Various Practices of Devotion
in Honor of the Divine Mother;
by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori
Devout Clients of Mary are all Attention and Fervor, in-Celebrating the
Novenas, or Nine (9) Days Preceding her Festivals; and the
Blessed Virgin is all Love, in 'Dispensing' Innumerable and most-Special Graces
to them. Saint Gertrude one day saw, under Mary's Mantle, a Band-of
Souls, whom the Great Lady was 'Considering' with the most-Tender Affection; and she was 'Given' to Understand that they were
Persons who, during the Preceding Days, had 'Prepared' themselves with various Devotions for the
Feast-of-the-Assumption. The following Devotions are some of those which can be 'Used' during the
We may 'Make' Mental Prayer in the Morning and Evening, and
'Visit'-to the Blessed Sacrament, 'Adding' Nine (9) "Our Fathers", "Hail Marys",
and "Glory be to the Fathers".
We may 'Pay' Mary Three (3) Visits ('Visiting' her Statue or
Picture), and 'Thank' Our Lord for the Graces He 'Granted'
her; and each-time 'Ask' the Blessed Virgin for some Special Grace. In One of these
Visits, the Prayer, which will be found-in this Volume, after the Discourse-on the Feast, whichever it may be, can be 'Said'.
We may 'Make' many Acts-of Love 'Towards' Mary (at-least Fifty
(50) or a Hundred (100)), and also 'Towards' Jesus; for we can do Nothing which
'Pleases' her more, than-to Love her
Son, as she said to Saint-Bridget: "If thou Wishest to Bind
thyself to me, Love my Son".
We may 'Read' every day of the Novena, for a Quarter-of-an-Hour, some Book which 'Treats' of
We may 'Perform' some External Mortification, such-as 'Wearing' a Hair-Cloth, 'Taking' a
Discipline, or the like; we can also Fast, or at the Table 'Restrain' from Fruit, or some Favorite Dish, at least in-part,
or 'Chew' some Bitter Herbs. On the Vigil-of the Feast we may Fast on Bread and Water; but
none of these things should be done without the Permission-of our Confessor. Interior Mortifications, however, are the Best-of-All to
'Practice' during these Novenas, such-as to 'Avoid' Looking-at or Listening-to things out-of
Curiosity; to Remain-in Retirement; Observe Silence; be Obedient; not 'Give' Impatient Answers; 'Bear'
Contradictions, and such things; which can All be 'Practiced' with less Danger-of Vanity,
with Greater Merit, and do not need the Confessor's Permission. The most-Useful Exercise, is to 'Propose', from the beginning-of the
Novena, to 'Correct' some Fault into-which we 'Fall' the most
Frequently. For this Purpose it will be Well, in the Visits 'Spoken' of above, to 'Ask' Pardon for Past Faults, to
'Renew' our Resolution not to Commit Them any more, and to 'Implore' Mary's
Help. The Devotion most Dear and Pleasing to Mary, is to
'Endeavor'-to 'Imitate' her Virtues; therefore it would be well always to 'Propose' to ourselves,
the 'Imitation' of some Virtue, which 'Corresponds' with the Festival; as-for-example ―
On the Feast of her Immaculate Conception,
On her Nativity, Renovation-of-Spirit,
to 'Throw'-off Tepidity;
On her Presentation, 'Detachment' from something to-which we are most
On her Annunciation, Humility in
On her Visitation, Charity towards our Neighbor,
in 'Giving' Alms, or at least by Praying for Sinners;
On her Purification, Obedience to Superiors;
and in Finé,
On the Feast of her
Assumption, let us 'Endeavor' to-Detach ourselves from the World, do all to 'Prepare' ourselves for Death,
and 'Order' each Day of our Lives, as if it was to be our Last.
Besides 'Going' to Communion, on the Day-of the Feast, it would be Well to 'Ask' Leave-from our
Confessor, to 'Go' more-Frequently during the Novena. Father-Segneri used to say, that we can not
Honor Mary better, than with Jesus.
She herself 'Revealed' to a Holy Soul (as Father-Crasset 'Relates'), that we could 'Offer'
her Nothing, which was more-Pleasing to-her, than the Holy
Communion; for in that Holy Sacrament, it is, that Jesus 'Gathers' the
Fruit of His Passion in our
Souls. Hence it Appears-that the Blessed Virgin 'Desires' nothing so-much of her
Clients, as Communion; saying, "Come, Eat My Bread, and Drink the Wine which I have Mingled for
you" - Proverbs 9:5.
Finally, on the Day-of-the-Feast, after Communion, we must 'Offer' ourselves to the Service-of
this Divine Mother, and 'Ask' her the
Grace, to 'Practice' the Virtue, or whatever other Grace we had 'Proposed' to
ourselves, during the Novena. It is Well every Year to 'Choose', amongst the Feasts of the
Blessed Virgin, One for which we have the Greatest and most-Tender Devotion; and for this One, to make a very Special Preparation,
by 'Dedicating' ourselves Anew, and in a more Particular Manner, to her Service, 'Choosing' her
for our Sovereign Lady, Advocate, and Mother. Then we must
'Ask' her Pardon for all our Negligence in her Service during
the Past Year, and 'Promise' greater-Fidelity for the Next; and Conclude-by 'Begging' her to
'Accept' us for her Servants, and to 'Obtain' us a Holy
- End of Dialog by Saint Alphonsus -
Please join with others across the Nation in Prayer.
For the nine days between September 7 (the Vigil of the Feast of the Birth-of-Mary) and
September 15 (the Feast-of Our-Lady-of-Sorrows), we Pray for the Intercession of Mary, the
Mother of our Life, our Faith and our Hope. May be said any time, also.
According to Tradition, in the 13th century Our Lady appeared to
Saint Simon Stock, Superior General of the Order, and gave him the Brown Scapular, saying
that whoever wore it would be Preserved from Eternal Damnation and on the 1st Saturday
after their Death, would be taken by her, to Heaven.
In Honor-of the Power, Wisdom, and Loving Mercy of the Blessed
The Oblate Fathers introduced the Devotion to
America in 1952. Novena Devotions are maintained at the Shrine of Our Lady of Hope, Oblate
Fathers' Novitiate and Infirmary, Tewksbury, Massachusetts.
In 1858, Our Blessed Mother appeared-to a
Peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes, France, Announcing herself as the
Immaculate Conception -- Confirming the Dogma proclaimed by Pius IX. Bernadette had never
Heard the Term until told by Our Blessed Mother.
Many Names have been given to me. I have been called the
"Virgin of the Passion", the "Golden Madonna", the "Mother of the Redemptorist Missionaries", the
"Mother of Catholic homes".
The Name of my own Choosing is "Mother of Perpetual
In Her Appearances at Fatima, the Mother-of-God Solemnly
Promised us Final Victory over the Forces-of-Evil in our own-Time. "In the End, My Immaculate Heart will Triumph,"
She told us, "the Holy Father will Consecrate Russia to me. Russia will be Converted and a Period-of-Peace shall be
The Capital City of the Aztec Empire falls under the Spanish forces. Less
than 20 years later, 9 Million of the Inhabitants of the Land, who Professed for Centuries,
a Polytheistic and Human Sacrificing Religion, are Converted-to Christianity. What
happened in those Times, that Produced such an Incredible and Historically unprecedented
Devotion to Our Lady of Walsingham is always centered-on the Mystery of
the Annunciation. It was at the Annunciation, that Our Lady 'Accepted' God's Invitation to be
the Mother-of-God, the Theotokos. She gave herself over to God's Will and Conceived-by the
Holy Spirit. By this same Holy Spirit, Mary always Leads us to Jesus, and her Prayers help
us say "Yes" to God's Will in our Lives, even as she did at the Annunciation.
This Novena should be started on 16 December and concluded on 24
December, a Period of Nine days.
All Gifts, Graces, and Virtues of the Holy Spirit, are
Drop-of-Grace, Ripples-out Gracefully touching many with Hope, then Pours-out in a Thundering Roar
of Faith, until it Swells-into one Gigantic Tsunami of Love, that will Engulf the World!
The Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a Town of Galilee named
Nazareth, to a Virgin Betrothed-to a Man named Joseph, of the House-of-David. The Virgin's
Name was Mary. Upon arriving, the Angel said to her: "Rejoice, O Highly Favored
Daughter! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women."
O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, did Prepare a Worthy Dwelling Place for Your Son,
We Beseech You that, as by the Foreseen Death of this, Your Son, You did Preserve Her from all Stain, so too You would Permit us, Purified through Her Intercession,
to Come-unto You. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who Lives and Reigns with You, in the Unity-of the Holy Spirit, God, World without End.
"Listen, my Faithful Children; Open-up your Petals, like Roses planted-near Running Waters; Send-up the Sweet Odor of Incense,
Break-forth in Blossoms like the Lily. Send-up the Sweet Odor of your Hymn of Praise; Bless the Lord for all He has done." (Sirach 39:13-14)
Our Lady of Siluva is Invoked-for Fallen-away and Lukewarm Catholics, and for the Conversion-of non-Catholics.