Prayer for Ourselves

Prayer for Ourselves

O Mother of Perpetual Help, with the greatest confidence I come before thy Sacred Picture in order to invoke thine aid. Thou hast seen the Wounds which JESUS hast been pleased to receive for our sake; thou hast seen the Blood of thy Son flowing for our salvation; thou knowest how much thy Son desires to apply to us the fruits of His Redemption. Behold, I cast myself at thy feet, and; pray thee to obtain for my soul the grace I stand so much in need of. O Mary most loving of all mothers, obtain for me from the heart of JESUS, the grace

( Here mention your petition)

O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou desirest our salvation far more than we ourselves; thy Son has given thee to us for our Mother, thou hast thyself chosen to be called Mother of Perpetual Help. Show then that thouart really my Mother, show that thou art justly called Mother of Perpetual Help. I trust not in my merits, but in thy powerful intercession; I trust in thy goodness, I trust in thy motherly love. Mother of Perpetual Help, for the love thou bearest of JESUS thy Son and; my Redeemer, for the love of thy great servant Alphonsus, for the love of my soul, obtain for me the grace I ask from thee.

OUR CATHOLIC PRAYER

THE DIVINE PRAISES

The Divine Praises traditionally follows the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at Church when it is prayed by the priest and the worshippers before our Lord (in the Host) is returned to the tabernacle following adoration.

It was composed in a slightly shorter form by Luigi Felici, a Jesuit priest, in 1797, as a prayer to make reparation for blasphemy and profane language. You can recite it privately (or in group settings other than during the Benediction) for this purpose as a great way to show God, the Holy Family, and the Angels and Saints thanksgiving and praise.

Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most Holy.
Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints. Amen.

In an era when many people only refer to our Lord in an exclamatory fashion after some sort of accident, it is good for us to sing His Divine Praises here. As we say in the introduction to the Eucharistic prayer at Mass “it is right to give Him thanks and praise!”

Saint Thomas Aquinas once noted that this can increase the fervor of our devotion to Him, and that thus “we praise God not for His benefit but for ours.” This prayer reminds us of the glories of the Trinity, and of the key role our Blessed Mother, St. Joseph, and the Angels and saints have played in our salvation as well.

images from our NOVENA YESTERDAY

HISTORY OF THE ROSARY Fr. William Saunders

The rosary is one of the most cherished prayers of our Catholic Church. Introduced by the Creed, the Our Father, three Hail Marys and the Doxology ("Glory Be"), and concluded with the Salve Regina, the rosary involves the recitation of five decades consisting of the Our Father, 10 Hail Marys and the Doxology. During this recitation, the individual meditates on the saving mysteries of our Lord's life and the faithful witness of our Blessed Mother. Journeying through the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries of the rosary, the individual brings to mind our Lord's incarnation, His passion and death and His resurrection from the dead. In so doing, the rosary assists us in growing in a deeper appreciation of these mysteries, in uniting our life more closely to our Lord and in imploring His graced assistance to live the faith. We also ask for the prayers of our Blessed Mother, who leads all believers to her Son. The origins of the rosary are "sketchy" at best. The use of "prayer beads" and the repeated recitation of prayers to aid in meditation stem from the earliest days of the Church and has roots in pre-Christian times. Evidence exists from the Middle Ages that strings of beads were used to count Our Fathers and Hail Marys. Actually, these strings of beads became known as "Paternosters," the Latin for "Our Father." The structure of the rosary gradually evolved between the 12th and 15th centuries. Eventually 50 Hail Marys were recited and linked with verses of psalms or other phrases evoking the lives of Jesus and Mary. During this time, this prayer form became known as the rosarium ("rose garden"), actually a common term to designate a collection of similar material, such as an anthology of stories on the same subject or theme. During the 16th century, the structure of the five-decade rosary based on the three sets of mysteries prevailed. Tradition does hold that St. Dominic (d. 1221) devised the rosary as we know it. Moved by a vision of our Blessed Mother, he preached the use of the rosary in his missionary work among the Albigensians, who had denied the mystery of Christ. Some scholars take exception to St. Dominic's role in forming the rosary. The earliest accounts of his life do not mention it, the Dominican constitutions do not link him with it and contemporaneous portraits do not include it as a symbol to identify the saint. In 1922, Dom Louis Cougaud stated, "The various elements which enter into the composition of that Catholic devotion commonly called the rosary are the product of a long and gradual development which began before St. Dominic's time, which continued without his having any share in it, and which only attained its final shape several centuries after his death." However, other scholars would rebut that St. Dominic not so much "invented" the rosary as he preached its use to convert sinners and those who had strayed from the faith. Moreover, at least a dozen popes have mentioned St. Dominic's connection with the rosary, sanctioning his role as at least a "pious belief." The rosary gained greater popularity in the 1500s, when Moslem Turks were ravaging Eastern Europe. Recall that in 1453, Constantinople had fallen to the Moslems, leaving the Balkans and Hungary open to conquest. With Moslems raiding even the coast of Italy, the control of the Mediterranean was now at stake. In 1571, Pope Pius V organized a fleet under the command of Don Juan of Austria the half-brother of King Philip II of Spain. While preparations were underway, the Holy Father asked all of the faithful to say the rosary and implore our Blessed Mother's prayers, under the title Our Lady of Victory, that our Lord would grant victory to the Christians. Although the Moslem fleet outnumbered that of the Christians in both vessels and sailors, the forces were ready to meet in battle. The Christian flagship flew a blue banner depicting Christ crucified. On October 7, 1571, the Moslems were defeated at the Battle of Lepanto. The following year, Pope St. Pius V established the Feast of the Holy Rosary on October 7, where the faithful would not only remember this victory, but also give thanks to the Lord for all of His benefits and remember the powerful intercession of our Blessed Mother. The fact that our Church continues to include the Feast of the Holy Rosary on the liturgical calendar testifies to the importance and goodness of this form of prayer. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, "The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the rosary is beyond description." Fr. Saunders is president of the Notre Dame Institute and associate pastor of Queen of Apostles Parish, both in Alexandria. This article appeared in the October 6, 1994 issue of "The Arlington Catholic Herald." Courtesy of the "Arlington Catholic Herald" diocesan newspaper of the Arlington (VA) diocese. For subscription information, call 1-800-377-0511 or write 200 North Glebe Road, Suite 607 Arlington, VA 22203.

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CHAPLET OF
OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP

How to pray the Chaplet of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

The Chaplet of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is prayed on the regular Rosary of Mary.

Each decade has one prayer for the larger bead and another prayer that is said 10 times for the smaller beads. It goes as follows:

On the larger beads:

"O Mother of Perpetual Help,
Listen to our pleading souls,
You can help us in our needs,
Mary, with hope, we call on you."

On the smaller beads:

"O Mary, help us!"

When completing each decade, say:

"Mary has helped us,
Mary wants to help us,
Mary can help us.
Mary will help us."

After completing the five decades of the Holy Rosary, on each of the 3 small beads, say the Hail Mary..., this followed by the Glory Be....

Upon completing the Chaplet, say the following prayer:

"We fly to your patronage,
O Holy Mother of God.
Despise not our petitions in our necessities,
but deliver us from all dangers,
O ever glorious and blessed Virgin Mary.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us!"

---

During Lent, pope offers handy tips for preparing for confession

During Lent, pope offers handy tips for preparing for confession

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As Catholics are encouraged to make going to confession a significant part of their lives during Lent, Pope Francis offered some quick tips to help people prepare for the sacrament of penance.

After a brief explanation of why people should go to confession -- "because we are all sinners" -- the pope listed 30 key questions to reflect on as part of making an examination of conscience and being able to "confess well."

Pope Francis arrives to celebrate Ash Wednesday Mass at the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome Feb. 18. In a new booklet the pope the pope lists questions to reflect on before confession. (CNS/Paul Haring)

The guide is part of a 28-page booklet in Italian released by the Vatican publishing house. Pope Francis had 50,000 free copies distributed to people attending his Angelus address Feb. 22, the first Sunday of Lent.

Titled "Safeguard your heart," the booklet is meant to help the faithful become "courageous" and prepared to battle against evil and choose the good.

The booklet contains quick introductions to Catholic basics: it has the text of the Creed, a list of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. It explains the seven sacraments and includes Pope Francis' explanation of "lectio divina," a prayerful way of reading Scripture in order to better hear "what the Lord wants to tell us in his word and to let us be transformed by his Spirit."

The booklet's title is based on a line from one of the pope's morning Mass homilies in which he said Christians need to guard and protect their hearts, "just as you protect your home -- with a lock."

"How often do bad thoughts, bad intentions, jealousy, envy enter?" he asked. "Who opened the door? How did those things get in?"

The Oct. 10, 2014, homily, which is excerpted in the booklet, said the best way to guard one's heart is with the daily practice of an "examination of conscience," in which one quietly reviews what bad things one has done and what good things one has failed to do for God, one's neighbor and oneself.

The questions include:

-- Do I only turn to God when I'm in need?

-- Do I take attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation?

-- Do I begin and end the day with prayer?

-- Am I embarrassed to show that I am a Christian?

-- Do I rebel against God's plan?

-- Am I envious, hot-tempered, biased?

-- Am I honest and fair with everyone or do I fuel the "throwaway culture?"

-- In my marital and family relations, do I uphold morality as taught in the Gospels?

-- Do I honor and respect my parents?

-- Have I refused newly conceived life? Have I snuffed out the gift of life? Have I helped do so?

-- Do I respect the environment?

-- Am I part worldly and part believer?

-- Do I overdo it with eating, drinking, smoking and amusements?

-- Am I overly concerned about my physical well-being, my possessions?

-- How do I use my time? Am I lazy?

-- Do I want to be served?

-- Do I dream of revenge, hold grudges?

-- Am I meek, humble and a builder of peace?

Catholics should go to confession, the pope said, because everyone needs forgiveness for their sins, for the ways "we think and act contrary to the Gospel."

"Whoever says he is without sin is a liar or is blind," he wrote.

Confession is meant to be a sincere moment of conversion, an occasion to demonstrate trust in God's willingness to forgive his children and to help them back on the path of following Jesus, Pope Francis wrote.

END

images from 2014 advent retreat of the pilgrimage ICON (Our Lady Of Perpetual Help, Galadima, Gwarinpa, Abuja, Nigeria)

Confraternity of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, OLPH Parish, Gwarinpa, Abuja

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