Day 9

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful

and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.

And you shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray

O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

O my God, because you are so good, I am very sorry that I have sinned against you, and by the help of your grace, I will not sin again. Amen.

If you can, pray the Chaplet and the Litany of Our Mother of Perpetual Help on each day of the Novena. You can skip this step, or come back to the Novena afterwards.

To be said on each day of the Novena.

O Mary, Mother of Perpetual Help, I salute you with filial devotion. I renew the consecration of myself, and all I have, to you. I thank you for your maternal protection and for the many blessings that I have received through your wondrous mercy and most powerful intercession. In all my necessities I have recourse to you with unbounded confidence, O Help of Christians, O Mother of Mercy. I beseech you now to hear my prayer and to obtain for me of your divine Son the favour that I request in this novena.

Here mention your petition.

Obtain for me, also, dearest Mother, the grace that I may imitate you and become more like you in the practice of the virtues of humility, purity, submission to the will of God, and charity. Be my protectress in life, guard and guide me in dangers, direct me in difficulties, lead me in the way of perfection, and assist me in the hour of my death, that I may come to Jesus, and with thee enjoy Him, bless Him, and love Him eternally in Heaven. Amen.

O Mary, if, as St. Peter says, death is terrible even for the just, how much more so will it be for a sinner who has many times deserved hell. So, when I think of that moment on which depends my lot for eternity, I begin exceedingly to fear and to tremble. O Mother of Perpetual Help, in you alone is my hope, for you are the advocate of sinners and patron of the dying. I place myself from henceforth in your blessed hands; to you I entrust the care of my sinful soul: dispose of me, do with me as you please, but preserve me from an evil death.

Reject, if you will, all my other prayers, provided you hear this one for a good death; or may a peaceful and holy death be the crowning answer to all the prayers I address to thee henceforth to the end of my days. And when my last hour shall come, grant, O my good Mother, that I may worthily receive all the helps the Holy Church affords to the dying; and be you pleased to come then to my aid, to encourage, console and defend me from the assaults of Satan, and that your name, with that of Jesus, may be my last thought and my last sigh, so that I may go to heaven to sing your mercies. Come, O Mother of Perpetual Help, to help me at the hour of my death. Amen.

Pray the Hail Mary three times.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Our Mother of Perpetual Help,

pray for us.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help assists Her devotees in Purgatory.

Will the exercise of Mary's mercy be limited, by chance, to the threshold of eternity or before the tribunal of Jesus Christ? Oh no! Remember that Her help is perpetual. With maternal solicitude, She continues working on our behalf until She sees us at Her side in glory. This compassionate Mother helps Her devotees in all the necessities of life and at death and in Purgatory. Since the imprisoned souls need greater help because they are more tormented and cannot be relieved by their efforts, this Queen of mercy busies Herself with greater efficacy in helping them.

Above all, hearing Her most holy name alleviates those unhappy prisoners. They are consoled by thinking that the help of their Mother is perpetual and that it extends, therefore, even to that horrifying prison. One day, Jesus told Her, as St. Bridget heard it: "Thou art My Mother, the Mother of mercy, the consolations of those who find themselves in Purgatory;" and the Blessed Virgin said to the saint mentioned above, just as the words of comfort she addresses to a poor, sick, afflicted and abandoned one, on his bed of sorrow, delights him, so also were those souls consoled with just hearing her name. For Her dear children, this name is a great relief in that prison, for which they invoke it often. And the loving Mother, on hearing them invoke it, provides them with Her maternal help, directs Her pleas to God with which many souls are helped and refreshed, as with heavenly dew, in their great sufferings.

Moreover, as sovereign Queen, She exercises in that prison Her dominion and the fullness of Her powers, not only to relieve but also to free from their pains those holy prisoners. And regarding relieving them, St. Bernardine of Siena, applying to the matter we are dealing with, those words of Ecclesiasticus, "I have walked in the waves of the seas, "This is, visiting and helping in the necessities and pains of My devotees, who are My children. The pains of Purgatory may be called waves, "adds the aforementioned saint, "that never pass, and they may be called waves of the sea because they are very bitter pains."

Afflicted by those pains, the devotees of Mary are often visited and aided by Her. Mary Herself revealed to St. Bridget that She was the Mother of all the souls that are found in Purgatory because all the pains they deserve for the offences they committed in life, in a specific manner, are mitigated, hour by hour, by Her pleas. The compassionate Mother does not disdain to descend at times to that holy prison to visit and console Her afflicted children. How important is it, then, to dedicate oneself to the veneration of that kindest Queen, since Her devotees are not forgotten in the purifying flames of Purgatory!

But Mary not only consoles, aids and visits Her children in that prison of expiation, but also, at times, She takes them away from there to carry them to Heaven. On the day of Her glorious assumption, one pious tradition holds, Purgatory was left vacant because Mary had asked and obtained from Jesus Christ the privilege of taking with Her to glory all the souls grieving in that place where fire purifies all stains. And it is a matter of faith that with Her plea and petitions, She has the singular privilege of freeing, as it pleases Her, the souls in Purgatory, especially those of Her most devoted children. Be a sincere devotee of this tender Mother so you, too, may feel the sweet effects of Her maternal help when you are in Purgatory. Even more: ask Her to grant you, before death, the grace of making an act of such perfect love that you may fly to Heaven without even passing through those purifying flames.

Meditate and ask for what you wish to obtain from Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

O Mother of Perpetual Help, we place before you all the intentions entrusted to you by those who pray with us here: the sick and the suffering, families in need, those seeking work, those carrying burdens known to you alone, and all who give thanks for favours received.

We pray for one another, though we may never meet. Take every petition into your motherly heart and present it to your Son. Obtain for each of us what is for God's glory and our true good, and the grace to accept His holy will in all things.

Our Mother of Perpetual Help,

pray for us. Amen.

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defence against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

Antiphon

Thou art Perpetual Help benign. Come, therefore, I implore Thee.

The refrain is sung after each verse.

Most Blessed Virgin, Immaculate Queen and my Mother Mary, refuge and consolation of all creatures: I come before your throne with my entire family. I choose you for my Lady, my Mother, and my advocate with God. I dedicate myself to your service with all who are near and dear to me. Receive us as your children, I beg of you, O Mother of God. Keep us under your protection, especially at the hour of our death. O Mother of Mercy, I appoint you the mistress and ruler of my whole household, my family, my interests, my affairs. Please do not refuse this charge. Bless me and all my loved ones, and never allow us to be far from your Son.

Never let the devil glory in enslaving any one of us who is now consecrated to you. Grant that we may all arrive in heaven to thank you, and to praise and love Jesus our Redeemer together with you for all eternity. Amen.