Christmas Novena, Third Oration

O Admirable Leader Who gains the obedience of Your
people not by the severity of Your judgment but by the sweetness of Your love
and Your welcome sojourn among us. We beseech You, through Your Pure Nativity
and through the intercession of Your Mother and Saint Joseph, Your Chosen One,
to teach us complete obedience to Your holy commandments and to submit to our
superiors, not for fear of punishment but by a willing surrender of mind and
heart, with gladness of heart and spirit. Amen.

Christmas Novena, Second Oration

O Hope of the Patriarchs and longing of the Gentiles,
in Your Nativity You have granted us hope. The joy of this hope has called
together the Shepherds, the Magi and all believers in Your Holy Name, and led
them to adore You with all the acclaim of their hearts. We beseech You, through
Your Pure Nativity and through the intercession of Your Virgin Mother and Saint
Joseph, Your Chosen One, to keep us, by Your grace, from attachment to earthly
goods. Teach us not to depend only on ourselves and the weak ones of this
world, but to rely only on Your Fatherly direction and Your Divine Providence.
Attract our hearts and minds to reflect on Your heavenly riches and to aspire and
long for them above. Amen.

Christmas Novena, First Oration

O
Beautiful One in splendor, fairer than the children of this world, in Your
inexplicable love for us, You became a man to show us the invisible beauty of
Your Divinity in the splendor of Your visible body, which You have taken from
the Virgin Mary.  By this, You have attracted us to Your Divine Love, You,
Beloved of the Father and Only Delight of His Heart.


We beseech You, through
Your Pure Nativity and through the intercession of Your Virgin Mother and Saint
Joseph, Your Chosen One, to enkindle Your love in our hearts and enlighten our
minds with the rays of Your heavenly grace, that we may love You with our whole
heart and mind.  May we love everyone in You and for You, You, Who alone
are worthy of the love of all hearts. Amen.

Novena to the Holy Spirit

We are firmly living the days of the Paschal Mystery. What God has given us and what the Church faithfully teaches is that nothing is done without the action of the Holy Spirit. Our encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, our prayer to the Blessed Trinity, is firmly rooted in the Pauline belief that it is the Holy Spirit who first places within our hearts the desire for communion with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. That same Spirit breathes within us the grace of eternal life and places on our lips the words we pray. Thinking about this dogma of our Catholic faith, I found an encyclical of Pope Leo XIII which guides our spiritual life to depend more deeply on the Holy Spirit today.


Pentecost with apostles.jpg

That divine
office which Jesus Christ received from His Father for the welfare of mankind,
and most perfectly fulfilled, had for its final object to put men in possession
of the eternal life of glory, and proximately during the course of ages to
secure to them the life of divine grace, which is destined eventually to
blossom into the life of heaven
. Wherefore, our Savior never ceases to invite,
with infinite affection, all men, of every race and tongue, into the bosom of
His Church: “Come ye all to Me,” “I am the Life,” “I
am the Good Shepherd.” Nevertheless, according to His inscrutable
counsels, He did not will to entirely complete and finish this office Himself
on earth, but as He had received it from the Father, so He transmitted it for its
completion to the Holy Ghost. It is consoling to recall those assurances which
Christ gave to the body of His disciples
a little before He left the earth:
“It is expedient to you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will not
come to you: but if I go, I will send Him to you” (1 John xvi., 7). In
these words He gave as the chief reason of His departure and His return to the
Father, the advantage which would most certainly accrue to His followers from
the coming of the Holy Ghost, and, at the same time, He made it clear that the
Holy Ghost is equally sent by-and therefore proceeds from – Himself and the
Father; that He would complete, in His office of Intercessor, Consoler, and
Teacher, the work which Christ Himself had begun in His mortal life. For, in
the redemption of the world, the completion of the work was by Divine
Providence reserved to the manifold power of that Spirit, who, in the creation,
“adorned the heavens” (Job xxvi., 13), and “filled the whole
world” (Wisdom i., 7).

we ought to
pray to and invoke the Holy Spirit, for each one of us greatly needs His
protection and His help
. The more a man is deficient in wisdom, weak in
strength, borne down with trouble, prone to sin, so ought he the more to fly to
Him who is the never-ceasing fount of light, strength, consolation, and
holiness. And chiefly that first requisite of man, the forgiveness of sins,
must be sought for from Him: “It is the special character of the Holy
Ghost that He is the Gift of the Father and the Son. Now the remission of all
sins is given by the Holy Ghost as by the Gift of God” (Summa Theologica
 3a, q. iii., a. 8, ad 3m).

Pentecost Greco.jpg

Concerning this
Spirit the words of the Liturgy are very explicit: “For He is the
remission of all sins” (Roman Missal, Tuesday after Pentecost). How He
should be invoked is clearly taught by the Church, who addresses Him in humble
supplication, calling upon Him by the sweetest of names: “Come, Father of
the poor! Come, Giver of gifts! Come, Light of our hearts! O best of Consolers,
sweet Guest of the soul, our refreshment!” (Hymn, Veni Sancte Spiritus).
She earnestly implores Him to wash, heal, water our minds and hearts, and to
give to us who trust in Him “the merit of virtue, the acquirement of
salvation, and joy everlasting.” Nor can it be in any way doubted that He
will listen to such prayer, since we read the words written by His own
inspiration: “The Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeakable
groanings” (Romans viii., 26). Lastly, we ought confidently and continually
to beg of Him to illuminate us daily more and more with His light and inflame
us with His charity
: for, thus inspired with faith and love, we may press
onward earnestly towards our eternal reward, since He “is the pledge of
our inheritance” (Ephesians i. 14).

Wherefore, We
decree and command that throughout the whole Catholic Church, this year and in
every subsequent year, a Novena shall take place before Whit-Sunday, in all
parish churches
, and also, if the local Ordinaries think fit, in other churches
and oratories. To all who take part in this Novena and duly pray for Our
intention, We grant for each day an Indulgence of seven years and seven
quarantines; moreover, a Plenary Indulgence on any one of the days of the
Novena, or on Whit-Sunday itself, or on any day during the Octave; provided
they shall have received the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist, and
devoutly prayed for Our intention. We will that those who are legitimately
prevented from attending the Novena, or who are in places where the devotions
cannot, in the judgment of the Ordinary, be conveniently carried out in church,
shall equally enjoy the same benefits, provided they make the Novena privately
and observe the other conditions. Moreover We are pleased to grant, in
perpetuity, from the Treasury of the Church, that whosoever, daily during the
Octave of Pentecost up to Trinity Sunday inclusive, offer again publicly or
privately any prayers, according to their devotion, to the Holy Ghost, and
satisfy the above conditions, shall a second time gain each of the same
Indulgences. All these Indulgences We also permit to be applied to the suffrage
of the souls in Purgatory.

(Divinum
Illud Munus
, 1, 11, 13)

 Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical on
the Holy Spirit
 May 9, 1897


Following the pastoral leadership of Pope Leo XIII, I recommend that we pray the Novena
to the Holy Spirit
 

Novena to St. Benedict


San Benedetto da Norcia.jpgO Glorious St. Benedict, sublime model of all virtues, pure vessel of God’s grace! Behold me, humbly kneeling at thy feet. I implore thy loving heart to pray for me before the throne of God. To thee I have recourse in all the dangers which daily surround me. Shield me against my enemies, inspire me to imitate thee in all things. May thy blessings be with me always, so that I may shun whatever God forbids and avoid the occasions of sin.

 

Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces of which I stand so much in need, in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life. Thy heart was always so full of love, compassion, and mercy towards those who were afflicted or troubled in any way. Thou didst never dismiss without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to thee. I therefore invoke thy powerful intercession in the confident hope that thou will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I so earnestly implore (mention it), if it be for the greater glory of God and the welfare of my soul.

Continue reading Novena to St. Benedict

Saint Walburga


St Walburga Belmont Abbey.JPG

O God, the boundless generosity of your favor is proclaimed by the wonders you have worked in your holy women. As we are taught by your holy virgin Walburga’s example of purity and rejoice in the glory of her miracles, may she be our patron to gain for us your unfailing love.

 

One of the important Benedictine saints in the Church is the 8th century Saint Walburga and yet she is relatively unknown to many outside the world of monks and nuns. Her story is found here. You might find it interesting to note that Saint Walburga’s relative is the Apostle to Germany, Saint Boniface, and her brother was the abbot and later bishop, Saint Wunibald.

 

In Colorado, there is a rather significant monastery of Benedictine nuns under the patronage of today’s saint, The Abbey of Saint Walburga (founded in 1935). The nuns at this monastery are a great group of women who live the monastic life with seriousness and a great of humanity (that is, humor). Most importantly the life they live is attractive to young women which has untold blessings from the Church in Colorado and beyond. Two of the nuns from this abbey serve the Vatican’s monastery, Monastero Mater Ecclesiae at the moment (they’ll be home in just over a year’s time).

 


St Walburga at Belmont Abbey.jpgSince 1857, the Benedictine sisters of Elizabeth, NJ, also claim Saint Walburga as their patron.

 

Also, we should mention the venerable witness of Saint Walburg Monastery in Covington, Kentucky. The sisters there directly descended from Saint Walburga Abbey in Eichstatt, Germany and are celebrating the 150th anniversary of their founding this year.

 

Belmont Abbey’s secondary patron is Saint Walburga. No fewer than two statues, one in the monastery and one in the grotto honor the saint. Plus, the monks honored the saint with a beautiful stained glass window in the Abbey Basilica.

 

The novena prayer to Saint Walburga

 

Holy Walburga, you dwell in the glory of heaven, gazing upon the face of the Triune God in the company of all the saints.  I turn to you, full of trust in the words of Jesus Christ, “Amen, amen I say to you, the one who has faith in me will do the works I do, and greater far than these” (John 14:12).  God has granted you the gift of healing; help me in my need, which I bring before you (mention petition).  Beg God to grant healing, consolation and strength to me and to all those for whom I pray.  Implore Him to let me recognize His love and know His presence, whatever He may have in store for me.

 

Ask this for me through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns in the unity of the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Christmas draws nearer, the fulfillment of God’s promises

In today’s general audience (December 17) the Pope mentioned the Christmas novena to the faithful a practice we ought to engage in. The hope of Christmas fulfills our human desires for union with God. Consider what Benedict XVI said:

 

Today we commence the Christmas Novena of Advent by contemplating the fulfilment of the ancient prophecies in the coming of the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary in the stable of Bethlehem. Christmas speaks to everyone; it celebrates the gift of life – often fragile or endangered – and the fulfilment of our deepest hopes for a world renewed. The present economic crisis, causing so much suffering, can however help us to focus on the spiritual meaning of Christmas, and to welcome into our hearts the hope brought by God’s coming among us as man. The Word became flesh to offer humanity the salvation which can only be received as a gracious gift from God. The same Word by whom the universe was made, the Word which gives all creation its ultimate meaning, has come to dwell among us: he now speaks to us, he reveals the deepest meaning of our life on earth, and he guides us to the Love which is our fulfilment. In the Christ Child, God humbly knocks on the doors of our hearts and asks us freely to accept his love, his truth, his life. As Christmas approaches, let us rekindle our hope in God’s promises and, in humility and simplicity, welcome the light, joy and peace which the Saviour brings to us and to our world.

 


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In 2002, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued a set of principles and guidelines to help our pious activities flourish. The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy tries to harmonize personal and ecclesial piety with the liturgical worship of the Church. At this time of the year the Directory says:

 

103. The Christmas novena began as a means of communicating the riches of the Liturgy to the faithful who were unable easily to grasp it. It has played a very effective role and can continue to play such a role. At the same time, in current conditions where the faithful have easier access to the Liturgy, it would seem desirable that Vespers from the 17-23 of December should be more solemn by adopting the use of the “major antiphons”, and by inviting the faithful to participate at the celebration. Such a celebration, held either before or after which the popular devotions to which the faithful are particularly attached, would be an ideal “Christmas Novena”, in full conformity with the Liturgy and mindful of the needs of the faithful. Some elements, such as the homily, the use of incense, and the intercessions, could also be expanded within the celebration of Vespers.

 

Below is one of many versions of a Christmas Novena prayer. This particular prayer names Saint Andrew in its title but doesn’t ask him to intercede for us before God. The faithful, in some places, begin on the feast of Saint Andrew, November 30th, and pray the prayer 15x in a given day, everyday, till Christmas.

 

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena

 

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.