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, for He has the words of eternal life. We wish to carry out and fulfill all that comes from Him, all that is contained in the Good News, as our forefathers did for many centuries. May our ears constantly hear with the proper clarity your motherly voice: "Do whatever my Son tells you." Enable us to persevere with Christ. Enable us, Mother of the Church, to build up His Mystical Body by living with the life that He alone can grant us from His fullness, which is both divine and human. Virgin Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for us. 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.

Concluding prayer.

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.

Concluding prayer.

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.

Concluding prayer.

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.

Concluding prayer.

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 and will 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.

Concluding prayer.

Sixth Day

Concluding prayer.

Seventh Day

Concluding prayer.

Eighth Day

Concluding prayer.

Concluding Prayer

We who are standing beneath the cross of the ages, wish,
through Your cross and passion, O Christ,
to proclaim today
that mercy which has irreversibly entered into the history of man,
into our whole human history—and which,
in spite of the appearances of weakness,
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.

Source

• EWTN, "Prayers of Pope John Paul II."