James Socías - Our Lady, Star of the New Evangelization

Our Lady,

Star of the New Evangelization

Novena Prayer for a Greater Respect for All Human Life

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Publisher: Rev. James Socias
Editor-in-Chief: Jeffrey Cole
Layout and Design: Stephen J. Chojnicki

In accordance with c.827, permission to publish is granted on August 2, 2012 by Rev.Msgr.John F. Canary, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Permission to publish is an official declaration of ecclesiastical authority that the material is free from doctrinal and moral error. No legal responsibility is assumed by the grant of this permission.

Copyright 2012 Rev. James Socias

Kindle Edition: ISBN 978-1-936045-91-4

H OW TO P RAY T HIS N OVENA

The novena could be prayed at a fixed time for nine consecutive days. It can be prayed with your family, and you may want to pray it in front of an image of Our Lady.

It is recommended especially to pray this novena before feasts of Our Lady, including Mary, the Holy Mother of God (January 1); the Presentation of the Lord (February 2); Our Lady of Lourdes (February 11); the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25); the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (May 31); the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Saturday After the Second Sunday After Pentecost); Our Lady of Mount Carmel (July 16); the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (August 5); the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15); the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 22); the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (September 8); the Most Holy Name of Mary (September 12); Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15); Our Lady of the Rosary (October 7); the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (November 21); the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (December 8); Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12); the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Sunday Within the Octave of the Nativity).

The intention of this novena is for the respect and protection of all human life from conception until natural death and to promote the culture of life in society. However, each person or family can pray it for its own intentions, which might include praying for:

The conversion of family members and friends;

The fortitude to follow the Commandments of God and the commitments we have as Christians;

The strength of marriage and families, wherein the first evangelization takes place;

Catholics and all people of faith to remain faithful to and to grow in living their baptismal promises amid a culture of relativism;

Help and strength to overcome addictions;

Respect for human sexuality expressed within marriage;

The recognition that God is the Lord of our lives and all life.

I NTRODUCTION

Of primary concern in the New Evangelization, begun by Pope Bl. John Paul II and continued by Pope Benedict XVI, is the promotion of the culture of life. For this reason, beginning with the Year of Faith (October 2012 November 2013), it is especially important for us to pray that all innocent human life, formed in the image and likeness of God, be respected and protected.

Beginning on the eve of the Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI has proclaimed Our Lady to be the Star of the New Evangelization. Therefore, we entrust to the Blessed Virgin Mary our intentions, for our most urgent challenge is to communicate the joy born of faith and the experience of Gods love.

This novena was prepared to pray to God through the intercession of Our Lady, Star of Evangelization, for the continued success of the New Evangelization and the proclamation of life, which is the first manifestation of Gods love for us. The considerations are based on Pope Bl. John Paul IIs encyclical Mother of the Redeemer , and the intentions follow Pope Benedicts proclamation of the New Evangelization.

The Church, as a people made one by the unity of the Father, the Son and the Spirit (cf. Lumen Gentium , no. 4), is called to proclaim the gift of life, to serve life, and to promote a culture of life....

The proclamation of life, life in abundance, must be the heart of the new evangelization. For true life our salvation can only be found in the reconciliation, freedom, and love which are Gods gracious gift. This is the message of hope we are called to proclaim and embody in a world where self-centeredness, greed, violence, and cynicism so often seem to choke the fragile growth of grace in peoples hearts.

FIRST DAY

M ARY, THE N EW E VE

V. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

R. Amen.

V. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

R. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

I NTRODUCTORY P RAYER

Lord God,

may our gifts be sanctified by the Holy Spirit,

who formed the Blessed Virgin Mary

to be a new creation

and sent down upon her

the dew of heavenly grace,

so that her womb might bear the fruit of our salvation,

Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

R EADING

Gn 3: 1 6, 13 15

The serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the L ORD God had made. He said to the woman, Did God say, You shall not eat of any tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden; neither shall you touch it, lest you die.

But the serpent said to the woman, You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.

Then the L ORD God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? The woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I ate. The L ORD God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

C ONSIDERATION

Mary, Mother of the Incarnate Word, is placed at the very center of that enmity , that struggle, that accompanies the history of humanity on earth and the history of salvation itself. In this central place, she who belongs to the weak and poor of the Lord bears in herself, like no other member of the human race, that glory of grace which the Father has bestowed on us in his beloved Son, and this grace determines the extraordinary greatness and beauty of her whole being. Mary thus remains before God, and also before the whole of humanity, as the unchangeable and inviolable sign of Gods election, spoken of in Pauls letter: in Christ... he chose us... before the foundation of the world... he destined us... to be his sons (Eph 1: 4, 5). This election is more powerful than any experience of evil and sin, than all that enmity that marks the history of man. In this history Mary remains a sign of sure hope.

I NTENTION

That all people may come to have a greater awareness of the intrinsic dignity and sacredness of human life, formed in the image and likeness of God; that every human life may be respected, loved, and protected from the moment of conception until natural death; and that all societies may come to recognize the inviolable right to life of every innocent human being.