Preaching and Prayer
Novena Prayer to Our Mother of Perpetual Help
NOVENA PRAYER
O Mother of Perpetual Help, with great confidence we come before your holy icon to be inspired by the example of your life.
We think of you at that moment, when, full of faith and trust, you accepted God's call to be the mother of his Son.
Help us your children, to accept with joy our calling in life.
When you learned that your cousin Elizabeth was in need, you immediately went to serve her and offer your help.
Make us, like you, to be concerned for others.
We think of you, Mother, at the foot of the cross.
Your heart must have bled to see your Son in agony.
But your joy was great when he rose from the dead, victorious over the power of evil.
Mother of Sorrows, help us through our trials and disappointments.
Help us not to lose heart.
May we share with you and your Son the joy of having courageously faced up to all the challenges of life.
AMEN
This prayer is often used in conjunction with this Prayer of Thanksgiving.
June's Virtue
The Redemptorist Virtue for the month of June is...
Virtue: Chastity
Patron: St. James the Less, Apostle
Text: "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." Matt 5:8
This virtue is concerned not only with self-mastery but also with love and holiness.
"This is the will of God, yourholiness: that you refrain from immorality, that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion as do the Gentiles who do not know God " (I Thes 4:3-5).
Alphonsus saw the practice of chastity as another way of striving to do God' s will in our lives. He believed that the most subtle dangers regarding chastity were occasions of sin.
In his moral theology, Alphonsus refers to occasions of sin that are voluntary (of one' s own choosing and therefore avoidable) and proximate (those that frequently lead a person to sin). He teaches that even sincere Christians fall into sins against chastity because they voluntarily place themselves into proximate occasions of sin. Likewise, avoiding such occasions is one of the most effective ways of growing in chastity.
This month, take time to reflect on the occasions of sin in your life.
Pray for the courage to make changes in your life so you can avoid these occasions of sin.
Thanks www.redemptorists.com
Excerpt from The Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus Liguori
Mary is our Mother — not by the flesh, but by love. That is, she is our Mother by love alone. So someone observes that she glories in being the mother of love. She is all love for us, her adopted children.
The first reason for Mary’s great love for human beings is that she loves God so much. She loved him more in the first moment of her existence than all the saints and angels every loved him or will love him.
Just as there is not one among all the blessed who loves God as Mary does, so there is no one, after God, who loves us as much as this most loving Mother does. Furthermore, if we heaped together all the love that mothers have for their children, all the love of husbands and wives, all the love of all the angels and saints for their clients, it could never equal Mary’s love for even a single soul.
Mary, to obtain the life of grace for us … offered her beloved Jesus to an ignominious death, and watched him die before her eyes in cruel and unexampled torments.
It is written of the Eternal Father, that God so loved the world as to give his only-begotten Son (Jn 3:16), so also we can say of Mary, that she so loved the world as to give her only-begotten Son.
So with St. Anselm I will cry: “Let my heart languish and my soul melt away and be consumed with love of you, my beloved Savior Jesus and my dear Mother Mary! But because I cannot love you unless you give me grace, then give me grace, O Jesus and Mary — by your merits, not mine — to love you as you deserve to be loved. O God, lover of humankind, you loved sinful human beings to the point of death. Will you deny your love and your Mother’s to anyone who begs for it?”
— Excerpted from The Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus Liguori
Excerpt from The Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus Liguori
Mary is our Mother — not by the flesh, but by love. That is, she is our Mother by love alone. So someone observes that she glories in being the mother of love. She is all love for us, her adopted children.
The first reason for Mary’s great love for human beings is that she loves God so much. She loved him more in the first moment of her existence than all the saints and angels every loved him or will love him.
Just as there is not one among all the blessed who loves God as Mary does, so there is no one, after God, who loves us as much as this most loving Mother does. Furthermore, if we heaped together all the love that mothers have for their children, all the love of husbands and wives, all the love of all the angels and saints for their clients, it could never equal Mary’s love for even a single soul.
Mary, to obtain the life of grace for us … offered her beloved Jesus to an ignominious death, and watched him die before her eyes in cruel and unexampled torments.
It is written of the Eternal Father, that God so loved the world as to give his only-begotten Son (Jn 3:16), so also we can say of Mary, that she so loved the world as to give her only-begotten Son.
So with St. Anselm I will cry: “Let my heart languish and my soul melt away and be consumed with love of you, my beloved Savior Jesus and my dear Mother Mary! But because I cannot love you unless you give me grace, then give me grace, O Jesus and Mary — by your merits, not mine — to love you as you deserve to be loved. O God, lover of humankind, you loved sinful human beings to the point of death. Will you deny your love and your Mother’s to anyone who begs for it?”
— Excerpted from The Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus Liguori
March's Virtue
The Redemptorist Virtue for the month of March is...
Virtue: LOVE of GOD
Patrons: St. James the Greater, Apostle
Text: "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul and with your whole mind." St. Matt 22:37
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Reflecting the teaching of the New Testament, Saint Alphonsus identifies two aspects of this virtue called the love of God: God's great love for us and our love for God in return. God's love, manifested especially in the gift of his Son Jesus, is freely and generously lavished upon each of us. The central message of Saint Alphonsus is, Remember how much God loves you! This priceless gift of God's love for us deserves a response of love on our part. But how can we respond to God's love? There are countless ways, but Saint Alphonsus recommends the way of Jesus himself:
For us, too, doing the will of our heavenly Father is our way of showing our love for God. This response to God's love must enter the nitty-gritty circumstances of our daily lives. During March, constantly ask your-self:
Thanks to www.redemptorists.com |
The centerpiece of the spirituality of Saint Alphonsus is the "love of God."February's Virtue
The Redemptorist Virtue for the month of February is...
Virtue: HOPE
Patron: St. ANDREW
Text: His hope he set on me, so I will rescue him; protect him for he knows my name.
Hope is centred on God. Through this virtue, we confidently expect the fullness of glory, our eternal destiny, the face-to-face vision of God.
For the early Christians, the anchor was the favorite symbol of hope (see Heb 6:18-19) because it symbolized strength and stability. It reminds us that the stability of our hope comes not from ourselves but rather from our gracious God and our risen Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Saint Alphonsus was convinced that we do not sufficiently realize that God has made great promises to us and that we can be sure God will be faithful to those promises.
During February you could feature the act of hope in your prayers, saying often during the day:
"My God, I place my hope in you."
You could also frequently make a conscious effort to let go of fears and worries that beset you and place your trust in God, whose love and care rule your life.
Thanks www.redemptorists.com
The Madonna's Lullaby
Mary sings, the ravished heavens
Hush the music of their spheres;
Soft her voice, her beauty fairer
Than the glancing stars appears;
While to Jesus, slumbering nigh,
Thus she sings her lullaby:
"Sleep, my Babe, my God, my Treasure,
Gently sleep; but ah! the sight
With its beauty so transports me,
I am dying with delight;
Thou canst not Thy mother see,
Yet Thou breathest flames to me.
"If within your lids unfolded,
Slumbering eyes, Thou seemest so fair;
When upon my gaze Thou doth open,
How shall I Thy beauty bear?
Ah! I tremble when Thou wakes,
Lest my heart with love should break.
Cheeks than sweetest roses sweeter,
Mouth where lurks a smile Divine,
Though the kiss my Babe should waken,
I must press those lips to mine.
Pardon, Dearest, if I say
Mother's love will take no nay."
As she ceased, the gentle Virgin
Clasped the Infant to her breast,
And, upon His radiant forehead
Many a loving kiss impressed.
Jesus woke and on her face
Fixed a look of heavenly grace.
Ah! that look, those eyes, that beauty,
How they pierce the Mother's heart!
Shafts of love from every feature
Through her gentle bosom dart.
Heart of stone! can I behold
Mary's love, and still be cold?
Where, my soul, thy sense, thy reason?
When will these delays be o'er?
All things else, how fair so ever,
Are but smoke: resist no more!
Yes! 'tis done! I yield my arms
Captive to those double charms.
If, alas, O heavenly beauty!
Now so late those charms I learn,
Now at least, and ever, ever
With thy love my heart will burn,
For the Mother and the Child,
Rose and Lily undefiled.
Plant and fruit, and fruit and blossom,
I am theirs, and they are mine;
For no other prize I labor,
For no other bliss I pine.
Love can every pain requite,
Love alone is full delight.
The Madonna's Lullaby
Mary sings, the ravished heavens
Hush the music of their spheres;
Soft her voice, her beauty fairer
Than the glancing stars appears;
While to Jesus, slumbering nigh,
Thus she sings her lullaby:
"Sleep, my Babe, my God, my Treasure,
Gently sleep; but ah! the sight
With its beauty so transports me,
I am dying with delight;
Thou canst not Thy mother see,
Yet Thou breathest flames to me.
"If within your lids unfolded,
Slumbering eyes, Thou seemest so fair;
When upon my gaze Thou doth open,
How shall I Thy beauty bear?
Ah! I tremble when Thou wakes,
Lest my heart with love should break.
Cheeks than sweetest roses sweeter,
Mouth where lurks a smile Divine,
Though the kiss my Babe should waken,
I must press those lips to mine.
Pardon, Dearest, if I say
Mother's love will take no nay."
As she ceased, the gentle Virgin
Clasped the Infant to her breast,
And, upon His radiant forehead
Many a loving kiss impressed.
Jesus woke and on her face
Fixed a look of heavenly grace.
Ah! that look, those eyes, that beauty,
How they pierce the Mother's heart!
Shafts of love from every feature
Through her gentle bosom dart.
Heart of stone! can I behold
Mary's love, and still be cold?
Where, my soul, thy sense, thy reason?
When will these delays be o'er?
All things else, how fair so ever,
Are but smoke: resist no more!
Yes! 'tis done! I yield my arms
Captive to those double charms.
If, alas, O heavenly beauty!
Now so late those charms I learn,
Now at least, and ever, ever
With thy love my heart will burn,
For the Mother and the Child,
Rose and Lily undefiled.
Plant and fruit, and fruit and blossom,
I am theirs, and they are mine;
For no other prize I labor,
For no other bliss I pine.
Love can every pain requite,
Love alone is full delight.
Prayers to Saint Gerard Majella
St Gerard Majella is the Patron Saint of Mothers, especially during pregnancy. He is also invoked by couples who are struggling to conceive.
Prayer to St Gerard
St Gerard, passionate lover of Jesus crucified and his mother Mary, you spent your short life helping countless souls by your powerful prayers, especially mothers and families and so earning the title of "The Mothers' Saint". Pray for me that I may obtain what I earnestly ask in the name of Jesus and grant me the grace to accept wholeheartedly God's will in my life.
An Alternate prayer to St Gerard
St Gerard, during your life you extended your help to the unfortunate and poor around you. Help me in my present need. Give me insight to recognise the presence of Jesus in the sufferings and troubles of others. Let not my urgent need for help cause me to think only of myself. Following your example, uniting my prayers and sufferings with Jesus on the cross, may I be transformed into a person of love and compassion. St Gerard, pray for me. Amen
January's Virtue
The Redemptorist Virtue for the month of January is...
Virtue: FAITH
Patrons: Sts. PETER and PAUL
Text: "I am the light of the world" Jn 8:12
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Faith is God's first gift to us. Faith has many facets and definitions, but it is, above all, our response to the revelation of God. God has revealed himself to us in many ways, but the fullness of his revelation is in Jesus Christ (see Heb 1:1-3). Everything about Jesus reveals God to us: his words and works, his signs and miracles, his death and glorious Resurrection.
During January you might try the following suggestions:
First, set aside time for enlarging your knowledge of God's revelation. "This could include a planned reading of the Scriptures or a study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Next, open yourself in prayer to the Holy Spirit. Alphonsus says:
Finally, examine how you are living by faith. In the words of Alphonsus
Thanks www.redemptorists.com |
