Novena To Our Lady Of Perpetual Help. Day 6

ACT OF CONTRITION

My Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, my father and redeemer, behold at Thy feet a poor sinner who has so grievously afflicted Thy loving Heart. O lovable Jesus, how could i have offended thee and filled with bitterness that Heart that love me so and that has spared no effort to attain my love? How great has been my in gratitude! But, O my saviour, be consoled, be consoled, I say to thee; now i find myself repentant, such grief i feel for the afflictions i have caused thee, that i would like to die of poor sorrow and contrition. O my Jesus! who could have make me weep for sin as Thou hast wept for them in Thy mortal life! My soul is oppressed for having offended Thee. Eternal father, in satisfaction for my offences I offer Thee the affliction and sorrow the Heart of Thy Divine Son has felt for them. And Thou, O Loving Jesus! give me such a horror for sin that from now on it may make me avoid even the most trifling of faults. Depart from my heart, earthly affections; I do not want to love anything now but my most bountiful Redeemer. O my Jesus, help me, strengthen me, and pardon me.

My Mother of perpetual help, intercede for me and obtain for me the pardon of my sins.

PREPARATORY PRAYER

(To be said everyday)

O Most Blessed Virgin Mary! Who to inspire us with boundless confidence has been pleased to take the sweet name of Mother of Perpetual help, I implore Thee to come to my aid always and everywhere, in my temptations, after my falls, in my difficulties, in all the miseries of life, and above all, at the hour of my death. Give me, O loving Mother, the desire, nay more, the habit always to have recourse to Thee, for i feel assured that if i am faithful in invoking Thee, Thou will be faithful in coming to my assistance. Obtain for me, then, this grace of graces, the grace to pray to Thee without ceasing, and with childlike trust, that, by means of my constant plea, I may ensure Thy Perpetual Help and final perseverance. Bless me, O tender and solicitous Mother, pray for me now and at the hour of my death. Amen

SIXTH DAY MEDITATION

Our Lady of Perpetual Help sustains Her devotees in the practice of virtues.

If it were sufficient to avoid sin in order to be agreeable in everything to the Lord, the benign office of our Mother would stop at this; for this alone She would provide Her Perpetual Help. But God is not content without being offended; He requires positive service; He wants us to be perfect: “Be perfect as your Heavenly father is perfect.” and truly, He wants us to dedicate ourselves to the practice of these Christian virtues. But how many difficulties are encountered on the path that leads to the holy mountain of perfection! It seem that good, solely because it is good, is now contrary to our corrupt nature. Just soul who have consecrated yourselves to the practice of piety, have you not found it so? O! how arid and sterile is our heart, how incapable of producing any fruit worthy of Life eternal, if the Heavenly waters of grace do not fall to fertilize it! When a soul truly wishes to sanctify itself, it renounces itself, advancing each day in perfection, experiencing what the author of the “Imitation of Christ” says: “that sanctification is not a child’s play, nor the work of one day;” then it feels the need of perpetual and powerful help, of continual assistance. Ah, and this perpetual help, perchance do we have it? Why do we withdraw? Why turn back in the face of difficulty? Do we not have Our Lady of Perpetual Help to protect us? Take courage, generous souls; your mother will help you. Do you not see that She presents you to the Infant Jesus? And why, except to incite us to the practice of virtue? The knowledge alone that his king is watching him gives courage to the warrior in combat. Thus, when good is made difficult for us, When we are about to weaken, let us fix our glance on the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The sight of the adorable Infant Who one day must reward us, encourage us, and we will have the courage to practise the most heroic virtues.

Children of Mary, would you like to be truly virtuous, but always find in your interior that reserve of self-love that poisons your good works? Invoke Our Lady of Perpetual Help and in a little while your spirit, like Hers, will seek nothing but the good pleasure and glory of God. Are you the target of continuous contradictions? Do you lack patience? Invoke Our Lady of Perpetual Help frequently and you will be meek and humble of heart. Is it your desire to live detached from all disordered affections for creatures but that miserable heart always take delight in the vanities of this world? Invoke Our Lady of Perpetual Help and you will grasp the vanity of everything created. The white lily of chastity has enamoured you — do you want to preserve it immaculate or acquire it again, if through misfortune you lost? Invoke Our Lady of Perpetual Help and soon you will be singing within yourself to Him Who grazes among the lilies. “As the lilies among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters.” Faith, hope and charity, queen of virtues, wish to place their Thorne in your heart? Who will grant you that favour but the the Virgin Who bears on her forehead the star of faith and the cross that is all our hope, and in Her arms, the love of the Divine Jesus? The wound of an insult received does not want to heal in your heart? Invoke Our Lady of Perpetual Help and you will succeed in doing good to those who offended you. Finally, are you in the flower of your age? Does the choice of a way of life concern you? Pray to Her like other souls whom She has helped, enlightening them about the vanities of the world and enkindling in them the love of their God, to the point of their abandoning everything and consecrating themselves to the lord, by means of the sacred vows of religion. And finally if you have chosen your vocation and wish to work out your sanctification in the world, make yourself a devotee of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and you will attain it.

O with what speed those who consecrate themselves to the veneration of Our Lady advance on the part of perfection! That precious devotion seems to give them wings to fly to the heights of sanctity; let the priests who have inculcated it in their penitent speak about it. O! only in Heaven will it be known how many souls have reached perfection through that so easy means. Dedicate yourselves, then, pious souls, from now on, to the service of that gracious Mother and one day you will be Her crown in glory.

Meditate and ask for what you wish to obtain from Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

JOYS

AT THE END OF EACH PARAGRAPH SAY

” Come hasten to assist me
O Mother sweet and kind!”

Thou art Perpetual Help benign;
Come, therefore, I implore Thee:
Come hasten to assist me.
O Mother sweet and kind!

Hear, O Virgin pure,
Our fervent prayers of love
That fly to Thee above
On Thine exalted Throne.

Stained by guilt and sin
I bow my head and cry;
And at Thy feet I sigh
for clemency and love.

Free the careless soul
From it tepid ways,
And set the soul ablaze
with fervour in devotion

Wretched in this vale
Of pain and tribulation,
For heavenly consolation
I humbly beg of Thee.

If my virtue wanes
When tempests howl and roar,
My energies restore
Beloved Morning Star.

To Thy faithful child
Encouragement provide,
And toward virtue guide
His weak unsteady step.

Free my fickle heart
from all its lassitude,
And grant it fortitude
To lead a sinless life.

In the final clash
With death in all its fright,
How great my soul’s delight
If then i can exclaim:

In purgatory’s fire,
Dear Mother, please be sweet;
Great Lady, I entreat,
Alleviate my pains.

Grant me, Mother dear,
As fond farewell to Thee,
To sing eternally
With love and praise to Thee:

Come hasten to assist me
O Mother sweet and kind!

EJACULATORY PRAYER

O Mother of Perpetual Help, I want to be a faithful imitator of Thy virtues; help me in such a noble undertaking.

EXERCISE

Recite the Holy Rosary in honour of Our Lady of Perpetual Help to obtain the gift of never weakening in the practise of virtue.

PRAYER

O my Mother of Perpetual Help! How is it possible that, with Thy being so holy, I must be so wicked? Today I do not come to ask temporal good of Thee, but things more pleasing to Thy Heart. Thou art most humble; attain for me, then, humility and love for contempt. Thou, Who was most patient in the afflictions of life, obtain for me patience in adversities. Thou, Who lived always withdrawn from everything created, obtain for me detachment from all creatures. Thou, who was always pure and spotless, attain for me a perfect purity of heart. Thou, Who was filled with love for God, attain for me gift of holy of holy and pure love. Thou, Who was all charity for Thy neighbour, grant that I may have a holy and efficacious love for my brothers. Thou, Who was always united to the will of God, obtain the same grace for me, above all in my choice of a state of life, and a complete conformity with all the disposition of Divine Providence. In a word; O Most holy of creatures, make me a saint! These are the graces I beg of Thee. Do not let me weaken in the practice of virtue, O Mary my Mother, my love, my life, my refuge, my consolation, my Perpetual Help. Amen.

EXAMPLE

Interior afflictions were tormenting a woman of Finales, to the extent that she was suffering grave harm in her peace and in her health. Having heard, in 1873, of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and of the numerous graces She lavished, she took several little images, and made, with the consent of her father, a vow to go to Rome for a visit to the sanctuary of Our Lady, if she recovered tranquillity in her soul. The Blessed Virgin heard her. Hardly had she formulated her vow when she felt herself free of her interior sufferings, and, together with peace, her strength returned, sleep, appetite, and in a word, health of soul and body.

May the virgin of Perpetual Help be loved, praised, invoked and eternally blessed! May she be my hope, my love, my Mother, My refuge and my life. Amen.

NOVENA PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP DAY SEVEN