Virgo Potens

St. Andrew’s CHRISTMAS NOVENA 11/30 - 12/24 PRAYER to Obtain Favors Hail and blessed be the hour and the moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer and obtain my desires through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ and of His Blessed Mother. Amen. (It is piously believed that whoever recites the above prayer fifteen times a day from the feast of St. Andrew (November 30th) until Christmas will obtain what is asked.) Imprimatur +Michael Augustine, Archbishop of New York New York, February 6, 1897

FIRST FRIDAY of DECEMBER ❤️ O Sacred Heart of Jesus, animated with a desire to repair the outrages unceasingly offered to Thee, we prostrate before Thy throne of mercy, and in the name of all mankind, pledge our love and fidelity to Thee! If possible, receive Holy Communion today and make reparation to Our Lord and Saviour for past and present offenses against His Most Sacred Heart.

Day Three O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, didst prepare a worthy dwelling place for Thy Son, we beseech Thee that, as by the foreseen death of this, Thy Son, Thou didst preserve her from all stain, so too Thou wouldst permit us, purified through her intercession, to come unto Thee. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen. O Blessed Virgin Mary, glory of the Christian people, joy of the universal Church and Mother of our Lord, speak for us to the Heart of Jesus, who is thy Son and our brother. O Mary, who by thy holy Immaculate Conception didst enter the world free from stain, in thy mercy obtain for us from Jesus the special favor which we now so earnestly seek. (Here mention your personal request.) O Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Mother of Christ, thou hadst influence with thy Divine Son while upon this earth; thou hast the same influence now in Heaven. Pray for us and obtain for us from Him the granting of this petition, if it be the Divine Will. Amen.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary, The Immaculate Conception

Month of the Immaculate Conception ~ December 1st Meditations for Advent What Advent is 1. Advent is the season when we are taught to look forward both to the first coming of Our Lord into the world at Christmas-time, and also to His second coming at the end of time to judge the living and the dead. His first coming was to seek and to save that which was lost. His second coming will be to gather His elect into the celestial paradise, and to trample all His enemies under His feet. Shall I on that day be regarded by Him as a friend or as an enemy? Is my present life one of devotion to Him and union with Him, or one of selfishness, pride, impatience of the yoke of Christ? ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

PRAYER to Obtain Favors Hail and blessed be the hour and the moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer and obtain my desires through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ and of His Blessed Mother. Amen. (It is piously believed that whoever recites the above prayer fifteen times a day from the feast of St. Andrew (November 30th) until Christmas will obtain what is asked.) Imprimatur +Michael Augustine, Archbishop of New York New York, February 6, 1897

Day Two O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, didst prepare a worthy dwelling place for Thy Son, we beseech Thee that, as by the foreseen death of this, Thy Son, Thou didst preserve her from all stain, so too Thou wouldst permit us, purified through her intercession, to come unto Thee. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen. O Mary, ever Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, Queen of Angels and of Saints, we salute thee with the most profound veneration and filial devotion as we contemplate thy holy Immaculate Conception. We thank thee for thy maternal protection and for the many blessings that we have received through thy wondrous mercy and most powerful intercession. In all our necessities, we have recourse to thee with unbounded confidence. O Mother of Mercy, we beseech Thee now to hear our prayer and to obtain for us of thy Divine Son the favor that We so earnestly request in this novena. (Here mention your personal request.) O Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Mother of Christ, thou hadst influence with thy Divine Son while upon this earth; thou hast the same influence now in Heaven. Pray for us and obtain for us from Him the granting of this petition, if it be the Divine Will. Amen.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary, The Immaculate Conception

🍂 The month of November ends today, and for now we conclude our meditation on the sufferings of Purgatory. Please continue your daily prayers for the Poor Holy Souls, that you may aid them. Remember, that by doing so, you earn the love, gratitude and help of loyal friends who will in turn help you in this life and that by your faithful prayers for them today you may thereby shorten your own stay in Purgatory. Beginning tomorrow, we will change our focus to Advent and preparing to receive Our Lord into our hearts at Christmas! May God bless you!

Chapter 20 How to Help the Holy Souls in Purgatory (continued) 3. There are some whom God inspires to make what is called the Heroic Act, by which they offer up all the satisfactions of all their works, of the prayers and Masses said for them, and the indulgences gained for them after their own death, to be bestowed on the Holy Souls according to Our Lady’s pleasure. This supreme act of self-sacrifice is indeed heroic, for it includes a willingness to remain in Purgatory as long as God shall please for the sake of helping others out. What a great reward this will obtain in heaven! What gratitude it will earn from the Holy Souls! Think how many there are that need your help. (Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year.) ~ Rev. F. X. Lasance, Holy Souls Book: Reflections on Purgatory (1922) N.B. The Heroic Act can be made either using a set formula or simply by an act of one’s will. It is important that one fully understands what he is doing before making the Heroic Act, and thus one ought to consult his confessor before doing so. Also, should anyone who has made the Act ever regret having done so, he may revoke it by a mere act of his will.

Day One O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, didst prepare a worthy dwelling place for Thy Son, we beseech Thee that, as by the foreseen death of this, Thy Son, Thou didst preserve her from all stain, so too Thou wouldst permit us, purified through her intercession, to come unto Thee. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen. O most Holy Virgin, who wast pleasing to the Lord and became His mother, immaculate in body and spirit, in faith and in love, look kindly on us as we implore thy powerful intercession. O most Holy Mother, who by thy blessed Immaculate Conception, from the first moment of thy conception didst crush the head of the enemy, receive our prayers as we implore thee to present at the throne of God the favor we now request. (Here mention your personal request.) O Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Mother of Christ, thou hadst influence with thy Divine Son while upon this earth; thou hast the same influence now in Heaven. Pray for us and obtain for us from Him the granting of this petition, if it be the Divine Will. Amen.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary, The Immaculate Conception Traditionally prayed from November 29th – December 7th in preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th.

Chapter 20 How to Help the Holy Souls in Purgatory 1. We should make it our practice to offer each day some special prayer or work for the Holy Souls. We may not do much, but by constancy in laboring on their behalf we shall gradually accumulate a treasure for their benefit. We should never miss saying a De Profundis for them every night, and we should offer up holy communion for them from time to time. In our morning oblation we should pray that God may accept our labors, our sufferings, our penances for them. 2. We should also be careful to say as many indulgenced prayers as we can for them. Every prayer offered for them benefits them; every indulgenced prayer has a double efficacy. It has a satisfactory value in itself, and has a further power to obtain relief for them by reason of the indulgence attached to it. In this way how much we may do for the Holy Souls! (Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year.) ~ Rev. F. X. Lasance, Holy Souls Book: Reflections on Purgatory (1922)

Chapter 19 Means of Avoiding Purgatory 1. A great devotion to the sacred passion of Christ is one of the surest methods of escaping the penalty due to our sins. He is always touched by any compassion shown Him in His sacred sufferings. He is said to have revealed to some saint that He would remit the temporal punishment due after death to any one who for fifteen years should say every day seven Paters, seven Aves, and one Gloria in honor of His sacred passion. It seems very likely that such perseverance in honoring Him in what He suffered for us would exempt from Purgatory altogether. What do I do in this respect? 2. We may also hope to avoid Purgatory if we pray God to give us our purgatory in this life. It requires some courage to do so, as, if God hears our prayer, we must expect to suffer greatly before we die, and perhaps to spend our lives in intense pain. How small will be the price paid in comparison with the advantage gained! All the sufferings of this life are small compared with the sufferings after death; and moreover here we can merit, we can go on increasing our eternal reward, but not in Purgatory. 3. Purity of intention in all our actions is another of the most efficacious means of attaining the same end. Any one who does all his actions purely for God’s sake will have nothing for the searching fire to lay hold of. It is self that has to be burnt out of us; self-will, self-love, self-indulgence. He who is rid of these may hope to go straight to heaven. Pray that by one or other of these means you may avoid separation from God after your death. (Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year.) ~ Rev. F. X. Lasance, Holy Souls Book: Reflections on Purgatory (1922)

Chapter 18 The Alleviations of Purgatory 1. Our Lord does not forget the souls that He loves. As at the time of His death He visited Limbo, so He from time to time manifests Himself to the holy souls in Purgatory, to comfort and cheer them. What a day of joy must it be for the Holy Souls when their Lord and King vouchsafes, if it be but for a moment, to illumine the dark prison-house with the light of His divine presence! How they must sigh after Him when He departs! for what joy is there like the joy that comes of the presence of Jesus? 2. Our Lady, too, comes also with the same merciful design, especially on a Saturday, on her great feasts, and, above all, on the feast of the Assumption, when she releases not a few holy souls every year, and carries them with her to heaven. What a delight it must be to them to be thus comforted by the holy Mother of God! How they must rejoice in having gained this privilege by their devotion to her while they were yet alive! 3. The angels, too, are often sent by God to assuage the pains of the Suffering Souls. Our Lord does not forget the angel who consoled Him during His sacred agony, when He took upon Himself the intolerable weight of the sins of the whole world, and He knows what it is to be suffering for sin that has no hold on the soul, but nevertheless drags it down, like some heavy weight attached to it by the divine justice. Hence there are angels appointed to comfort the Holy Souls, to refresh them amid the devouring flames. Ask your guardian angel never to let you fall into sin, that so you may not need his help after life is done. (Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year.) ~ Rev. F. X. Lasance, Holy Souls Book: Reflections on Purgatory (1922)

Chapter 17 The Happiness of Purgatory 1. The happiness of Purgatory is a happiness of prospect, not of actual enjoyment. It is in spe and not in re, hoped for, not already possessed. But the hope is something more than hope, it is a certain expectation which the Holy Souls know cannot be disappointed. This is their support and strength, their joy and consolation, amid their unspeakable anguish. They can look forward to the long years of eternal bliss when they will repose in the bosom of God. O happy prospect, to us always uncertain, so certain to those Holy Souls! 2. Happiness consists in union with God. If the soul is united to God by supernatural charity beneath every kind of sorrow and misery there is an underlying joy. Now the Holy Souls are perfect in their charity. They have made an act of fervent charity at their judgment, and the habit of charity is in them as strong as ever. Hence in spite of all their sufferings they are intensely happy, and cry out, “I know that my Redeemer liveth.” 3. Happiness is not incompatible with intense suffering. A man may be light-hearted while he is shrieking with physical pain; he may be light-hearted even when separated from one whom he loves better than all the world beside. He is happy by reason of his internal dispositions, and in spite of the bitterness of the separation or the fierceness of the physical pain. So it is with most Holy Souls. Their dispositions are perfect, their will is God’s. They are full of hope and love; how can they fail to be happy? Pray for an unceasing union with God by charity. (Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year.) ~ Rev. F. X. Lasance, Holy Souls Book: Reflections on Purgatory (1922)