Mary, Help of Christians Part 28

MEDITATION

BY THE conscientious fulfilment of the duties of their state of life the Holy Helpers show us that the will of G.o.d alone was the motive of all their actions. Human respect, regard for the opinion of others, did not influence them.

The cowardly fear, "What will people say?" was the ruin of many a soul.

The enemy of mankind is ever intent upon preventing us from doing good through human respect. He insinuates that virtue and piety are out of date and ridiculed. From human respect many a person boasts of that which ought to make him blush; he thinks it discreditable to be less remiss in his religious obligations than others. Ought the opinion and ridicule of the world influence us to prevent our pleasing G.o.d? St. Paul says: "If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ"

(_Gal._ i. 10). Our Lord Himself tells us, "He that shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven" (_Matt._ x.

33).

PRACTICE

OUR Lord says: "So let your light s.h.i.+ne before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (_Matt._ v.

16). Do not stray from the path of duty on account of human respect; do not let yourself be influenced by the judgments of the world.

_Prayer_

MERCIFUL G.o.d, who gavest the Holy Helpers the grace to fulfil Thy will regardless of human respect; grant that we may obtain through their intercession and merits the courage to despise the opinion of men, and ever serve Thee with a fearless heart. Amen.

Litany and Prayers (located on the first day of the novena).

EIGHTH DAY

Prayer

Preparatory Prayer (located at the start of the novena).

MEDITATION

THE Holy Helpers, well knowing the efficacy of prayer, a.s.siduously devoted themselves to it. From it they drew that wonderful strength which sustained them in their combat for the Faith.

Prayer is the elevation of the mind to G.o.d, intercourse with Him by acts of adoration, praise, thanksgiving, and pet.i.tion. St. Chrysostom says of prayer: "Without prayer it is impossible to lead a good life; for no one can practise virtue except he humbly implores G.o.d for it, who alone can give him the necessary strength. Who ceases to love and practise prayer, no longer possesses the gifts of the Spirit. But he that perseveres in the service of G.o.d, and deems it an irreparable loss to miss constant prayer, possesses every virtue and is a friend of G.o.d."

PRACTICE

OFFER yourself at the beginning of each day to G.o.d, and thereby you will belong to Him throughout its whole course. Renew your consecration to Him frequently during the day by short acts of virtue and especially by a good intention, thus rendering all your work a prayer, and you will attain perfection.

_Prayer_

O G.o.d, I implore Thee through the merits and intercession of the Holy Helpers, to grant me the spirit of prayer, that following their example I may walk in Thy presence and ever enjoy the consolation of intercourse with Thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Litany and Prayers (located on the first day of the novena).

NINTH DAY

Perseverance

Preparatory Prayer (located at the start of the novena).

MEDITATION

A VICTORIOUS death was the reward of the Holy Helpers' perseverance in the service of G.o.d. During this novena you have, no doubt, formed many good resolutions, exclaiming with the Royal Prophet, "And I said, now I have begun" (_Ps._ lxxvi. 11). But it happens that many, despite their good will, become remiss in the pursuit of virtue. Satan is a.s.siduously trying to accomplish their ruin, representing to them and exaggerating the difficulties to be encountered on the path of virtue. They hesitate, falter, and finally turn back. This is the most unfortunate happening that can occur. Of the condition of such a one Our Lord Himself says: "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest; and not finding, he saith: 'I will return into my house whence I came out.' And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. And the last state of that man becometh worse than the first" (_Luke_ xi. 24-26). Are these words not a sufficient warning to encourage us to persevere in our good resolves?

[Image: a.s.sumption of the Blessed Virgin into Heaven.]

PRACTICE

IN concluding this novena, survey again the depth of that incomprehensible eternity which is awaiting you. Contemplate in spirit the endless chain of centuries following each other there in reward or in punishment. Does this thought not banish all the difficulties of perseverance?

_Prayer_

O G.o.d, whose mercies are infinite and whose goodness is without limit, I beseech Thee through the merits and intercession of the Holy Helpers, grant me the grace of perseverance in Thy love and service to the end.

Thou, who dost dispense so many favors through the Holy Helpers, despise not my prayer, but graciously hear and grant it. Amen.

Litany and Prayers (located on the first day of the novena).

CONCLUDING PRAYER

O FAITHFUL servants of G.o.d and powerful protectors of man, Holy Helpers!

Since Our Lord appointed you the heavenly advocates for our needs on earth, I confidently turn to you for help in my distress. Countless numbers praise you for aiding them with counsel in doubt, with consolation in anxiety, with health in illness, with safety in danger, with delivery from prison, and with help and a.s.sistance in all tribulations. Therefore I, too, have recourse to you, and implore you not to refuse me your aid.

Give thanks to G.o.d for me for all the graces He granted me during this novena. I ascribe them to your great merits and powerful intercession. I thank you all together, and each one in particular, for your interest in my favor before the throne of G.o.d. I commend myself to your continued protection, that I may one day be united with you in heaven, there to thank the Giver of all good things and to praise Him for all eternity.

Amen.

Prayers of Pet.i.tion and Intercession

I. Three Invocations

1. GREAT friends of G.o.d, Holy Helpers, humbly saluting and venerating you, I implore your help and intercession. Bring my prayers before the throne of the Most Holy Trinity, so that I may experience in all the difficulties and trials of life the mercy of the eternal Father, the love of the incarnate divine Son, and the a.s.sistance of the Holy Ghost; that despondency may not depress me when G.o.d's wise decree imposes on my shoulders a heavy burden. Above all, I implore your a.s.sistance at the hour of death. Help me then to gain the victory over the temptations and a.s.saults of Satan, and to leave this world hopefully trusting in G.o.d's mercy, to join you in heaven, there to praise Him for ever and ever.

Amen.

2. With confiding trust I turn to you, Holy Helpers, who were selected by G.o.d before many other saints to be the special intercessors and advocates of the distressed. Obtain for me strength and courage to struggle and suffer on earth for the glory of G.o.d, for the propagation of our holy faith, and for my own perfection. You are fruitful branches of the true and living vine, Jesus Christ, for whom you heroically suffered hunger and thirst, persecution and ignominy, afflictions and adversity, tortures and death. Here on earth you were true disciples and dauntless martyrs of Christ. a.s.sist me to follow your example and to suffer for His sake, so that I may not be parted from Him as a useless member, but persevere in His service despite all trials and tribulations of life. Knowing my inconstancy and weakness, I have recourse to you, O glorious members of the Church triumphant, and implore you to support my feeble prayers, and to bear them before the throne of the Almighty, who, for your sake, will hear them. Amen.

3. Great friends and servants of G.o.d, Holy Helpers! Humbly saluting and venerating you, I implore your help and intercession. G.o.d has promised and granted that whosoever invokes your aid shall be relieved in his needs and succored at the hour of death. Therefore I have recourse to you and confidently implore your aid. I am surrounded by difficulties and my soul is oppressed with grief. Burdened with sins, the fear of G.o.d's rigorous judgment appalls me, whilst Satan ceases not to exert all his power to accomplish my eternal ruin.

Therefore I implore your a.s.sistance, powerful Holy Helpers, in my dire distress. By the penitential life you led, by the cruel tortures you suffered, and by your holy death I entreat you to pray for me. Obtain for me the remission of my sins and perseverance to the end in G.o.d's grace. a.s.sist me in my agony and protect me against the wily a.s.saults of Satan, that through your help I may die a happy death and enter a blissful eternity. Amen.

II. Prayer in Illness

COMPa.s.sIONATE Holy Helpers, who restored health to so many through the power of the name of Jesus; behold me suffering from bodily illness and from wounds of the soul. Implore the kind, merciful Good Samaritan, your and my Lord Jesus Christ, to heal the wounds of my soul by was.h.i.+ng them in His most precious blood, and to quicken my spirit by His sanctifying grace. If it, then, be G.o.d's holy will and for the welfare of my soul, let me experience the powerful effect of your intercession, that, restored to health, I may serve G.o.d with greater fervor, and promote your veneration together with so many who experienced your help in illness and suffering. Amen.

III. Prayer for the Sick

MERCIFUL Holy Helpers, look benignly upon me, who implore your intercession for a sick person. Our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ, who Himself went about healing and doing good, appointed you the special protectors and intercessors of the sick, and restored to bodily and spiritual health many for whom you prayed. Encouraged thereby to invoke you, I implore you to offer up to His sacred Heart all the pains and torments He suffered during His bitter pa.s.sion. Offer up to Him also your own sufferings for G.o.d's glory, which you underwent during life, and in death; offer up to Him all the anguish and distress suffered by the sick person for whom I invoke your intercession. Ask Him to restore him to health of body, and to infuse into his soul the grace of salvation, so that he may devote his life with renewed vigor to the service of G.o.d and to the fulfilment of his duties, and thereby gather rich merits for eternity.