Day 2, Novena to St Joseph Freinademetz

Novena to St. Joseph Freinademetz.
Reflection — Day 2

On March 2,1879, Joseph Freinademetz left the Steyl Mission House for China. He expressed his feelings like this: “About seven months ago I left behind the mountains of my homeland. The farewell was really painful, but here in the mission house I found a second homeland that I really love. Now God calls me to seek a third homeland on the other side of the ocean. I wish to follow his call, and to say farewell to all that connects me with Europe in order to dedicate myself totally to God’s service. I hope to see many of you there on the missions. I say farewell: Until we meet in China!” His words express the joy at embracing the missionary call of Jesus. But this call would not be without its challenges and difficulties.

Today’s Prayer

Let us ask God for the grace to overcome the temptation to remain tied to people and places familiar to us, and so neglect the universality of our missionary call.

Father, I abandon myself into your hands. Do with me what you will. Give us the joy and courage to be sent in your name!

Whatever you do, I thank you. I am open to everything. I accept everything. Give us the joy and courage to be sent in your name!

May your will be done in me and in all your creatures. Give us the joy and courage to be sent in your name!

All that I ask is that into your hands, Lord, I may commend my spirit. Give us the joy and courage to be sent in your name!

I thank you with all the love that is in my heart, because I love you, Lord. Give us the joy and courage to be sent in your name!

All I can do is to offer myself into your hands with complete confidence because you are my Father. Give us the joy and courage to be sent in your name

Day 1. Novena to St. Joseph Freinademetz.

Novena to St. Joseph Freinademetz.
Reflection — Day 1

From his youth Joseph Freinademetz felt the call to spread the Gospel in distant lands. In a letter dated 1891 to a nephew who was a seminarian, he wrote: “It would fill me with joy, and it would be an extraordinary grace if one day you were to come to China as a missionary. But we leave everything in the hands of Divine Providence who assigns to each one his place of work. You may pray to obtain this grace, just as I did when I was your age. I did not believe that it would be possible for me one day to reach China. But for God all things are possible.”

Today’s Prayer

Let us ask God for the gift to respond to the call to make his kingdom present in the world.

God, Heavenly Father, you have called us to be your children. Renew our missionary commitment to prophetic dialogue. Open our hearts that we might hear your call!

Lord Jesus Christ, you who chose your disciples, increase our openness to the task of mission. Open our hearts that we might hear your call!

God, Holy Spirit, who continue to bring together many peoples, open our Society and ourselves to the needs of our neighbor. Open our hearts that we might hear your call!

One God, Three Persons, grant that following the example of St. Joseph, we may listen to, and follow Jesus Christ our Lord and Master. Open our hearts that we might hear your call!

Day 1 – Novena to St. Dominic

Day 1 – Novena to St. Dominic

Patron Saint of  Astronomers, Dominican Republic, Falsely Accused People

Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 O most enlightened teacher of divine truth, Holy father St Dominic, who taught what was profitable for salvation and made yourself all things to all men, that you might win all to Christ; help us to close our ears and hearts to all false doctrine and whatever may be harmful to our souls and to open them joyfully to the truths of Holy Church. Pray for us, blessed St Dominic,that we may be examples to others, especially to those who have fallen away from the one, true faith and for this our special intention … 

(Mention your request here…)

 Through Christ our Lord. Amen

Our Father…  

Hail Mary…  

Glory Be…

 St. Dominic, pray for us. 

DAY 1. NOVENA TO ST IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA

Day 1 – St. Ignatius Loyola Novena

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Eternal Lord of all things, I feel your gaze on me. I sense that your Mother stands near, watching and that with you are all the great beings of heaven: angels and powers and martyrs and saints. Lord Jesus, I think you have put a desire in me. If you will help me, please, I would like to make my offering. I want it to be my desire and my choice, provided that you want it, too, to live my life as you lived yours. I know that you lived an insignificant person in a little, despised town. I know that you rarely tasted luxury and never privilege, and that you resolutely refused to accept power. I know that you suffered rejection by leaders, abandonment by friends, and failure. I know. I can hardly bear the thought of it all. But it seems a towering wonderful thing that you might call me to follow you and stand with you. I will labor to bring God’s reign if you will give me the gift to do it.

(Mention your request here…)

St. Ignatius Loyola pray for us. Amen.

Our Father…  

Hail Mary… 

Glory Be…

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Day 9, NOVENA to Sts Perpetua and Felicity

Pray this novena for mothers, expectant mothers, widows, ranchers, and butchers

Intro Prayer

O God, at the urging of whose love the Martyrs Saints Perpetua and Felicity defied their persecutors and overcame the torment of death, grant, we ask, by their prayers, that we may ever grow in your love.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Make your request………

V. You have crowned them with glory and honour, O Lord.
R. And have set them over the works of your hands.

Grant, we beseech you, O Lord our God, that we may venerate with unceasing devotion the triumphs of your holy Martyrs, Perpetua and Felicity; and although we cannot pay them the honour that is their due, may we at least present to them our humble homage.

Amen

Concluding Prayer

Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be

Day 8, NOVENA to Sts Perpetua and Felicity

Pray this novena for mothers, expectant mothers, widows, ranchers, and butchers

Intro Prayer

O God, at the urging of whose love the Martyrs Saints Perpetua and Felicity defied their persecutors and overcame the torment of death, grant, we ask, by their prayers, that we may ever grow in your love.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Make your request………

V. You have crowned them with glory and honour, O Lord.
R. And have set them over the works of your hands.

Grant, we beseech you, O Lord our God, that we may venerate with unceasing devotion the triumphs of your holy Martyrs, Perpetua and Felicity; and although we cannot pay them the honour that is their due, may we at least present to them our humble homage.

Amen

Concluding Prayer

Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be

Day 5, NOVENA to Sts Perpetua and Felicity

Pray this novena for mothers, expectant mothers, widows, ranchers, and butchers

Intro Prayer

O God, at the urging of whose love the Martyrs Saints Perpetua and Felicity defied their persecutors and overcame the torment of death, grant, we ask, by their prayers, that we may ever grow in your love.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Make your request………

V. You have crowned them with glory and honour, O Lord.
R. And have set them over the works of your hands.

Grant, we beseech you, O Lord our God, that we may venerate with unceasing devotion the triumphs of your holy Martyrs, Perpetua and Felicity; and although we cannot pay them the honour that is their due, may we at least present to them our humble homage.

Amen

Concluding Prayer

Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be

Day 4, NOVENA to Sts Perpetua and Felicity

Pray this novena for mothers, expectant mothers, widows, ranchers, and butchers

Intro Prayer

O God, at the urging of whose love the Martyrs Saints Perpetua and Felicity defied their persecutors and overcame the torment of death, grant, we ask, by their prayers, that we may ever grow in your love.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Make your request………

V. You have crowned them with glory and honour, O Lord.
R. And have set them over the works of your hands.

Grant, we beseech you, O Lord our God, that we may venerate with unceasing devotion the triumphs of your holy Martyrs, Perpetua and Felicity; and although we cannot pay them the honour that is their due, may we at least present to them our humble homage.

Amen

Concluding Prayer

Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be

Day 2, NOVENA to Sts Perpetua and Felicity

Pray this novena for mothers, expectant mothers, widows, ranchers, and butchers

Intro Prayer

O God, at the urging of whose love the Martyrs Saints Perpetua and Felicity defied their persecutors and overcame the torment of death, grant, we ask, by their prayers, that we may ever grow in your love.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Make your request………

V. You have crowned them with glory and honour, O Lord.
R. And have set them over the works of your hands.

Grant, we beseech you, O Lord our God, that we may venerate with unceasing devotion the triumphs of your holy Martyrs, Perpetua and Felicity; and although we cannot pay them the honour that is their due, may we at least present to them our humble homage.

Amen

Concluding Prayer

Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be

Day 1, NOVENA to Sts Perpetua and Felicity

Pray this novena for mothers, expectant mothers, widows, ranchers, and butchers

Intro Prayer

O God, at the urging of whose love the Martyrs Saints Perpetua and Felicity defied their persecutors and overcame the torment of death, grant, we ask, by their prayers, that we may ever grow in your love.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Make your request………

V. You have crowned them with glory and honour, O Lord.
R. And have set them over the works of your hands.

Grant, we beseech you, O Lord our God, that we may venerate with unceasing devotion the triumphs of your holy Martyrs, Perpetua and Felicity; and although we cannot pay them the honour that is their due, may we at least present to them our humble homage.

Amen

Concluding Prayer

Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be

UPCOMING NOVENA, About Sts Perpetua and Felicity begins 26th February

Novena begins on 26th February

Pray this novena for mothers, expectant mothers, widows, ranchers, and butchers

Who Were Saints Perpetua and Felicity?

Sts Perpetua and Felicity were early Christian martyrs who lived in the second and early third centuries, when Emperor Severus persecuted the Church in Africa.

Vivia Perpetua was a young mother and noblewoman, 22 years of age, and in AD 203 she converted to the Catholic Faith, following the example of her mother.

Emperer Severus was already persecuting the Church at this time, executing many Christians, so her decision was in full knowledge that she could face martyrdom.

Perpetua’s father opposed her conversion; he remained non-Christian and worried for her life.

Perpetua responded by pointing to a water jug and saying: “See that pot lying there? Can you call it by any other name than what it is?”

Her father said, “Of course not.”

Perpetua replied, “Neither can I call myself by any other name than what I am: a Christian.”

The authorities arrested Perpetua along with four other converts, including two slaves, Felicity and Revocatus, and Saturninus and Secundulus.

Saturus, the man who had been catechizing all of them, voluntarily went to prison to join them in their suffering.

Prior to being taken to prison, Perpetua was baptized. God told her that she should pray for the grace to endure her suffering.

Perpetua and Felicity were harshly treated by the prison guards, and the conditions were cramped and brutally hot. Felicity was eight months pregnant.

Two deacons of the Church bribed the guards so that the Christian prisoners would be put in a better part of the prison; they did so, and Perpetua’s mother and brother visited her, bringing her baby with them.

Her father also visited her, but he wanted her to renounce her faith, which she refused to do.

The judge condemned them to being torn apart by wild animals.

Perpetua was given a vision of a golden ladder which sharp weapons along the sides, indicating that one must keep one’s eyes fixed on Heaven or risk spiritual death. A dragon was at the bottom for all who turned away from Heaven.

Perpetua saw her catechist Saturus ascend the ladder. He reached the top and encouraged her to follow and not look back.

When Perpetua climbed the ladder, she saw a tall shepherd with white hair in a lovely garden. He was milking sheep and gave her curds and milk, which tasted sweet to her.

When Perpetua awoke from the vision, the taste was still in her mouth, and she shared the vision with her brother. They both realized it meant they must suffer and die.

Felicity went into a difficult labor just days before the execution date was set.

She gave birth to a daughter, who ultimately was adopted by a Christian family in Carthage.

Perpetua and her fellow Catholic prisoners entered the arena with peaceful countenances.

The authorities unleashed bears, boars, and leopards upon the men.

The women were attacked by an angry cow but did not die. So gladiators were sent in and killed the Christians

Pray this novena for mothers, expectant mothers, widows, ranchers, and butchers

UPCOMING NOVENA, About Sts Perpetua and Felicity begins 26th February

Novena begins on 26th February

Pray this novena for mothers, expectant mothers, widows, ranchers, and butchers

Who Were Saints Perpetua and Felicity?

Sts Perpetua and Felicity were early Christian martyrs who lived in the second and early third centuries, when Emperor Severus persecuted the Church in Africa.

Vivia Perpetua was a young mother and noblewoman, 22 years of age, and in AD 203 she converted to the Catholic Faith, following the example of her mother.

Emperer Severus was already persecuting the Church at this time, executing many Christians, so her decision was in full knowledge that she could face martyrdom.

Perpetua’s father opposed her conversion; he remained non-Christian and worried for her life.

Perpetua responded by pointing to a water jug and saying: “See that pot lying there? Can you call it by any other name than what it is?”

Her father said, “Of course not.”

Perpetua replied, “Neither can I call myself by any other name than what I am: a Christian.”

The authorities arrested Perpetua along with four other converts, including two slaves, Felicity and Revocatus, and Saturninus and Secundulus.

Saturus, the man who had been catechizing all of them, voluntarily went to prison to join them in their suffering.

Prior to being taken to prison, Perpetua was baptized. God told her that she should pray for the grace to endure her suffering.

Perpetua and Felicity were harshly treated by the prison guards, and the conditions were cramped and brutally hot. Felicity was eight months pregnant.

Two deacons of the Church bribed the guards so that the Christian prisoners would be put in a better part of the prison; they did so, and Perpetua’s mother and brother visited her, bringing her baby with them.

Her father also visited her, but he wanted her to renounce her faith, which she refused to do.

The judge condemned them to being torn apart by wild animals.

Perpetua was given a vision of a golden ladder which sharp weapons along the sides, indicating that one must keep one’s eyes fixed on Heaven or risk spiritual death. A dragon was at the bottom for all who turned away from Heaven.

Perpetua saw her catechist Saturus ascend the ladder. He reached the top and encouraged her to follow and not look back.

When Perpetua climbed the ladder, she saw a tall shepherd with white hair in a lovely garden. He was milking sheep and gave her curds and milk, which tasted sweet to her.

When Perpetua awoke from the vision, the taste was still in her mouth, and she shared the vision with her brother. They both realized it meant they must suffer and die.

Felicity went into a difficult labor just days before the execution date was set.

She gave birth to a daughter, who ultimately was adopted by a Christian family in Carthage.

Perpetua and her fellow Catholic prisoners entered the arena with peaceful countenances.

The authorities unleashed bears, boars, and leopards upon the men.

The women were attacked by an angry cow but did not die. So gladiators were sent in and killed the Christians

Pray this novena for mothers, expectant mothers, widows, ranchers, and butchers

Day 9, NOVENA TO ST VALENTINE

In the name of the Father……

Glory be to the Father ……

O glorious advocate and protector, Saint Valentine, look with pity upon our wants, hear our requests, attend to our prayers, relieve by your intercession the miseries under which we labor, and obtain for us the Divine blessing, that we may be found worthy to join thee in praising the Almighty for all eternity; through the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray, then, O holy Martyr, for the faithful, who are so persevering in celebrating thy memory. The day of Judgment will reveal to us all thy glorious merits. Oh! intercede for us, that we may then be made thy companions at the right hand of the Great Judge, and be united with thee eternally in heaven.

Let us pray: Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who solemnize the festival of blessed Valentine, Thy Martyr, may, by his intercession, be delivered from all the evils that threaten us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Mention your intentions here)

Saint Valentine, advocate and protector, pray for us.

Concluding Prayer

Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be

Feast Day of ST JOSEPHINE BAKHITA, patron saint for human trafficking and Sudan

Thank you for Praying Novena to St Josephine Bakhita together.

We pray for:

All people especially suffering as per human trafficking that God enlighten the individuals responsible and come to understand and change and to respect humanity aspect of every person.

That God may deliver all who are suffering at the moment and pain they are undergoing that through the intercession of St Josephine Bakhita they may have a way through their sufferings.

That whole nation of Sudan especially South Sudan may continue to have a peaceful country with good governship and to bring all other nations on raging wars to come together to exercise peace.

Amen, may God bless you.

Day 3, NOVENA TO ST VALENTINE

In the name of the Father…….

Glory be to the Father……

O glorious advocate and protector, Saint Valentine, look with pity upon our wants, hear our requests, attend to our prayers, relieve by your intercession the miseries under which we labor, and obtain for us the Divine blessing, that we may be found worthy to join thee in praising the Almighty for all eternity; through the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray, then, O holy Martyr, for the faithful, who are so persevering in celebrating thy memory. The day of Judgment will reveal to us all thy glorious merits. Oh! intercede for us, that we may then be made thy companions at the right hand of the Great Judge, and be united with thee eternally in heaven.

Let us pray: Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who solemnize the festival of blessed Valentine, Thy Martyr, may, by his intercession, be delivered from all the evils that threaten us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Mention your intentions here)

Saint Valentine, advocate and protector, pray for us.

Concluding Prayer

Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be

Day 2, NOVENA TO ST VALENTINE

In the name of the Father……

Glory be to the Father….

O glorious advocate and protector, Saint Valentine, look with pity upon our wants, hear our requests, attend to our prayers, relieve by your intercession the miseries under which we labor, and obtain for us the Divine blessing, that we may be found worthy to join thee in praising the Almighty for all eternity; through the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray, then, O holy Martyr, for the faithful, who are so persevering in celebrating thy memory. The day of Judgment will reveal to us all thy glorious merits. Oh! intercede for us, that we may then be made thy companions at the right hand of the Great Judge, and be united with thee eternally in heaven.

Let us pray: Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who solemnize the festival of blessed Valentine, Thy Martyr, may, by his intercession, be delivered from all the evils that threaten us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Mention your intentions here)

Saint Valentine, advocate and protector, pray for us.

Concluding Prayer

Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be

Day 1, NOVENA TO ST VALENTINE

In the name of the Father……..

Glory be to the father

O glorious advocate and protector, Saint Valentine, look with pity upon our wants, hear our requests, attend to our prayers, relieve by your intercession the miseries under which we labor, and obtain for us the Divine blessing, that we may be found worthy to join thee in praising the Almighty for all eternity; through the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray, then, O holy Martyr, for the faithful, who are so persevering in celebrating thy memory. The day of Judgment will reveal to us all thy glorious merits. Oh! intercede for us, that we may then be made thy companions at the right hand of the Great Judge, and be united with thee eternally in heaven.

Let us pray: Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who solemnize the festival of blessed Valentine, Thy Martyr, may, by his intercession, be delivered from all the evils that threaten us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Mention your intentions here)

Saint Valentine, advocate and protector, pray for us.

Concluding Prayer

Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be

St Valentine, Pray for us…

About St Valentine, St Valentine Novena starts on 5th February

What Happened to St. Valentine?

St Valentine was a priest or bishop who lived in the third century, comforted persecuted Christians, and gave his life in martyrdom. He is the patron saint of engaged couples and marriages.

St Valentine was a doctor in Rome who helped Christians being persecuted by Emperor Claudius II.

He was arrested for his faith, beaten, and executed by beheading on February 14, 270. He was buried on the Flaminian Way.

People in the Middle Ages believed that birds began choosing mates on February 14th, so St Valentine became a natural patron for courtship and marriage.

St Valentine’s relics were found by archaeologists in a Roman catacomb and church dedicated to St Valentine.

Pope Gelasius ins 496 marked February 14th as the celebration in honor of his martyrdom

Novena to St Josephine Bakhita begins on 31st January

About St. Josephine Bakhita

Who Was St. Josephine Bakhita?

Patron saint of human trafficking

St. Josephine Bakhita was born in Sudan in 1869. She was kidnapped and sold into slavery, suffering tremendously in body and soul.

She was eventually bought by an Italian consul and after some years gained her freedom. She put her faith in Christ and was baptized in 1890.

She discerned the call to religious life and became a Canossian Daughter of Charity. Her life was marked by joyful, heroic virtue. She died in 1947.

She was beatified on May 17, 1992 by Pope John Paul II, and canonized October 1, 2000, also by Pope John Paul II.

Slavery

In 1877, when she was 7–8 years old, she was seized by Arab slave traders, who had abducted her elder sister two years earlier. She was forced to walk barefoot about 960 kilometres (600 mi) to El-Obeid and was sold and bought twice before she arrived there. Over the course of twelve years (1877–1889) she was sold three more times and then she was finally given her freedom

‘Bakhita’ was not the name she received from her parents at birth. It is said that the trauma of her abduction caused her to forget her original name; she took one given to her by the slavers, bakhīta (بخيتة), Arabic for ‘lucky’ or ‘fortunate’. She was also forcibly converted to Islam.

In El-Obeid, Bakhita was bought by a rich Arab who used her as a maid for his two daughters. They treated her relatively well, until after offending one of her owner’s sons, wherein the son lashed and kicked her so severely that she spent more than a month unable to move from her straw bed. Her fourth owner was a Turkish general, and she had to serve his mother-in-law and his wife, who were cruel to their slaves. Bakhita says: “During all the years I stayed in that house, I do not recall a day that passed without some wound or other. When a wound from the whip began to heal, other blows would pour down on me.”

She says that the most terrifying of all of her memories there was when she (along with other slaves) was marked by a process resembling both scarification and tattooing, which was a traditional practice throughout Sudan. As her mistress was watching her with a whip in her hand, a dish of white flour, a dish of salt and a razor were brought by a woman. She used the flour to draw patterns on her skin and then she cut deeply along the lines before filling the wounds with salt to ensure permanent scarring. A total of 114 intricate patterns were cut into her breasts, belly and into her right arm.

DAY 7, RESPECT LIFE NOVENA

Patron saint of unborn babies

Father and maker of all, you adorn all creation with splendor and beauty, and fashion human lives in your image and likeness.

Awaken in every heart reverence for the work of your hands, and renew among your people a readiness to nurture and sustain your precious gift of life.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen

Concluding Prayer

Our Father …….
3 Hail Marys ……..
Glory Be …….