Novena To Our Lady Of Perpetual Help. Day 7
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
SEVENTH DAY MEDITATION
Our Lady of Perpetual Help grants Her devotees fidelity in Her
service.
Perseverance! A great problem, a major question of life and death, a perpetual torment of souls who want to be saved. Have you not said trembling – on seeing yourself surrounded by so many dangers, and above all, on seeing souls that seemed confirmed in good fall away, on feeling violent passions inflamed, and on examining your own fickleness – have you not said: “O, will I be saved? Have my sins been forgiven? I hope so. Am I in the grace of God? Will I persevere in good until the end? What will be my sentence at judgement? Will I be found among the predestined? And, finally, what will be my lot in eternity?” Terrifying reflections, questions whose uncertain replies fill the heart with anxiety. St Teresa, writing on this point, could not understand why the pen did not fall from her hand. St. Paul, after having preached to others, feared that he would be among the reprobate, and St Jerome responded beforehand to the sound of the trumpet of final judgement with cries of terror.
How, then, to get rid of this annoying doubt? How to find a guarantee of tranquillity? A great saint tell us: “Of what value is it to stir up these questions disputed by the wise ones concerning whether you will be saved or lost? If we are true children of Mary, certainly we will be among the chosen one.” This is the doctrine of all the Doctors of the church. It is impossible for one who counts on the most powerful help of Mary to be condemned. A consoling words that should fill us with confidence and devotion. But this is understood on the condition that one lives without sins or desires at least to cease sinning; because if someone wants to sin with the hope that the Blessed Virgin will save him, through his own faults he would make himself unworthy and incapable of Her protection. It is true, then, O Mother of Perpetual Help, that if I am Thy faithful servant, without doubt I will be saved. I will serve Thee, then, I will love Thee; I will invoke Thee always.
Nevertheless, Christian soul, you are still not at peace concerning your perseverance; you must still fear one thing. Without doubt Most holy Mary will save you if you invoke Her; but, will you be faithful in Her service? Will you, one day, cease to be Her devotee? So great is the fickleness of our heart that tomorrow you will give up what today you have begun. Have, perchance, all those who were devotees of the Virgin in the beginning, persevered in Her service? For this great misery, called inconstancy, there is a remedy in Our Lady of Perpetual Help. She Herself is the one Who must help us to persevere in her service. If all graces pass through the hands of Mary, why would not this most special grace of all graces, that of invoking her perpetually, also pass through them? And the very name itself of perpetual Help, is it not almost a sure guarantee that she will help us perpetually? How could we weaken in her love and forget Her? If a mother, according to nature, knew that a child of hers could not be happy without enjoying the attentions of his mother, what would she not do to keep him at her side? Well then, our august Queen knows that there cannot be happiness for us, her very beloved children, without having fidelity in Her service, which is intimately united to the service of the lord, and that is why She provides Her devotees with His paternal help, abundantly and perpetually.
When a soul who has been at one time Her devotee wishes to abandon Her, that tender Mother waits, so to speak at the door of his heart and knock until it is opened, that is, until the unfaithful one returns to his primitive fervour. We have, then, an infallible means of assuring ourselves of perseverance in the devotion to Mary; it suffices to ask Her for the grace to call on Her always; to ask her for the grace today; to ask Her tomorrow and everyday. In short, O soul devoted to Our Lady of perpetual Help, engrave in your memory that maxim of the great doctor, St. Alphonsus: “I am sure that will be saved, if I sincerely invoke Mary; I am sure of invoking Her if I ask of Her grace to do so always, and I will not tire of repeating this petition of imploring Her with fidelity.”
Let us conclude, then, by saying with St. Bernard: “O man, whoever you may be, do not forget that, rather than walking on earth, you go fluctuating between dangers and tempests; if you do not want to be immersed, do not take your eyes away from this star: Mary. Look at Her often. When in danger of sinning, in the anguish of temptations, in doubts concerning things you must resolve, remember that Mary can assist you, and call on Her right away, so She may help you Never let her powerful name leave your heart, so it may inspire you with confidence; nor your lips, so you may invoke it. Follow Mary, and you will not stray from the path of salvation; commend yourself to Her and you will not lose confidence; if Her hand sustains you, you will not fall; if She is your guide, you will be saved without effort; and finally, if Mary takes your defence, undoubtedly you will arrive at the kingdom of the blessed. Do thus, and you will live.” Amen
Meditate and ask for what you wish to obtain from Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
JOYS
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! Grant me Thine omnipotent aid and grant that I may ask for it without ceasing.
EXERCISE
Do not let one day pass without reciting three Hail Marys, morning and night, to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, to obtain the grace of invoking Her on the following day.
PRAYER
O my Mother of Perpetual Help! In Thy hands I place my poor soul; I entrust to Thee my perseverance; intercede for me, an unhappy sinner. Take me under Thy protection and this will suffice for me. Indeed, if Thou protects me, I have nothing to fear. I do not fear my sins, because Thou will remedy the evil they have caused me. I do not fear the devils, because Thou art more powerful than all Hell. I do not even fear my judge Himself, because by one word from thee, Thou will appease His just indignation. No; I do not fear anything. O! In spite of all this, my Mother, one fear assaults me. And it is that of forgetting Thee, of ceasing, one day, to call Thee to my aid, and thus to be lost for all eternity. O my tender Mother! Obtain for me the grace of commending myself to Thee always; and if now Thou foresees that one day I will abandon Thee, let me die today at Thy feet, before the world may be a witness to such great ingratitude. But no, O Mother, I will not forget Thee; I would rather die, that my right hand wither, that my tongue be paralyzed, than not one day go to sing Thy mercies forever and ever. Amen.
EXAMPLE
In a certain city in England, a man, completely given to drinking, used to come home every day in a state of intoxication. One day his unhappy wife, tired of all she was suffering from her her husband’s perversity, lamented her lot before a devotee of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The latter, moved to compassion, gave a medal of that Virgin to the afflicted wife, advising her to light a candle in honour of Her dear Mother every day.
The woman promised to do so and began to recite the holy rosary before the miraculous medal. Her husband returned that day, at a late hour, as was his custom, but not intoxicated.
After some time had passed, the woman relate to her pious advisor, who was asking her about her husband: “Since I began to honour Our Lady of Perpetual Help, he has amended; he returned to his vice only once when, distractedly, I forgot to fulfil the promise I made to the Mother of God.” Thus the blessed Virgin rewards Her devotees.
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 EIGHT
