O Beautiful Flower of Carmel,
most fruitful vine,
splendor of heaven,
holy and singular,
who brought forth the Son of God,
still ever remaining a pure virgin,
assist us in our necessity!
O Star of the Sea,
help and protect us!
Show us that you are our Mother!
The second degree of humility is, when a man loves not his own will, nor is pleased to fulfill his own desires but by his deeds carries out that word of the Lord which says: “I came not to do My own will but the will of Him that sent Me” (Jn 6:38). It is likewise said: “Self-will has its punishment, but necessity wins the crown.”
The third degree of humility is, that for the love of God a man subject himself to a Superior in all obedience, imitating the Lord, of whom the Apostle says: “He became obedient unto death” (Phil 2:8).
The fourth degree of humility is, that, if hard and distasteful things are commanded, even though injuries are inflicted, he accept them with patience and even temper, and not grow weary or give up, but hold out, as the Scripture says: “He that shall persevere to the end shall be saved” (Mt 10:22). (Holy Rule 7)
Glorious Saint Benedict,
sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace!
Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet.
I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.
To you I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me.
Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.
Inspire me to imitate you in all things.
May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom.
Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life.
Your heart was always full of love, compassion and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way.
You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to you.
I therefore invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore.
{mention your petition}
Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.
« We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do. » Luke 17:10
Meditation
Louis and Zélie were entrepreneurs who successfully conducted their businesses independently of one another. Later, however, they worked together. It was said that Louis undertook « selling only objects of very good quality; he crafted and tested everything himself. » « He was very severe in regard to any sign of negligence or carelessness, » according to the testimony of his daughter.
Even when work seemed to overwhelm them, they knew where to turn in order to deepen their union with God. St. Zélie wrote, « It’s this miserable Alençon lace that makes life difficult. When I have too many orders, I’m a slave to the worst kind of slavery. When it’s not going well … I have nightmares! Oh well, what can I do? I must accept it and come to terms with it as bravely as possible. » She said, « God, who is a good Father … never gives His children more than they can bear. »
In spite of the profit they could have made, Louis and Zélie did not work on Sundays. They did not consider their work a means of becoming rich. « I feel, » St. Louis said, « that I could easily acquire a taste for investing, but I do not want to be carried away by that current. It is such a dangerous incline. »
Along the same lines, St. Zélie wrote to her sister-in-law: « It’s not the desire to amass a great fortune that drives me … I must go all the way for my children, and I see myself in a dilemma: I have employees whom I must furnish with work. » « Money is nothing when it’s about the sanctification and perfection of a soul. »
Resolution
Today, I will accomplish my duties out of love for God and for the good of others.
Prayer
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be to
Saints Louis and Zélie,
you who in your life as a couple and as parents
have given witness of an exemplary Christian life,
in putting God in the first place
through the exercise of the duties of your state in life
and the practice of the virtues of the gospel,
we turn to you.
Help us to have unshakable confidence in God
and to surrender ourselves to His Will,
as you did in the joys
but also in the trials, the sorrows, and the sufferings
with which your life was marked.
Help us to love God with all our heart,
to persevere in our daily difficulties,
and to dwell in the joy and hope
that will give us a living faith in Christ.
Intercede for us
so that we may obtain the graces we need
today and all the days of our life. Amen.
Saints Louis and Zélie, pray for us.
Imprimatur +Jacques Habert, Bishop of Séez, 26 May 2016
The life of God – precisely because God is triune – does not belong to God alone. God who dwells in inaccessible light and eternal glory comes to us in the face of Christ and the activity of the Holy Spirit. Because of God’s outreach to the creature, God is said to be essentially relational, ecstatic, fecund, alive as passionate love. Divine life is therefore also our life. The heart of the Christian life is to be united with the God of Jesus Christ by means of communion with one another. The doctrine of the Trinity is, ultimately, therefore a teaching not about the abstract nature of God, nor about God in isolation from everything other than God, but a teaching about God’s life with us and our life with each other.
Dear St. Bonaventure
Cardinal, Bishop, and Doctor of the Church,
you chose a life that embraced mortification and great humiliation.
Choosing to serve those individuals who were rejected and sick you risked illness for yourself.
You made your life a continuous prayer and spent hours meditating on the wounds of Christ.
Please pray for us that we may have a sincere and humble heart.
Pray that we may not lose sight of Jesus’ wounds and thus walk on the straight path to eternal salvation.
All-powerful Father,
through the intercession of St. Bonaventure
we ask that you hear the intentions we hold in our hearts for this novena
may we always benefit from his wisdom
and follow the example of his love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
The first degree of humility, then, is that a man always have the fear of God before his eyes (cf Ps 35[36]:2), shunning all forgetfulness and that he be ever mindful of all that God has commanded, that he always consider in his mind how those who despise God will burn in hell for their sins, and that life everlasting is prepared for those who fear God. And while he guards himself evermore against sin and vices of thought, word, deed, and self-will, let him also hasten to cut off the desires of the flesh.
Let a man consider that God always sees him from Heaven, that the eye of God beholds his works everywhere, and that the angels report them to Him every hour. The Prophet tells us this when he shows God thus ever present in our thoughts, saying: “The searcher of hearts and reins is God” (Ps 7:10)…Therefore, in order that he may always be on his guard against evil thoughts, let the humble brother always say in his heart: “Then I shall be spotless before Him, if I shall keep myself from iniquity” (Ps 17[18]:24) . (Holy Rule 7)
Glorious Saint Benedict,
sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace!
Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet.
I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.
To you I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me.
Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.
Inspire me to imitate you in all things.
May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom.
Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life.
Your heart was always full of love, compassion and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way.
You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to you.
I therefore invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore.
{mention your petition}
Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.
« Rising very early before dawn, He left and went off to a deserted place, where He prayed. » Mark 1:35
Meditation
Sts. Louis and Zélie, « before the start of a very full day, often went to church at 5:30 in the morning. They both faithfully received Communion on the first Friday of every month. » According to the custom of their time, they received Communion four or five times a week and regularly went to Confession. They also participated in their parish’s activities such as Eucharistic Adoration, Vespers on Sunday, processions, missions during Lent, etc. They had a great devotion to the saints. St. Zélie recounted, for example, the time when baby Thérèse was at the point of death: « I quickly went upstairs to my room. I knelt at the feet of St. Joseph and asked him for mercy, that the little one be cured, resigning myself completely to the will of God if He wanted to take her. I don’t cry often, but I cried while I was praying. I didn’t know if I should go downstairs … finally, I decided to go. And what did I see? The child was suckling with all her heart. »
Resolution
Today, I will make an examination of conscience and be deeply sorry for everything that has offended God and my neighbor.
Prayer
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be to
Saints Louis and Zélie,
you who in your life as a couple and as parents
have given witness of an exemplary Christian life,
in putting God in the first place
through the exercise of the duties of your state in life
and the practice of the virtues of the gospel,
we turn to you.
Help us to have unshakable confidence in God
and to surrender ourselves to His Will,
as you did in the joys
but also in the trials, the sorrows, and the sufferings
with which your life was marked.
Help us to love God with all our heart,
to persevere in our daily difficulties,
and to dwell in the joy and hope
that will give us a living faith in Christ.
Intercede for us
so that we may obtain the graces we need
today and all the days of our life. Amen.
Saints Louis and Zélie, pray for us.
Imprimatur +Jacques Habert, Bishop of Séez, 26 May 2016
Brothers, the Holy Scripture crys to us saying: “Every one that exalts himself shall be humbled; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted” (Lk 14:11; 18:14). Since, therefore, it says this, it shows us that every exaltation is a kind of pride…
Hence, brethren, if we wish to reach the greatest height of humility, and speedily to arrive at that heavenly exaltation to which ascent is made in the present life by humility, then, mounting by our actions, we must erect the ladder which appeared to Jacob in his dream, by means of which angels were shown to him ascending and descending (cf Gen 28:12). Without a doubt, we understand this ascending and descending to be nothing else but that we descend by pride and ascend by humility. The erected ladder, however, is our life in the present world, which, if the heart is humble, is by the Lord lifted up to heaven. For we say that our body and our soul are the two sides of this ladder; and into these sides the divine calling has inserted various degrees of humility or discipline which we must mount. . (Holy Rule 7)
Glorious Saint Benedict,
sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace!
Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet.
I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.
To you I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me.
Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.
Inspire me to imitate you in all things.
May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom.
Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life.
Your heart was always full of love, compassion and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way.
You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to you.
I therefore invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore.
{mention your petition}
Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.
« Let the children come to Me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. » Mark 10:14
Meditation
The Martin household knew all the joys and tribulations of normal family life. With their nine children, four of whom died at a young age, Sts. Louis and Zélie had the difficult task of helping each daughter to develop her gifts of nature and grace. They undertook it in a spirit of creativity and Faith which made them always aim higher.
Everything was done in confidence and love, and yet with humor. « I promised the children we would celebrate the feast of St. Catherine Sunday evening, » St. Zélie wrote. « Marie wants donuts, others want cake, and others chestnuts, but as for me, I would like peace. »« Happy family evenings are, at the same time, a chance for more religious instruction. »« They frequently reminded us of eternity, » recounts Marie, their oldest daughter.
Their father was « always available to listen to his daughters, to advise them, and, with a heart filled with God, to receive whatever they said. »
When difficulties arose, such as educating Léonie, they included them in their prayer. « I’m deeply saddened to see Léonie as she is. Sometimes I have hope, but often I lose heart. »« Only God can change her, and I’m convinced that He will, » her mother wrote with hope.
Resolution
Today, I will pray for my family.
Prayer
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be to
Saints Louis and Zélie,
you who in your life as a couple and as parents
have given witness of an exemplary Christian life,
in putting God in the first place
through the exercise of the duties of your state in life
and the practice of the virtues of the gospel,
we turn to you.
Help us to have unshakable confidence in God
and to surrender ourselves to His Will,
as you did in the joys
but also in the trials, the sorrows, and the sufferings
with which your life was marked.
Help us to love God with all our heart,
to persevere in our daily difficulties,
and to dwell in the joy and hope
that will give us a living faith in Christ.
Intercede for us
so that we may obtain the graces we need
today and all the days of our life. Amen.
Saints Louis and Zélie, pray for us.
Imprimatur +Jacques Habert, Bishop of Séez, 26 May 2016
What, dearest brothers, can be sweeter to us than this voice of the Lord inviting us? See, in His loving kindness, the Lord shows us the way of life. Therefore, having our loins girt with faith and the performance of good works, let us walk His ways under the guidance of the Gospel, that we may be found worthy of seeing Him who has called us to His kingdom (cf 1 Thes 2:12).
If we desire to dwell in the tabernacle of His kingdom, we cannot reach it in any way, unless we run to it by good works. But let us ask the Lord with the Prophet, saying to Him: “Lord, who shall dwell in Your tabernacle, or who shall rest in Your holy hill” (Ps 14[15]:1)? . (Holy Rule 1)
Glorious Saint Benedict,
sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace!
Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet.
I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.
To you, I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me.
Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.
Inspire me to imitate you in all things.
May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom.
Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the trials, miseries, and afflictions of life.
Your heart was always full of love, compassion, and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way.
You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to you.
I, therefore, invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore.
{mention your petition}
Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray. » Luke 11:1
Meditation
Prayer had an important place in the lives of Sts. Louis and Zélie; personal or as a family, it profoundly marked their children.
St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus testified that when « the little queen was all alone near her King (her father) »,it was enough to « look at him to see how the saints pray. »
Céline remembered, « The days on which he went to Holy Communion he generally remained silent on his return journey. ‘I like to continue my conversation with Our Lord,’ he would say to us. »
They had great confidence in God and abandoned everything to Him in prayer. St. Zélie wrote in one of her letters, « When I think of what God, in whom I’ve put all my trust and in whose hands I’ve put the care of my whole life, has done for me and my husband, I don’t doubt that His Divine Providence watches over His children with special care. »
Resolution
Today, I will take time to encounter God in prayer, and I will confide to Him my joys and my sorrows.
Prayer
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be to
Saints Louis and Zélie,
you who in your life as a couple and as parents
have given witness of an exemplary Christian life,
in putting God in the first place
through the exercise of the duties of your state in life
and the practice of the virtues of the gospel,
we turn to you.
Help us to have unshakable confidence in God
and to surrender ourselves to His Will,
as you did in the joys
but also in the trials, the sorrows, and the sufferings
with which your life was marked.
Help us to love God with all our heart,
to persevere in our daily difficulties,
and to dwell in the joy and hope
that will give us a living faith in Christ.
Intercede for us
so that we may obtain the graces we need
today and all the days of our life. Amen.
Saints Louis and Zélie, pray for us.
Imprimatur +Jacques Habert, Bishop of Séez, 26 May 2016
Holy Rule Novena to St. Benedict – Day 2