DAILY NOVENA TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Transcription

1 DAILY NOVENA TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS By: A pilgrim to Medjugorje

2 DAILY NOVENA TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS The format of this Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus follows one recited by St. Padre Pio in response to all those who asked for his prayers. The Novena is divided into three sections in which we "ask, seek and knock" for graces in prayer. The prayer intentions are divided into three categories: Individual Conversion; Families; and Church and Spiritual Communities. Let us join in prayer to "ask, seek, and knock" for these graces so that the will of God is completely fulfilled in all the intentions included in the Novena. As a matter of background, this Novena was inspired in October 2006 by a small group of pilgrims on a retreat at the home of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Medjugorje. This small group wanted to find a way to join together in prayer as a means to continue their pilgrimage when they returned home. They first began to gather their personal prayer petitions and realized that they shared many of the same concerns and hopes for the future. As a result, they prepared this Novena by placing their petitions into St. Padre Pio's Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. They all agreed that they would say these prayers and some in the group decided to recite the Novena daily for a year. Because the fruits of these prayers have been so great in their lives, they wanted to share this Novena with others and invite them to pray this Novena with them. Part of the inspiration to publish this Novena also came from Our Lady's monthly message after that pilgrimage in October In Her message, Our Lady told us that she is never tired of calling us, even though our hearts are heavy and tired of everything that is a grace and a gift. This message hit home. We resolved to offer this Novena as a way to give thanks to Our Lady and to show Our Lady that our hearts are not heavy and tired. How often should one pray this Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus? St. Padre Pio prayed a similar set of prayers to the Sacred Heart of

3 Jesus every day. We encourage you to pray this Novena everyday as well. In praying this Novena together, we ask Our Lady to pray with us. Further, we also invite the entire Communion of Saints and all of the Holy Souls in purgatory to pray this Novena with us. In the name of Jesus and Mary, we now invite you to reflect and then: Pray, Pray, Pray. Amen. Opening Reflection: PRAYER IS THE ANSWER Jesus tells us that He is the True Vine and that apart from Him, we can do nothing. Jesus tells us to ask, seek and knock. Why do we ask for God's help? Because we need God's help. To repeat: we need God's help. This Novena Prayer is a means to draw nearer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to ask for His prayer and help to follow Him. We are all called by Jesus. How do you respond to His call in your life? Does Jesus have a chance of succeeding with you? Jesus teaches us we are all lacking in our response to His call, that with man it is impossible, but not with God. What is it that holds you back from following Jesus more completely? We are called to complete surrender to God. We have a human nature that God raises to a heavenly destiny. But we need divine light, we need divine strength. We cannot gain these by merely human or created means. We need God's grace and help. God provides the means: prayer. We cannot obtain the light and strength without prayer. This divine strength is the power to carry out the Most Holy Will of God in our daily lives. It is the grace of enablement, or the grace of empowerment. In God's providence, we shall not receive what we need unless we ask for what we need, namely grace. The grace is available if we pray. We must pray to unite our wills to the Divine Will. We begin to see that it is not quite correct to say that God never commands us to do the impossible. For God calls us to do that which we could never do by ourselves without grace. God grants that we will receive all of the graces that we need, to do what He wants us to do,

4 provided that we ask and pray for such graces. Pray for what is lacking and unless you pray do not complain at being unable to do what you are called to do. The promise is power. The proviso is prayer. Therefore, we must persist in prayer. Continue to ask, seek and knock. When we seek and ask for God's help, if it seems for a long time that less help than we need is being given to us, never mind that feeling. Keep knocking. Continue to pray, to ask, to seek and to knock. Overcome any setbacks or failures with prayer and humility, always renew your efforts. This process of continuing to seek and then "trying again" and "again" is part of the path of our spiritual growth. It cures us of any illusion of selfreliance and teaches us to depend more and more upon God's grace for strength. Please remember that you are never alone in your struggles on this path. THE ROLE OF OUR LADY Please reflect now for a moment upon the love that Jesus carries within His Sacred Heart for you. Jesus held nothing back for you on the cross. He gave all to us including His Mother. Jesus did not shield His Mother from His passion. She stood at the foot of the cross. Our Lady united her "fiat," her yes, to her Son's suffering and death on the Cross. On the Cross, Jesus gave His Mother the mission of caring for all of us. Our Lady became our mother by virtue of the will of her Divine Son on the cross. We are all her children by the will of her Divine Son. Our Lady especially loves each one of us with her motherly love. Our Lady has said if we knew how much she loved us, we would cry tears of joy. As a result, it is certainly true that Our Lady sees the beauty of our souls. Our Lady prays with us and she is always for us. She intercedes before God for each one of us. She calls each one of us to the path of salvation to Her Son and wants all of us to join her in paradise upon our deaths. We cannot comprehend the greatness of the gift God has given to us through Our Lady's intercession. Further, in this particular time since June 1981, Our Lady has been appearing in Medjugorje and chose

5 the Parish of St. James to lead it in a special way. Our Lady calls each one of us to help Jesus in the fulfillment of all the plans He is realizing throughout the whole world and in Medjugorje by our prayers. Without prayer, we can not comprehend how great s our role in God's design. Our Lady calls us to understand that God has chosen each one of us to use in a great plan for the salvation of mankind. Our Lady beseeches us, urgently implores us to help her realize these plans and to offer prayers and sacrifices for her intentions so that she can present them to God for what is most necessary. Our Lady invites us especially to pray for her intentions, to offer novenas and to make sacrifices in the areas where we feel most bound. Our Lady especially calls us to pray for those who do not yet know the love of God and who do not have anyone to pray for them. For many years, since June 1981, Our Lady has been giving the world messages through the visionaries in Medjugorje. She has been granted the grace to communicate these messages to us in our particular time. Since January 1987, Our Lady has given the world a monthly message on the 25th of the month. Our Lady has invited each of us to read her messages every day and to pray to live her messages more deeply in our daily lives. We are called to open our hearts, and to accept with great seriousness the messages she has given to us. The Almighty God has sent her to call us to the path of holiness and salvation. We are called to respond with humility and to follow what Our Lady is calling us to do. What are these messages? The messages of Our Lady are on one level very practical. We are called to individual conversion. Our Lady's messages call us to increase our daily prayers and to pray the rosary daily; to attend Holy Mass making the Mass a central part of our life; to seek out the sacrament of reconciliation; to adore Jesus in the Holy Eucharist; to restore family prayer; to read the Bible, the Holy Word of God ; and to fast and make sacrifices.

6 The messages of Our Lady in Medjugorje on another level represent a rich resource of spiritual wisdom, direction and motherly guidance. We can unlock this resource by prayerfully reading and reflecting upon Our Lady's messages. Many familiar with these messages suggest that it takes many years of meditating on these messages to comprehend their meaning. We are all called to deepen our understanding of Our Lady's messages through prayer and to bring them into our families and parishes. We are called to open our hearts and to grow in holiness by living Our Lady's messages. Our Lady has told us that she has so many more messages to give in Medjugorje, but she cannot give them to us because the messages she has already given us are not being received. Therefore, we must pray for the grace to comprehend and to live these messages in our daily lives, for one day Our Lady has told us, that we will lament for the time when she was present and carried these messages to the world for her children. Our Lady has told us that without our response, our "yes," our help, she cannot help the world. We are called to cooperate with her in everything, even the smallest things. Our Lady has called us to help her in this task, to become instruments in her hands, to be her extended hands, and to participate in God's plan of salvation for the world. She has called us to prayer and fasting. With prayer and fasting, Our Lady has told us that even natural laws can be suspended and wars can be stopped. Our Lady has stated that with our help she will be able to accomplish everything in God's plans and even force Satan to no longer seduce anyone to evil. As discussed earlier, in Our Lady's monthly message on October 25, 2006, Our Lady tells us that today the Lord permits her to tell us again that we live in a time of great grace. Heaven is near to us. We are not conscious that God is giving us such a great opportunity to convert and to live in peace and love. We remain blind. We are so attached to earthly things. We think only of earthly life. God has sent Our Lady to

7 lead us toward the path of salvation and to eternal life. Our Lady is not tired of calling her little children. But again, Our Lady has told us that our hearts are heavy and tired for everything that is a grace and a gift. We need to trust in the value of prayer. We need to pray to consecrate ourselves to Jesus, to His Sacred Heart. We then need to pray and to consecrate ourselves to Our Lady, to her Immaculate Heart. We need to consecrate ourselves to prayer with a special love so that God will be able to render graces back to us. We need to discover how great a value daily prayer is and say it is time to pray now nothing else matters, God is first, now is the time for praying, nothing is more important to me right now than God. This Novena prayer is a means for us to answer Our Lady's call. We join together in prayer and ask for graces: for what is lacking in ourselves, our spiritual life, our families, our spiritual family, and for all of the intentions listed in the Novena. In the name of His Son, we ask God to hear and answer our prayers. We unite our prayers to the Divine Will and pray this Novena in the name of Jesus on behalf of everyone for the greater glory of God. Amen

8 NOVENA TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS We start with the sign of the cross and enter into prayer with the Apostle's Creed Come Holy Spirit and unite our prayers through the Sacred Heart of Jesus on behalf of everyone for the glory of God, Amen. I. Individual Conversion 0' My Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, ask and it will be given you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of... Novena Intentions of Grace for Individual Conversion. grace for my individual conversion. grace to overcome, one day at a time, any affection for sin, emotional obsessions, lusts, character defects, and material distractions and influences which hinder my spiritual life. grace to receive the sacrament of reconciliation regularly at least once a month. grace to pray the rosary with the heart and to pray at least one rosary (joyful, sorrowful and glorious) each day. grace to decide to set apart a time each day when I put God first and pray to God and listen to Him.

9 grace to receive the Holy Spirit and His gifts and to read and pray with the Scriptures each day. grace to pray with the heart. grace to attend Mass frequently, daily if possible and to adore Jesus in the Eucharist and to live within the Divine Will. grace to read Our Lady's messages and bring them into my daily life. grace to fast and to offer sacrifices to God for the fulfillment of all God's plans in Medjugorje. grace to fast strictly on Wednesday and Friday. grace to become best friends with Jesus and Our Lady. Let us Pray: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be (2 times). Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all of my trust in you. Jesus, I trust in You (3 times). II. Families 0' My Jesus, You have said: "Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, He will give it to you." Behold, in your name Jesus, I ask the Father for the grace of... Intentions for Families grace to entrust and to consecrate ourselves, all of our families and our parishes to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary; I now consecrate my entire family, all of my ancestors and descendants to the

10 Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. grace of unconditional and unceasing love for our families. grace to follow God's call in our lives and to live our vocations with great love and faith. grace to renew prayer in our families and to pray the rosary in our family. grace of reconciliation and personal conversion for all of our families. grace of forgiveness and healing of any jealousy, envy, hatred or resentment in our families. grace to be missionaries of Our Lady's messages and to treat everyone we meet as Jesus would with love and acceptance. grace to start prayer groups and prayer partnerships for Our Lady in our families. grace of healing and conversion for all who ask for our prayers. grace of special blessing for all who we meet and all who we remember in our prayers. grace of healing and strength to all children with mental disabilities, serious illness and handicaps and for their families, caregivers and teachers.

11 grace of healing, strength and recovery for all who suffer from addictions and their families and loved ones. Let us Pray: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be (2 times). Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all of my trust in you. Jesus, I trust in You (3 times). III. The Church and Spiritual Communities 0' My Jesus, You have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." Encouraged by Your infallible words I now ask for the grace of... Novena Intentions of Grace for The Church and Spiritual Communities grace of the victory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the fulfillment of all of Our Lady's plans and intentions in Medjugorje and throughout the whole world. grace for us to comprehend the gift of Our Lady's presence in Medjugorje for over 25 years and the significance of each one of our roles in bringing about the fulfillment of God's plans through Our Lady in Medjugorje and throughout the whole world. grace for all to live the messages we have already received from Our Lady in Medjugorje so that God will send her to reveal further messages to her children in this particular time of grace. grace of protection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, His Angels and Our Lady's Mantle over all residents, consecrated persons, pilgrims, spiritual communities or missions associated with Our Lady's plans in Medjugorje and throughout the world.

12 grace of protection and respect for the dignity of all life from conception to grave in the hearts of all persons throughout the world and the laws of all nations. grace of increased vocations to the religious life and consecrated life including priests, nuns and brothers. grace for all consecrated persons, priests, nuns and religious to live their vocations and to follow the Most Holy Will of God in their lives. grace of thanksgiving and blessings upon all the priests (living and deceased) who have administered sacraments to us. grace of renewal of faith and continued outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Youth of the world. grace of the fulfillment of all of God's Plans in the work, ministries, mission, evangelization and prayers of the Church, the Holy Father, all Cardinals and Bishops, all Priests, religious, brothers, nuns, consecrated persons and all spiritual communities that help us to draw closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. grace of a prompt entry into heaven for all the holy souls in purgatory, especially our deceased relatives, loved ones, those who we have sinned against or those who have sinned against us, and all consecrated persons including priests, nuns, and the religious who suffer in purgatory; we also ask all of the holy souls in purgatory to join their prayers to ours and to pray for all the intentions of this Novena grace of the continued intercession of the Communion of Saints, our Patron Saints and our Guardian Angels for all the intentions of this Novena.

13 Let us Pray: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be (2 times). Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all of my trust in you. Jesus, I trust in You (3 times). IV. Closing Prayer 0' Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted; have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the graces we ask of You through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Your tender Mother and ours. Let us Pray: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be (2 times). Hail Holy Queen. St. Joseph Foster Father of Jesus, pray for us. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all of my Trust in You. Jesus, I trust in You (3 times). Amen. We close our prayer with the sign of the cross. Amen.