Novena to Pope St. John Paul II
| Mother, we listen with particular attention to your words: "Do whatever my Son tells you." We wish to respond to your words with all our heart. We wish to do what your Son tells us, We wish to carry out and fulfill all that comes from Him, May our ears constantly hear with the proper clarity your motherly voice: Enable us to persevere with Christ. Enable us, Mother of the Church, Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Amen. O Mary, May we carry out the good works prepared Amen. |
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First Day
Christ, make me become and remain the servant of Your unique power,
the servant of Your sweet power,
the servant of Your power that knows no eventide.
Make me be a servant--indeed, the servant of Your servants.
Second Day
May God bless and comfort all who suffer.
And may Jesus Christ,
the Savior of the world and healer of the sick,
make His light shine through human weakness
as a beacon for us and for all mankind.
- Amen.
Third Day
May the Blessed Virgin,
who had the joy of bringing and holding in her arms
the Son of God made a Child,
of seeing Him grow in wisdom, age, and grace before God and man,
help us to endow our personal efforts on behalf of little children
with active goodness,
an attractive example,
and self-giving love.
Fourth Day
Jesus proclaims that life finds it center, its meaning, and its fulfillment
when it is given up.
We too are called to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters,
and thus to realize in the fullness of truth the meaning and destiny of our existence.
We shall be able to do this because You, O Lord,
have given us the example
and have bestowed on us the power of Your Spirit.
We shall be able to do this if every day,
with You and like You,
we are obedient to the Father
and do His will.
Grant, therefore, that we may listen with open and generous hearts
to every word which proceeds from the mouth of God.
Thus shall we learn not only to obey the commandment not to kill human life,
but also to revere life,
to love it,
and to foster it.
Fifth Day
To the Creator of nature and man, of truth and beauty, I pray:
Hear my voice,
for it is the voice of the victims of all wars and violence
among individuals and nations.
Hear my voice,
for it is the voice of all children who suffer
when people put their faith in weapons and war.
Hear my voice
when I beg You to instill into the hearts of all human beings
the wisdom of peace,
the strength of justice,
and the joy of fellowship.
Hear my voice,
for I speak for the multitudes in every country
and in every period of history
who do not want war
and are ready to walk the road of peace.
Hear my voice
and grant insight and strength
so that we may always respond
to hatred with love,
to injustice with total dedication to justice,
to need with the sharing of self,
to war with peace.
O God, hear my voice
and grant unto the world Your everlasting peace.
Amen.
Sixth Day
Lord, from You every family in heaven and on earth
takes it name.
Father, You are Love and Life.
Through Your Son, Jesus Christ, born of woman,
and through the Holy Spirit, the fountain of divine charity,
grant that every family on earth
may become in each successive generation
a true shrine of life and love.
Grant that Your grace may guide
the thoughts and actions of husbands and wives
for the good of their families and
for all of the families of the world.
Grant that the young may find in the family
solid support for their human dignity
and for their growth in truth and love.
Grant that love,
strengthened by the grace of the sacrament of marriage,
may prove mightier than all the weaknesses and trials
through which our families pass.
Through the intercession of the Holy Family of Nazareth,
grant that the Church may fruitfully carry out her worldwide mission
in the family
and through the family.
We ask this of You,
who are Life, Truth, and Love,
with the Son
and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Seventh Day
O God, You are our Creator.
You are good
and Your mercy knows no bounds.
To You arises the praise of every creature.
O God, You have given us
an inner law by which we must live.
To do Your will
is our task.
To follow Your way
is to know peace of heart.
To You we offer our homage.
Guide us on all the paths we travel upon this earth.
Free us from all the evil tendencies
which lead our hearts away from Your will.
Never allow us to stray from You.
O God, judge of all the earth,
help us to be included among Your chosen ones
on the last day.
O God, Author of peace and justice,
give us true joy and authentic love,
and a lasting solidarity among peoples.
Give us Your everlasting gifts.
Amen.
Eighth Day
Lord, stay with us.
Christ, in Your eucharistic presence,
accept the daily adoration continuing through the entire day,
in this temple,
in this basilica,
in this chapel.
Stay with us and stay, from now on, every day,
according to the desire of our hearts.
Stay with us, that we may meet You
in the prayer of adoration and thanksgiving,
in the prayer of expiation and petition
to which all those who visit this basilica are invited.
Stay with us, You who are at one and the same time
veiled in the Eucharistic mystery of faith
and are also revealed under the species of bread and wine,
which You have assumed in this sacrament.
Stay with us, that Your presence in this temple
may be abundantly confirmed,
and that all those who enter here
may become aware that it is Your house,
"the dwelling of God with men";
may they find in it the very source of life and holiness
that flows freely from Your Eucharistic Heart.
Ninth Day
I leave you now with this prayer:
that the Lord Jesus will reveal Himself to each one of you,
that He will give you the strength to go out and profess that you are Christian,
that He will show you that He alone can fill your hearts.
Accept His freedom and embrace His truth,
and be messengers of the certainty
that you have been truly liberated
through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
This will be the new experience,
the powerful experience,
that will generate, through you,
a more just society and a better world.
God bless you
and may the joy of Jesus be always with you!
Concluding Prayer
We who stand beneath the cross of the ages wish,
through Your cross and passion, O Christ,
to proclaim your mercy today,
that mercy which has irreversibly entered into the history of man,
into our whole human history,
and which, although it seems to be weak,
is stronger than evil.
Your mercy is the greatest power and force
upon which man can sustain himself,
threatened as he is from so many sides.
Holy is God.
Holy and strong.
Holy immortal One, have mercy on us.
Have mercy! Eleison! Miserere!
May the power of Your love once more
be shown to be greater than the evil that threatens it.
May it be shown to be greater than sin.
May the power of Your cross, O Christ,
be shown to be greater than the author of sin,
who is called "the prince of this world."
For by your blood and Your passion
You have redeemed the world!
Amen.