1. O great Virgin and dear Mother! by the marvelous promptitude with which you dedicated your earliest years to the service of God, obtain that we may from this time forward be enabled to consecrate our hearts to the divine service without ever being diverted from our purpose.

Ave Maria (Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.)



2. O great Virgin and dear Mother! by that seraphic zeal with which in your childhood you served in the temple, thereby becoming an object of admiration to angels and men, obtain for us that we may approach the holy Sacraments with the true spirit of devotion.

Ave Maria (Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.)



3. O great Virgin and dear Mother! by the admirable courage with which you subdued your attachment to home and parents, in your first years of life, that you might devote yourself to the service of God, obtain for us that, no longer seduced by the deceits of our enemies, we may be able to keep our hearts detached from all earthly things, seeking for our true and perfect good alone, and may enjoy one day with you the eternal delights of Paradise.

Ave Maria (Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.)

The servants of Mary are very attentive and fervent in celebrating the Novenas of her Feasts; and during these the holy Virgin, full of love, dispenses to them innumerable and special blessings. One day St. Gertrude saw under the mantle of Mary innumerable souls, whom our Lady was looking upon with great affection, and she understood them to be those who, on preceding days, had prepared themselves, by devout exercises, for the feast of the Assumption. The devotions to be used for the Novenas are the following: 1st. Mental prayer, morning and evening, with a visit to the most holy Sacrament, with the addition of an "Our Father," "Hail Mary," and " Glory be to the Father, &c," repeated nine times. 2nd. Three visits to some image of Mary, thanking the Lord for the graces granted to her, and asking of the Virgin every time some special favor; and at one of these visits the prayer which is placed at the end of each of her feasts should be read. 3rd. Make many acts of love, at least one hundred, or fifty, to Mary and to Jesus, for we can do nothing more pleasing to her, as she said to St. Bridget, than to love her Son: If you wish to become dear to me, love my Son Jesus: "Si te mihi vis devincire, ama filium meum Jesum." 4th. Read every day of the Novena, for a quarter of an hour, some book which treats of her glories. 5th. Make some external mortification of hair-cloth, discipline, &c, with fasting, or some abstinence at table from fruits or other agreeable food, at least in part; chewing also some bitter herb: and on the vigil of the feast fast on bread and water. But all this must be done always with the permission of a spiritual Father.

But better than all others are the practices in these Novenas of internal mortifications, as abstaining from the indulgence of curiosity, either through the eye or the ear; remaining retired and silent; obeying, not answering with impatience; bearing contradictions, and other things of the sort, which may be used with less danger of vainglory and greater merit; and for these, too, the permission of a director is not needed. The most useful exercise is to propose, at the beginning, the amending of some fault into which we are most liable to fall. And to this end it is well, at each of the visits above named, to ask pardon for some past sin, renew the intention of avoiding it in future, and implore the help of Mary in keeping this resolution. The honor most dear to the Virgin is the imitation of her virtues; wherefore it is well in every Novena to propose to one's self some special virtue of Mary, particularly adapted to the mystery; as for example, on the feast of the Conception, purity of intention; of her Nativity, the renewing of the spirit and the awakening from tepidity; of her Presentation, detachment from something to which we are most attached; of the Annunciation, humility in bearing contempt, &c. ; of the Visitation, charity towards the neighbor, alms-giving, &c, or at least, the praying for sinners; of the Purification, obedience to superiors; and finally, of the Assumption, the practice of detachment, and doing all things as a preparation for death, living as if every day were to be the last. In this way the Novena will prove of great service.

6th. Besides the communion on the day of the feast, it is well to ask it more frequently of the spiritual father on the days of the Novena. Father Seoneri said that we cannot honor Mary better than with Jesus. For she herself, as Father Crasset relates, 'revealed to a holy soul that nothing dearer could be offered to her than the holy communion, for there Jesus Christ gathers in the soul the fruit of His passion. Hence it appears that the Virgin desires nothing from her servants more than the holy communion, saying: "Come, eat the bread and drink the wine that I have prepared for you." Finally, on the day of the feast after communion we should offer ourselves for the service of this divine mother by asking of her the grace of the virtue proposed in the Novena, or some other special favor. And it is well every year to set apart among others some feasts of the Virgin, to which we have the greatest devotion and tenderness, and make a particular preparation for this by dedicating ourselves anew, and in a more especial manner, to her service; choosing her for our Lady, advocate, and mother. Then we should ask pardon for our negligence in her service during the past year, promising her greater fidelity for the year that is to come. In a word, let us pray her to accept us as her servants, and obtain for us a holy death.

Oh blessed and immaculate Virgin, our queen and mother, refuge and consolation of all those who are in misery, I, prostrate before thy throne with all my family, choose thee for my Lady, Mother, and Advocate with God. I, with all who belong to me, dedicate myself forever to thy service, and pray thee, oh mother of God, to receive us into the number of thy servants, taking us all under thy protection, aiding us in life and still more, at the hour of our death. Oh mother of mercy, I choose thee Lady and ruler of my whole house, of my relatives, my interests, and all my affairs. Do not disdain to take care of them; dispose of them all as it pleases thee. Bless me, then, and all my family, and do not permit that any of us should offend thy Son. Do thou defend us in temptations, deliver us from dangers, provide for us in our necessities, counsel us in our doubts, console us in afflictions, be with us in sickness, and especially in the agonies of death. Do not permit the devil to glory in having in his chains any of us who are now consecrated to thee; but grant that we may come to thee in heaven to thank thee, and together with thee to praise and love our Redeemer Jesus for all eternity. Amen, thus may it be.

Oh most holy virgin mother of God, Mary, I, N., although most unworthy of being thy servant, yet moved by thy wonderful mercy and by the desire to serve thee, choose thee today, in presence of my guardian angel, and of the whole celestial court, for my special Lady, Advocate, and Mother, and make the firm resolution that I always will love and serve thee for the future, and do whatever I can to induce others also to love and serve thee. I pray thee, mother of God, and my most kind and amiable mother, by the blood of thy divine Son which was shed for me, that thou wilt receive me into the number of thy servants for thy child and servant forever; assist me in all my thoughts, words, and actions, at every moment of my life, that every step and breath may be directed to the greater glory of my God, and through thy most powerful intercession obtain for me that I may never more offend my beloved Jesus, that I may glorify and love him in this life, and that I may also love thee, my most beloved and dear mother, that I may love thee and enjoy thee through eternity in holy paradise. Amen.

My mother Mary, I recommend to thee my soul, especially at the hour of my death.

Mary from the first moment of her existence offered herself to God as an entire and an unblemished holocaust. From the instant when she was conceived immaculate the burden of her continual song was this. "I live; not I, but God Who lives in me." Oh, glorious child, who was thus from the first a participator of the divine nature!

But she was not content with this mere offering of her heart. She must in outward act consecrate herself to God. As soon as her tiny feet could walk, she was brough to the Temple by her holy parents, Joachim and Anne. With what an ecstasy of delight she must have entered into the Temple, crying out: "How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts: my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord." (Psalm lxxxiii. I, 2.) Have I any of the same desire to consecrate my life to God?

Mary knew that God is not to be found in the midst of the tummult and confusion of distracting cares, but that it is in silence and in solitude that He speaks to the heart (Osee ii. 14.) She was teaching us to give, in some quiet retreat, now and again, our thoughts and our hearts to God and God alone.