NOVENA PRAYERS
1⃣ NOVENA TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
2⃣ NOVENA TO ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA
3⃣ NOVENA TO ST. THOMAS MORE
4⃣ NOVENA TO ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
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1⃣ NOVENA TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
DAY 9 - JUNE 16
IMITATION OF MARY
Immaculate Mother of God, our Mother by grace, we the beloved of thy Immaculate Heart come to thee on this final day of this Novena to pray for the grace to imitate thee, our Heavenly Mother in thy life of faith, hope, charity, humility, purity - all the Christian virtues in which thou excelled to a perfect degree. Created "full of grace," thou increased more in grace day by day. At the Annunciation, Immaculate Mary thou replied to the Angel: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; may it be done to me according to Thy word." (Luke 1:38) Thy cousin, St. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Ghost, greeted thee: "Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb... And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things will be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord." (Luke 42-45) Thy Divine Son Jesus Christ praised thee in response to the woman in the crowd: "...blessed are they who hear the Word of God and keep it." (Luke 1:28) Thus did Jesus praise thy faith and love even more than thy physical maternity. It was thy perfect faith, O Mary, in which thy Motherhood was rooted and which inspires us yet today. Thou responded in love as the Spirit of Love overshadowed thee. Thou lived the beatitudes perfectly, serving the Church both as Mother and Model for the Church.
Thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, call upon all to imitate thee in faith and love when He said: "Who is my mother and my brethren? ...Behold my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of God, he is my brother, and my sister and mother." (Mark 3:33-35)
Our Mother of Mercy, "God hath regarded the humility of His handmaid." It was of thee, Mother Mary, that St. Luke the Evangelist wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, beholding thee as the first disciple who heard the Word of God and did it perfectly. (Luke 1:38) Thou was present at the beginning of the Gospel and the beginning of the Church as a perfect example: "All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with...and Mary the Mother of Jesus..." (Acts 1:14).
(State your intentions here…)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be...
PRAYER: Mary, inspiration for every Christian vocation - single and virginal, married, parent, widowed, religious - by thy perfection in all virtues, living the beatitudes perfectly, thou has inspired all generations which have called thee "Blessed." At the wedding feast of Cana, as "Daughter of Zion," thou greeted the Messianic bridegroom as thy represented the Church as, His Bride. On Calvary, as the new Eve, representing the Church, the new Israel, thou became the Mother of all. Today, ever still we hear thy words, "Do whatever He tells you." (John 2:5) And we hear still His words from the Cross: "Woman, this is thy Son. This is thy Mother." (John 19:27) In the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2), in the Cenacle, we see thee, O Mary, prayerfully imploring the gift of the Holy Ghost for the Church. For none days thou teaches the Apostles how to pray. Gathered around thee and inspired by thy Immaculate Heart, Peter, the first Pope, and the other disciples of the Lord imitated thy perfection of faith, hope and love in prayer as thou awaited with them the fulfillment of the promise of the Lord. We, the beloved of thy Immaculate Heart, gathered about thee even now, implore thy special prayers for the outpouring again of the Holy Spirit upon all members of Holy Mother Church. In confidence we now present to thy Holy and Immaculate Heart the special intentions for which we have made this Novena. Amen.
Immaculate Heart of Mary: Pray for us!
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2⃣ NOVENA TO ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA
DAY 5 - JUNE 16
Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Aloysius Gonzaga as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the love of You he showed in choosing to serve You as a Jesuit. St. Aloysius Gonzaga, the path to your religious vocation was not easy. You faced a lot of opposition from your family, but you continued on in the path God was calling you to follow. Please continue to bring my petitions before God!
(State your intentions here…)
You chose to give up your inheritance, in order to become a Jesuit priest. Once you entered the order, you faced further difficulties in your poor health. But you did all you could to serve God worthily. Pray for me, that I may never allow difficulties to deter me from serving God. Pray that I may be ready and willing to serve Him in whatever path He calls me to. Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be...
St. Aloysius Gonzaga: Pray for us!
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3⃣ NOVENA TO ST. THOMAS MORE
DAY 4 - JUNE 16
REFLECTION: DISCRETION, JUSTICE, MERCY AND COMPASSION
Lord God, we honor the memory of our Saint, Saint Thomas More.
In his earthly life, he was a brilliant lawyer and a just and compassionate judge.
He was unflagging in his pursuit of justice tempered by mercy.
We ask that you grant to us, through his prayers and intercession, the grace to overcome every temptation to laxity, arrogance, and rash judgment and so be granted the virtues of discretion, justice, mercy and compassion.
We also ask that, through his powerful intercession, we may obtain the favors we seek in this novena:
(State your intentions here…)
But if what we ask is not for the glory of God and the good of our souls, grant us, we pray, what is more conducive to both. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
St. Thomas More: Pray for us!
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4⃣ NOVENA TO ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
DAY 2 - JUNE 16
O Most Zealous Apostle, who, without working any miracle on others, but solely by the example of thy life of penance and the power of thy word, didst draw after thee the multitudes, in order to dispose them to receive the Messiah worthily and to listen to His heavenly doctrine; grant that it may be given unto us, by means of the example of a holy life and the exercise of every good work, to bring many souls to God, but above all those souls that are enveloped in the darkness of error and ignorance and are led astray by vice. Amen.
O glorious St. John the Baptist, through the love thou does bear to Jesus Christ, and for the glory of His Name,
Hear our prayers and obtain our petitions...
(State your intentions here…)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be...
St. John the Baptist, minister of baptism to Jesus: Pray for us!
St. John the Baptist, burning and shining lamp of the world: Pray for us!