To be prayed from October 13 to 21
PRESENTATION
In this year of the 100th anniversary of the birthday of St. John Paul II, we would like to devote this novena to him, asking for his intercession before God.
We want to dedicate these nine days especially to a deepening and a living of his teachings. His voice resounds today saying:
“Holiness! This is the grace and aim of every believer.”1 “Duc in altum! [Into the deep] These words ring out for us today, and they invite us to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm and to look forward to the future with confidence: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb 13:8).”2 .
“This is the will of God, your sanctification (1 Thes 4:3). It is a duty which concerns not only certain Christians: ‘All the Christian faithful, of whatever state or rank, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity’ (Lumen Gentium, n. 40). … On this journey we are accompanied by the Blessed Virgin Mary, …radiant dawn and sure guide for our steps.”
Totus tuus, Maria! All yours Mary!
First Day
October13th
Father and Guide
Preparatory Reading:
Saint John Paul II, as father and guide, leads us to the essential of our lives, leads us to Jesus Christ.
“Christ defines his saving mission as a service whose highest expression will be the sacrifice of his life for mankind: For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mk 10:45; Mt 20:28). These words, spoken to counter the disciples’ tendency to seek the first place in the kingdom, are primarily meant to awaken in them a new mentality, which conforms more closely to that of the Teacher…
At the same time, he is also proclaimed the only mediator between God and men, as the First Letter to Timothy affirms: For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all (1 Tim 2: 5- 6). As the God-man, Jesus is the perfect mediator who unites men with God, obtaining for them the goods of salvation and divine life.
‘Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of everything…. He is the only teacher from whom we must learn; the only Lord on whom we should depend; the only Head to whom we should be united and the only model that we should imitate. He is the only Physician that can heal us; the only Shepherd that can feed us; the only Way that can lead us; the only Truth that we can believe; the only Life that can animate us. He alone is everything to us and he alone can satisfy all our desires… Each one of the faithful who is not united to him is like a branch broken from the stem of the vine. It falls and withers and is fit only to be burnt. If we live in Jesus and Jesus lives in us, we need not fear damnation. Neither angels in heaven nor men on earth, nor devils in hell, no creature whatever can harm us, for no creature can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Through him, with him and in him we can do all things and render all honor and glory to the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit; we can become perfect and be for our neighbor a fragrance of eternal life’ (True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, n. 61).” 4
However, we cannot think of Jesus without Mary or Mary without Jesus, because “O Virgin Mary, Jesus on the Cross wanted to entrust us to you, not to lessen but to reaffirm his exclusive role as Savior of the world. With them, I also entrust myself once again to you and with confident affection I repeat to you: Totus Tuus ego sum! I am all yours!” 5
Prayer:
Eternal God, who in your divine providence have given us Saint John Paul II as example and guide, grant that we may be grateful for this gift by being faithful to his magisterium, by living his teachings and by entrusting our prayers to his intercession.
May he, who in union with the bishops of the whole world consecrated the Church and the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, obtain for us the grace to be faithful to this kind Mother. And may we repeat each day as he taught us:
“Virgin Mother of my God, make me all yours!
Yours in life, yours in death;
yours in suffering, yours in fears and in misery;
yours on the cross and in painful discouragement;
yours in time and in eternity.
Virgin Mother of my God, make me all yours!”
Totus tuus Maria.
Amen.
Request the particular grace desired through this novena.
Pray an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. Then pray the litany.
LITANY IN HONOR OF ST. JOHN PAUL II
Lord, have mercy …………………………………………………………………..Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy ……………………………………………………………….. Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy …………………………………………………………………. Lord, have mercy
Christ, hear us ……………………………………………………………………….Christ, hear us
Christ, graciously hear us ………………………………………………………..Christ, graciously hear us
God the Father of Heaven ……………………………………………………….Have mercy on us
God the Son, Redeemer of the World ……………………………………….Have mercy on us
God the Holy Spirit …………………………………………………………………Have mercy on us
Holy Trinity, One God ……………………………………………………………..Have mercy on us
Saint John Paul II …………………………………………………………………..Pray for us
Successor of Saint Peter ………………………………………………………..Pray for us
First Vicar of Christ of Slavic lineage ………………………………………..Pray for us
Formed by the Virgin Mary ……………………………………………………..Pray for us
Prophesized by the Virgin Mary ………………………………………………Pray for us
Miraculously saved by the Virgin Mary…………………………………….. Pray for us
Son of Mary…………………………………………………………………………. Pray for us
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world
…………………………………………………………………………………………..Spare us, O Lord
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world
…………………………………………………………………………………………..Graciously hear us, O Lord
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world
…………………………………………………………………………………………..Have mercy on us
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1 SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Message for the XXXIX World Day of Prayer for Vocations, (04/21/2002)
2 SAINT JOHN PAUL II, APOSTOLIC LETTER NOVO MILLENNIO INEUNTE (01/06/2001).
3 SAINT JOHN PAUL II, IBID.
4 Saint John Paul II, General Audience, Wednesday 4 February 1998, http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/audiences/1998/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_04021998.html
5 Saint John Paul II, Act of Entrustment to Mary, http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/prayers/documents/hf_jp-ii_20030410_prayer-giovani.html