December 9^th

Saint Juan Diego

Juan Diego was born in 1474 with the name “Cuauhtlatoatzin” (“the talking eagle”) in Cuautlitlán, Mexico. When he was 50 years old he was baptized by a Franciscan priest, Fr Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan missionaries. On 9 December 1531, when Juan Diego was on his way to morning Mass, the Blessed Mother appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill, the outskirts of what is now Mexico City. She asked him to go to the Bishop and to request in her name that a shrine be built at Tepeyac, where she promised to pour out her grace upon those who invoked her. The Bishop, who did not believe Juan Diego, asked for a sign to prove that the apparition was true. On 12 December, Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac. Here, the Blessed Mother told him to climb the hill and to pick the flowers that he would find in bloom. He obeyed, and although it was winter time, he found roses flowering. He gathered the flowers and took them to Our Lady who carefully placed them in his mantle and told him to take them to the Bishop as “proof”. When he opened his mantle, the flowers fell on the ground and there remained impressed, in place of the flowers, an image of the Blessed Mother, the apparition at Tepeyac. With the Bishop’s permission, Juan Diego lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a small hut near the chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. Here he cared for the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Mother of Jesus. He died in 1548 and was buried in the first chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe. He was beatified on 6 May 1990 by Pope John Paul II. In the year 2000, he was declared a Saint

Prayer to St Juan Diego

O St. Juan Diego, in appearances of Our Lady of Guadalupe, you, a humble peasant, were chosen as Her messenger. Your faithfulness in this task is evident still today, in the miraculous image the Virgin left upon your tilma. Intercede for me, I pray, that I might have your childlike trust in the mother of God, and that my heart might respond to her maternal promptings. Through such simple confidence, obedience, and love, may I join you one day in sharing everlasting joy, where our heavenly Mother reigns in the glory of her Son.
Amen.

Prayer to Saint Juan Diego

Saint Juan Diego, you are our first American indigenous saint.
Please pray that God the Father would protect all migrants through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Ask the Father to pour out the love of the Holy Spirit upon all
who are isolated, alone and separated by choice or necessity from their native lands.
May those torn away from their families and forced to leave their country to find work elsewhere be reunited: husbands with wives and parents with children.
We ask especially for migrant women and children who are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of human trafficking. Give them your protection and shield them from evil.
May we as a Church receive the grace to welcome with love migrants who enter into our country, seeking a home in our parishes and communities.
We ask for your prayers and intercession for all immigrants
who are desperate, alone and in need of God’s loving support.
And we ask Our Lady, who appeared to you as your mother and Mother of all in our land, to wrap her mantle of protection around all migrant people.
We beg for her love, compassion, help and protection on all immigrants who today experience great sufferings, sorrows, necessities and misfortunes.
Amen.

Prayer to St. Juan Diego (adapted from a sermon of Pope John Paul II)

St. Juan Diego, we entrust to you our lives so that, feeling the call to holiness, we may imbue every area of social life with the spirit of the Gospel. Bless our priests, deacons, sisters, and brothers. Bless families, strengthen spouses in their marriage, help parents to give their children a Christian upbringing. Look with favor upon the pain of those who are suffering in body or in spirit, on those afflicted by poverty, loneliness, marginalization, or ignorance. May all people, civic leaders and ordinary citizens, always act in accordance with the demands of justice and with respect for the dignity of each person, so that in this way peace may be fostered. Beloved Juan Diego, show us the way that leads to the Virgin, that she may receive us in the depths of her heart, for she is the loving, compassionate Mother who guides us to the true God.
Amen.

St. Juan Diego, Pray for us.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pray for us.

Prayer to Saint Juan Diego

Saint Juan Diego, you were chosen by Our Lady of Guadalupe
as an instrument to show your people and the world
that the way of the Christian is one of love, compassion, understanding, values, sacrifices, repentance of our sins, esteem and respect for the creation of God, and above all, one of humility and obedience.
You, who we know are in the Kingdom of our Lord and near our mother, be our angel and protect us, stay with us while we fight in this modern life without knowing, most of the time, where to place our priorities.
Help us to pray to God, through the Heart of our Lady of Guadalupe
towards the Heart of Jesus, to obtain the gifts of the Holy Spirit,
and to use them for the good the humanity and the Church.
Amen

Litany to Saint Juan Diego

Lord have mercy on us. Lord have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us. Christ have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us. Lord have mercy on us.
Christ hear us. Christ hear us.
Christ graciously hear us. Christ graciously hear us.
God, our Heavenly Father, Have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary of Guadalupe, Pray for us.
Virgin of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, Pray for us.
Virgin of Guadalupe, star of the new evangelization, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, instructed in the doctrine of Christian love, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, eager to learn from the missionaries, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, pilgrim of faith, hope and charity, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who abandoned the shadows of paganism, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who loved poverty, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who practiced humility, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who remained pure of heart, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who saw paradise at Tepeyac, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who witnessed the apparitions, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, faithful messenger of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who heard the sweet voice of Mary, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who beheld the beauty of Mary, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who felt the tenderness of Mary, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, awestruck by the heavenly joy radiating from the lips of the most Holy Virgin, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who spoke with childlike trust in Mary, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, the most beloved son of Mary, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who obeyed Mary promptly, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who respected the divine authority of the bishop, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who suffered ridicule and rejection, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who knew how to be humble, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who knew how to be patient, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who knew how to persevere, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who knew how to be peaceful, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who renounced privileges, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who took care of your uncle Juan Bernardino with loving kindness, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who climbed the hill of Tepeyac, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who picked the roses on Tepeyac hill, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who offered yourself to the Virgin of Guadalupe, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who witnessed the miracle of the roses clinging to your cloak, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, in whose cloak the Virgin remains always with us, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who venerated the Virgin of Guadalupe with heartfelt devotion, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who built a humble shrine in honor of the Virgin Mary, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who cared for her until your death, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, you who loved your wife, Maria Lucia, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who helped her embrace the truth of the Gospel, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who practiced perfect chastity in your marriage, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, worthy example for your brothers and sisters, Pray for us.
Saint Juan Diego, who devoted yourself with tender love to the holy service of God, Pray for us.

Let us pray

Oh, God, Perfect Father, that in the person of Saint Juan Diego you gave us a living example of simplicity, fidelity and love, through his intercession, grant us the requests we make with piety. Through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.

December 10^th

Our Lady of Loreto

The Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Loreto on 1oth December. Loreto refers to the Holy House of Loreto, in the house in which Mary was born, and where the angel Gabriel appeared to her at the Annunciation. According to tradition, a band of angels stopped up the house from the Holy Land, transporting it first to Tersato, Dalmatia in 1291, Recanati, Italy, in 1294, and finally to Loreto, Italy, where it has remained for centuries. It is this flight that has made Our Lady of Loreto the patron of people involved in aviation. The long life of the house led to her patronage of builders and construction workers. Our Lady of Loreto is the first shrine of international renown dedicated to Mary. Popes especially have always had a special connection to the Shrine of Loreto, and it is under their direct authority and protection.

Prayer to Our Lady of Loreto for Flying

O Holy Mother of God, our Lady of Loreto, patroness of aviation and air travelers. We come to thank you for all the graces and benefits bestowed on us. Full of trust in your powerful intercession, we fly to you, begging for your maternal solicitude and care. Listen to our supplications for the success of this flight and all the flights we may undertake. Do bless the pilots, the flight attendants, the technicians, and all of us, passengers, placed under their care. As we piously believe that your house in Nazareth was borne by angels to Loreto, so may you also bring us all safely to our destination here on earth and to our final home in heaven.
Amen.

The Novena to Our Lady of Loreto

Our Lady of Loreto, I implore your Holy Name, in union with your Holy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ and your Holy husband St. Joseph, to help me find a home.
May I enjoy the peace and happiness that was found in your Holy House of Loreto, where you lived happily, by the grace and blessing that the Holy Father granted you.
Our Lady of Loreto, I implore you, to help me. I promise to consecrate my future home to you.
Holy Mother of Loreto grant us health, peace and happiness and help us in our lives.
Just like your house was Holy and blessed by God, I ask that my future house be blessed and protected by you and by God.
If you help me Holy Virgin and grant me my request
(mention your intentions here)
I promise to make you known to all my friends.
Our Father…
Hail Mary….
Glory to be…

Act of Consecration to Our Lady of Loreto

O Immaculate Virgin Mary, we come to thee with confidence: welcome this day our humble prayer and our act of consecration.

O Mother, thou didst carry thy Divine Saviour in thy most Pure Womb: receive our homage of faith and filial love as we come in spirit into thy Holy House. It is, by the Presence of the Holy Family, the holy home par excellence. And it is our wish that every Christian family be inspired by it.

From Jesus, all children learn to obey and to work. From thee, O Mary, all women learn humility and the spirit of sacrifice. From Joseph, who didst live for Jesus and for thee, all men learn to believe in God, to live in the family and in society with fidelity and honesty.

O Mary, we pray for our Pope and for the Universal Church, for our country and for all the nations of the world, for the suffering souls, for all sinners. And we all wish to consecrate ourselves to thee.

Spiritually Present in the Holy House, where thou didst Conceive by the Holy Spirit, we want to repeat with lively faith the words of the Archangel Gabriel: “Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee!” We want to invoke thee still, saying: “Hail Mary, Mother of Jesus and Mother of the Church!”

We turn to thee O Mary. Receive our consecration to thine Immaculate Heart. Totally thine, we wish to confirm by this act of love our unlimited love for Jesus, thy Son, and our hope in thee, our Mother. And thou, O Queen and Mother of Mercy, grant to thy children an abundance of Heavenly Blessings.
Amen.

Prayer To Our Lady Of Loreto

O glorious Virgin Mary of Loreto, we confidently come to thee: Accept our humble prayer.

Humanity is threatened by serious evils from which we would like to free ourselves, but on our own initiative. We need peace, justice, truth, love, and we delude ourselves that we can find these divine realities far from thy Son. O Mother, who carried the divine Savior in thy most pure bosom and lived with Him in the Holy House that we venerate on this hill in Loreto, obtain for us the grace to seek Him and to imitate His examples that lead to salvation. With faith and filial love, we spiritually travel to thy blessed House. Thanks to the presence of thy Family, this is the Holy House par excellence that must inspire all Christian families. From Jesus, every child learns obedience and hard work; from thee, O Mary, every woman learns humility and the spirit of sacrifice; from Joseph, who lived for thee and Jesus, every man learns to believe in God and to live in family and society with fidelity and rectitude.

Many families, O Mary, are not a sanctuary where God is loved and served; That is why we beseech thee to obtain for us the grace that our family may imitate thine by recognizing and loving thy Divine Son above all things and every single day. Just as after many years of prayer and work, He came out of this Holy House to make heard His Word, which is the Light and the Life, so also may all men hear the echo of His almighty word, which illuminates and converts, and which still reverberates on the holy walls that speak to us of faith and charity.

To thee, O Mary, we pray for the Pope, the universal church, Italy and all the peoples of the earth, ecclesial and civil institutions, sinners and all those who suffer, so that all may become disciples of God. O Mary, on this day of grace, spiritually united with thy devotees to venerate the Holy House where thou were overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, with living faith we repeat to thee the words of the Archangel Gabriel: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!

Once again, we pray Hail Mary, Mother of Jesus and Mother of the Church, Refuge of Sinners, Consoler of the Afflicted, Help of Christians.

Among trials and frequent temptations, in danger of losing our souls, we look to thee and repeat Hail, Gate of Heaven, Hail, Star of the Sea! May our plea, O Mary, rise to thee and express, O Mother, our desires, our love for Jesus, and our hope in thee. May our prayer return to earth with an abundance of heavenly graces.
Amen.

Prayer To Our Lady Of Loreto

Lord have mercy Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy on us. Christ hear us. Christ graciously hear us.

God, the Father of heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, Pray for us.
Holy Virgin of virgins, Pray for us.
Mother of Christ, Pray for us.
Mother of the Church, Pray for us.
Mother of Mercy, Pray for us.
Mother of Divine Grace, Pray for us.
Mother of Hope, Pray for us.
Mother most pure, Pray for us.
Mother most chaste, Pray for us.
Mother inviolate, Pray for us.
Mother undefiled, Pray for us.
Mother most amiable, Pray for us.
Mother admirable, Pray for us.
Mother of good counsel, Pray for us.
Mother of our Creator, Pray for us.
Mother of our Savior, Pray for us.
Virgin most prudent, Pray for us.
Virgin most venerable, Pray for us.
Virgin most renowned, Pray for us.
Virgin most powerful, Pray for us.
Virgin most merciful, Pray for us.
Virgin most faithful, Pray for us.
Mirror of justice, Pray for us.
Seat of wisdom, Pray for us.
Cause of our joy, Pray for us.
Spiritual vessel, Pray for us.
Vessel of honour, Pray for us.
Singular vessel of devotion, Pray for us.
Mystical rose, Pray for us.
Tower of David, Pray for us.
Tower of ivory, Pray for us.
House of gold, Pray for us.
Ark of the covenant, Pray for us.
Gate of heaven, Pray for us.
Morning star, Pray for us.
Health of the sick, Pray for us.
Refuge of sinners, Pray for us.
Solace of migrants, Pray for us.
Comfort of the afflicted, Pray for us.
Help of Christians, Pray for us.
Queen of Angels, Pray for us.
Queen of Patriarchs, Pray for us.
Queen of Prophets, Pray for us.
Queen of Apostles, Pray for us.
Queen of Martyrs, Pray for us.
Queen of Confessors, Pray for us.
Queen of Virgins, Pray for us.
Queen of all Saints, Pray for us.
Queen conceived without original sin, Pray for us.
Queen assumed into Heaven, Pray for us.
Queen of the most Holy Rosary, Pray for us.
Queen of families, Pray for us.
Queen of peace. Pray for us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray

Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord God, that we, your servants,
may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body;
and by the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin,
may be delivered from present sorrow,
and obtain eternal joy. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

December 11^th

Saint Damasus I

St. Damasus I, was born in 305, in Portugal, which was then part of the Western Roman Empire. His father, a widower, had received Holy Orders there and served as parish priest in the church of St. Laurence. Damasus started as a deacon in his father’s church, and served as a priest in what later became the basilica of San Lorenzo in Rome. He served Pope Liberius and followed him into exile. When Liberius died, Damasus was elected bishop of Rome; but a minority elected and consecrated another deacon, Ursinus, as pope. The controversy between Damasus and the antipope resulted in violent battles in two basilicas, scandalizing the bishops of Italy. Though the physical fighting stopped, Damasus had to struggle with these opponents throughout his years as pope. Supporters of the antipope even managed to get Damasus accused of a grave crime—probably sexual—as late as A.D. 378. He had to clear himself before both a civil court and a Church synod. Damasus may not have won this battle directly, but he won the war by initiating works that outlasted all his opponents. Not only did he commission the Vulgate translation but he also changed the liturgical language of the Church from Greek to Latin. He worked hard to preserve and restore the catacombs, the graves of the martyrs, and relics. Damasus was a writer. He wrote many epigrams on martyrs and saints. And he wrote one about himself that shows his humility and the respect he had for the martyrs.

Novena To Saint Pope Damasus I

O Saint Damasus, Bishop of Rome
who guided the bark of Peter through difficult waters,
who kept her on the course set for her by the Lord
even as she grew in this world
from a Church of the blood of martyrs
to one entering the light of day,
of acceptance by the city of man.
You who sought so diligently to preserve the memory of the martyrs
lest it should pass away,
and the Cross of Christ with it,
pray that today, too, the Church will remember its root,
the root of Jesse and His sacrifice,
and that as she grows
our Mother on earth will be well understood
by those called into her walls.
Pray that the martyrs pray for us,
that in their blood we will always find our growth.
Amen.

Saint Damasus, instead of worrying
about the short term of life on earth,
you took God’s view and looked to the things that last.
Pray for me that I may be able to look
beyond immediate popularity and fleeting favors,
and choose to do the things that God wants me to do.
Amen.

Collect Prayer

Grant, we pray, O Lord,
that we may constantly exalt the merits of your Martyrs,
whom Pope Saint Damasus so venerated and loved.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Prayer To St Damasus I

Father,
as Saint Damasus loved and honoured your martyrs,
so may we continue to celebrate their witness for Christ,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Prayer

Saint Damasus, you had within you a positivity to regard the quality of a Christian life as focal, in the short term of life on earth, and you took God’s view and looked to the things that last. You were a dedicated propagator of the faith and discerned the promptings of the Holy Spirit with piety and wisdom.
Pray for us, that we may be blessed with true purpose of spreading God’s Word with love and humility and look beyond immediate popularity and fleeting favors, choosing to do the things that God has designed for us to do. Pray that we may live fruitful, Christlike lives.
Amen.

December 12^th

Our Lady of Guadalupe

The Virgin of Guadalupe appears on a piece of fabric, hundreds of years old, and depict an image said to be miraculous. The Virgin of Guadalupe was declared Queen of Mexico and is Patron of the Americas. Our Lady of Guadalupe first introduced herself as the Mother of God and the mother of all humanity when she appeared on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico in 1531 to an indigenous peasant, Juan Diego. After she had identified herself to him, Our Lady asked Juan to build her a shrine in that same spot, in order for her to show and share her love and compassion with all those who believe. Afterwards, Juan Diego visited Juan de Zumárraga, who was Archbishop of the Mexico City. Zumárraga dismissed him in disbelief and asked that the future Saint provide proof of his story and proof of the Lady’s identity. Juan Diego returned to the hill and encountered Our Lady again. The Virgin told him to climb to the top of the hill and pick some flowers to present to the Archbishop. Although it was winter and nothing should have been in bloom, Juan Diego found an abundance of flowers of a type he had never seen before. The Virgin bundled the flowers into Juan’s cloak, known as a tilma. When Juan Diego presented the tilma of exotic flowers to Zumárraga, the flowers fell out and he recognised them as Castilian roses, which are not found in Mexico. That tilma had been miraculously imprinted with a colorful image of the Virgin herself. This actual tilma, preserved since that date and showing the familiar image of the Virgin Mary with her head bowed and hands together in prayer, represents the Virgin of Guadalupe. It remains perhaps the most sacred object in all of Mexico. Over 20 million people visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe each year, now situated on the very same hill on which she appeared.

Prayer to the Virgin of Guadalupe

O Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas, grant to our homes the grace of loving and respecting life in its beginnings, with the same love with which you conceived in your womb the life of the Son of God. Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Fair love, protect our families so that they may always be united
and bless the upbringing of our children. Our hope, look upon us with pity, teach us to go continually to Jesus, and if we fall help us to rise again and return to him through the confession of our faults and our sins in the sacrament of penance, which gives peace to the soul.

We beg you to grant us a great love of all the holy sacraments, which are, as it were, the signs that your Son left us on earth. Thus, Most Holy Mother, with the peace of God in our consciences, with our hearts free from evil and hatred, we will be able to bring to all others true joy and true peace, which come to us from your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns forever and ever.
Amen.

A Prayer to our Lady of Guadalupe

Virgin of Guadalupe, Patroness of unborn children, we implore your intercession for every child at risk of abortion. Help expectant parents to welcome from God the priceless gift of their child’s life.
Console parents who have lost that gift through abortion, and lead them to forgiveness and healing
through the Divine Mercy of your Son.
Teach us to cherish and to care for family and friends until God calls them home. Help us never to see others as burdens.
Guide our public officials to defend each and every human life through just laws. Inspire us all to bring our faith into public life, to speak for those who have no voice.
We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who is Love and Mercy itself.
Amen.

Prayer To Our Lady Of Guadalupe

O our Lady of Guadalupe,
mystical rose,
make intercession for Holy Church,
protect the Sovereign Pontiff,
help all those who invoke thee in their necessities,
and since thou art the ever-Virgin Mary

and Mother of the true God,
obtain for us from thy most holy Son
the grace of keeping our faith,
sweet hope in the midst of the bitterness of life,
burning charity and the precious gift of final perseverance.

Dearest Lady,
fruitful Mother of Holiness,
teach me Your ways of gentleness and strength.
Hear my prayer,
offered with deep felt confidence to beg this favor…

(State your prayer request here.)

O Mary,
conceived without sin,
I come to your throne of grace
to share the fervent devotion
of your faithful Mexican children
who call to Thee under the glorious title “Guadalupe” –
the Virgin who crushed the serpent.

Queen of Martyrs,
whose Immaculate Heart was pierced
by seven swords of grief,
help me to walk valiantly
amid the sharp thorns strewn across my path.
Invoke the Holy Spirit of Wisdom
to fortify my will to frequent the Sacraments so that,
thus enlightened and strengthened,
I may prefer God to all creatures
and shun every occasion of sin.

Help me,
as a living branch of the Vine
that is Jesus Christ,
to exemplify His divine charity
always seeking the good of others.
Queen of Apostles,
aid me to win souls
for the Sacred Heart of my Savior.
Keep my apostolate fearless,
dynamic, and articulate,
to proclaim the loving solitude of Our Father in Heaven
so that the wayward may heed His pleading
and obtain pardon,
through the merits of Your Merciful Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.

John Paul II’s Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

O Immaculate Virgin, Mother of the true God and Mother of the Church!, who from this place reveal your clemency and your pity to all those who ask for your protection, hear the prayer that we address to you with filial trust, and present it to your Son Jesus, our sole Redeemer.

Mother of Mercy, Teacher of hidden and silent sacrifice, to you, who come to meet us sinners, we dedicate on this day all our being and all our love. We also dedicate to you our life, our work, our joys, our infirmities and our sorrows. Grant peace, justice and prosperity to our peoples; for we entrust to your care all that we have and all that we are, our Lady and Mother. We wish to be entirely yours and to walk with you along the way of complete faithfulness to Jesus Christ in His Church; hold us always with your loving hand.

Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas, we pray to you for all the Bishops, that they may lead the faithful along paths of intense Christian life, of love and humble service of God and souls. Contemplate this immense harvest, and intercede with the Lord that He may instill a hunger for holiness in the whole people of God, and grant abundant vocations of priests and religious, strong in the faith and zealous dispensers of God’s mysteries.

Grant to our homes the grace of loving and respecting life in its beginnings, with the same love with which you conceived in your womb the life of the Son of God. Blessed Virgin Mary, protect our families, so that they may always be united, and bless the upbringing of our children.

Our hope, look upon us with compassion, teach us to go continually to Jesus and, if we fall, help us to rise again, to return to Him, by means of the confession of our faults and sins in the Sacrament of Penance, which gives peace to the soul.
We beg you to grant us a great love for all the holy Sacraments, which are, as it were, the signs that your Son left us on earth. Thus, Most Holy Mother, with the peace of God in our conscience, with our hearts free from evil and hatred, we will be able to bring to all true joy and true peace, which come to us from your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns forever and ever.
Amen.

Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe for the Protection from Coronavirus

Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, Queen of the Angels and Mother of the Americas.
We fly to you today as your beloved children.
We ask you to intercede for us with your Son, as you did at the wedding in Cana.

Pray for us, loving Mother,
and gain for our nation and world,
and for all our families and loved ones,
the protection of your holy angels,
that we may be spared the worst of this illness.

For those already afflicted,
we ask you to obtain the grace of healing and deliverance.
Hear the cries of those who are vulnerable and fearful,
wipe away their tears and help them to trust.

In this time of trial and testing,
teach all of us in the Church to love one another and to be patient and kind.
Help us to bring the peace of Jesus to our land and to our hearts.

We come to you with confidence,
knowing that you truly are our compassionate mother,
health of the sick and cause of our joy.

Shelter us under the mantle of your protection,
keep us in the embrace of your arms,
help us always to know the love of your Son, Jesus.
Amen.

December 13^th

Saint Lucy

St. Lucy is a virgin and martyr of Syracuse in Sicily, whose feast is celebrated on December 13th. According to tradition, Saint Lucy was born to rich and noble parents in the year 283. Her father was of Roman origin, but his early death left her dependent upon her mother, who was of Greek heritage. Like so many of the early martyrs, Lucy had consecrated her virginity to God, and she hoped to devote all her worldly goods to the service of the poor. Her mother, Eutychia, arranged a marriage for her, but for three years she managed to postpone the marriage. Lucy prayed at the tomb of Saint Agatha to change her mother’s mind about her faith. As a result, her mother’s long haemorrhagic illness was cured, and she consented to Lucy’s desire to live for God. Saint Lucy’s rejected bridegroom, Paschasius, denounced Lucy as a Christian. The governor planned to force her into prostitution, but when guards went to fetch her, they could not move her even when they hitched her to a team of oxen. The governor ordered her to be killed instead. After a gruesome torture which included having her eyes torn out, she was surrounded by bundles of wood which were set afire, but the fire quickly died out. She prophesied against her persecutors, and was then executed by being stabbed to death with a dagger.

Prayer to Saint Lucy

Saint Lucy
Whose beautiful name signifies ‘LIGHT’
by the light of faith which God bestowed upon you
increase and preserve His light in my soul
so that I may avoid evil,
Be zealous in the performance of good works
and abhor nothing so much as the blindness and
the darkness of evil and sin.
Obtain for me, by your intercession with God
Perfect vision for my bodily eyes
and the grace to use them for God’s greater honour and glory
and the salvation of souls.
St. Lucy, virgin and martyr
hear my prayers and obtain my petitions.
Amen.

Prayer to Saint Lucy

O St Lucy, you preferred to let your eyes be torn out instead of denying the faith and defiling your soul; and God, through an extraordinary miracle, replaced them with another pair of sound and perfect eyes to reward your virtue and faith, appointing you as the protector against eye diseases. I come to you for you to protect my eyesight and to heal the illness in my eyes.
O St Lucy, preserve the light of my eyes so that I may see the beauties of creation, the glow of the sun, the color of the flowers and the smile of children.
Preserve also the eyes of my soul, the faith, through which I can know my God, understand His teachings, recognize His love for me and never miss the road that leads me to where you, St Lucy, can be found in the company of the angels and saints.

St Lucy, protect my eyes and preserve my faith!
St. Lucy, pray for us!!
Amen!

Prayer To Saint Lucy Of Syacuse

O God, our Creator and redeemer, mercifully hear our prayers that as we venerate Thy servant, Saint Lucy, for the light of faith thou didst bestow upon her, thou wouldst vouchsafe to increase and to preserve this same light in our souls, that we may be able to avoid evil, to do good and to abhor nothing so much as the Blindness and the darkness of evil and of sin.

Relying on Thy goodness, O God, we humbly ask Thee, by the intersession of Thy servant, Saint Lucy that Thou wouldst give perfect vision to our eyes, that they may serve for Thy greater honor and glory, and for the salvation of our souls in this world, that we may come to the enjoyment of the unfailing light of the Lamb of God in paradise.
Saint Lucy, Virgin and martyr, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions.
Amen.

December 14^th

Saint John of the Cross

John is a saint because his life was a heroic effort to live up to his name: “of the Cross.” “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34b) is the story of John’s life. Saint John of the Cross was born Juan de Yepes y Alvarez, in Fontiveros, Avila, Spain in 1542. John became a priest in 1567 and considered joining the Carthusian Order where monks lived cloistered in individual cells. He was attracted by the simple and quiet life. However, he encountered Theresa of Avila, a charismatic Carmelite nun and vowed himself to the primitive Rule of the Carmelites. As partner with Teresa and in his own right, John engaged in the work of reform, and came to experience the price of reform: increasing opposition, misunderstanding, persecution, imprisonment. He came to know the cross acutely—to experience the dying of Jesus—as he sat month after month in his dark, damp, narrow cell with only his God. But as agony leads to ecstasy, so John had his Ascent to Mt. Carmel, as he named it in his prose masterpiece. As man-Christian-Carmelite, he experienced in himself this purifying ascent; as spiritual director, he sensed it in others; as psychologist-theologian, he described and analyzed it in his prose writings. Uniquely and strongly John underlines the gospel paradox: The cross leads to resurrection, agony to ecstasy, darkness to light, abandonment to possession, denial to self to union with God. If you want to save your life, you must lose it. John is truly “of the Cross.” He died at 49—a life short, but full. Saint John of the Cross was beatified by Pope Clement X in 1675, and Canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726.

Prayer of Peace (By St John of the Cross)

O Blessed Jesus, grant me stillness of soul in Thee. Let Thy mighty calmness reign in me. Rule me, O thou King of gentleness, King of peace. Give me control, control over my words, thoughts and actions. From all irritability, want of meekness, want of gentleness, O dear Lord, deliver me. By thine own deep patience give me patience, stillness of soul in Thee. Make me in this, and in all, more and more like Thee.
Amen.

Saint John of the Cross Prayer

O abyss of delights! You are so much the more abundant the more Your riches are concentrated in the infinite unity and simplicity of Your unique being, where one attribute is so known and enjoyed as not to hinder the perfect knowledge and enjoyment of the other; rather, each grace and virtue within You are a light for each of Your other grandeurs. By Your purity, O divine Wisdom, many things are beheld in You through one. For You are the deposit of the Father’s treasures, the splendor of the eternal light, the unspotted mirror and image of His goodness.

Awaken and enlighten us, my Lord, that we might know and love the blessings which You ever propose to us, and that we might understand that You have moved to bestow favors on us and have remembered us.

O Lord, my God, who will seek You with simple and pure love and not find You are all he desires, for You show Yourself first and go out to meet those who desire You?

My spirit has become dry because it forgets to feed on You.

St. John of the Cross Novena

Almighty Father,
you endowed John of the Cross
with a spirit of self-denial
and a love of the Cross.
By following his example,
may we come to the eternal vision of your glory.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

(Mention your request here…)

St. John of the Cross, pray for us.

Say 1: Our Father…
Say 1: Hail Mary…
Say 1: Glory Be…

Prayers of St. John of the Cross

Let Your divinity shine on my intellect by giving it divine knowledge, and on my will by imparting to it the divine love and on my memory with the divine possession of glory.
Let us so act that by means of this loving activity we may attain to the vision of ourselves in Your beauty in eternal life. That is: That I be so transformed in Your beauty that we may be alike in beauty, and both behold ourselves in Your beauty, possessing now Your very beauty; this, in such a way that each looking at the other may see in the other his own beauty, since both are Your beauty alone, I being absorbed in Your beauty; hence, I shall see You in Your beauty, and You shall see me in Your beauty, and I shall see myself in You in Your beauty, and You will see Yourself in me in Your beauty; that I may resemble You in Your beauty, and You resemble me in Your beauty, and my beauty will be Your beauty and Your beauty my beauty; wherefore I shall be You in Your beauty, and You will be me in Your beauty, because Your very beauty will be my beauty; and therefore we shall behold each other in Your beauty.

Light And Love

“Mine are the heavens and mine is the earth. Mine are the nations, the just are mine, and mine the sinners. The angels are mine, and the Mother of God, and all things are mine; and God himself is mine and for me, because Christ is mine and all for me. What do you ask, then, and seek, my soul? Yours is all of this, and all is for you. Do not engage yourself in anything less or pay heed to the crumbs that fall from your Father’s table. Go forth and exult in your Glory! Hide yourself in it and rejoice, and you will obtain the supplications of your heart.”

Stillness of Soul

O Blessed Jesus,
give me stillness of soul in You.
Let Your mighty calmness reign in me.
Rule me, O King of Gentleness,
King of Peace.

December 21^st

Saint Peter Canisius

Peter was born in Holland in 1521. When he was 19, he went on a retreat led by St. Peter Faber and decided to join the Society of Jesus—the Jesuits. He continued to study and teach and was ordained a priest in 1546. St. Ignatius of Loyola was his spiritual director. During Mass one day, Peter received a vision of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which moved him to focus his work on this perspective of divine love. Because he was a brilliant scholar and theologian, Peter provided the Church with invaluable theological counsel—he even attended a few sessions of the Council of Trent. Peter was a great resource for the Church as the Church instituted sweeping reforms across Europe, in response to Protestant reformers. Peter became known as the “Second Apostle to Germany”. Peter was offered the opportunity to become Bishop of Vienna, but he turned down that position in order to continue traveling to the communities who he felt needed him. Everywhere he went, Peter preached constantly. For his work spreading and defending the faith, St. Peter Canisius was named a doctor of the Church, a title given to thirty-six saints who are honored for elucidating the Catholic faith by their words and example. St. Peter Canisius was canonizedby Pope Pius XI in May of 1925.

Prayer For The Intercession Of St Peter Canisius

Lord,
you gave Saint Peter Canisius
wisdom and courage to defend the Catholic faith.
By the help of his prayers
may all who seek the truth rejoice in finding you,
and may all who believe in you
be loyal in professing their faith.
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.

Prayer To Saint Peter Canisius, Patron Of Catechism Writers

Dear Doctor and Defender of the Church,
to you the Master must have said:

“Well done, composer of books
which have taught and inspired countless persons in many lands.”

Help those who compose catechisms
to communicate the true teachings of Christ
in ways that can be understood by our contemporaries
so that they will be moved to follow Jesus.
Amen.

Prayer to St. Peter Canisius

O God you endowed Your priest, St. Peter Canisius,
with holiness and learning for the defense of the Church.
Through his intercession,
grant that those who seek the truth may joyfully find You
and that the people of believers
may ever persevere in bearing witness to You.
Amen.

The Universal Prayer of Saint Peter Canisius

Almighty, eternal God, Lord, heavenly Father, look with Your eyes of undeserved compassion on our sorrow, misery and need.

Have mercy on all the Christian faithful, for whom Your only-begotten Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, was content to give Himself into the hand of sinners and shed His precious Blood on the wood of the Holy Cross.

For the sake of the Lord Jesus, most gracious Father, avert our well-deserved punishments, present danger and future threats, harm and outrage, arms and warfare, dearth and misfortune, sickness and sorrowful, miserable times.

Enlighten and strengthen in all goodness our spiritual leaders and earthly rulers, that they may do everything to further Your honour as God, our salvation, the common peace, and the welfare of all Your people.

Grant us, O God of peace, a true unity in faith, free of all division and separation. Convert our hearts to true repentance and amendment of life. Kindle in us the fire of Your love; give us hunger and zeal for justice in all things, so that we, as obedient children through life unto death, may be pleasing to You and find favour in Your sight.

We also pray, O God, as You willed that we should pray, for our friends and enemies, for the healthy and the sick, for all Christians in sadness and distress, for the living and the dead.

To You, O Lord, be entrusted whatever we do, whatever our path, our work and our dealings, our living and dying. Let us delight in Your grace here in this world, and attain the next with all Your chosen ones, to praise, honour and extol You in unending joy and blessedness.

Grant us this, O Lord, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

December 23^rd

Saint John of Kanty

John Cantius, born in 1390, grew up in Poland and became a priest and teacher at the University of Krakow. He was a serious man and a good teacher. He ate no meat, slept on the floor, and rested little. Though John was hard on himself, he was patient and kind to his students, who loved him in return. Some jealous faculty members, however, had him removed. John was sent to do parish work, but he was not acquainted with such duties. Although the people liked him for his generous and energetic spirit, John was not successful as a parish priest. John returned to the university to teach Scripture. He was known everywhere for his humility and spontaneous generosity. He gave everything to people who were poor and kept only the clothes he most needed. Four times he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, carrying his luggage on his back. When John died at age 83, people had already claimed him as a saint but he was not canonized until 1767.

Prayer On The Memorial Of St John Of Kanty

Almighty Father,
through the example of John of Kanty
may we grow in the wisdom of the saints.
As we show understanding and kindness to others,
may we receive your forgiveness.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Prayer

Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that by the example of St. John,
Thy Confessor we may make progress in the science of the Saints, and by showing mercy to others may obtain through his merits forgiveness from Thee.
Through our Lord.

Prayer to St. John of Kanty

Saint John of Kanty, you were unjustly fired from your work. Please pray for those who are jobless or in danger of losing their jobs that they may find work that is fulfilling in every way. Guide us to ways to help those looking for work.
Amen.

Collect

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that by the example of the Priest Saint John of Kanty
we may advance in knowledge of holy things
and by showing compassion to all,
may gain forgiveness in your sight.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

Prayer to St. John of Kanty

O holy teacher of the faith
and pastor of Christ’s flock
who instructed with wisdom
and led by kindness and humility
those in your care
and all those around you –
teach us today
not only to know our faith
but to practice it by holiness of life
as you have done,
so simply,
so thoroughly as a child of the Lord.
Pray for us
and pray for our priests,
for whom you are a model of perfection.
All yourself you have given
in imitation of Jesus;
may the Lord God
be in our hearts and on our lips
just so truly
as He has been
with you,
good teacher.

December 24^th

Christmas at Greccio

What better way to prepare for the arrival of the Christ Child than to take a brief journey to Greccio, the spot in central Italy where Saint Francis of Assisi created the first Christmas crib in the year 1223. Francis, recalling a visit he had made years before to Bethlehem, resolved to create the manger he had seen there. The ideal spot was a cave in nearby Greccio. He would find a baby—we’re not sure if it was a live infant or the carved image of a baby—hay upon which to lay him, an ox and an ass to stand beside the manger. Word went out to the people of the town. At the appointed time, they arrived carrying torches and candles. One of the friars began celebrating Mass. Francis himself gave the sermon. His biographer, Thomas of Celano, recalls that Francis “stood before the manger…overcome with love and filled with a wonderful happiness…” For Francis, the simple celebration was meant to recall the hardships Jesus suffered even as an infant, a savior who chose to become poor for our sake, a truly human Jesus. Tonight, as we pray around the Christmas cribs in our homes, we welcome into our hearts that same Savior.

December 25^th

Nativity of the Lord

The first evidence of the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord dates back to the year 336. Soon after, in the Eastern Church, the Christmas feast of the Epiphany began to be celebrated on the 6th of January. The date was connected to the civil pagan festival of the birth of the invincible sun (Natale Solis Invicti), introduced by the Emperor Aurelian in 274 and is celebrated on 25th December. Since the fourth century, we observe the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord on December 25. The Nativity tells the story of Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem. Because there was no room at any of the inns due to the census, Jesus, the savior of the world, was born in a stable. After Jesus’s birth, Angels proclaimed him as a savior for all, and shepherds went to the stable to adore him. The Nativity of Jesus celebrates the incarnation of God, which means that he came to earth to live as a man and undo the damage caused by the fall of the first man, Adam. Christmas serves as a reminder that God continues to love us, no matter what we do or who we are. It is not about acting the right way, or always doing the right thing. God’s love is constant. It is unconditional.

Prayer for Christmas

Glory to God in the highest! My precious Lord, Jesus, I adore You with profound love and rejoice in the celebration of Your birth. Your love for us is unfathomable, it is glorious, transforming, awe-inspiring, and deeply personal. You chose to come and dwell among us, being born into poverty, rejection and humility. Yet Your mother knew whom she bore, Her heart was filled with the tenderest love as she adored her Child and her God.

Help me, dear Lord, to come to love You with the heart of Your mother. Invite me to adore You with St. Joseph and the poor shepherds. Reveal to me the glorious power of Your birth and change my life on account of this perfect gift of Yourself.

I love You, dear Lord Jesus. Help me to love You with all my heart. Newborn Savior of the World, I trust in You. Mother Mary and St. Joseph, Pray for me and for all.
Amen.

Christ, Candle of Hope

God, our loving Father, you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, into this world to counter all the forces of evil: sin, suffering and death, and to overcome evil with the force of good; hatred with the power of love, your great love for us in Jesus.

Help us never to curse the darkness, but to join with you in bringing Your light into this world, the light that is your Son, born of the Virgin Mary, in Bethlehem. Help us to be instruments of your light and love by doing one special act of kindness or by being your special instrument of reconciliation this New Year.

May the Christ Candle we light symbolize our desire to bring light into a world of darkness and hope into a world of despair. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Prayer to Jesus in the Manger

O divine redeemer Jesus Christ, prostrate before thy crib, I believe thou art the God of infinite majesty, even though I do see thee here as a helpless babe. I humbly adore and thank thee for having so humbled thyself for my salvation as to will to be born in a stable. I thank thee for all thou didst wish to suffer for me in Bethlehem, for thy poverty and humility, for thy nakedness, tears, cold and sufferings.
Would that I could show thee that tenderness which thy virgin mother had toward thee, and love thee as she did. Would that I could praise thee with the joy of the angels, that I could kneel before thee with the faith of St. Joseph, the simplicity of the shepherds. Uniting myself with these first adorers at the crib, I offer thee the homage of my heart, and I beg that thou wouldst be born spiritually in my soul. Make me reflect in some degree the virtues of thy admirable nativity. Fill me with that spirit of renunciation, of poverty, of humility, which prompted thee to assume the weakness of our nature, and to be born amid destitution and suffering. Grant that from this day forward, I may in all things seek thy greater glory, and may enjoy that peace promised to men of good will.

Prayers at the Nativity Scene

Begin by reading from the Gospel of Luke 2:1-8.

Prayer Before the Manger Scene

God our Heavenly Father, from the moment of creation you have never ceased showing your love for us. Even when we turned away from you, you did not abandon us to the darkness of sin and death. Indeed, it was when our need was greatest that you sent us a Redeemer—your Son, Jesus—to be born of the Virgin Mary. Bless us as we look upon this manger. May it remind us of the humble birth of Jesus and raise our minds to contemplate the awesome mystery of God-made-flesh. Let this holy season fill us with hope that we might join him in the eternal Kingdom of peace in heaven. Through Christ, our Lord and Savior, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.

A Prayer At Christmas

Thank You, Father, that Your times and seasons are pre-ordained and that You sent Your only begotten Son to be born of a woman, so that at the appointed hour He could be made sin for our sins, and in so doing become the propitiation for the sins of all mankind.

Thank You, that in the eternal council chambers of the almighty Godhead, You devised a perfect plan that would save mankind from eternal separation from You, which required that the eternal Son of the Father became flesh and was conceived and born of a virgin.

Lord, we rejoice at the Christmas story and all the wondrous glory that we see unfolded in the manger scene in the little town of Bethlehem, and in the fields, while shepherds watched their flocks by night. We glory at the good news of great joy that was proclaimed by the angel of the Lord, and we are amazed to behold a heavenly choir of angelic beings singing,”glory to God in the highest.” We praise Your name for the visit of the wise men from the east and we grieve at the satanic atrocity that was perpetrated by king Herod on innocent children.

But most of all, we humbly kneel before Your throne of grace when we understand that the baby lying in a manger must one day be crucified to the cruel cross, so that our sins could be forgiven. Father, thank You for sending Jesus to be born so that He could die for our sins. In His name we pray,
Amen.

A Prayer of Thanks At Christmas

Father, we thank You from our innermost being that You sent Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to be born into a fallen race so that by His perfect life and sacrificial death He might be lifted up on the wooden cross, in the same way that Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, so that all who looked would live.

Thank You, Father, for the wonderful plan of salvation that You in Your grace purposed would be the only way that mankind could be saved from His sin, and so You sent Your one and only begotten Son, to be born of a virgin into the human race, God becoming Man, so that man might be eternally clothed in the righteous garments of God.

Thank You that by His human life and physical death, He was able to reconcile us back to God, forgive us of our sins and break the power of death in the lives of all Who believe on His name.

Thank You that from His unpretentious beginning, where he had nowhere to lay His head, to His lifelong submission of the Father, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Thank You, Father, for the birth of My Redeemer and I rejoice in the God of my Saviour. In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

Prayer of Love and Peace At Christmas

Dear Lord, how we praise and thank You that Love in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ came down at Christmas, when the eternal Son of God became Jesus, the perfect Son of Man, and through Whom the promise of peace was given to men of goodwill. Peace with God to those who trust in the redeeming blood of His Son, and the peace of God, for all who are born into the family of God, positioned in Christ and accepted in the Beloved.

Thank You, for the example of a life that personifies love and thank You that the Person of Jesus Christ is the One that satisfies every need of the human heart.

Father, at this special time of the year when we remember that first Christmas day when Your dearly beloved Son was manifested in the flesh in the form of a new-born babe, we pray that His love and His peace may spread abroad into the hearts and minds of many lost and hurting people, who feel themselves unloved and who lack that vital peace with God and the incomparable peace of God within, that surpasses all comprehension.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit grant peace in the hearts of all who are searching for answers, as to emptiness in their lives, this Christmas time. We ask this in the name of Jesus,
Amen.

Prayer To Prepare Our Hearts This Christmas

Heavenly Father, at this festive season I pray that the real meaning of Christmas will not be missed, and that the precious truth that was given to the shepherds and sung by the angels, will become a reality in the hearts and lives of many people this year.

As we prepare for this lovely season of the year and all the joy that it brings with it, help us not to forget that Christ was born for a purpose. And that as we share our gifts one with the other, may we remember the wonderful gift of grace that was sent into the world 2000 years ago.

As we listen to the Scripture readings and rejoice over the good news that was proclaimed that holy night, let us not forget to thank You for Your gift of grace in the Person of Christ Jesus, knowing that He was sent to earth so that by believing on Him we could go to heaven.

Thank You, Father, that in Christ You made all the good and necessary preparation for sinners to be made righteous through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, by first sending Him at the appointed time to be born into a race of sinners.

May we seek to prepare our hearts for our future heavenly home, knowing that our citizenship is in heaven, and may we spend this Christmas period reflecting on the wonderful truth that Christ Jesus was born into the world to save sinners, like me, for which I praise Your holy name. In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

Christmas Day Prayer

O Lord Jesus Christ, true God from true God, you became a little child for us so the world you made would be saved. Just as a child is born to us and a Son is given to us, may we be born again through you
and always remain in the number of God’s faithful children; through your merits, O blessed Savior, with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

December 26^th

St Stephen

Stephen is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity. Stephen is first mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as one of seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to distribute food and charitable aid to poorer members of the community in the early church. He was a deacon in the early Church at Jerusalem who angered members of various synagogues by his teachings. According to Orthodox belief, he was the eldest and is therefore called “archdeacon”. Accused of blasphemy at his trial, he made a speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him and was then stoned to death. In 415, a priest named Lucian purportedly had a dream that revealed the location of Stephen’s remains at Beit Jimal. After that, the relics of the protomartyr were taken in procession to the Church of Hagia Sion on 26 December 415, making it the date for the feast of Saint Stephen

A Prayer by Deacon Keith Fournier

Lord Jesus, you chose Stephen as the first deacon and martyr of your One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The heroic witness of his holy life and death reveals your continued presence among us. Through following the example of his living faith, and by his intercession, empower us by your Holy Spirit to live as witnesses to the faith in this New Missionary Age. No matter what our state in life, career or vocation, help us to proclaim, in both word and in deed, the fullness of the Gospel to a world which is waiting to be born anew in Jesus Christ. Pour out upon your whole Church, the same Holy Spirit which animated St Stephen, Martyr, to be faithful to the end, which is a beginning of life eternal in the communion of the Trinity

Litany of St Stephen, protomartyr

Antiphon: And they stoned Stephen, invoking and saying: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling on his knees he cried with a loud voice, saying: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep in the Lord.
V. I see the heavens opened,
R. And Jesus standing on the right hand of the power of God.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Saint Stephen, First Martyr, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, who suffered for preaching the Name of Jesus Christ, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, who so closely imitated Jesus in that great virtue of charity for thine enemies, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, who when stoned by thine enemies, didst cast forth sparks, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, not of anger, but of love, to set on fire their hearts, harder than the stones which they threw, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, having recommended thy soul to God, cried for mercy on the souls of thine enemies, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, most zealous for the glory of God, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, most patient and constant, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, pattern of chastity and purity, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, whose heavenly fortitude caused admiration in all, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, by whom so many miracles were wrought, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, who, in the love of God, was not inferior to the Apostles themselves, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, who didst convert many to the faith of Christ, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, by whom the Church has received and continues to receive such singular benefits, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, of whom it is said, that the Holy Ghost, who inhabited thy soul, shone and darted forth His rays into thy body, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, whose face shone like that of an angel, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, filled with the faith and the Holy Ghost, Pray for us.
St. Stephen, dear to the Heart of Jesus, Pray for us.
V. Obtain for us, O blessed Stephen, the virtue of holy charity: R. For which thou wast so eminent and we are so needy
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.

Let us pray

Grant to us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, so to imitate what we revere that we may learn to love even our enemies: for we celebrate him who could even plead on behalf of his persecutors with Thy Son Our Lord Jesus Christ. Who with Thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest God, world without end.
R. Amen.

Prayer To St Stephen

Stephen, Stephen, I say:
here is a place for goodness, here is a time for mercy,
here at least is an opportunity to show charity!
For I stand continually in danger
although I do not always recognize this,
and I am the more miserable and wretched
when I forget that it is so.

For God always sees my sins,
always his severe judgment threatens
the sinfulness of my soul,
always hell gapes and its torments are ready
to snatch my wretched soul away to that place.

Thus am I placed when I wake, thus when I sleep;
I am thus when I smile, thus when I jest;
thus, when I am proud, thus when I am humiliated;
thus, when angry, thus when vindicated;
thus, thus I am when I miserably love
the delights of the flesh.
Thus am I then always and everywhere.

So, I pray you, Stephen, make haste
before I am condemned,
before the enemies of the human race
snatch me away to torment,
before the prison of hell swallows me up,
before the torments of eternal fire consume me.

Truly my need is great
when it impels me to ask for help
even of those by whom I deserve to be punished.
But you and all the saints are so full of such wealth
from the unending fount of all goodness,
that you delight rather to free by your goodness
those whom by justice you are able to condemn.
… St Stephen, Pray for Us …

Prayer to Saint Stephen, the First Martyr

O glorious St. Stephen, first Martyr for the Faith, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles.
I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection …

(mention here).
Vouch safe to recommend it to our Lord Jesus. Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted.

Above all, obtain for me the grace to one day meet God face to face, and with you and Mary and all the angels and saints praise Him through all eternity.
O most powerful Saint Stephen, Deacon and martyr, do not let me lose my soul, but obtain for me the grace of winning my way to heaven, forever and ever.
Amen.

December 27^th

Saint John the Apostle

St. John, the son of Zebedee and brother of St. James the Great, was called to be an Apostle by our Lord in the first year of His public ministry. He became the “beloved disciple” and the only one of the Twelve who did not forsake the Savior in the hour of His Passion. He stood faithfully at the cross when Christ made him the guardian of His Mother. After the Assumption of Mary, John went to Ephesus. John is known as the author of the Gospel of John and four other books in the New Testament – the three Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation. Brought to Rome, tradition relates that he was by order of Emperor Dometian cast into a cauldron of boiling oil but came forth unhurt, and was banished to the island of Pathmos for a year. He lived to an extreme old age, surviving all his fellow apostles, and died in Ephesus about the year AD 98. St. John is called the Apostle of Charity, the patron saint of love, loyalty, friendships, and authors

Prayer to St. John the Apostle

O God, who through the blessed Apostle John have unlocked for us the secrets of your Word, grant, we pray, that we may grasp with proper understanding what he has so marvelously brought to our ears. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

A Prayer to St. John the Evangelist the , for a Ardent Love to Jesus and Mary

O Glorious Saint John, you were so loved by Jesus that you merited to rest your head upon his breast, and to be left in his place as a son to Mary. Obtain for us an ardent love for Jesus and Mary. Let me be united with them now on earth and forever after in heaven.

A Prayer to St. John the Apostle , for a Burning love for Jesus

O Glorious Apostle, who, on account of your virginal purity, was most beloved by Jesus as to deserve to lay your head upon His divine breast, and to be left, in His place, as son to His most holy Mother; I beg you to inflame within me a true and ardent love towards Jesus and Mary. Obtain for me from our Lord that I, too, with a heart purified from earthly affections, may be made worthy to be ever united to Jesus as a faithful disciple, and to Mary as a devoted son, both here on earth and eternally in heaven.
Amen.

St. John, the beloved disciple of our Lord, pray for us.

Prayer for Parents to St. John

St. John, chosen and favored disciple of our Lord, selected as the son of His sorrowful Mother, how great your privilege of being allowed to repose on the bosom of Jesus at the Last Supper, and to stand beneath the cross, there to receive Mary for your spiritual Mother! O happy disciple! How did you deserve such great prerogatives and favors? The whole Christian Church knows and acknowledges that it was your carefully guarded virginal purity which made you worthy of the special love of Jesus Christ; and that it was your ardent love and filial reverence toward His Blessed Mother that strengthened your heart to persevere to the end in the way of His holy cross.

O happy child of our dear Lady, how greatly I desire that my children and I may resemble you in purity of heart, in love for Jesus, and in devotion towards His Virgin Mother! In you do we place our trust. You will obtain for us this threefold grace. By your intercession you will dispose the Divine Mercy to pour out these graces into our hearts also. You are so highly favored by our Divine Master, He can refuse you nothing, least of all the graces He has so lavishly bestowed upon you. We confidently hope for these graces through your intercession, O chaste disciple of Jesus and devoted son of Mary! When you have obtained them for us, you must likewise watch over them, that we may never again lose them during our whole life. O pure St. John, obtain our request for the honor of Jesus and Mary and your own eternal praise!
Amen.

Nonena To Saint John

My most loving Saint, St. John the Apostle,
behold me kneeling at thy feet,
beseeching thee with all the affection of my heart
to grant me thy special protection,
particularly when in danger of offending God.
O my dear and holy advocate,
remember me before the throne of the most holy Trinity,
and obtain for me from the infinite goodness of God,
the virtues of humility, purity, obedience,
and the grace to fulfill exactly the duties of my state.

Our Father…, Hail Mary…, Glory Be…

O my dear Saint, St. John the Apostle,
I renew to the Lord, through thee,
the holy resolutions which I have frequently made
of intending to love and serve Him faithfully.
I am resolved to detach myself from every earthly thing,
and I desire ardently to unite myself to Him,
as my first beginning, last end, and sovereign good.
My dear Saint, I beseech thee to offer to the most holy Trinity
the sacrifice of my whole being,
particularly of my judgment and will,
in order to conform fully to God most holy,
because I desire nothing else besides His grace
and His holy love.

Our Father…, Hail Mary…, Glory Be…

My sweet and holy Protector, St. John the Apostle,
behold me again full of love for thee and full of confidence,
beseeching thee to cast thyself on thy knees
before the throne of the most holy Trinity,
and entreat most ardently that God,
through His infinite goodness,
may grant me the grace to fly sin,
and the gift of final perseverance.
Thou knowest, O my dear St. John the Apostle,
how great are the temptations to which man is subject,
and how continual are the perils I run of being lost;
do thou assist me with thy efficacious prayers.

Our Father…, Hail Mary…, Glory Be…

Saint John the Apostle, Pray for us.
Saint John the Apostle, Pray for us.
Saint John the Apostle, Pray for us.

Prayer to St. John as your Patron Saint

Saint John, whom I have chosen as my special patron, pray for me that I, too, may one day glorify the Blessed Trinity in heaven. Obtain for me your lively faith, that I may consider all persons, things, and events in the light of almighty God. Pray, that I may be generous in making sacrifices of temporal things to promote my eternal interests, as you so wisely did.

Set me on fire with a love for Jesus, that I may thirst for His sacraments and burn with zeal for the spread of His kingdom. By your powerful intercession, help me in the performance of my duties to God, myself and all the world.

Win for me the virtue of purity and a great confidence in the Blessed Virgin. Protect me this day, and every day of my life. Keep me from mortal sin. Obtain for me the grace of a happy death.
Amen.

December 28^th

Holy Innocents

The feast of the Holy Innocents has been remembered by the Church since the fifth century. Feast of the Holy Innocents, also called Childermas or Innocents’ Day is a Christian feast in remembrance of the massacre of young children in Bethlehem by King Herod the Great in his attempt to kill the infant Jesus. These children are venerated as martyrs of sorts—they died not only for Christ but actually instead of Christ. St. Augustine called them buds killed by the frost of persecution the moment they showed themselves. In Rome it was a day of fasting and mourning. The Holy Innocents are honored as patrons of babies, and some of the relics in the Basilica reliquary chapel indicate that they come from these children

Holy Innocents Novena

Dear Jesus, we thank You for Your blessed martyrs, the Holy Innocents. We praise You for the holy sacrifice they made by dying in place of You, and we ask You to hear their prayers on our behalf.
Holy Innocents, you were the victim of evil King Herod’s cruel jealousy. Fearing that his power would be usurped, he ordered your deaths. You gave up your lives in place of Christ. Please bring my prayers before the throne of Jesus for Whom you died!
You were cruelly killed at a young age by Herod’s soldiers. You died innocent victims, and we venerate you as martyrs because you were killed in place of the Infant Jesus. Pray for us, that we may always be willing to lay down our lives for Christ. Pray that we may grow in devotion to God each day.
Please also pray for :
(Mention your intentions here).
Holy Innocents, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Prayer to the Holy Innocents for courage and strength

The innocent and sinless are not to be without their penance in this world, upon which falls the deep shadow of sin. I see it is Thy holy will, who wiliest all things well. I, then, will at least deny myself some little pleasure each day for love of Thee. I will not always seek and choose the easy and the flowery path. Teach me to give up daily my own will with gladness for Thy dear sake. Ye holy Innocents, blest Babes, earliest martyrs of Jesus Christ, the King of martyrs, how bright a life was won by that sharp death! Beautiful little martyrs of the holy Child, your eyes soon closed upon the dull mists of earth, to open upon untold glories. Bitter and short the passage, but Oh, Low passing sweet the end! How sweet to have died for Him who came to give His life for you! Pray for me, ye stainless ones, before the Throne, that I too, unworthy and wayward as I am, may come to be with those who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. Most Holy Child Jesus, save Thy children.

Feast Of The Holy Innocents

Holy children of God, you suffered death before you enjoyed the fullness of life, yet now you rest and reign with Christ in glory. Look down from heaven on our poor earth where children like you still suffer and die at the hands of those blinded by this world. Surround and protect the innocent and when our own poor efforts fail, comfort and console the parents whose loss we can hardly comprehend or imagine. We commend to your joyful company in heaven the souls of all dear children who have died. Help us to become like you, simple, pure and true! Teach us to accept love and blessings like you! Fill us with the joy and laughter of life to remind us that to such babes as you, the Kingdom of Heaven belongs.
Amen.

Prayer to the Holy Innocents

Holy Innocents, you died before you were old enough to know what life means, pray for all children who die young that God may gather them into His loving arms.

Holy Innocents, you were killed because one man was filled with hatred, pray for those who hate that God may touch their hearts and fill them with love.

Holy Innocents, you experienced a violent death, pray for all who are affected by violence that they may find peace and love.

Holy Innocents, your parents grieved for you with deep and lasting sorrow, pray for all parents who have lost young children that God may wrap a warm blanket of comfort around them.

Holy Innocents, those around you certainly felt helpless to prevent your deaths, pray for all who feel helpless in their circumstances that they may cling to God for courage and hope.

Holy Innocents, you who are now in Heaven, pray for all of us, that one day we may join you there to bask in God’s love forever.
Amen.

Prayer for Holy Innocents

We remember today, O God,
the slaughter of the holy innocents
of Bethlehem by King Herod.
Receive, we pray,
into the arms of your mercy
all innocent victims;
and by your great might
frustrate the designs of evil tyrants
and establish your rule of justice, love and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the union of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Blessing of Children on Holy Innocents

O Lord Jesus Christ, once You embraced and placed Your hands upon the little children who came to You, and said: “Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and their angels always see the face of my Father!” Look now with fatherly eyes on the innocence of these children and their parents’ devotion, and bless them this day through our ministry.

(The father signs the forehead of each child with the sign of the cross.)

In Your grace and goodness let them advance continually, longing for You, loving You, fearing You, keeping Your commandments. Then they will surely come to their destined home, through You, Savior of the world. Who lives and reigns forever and ever.
Amen.