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 Mary,
we invoke you as the Help of Christians because you afford help
to Christians even in all temporal needs. If, without being asked,
you do so much, what will you do if we invoke your aid? Though you
are now enthroned in heaven, you still take an interest in our misery
and relieve our wants. You are still the Mother of God in heaven,
as you were on earth; Jesus who is omnipotence itself, remains your
Son for all eternity. Your love for us is now even more intense
and more compassionate, because you know our misery better in heaven
than you did in this mortal life. You obtain sweet rest for all
who are laden with trouble and pain; you give comfort to the afflicted
and healing to the sick.
Help
of Christians, give me an unbounded confidence in you. You can help
me, for your prayer is all-powerful with God, and you will help
me, for you are my Mother and you love me as your child. Let me
pray to you with a pure and penitent heart, for I cannot expect
help from you if I continue to offend your dear son and even crucify
Him again by my sins.
I
wish to beg your help with perseverance, even though for some time
I may receive no help. I know you will grant my petition at the
right time. Teach me to pray with resignation to the will of God,
who knows what is best for me. Obtain for me at least the grace
of bearing my cross with patience.
Mary,
you bring us help especially in our spiritual needs. You are a most
merciful Mother who rejects no sinner, no matter how far he may
have strayed. You lovingly interest yourself in his behalf and try
to reconcile him to your Son. You assist us in temptations. You
are continually crushing the serpent’s head by breaking Satan’s
plans to thee and the woman-she shall crush thy head”(Gen.3-15).
Instead of capturing others, satan is himself made a captive by
you; like a chained slave he must obey your commands.
You
confirm us in good and obtain for us the grace of making progress
in the path of virtue, for you desire nothing more ardently than
that we all become partakers of the fruits of redemption. won for
us by your Son. In our efforts to reach holiness, you support us
and obtain for us the grace of perseverance. I can ask nothing of
you that will give you greater pleasure or that you will grant more
willingly than the grace to do good.
Above
all, you assist us in the hour of death, which is the most important
moment in our life because upon that moment eternity depends. As
the exalted Queen of Heaven you take the souls of your faithful
servants under your protecting mantle, accompany them to the judgment
seat of your Son, and there you will become their intercessor.
Help
of Christians, I know you do all in your power to save my soul.
May I also do my part and allow you to save me. If I fall into sin,
obtain for me the grace of repentance. If I am tempted, give me
help to fight with determination against the temptation that I may
overcome it. Be with me especially in the hour of my death, when
the devil will put forth every effort to win my soul.
Mary
you are the Protectress of the universal Catholic Church. Through
your intercession calamities have been averted from Christendom,
fierce persecutions have ceased to rage, and enemies have been humbled
to the dust. Many feasts are expressions of gratitude toward you
for the frequent and wonderful deliverance of Christian nations
from the invasions of enemies, from schisms and wars, and from all
other sufferings.
Mother
Mary, Help of Christians, show yourself the Protectress of the Catholic
Church and destroy the wicked designs of her enemies, especially
in these times of persecution.
Prayer
Almighty
and merciful God, Who in the person of the Blessed Virgin Mary provided
never- ending assistance for the defense of the Christian people
grant, we beg of You, that , strengthened by such help, we may do
battle during life and be able to obtain victory over the treacherous
foe in death. Through Christ our Lord. Amen
( Feast of Mary, Help of Christians,
May 24)
OPENING PRAYER |
| In
the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen. LET
US PRAY
Remember,
O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that
anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help,
and sought your intercession, was left unaided, inspired
with this confidence I fly unto you; O Virgin of virgins,
my Mother! To you I come, before you I stand, sinful
and sorrowful, O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not
my petitions, but in your mercy hear and answer me.
Amen.
(These
introductory prayers are repeated every day.) |
DAILY PRAYERS
(Novena starts on the 15th day of every
month) |
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FIRST DAY
O
holy Mary, powerful help of Christians, I turn
to you with faith. In your mercy hear the
prayers of this poor sinner who implores your
help to avoid sin and all its occasions.
(Recite three times) Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory
Be.
(Recite
once) Hail HOly Queen. |
SECOND DAY
O
holy Mary, Mother of goodness and mercy, with
your visible aid you have often delivered Christians
from the attacks of their enemies, defend my soul,
I pray, from the assaults of the devil, the world
and the flesh so that I may be victorious over
the enemies of my soul.
(Recite three times) Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory
Be.
(Recite
once) Hail Holy Queen. |
THIRD DAY
Mary, most powerful Queen, you alone triumphed over the many
heresies which sought to tear away many of your
children from the bosom of the Church, help me,
I pray, to hold on firmly to my faith and to keep
myself free from the snares and poison of so many
perverse doctrines.
(Recite three times) Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory
Be.
(Recite
once) Hail Holy Queen. |
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FOURTH DAY
O
Mary, my sweetest Mother, the Queen of Martyrs,
do infuse into my heart the strength to persevere
that, overcoming all human respect, I may be able
to live my religion and show myself, on every
occasion, a devout child of yours.
(Recite three times) Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory
Be.
(Recite
once) Hail Holy Queen. |
FIFTH DAY
Dear
Mother Mary, in the triumph of Pope Pius Vii you
showed your powerful patronage, protect the whole
Church and especially her supreme head on earth,
the Holy Father. Defend him always from
the attacks of his many enemies, deliver him so
that he may safely steer to port the boat of St.
peter and triumph over the proud billows which
strive to submerge it.
(Recite three times) Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory
Be.
(Recite
once) Hail Holy Queen. |
SIXTH DAY
O
Mary, Queen of the Apostles take under your powerful
protection the bishops, priest and all the children
of the Catholic Church; obtain for them the spirit
of union, of perfect obedience to the Holy Father,
and of fervent zeal for the salvation of men.
I beg of you especially to extend your loving
patronage to missionaries, that they may be able
to bring all the races of the earth to the true
faith of Jesus Christ, so that there may be just
one flock under one Shepherd.
(Recite three times) Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory
Be.
(Recite
once) Hail Holy Queen. |
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SEVENTH DAY
O
Mary, gracious and merciful Mother, by your
efficacious intercession, you have saved Christians
from plagues and other bodily scourges, help me
and deliver me from the disease of impiety and
irreligion which creeps into my soul in many ways
to turn me away from the Church and the practices
of religion. I implore you; watch over the
good that they may persevere, strengthen the weak
and call poor sinners to repentance, that truth
and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ may triumph here
on earth, so that Your glory and the number of
the elect may be increased in Heaven.
(Recite three times) Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory
Be.
(Recite
once) Hail Holy Queen. |
EIGHT DAY
O
Mary, Pillar of the Church and Help of Christians,
I ask you to keep me firm in my holy faith and
to preserve in me the liberty of a child of God.
With the help of grace, I promise obedience to
the Holy Father, and to the bishops in communion
with him, desiring only to live and to die in
the bosom of the Catholic Faith, where only I
can hope with certainty to attain eternal salvation.
(Recite three times) Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory
Be.
(Recite
once) Hail Holy Queen. |
NINTH DAY
Most
kind Mother, in every age you wished to be the
help of Christians, assist me with your invincible
aid in life, and especially at the hour of my
death, so that after having loved and praised
you on earth, I may deserve to come and sing your
mercies forever in Heaven.
(Recite three times) Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory
Be.
(Recite
once) Hail Holy Queen. |
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CONCLUDING PRAYER |
LET
US PRAY
O
Almighty and Merciful God, you have given the Blessed Virgin
Mary to all Christians as their everlasting Protectress,
graciously grant now, that, strengthened by Her aid and
striving onward in life, I may be victorious over the wicked
one in the hour of my death. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(Say
three times) Mary Help of Christians.
Pray for us! |
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Oh Mary, powerful Virgin,
great and illustrious rampart of the Church, wonderful Help of Christians,
terrible as an army drawn up in battle array; you alone overcome
every error in the world; in anxieties, in struggles, in every difficulty
defend us from the enemy and at the hour of our death receive our
souls into paradise. Amen
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