Novena to the Queenship of Mary - Day 9

Day 9 – May 30^th – Feast of Pope Saint Felix I and Saint Joan of Arc

~Prayers~

O my sovereign Queen and worthy Mother of my God, most holy Mary; I seeing myself, as I do, so despicable and loaded with so many sins, ought not to presume to call thee Mother, or even to approach thee; yet I will not allow my miseries to deprive me of the consolation and confidence that I feel in calling thee mother; I know well that I deserve that thou shouldst reject me; but I beseech thee to remember all that thy Son Jesus has endured for me, and then reject me if thou canst.  I am a wretched sinner, who, more than all others, have despised the infinite majesty of God: but the evil is done.  To thee have I recourse; thou canst help me; my Mother, help me.  Say not that thou canst not do so; for I know that thou art all-powerful, and that thou obtainest whatever thou desirest of God; and if thou sayest that thou wilt not help me, tell me at least to whom I can apply in this my so great misfortune.  "Either pity me," will I say with the devout St. Anselm, "O my Jesus, and forgive me, and do thou pity me, my Mother Mary, by interceding for me, or at least tell me to whom I can have recourse, who is more compassionate, or in whom I can have greater confidence than in thee.” (Prayer of Saint Alphonsus Ligouri, The Glories of Mary)

Look forgivingly on thy flock, Eternal Shepherd, and keep it in thy constant protection, by the intercession of blessed Felix thy Martyr and Sovereign Pontiff, whom thou didst constitute Shepherd of the whole Church.  Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.   (Missale Romanum)

The immortal crown to thee, O Joan! we bear;

Thou martyr of high God! to thee the palm we bring;

A glorious throne for thee our loving hands prepare,

Beside the King.

Rest now in heaven at last, rest now in heaven, pure bride,

Escaped forevermore from every net and snare!

In endless peace behold! the living waters glide

’Mid fields bestrewn with flowers most fair!

Take thou thy flight; expand thy wings of snow;

For swiftly shalt thou speed from star to golden star.

Through heaven’s eternal space, all joyous shalt thou go.

Fly now afar!

No cruel foes are here, no gloomy prison walls;

The shining seraph hosts hail thee their sister blest;

For thee, O spouse of Christ: thy Well-Beloved calls.

Find now with Him eternal rest!

(Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, Poems, The Canticle of Triumph - The Saints to Jeanne D’Arc)

~Reading for Meditation~

Taken from the Encyclical Letter of Ven. Pope Pius XII Ad Caeli Reginam – On Proclaiming the Queenship of Mary

By this Encyclical Letter We are instituting a feast so that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more devoutly the merciful and maternal sway of the Mother of God. We are convinced that this feast will help to preserve, strengthen and prolong that peace among nations which daily is almost destroyed by recurring crises. Is she not a rainbow in the clouds reaching towards God, the pledge of a covenant of peace?[Gen. 9:13] "Look upon the rainbow, and bless Him that made it; surely it is beautiful in its brightness. It encompasses the heaven about with the circle of its glory, the hands of the Most High have displayed it."[Eccl. 43:12-13] Whoever, therefore, reverences the Queen of heaven and earth -- and let no one consider himself exempt from this tribute of a grateful and loving soul -- let him invoke the most effective of Queens, the Mediatrix of peace; let him respect and preserve peace, which is not wickedness unpunished nor freedom without restraint, but a well-ordered harmony under the rule of the will of God; to its safeguarding and growth the gentle urgings and commands of the Virgin Mary impel us.

Earnestly desiring that the Queen and Mother of Christendom may hear these Our prayers, and by her peace make happy a world shaken by hate, and may, after this exile show unto us all Jesus, Who will be our eternal peace and joy, to you, Venerable Brothers, and to your flocks, as a promise of God's divine help and a pledge of Our love, from Our heart We impart the Apostolic Benediction.

Prayers for each day.

Novena to the Queenship of Mary - Day 8

Day 8 – May 29^th – Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

~Prayers~

O my sovereign Queen and worthy Mother of my God, most holy Mary; I seeing myself, as I do, so despicable and loaded with so many sins, ought not to presume to call thee Mother, or even to approach thee; yet I will not allow my miseries to deprive me of the consolation and confidence that I feel in calling thee mother; I know well that I deserve that thou shouldst reject me; but I beseech thee to remember all that thy Son Jesus has endured for me, and then reject me if thou canst.  I am a wretched sinner, who, more than all others, have despised the infinite majesty of God: but the evil is done.  To thee have I recourse; thou canst help me; my Mother, help me.  Say not that thou canst not do so; for I know that thou art all-powerful, and that thou obtainest whatever thou desirest of God; and if thou sayest that thou wilt not help me, tell me at least to whom I can apply in this my so great misfortune.  "Either pity me," will I say with the devout St. Anselm, "O my Jesus, and forgive me, and do thou pity me, my Mother Mary, by interceding for me, or at least tell me to whom I can have recourse, who is more compassionate, or in whom I can have greater confidence than in thee.” (Prayer of Saint Alphonsus Ligouri, The Glories of Mary)

O God, Who lovest virginity, and who didst make thy blessed Virgin Mary Magdalen a-fire with the love of thyself, and rich with thy heavenly gifts, grant unto us, who honour her memory by a yearly feast, the grace to copy the ensample of her purity and of her tenderness.  Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.   (Missale Romanum)

~Reading for Meditation~

Taken from True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, by Saint Louis Marie de Montfort

Mary is the Queen of heaven and earth by grace as Jesus is king by nature and by conquest. But as the kingdom of Jesus Christ exists primarily in the heart or interior of man, according to the words of the Gospel, "The kingdom of God is within you", so the kingdom of the Blessed Virgin is principally in the interior of man, that is, in his soul. It is principally in souls that she is glorified with her Son more than in any visible creature. So we may call her, as the saints do, Queen of our hearts.

We must conclude that, being necessary to God by a necessity which is called "hypothetical", (that is, because God so willed it), the Blessed Virgin is all the more necessary for men to attain their final end. Consequently we must not place devotion to her on the same level as devotion to the other saints as if it were merely something optional.

She enriches our good works by adorning them with her own merits and virtues. It is as if a poor peasant, wishing to win the friendship and favour of the king, were to go the queen and give her an apple - his only possession - for her to offer it to the king. The queen, accepting the peasant's humble gift, puts it on a beautiful golden dish and presents it to the king on behalf of the peasant. The apple in itself would not be a gift worthy of a king, but presented by the queen in person on a dish of gold, it becomes fit for any king.

Prayers for each day.

Novena to the Queenship of Mary - Day 7

Day 7 – May 28^th – Feast of Saint Augustine of Canterbury

~Prayers~

O my sovereign Queen and worthy Mother of my God, most holy Mary; I seeing myself, as I do, so despicable and loaded with so many sins, ought not to presume to call thee Mother, or even to approach thee; yet I will not allow my miseries to deprive me of the consolation and confidence that I feel in calling thee mother; I know well that I deserve that thou shouldst reject me; but I beseech thee to remember all that thy Son Jesus has endured for me, and then reject me if thou canst.  I am a wretched sinner, who, more than all others, have despised the infinite majesty of God: but the evil is done.  To thee have I recourse; thou canst help me; my Mother, help me.  Say not that thou canst not do so; for I know that thou art all-powerful, and that thou obtainest whatever thou desirest of God; and if thou sayest that thou wilt not help me, tell me at least to whom I can apply in this my so great misfortune.  "Either pity me," will I say with the devout St. Anselm, "O my Jesus, and forgive me, and do thou pity me, my Mother Mary, by interceding for me, or at least tell me to whom I can have recourse, who is more compassionate, or in whom I can have greater confidence than in thee.” (Prayer of Saint Alphonsus Ligouri, The Glories of Mary)

O God, Who didst give blessed Augustine to the English people, to be their first teacher, grant unto us, we beseech thee, that as we do proclaim his praise on earth, so we may feel his prayers in heaven.  Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.   (Missale Romanum)

~Reading for Meditation~

Taken from the Example for Part I of Chapter I of The Glories of Mary by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

We read, in the life of Sister Catharine of St. Augustine, that in the place where she resided, there was a woman, of the name of Mary, who in her youth was a sinner, and in her old age continued so obstinate in wickedness, that she was driven out of the city, and reduced to live in a secluded cave; there she died, half consumed by disease, without the sacraments, and was consequently interred in a field like a beast.  Sister Catharine, who always recommended the souls of those who departed from this world, with great fervor to God, on hearing the unfortunate end of this poor, poor old woman, never thought of praying for her, and she looked upon her (as did every one else) as irrevocably lost.  One day, four years afterwards, a suffering soul appeared to her, and exclaimed: "How unfortunate is my lot, Sister Catharine! Thou recommendest the souls of all those that die to God; on my soul alone thou has not compassion."  "And who art thou!" asked the servant of God.  "I am," she replied, "that poor Mary who died in the cave."  "And art thou saved?" said Catharine.  "Yes," she answered, "by the mercy of the Blessed Virgin Mary."  "And how?"  "When I saw myself at the point of death, loaded with sins, and abandoned by all, I had recourse to the Mother of God, saying, 'Lady, thou art the refuge of abandoned creatures; behold me, at this moment, abandoned by all; thou art my only hope; thou alone canst help me: have pity on me.'  The Blessed Virgin obtained, for me the grace to make an act of contrition.  I died, and am saved; and besides this, she my Queen obtained for me another favor, that my purgatory should be shortened, by enduring, in intensity, that which otherwise would have lasted for many years: I now want only a few masses to be entirely delivered; I beg thee to have them said; and on my part, I promise always to pray for thee to God and to Mary."  Sister Catharine immediately had the masses said; and after a few days that soul again appeared to her, shining like the sun, and said: "I thank thee, Catharine: behold, I go to Paradise, to sing the mercies of my God, and to pray for thee."

Prayers for each day.

Novena to the Queenship of Mary - Day 6

Day 6 – May 27^th – Feast of Saint Bede the Venerable

~Prayers~

O my sovereign Queen and worthy Mother of my God, most holy Mary; I seeing myself, as I do, so despicable and loaded with so many sins, ought not to presume to call thee Mother, or even to approach thee; yet I will not allow my miseries to deprive me of the consolation and confidence that I feel in calling thee mother; I know well that I deserve that thou shouldst reject me; but I beseech thee to remember all that thy Son Jesus has endured for me, and then reject me if thou canst.  I am a wretched sinner, who, more than all others, have despised the infinite majesty of God: but the evil is done.  To thee have I recourse; thou canst help me; my Mother, help me.  Say not that thou canst not do so; for I know that thou art all-powerful, and that thou obtainest whatever thou desirest of God; and if thou sayest that thou wilt not help me, tell me at least to whom I can apply in this my so great misfortune.  "Either pity me," will I say with the devout St. Anselm, "O my Jesus, and forgive me, and do thou pity me, my Mother Mary, by interceding for me, or at least tell me to whom I can have recourse, who is more compassionate, or in whom I can have greater confidence than in thee.” (Prayer of Saint Alphonsus Ligouri, The Glories of Mary)

O God, Who dost enlighten Thy Church by the learning of blessed Bede Thy Confessor and our teacher, mercifully grant unto Thy servants ever to be enlightened by his wisdom and helped for his sake. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.   (Missale Romanum)

Look forgivingly on thy flock, Eternal Shepherd, and keep it in thy constant protection, by the intercession of blessed John thy Martyr and Sovereign Pontiff, whom thou didst constitute Shepherd of the whole Church.  Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.   (Missale Romanum)

~Reading for Meditation~

Taken from Part I of Chapter I of The Glories of Mary by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

How great, then, should be our confidence in this Queen, knowing her great power with God, and that she is so rich and full of mercy, that there is no one living on the earth who does not partake of her compassion and favor.  This was revealed by our Blessed Lady herself to St. Bridget, saying, "I am the Queen of heaven and the Mother of Mercy; I am the joy of the just, and the door through which sinners are brought to God.  There is no sinner on earth so accursed as to be deprived of my mercy; for all, if they receive nothing else through my intercession, receive the grace of being less tempted by the devils than they would otherwise have been".  "No one," she adds, "unless the irrevocable sentence has been pronounced" (that is, the one pronounced on the damned), "is so cast off by God that he will not return to him, and enjoy his mercy, if he invokes my aid" (Rev. l. 6, c. 10).  "I am called by all the Mother of Mercy, and truly the mercy of my Son towards men has made me thus merciful towards them" (Ibid. l. 2, c. 23); and she concludes by saying, "and therefore miserable will he be, and miserable will he be to all eternity, who, in this life, having it in his power to invoke me, who am so compassionate to all, and so desirous to assist sinners, is miserable enough not to invoke me, and so is damned" (Ibid.).

Let us, then, have recourse, and always have recourse, to this most sweet Queen, if we would be certain of salvation; and if we are alarmed and disheartened at the sight of our sins, let us remember that it is in order to save the greatest and most abandoned sinners, who recommend themselves to her, that Mary is made the Queen of Mercy.  Such have to be her crown in heaven; according to the words addressed to her by her Divine Spouse: Come from Libanus, my spouse; come from Libanus, come: thou shalt be crowned; . . . from the dens of the lions from the mountains of the leopards (Cant. Iv. 8).  And what are these dens of beasts, but miserable sinners, whose souls have become the home of sin, the most frightful monster that can be found.  "With such souls," says the Abbot Rupert, addressing our Blessed Lady, "saved by thy means, O great Queen Mary, wilt thou be crowned in heaven; for their salvation will form a diadem worthy of, and well-becoming, a Queen of Mercy" (In Cant. 1, iii).

Prayers for each day.

Novena to the Queenship of Mary - Day 5

Day 5 – May 26^th – Feast of Saint Philip Neri

~Prayers~

O my sovereign Queen and worthy Mother of my God, most holy Mary; I seeing myself, as I do, so despicable and loaded with so many sins, ought not to presume to call thee Mother, or even to approach thee; yet I will not allow my miseries to deprive me of the consolation and confidence that I feel in calling thee mother; I know well that I deserve that thou shouldst reject me; but I beseech thee to remember all that thy Son Jesus has endured for me, and then reject me if thou canst.  I am a wretched sinner, who, more than all others, have despised the infinite majesty of God: but the evil is done.  To thee have I recourse; thou canst help me; my Mother, help me.  Say not that thou canst not do so; for I know that thou art all-powerful, and that thou obtainest whatever thou desirest of God; and if thou sayest that thou wilt not help me, tell me at least to whom I can apply in this my so great misfortune.  "Either pity me," will I say with the devout St. Anselm, "O my Jesus, and forgive me, and do thou pity me, my Mother Mary, by interceding for me, or at least tell me to whom I can have recourse, who is more compassionate, or in whom I can have greater confidence than in thee.” (Prayer of Saint Alphonsus Ligouri, The Glories of Mary)

O God, who hast exalted thy blessed Confessor Philip to the glory of thy saints be appeased and grant that as we rejoice in his feast we may profit by the example of his virtutes. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.   (Missale Romanum)

Look forgivingly on thy flock, Eternal Shepherd, and keep it in thy constant protection, by the intercession of blessed Eleutherius thy Martyr and Sovereign Pontiff, whom thou didst constitute Shepherd of the whole Church. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.   (Missale Romanum)

~Reading for Meditation~

Taken from Part I of Chapter I of The Glories of Mary by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Suetonius (Tit. c. 8.) relates of the Emperor Titus that he could never refuse a favor, so much so that he sometimes promised more than he could grant, and when admonished of this he replied, that a prince should never send away any person whom he admitted to his audience dissatisfied.  Titus spoke thus, but in reality he must often have deceived or failed in his promises.  Our Queen cannot deceive, and can obtain all that she wills for her clients.  Moreover, "our Lord has given her so benign and compassionate a heart," says Lanspergius, "that she cannot send away any one dissatisfied who prays to her" (Alloq. l. 1, p. 4. can. 12).  But how, to use the words of St. Bonaventure, canst thou, O Mary, who art the Queen of Mercy, refuse to succor the miserable?  And "who," asks the saint, "are the subjects for mercy, if not the miserable?  And since thou art the Queen of Mercy," he continues, "and I am the most miserable of sinners, it follows that I am the first of thy subjects.  How, then, O Lady, canst thou do otherwise than exercise thy mercy on me?" (Paciucch. In Salve Reg. exc. 2.)  Have pity on us, then, O Queen of Mercy, and take charge of our salvation.

"Say not, O holy Virgin," exclaims St. George of Nicomedia, "that thou canst not assist us on account of the number of our sins, for thy power and thy compassion are such, that no number of sins, however great, can outweigh them.  Nothing resists thy power, for our common Creator, honoring thee as his Mother, considering thy glory as his own:" and the Son, "exulting in it, fulfils thy petitions as if he were paying a debt" (Or. de Ingr. B.V.); meaning thereby, that although Mary is under an infinite obligation to her for having given him his humanity; and therefore Jesus, to pay as it were what he owes to Mary, and glorying in her glory, honors her in a special manner by listening to and granting all her petitions.

Prayers for each day.