My Jesus

Do you feel too busy to make time for our Lord? An Act of Spiritual Communion can help! No matter what your day is like, Jesus can help make it better, or at least more bearable, if you ask him for His help and guidance in prayers such as this one, composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori in the 18th century:   

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

The best way to receive Christ is in Holy Communion at Mass. (The picture above from a 19th century holy card commemorates the first Communion given out by our Lord Himself at the Last Supper.)

Yet for those times you can’t make Mass, or can’t take Communion because of an unconfessed mortal sin (for which you can ask for and receive God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance), you can still reach out to Him by making a Spiritual Communion in prayer!

St. Thomas Aquinas once defined a Spiritual Communion as “an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament [in Communion at Mass] and in lovingly embracing Him as if we had actually received Him.”

You can receive the Lord in Holy Communion up to twice a day as discussed here. However, you can make a Spiritual Communion whenever and wherever you'd like, using the prayer given above, others like it such as the one below, or your own heartfelt thoughts.

It is an important part of Church teaching that the consecrated bread (in the form of wafers we call hosts) becomes what is known as the Blessed Sacrament, referred to in St. Alphonsus’s prayer above.

Those hosts not used in Holy Communion at Mass are placed in a special box known as the Tabernacle to be given out later to the sick or the dying who cannot attend Mass, and to be exposed otherwise for adoration in what is known as the Rite of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction.

You can make a Spiritual Communion such as this one below during Mass, or before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, or anywhere else where the Spirit moves you.

Oh Jesus, I turn toward the holy tabernacle where You live hidden for love of me. I love you, O my God. I cannot receive you in Holy Communion. Come, nevertheless, and visit me with Your grace. Come spiritually into my heart. Purify it. Sanctify it. Render it like unto Your own. Amen.

Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

This last sentence is drawn from Matthew’s Gospel (Matt 8:6), in which a Roman Centurion expressed his deep faith in our Lord’s healing powers (in this case to cure his servant rather than his soul). Jesus was quite moved by the soldier’s faith, and healed his servant at once.

Christ might not answer us quite so instantaneously, but rest assured, He can and will respond to anyone who comes to Him in love and humility for His Divine assistance. After all, didn’t he say in the Sermon on the Mount, concerning the power of prayer, “Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find” (Matt 7:7)?

Indeed, our Lord loves each of us so much that he gives us great opportunities to be with Him on a daily basis. If the Pope came to your parish, you’d probably have to elbow your way through crowds of people to catch a glimpse of him.

And yet, think of it! You can have your own private “audience” with Christ at Mass in Holy Communion or in Spiritual Communion in front of the Blessed Sacrament! Countless Saints and theologians throughout the centuries have extolled the virtues and great spiritual benefits we can receive from this time spent with our Lord.

Remember, however, that you can “turn toward the holy tabernacle” and receive Jesus in your heart from anywhere you might happen to be, at any time, day or night!

You just need to approach Him with sincerity, humility and a desire to follow in His footsteps in acts of faith and charity. And He’s delighted when we do so! The Baltimore Catechism notes that a Spiritual Communion “is an act of devotion, and one very pleasing to God.”

St. Jean-Marie Vianney, a French priest famous for converting countless souls to Christ in his parish of Ars in the 19th century, once said “when we feel the love of God growing cold, let us instantly make a Spiritual Communion. When we cannot go to the church, let us turn towards the tabernacle; no wall can shut us out from the good God.” We can indeed be grateful for that!

Divine Words Of Almighty Lord Jesus Christ

My lover speaks; he says to me, Arise, my beloved,

my beautiful one, and come! For see, the winter is past,

the rains are over and gone.

Songs 2, 10-11

“Behold, from henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed;

for the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.”

Luke 1, 48-49

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“Heaven and earth shall pass away,

but my words shall not pass away.”

Matthew 24, 35

No Christian can ever hope to grasp the truth of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Assumption body and soul into Heaven while failing to focus on the person of her divine Son and his Gospel message. The Divine Word made flesh embodies all that God has spoken to us in sacred Scripture and declared to His one true Church in sacred Tradition with respect to His good will and saving acts (Jn 16:12-13). 

While our Lord Jesus Christ dwelled among us, the divine truth was clearly and visibly manifested by his words and mighty deeds. We can know who Jesus personally and truly is in his divinity and humanity only by listening to his words in conjunction with his supernatural acts of love and compassion.

What our Lord and Saviour has thus mercifully done and accomplished for us all temporally and eternally is a sign of the goodness and righteousness of his word. Jesus could never deny and contradict himself by dismissing any of his own precepts which originate from the Father and are declared in his Person. 

Surely, he could never fail to do something which he morally would expect us to do in a similar circumstance. 

Jesus has claimed to be “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6). Thus, by deeply reflecting on the divine personality of Jesus whom we have personally come to know by his words and deeds, spoken and performed in his sacred humanity, we may see and appreciate what great thing he must have done for his mother in honour of her and by his infinite love in accordance with the will of his heavenly Father.

“For this I was born and for this I came into the world,

to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth

listens to my voice.”

John 18, 37

In our case, we can apply the dictum “actions speak louder than words.” But with respect to our Lord, by his divinity, it might be more accurate of us to say that his words speak louder than his actions. Every miracle Jesus performed during his public ministry out of compassion for the needy bore testimony to the truth of his divine word. Now, the supernatural deeds of our Lord mustn’t be underestimated considering his teachings, but the fact remains Jesus was condemned to death for blasphemy by the Sanhedrin and not for the performance of miracles. His death sentence was sealed, when he declared to the chief priest Caiaphas: “You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mt 26:64). Our Lord was crucified for affirming his divinity notwithstanding any of his miraculous deeds which the scribes and Pharisees had already dismissed as works of the Devil (Mt 12: 22-37).

Indeed, Jesus had paved the way for his eventual arrest and conviction by alluding to his divinity when he claimed to have the authority to forgive sins. The Jewish elders were deeply offended and outraged by our Lord’s words, for they believed only God had the authority to forgive sins. They were appalled that Jesus dared to assert himself as equal to YHWH. Meanwhile, they cared little about the healing of the paralytic (Mk 2:1-12). Our Lord’s spoken word was what cast an unfavourable impression on the scribes and Pharisees, who had hardened their own hearts in their obstinate religious pride and zeal and refused to listen to the truth (Ps 69:8-9). And so, our Lord condemned them for this unpardonable sin of the soul (Jn 9:35-41).

You stretch out your hand and save me,

your hand will do all things for me.

Your love, O Lord, is eternal.

Discard not the work of your hands.

Psalm 138, 7-8

Jesus told his disciples that he came into the world not to do his own will, but the will of his heavenly Father (Jn 6:38). It was because of his obedience to the Father by suffering that the Son was made perfect to be the source of our salvation and designated by God to be our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek (Heb 5:8-9). If Jesus had violated any of God’s commandments and failed to align his human will with his divine will, the scribes and Pharisees would have had just cause to accuse him of performing miracles in the name of the Devil and dismiss his teachings as hypocritical, for our Lord would have compromised the credibility of his words. Healing the sick on the Sabbath did not violate, but conformed to the spirit of the law, regardless of what the religious elders believed, if in fact they meant it.

But the Gospels reveal that the Son of Man showed impeccable moral courage in what he humbled himself to do to please the Father (Mt 3:17; Lk 22:42). God’s will held top priority in our Lord’s life, especially when he had faced circumstances that ordinarily would compel the human will to follow the course dictated by natural instinct. Fortunately for us, the divine will took charge when Jesus was summoned to conform his human will to the will of his Father (Mt 26:38-39; 27:40-44). His triumphant agony in the garden and death on the Cross confirmed the constancy of the Son in doing the Father’s will and keeping His commandments (Heb 4:15).

Let us not unfaithfully suppose that our Lord could be inconstant, now that he is in Heaven where he acts as our intercessor before the Father. We should have good reason to doubt what Jesus said about his doing his Father’s works if it appears he failed to do the work of his Father, of assuming his Mother body and soul into heaven in accord with the Divine moral precepts of the Mosaic Law. We have no reason to believe in anything Jesus has said and done if in fact his mother’s body – God’s masterpiece of human re-creation – lies corrupt in a lost tomb, albeit all his purported miracles, including the claims of the Apostles of his own resurrection; since the Jesus whom we have come to know by his words and deeds could not possibly be so cold and indifferent towards his own mother contrary to the moral precept of the Law.

“Therefore, the Virgin is immortal to this day,

seeing that he who had dwelt in her transported her to

the regions of her assumption.”

St. Timothy of Jerusalem

Homily on Simeon and Anna

[A.D. 400]

Arise, Lord, come to your resting place,

you and your majestic ark.

Psalm 132, 8

“Even if you do not believe me, believe the works,

so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me

and I am in the Father.”

John 10, 38

Christians who believe their Lord’s claim to be con-substantially one with the Father in his divinity should do so in all honesty with less certitude of faith, unless they also believe what he must have honourably done for his mother as the Divine precept enjoins us to do – that is honour our mother. In true faith and knowledge of God, without which we cannot be united with Him, Christians must understand that Jesus owes it to Himself as God to be true to His own word, considering the essence of His divine goodness and righteousness. Our Lord, therefore, could not but obligate himself to honour the woman whom the Father had predestined to be his mother, from whom he acquired his sacred body and precious blood by the power of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins and the redemption of humanity (Lk 1:35).

Our Lord is flesh of her flesh; the body he received from his mother in the hypostatic order of his incarnation was “bruised for our iniquities” (Isa 53:5) and his blood which mixed with her blood in his mother’s womb was “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 26:28). Our Lord and Saviour is “one Physician both of Mary and of God” (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Ephesians, 7, c. 110 A.D.). He is no ordinary son, which makes his mother extraordinary. Jesus could not, then, exercise his power in opposition to the commandment of his heavenly Father without denying his own Divine word which proceeds from the Father in their substantial unity. To be true to ourselves, we must honestly say and do what is on our minds and in what we will to express. The Triune God-head is a con-substantial Triune of Persons: Mind or thought, Idea or Word, and Breath or Expression.

Obviously, our Lord cannot break any of his own commandments, since he never commanded himself to obey them in the first place. But since he has commanded us to observe them, Jesus must hold the moral precepts of the Law to be worth following himself, especially since they do originate from him in his oneness with the Father whose moral attributes he possesses in their essential oneness. Our Lord refused to break the First Commandment when he rejected Satan’s proposal to bow down and worship him in return for dominion over all the earthly kingdoms. Sacred Scripture reveals our Lord’s response to the Devil: “Be gone, Satan! The Lord your God shall you worship, and him alone shall you serve” (Mt 4:10; Lk 4:8). Jesus would have offended his heavenly Father and thereby renounced his own oneness with Him had he succumbed to the Devil’s tempting offer. In other words, he would have broken his own commandment and denied himself the worship owed to him by Satan. Indeed, Jesus would have disposed of his own sovereign dignity as “Lord of all” (Acts 10:36).

Being the Divine Word or Logos of God, Jesus is the visible manifestation of the invisible God. Just as our spoken words are visible manifestations of the mental assertions of our inner thoughts and reflect what we will, so Jesus is the visible manifestation of the Father as the spoken Word of God. What the Father conceives and wills, Jesus visibly produces as His Word in their substantial oneness together with the Holy Spirit in whom God acts. The commands originating from the Father have been given to us by the Son in an undivided Tri-personal God, so the command that we honour our parents has been given to us by Jesus himself. He is the voice that manifests the mind and will of God by the act of the Holy Spirit within the Holy Trinity. Thus, in true faith, we must believe that Jesus has as much honoured the Father as he has his mother by honouring her with the privilege, by maternal right, of her glorious Assumption body and soul into Heaven.

This Catholic dogma boils down to the honour a son must have for his mother to be true to himself in his divinity by being true to His own word or decree. Jesus could not possibly refrain from doing what he has commanded us to do unless he were not God. Nor could he act in a manner inconsonant with the moral attributes of His Own Divine essence in oneness with the Father and the Holy Spirit if he were truly God made man. There is no reason for any Christian to believe what Jesus has claimed about his relation to the Father and his Father’s relation to him, if, in fact, he has failed to do the works of the Father.

Christians who reject the Catholic dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary might not know God as well as they think they do or who Jesus personally is well enough. The theological virtue of faith is believing in what should be in all its goodness and righteousness as a manifestation of God’s love in the Holy Spirit. Faith isn’t merely believing in what we want to accept as being real, but remains unseen. And there is no just reason for Jesus to deny his own mother the honour of her glorious assumption into heaven, so that the two of them can be fully reunited in body and soul, seeing also that she was preserved free from all stain of sin: original and personal (Lk 1:28). Mary’s Assumption body and soul into heaven is a corollary of her Immaculate Conception. Being preserved free from all stain of sin by a singular grace of God, our Blessed Lady was liberated from being subjected to the law of sin and the corruption of death (Rom 5:12, 18). Suffice it to say, God put her at total enmity (ebah/אֵיבָה) with the serpent (Gen 3:15).

Perhaps the following analogy may help us see how it is that Jesus would be dishonouring his mother by allowing her holy body, which bore him, to decay in the tomb. If our own mother, let’s say, accidentally fell into a dirt pit, Jesus would certainly expect us to rescue her out of love and respect. And our Lord would surely condemn us for having broken the Fourth Commandment by refusing to come to our mother’s aid out of indifference or even hatred. Surely, Jesus would have come to his mother’s aid under the same circumstance while they were still alive on earth. So, Jesus would be no less solicitous towards the needs and the dignity of his mother than we should be to our mothers, whether he be on earth or in heaven.

“But Mary, the glorious Mother of Christ, who is believed

to be a virgin both before and after she bore him, has,

as we said above, been translated into paradise, amid the singing

of the angelic choirs, whither the Lord preceded her.”

St. Gregory of Tours

Eight Books of Miracles, 1:8

[A.D. 584]

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,

and my soul shall be joyful in my God:

for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation:

and with the robe of justice he hath covered me,

as a bridegroom decked with a crown,

and as a bride adorned with her jewels.

Isaiah 61, 10

“Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets.

I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.”

Matthew 5, 17

Our Lord has loved his mother with absolute perfection from all eternity in view of the Annunciation. And the love he has for her is infinitely greater than the love we might have for our own mother, since he is God made flesh of her flesh. If we had the power to resurrect our mothers at the time of their deaths, we would certainly exercise it unless God forbade it and prevented us from doing so. And if that’s the case, our Lord would certainly exercise his power as well, if not more surely, since the love we have for our own dear mothers pales in comparison with the love Jesus has for his mother. Let us not presume that the love we have for our mothers is immeasurably greater than the love Jesus has for his most blessed mother Mary.

How incredible it would be for any Christian to imagine (with no reasonable explanation) that our Lord could possibly dismiss any of his own precepts, either here on earth or in heaven where he retains his sacred humanity for all eternity (Col 2:9), by exacting the penalties incurred by Adam and Eve on his own beloved mother: “In pain you shall bring forth children until you return to the ground from which you were taken. For you are dirt, and to dirt you shall return” (Gen 3:16, 19). On the contrary, God said to the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring” (Gen 3:15). Neither the Mother nor the Son were subjected to bodily corruption in the tomb, being equally blessed (eulogeo) by God in their shared humanity (Lk 1:42). So long as Jesus remains both God and man, Mary is his mother, and more than just a natural mother. Our Blessed Lady is the Mother of God incarnate (Isa 7:14; Lk 1:35, 43; Jn 1:14). She is not merely the mother of a great prophet or rabbi (Lk 11:27-28).

From earliest times, Christians believed that Mary was exempted from being made subject to the law of sin and the corruption of death together with her divine Son; since, by a singular grace, she was preserved free from contracting all stain of sin. St. Hippolytus (ante 235 A.D.) draws a parallel between Mary and the sacred Ark of the Covenant, which was made of incorruptible acacia wood and lined with the purest gold both within and without, for it was fashioned to be God’s personal dwelling place during His physical manifestations (theophanies): “He was the ark formed of incorruptible wood. For by this is signified that His tabernacle (Mary) was exempt from putridity and corruption” (Orations Inillud, Dominus pascit me). Worms and insects are averse to acacia wood. So, for this reason, God instructed Moses to fashion the ark from this repugnant natural resource.

The Church Father adds that Jesus “took upon himself the holy flesh of the holy Virgin” (Treatise on Christ and Anti-Christ, 4). Both the Mother and the Son were of one flesh, so neither of them could have experienced death for having fallen short of the glory of God as the rest of humanity does in its sinful state. St. Ephraem of Syria (370 A.D.) also bears early witness to this traditional belief of the Church in Mary’s sinless being and freedom from all forms of impurity and corruption together with her Son: “Thou alone and thy Mother are in all things fair. There is no flaw in thee and no stain in thy Mother” (Nisibene Hymns, 27:8). These writings of the early Church Fathers implicitly bear witness to an early Christian belief in the Assumption of Mary and, of course, her Immaculate Conception.

What is intriguing with respect to Mary’s freedom from all stain of sin is that Luke refers to Isaiah 61:10 in her Canticle of Praise or Magnificat (1:46-49). Mary rejoices in God her saviour, not because she is a sinner who needs to be saved like everyone else, but because she has been redeemed in the most perfect way: by being preserved free from contracting the stain of original sin in view of the foreseen merits of Christ, viz., her Immaculate Conception. God is revealing to His Church, though Luke was probably as uninformed as Isaiah was (sensus plenior), that He clothed Mary in “the garments of salvation” and covered her with “the robe of justice” by preserving her free from all stain of sin. This is evident by the fact that the same verse applies to the just merits of Christ in his sinless humanity and the Paschal mystery. Both the Mother and the Son are revealed to be equally blessed (eulogeo) in this way. And so, neither of them are subject to the law of sin and death because of sin as is fallen humanity: Jesus by his substantial grace of union with the Father and his mother Mary by God’s intervening sanctifying grace (Jude 1:24-25).

“It was fitting … that the most holy-body of Mary, God-bearing body, receptacle of God, divinized, incorruptible, illuminated by divine grace and full glory … should be entrusted to the earth for a little while and raised up to heaven in glory, with her soul pleasing to God.”

St. Theoteknos of Livias

Homily on the Assumption

[ca. A.D. 600]

You are altogether beautiful, my darling;

there is no flaw in you.

Song of Solomon 4, 7

The corruption of death is an evil and a penalty for original sin which infects the bodies and souls of all Adam’s descendants who organically partake of his human nature. The guilt of Adam’s sin, nevertheless, isn’t personally imputed to his seed, so God did not negate His justice by conferring the singular grace of the Immaculate Conception on Mary in His mercy because of her unmerited election to the Divine Maternity. And so, by this singular favour, her preservation from bodily corruption upon death was just, albeit our biological association with Adam or “mankind”. God could only obligate Himself to observe His own ordinance in His righteousness, especially since Mary never lost her innocence as Eve had by committing any personal sins with the help of divine grace. The angel Gabriel greeted Mary by calling her Kecharitomene, meaning ‘perfected in grace with a lasting result’ (Lk 1:28).

The words of the early Church Fathers bring to fuller light what Elizabeth means, when she says: “Most blessed (eulogomene) are you among women, and blessed (eulogemenos) is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1:42). This past participle is used with reference to only Jesus (masculine) and Mary (feminine), besides the kingdom of heaven (feminine), in the New Testament (Mk 11:10). Both the Mother and the Son are indeed equally blessed (eulogeo) in God’s sight by having been set apart from sinful humanity and consecrated to Him in His order of redemption. So, it is only fitting, if not just, that Mary, who carried the Divine Word in her sacred womb and was preserved free from all stain of sin by the grace of God, should have a share in her Son’s glory in anticipation of the redemption of our own bodies on the Last Day (1 Cor 15:22-23). Anyway, Jesus meant what he said about our obligation to keep the Divine Commandments, and he exemplified with impeccable humility how we are to honourably treat our parents for the sake of God’s goodness and righteousness (Lk 2:51-52).

“You are she who, as it is written, appears in beauty,

and your virginal body is all holy, all chaste, entirely the dwelling place of God, so that it is henceforth completely exempt from dissolution into dust. Though still human, it is changed into the heavenly life of incorruptibility, truly living and glorious, undamaged and sharing in perfect life.”

St. Germanus of Constantinople, Sermon I

[A.D. 683]

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened,

and his ark of the covenant could be seen in his temple…

A great sign appeared in the sky,

a woman clothed with the sun,

with the moon under her feet,

and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

Revelation 11, 19 – 12, 1

“Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,

not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass

from the law, until all things have taken place.”

Matthew 5, 18

Finally, we read in Matthew 15, 4: “For God said, ‘Honour your father and your mother.’ Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.” The Hebrew word for “honour” in this verse is kavodah, which means in the given context “to bestow glory”. It originates from the word kavod, meaning “weight” or “glory”. The truth is that the Son honoured the Father and was true to Himself as the Word of God by bestowing unprecedented glory upon the woman whom He chose to be His mother by assuming her body and soul into Heaven, as to be not only spiritually but also physically present with her in their filial bond of love for each other.

Jesus initially honoured and bestowed glory on his mother at the first instant he created her soul and sanctified it with his grace preserving her free from all stain of original sin, so that she would be most becoming of a mother to him. By denying his mother this maternal right of honour and glory, which he himself has established by His word and given to Moses in the form of a Divine command for all to heed and obey, the withholding of his mighty deed for her gives cause for us to doubt the credibility of his word, for Jesus would be dishonouring his mother by refusing to bestow upon her the highest degree of glory he possibly could in his power, if in fact he has left his mother’s body, his own sacred flesh and blood, to decay in the tomb. Yet, we the faithful, who personally know the true Jesus, believe that he could never do such a thing such as dishonour his own mother, not if he is indeed the Word of God in the flesh of her holy flesh, as we Catholic Christians rightly believe in the sanctifying light of faith.

“It was fitting that the she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped when giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father, It was fitting that God’s Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God.”

St. John Damascene

Dormition of Mary

[A.D. 697]

.

The LORD is faithful in all His words

and gracious in all His deeds.

Psalm 145, 13

On the Solemnity of the Assumption

of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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MOTHER OF HEALTH VAILANKANNI

TO MARY OUR MOTHER OF HEALTH VAILANKANNI

O Mary! Our Mother of Health, and our Heavenly Queen, seated on your Holy throne of mercy and compassion in your shrine at Vailankanni, we praise and honour you our refuge and our relief. 

Numberless are the sick, who through you, have recovered health.

Relying on your Power and goodness we fly to you and implore you to heal our infirmities and to obtain for us perfect health of body and soul, that we may better be able to serve you and your Divine Son.

At all the times, you have been the help and consolation of the infirm. You obtain for them health when it is the conducive to their death. 

Help us then, 

O most amiable Mother and obtain the cure from all our sufferings, or patience to endure them in the spirit of resignation agreeable to God‘s Holy Will, so that all our trials and suffering may help to purify our souls and help us to detach ourselves from all earthly ties. Amen….

1.Vailankanni Pilgrims Prayers Book

O Most Holy Virgin! You were chosen by the Most Adorable Trinity from all eternity to be the most pure Mother of Jesus.

 Permit me, your humble and devoted servant, to remind you of the joy received in the instant of the Most Sacred Incarnation of our Divine Lord and during the nine months you carried Him in your chaste womb.

 I wish most sincerely that I could renew, or even increase that joy, by the fervour of my Prayers.

       

 O Tender Mother of the afflicted! Grant me under my present necessities that special protection you have promised to those who devoutly commemorate this ineffable joy.

 Relying on the infinite mercies of your Divine Son, trusting in the promise which He has made that those who ask should receive, and penetrated with confidence in your powerful prayers, I most humbly entreat you intercede for me. 

I beg you to obtain for me the favours which I petition for in this novena, if it be the Holy Will of God to grant them; to ask for me whatever graces I most stand in need of.

                   (Here specify your requests)

I desire by this novena, which I now offer in your honour, to prove the lively confidence I have in your intercession. 

Accept it, I beseech you, in honour of that supernatural love and joy, with which your Immaculate Heart was replenished during the abode of your divine Son in your womb; in veneration of which, I offer you the sentiments of my heart.

          (Repeat the Hail Mary nine times)

O Mother of God! accept these salutations in union with the respect and veneration with which the Angel Gabriel first hailed you, "Full of Grace" I wish most sincerely that they may become so many gems in the crown of your incidental glory, which will increase in brightness to the end of the world. 

I beseech you, O comfortress of the afflicted, by the joy you received, when the word was made flesh, to obtain for me the favours and graces, which I have now implored through your powerful intercession. 

For this end I offer you all the good works which have even been performed in your honour. I most humbly entreat you for the love of the amiable Heart of Jesus, with which yours was ever so inflamed, to hear my humble prayers and to obtain my requests. -Amen.

This Novena prayer will be helpful to those helpless people when everything fails, and who wants speedy and visible answers to their agony.

Adorable Trinity from all eternity to be most pure Mother of Jesus. 

Permit me your humble and devoted client, to remind you of the joy you received at the instance of the most sacred incarnation of our Divine Lord, and during the nine months you carried Him in your chaste womb. I wish most sincerely that I could renew, or even increase that joy by the fervour of my prayers.                  

O tender Mother of the afflicted! 

Grant me under my present necessities that special protection you have promised to those who devoutly commemorate this ineffable joy. 

Relying on the infinite mercies of your Divine Son, trusting that those who ask should receive and penetrated with confidence in your powerful prayers, I most humbly entreat you to intercede for me, I beg you to obtain for me the favours which I petition for in this novena, if it be the Holy will of God to grant them; and if not, to ask for me whatever graces.

I most stand in need of.

           (Here specify your requests)

I desire by this novena which I now offer in your honour, the lively confidence I have in your intercession 

Accept it I beseech you, in honour of that supernatural Love and Joy, with which you 

Immaculate Heart replenished during the abode of your Divine Son in your womb, in veneration of which, I offer you the sentiments of my heart.

(Repeat the Hail Mary nine times)

O Mother of God, accept these salutations in union with the respect and veneration with which he Angel Gabriel first hailed you “Full of Grace”, I wish mot sincerely that they may become so many gems in the crown of your Heavenly glory, which will increase in brightness to the end of the world.

I beseech you, O Comfortress of the afflicted, by the joy you received, when the Word was made Flesh, to obtain for me the 

Favours and Graces, which I have now implored through your Powerful intercession. 

For this end I offer you all the good works, which have ever been performed in your honour, I most humbly entreat you, for the love of the amiable heart of Jesus, with which yours was ever so inflamed, to hear my humble prayers and obtain my requests. 

Amen.

Hail, Holy Temple of God and seat of wisdom. The Ark of the Covenant was made of cedar and covered with gold. God has adorned you with all graces and immortality. 

Virgin Mother conceived without original sin, pray for us your poor children that we may also assume our glorious body at the time of our resurrection. 

Make eternal light enlighten our darkened ways, so that we may wake up and reach safely our destination.

We are your children, entrusted to your Motherly care by your Divine Son, while He was on the Cross.

 Our Dearest Mother protect us, obtain for us all that we need for our soul, and preserve us all in good health. 

Amen.

...................................................................................................................................................................

LITANY OF OUR LADY OF HEALTH

Lord, have mercy on us,

 - Lord, have mercy on us

Christ, have mercy on us, 

- Christ, have mercy on us

Lord, have mercy on us,

- Lord, have mercy on us

Christ, hear us, -

 Christ, graciously hear us,

God the Father of Heaven,- 

Have mercy on us,

God the Son, Redeemer of the world have, 

-Have mercy on us,

God the Holy Spirit, -

 Have mercy on us,

Holy Trinity, One God, - 

Have mercy on us,

Holy Mary, Mother of Health,

 #Pray for us,

Our Lady of Health, predestined by God even before the creation of the world, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, made known to the Angels as soon as they were created, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, the morning star foretold by the prophets,

 # Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, the cloud that brings rain to the world, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, the vessel of Goodness, 

# Pray for us

Our lady of Health, called holy before your birth by the Patriarchs, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, conceived without Original sin, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, who crushed the head of satan, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, born of the highest family among the descendants of the sixteen kings that ruled Israel, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, the child of the holy Joachim and Anne, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, the fruit of their prayers and good deeds, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, adorned with more brightness than all the Angels and the Saints,

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, who came into world with the greatest piety, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, the torch of divine grace,

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, who has been favored with divine consolation in addition to divine grace, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, more righteous than all the saints, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, who at birth was gifted with a heavenly light, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, whose birth brought joy to those in heaven,

 # Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, offered up to God soon after birth, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, who received sweet name, Mary,

 # Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, presentmentd in the temple at the age of three years, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, who walked foremost in the virginity, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, who was model to all while in the Temple, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, who relieves the sufferings of the sick, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, the unfailing help of those that trust in you, 

# Pray for us

Our Lady of Health, the Heavenly crown of all the Saints, 

# Pray for us

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world: 

#Spare us, O Lord!

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world: 

#Graciously hear us, O Lord!

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world: 

#Have mercy on us!

We fly to your patronage, O Holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from all dangers, O ever Glorious and Blessed Virgin, Amen.

V. Pray for us, O Mary, Conceived without original sin.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let Us Pray

O God, who in your unspeakable providence chose the Blessed Virgin Mary to be your own most Holy Mother, mercifully grant her prayers on our behalf, so that we may enjoy the happiness of Heaven for all eternity….Amen…..

1. NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF HEALTH VAILANKANNI

0 most Holy Virgin! You were chosen by the Most Adorable Trinity from all eternity to be most pure Mother of Jesus. 

Permit me your humble and devoted client, to remind you of the joy you received at the instance of the most sacred incarnation of our Divine Lord, and during the nine months you carried Him in your chaste womb.

 I wish most sincerely that I could renew, or even increase that joy by the fervour of my prayers.

 0 tender Mother of the afflicted! Grant me in my present necessities that special protection you have promised to those who devoutly commemorate this ineffable joy. 

Relying on the infinite mercies of your Divine Son, trusting that those who ask will receive and penetrated with confidence in your powerful prayers, I most humbly entreat you to intercede for me. 

I beg you to obtain for me the favours which I petition for in this novena, if it be the Holy will of God to grant them; and if not, to ask for me whatever graces I most stand in need of.

 

 (Here specify your requests)

 I desire by his novena which I now offer in your honour, to prove the lively confidence I have in your intercession. 

Accept it I beseech you, in honour of that supernatural love and joy, with which your Immaculate Heart was replenished during the abode of your Divine Son in your womb, in veneration of which, I offer you the sentiments of my heart.

(Repeat the Hail Mary nine times)

0 mother of God, accept these salutations in union with the respect and veneration with which the angel Gabriel first hailed you "full of grace.

 “I wish most sincerely that they may become so many gems in the crown of your celestial glory, which will increase in brightness to the end of the world. 

I beseech you, 0 comfortress of the afflicted, by the joy you received, when the Word was made Flesh, to obtain for me the favours and graces which I have now implored through your powerful intercession. 

For this end I offer you all the good works which have ever been performed in your honour.

 I most humbly entreat you, for the love of the amiable heart of Jesus, with which yours was ever so inflamed, to hear my humble prayers and obtain my requests. Amen.

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF 

HEALTH, VAILANKANNI -Litany

1.The First Day

0 Immaculate Virgin! God's sublime creation! The Almighty has done great things in you. 

As He gathered all waters in the sea at the time of creation, He has enriched you with His richness of grace and beauty.

 0 renowned Fame of the human race! Supreme Beauty of the earth! Holy Temple of God! Garden of the Blessed Trinity we praise you. 

We pray to you. ear Mother of Health, to intercede for the church, for the Holy Father and all men of good will. 

Protect all your children and obtain for them health of soul and body. Holy Mother, save the youth from the danger of falling into the darkness of sin and guide them along the path of purity.

          

 Preserve virgins in their chastity; protect the bond of love in every family. Indeed, you are the model of parents; protector of widows, shelter of the broken - hearted, treasure for the needy and health of the sick. 

We beg you to obtain for us the grace and love of God so that we may remain faithful children of God. Say the Litany

2 Day 

Our Dear Mother, you are the splendor of the race of David, the gem among Jewish women. 

We admire your beauty. You were born Immaculate to destroy the kingdom of Satan.

You brought forth Christ, the Divine Light to remove the darkness of sin from the world. 0 Virgin undefiled, and Mother most amiable, we have recourse to you with full confidence.

Our hearts are delighted as we utter your sweet name Mary our Mother; grant us health of mind and body and lead us in the path of Light and Holiness. Amen.

Say the Litany

3.The Third Day

Hail Mother of our love! You are our model of holy life. Renouncing all earthly affection, you consecrated yourself to God and spent your days in prayer in His Temple.

But we who have been consecrated through baptism have not been faithful to our baptismal promise. Often we have failed and became unfaithful children.

We have sought after the worldly amusements: We have offended our Divine Redeemer by our sins. Immaculate Mother who brought the Divine Mercy to us sinners, we regret for all our sins and beg through you for God's mercy and pardon. 

Stretch out your loving arms towards us, that we may drink the living water of Christ within your embrace. Amen.

Say the Litany

4.The Fourth Day

0 Mother of Health, we are proud of you, being the Mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We praise you in great joy of our heart. 

We meditate with devotion on the glad tidings, the Angel Gabriel brought to you. Hail Mary, full of Grace! You have been raised to the dignity of the Mother of God by your submission. 

The God of grace assumed our human nature and lived in your blessed womb. You are blessed among women. 

We pray to you that we may bear in us our loving God and be filled with His grace. 

Help us that we may be humble and chaste to resemble you, and be enriched with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

We ardently desire to be united with our God through the fruitful reception of the Sacraments. 

0 Our Heavenly Mother, we call you blessed and entreat you to bless us all with your loving arms, which embraced our Divine Master. Amen.

Say the Litany

5.The Fifth Day

0 spotless Virgin Mother of Health our heavenly Benefactress, hail! Elizabeth received many favours for herself and for her family during your stay at her home.

Choosing Vailankanni as the place of your throne, you bless and obtain numerous favours for all those who seek your help; the blind obtain their sight; the dumb speak; the lame walk; the sick with no other hope of cure, are cured by you.

Merciful Mother, we thank you for your favours shown to our brethren in need, and through you we adore and glorify your Almighty Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ,

 We pray to intercede for us in all our needs as your motherly heart knows them. 

Obtain God's Mercy for those who offended Him, and convert such hardened sinners to become His true friends. Amen.

Say the Litany

6.The Sixth Day

O Immaculate Mother, who can ever describe your renowned fame? The God of heaven came to this earth through you. Bearing Jesus in you, you gave Him your whole self to form His human body.

Virgin Mother of God, we praise you and pay our homage to you. You, who reside in Heaven with your Divine Son, are our sweetness; you, who radiate the light of the Eternal Light, are our guide;

we pray you to teach us to love your Divine Son more and more. 

We acknowledge Him to be our king, and you to be our Queen, He is our Mediator between the Heavenly Father and human race; you are the Mediatrix between our Lord and us, poor sinners.

Jesus is the Way and you are its Entrance. 

0 Fair Flower of the race of David, through you our Creator became our Redeemer; the God of all present was carried in your blessed womb;

The God who feeds all, was fed by you, Most Noble Mother, all generations call you blessed. 

We pray you to show your motherly love towards us, your poor children, and to lead us to Eternal Salvation.

 Amen

Say the Litany

7.The Seventh Day

Our merciful Mother of Dolours, you suffered with your Divine Son for our sake. We grieve for all our sins and offer our sufferings in union with you, so that we may obtain God's mercy. We pray you

to remove from our hearts all sinful affections and inclinations, and to inflame within our souls the ever glowing love for God. 

Our loving Mother most pure! defend us from all dangers both of soul and body. 

Like the bird that escapes in the air at the sigh of a hunter, and like the deer that hides in its shelter at the sight of a tiger, we have our recourse to your most immaculate heart, where we are sure to be safe. 

Holy Mother, lead us all safe till we reach our eternal life, where we will praise God in union with you for ever and ever.

Say the Litany

8.The Eighth Day

Hail, Holy Temple of God and seat of wisdom. The Ark of the Covenant was made of cedar and covered with gold. God has adorned you with all graces and immortality.

Virgin Mother conceived without original sin, pray for us your poor children that we may also assume our glorious body at the time of our resurrection.

Make eternal light enlighten our darkened ways, so that we may wake up and reach safely our destination.

We are your children, entrusted to your motherly care by your Divine Son, while He was on the Cross.

Our dearest Mother protect us, obtain for us all that we need for our soul, and preserve us all in good health. - Amen.

Say the Litany

9.The Ninth Day

Our mother of Health Vailankanni, we proclaim your glory and call the whole creation with all the creatures to join in our song of rejoicing.

 All God's creatures and creation bless and praise our

Mother of Health, our Heavenly Queen.

Angels of God bless and praise our Lady of Health, the Queen of all Angels. All that are above praise the Queen of all things.

All saints in Heaven bless and praise our Lady of Health. Sun and moon, praise our Heavenly Queen; stars that shine above, praise our Mother of Health; rain and snow praise our Heavenly Queen;

heat and cold, praise our Lady of Health; mountains and valleys, praise our Heavenly Queen; light and darkness praise our Mother of Health; clouds and lighting praise our Heavenly Queen.

All plants and trees that grow on earth praise our Mother of Health. Storms, springs and rivers praise our Heavenly Queen; sea and all that live therein praise our Mother of Health.

Birds and all animals on the earth praise our Heavenly Queen. Accept our praises and those of the whole creation;

We pray to you our Mother of Health, to bless us all with health of soul and body.Obtain all graces we need to be holy and make us pleasing children in the presence of God. 

May God's reign come on earth and may His Holy name be praised by all men through you, Holy Mother, Amen.

SELECTED PRAYERS TO OUR LADY

1 DAY

Verily, it is becoming to bless you, the mother of God, the ever blessed and all-blameless, more honorable than the Cherubim , and incomparably more than the Seraphim; you who did bear the purity with God the Word, verily the Mother of God we magnify.

In you, full of grace, all creation rejoices the host of angels, and the race of man hallowed temple and spiritual paradise glory of virgins of whom God took the flesh; and our God, who was before the world, became a child. 

For he made your womb His throne and your bosom broader than the Heavens. In you, O full of grace, all creation rejoices; glory unto you.

{The divine liturgy of St. James}

THE SELECTED PRAYERS TO OUR MOTHER

2 DAY.

Holy Mother of God, ever Virgin blessed glorious generous inviolate and without stain chaste Mary immaculate chosen and loved of God with singular holiness endowed and worthy if all praise who

intervened in the whole world danger Hear O hear is holy Mary to help us.

For we are confident and know for certain that you can obtain by prayers all you will from your son Our Lord Jesus Christ Almighty God and King of ages who lives in the Father and the Holy spirit for ever and ever Amen

THE SELECTED PRAYERS TO OUR MOTHER

3 DAY.

Design that I too your humble servant praise you O Sacred Virgin and sweet devotion say:

 Hail glorious and elect vessel of God. Hail amongst women Virgin most blessed Hail most brightly shining

star from whom Christ came forth hail, you who wounderously gave birth to, the King of universe 

Hail Queen and mistress of all the most sublime Hail you canticle of cherubim and seraphim and hymnody of angels Hail, peace joy consolation and salvation of the world Hail praise of the patriarchs and glory of the prophets Hail beauty of martyrs and crown of saint Hail glory and praise of the pious. Hail you who did bear Christ the Giver of life. Amen {St.Ephrem}

THE SELECTED PRAYERS TO OUR MOTHER

4 DAY.

My most holy Lady Mother of God and full of grace pf our common nature; dispenser of all good things; after the 

Trinity mistress of all; after the Mediatrix; more glorious and sublime than the Cherubim and Seraphim; unsearchable abyss of God’s goodness; protection of the whole universe; bride of the whole world, leading us to the heights of heaven, key introducing us to heaven; O our patroness and Mediatrix behold my confidence and my divinely-inspired desire { St.Ephrem}

THE SELECTED PRAYERS TO OUR MOTHER

5 DAY.

O Jesus  son of God and thou, O Mother Mary you desire that  you love should be loved by us.

 Therefore, O good son, I beg you by the love you bear your Mother and as you wish her to be loved, to grand me that I may truly love her. O good Mother, I beg you by the love you bear your son s you wish him to be loved to pray for me that I may truly love him. Since then, this is in your power shall all my sins prevent it being done? Oh Jesus lover of men you are were able to love criminals even so as to die for them; can you then refuse me who ask only the love of and your Mother? And you too Mary Mother of Him, who love us, who did bear Him in your womb and didst feed at thy breast art thou not able or not willing to obtain for one who asks it, love of the son and

of thyself ?  

May my  heart love you as should and may whole substance praise you eternity. AMEN

{St. Anselm}

THE SELECTED PRAYERS TO OUR MOTHER

Day 6

 O Immaculate and wholly / pure Virgin Mary Mother of God queen of the world hope of those who are in despair you are the joy of the saints you are the peace maker between sinners and God;

you are the advocate of the abandoned the secure heaven of those who are in the sea of the world you are the ransom of slaves the comfortress of the afflicted the salvation of the universe. O

great queen we take refuge in your protection we have no confidence but in you, O most faithful virgin after god you are the all my hope we bear the name of your servants; allow not the enemy to

drag us to hell. I salute you, O great  Mediatrix of peace between men and God mother of Jesus our Lord who is the love of all men and God to whom be honour and benediction with the Father and

the Holy Spirit Amen …{St.Ephrem}

THE SELECTED PRAYERS TO OUR MOTHER

Day 7

Hail Mary hope of those who are in despair help of the destitute Hail you whom the son so greatly honours whatever you ask you at once obtain; 

whatever you wish is at once done. To you are the treasure of the Kingdom of heaven entrusted Grant O lady that amid the storm of this life I may always remember you. To your charitable mercy I commend my soul and body. O my sweet Protectress direct and protect me in every hour in every moment of my life. 

Amen

                                       

Hail most benign mother of mercy! Hail our comfortress Mary, the desire of our hearts! Who is there that loves you not? You are the light in doubts our comfort in sorrow our relief in distress our

refuge in dangers and temptations. You, after the only begotten son are our salvation; blessed are those who love your servant a miserable sinner and dispel the darkness of my vices by the rays of

your sanctity that I may please you.

{ Louis Blosius }

THE SELECTEDPRAYERS TO OUR MOTHER

Prayers to our Lady of Grace

DAY 8

Mother mother of divine grace whom God has appointed as dispenser of his benefits obtain for us and for all those whom we are praying for, your choicest graces to the just obtain perseverance to

sinner repentance and pardon to the sorrowful courage and confidence to disturbed families peace and concord to the infirm cure and health to soul in purgatory solace and deliverance in fine to

each one of us that particularly graces we are now especially praying for, from your goodness and Power. Lord Jesus our Mediator with the Father who have willed your mother the Blessed Virgin

Mary to be our Mother also and Mediatrix with you grant us the favours and grace, we are now asking through her intercession.

O Mother of grace to our teacher and teach the science of saints true humility self-denial purity silence and suffering confidence simplicity and above all love and zeal.

Teach us especially to love and die in one uninterrupted act of pure and perfect love of God and to be victim of his merciful love.

Teach us to grieve for our sins to be perfectly contrite in heart to patiently bear our failing weakness pain and sorrows.

Teach us also to love you very much after God and one day to be your beloved children in our eternal home. Amen...

THE SELECTED PRAYERS TO OUR MOTHER

TOUCHING PRAYERS OF ST.FRANCIS OF SALES TO OUR LADY

DAY 9

O most holy and blessed Lady you are in the highest place of Gods happy heaven have pity on us who are still in the desert of misery. 

You are in the abundance of delight we are in the abyss of

desolation. 

Give us, then strength to bear well all our trials and may be ever be supported by divine son the one object of our hope, the one  reward of our labours the one remedy for all our ills.

Sweet Virgin Mary mother of God I salute you and choose you are my most dear mother and I beg you to receive me as your servant and child. 

I beg you then, my sweet and gracious mother to

remember that I am your child that you are very powerful and that I am your help and protection.

Most holy Virgin mother mine give me a share in all your riches and virtues especially in your humility your spotless purity your fervent charity but grant me especially

{ here mention the spiritual and temporal benefits you need most of the moment }

Say not O gracious Virgin that you are not able for the blessed son has given you all power in heaven and on earth neither say that you ought not grant it for you are common mother especially.

Since then O sweet Virgin you are my mother and very powerful what excuse can you make if you do not come to my assistance? 

You see my dear mother that you are obliged to grant me what

 I ask and to yield to my sighs and groans. May you then, be blessed and praised and by your intercession bestow on me all the gifts and graces which are pleasing to the Most Holy Trinity Father Son

and Holy Spirit the object of my Love..Amen…

EJACULATORY PRAYERS

Mother of God remember me.

O Virgin and Mother of grant that I may always remember you,

Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God pray to Jesus for me.

O Lady, grant that Jesus may never cast me off.

O Mary may my heart never to cease to love you and my tongue never cease to praise you.

O Lady, the love which bear to Jesus, help me to Love Him.

O Mary, be graciously pleased to make me thy servant.

O Mary, I give myself to you without reserve do accept and preserve me.

O Mary, abandon me not until death.

Hail Mary, my advocate, pray for me.

In You, from my whole Heart I have placed my Hope.

It is not possible, O Lady, that you should abandon him who has placed in you.

You have only to will our salvation and then it is not possible that we should not obtain it.

Hail, daughter of God, the Father;

Hail, Mother of God, the Son;

Hail Spouse of God. Holy Spirit;

Hail Temple of the Holy Trinity.

Holy Mary, succour the miserable aid the pusillanimous, strengthen the weak, pray for the people, intercede for the clergy and for virgins consecrated to God; Let all celebrate your holy and great name, feel your great help and grace.

Show yourself a Mother to us. O thou most unique Virgin, humblest of daughters of Adam, make us humble.

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