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NOVENA FOR LIFE
Our Lady of Guadalupe
See below to read about this
miraculous image.
Learn more about our
Heavenly Mother's love
for you
and all of her children.
Novena begins each day with this beautiful
prayer composed by John Paul II, in Evangelium Vitae:
O Mary, Bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the
Living, to you do we entrust the cause of Life. Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born, of the poor
whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are victims of
brutal violence, of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference
or out of misguided mercy. Grant that all who believe in your Son may
proclaim the Gospel of Life with honesty and love to the people of our
time. Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever
new, the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives,
and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will, the civilization of truth and
love, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life.
HAIL MARY--GLORY BE--OUR FATHER
PRAYER INTENTIONS
1. May all grow in their awareness of the awesome,
beautiful gift of human Life.
2. That those in the abortion industry will be converted and come to
know the joy of appreciating the sanctity of Life.
3. That those carrying the sadness of involvement in a past abortion
may come to know the Lord's loving mercy through the Holy Sacraments
of the Church.
4. That we may be blessed with strong leaders who will work to protect
human life, from conception to natural death.
5. That all medical professionals will use their skills to heal and
to preserve Life.
6. That the laws of our country will change to protect the gift of Life.
7. That all those who find themselves in crisis pregnancy may find the
courage and support to bring their children to birth.
8. That married couples will remain open to the gift of new Life.
9. That the Holy Spirit will fill the hearts of all the faithful and
strengthen them to work for the cause of Life.
"I am your merciful mother,
the mother of all of you who live
united in this land, and of all mankind,
of all those who love me,
of those who cry to me,
of those who seek me,
of those who have confidence in me.
Here I will hear their weeping,
their sorrow, and will
remedy and alleviate
all their multiple sufferings,
necessities, and misfortunes."
--Mary's words to St. Juan Diego
History of Our Lady of Guadalupe
December 12, 1531, Our Lady appeared to St.Juan Diego on a hill in
Tepeyac, Mexico. Juan was a simple, poor Christian convert. The Aztecs
were involved in the horrible practice of human sacrifice. Missionaries
had had very limited success in bringing the Indians to the true faith.
Our Lady appeared amid a light that outshone the sun. She spoke with great
gentleness and love.She asked that Juan bring a message to his Bishop.
The Bishop asked that Juan return with a sign. Juan was to return the
next day to the hill and ask Our Lady. However, the next day Juan's uncle
was deathly ill. Charity demanded that Juan care for his uncle. He could
not meet his Holy Mother. The next day Juan went to bring the priest to
his uncle's bedside. As he passed the hill he heard a sweet voice call
out to him. Our Lady promised the miraculous cure of Juan's uncle. "Go
to the hilltop and find some roses. Bring these to the Bishop as the sign
I wish to give." Juan knew that roses would not grow naturally at
this place--especially in December. In faith he set out.
Finding them as Our Lady promised, he gathered them in his tilma, a rough
cloth garment. Juan brought them to the Bishop, and as he let them flow
to the floor, all present dropped to their knees in awe. There on the
tilma they saw a beautiful image of Our Lady. The Bishop now believed!
The Indians of the area were used to reading a picture language. As they
viewed this image they could read a lesson in the Christian faith. The
symbolism was clear. Our Lady was carrying her unborn Son, she stood over
the defeated "gods" of their time, wore the cross of Christianity,
and showed her love by appearing as one of their race.Our Lady appearing
with the unborn Lord is known as the Mother of the Unborn, Patroness and
Protector of Life. The Indians turned away from the sacrifice of humans.
In the 7 years that followed the apparition, 8 million Indians embraced
the Holy Catholic Faith!
with the same love with which you conceived in your womb the life of the Son of God. Blessed virgin Mary, protect our families,
so that they may always be united, and bless the upbringing of our children.
Our Hope, look upon us with compassion, teach us to go continually to Jesus, and, if we fall, help us to rise again,
to return to Him by means of the confession of our faults and sins in the Sacrament of Penance, which gives peace to the soul.
We beg you to grant us a great love for all of the Holy Sacraments, which are, as it were, the signs that your Son left us on earth.
Thus, Most Holy Mother, we will be able to bring true joy and true peace,
which come to us from your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns for ever and ever.
--His Holiness John Paul II in Mexico, during his first foreign trip as Pope
