Novena Archives

Day 3 – A Novena to the Immaculate Conception

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O God,
who by the Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
did prepare a worthy dwelling place for Your Son,
we beseech You that,
as by the foreseen death of this, Your Son,
You did preserve Her from all stain,
so too You would permit us,
purified through Her intercession,
to come unto You.
Through the same Lord Jesus Christ,
Your Son, who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, world without end.

Amen.

O Blessed Virgin Mary,
glory of the Christian people,
joy of the universal Church
and Mother of Our Lord,
speak for us to the Heart of Jesus,
who is your Son and our brother.
O Mary, who by your holy Immaculate Conception
did enter the world free from stain,
in your mercy obtain for us from Jesus
the special favor which we now so earnestly seek…

(State your intention here…)

O Mary of the Immaculate Conception,
Mother of Christ,
you had influence with your Divine Son while upon this earth;
you have the same influence now in heaven.
Pray for us
and obtain for us from him
the granting of my petition if it be the Divine Will.

Amen.

For the complete 9 day novena visit the Discerning Hearts:

The Immaculate Conception Novena page

Day 2 – A Novena to the Immaculate Conception

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Day 2 – Novena to the Immaculate Conception

Amen.

Day 2

O Mary, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God,
Queen of angels and of saints,
we salute you with the most profound veneration
and filial devotion
as we contemplate your holy Immaculate Conception,
We thank you for your maternal protection
and for the many blessings that we have received
through your wondrous mercy
and most powerful intercession.
In all our necessities
we have recourse to you
with unbounded confidence.
O Mother of Mercy,
we beseech you now to hear our prayer
and to obtain for us of your Divine Son
the favor that we so earnestly request in this novena…

(State your intention here…)

Amen.

For the complete 9 day novena visit the Discerning Hearts:

The Immaculate Conception Novena page

Day 1 – A Novena to the Immaculate Conception

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Day 1 – Novena to the Immaculate Conception

Recite the following prayer for nine days from November 29 – December 7
(or at a minimum on the first and ninth days of the novena).

Prayer to be said each day of the Novena

Amen.

Day 1

O most Holy Virgin,
who was pleasing to the Lord and became His mother,
immaculate in body and spirit,
in faith and in love,
look kindly on me as I implore your powerful intercession.
O most Holy Mother,
who by your blessed Immaculate Conception,
from the first moment of your conception
did crush the head of the enemy,
receive our prayers as we implore you
to present at the throne of God the favor we now request…

(State your intention here…)

Amen.

For the complete 9 day novena visit the Discerning Hearts:

The Immaculate Conception Novena page

Day 9 St. Benedict Novena – Discerning Hearts Podcast

Novena to St. Benedict Day 9

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In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said:

As there is a harsh and evil zeal which separates from God and leads to hell, so there is a virtuous zeal which separates from vice and leads to God and life everlasting.

Let the monks, therefore, practice this zeal with most ardent love; namely, that in honor they forerun one another (cf Rom 12:10). Let them bear their infirmities, whether of body or mind, with the utmost patience; let them vie with one another in obedience. Let no one follow what he thinks useful to himself, but rather to another. Let them practice fraternal charity with a chaste love.

Let them fear God and love their Abbot with sincere and humble affection; let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and my He lead us all together to life everlasting. (Holy Rule 72)

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.

Amen.

O Holy Father, St. Benedict, pray for us.

Day 8 St. Benedict Novena – Discerning Hearts podcast

Novena to St. Benedict Day 8

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In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said:

If we do not venture to approach men who are in power, except with humility and reverence, when we wish to ask a favor, how much must we beseech the Lord God of all things with all humility and purity of devotion? And let us be assured that it is not in many words, but in the purity of heart and tears of compunction that we are heard. For this reason prayer ought to be short and pure, unless, perhaps it is lengthened by the inspiration of divine grace. At the community exercises, however, let the prayer always be short, and the sign having been given by the Superior, let all rise together. (Holy Rule 20)

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.

Amen.

O Holy Father, St. Benedict, pray for us.

Day 7 St. Benedict Novena – Discerning Hearts podcast

Novena to St. Benedict Day 7

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In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said:

We believe that God is present everywhere and that the eyes of the Lord behold the good and the bad in every place (cf Prov 15:3). Let us firmly believe this, especially when we take part in the Work of God. Let us, therefore, always be mindful of what the Prophet says, “Serve the Lord with fear” (Ps 2:11). And again, “Sing wisely” (Ps 46[47]:8). And, “I will sing praise to Thee in the sight of the angels” (Ps 137[138]:1). Therefore, let us consider how it becomes us to behave in the sight of God and His angels, and let us so stand to sing, that our mind may be in harmony with our voice. (Holy Rule 19)

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.

{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.

Amen.

O Holy Father, St. Benedict, pray for us.

Day 6 St. Benedict Novena – Discerning Hearts podcast

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In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said:

The twelfth degree of humility is, when a monk is not only humble of heart, but always let it appear also in his whole exterior to all that see him; … and always saying to himself in his heart what the publican in the Gospel said, with his eyes fixed on the ground: “Lord, I am a sinner and not worthy to lift up mine eyes to heaven” (Lk 18:13)…

Having, therefore, ascended all these degrees of humility, the monk will presently arrive at that love of God, which being perfect, cast out fear (1 Jn 4:18). In virtue of this love all things which at first he observed not without fear, he will now begin to keep without any effort, and as it were, naturally by force of habit, no longer from the fear of hell, but from the love of Christ, from the very habit of good and the pleasure in virtue. May the Lord be pleased to manifest all this by His Holy Spirit in His laborer now cleansed from vice and sin. (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.

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.

Amen.

O Holy Father, St. Benedict, pray for us.

Day 5 St. Benedict Novena – Discerning Hearts podcast

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In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said:

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.

{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.

Amen.

O Holy Father, St. Benedict, pray for us.

Day 4 St. Benedict Novena – Discerning Hearts podcast

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In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said:

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.

{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.

Amen.

O Holy Father, St. Benedict, pray for us.

Day 3 St. Benedict Novena – Discerning Hearts podcast

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In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said:

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.

{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.

Amen.

O Holy Father, St. Benedict, pray for us.