Novena to the Holy Name of Mary

O Immaculate Mary, Virgin Most Powerful, I beseech thee, through that immense power which thou has received from the Eternal Father, obtain for me purity of heart, strength to overcome the enemies of my soul and the special favor which I implore in my present necessity

(here our prayer intention during novena)

Mother most pure, forsake me not, despise not my prayer, and graciously hear me for God's glory, thy honor and the welfare of my soul.

Hail Mary..

O Virgin Mary, my Mother, through that ineffable wisdom bestowed upon thee by the Incarnate Word of God, I humbly beseech thee, obtain for me meekness and  humility of heart, a perfect knowledge of the Divine Will, and strength to accomplish it always.  O Mary, Seat of Wisdom, as a tender Mother lead me on the path of Christian virtue and perfection.  Enlighten and enable me to do what is most pleasing to thy Beloved Son and to obtain my petition.

Hail Mary..

O Mother of Mercy, Mother of penitent sinners, I stand before thee sinful and sorrowful, beseeching thee through the immense love given thee by the Holy Ghost for us poor sinners, obtain for me true and perfect contrition for my sins, which I hate and detest with all my heart because I love God.  Mother most merciful, help me in my present necessity.  Turn then thy eyes of mercy towards us, O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet Virgin Mary.

Hail Mary..

+Amen

Novena in honor of the Birth of Holy Mary , the Immaculate Mother of God

Holy Child Mary of the royal house of David, Queen of the Angels, 
Mother of grace and love, I greet thee with all my heart.
Obtain for me the grace to love the Lord faithfully during
all the days of my life. Obtain for me, too, a great devotion
to thee, who are the first creature of God's love.

Hail Mary 

O heavenly Child Mary, who like a pure dove was born
immaculate and beautiful, true prodigy of the wisdom of
God, my soul rejoices in thee. Oh! Do help me to preserve
the angelic virtue of purity at the cost of any sacrifice.

Hail Mary

Hail, lovely and Holy Child, spiritual garden of delight, where,on the day of the Incarnation, the tree of life was planted, 
assist me to avoid the poisonous fruit of vanity and pleasures of the world. Help me to engraft into my soul the thoughts, feelings, and virtues of thy divine Son. 

Hail Mary

Hail, admirable Child Mary, Mystical Rose, closed garden, 
open only to the heavenly Spouse. O Lily of paradise, 
make me love the humble and hidden life; 
let the heavenly Spouse find the gate of my heart always open 
to the loving calls of His graces and inspiration. 

Hail Mary


Holy Child Mary, mystical dawn, gate of heaven, 
thou are my trust and hope. 
O powerful advocate, from thy cradle stretch out thy hand, 
support me on the path of life. 
Make me serve God with ardor and constancy until death and so reach an eternity with thee.

Hail Mary


Prayer to the Blessed Child Mary

Blessed Child Mary, 
destined to be the Mother of God 
and our loving Mother, 
by the heavenly graces thou lavish upon us, 
mercifully listen to my supplications. 
In the needs which press upon me from every side 
and especially in my present tribulation, 
I place all my trust in thee. 

O Holy Child Mary, 
by the privileges granted to thee alone 
and by the merits which thou have acquired, 
show that the source of spiritual favours 
and the continuous benefits 
which thou dispense are inexhaustible, 
because thy power with the Heart of God is unlimited. 

Deign through the immense profusion of graces 
with which the Most High has enriched thee 
from the first moment of thy Immaculate Conception, 
grant me, O Celestial Child, my humble and earnest petition, 
and I shall eternally praise 
the goodness of thy Immaculate Heart.Amen

Novena in the Honor of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God

Please say a "Hail Mary" after each of the salutations to Our Lady. Direct, we beseech Thee, O Lord, our actions by Thy grace and assistance, that our every prayer and work may begin from Thee and end with Thee.
1. Blessed be that moment, O Mary, when the angels took thee up into Heaven. Hail Mary
2. Blessed be that moment, O Mary, when thy Son called thee to Heaven. Hail Mary
3. Blessed be that moment, O Mary, when the whole heavenly court met thee in Heaven. Hail Mary
4. Blessed be that moment, O Mary, when thou were received with such great honor into Heaven. Hail Mary 
5. Blessed be that moment, O Mary, when thou were placed at the right hand of thy Son in Heaven. Hail Mary
6. Blessed be that moment, O Mary, when thou were crowned with such great honor in Heaven. Hail Mary
7. Blessed be that moment, O Mary, when thou were proclaimed the Daughter, Mother, and Spouse of God in Heaven. Hail Mary
 8. Blessed be that moment, O Mary, when thou were proclaimed Queen of the whole Heavenly court. Hail Mary
9. Blessed be that moment, O Mary, when all the Angels and Saints rendered homage to thee in Heaven. Hail Mary 
10. Blessed be that moment, O Mary, when thou were chosen to be our Protectress in Heaven. Hail Mary
11. Blessed be that moment, O Mary, when thou began to intercede for us in Heaven. Hail Mary
12. Blessed be that moment, O Mary, when thou will mercifully receive us into Heaven. Hail Mary  Amen

August 5 , Our Lady of Snows

The feast day of Our Lady of the Snow is also the day of the dedication of the Basilica of Santa Maria of the Snows, or Santa Maria Maggiore [Saint Mary Major] in Rome.

Since the 7th century it was known also as Maria ad Præsepe because the Basilica has some pieces of wood from the Manger in which Our Lord was born. The ceiling of the Basilica is gilded with the first gold that came from the Americas.
This was the first church in Rome to be dedicated to Our Lady. In the 4th century Pope Liberius added a lateral hall to a large existing hall of a Roman patrician palace and dedicated it to the cult; for this reason it was called the Basilica Liberii [Liberian Basilica]. Pope Sixtus III (432-440) restored it almost a century later and dedicated it to the Virgin, who the Council of Ephesus had defined as Theotokos, that is, the Mother of God. It was then that the Basilica received the name of Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Maria Mayor.

A beautiful legend tells us that Our Lady appeared in dreams simultaneously to Pope Liberius and to the Roman patrician who owned the property where the church would be erected. She commanded the Pope to build a basilica on Esquiline Hill on the site that would be covered with snow the next day. Indeed, during that night of August 4-5, 352, in the very heat of the summer, a miraculous snow fell on the summit of the Hill, indicating the place for the church to be built. This is why this basilica is also called Our Lady of the Snow.

The patrician had a similar dream indicating that he should donate the palace and land for the church to be built. Our Lady also told him that she would send the snow as a sign.

To commemorate the Miracle of the Snow, every August 5th a cascade of white petals descends from the coffered ceiled onto the altar place during the religious festivities.

It was in this church that one Christmas night Our Lady placed the Divine Infant into the arms of St. Cajetan of Thiene. It was here on another Christmas night that St. Ignatius of Loyola celebrated his first Mass. In this church, St. Pius V prayed the Rosary that obtained for the Catholic warriors the victory of Lepanto. There is a chapel in the Basilica that has a picture of Our Lady that, according to tradition, was painted by St. Luke. St. Charles Borromeo used to pray often in front of this Madonna, and in testimony of his gratitude to her, he wrote the Rule of the Canons of Santa Maria Maggiore.
This feast day tells us of the importance of both tradition and the legend.

Let us pray to Our Lady that under this very poetic invocation of Our Lady of the Snow, she will help us to love and fight for the sacred Traditions of the Church and open our souls to the most astonishing miracles during the days of the chastisement predicted at Fatima.

Prayer to the Immaculate Heart ~ 1943 Raccolta-- An indulgence of 500 days ~

O Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of God and our Mother;
Immaculate Heart most worthy of love, in which the adorable Trinity is ever well-pleased, worthy of the veneration and love of all the Angels and of all men;
Immaculate Heart most like to the Heart of Jesus, of which thou art the perfect image; Immaculate Heart, full of goodness, ever compassionate toward our miseries;
deign to melt our icy hearts and grant that they may be wholly changed into the likeness of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, our divine Savior.
Pour into them the love of thy virtues, enkindle in them that divine fire with which thou thyself dost ever burn.
In thee let Holy Church find a safe shelter; protect her and be her dearest refuge, her tower of strength, impregnable against every assault of her enemies.
Be thou the way which leads to Jesus, and the channel, through which we receive all the graces needful for our salvation.
Be our refuge in time of trouble, our solace in the midst of trial, our strength against temptation, our haven in persecution, our present help in every danger, and especially at the hour of death, when all hell shall let loose against us its legions to snatch away our souls, at that dread moment, that hour so full of fear, whereon our eternity depends.
Ah, then, most tender Virgin, make us to feel the sweetness of thy motherly Immaculate heart, and the might of thine intercession with Jesus, and open to us a safe refuge in that very fountain of mercy, whence we may come to praise Him with thee in paradise, world without end. Amen.

Octave of the Immaculate Conception

(by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876)

"Thou art terrible as an army set in array."--Cant. vi.

The Holy Ghost assures us that the life of man is a warfare. It began at the fall of our first parents, and rested upon all of Adam's descendants, excepting her, whose Immaculate Conception. Yes, it is a severe struggle which we have to maintain against the powers of darkness; against lucifer and his allies, the fallen angels; against the world and the flesh, which, enrolled under the standard of the fallen prince of angels, and swayed by his influence and direction, oppose us as the enemies of our salvation.

The name of the Church upon earth, whose children we are, reminds us of this. We call it the "Church militant," and this it really is. But for this very reason is she destined to be for all eternity the "Church triumphant." If one day we desire to join her in the cry of victory, then must we also, like faithful children, combat and triumph with her. It is certain that we have a powerful enemy in lucifer and his allies; still we have no reason to be discouraged on this account, since Christ, the victor over death and hell, has provided us with so many weapons with which, assisted by His grace, we can ably defend ourselves. He appointed His own mother, Mary, to be, in particular, the guardian of His Church and of His children.

Let us draw near to her. Assisted by her, we will most assuredly conquer. I say Mary is the terror of hell, the well-ordered army arrayed against the enemies of our salvation. Why? To this I will give the answer today. O Mary, we unite our prayers with those of the Church on this day, and fly to thee for aid and protection. Defended by thee, no temptation can harm us! I speak in the holy name of Jesus, to the greater honor of God! I called Mary the terror of hell. In her conception she crushed the head of satan. Protected by her we will be stronger than all the powers of satan.

The promise which was given in paradise by the Redeemer, points to Mary, the mother of the Saviour, as the strong woman who was to crush the head of satan. And the same is verified by the various types which Scripture presents to us in the heroines of the Old Testament. Deborah and Judith were types or figures of the Blessed Virgin; and the Church refers the words of the Canticle, which speaks of a well-ordered army and the Ark of the Covenant, to Mary.

At the foot of the cross we behold Mary, the strong tower before which hung the armor of the mighty. I, therefore, justly call Mary the terror of hell. We will better understand these types by considering the reasons which cause a general to fear his adversary.

The first is the very person of an opponent, who, by his dignity, his character, and his talents, exercises an unbounded influence over the army intrusted to his command, so that his subjects, urged on by the consciousness of victory, obey his every word without hesitation. How terrible is Mary in this respect, as opposed to satan. It is true, lucifer and all the fallen angels were' gifted with incomparably higher talents than we; but this, their former natural glory, disappears when we remember the grandeur of Mary. She is the mother of the Jesus, whom the eternal Father has so exalted that in His name, and in acknowledgment of His power, every knee in heaven and on earth shall bend.

Next to Christ, seated on a throne of glory, is His mother Mary, who reigns as queen of heaven and earth, surrounded with such glory and magnificence as to cause all the former splendor of satan to vanish. In connection with this honor and glory, Mary, as mother of Jesus, also enjoys a power which gives her the right to say with Christ: "To me is given all power in heaven and on earth,"--a power which likewise justifies her in saying with her Son: "No one is able to wrest my sheep from me," as long as they have recourse to me, their mother and queen. Jesus, my Son, has shared His power with me. I can oppose hell with His words. And if I would ask Him to send me even a legion of angels to fight against thee, lucifer, and thy hosts, He would grant my request at once.

Not only is Mary in herself a power so terrible to hell, but how many other powers are prepared, awaiting only her command to fight against hell! A general and his soldiers are filled with still greater dismay when they perceive the approaching commander to be at the head of a mighty army, valiant, experienced in warfare, and in every respect superior to their own. Mary is the queen of angels, of whom each one has baffled and triumphed over lucifer.

Let us call to mind the arrogance of Sennacherib who, relying on the strength of his armies, contemned God, and, as it were, challenged Him to combat. The following day 185,000 corpses were strewn around Jerusalem. In one night they were slain by one single angel whom God had sent, and Jerusalem was delivered. I make the application and say: All the angels look up to Mary as their queen, and they are prepared to fight against hell at any moment, when there is question of the salvation of a soul who implores the protection of the mother of God.

Thus it occurred at one time that a number of evil spirits besieged the death-bed of a woman who, in her agony, called upon Mary. Mary summoned Michael, the Archangel. He, accompanied by numerous angels, advanced towards the dying person, and the evil spirits fled in dismay. So also St. Francis Jerome, dying, cast a glance on an image of the Blessed Virgin, and sighed: "O Mary, thou who hast ever been my refuge, protect me in this hour!" And lo! his countenance became radiant, and, bowing to the image of the Virgin, he said joyfully: "Now all is right--Magnificat"; and his spirit was eleased.

Just as a person is terrified and draws back when a flash of lightning has struck something near him, so also satan retreats, when, in temptation, we call upon Mary. This is affirmed by Thomas a Kempis. A general is filled with dread if he is aware that the commander who opposes him possesses more strategic talents than he, and is thereby better fitted to command. lucifer knows full well that he has such an opponent in Mary, the queen of the cherubim, the seat of heavenly wisdom, the wisest of virgins. And when a general knows that his opponent has often fought, and has always been victorious, this knowledge especially strikes terror into his soul. But count the victories of Mary.

St. Bernard could in truth address the Blessed Virgin thus: "O Mary, it is unheard of, that any one has fled to thy protection or sought thy mediation without obtaining relief." And does not the Church refer these words also to Mary: "Whoever seeks me will find life, and obtain salvation from the Lord?" And the holy Fathers unanimously declare that the veneration of the Blessed Virgin is a sure pledge of perseverance in the hour of death. It is indeed a highly consoling thought expressed by the spiritual writers, that no one for whom Mary has once offered her prayers to God will be lost. Mary obtains for those souls the grace of conversion and of perseverance to the end; that is, if we earnestly desire to do all that Mary requires of us. And what these requirements are, can be inferred from the words she addressed to the waiters in the dining-hall at Canaan: "Do all that He bids you to do; "that is to say, if we have but the sincere good-will to follow Christ in the manner in which the Church teaches us, then we may expect every thing from the Blessed Virgin, even if the bringing about of our conversion required a miracle.

It is especially the devotion to Mary in her Immaculate Conception, which proves a powerful weapon in our strife against hell. If you are severely tempted, say one Ave every night and morning, in honor of the Immaculate Conception. Call on the Blessed Virgin in the hour of temptation, and you will be victorious. When confidence fills the warrior's breast, then may it be said that victory is assured. And we certainly will not lack this feeling of confidence if we place ourselves under the victorious banner of Mary, for she is the mother of the children of God, and the mother of sweet hope.

May the Blessed Virgin so dispose our hearts in fighting for God, and for the salvation of our immortal souls, that with her we may conquer and be crowned! Amen!

Powered by ScribeFire.