Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, have mercy on us!
Lord, have mercy on us! Christ, hear us!
Christ, graciously hear us!
God, the Father of Heaven, Creator of every spirit,
have mercy on us!
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, on whom the angels desire to gaze,
have mercy on us!
God, the Holy Spirit, felicity of the blessed spirits,
have mercy on us!

Holy Trinity, one God, glory of the holy angels,
have mercy on us!
Holy Mary, Queen of the heavenly spirits,
pray for us!

St Michael, prince of the celestial host,
pray for us!
Chief of the angels of peace,
pray for us!
Most strong in combat,
pray for us!
Conqueror of the ancient serpent,
pray for us!
Defender at all times of the people of God,
pray for us!
Who did expel Lucifer and his confederates from Heaven,
pray for us!
Who receives souls at their departure, and conducts them to Paradise,
pray for us!
Solace of the faithful,
pray for us!
Protector of those who are devout to you,
pray for us!

St Gabriel, who revealed to Daniel divine secrets,
pray for us!
Who declared the birth and ministry of St John the Baptist,
pray for us!
Who announced the Incarnation of the Word,
pray for us!
Guardian of the Holy Virgin,
pray for us!
Attendant of the infancy of the Saviour,
pray for us!
Who consoled Christ in his last agony,
pray for us!
Faithful minister of Christ,
pray for us!

St Raphael, angel of health,
pray for us!
St Raphael, one of the seven spirits who stand before the Throne,
pray for us!
Faithful conductor of Tobias,
pray for us!
Who did compel the devil to flee,
pray for us!
Offerer of our prayer before the Lord,
pray for us!
Curer of blindness,
pray for us!
Helper in tribulation,
pray for us!
Consoler in necessities,
pray for us!
Making joyful your devoted clients,
pray for us!

Holy Michael, Gabriel and Raphael,
pray for us!

Christ Jesus, beatitude of the angels,
spare us!
Christ Jesus, glory of the heavenly spirits,
hear us!
Christ Jesus, splendor of the celestial armies,
have mercy on us!

TO ST. MICHAEL:

O God, who did render blessed Michael, your archangel,
victorious over the proud Lucifer and the wicked spirits,
we beseech you that combating under the Cross,
and ever adopting his maxim ‘Who is like God?’
we may be victorious over all our enemies,
and delivered from all impediments;
regulate our lives according to your will and commandments.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

TO ST. GABRIEL:

O God, the lover of the salvation of mankind,
who did commission blessed Gabriel,
assisting before Your throne,
to announce to the ever glorious Virgin,
the mystery of Your blessed Son’s becoming man,
we beseech You,
that recurring to his intercession,
we may be helped in all our wants,
spiritual and temporal.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

TO ST. RAPHAEL:

O God, who in your ineffable goodness
has rendered blessed Raphael the conductor of your faithful in their journeys,
we humbly implore You that we may be conducted by him in the way of salvation,
and experience His help in the maladies of our souls.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

ACT OF CONSECRATION

Oh most Noble Prince of the Angelic Hierarchies
valorous warrior of Almighty God,
and zealous lover of His glory,
terror of the rebellious angels,
and love and delight of all the just ones,
my beloved Archangel Saint Michael,
desiring to be numbered among your devoted servants,
I, today offer and consecrate myself to you,
and place myself, my family,
and all I possess under your most powerful protection.

I entreat you not to look at how little, I,
as your servant have to offer,
being only a wretched sinner,
but to gaze, rather,
with favorable eve at the heartfelt affection
with which this offering is made,
and remember that if from this day onward
I am under your patronage,
you must during all my life assist me,
and procure for me the pardon of my many grievous offenses, and sins,
the grace to love with all my heart my God,
my dear Saviour Jesus and my Sweet Mother Mary,
and obtain for me all the help necessary to arrive to my crown of glory.

Defend me always from my spiritual enemies,
particularly in the last moments of my life.

Come then oh Glorious Prince and succour me in my last struggle,
and with your powerful weapon
cast far from me into the infernal abysses that prevaricator and proud angel
that one day you prostrated in the celestial battle.

Saint Michael, defend us in our daily battle
so that we may not perish in the last Judgement.
Amen

Monday, January 19, 2009

Chaplet of Virtues

Join me praying one of the most beautiful chaplets , the one dedicated to the Ten Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary .
If we want to live a truly holy life today, one of the best ways is to imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her Ten Evangelical Virtues shine through the Holy Scriptures as a glorious way to salvation for each of us.
We can reflect on Mary’s virtues and invoke her powerful, maternal intercession by praying the "Chaplet of the Ten Evangelical Virtues of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary", a great Marian devotional tradition. The White Marians carried their chaplet or decima with them all their lives, and were buried still holding it in their hands. This chaplet was given to each White Marian on the first day of his religious life, when he was vested in his habit.
"The Chaplet of the Ten Evangelical Virtues of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary" was the Marians’ everyday prayer for almost two and a half centuries.
This prayer, contained in the Rule of the Ten Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, has been passed on by tradition in the Marian Order.

First of all we make the sign of the Cross,
then we recite one Our Father,
followed by ten Hail Mary’s, mentioning after the words " Holy Mary, Mother of God ", one virtue, in the following order:
1. Most pure,
2. Most prudent,
3. Most humble,
4. Most faithful,
5. Most devout,
6. Most obedient,
7. Most poor,
8. Most patient,
9. Most merciful,
10. Most sorrowful,
"pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death."

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.
In Your Conception, O Virgin Mary, You were Immaculate.
Pray for us to the Father whose son, Jesus, you brought forth into the world.
Let us pray.
Father, you prepared the virgin Mary to be the worthy mother of your Son. You let her share beforehand in the salvation Christ would bring by his death, and kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception. Help us by her prayers to live in your presence without sin. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Amen.
The Virgin Mary’s Immaculate Conception
Be our Health and our Protection. Amen

Pray Daily the Chaplet of Seven Sorrow



We start with an Act of contrition :

O my Lord, Thou who alone art most worthy of my love, behold me standing before Thy Divine Presence all in confusion at the thought of the many grievous injuries I have done Thee.
I ask Thy pardon for them with my whole heart, repenting of them purely for love of Thee, and hating and loathing them above every other evil of this life, when I think of Thy infinite goodness.
As I would rather have died a thousand times than have offended Thee, so now I am most firmly resolved to lose my life rather than offend Thee again.
My crucified Jesus, I firmly purpose to cleanse my soul as soon as possible by Thy most Precious Blood in the Sacrament of Penance.
And thou, most tender Virgin, Mother of Mercy and Refuge of sinners, do thou obtain for me the pardon of sin by virtue of thy bitter pains; whilst praying according to the mind of so many holy Pontiffs in order to obtain the indulgences granted to this thy holy Rosary, I hope thereby to obtain remission of all pains due to my sins. Amen

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

1. The first sword of sorrow to pierce Mary's heart was the Prophecy of Holy Simeon when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the temple.

I compassionate thee, sorrowing Mary, in the affliction of thy tender heart when the holy old man Simeon prophesied to thee. Dear Mother, by thy heart then so afflicted, obtain for me the virtue of humility and the gift of holy fear of God.

Pray the Our Father. Reflect on the first sorrow while saying seven Hail Marys.

2. The second sword of sorrow to pierce Mary's heart was the Flight into Egypt. An angel of the Lord told Joseph to take the Holy Family to Egypt to flee from Herod

I compassionate thee, sorrowing Mary, in the anxiety which thy sensitive heart underwent in the flight to and sojourn in Egypt. Dear Mother, by thy heart which was then made so anxious, obtain for me the virtue of liberality, specially towards the poor, and the gift of piety.

Pray the Our Father. Reflect on the second sorrow while saying seven Hail Marys.

3. The third sword of sorrow to pierce Mary's heart was Three-day Separation from Jesus in Jerusalem .

I compassionate thee, sorrowing Mary, in the trouble of thy careful heart when thou didst lose thy dear Son Jesus. Dear Mother, by thy heart then so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of holy chastity and the gift of knowledge

Pray the Our Father. Reflect on the third sorrow while saying seven Hail Marys.

4. The fourth sword of sorrow to pierce Mary's heart was Meeting Christ on the Road to Calvary .

I compassionate thee, sorrowing Mary, in the shock thy maternal heart underwent when Jesus met thee as He carried His cross. Dear Mother, by thy loving heart then so overwhelmed, obtain for me the virtue of patience and the gift of fortitude.

Pray the Our Father. Reflect on the fourth sorrow while saying seven Hail Marys.

5. The fifth sword of sorrow to pierce Mary's heart was the Crucifixion and Death of Jesus Christ .

I compassionate thee, sorrowing Mary, in the martyrdom thy generous heart bore so nobly whilst thou didst stand by Jesus in His agony. Dear Mother, by thy heart then so martyred, obtain for me the virtue of temperance and the gift of counsel.

Pray the Our Father. Reflect on the fifth sorrow while saying seven Hail Marys.

6. The sixth sword of sorrow to pierce Mary's heart was Our Lord is Taken Down from the Cross (Pieta) Mary could see all his wounds up close.

I Compassionate thee, sorrowing Mary, in the wound of thy tender heart when the sacred Side of Jesus was pierced with the lance. Dear Mother, by thy heart then so transfixed, obtain for me the virtue of fraternal charity and the gift of understanding

Pray the Our Father. Reflect on the sixth sorrow while saying seven Hail Marys.


7. The seventh sword of sorrow to pierce Mary's heart was Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is Buried in the Tomb contemplate her following His sacred body, as it was borne by Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, to the sepulcher, enclosed there, and hidden from her sight. .

I compassionate thee, sorrowing Mary, in the pang felt by thy loving heart when the Body of Jesus was buried in the grave. Dear Mother, by all the bitterness of desolation thou didst then experience, obtain for me the virtue of diligence and the gift of wisdom.

Pray the Our Father. Reflect on the seventh sorrow while saying seven Hail Marys.

In the end of the chaplet we pray three Hail Marys in honor the tears Mary shed, and ask her to help in achieving true contrition for your sins.

Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be, for the intentions of the Pope.

"Pray for us, O most Sorrowful Virgin.- That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen."

The closing prayer, "Lord Jesus, we now implore, both for the present and for the hour of our death, the intercession of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, your Mother, whose holy soul was pierced at the time of your Passion by a sword of grief. Grant us this favor, O Savior of the world, Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen."

We shall end the Chaplet with the sign of the cross. Amen

Eternal Father, I offer You the most precious blood of thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, for those in my own home and in my family. Amen