NOVENA TO OUR LADY, HELP OF CHRISTIANS (Feast – May 24)

    FIRST DAY (Begin on May 15)

    Taking that sweet Ave, which from Gabriel came,

    peace confirm within us, changing Eve’s name.

    PRAYER:

    Mary Most Holy,

    Mother of goodness and mercy,

    who with your visible help oftentimes

    freed the Christian people from the assaults

    and barbarism of Moslems,

    I ask you, my Lady,

    to deliver my soul from the onslaughts of the world,

    the devil and the flesh;

    and grant that I may obtain,

    at all times, complete victory over the enemies of my soul.

    Say 1 Our Father…

    Say 1 Hail Mary…

    Say 1 Glory Be…

    Mary, Help of Christians,

    Pray for us.

    SECOND DAY

    Hail, Star of the sea,

    Blessed Mother of God,

    ever fruitful Virgin,

    happy gate of heaven.

    PRAYER:

    O Virgin Most Holy,

    powerful help of Christians,

    I confidently appeal to the throne of your mercy.

    Hear the prayers of this poor sinner

    that begs your help,

    so I may always flee from sin

    and from the occasions of sin.

    Behold the first grace that I ask from this novena.

    Amen.

    Say 1 Our Father…

    Say 1 Hail Mary…

    Say 1 Glory Be…

    Mary, Help of Christians,

    Pray for us.

    THIRD DAY

    Show thyself our Mother

    by taking our voice to the One

    Who deigned to be born for us, from you.

    PRAYER:

    O Mary, my most sweet Mother,

    you who are Queen of Martyrs,

    through so many heroic acts of courage and fortitude,

    which you performed on earth,

    deign to instill in my heart

    the necessary strength

    to always serve you.

    Help me to despise human respect,

    and fulfill all my religious duties openly

    and without shame;

    may I remain your devout child at all times,

    even unto death.

    Amen.

    Say 1 Our Father…

    Say 1 Hail Mary…

    Say 1 Glory Be…

    Mary, Help of Christians,

    Pray for us.

    FOURTH DAY

    Break the sinners’ fetters,

    make our blindness day;

    chase from us all evils,

    for all blessings pray.

    PRAYER:

    O Mary, most powerful Queen,

    who alone triumphed over the false doctrines

    that sought to take away so many children

    from the bosom of Holy Mother Church,

    help me, I beg you,

    to keep and preserve my faith firmly

    and my heart pure amidst the snares

    and venom of such harmful errors.

    Say 1 Our Father…

    Say 1 Hail Mary…

    Say 1 Glory Be…

    Mary, Help of Christians,

    Pray for us.

    FIFTH DAY

    Keep our life all spotless,

    make our way secure till we find in Jesus,

    joy for evermore.

    PRAYER:

    O Mary, Queen of the Apostles,

    take under thy precious protection

    the Sacred Ministers and all the faithful

    of the Catholic Church,

    obtain for them the spirit of unity,

    and fervent zeal for the salvation of souls;

    particularly extend your loving help to missionaries,

    so they may lead all peoples of the earth

    to the true faith.

    Thus may the world become one fold

    under the guidance of only one Shepherd,

    Our Lord Jesus Christ.

    Say 1 Our Father…

    Say 1 Hail Mary…

    Say 1 Glory Be…

    Mary, Help of Christians,

    Pray for us.

    SIXTH DAY

    O Virgin unexcelled and most gentle,

    make us meek and pure

    and preserve us from evil.

    PRAYER:

    Mary, beloved Mother,

    who showed your precious Patronage

    in the triumph of Pope Pius VII,

    extend your holy mantle over Holy Mother Church,

    especially over her august head,

    against the assaults of so many enemies;

    deliver him from temporal sufferings

    and assist him always

    that he may securely steer the barque of Peter in Truth,

    and overcome the proud waves attempting to sink it.

    Say 1 Our Father…

    Say 1 Hail Mary…

    Say 1 Glory Be…

    Mary, Help of Christians,

    Pray for us.

    SEVENTH DAY

    Praise be to God, the Father,

    the Son

    and the Holy Spirit

    now and forever.

    Amen.

    PRAYER:

    O Mary, Mother of mercy,

    who so often saved Christians from the plague

    and other bodily scourges

    by your powerful intercession,

    help them and deliver them now

    from the plague of impiety and irreligion,

    which insinuates itself in a thousand ways

    into their souls

    keeping them from the Church and pious practices,

    especially through sects,

    the press and perverse schools.

    I humbly ask you to help the good,

    that they may persevere;

    strengthen the weak;

    call the wayward and sinners to repentance,

    so that the Truth and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ

    may triumph here on earth,

    thus increasing your glory

    and that of your Son,

    and saving souls.

    Say 1 Our Father…

    Say 1 Hail Mary…

    Say 1 Glory Be…

    Mary, Help of Christians,

    Pray for us.

    EIGHTH DAY

    What Eve had destroyed,

    was created, through you, Holy Mary,

    once again in the Son,

    opening Heaven’s gate

    and giving refuge to the downcast.

    PRAYER:

    O Mary, my most gracious Mother,

    at all times so ready to be the help of Christians,

    assist me with your powerful patronage

    throughout my life

    and especially at the hour of death.

    Grant that, having loved and revered you on earth,

    I may sing your mercies in Heaven.

    Amen.

    Say 1 Our Father…

    Say 1 Hail Mary…

    Say 1 Glory Be…

    Mary, Help of Christians,

    Pray for us.

    NINTH DAY

    Glorious Lady,

    more brilliant than the sun,

    at your breast you nourished

    the God who created thee.

    PRAYER:

    O Mary, the Church’s spiritual pillar

    and Help of Christians,

    I beseech you to keep me firm in the Divine Faith,

    and safeguard in me the freedom

    and dignity of God’s children.

    For my part I promise you

    never to stain my soul with sin,

    nor be a part of any society condemned by the Holy See.

    I promise you to obey the perennial teachings of the Church,

    since I want to live and die

    within the bosom of the Catholic Religion,

    the only one in which I can expect with certainty

    my eternal salvation.

    O God You who established the Mother of Your beloved Son

    as Mother and Help of Christians,

    grant, we beseech,

    that we may live under Your protection,

    and that the Church may rejoice in Your everlasting peace.

    Through Our Lord Jesus Christ,

    Your Son,

    in union with the Holy Spirit.

    Amen.

    Say 1 Our Father…

    Say 1 Hail Mary…

    Say 1 Glory Be…

    Mary, Help of Christians,

    Pray for us.