Prayer 2 in honour of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

O God, who made your priest,

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, outstanding in love,

that he might proclaim the mysteries of redemption, 
and comfort those in affliction,
grant, by his intercession,
that we may work zealously for your glory
and for the salvation of mankind,

 
Through Christ our Lord. Amen

Prayer to Francis Xavier Seelos  by BYRON MILLER, C.SS.R.

O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer,
let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight.

I offer praise to You for the grace You have bestowed
on Your humble missionary, Father Francis Xavier Seelos.

May I have the same joyful vigor that Father Seelos possessed during his earthly life
to love You deeply and live faithfully Your gospel.
Amen.

Divine Physician,
You infused Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos with the gift of Your healing.

By the help of his prayers,
sustain in me the grace to know Your will and the strength to overcome my afflictions.

For love of You, make me whole.
May I learn from the example of Father Seelos
and gain comfort from his patient endurance.
Amen.

Bountiful God,
in Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos,

You have given Your people a model for those who labor joyfully in Your earthly kingdom.

May his smile dwell on those who find life burdensome.
In him, our eyes continually behold the gentleness of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.

Amen.

 [I]    

 Full well you know that from my tenderest years

 Your image sweet has borne my heart away,

 For tender pity in your gaze appears,

 With you I found the golden light of day. 

CHORUS  

 O Virgin Mary, when to heaven I go

 Your loveliness forever shall I see; 

 But my Perpetual Succour here below

 Is your sweet Image ever dear to me.  

[II]   

When fervour made me willing to obey

It seemed as if your picture on me smiled,

But if betimes, my will was led astray,

Your welling tears reproved your erring child.

 [III] 

In hearkening ever to my lowly prayer, 

You showered on me the sweetness of your love,

The very thought of you is now a share 

A foretaste of eternal bliss above. 

[IV]

 O Mother dearest, 'mid temptation's strife

 I feel that you a constant strength impart,

 Because you know that till the close of life

 I wish to offer souls to Jesus' Heart.

 [V] 

For evermore your Image shall remain

 My treasure, my Perpetual Succour be,

And 'tis my wish in death's dread hour of pain

My dying gaze may still be fixed on thee. 

FINAL CHORUS

[VI]

 Then soaring to the vast, eternal shore,  

 I'll come to rest, dear Mother, at your feet;

 And there held safe, enjoy for evermore,

 The tender bliss of your caresses sweet.

From a sermon of Bl. John Henry Newman

"Oh that we could take that simple view of things, as to feel that the one thing which lies before us is to please God! What gain is it to please the world, to please the great, even to please those whom we love, compared with this? What gain is it to be applauded, admired, courted, followed, compared with this one aim, of not being disobedient to a heavenly vision? What can this world offer comparable with that insight into spiritual things, that keen faith, that heavenly peace, that high sanctity, that everlasting righteousness, that hope of glory, which they have who in sincerity love and follow our Lord Jesus Christ?

Let us beg and pray Him day by day to reveal Himself to our souls more fully; to quicken our senses; to give us sight and hearing, taste and touch of the world to come; so to work within us that we may sincerely say, "Thou shall guide me with Thy counsel, and after that receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of Thee: my flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

Bl John Henry Newman "Fragrance Prayer"

Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go.
Flood my soul with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly,
that my life may only be a radiance of yours.

Shine through me, and be so in me
that every soul I come in contact with
may feel your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus!

Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine,
so to shine as to be a light to others;
The light, O Jesus will be all from you; none of it will be mine;
it will be you, shining on others through me.

Let me thus praise you the way you love best, by shining on those around me.
Let me preach you without preaching, not by words but by my example,
by the catching force of the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to you.

Marian Prayer of Cardinal Newman 

O Mother of Jesus, and my Mother, let me dwell with you, cling to you and love you with ever-increasing love. I promise the honour, love and trust of a child. Give me a mother's protection, for I need your watchful care. You know better than any other the thoughts and desires of the Sacred Heart. Keep constantly before my mind the same thoughts, the same desires, that my heart may be filled with zeal for the interests of the Sacred Heart of your Divine Son. Instill in me a love of all that is noble, that I may no longer be easily turned to selfishness. 

Help me, dearest Mother, to acquire the virtues that God wants of me: to forget myself always, to work solely for him, without fear of sacrifice. I shall always rely on your help to be what Jesus wants me to be. I am his; I am yours, my good Mother! Give me each day your holy and maternal blessing until my last evening on earth, when your Immaculate Heart will present me to the Heart of Jesus in heaven, there to love and bless you and your divine Son for all eternity.

An excerpt from  "The Dream of Gerontius" by Bl. J.H. Newman

Go forth, Christian soul, from this world

In the name of God the almighty Father who created you,

In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who suffered for you,

In the name of the Holy Spirit who was poured out upon you. Go forth Christian soul

May you live in peace this day,

may your home be with God in Sion,

with Mary the virgin Mother of God, with Joseph and all the angels and saints....

May you return to [your Creator] who formed you from the dust of the earth.

May holy Mary, the angels and all the saints, come to meet you as you go forth from this life...

May you see your Redeemer face to face.

Bl. John Henry Newman "God's plan for me"

God has created me to do Him some definite service.

He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another.

I have my mission.

I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.

I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.

He has not created me for naught. I shall do good;

I shall do His work.

I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place,

while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.

Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away.

If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him.

If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain.

He knows what He is about.

He may take away my friends.

He may throw me among strangers.

He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me.

Still, He knows what He is about.

In this picture we see St Alphonsus lovingly adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

O my dear Jesus, what can you do to make me love You? 

Make me understand what an excess of love you have shown me by reducing Yourself to food,

in order to unite Yourself to poor sinners! 

You, my dear Redeemer, have so much affection for me,

that you have not refused to give Yourself again and again entirely to me in Holy Communion. 

And yet I have had the courage to drive You away from my soul on so many occasions! 

You do not despise a humble and contrite heart. 

You became human for my sake. 

You died for me. 

You even went so far as to become my food. 

What more can there remain for You to do in order to gain my love? 

Oh, that I could die with grief every time that I remember that I have despised Your grace. 

I repent, O my love, with my whole heart for having offended you. 

I love You, O infinite goodness!  I love You, O infinite love! 

I desire nothing but to love You, and I fear nothing but to live without your love. 

My beloved Jesus, do not refuse to come to me. 

Come, because I would rather die a thousand times than drive You away again. 

I will do all that I can to please You. 

Come and inflame my whole soul with Your love. 

Grant that I may forget everything, to think only of You,

and to desire You alone,

my sovereign and my only good.

Prayer composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori

In this picture we see St Alphonsus lovingly adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

O my dear Jesus, what can you do to make me love You? 

Make me understand what an excess of love you have shown me by reducing Yourself to food,

in order to unite Yourself to poor sinners! 

You, my dear Redeemer, have so much affection for me,

that you have not refused to give Yourself again and again entirely to me in Holy Communion. 

And yet I have had the courage to drive You away from my soul on so many occasions! 

You do not despise a humble and contrite heart. 

You became human for my sake. 

You died for me. 

You even went so far as to become my food. 

What more can there remain for You to do in order to gain my love? 

Oh, that I could die with grief every time that I remember that I have despised Your grace. 

I repent, O my love, with my whole heart for having offended you. 

I love You, O infinite goodness!  I love You, O infinite love! 

I desire nothing but to love You, and I fear nothing but to live without your love. 

My beloved Jesus, do not refuse to come to me. 

Come, because I would rather die a thousand times than drive You away again. 

I will do all that I can to please You. 

Come and inflame my whole soul with Your love. 

Grant that I may forget everything, to think only of You,

and to desire You alone,

my sovereign and my only good.

Prayer composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori