Sunday, March 31, 2013

9 Day Novena to St. Padre Pio

St Padre Pio Novena

- A Novena to Saint Padre Pio seeking his intercession for a special grace.

Day 1
Preface: Oh most Holy God, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy Infinite Majesty, and we adore Thee and dedicate to Thy glory the devout prayers which we now present to Thee, as an act of devotion to your servant, St Padre Pio, whose intercession we are now imploring.

Oh holy Saint Padre Pio, throughout your entire life you sought always to love Jesus and Mary with your whole heart. Help us that we too may always seek to know, love and serve God with all of our hearts, and help us to seek His holy will in all things. And for the love of God we ask the following grace (mention your request). Beloved St Padre Pio, we give this request to you, seeking your heavenly intercession, and we ask you to make this request in our name before the throne of God.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be...

May God hear and answer our prayer according to His holy will and for His greater glory. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN. +-St Padre Pio, pray for us!

DAY 2

Preface: Oh most Holy God, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy Infinite Majesty, and we adore Thee and dedicate to Thy glory the devout prayers which we now present to Thee, as an act of devotion to your servant, St Padre Pio, whose intercession we are now imploring.

Oh beloved Saint of God, Padre Pio, you were especially chosen by God to bear the holy stigmata in union with Jesus for 50 years, sacrificing and suffering all for the conversion of souls. What intense suffering these holy wounds caused you! But your bore this constant pain for the love of God and for the love of souls. We ask you to place this request (mention request) into your stigmatised hands, and present it to Jesus in our name.

-Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be...

May God hear and answer our prayer according to His holy will and for His greater glory. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN. +

-St Padre Pio, pray for us!

DAY 3

Preface: Oh most Holy God, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy Infinite Majesty, and we adore Thee and dedicate to Thy glory the devout prayers which we now present to Thee, as an act of devotion to your servant, St Padre Pio, whose intercession we are now imploring.

Oh most loving Saint Padre Pio, you offered your life to become a holy priest of God, giving yourself completely to Jesus through the intercession of His Mother, the most Blessed Virgin Mary. We ask you to join with our holy Mother in heaven, and to present this request to Her holy Son, (here mention request), and we ask our beloved Mother in heaven to join you and obtain this grace for us.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be...

May God hear and answer our prayer according to His holy will and for His greater glory. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN. +-St Padre Pio, pray for us!

DAY 4

Preface: Oh most Holy God, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy Infinite Majesty, and we adore Thee and dedicate to Thy glory the devout prayers which we now present to Thee, as an act of devotion to your servant, St Padre Pio, whose intercession we are now imploring.

Oh blessed Saint Padre Pio, you were a priest after the Heart of Jesus, seeking always to love and please Him in all things. We ask you to place this request before the Sacred Heart of Jesus (mention request). And through the love that you bore the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, may God hear and answer our poor prayers.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be...

May God hear and answer our prayer according to His holy will and for His greater glory. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN. +-St Padre Pio, pray for us!

DAY 5

Preface: Oh most Holy God, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy Infinite Majesty, and we adore Thee and dedicate to Thy glory the devout prayers which we now present to Thee, as an act of devotion to your servant, St Padre Pio, whose intercession we are now imploring.

O God, Who fashioned thy servant Saint Padre Pio into a likeness of Thy Crucified Son, grant us through his intercession the favor that we humbly request (mention request), and through the Passion Death and Resurrection of Thy Son, may we be united with You for all eternity. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be...

May God hear and answer our prayer according to His holy will and for His greater glory. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN. +-St Padre Pio, pray for us!

DAY 6

Preface: Oh most Holy God, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy Infinite Majesty, and we adore Thee and dedicate to Thy glory the devout prayers which we now present to Thee, as an act of devotion to your servant, St Padre Pio, whose intercession we are now imploring.

Most devout priest of God, Padre Pio, you spent countless hours in the confessional seeking always to reconcile sinners to God. We present ourselves to you, sinful and in sorrow for our sins. Help us to recognise and repent of our sins, and to be always faithful to the teachings of Jesus. Pray for us that God may not look upon our sins, but upon the desire in our hearts to please Him. Plead for mercy for us before God, and especially pray for the intention that we are presenting to you (mention request).

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be...

May God hear and answer our prayer according to His holy will and for His greater glory. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN. +-St Padre Pio, pray for us!

DAY 7

Preface: Oh most Holy God, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy Infinite Majesty, and we adore Thee and dedicate to Thy glory the devout prayers which we now present to Thee, as an act of devotion to your servant, St Padre Pio, whose intercession we are now imploring.

Beloved St Padre Pio, you had a most tender devotion to the Mother of God and were known to recite many rosaries and prayers in Her honor each day. Plead for us then before the Holy Mother of God, that She may join us in prayer before Her most Holy Son Jesus, that we might obtain the request we are asking (mention request).

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be...

May God hear and answer our prayer according to His holy will and for His greater glory. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN. +-St Padre Pio, pray for us!

DAY 8

Preface: Oh most Holy God, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy Infinite Majesty, and we adore Thee and dedicate to Thy glory the devout prayers which we now present to Thee, as an act of devotion to your servant, St Padre Pio, whose intercession we are now imploring.

Oh most pure and chaste Saint Padre Pio, during your life on earth you gave a most beautiful example of purity and love of God, and was found worthy to bear in thy flesh the marks of our Lord's Passion. Have pity on us who are so much in need of God's Mercy, and obtain for us through thy merits and intercession, the special favor which we now fervently implore (mention request).

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be...

May God hear and answer our prayer according to His holy will and for His greater glory. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN. +-St Padre Pio, pray for us!

DAY 9

Preface: Oh most Holy God, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy Infinite Majesty, and we adore Thee and dedicate to Thy glory the devout prayers which we now present to Thee, as an act of devotion to your servant, St Padre Pio, whose intercession we are now imploring.

Oh most loving Saint Padre Pio, you were very devout in the service of God, always encouraging others to obey Gods laws and the teachings of the Catholic Church. Obtain for us, we beg you, not only the grace that we are asking, if it would be God’s will (mention request) but most importantly obtain for us the conversion and salvation of our souls, so that someday we may be untied with Jesus, Mary and you for all eternity. Finally, help us to accept God's will in all things, even if it runs contrary to our own likes or desires.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be...

May God hear and answer our prayer according to His holy will and for His greater glory. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN. +-St Padre Pio, pray for us!

(novena taken from http://www.stgemmagalgani.com/2011/09/novena-to-st-padre-pio-padre-pio-novena.html)

Stay With Me, Lord - An After Holy Communion Prayer by Padre Pio

"Stay With Me, Lord"

An After Holy Communion Prayer by Padre Pio

Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have Thee present so that I do not forget Thee. Thou knowest how easily I abandon Thee.

Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak, and I need Thy strength that I may not fall so often.

Stay with me, Lord, for Thou art my light, and without Thee I am in darkness.

Stay with me, Lord, to show me Thy will.

Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Thy voice and follow Thee.

Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love Thee very much and to be in Thy company always.

Stay with me, Lord, if Thou wisheth me to be faithful to Thee.

Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is I want it to be a place of consolation for Thee, a nest of love.

Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close, and life passes; death, judgment, eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need Thee. It is getting late and death approaches, I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need Thee, my Jesus, in this night of exile!

Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all it’s dangers. I need Thee.

Let me recognize Thee as Thy disciples did at the breaking of the bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.

Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to Thee, if not by communion, at least by grace and love.

Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for Divine consolation, because I do not merit it, but the gift of Thy Presence, oh yes, I ask this of Thee!

Stay with me, Lord, for it is Thou alone I look for, Thy Love, Thy Grace, Thy Will, Thy Heart, Thy Spirit because I love Thee and ask no other reward but to love Thee more and more.

With a firm love, I will love Thee with all my heart while on earth and continue to love Thee perfectly during all eternity. Amen

Sunday, March 24, 2013

The Night St. Clare Left her Paternal home, Palm Sunday 1212

To read the beautiful story of St. Clare and the Palm Sunday of 1212, go to this link: http://i-tau.com/franstudies/articles/St_Clare_Palm_Sunday.pdf

I couldn't post the test here from this link so I am posting it. Palm Sunday was the "launching", I guess you could say, of St. Clare's giving up all to follow Christ.

For any who can't read the 8 pages that the above link is comprise of, here is a short version:

On Palm Sunday, March 17, 1212, the Bishop of Assisi left the altar to present a palm to a noble maiden, eighteen years of age, whom bashfulness had detained in her place. This maiden was St. Clare. Already she had learnt from St. Francis to hate the world, and was secretly resolved to live for God alone. The same night she escaped, with one companion, to the Church of the Portiuncula, where she was met by St. Francis and his brethren. At the altar of Our Lady, St. Francis cut off her hair, clothed her in his habit of penance, a piece of sack-cloth, with his cord as a girdle. Thus she was espoused to Christ. In a miserable house outside Assisi she founded her Order, and was joined by her sister, fourteen years of age, and afterwards by her mother and other noble ladies. They went barefoot, observed perpetual abstinence, constant silence, and perfect poverty. While the Saracen army of Frederick II. was ravaging the valley of Spoleto, a body of infidels advanced to assault St. Clare's convent, which stood outside Assisi. The Saint caused the Blessed Sacrament to be placed in a monstrance, above the gate of the monastery facing the enemy, and kneeling before it, prayed, "Deliver not to beasts, O Lord, the souls of those who confess to Thee." A voice from the Host replied, "My protection will never fail you." A sudden panic seized the infidel host, which took to flight, and the Saint's convent was spared. During her illness of twenty-eight years the Holy Eucharist was her only support and spinning linen for the altar the one work of her hands. She died in 1253, as the Passion was being read, and Our Lady and the angels conducted her to glory.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Christ Suffering

Oh! Sacred Feet, all gashed and torn,
   Bruised by the hammer's cruel blows,
Bathed in the life-blood dripping down
   From anguished Heart in bitter throes;
I press You to my lips in tears,
   With contrite sorrow, fervent sigh.
Dear precious Wounds, God's bleeding prayers,
   Ah! plead for me when death draws nigh.

Oh, Mangled Hands, transfixed and wan,
   in suppliance raised to Heaven above,
Pierced by the nails that torture wrung,
   From breaking Heart of burning love;
I press You to my lips in tears,
   With contrite sorrow, fervent sigh.
Dear precious Wounds, God's bleeding prayers,
   Ah! plead for me when death draws nigh.

Oh! Sacred Refuge, tender Side,
   Rent by the lance with cruel thrust,
There, where His Heart is, let me hide,
   There, where His love is, let me trust.
I press Thee to my lips in tears,
   With contrite sorrow, fervent sigh.
Most Holy Wound, allay my fears,
   Recieve my soul when death draws nigh.¹

^{¹"Prayer to the Five Wounds," The Little Treasury of Leaflets, vol.IV (Dublin: Gill, 1914) 893-894.}

Friday, March 15, 2013

Celebrate St Clare with Investiture of Sister Angelique

"On March 18th of this 2012, the Poor Clare Order celebrated the 8th Centenary of the investiture of St. Clare . At our monastery, we were able to celebrate in the best possible way: by having an investiture ceremony ourselves! Postulant Joscelyn Voight followed in the footsteps of our Mother St. Clare and became Sister Mary Angelique of the Infant Jesus. This video shows the simple, yet dramatic and symbolic transformation of a Poor Clare postulant into a white veiled novice. For more information, please visit our website at www.poor-clares.org - Poor Clare Colettines of Barhamsville, VA."

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Today is the Feast of St. Agnes of Prague 1211-1282

Agnes was the daughter of Premislaus, King of Bohemia,was born in Prague about the year 1205. She declined an imperial marriage and in 1236 entered the monastery of the Poor Clares that she had founded and which she directed for many years. She enjoyed a close friendship with St. Clare who wrote several letters to her dealing with Franciscan spirituality. Agnes died between the years 1280-1283. - (from Proper Offices of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds in the Liturgy of the Hours)

(For my previous posts to read St. Clare's four letters to Agnes, see: first letter http://littleplantofstfrancis.blogspot.com/2012/07/writngs-of-st-clare-first-letter-to-bl.html, second letter http://littleplantofstfrancis.blogspot.com/2012/07/writings-of-st-clare-2nd-letter-to-bl.html, third letter http://littleplantofstfrancis.blogspot.com/2012/07/writings-of-st-clare-3rd-letter-to-bl.html and fourth letter http://littleplantofstfrancis.blogspot.com/2012/07/writings-of-st-clare-4th-letter-to-bl.html)

On the eve of the feast of the holy virgin and martyr Agnes, in the year 1205, a daughter was born to the king of Bohemia, Primislaus Ottokar I. St Agnes of Prague, she also received the name Agnes in baptism. Her mother, who was an aunt of St Elizabeth of Hungary, rejoiced when she noticed an admirable seriousness in her infant. At times she saw how St Agnes of Prague folded her little hands in the form of a cross, and then, as if absorbed in deep devotion, would lie quite still.

According to the custom of the time, the king's daughter was betrothed at the age of three years to the son of the duke of Silesia, and hence was sent to the Silesain convent at Trebnitz, where St Hedwig was superior at that time, to be educated there. Her betrothed died after three years, and St Agnes of Prague was then taken to the convent at Doxan in Bohemia, where the seeds of sanctity which had been sown by St Hedwig budded forth in marvelous bloom. The child appeared to be destined for the heavenly Spouse rather than for an earthly one; but earthly monarchs renewed their suit for her hand.

Emperor Frederick II desired to secure St Agnes of Prague as the bride of his son and successor to the throne, Henry, and Agnes, who was now a mature young woman, was sent to the court of the German emperor. But when the union with Henry came to naught as the result of the prayers of the virgin, King Henry III of England sought her hand in marriage, and finally, even Emperor Frederick II himself, whose consort had meanwhile died. All the opposition raised by St Agnes of Prague, who desired to belong entirely to the Divine Bridegroom, seemed in vain. Then she begged Pope Gregory IX to intervene, and as a result she obtained her freedom. The emperor declared himself satisfied since Agnes chose not a human being but the God of heaven in preference to him.

Now, however, Agnes strove to embrace the religious state in order to achieve her union with the Divine Bridegroom. The fame of Poor Clare convents had reached Bohemia, and Agnes resolved, with the assistance of her brother, who had meanwhile ascended the royal throne, to establish a convent of Poor Clares in the capital city of Prague. Pope Gregory cheerfully gave his consent, and, at his command, St. Clare sent five sisters from the convent of St. Damian in Assisi, to Prague. Agnes and seven other young women of the highest ranks of society entered the new convent together with these sisters.

Within a short time Agnes distinguished herself among them as a model of virtue; in fervor at prayer, in obedience, in religious discipline, in self-denial, and in humility. The command of the pope to accept the position of abbess was a great trial for her humility; however, she obtained permission not to carry the title, but rather to be known as the "senior sister." Holy zeal, similar to that of her holy mother St. Clare, characterized her vigilance regarding the observance of holy poverty; she declined the royal gifts sent to her by her brother, and would not tolerate that any sister possess anything of a personal nature.
God blessed her with the gift of miracles; she recalled to life the deceased daughter of her brother.

Enriched with heavenly merits, she departed from this life in the odor of sanctity, to enter into eternal union with her Divine Bridegroom, on March 6, 1282, having served Him for forty years in the religious state. Devotion to her, which has existed since time immemorial, received apostolic sanction from Pope Pius IX, and her feast, which has long been celebrated in Prague on March 2nd, has been extended to the entire Franciscan Order.

*from: The Franciscan Book of Saints, ed. by Marion Habig, ofm.