A trio of Novenas
to help us prepare for the Birth of Our Savior!
We hope you have had a Blessed Feast Day of St Andrew the Apostle, “the ‘Strong Man’ who Carries the Year (check out this beautiful Ad Rem by Brother Andre Marie on the end of the Liturgical Year).
What determines the first Sunday of Advent, the very beginning of the Church’s Liturgical Year? In the Roman Rite, it is very simply the Sunday nearest to the feast of Saint Andrew, November 30. The first Sunday of Advent can occur either before or after November 30; the formula is that it is the closest Sunday. There is something appropriate here. Saint Andrew is the Protoclete, the “First Called,” as he is named in the East. He was the first of Saint John the Baptist’s disciples to follow Our Lord and he, in turn, brought his brother, Simon, to do the same: “We have found the Messias…. And he brought him to Jesus” (John 1:41-42). It was then that Jesus told Simon he would become Peter. Andrew’s name comes from the Greek word for man. He is to the liturgical year what Atlas is to the celestial spheres in Greek mythology; the manly Protoclete holds the liturgical year, as it were, on his shoulders.”1
Holy Mother Church in Her infinite wisdom gives us this wonderful Feast Day as a marker to begin three Novenas to thrust us headfirst into the new liturgical year.
The first is the Novena in Honor of the Immaculate Conception of Mary which if started today would be completed 9 days later on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
You may find Day 1 of the Novena below and we urge you to pray along with us through December 8th.
Preparatory Prayer to be said each day
Virgin most pure, conceived without sin, all fair and stainless in thy Conception; glorious Mary, full of grace, Mother of my God, Queen of Angels and of men, —I humbly venerate thee as Mother of my Savior, who, though He was God, taught me by his own veneration, reverence, and obedience to thee, the honour and homage that are due to thee. Vouchsafe, I pray thee, to accept this Novena which I dedicate to thee. Thou art the safe refuge of the penitent sinner; it is very fitting, then, that I should have recourse to thee. Thou art the Mother of Compassion; then wilt thou surely be moved with pity for my many miseries. Thou art my best hope after Jesus; thou canst not but accept the loving confidence that I have in thee. Make me worthy to be called thy son, that so I may dare to cry unto thee: Show thyself a mother.
Hail Mary…nine times, and Glory Be…once.
Prayer for the First Day, November 30
Behold me at thy sacred feet, O Immaculate Virgin. I rejoice with thee, because from all eternity thou wast elected to be the Mother the Eternal Word, and wast preserved stainless from the taint of original sin. I praise and bless the Most Holy Trinity, who poured out upon thy soul in thy Conception the treasure of that privilege. I humbly pray thee to obtain for me grace effectually to overcome the sad effects produced in my soul by original sin; make me wholly victorious over them, that I may never cease to love my God.
Continue with the Litany of the Blessed Virgin
Then conclude with the following prayer…
O God, who through the Immaculate Conception of a Virgin didst prepare a worthy dwelling-place for thy Son, we beseech Thee, who by the death of that Son, forseen by Thee, didst preserve her from all stain of sin, to grant that by her intercession we also may be purified, and so may come to Thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
O God, the Shepherd and Ruler of all the faithful, graciously look down upon thy servant (NAME), whom Thou hast chosen to be the Pastor of thy Church; and grant him, we beseech Thee, both by word and example, so to direct those over whom Thou hast placed him, that together with the flock entrusted to his care, he may attain eternal life. Amen.
O God, our refuge and strength, who art the author of all holiness, listen to the pious prayers of thy Church, and grant that what we ask in faith we may effectually obtain, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Today also commences the opportunity to begin two Novenas that will take you through Christmas Eve.
The first is commonly known as the St Andrew’s Christmas Novena because it begins on the aforementioned Saint’s Feast Day…
Say 15 times a day from St. Andrew’s Day (30 November), ending on Christmas Eve
Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment at which the Son of God was born of a most pure Virgin at a stable at midnight in Bethlehem in the piercing cold. At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, to hear my prayers and grant my desires. (Mention your intentions here) Through Jesus Christ and His most Blessed Mother.
The final Novena you may begin today is the lesser known St. Catherine of Bologna 1,000 Hail Marys Christmas Devotion.
On Christmas 1445, St. Catherine of Bologna asked the superior for permission to spend that night in prayer. She wished to offer a thousand Hail Marys in honour of the Mother of God.
At midnight, Our Lady appeared to her, holding the Child Jesus close to her breast. The Virgin placed the Child in the arms of the Saint, from whose heart overflowed ardent acts of affection and tenderness. The virginal lips of the nun touched the face of the Child, who, in response to the love of his spouse, also gave her a kiss.
Tradition tells us that the white mark which remained on St. Catherine’s incorrupt body indicates the exact spot where Jesus affectionately kissed her. In memory of this fact, to this day the people of Bologna observe the custom of reciting a thousand Hail Marys on Christmas Eve or 40 Hail Marys per day in the 25 days leading up to Christmas from November 30th through December 24th.
https://catholicism.org/ad-rem-no-450.html