November 23, 2019
O blessed Columban,
help and protect the missionaries of our day
who have devoted their lives to preaching
the Gospel throughout the world.
Assist and protect us, also, so to live
for God’s glory that when our
pilgrimage through life is over,
we may enjoy with You the eternal rest
of heaven, through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
November 22, 2019
Dear Saint Cecilia,
one thing we know for certain about you
is that you became a heroic martyr
in fidelity to your Divine Bridegroom.
We do not know that you were a musician
but we are told that you heard Angels sing.
Inspire musicians to gladden the hearts of people
by filling the air with God's gift of music
and reminding them of the divine Musician who created all beauty.
Amen.
November 21, 2019
Remember, O most loving Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence, we turn to you,
O Virgins of virgins, our Mother.
To you we come, before you we stand,
sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
do not despise our petitions,
but in your mercy hear us and answer us.
Amen.
November 20, 2019
O most sacred Virgin Mary,
O Queen of Angels, how beautiful,
accomplished, and perfect, has Heaven made you!
O that I could appear to God as you appeared to me.
You are so beautiful and gracious
that with you beauty you ravished hearts.
When you are seen, everything appears deformed,
all beauty is eclipsed, every grace is lost sight of;
as the stars disappear at the rising of the sun.
When your tenderly devoted servant,
Saint John Damascene, contemplated you,
and when he saw that you were so beautiful,
it seemed to him that you had taken the flower
and that which was best in every creature,
and therefore he called you "the loveliness of nature,"
the grace and comeliness of every creature.
November 19, 2019
O Mother, here we stand before you
to entrust to your maternal care
ourselves, the Church, the entire world.
Plead for us with your beloved Son
that He may give us in abundance the Holy Spirit,
the Spirit of truth which is the fountain of life.
May the Spirit open our hearts to justice and love,
and guide people and nations to mutual understanding
and a firm desire for peace.
We entrust to you all people, beginning with the weakest:
the babies yet unborn, and those born into poverty and suffering,
the young in search of meaning,
the unemployed, and those suffering hunger and disease.
We entrust to you all troubled families,
the elderly with no one to help them,
and all who are alone and without hope.
November 18, 2019
Gracious God,
You filled the heart of Philippine Duchesne
with charity and missionary zeal,
and gave her the desire
to make You known among all peoples.
Fill us who honor her memory today,
with that same love and zeal
to extend Your kingdom to the ends of the earth.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever.
November 17, 2019
I have broken out of my prison
... but I am still not free.
I have been comforted in weakness
... yet I have too little strength.
I have experienced the warmth
and depth of human friendship
... but I am not fulfilled.
I seek, I give, I possess
and yet I yearn -
It is You I seek, O Lord,
my unlosable friend forever.
Fill me up, Lord -
complete me -
I will be restless...
Until I rest in You.
November 16, 2019
I salute you through the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
all you holy angels and saints of God.
I rejoice in your glory,
and I give thanks to our Lord
for all the benefits which He has showered upon you.
I praise Him and glorify Him,
and offer you,
for an increase in your joy and honor,
the most gentle Heart of Jesus.
Therefore, pray for me so that I may
become according to the Heart of God.
Amen.
November 15, 2019
God, You made St. Albert great
by enabling him to combine human wisdom and Divine Faith.
Help us so to adhere to his teaching
that we may progress in the sciences
and at the same time come to a deeper
understanding and love of you.
Amen.
November 14, 2019
In this year of grace, countless people have known
the overflowing joy of the mercy
which the Father has given us in Christ.
In the particular Churches throughout the world,
and still more in this center of Christianity,
the widest array of people have accepted this gift.
Here the enthusiasm of the young rang out,
here the sick have lifted up their prayer.
Here have gathered priests and religious,
artists and journalists,
workers and people of learning,
children and adults,
and all have acknowledged in your beloved Son
the Word of God made flesh in your womb.
O Mother, intercede for us,
that the fruits of this Year will not be lost
and that the seeds of grace will grow
to the full measure of the holiness
to which we are all called.
November 13, 2019
Almighty and Eternal Father,
Giver of all gifts,
show us Your mercy,
and grant, we beseech You,
through the merits of Your faithful servant,
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini,
that all who invoke her intercession
may obtain what they desire
according to the good pleasure of Your Holy will.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini,
beloved spouse of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
intercede for us
that the favor we now ask may be granted.
November 12, 2019
Stir up within Your Church, we beseech You, O Lord,
the Spirit with which blessed Josaphat,
Your Martyr and Bishop, was filled,
when he laid down his life for his sheep:
so that, through his intercession,
we too may be moved and strengthen by the same Spirit,
and may not shrink from giving our lives for our brethren.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
world without end.
Amen.
November 11, 2019
Lord, if Your people still have need of my services,
I will not avoid the toil.
Your will be done.
I have fought the good fight long enough.
Yet if You bid me continue to hold the battle line
in defense of Your camp,
I will never beg to be excused from failing strength.
I will do the work You entrust to me.
While You command,
I will fight beneath Your banner.
November 10, 2019
Blessed Mother,
Saint Augustine, the bright light of doctors, contemplated you,
and you appeared to him so fair and beautiful,
that he called you the countenance of God,
and it did not seem to him adulation.
Your devout son Albert the Great contemplated you,
and to him it seemed that all the graces and gifts
which were in the most celebrated women of the old dispensation,
were all in a much higher degree in you:
The golden mouth of Sarah, which, smiling,
rejoices Heaven and earth;
the sweet and tender look of the faithful Lia,
with which you softened the heart of God,
hardened against sinners;
the splendor of countenance of the beautiful Rachel,
for with your beauty you eclipsed the sun;
the grace and demeanor of the discreet Abigail,
by which you appeased an angry God;
the vivacity and strength of the valiant Judith,
for by your power and grace you subdued
the most ferocious hearts.
November 9, 2019
I live alone, dear Lord.
Stay by my side,
in all my daily needs be my guide.
Grant me good health,
for that indeed, I pray,
to carry on my work from day to day.
Keep pure my heart, my thought, my every deed,
let me be kind and unselfish in my neighbor's need.
Spare me from fire, from flood, malicious tongues,
from thieves, from fear, and evil ones.
If sickness or an accident befall,
then humbly, Lord I pray, hear my call.
And when I'm feeling low, or in despair,
lift up my heart!
And help me in my prayer.
I live alone, dear Lord,
yet have no fear,
because I feel Your presence ever near.
Amen.
The Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.
We go in the name of the Church to announce, by deed and word, the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Missionary Society of St. Columban
1902 N. Calhoun
St. Columbans, NE 68056
Phone: 877-299-1920
Fax: 402-291-4984
email: mission@columban.org
