and grant us, through his intercession, the intentions of this Novena, and the grace rather to die than to offend thee. Amen.
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2⃣ NOVENA TO ST. JOSEPH
DAY 5 - MARCH 15
PRAYER BEFORE THE NOVENA: Great Saint Joseph, prostrate at thy feet with feelings of unlimited confidence, we beg thee to bless the Novena that I pray in thy honor. I will meditate upon thy virtues; grant that I may learn fully to appreciate them. The knowledge of them will be the source of great confusion for me because of the poverty and destitution of my soul. Great dispenser of the heavenly treasures, assist me in my poverty, help me to display thy virtues in my own soul. "Thou art never invoked in vain," says the seraphic St. Teresa of Jesus; be thou to me what thou hast been to that Spouse of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; graciously hearken to me as thou didst hearken to her. Amen.
SAINT JOSEPH, MODEL OF HUMILITY
St. Joseph excelled in humility because he realized that glory is due to God alone, and that, of himself, man is but misery and nothingness. By reason of his humility, Joseph was accorded the most glorious privileges and entrusted with the most sublime mission. To accomplish His designs, God employs only the humble who do not claim for themselves the glory.
As Foster Father of Jesus and Spouse of the Queen of Heaven and earth, Joseph was more highly honored than any king in this world. What pretexts, furnished by zeal for the glory of God, might have prompted him to speak, to put himself forward, to attribute to himself the greatness of the precursor of the Messiah, and the glories of the apostles! He rather conceals the astonishing prodigies which have been revealed to him, and the sublimity of the functions he exercises. Under an impenetrable veil he hides all that can draw upon him the esteem of men.
(State your intentions here…)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be...
PRAYER: O St. Joseph, what a lesson for me ever so eager to appear, so anxious to display before the eyes of men the graces that I owe entirely to the liberality of God. Obtain that I may attribute to God the glory of all things; that I may love the humble and hidden life; that I may not desire any other position than the one given by Providence; and that I may always be a docile instrument in the hands of God. Amen.
Joseph, most obedient: Pray for us!
Joseph, most faithful: Pray for us!
Mirror of patience: Pray for us!