Prayer to Our Lady of the New Advent

O Lady and Mother of the One who was and is and is to come,
dawn of the New Jerusalem, we earnestly beseech you,
bring us by your intercession so to live in love that the Church, the Body of Christ,
may stand in this world’s dark as fiery icon of the New Jerusalem.
O Jesus living in Mary, come and live in Thy servants,
In the spirit of Thy holiness, in the fullness of Thy might,
In the truth of Thy virtues, in the perfection of Thy ways,
In the communion of Thy mysteries.
Subdue every hostile power in Thy Spirit,
For the glory of the Father. Amen

Today begins the Novena to Mary Immaculate.

Novena Prayer for the Immaculate Conception
O most pure Virgin Mary conceived without sin, from the very first instant, you were entirely immaculate. O glorious Mary full of grace, you are the mother of my God – the Queen of Angels and of men. I humbly venerate you as the chosen mother of my Savior, Jesus Christ.
The Prince of Peace and the Lord of Lords chose you for the singular grace and honor of being His beloved mother. By the power of His Cross, He preserved you from all sin. Therefore, by His power and love, I have hope and bold confidence in your prayers for my holiness and salvation.
I pray first of all that you would make me worthy to call you my mother and your Son, Jesus, my Lord.
I pray that your prayers will bring me to imitate your holiness and submission to Jesus and the Divine Will.
Hail Mary, full of Grace,.......
Now, Queen of Heaven, I beg you to beg my Savior to grant me these requests…
(Mention your intentions)
My holy Mother, I know that you were obedient to the will of God. In making this petition, I know that God’s will is more perfect than mine. So, grant that I may receive God’s grace with humility like you.
As my final request, I ask that you pray for me to increase in faith in our risen Lord; I ask that you pray for me to increase in hope in our risen Lord; I ask that you pray for me to increase in love for the risen Jesus!
Hail Mary, full of Grace,.......
Amen.

“It has always been the habit of Catholic in danger and in troublous times to fly for refuge to Mary, and to seek for peace in Her maternal goodness; showing that the Catholic Church has always, and with justice, put all her hope and trust in the Mother of God. And truly the Immaculate Virgin, chosen to be the Mother of God and thereby associated with Him in the work of man’s salvation, has a favour and power with Her Son greater than any human or angelic creature has ever obtained, or ever can gain…” Pope Leo XIII

"Devotion to Mary will make possible in you a better understanding of Christ and a more intense union with his mysteries. You will receive Christ from his mother's arms and she will allow you to love him and imitate him." (Pope Pius XII)

Today Dominicans celebrate the Feast of our Co-Protectress, St. Catherine of Alexandria, Martyr. Saint Dominic received many heavenly visions of her and chose her with Mary Magdalene to be Protectress of the Dominican Order. Catherine is the patron of philosophers because of the wisdom and reasoning with which she spoke in defence of the faith.
Tradition has it that she appeared twice in visions during the early days of the Order, plus again in the 16th century. She was one of the Virgins along with St. Cecilia who accompanied the Blessed Virgin Mary when she gave Bl. Reginald the scapular. She also accompanied the Blessed Virgin in the vision in which St. Dominic saw the Virgin Mary sprinkling the brethren while they slept. Lastly, she again accompanied the Blessed Virgin, along with St. Mary Magdalene (co-patroness of the Order), in preparation for the painting of the miraculous image of St. Dominic in Soriano.

From the ''Vitae Fratrum''
“Once when St Dominic was passing the night in the church in prayer, about midnight he went out and entered the dormitory. After looking at his brethren he resumed his prayer at the entrance of the dormitory. While standing erect as he prayed, he chanced to glance to the other end of the dormitory and saw three very comely ladies advancing towards him, of whom the central figure seemed to be a lady more dignified and of higher rank than the others. One of the two attendants (St. Catherine of Alexandria) carried a beautiful and resplendent vessel of holy water, and the other (St. Cecilia) a sprinkler, which she presented to the third who walked between them. This one sprinkled the brethren and blessed them, but as she passed along doing so there was one friar whom she neither blessed nor sprinkled. St Dominic observed this attentively, and noting whom it was, followed the lady as far as the lamp which hung in the middle of the dormitory: there he threw himself at her feet and began earnestly to beg her to say who she was, although he knew very well all the while.
Now at that time the beautiful and devout anthem, the Salve Regina, was not sung in the convents of our brethren and sisters in Rome, but merely said kneeling. Then the lady addressed St Dominic and said: ‘I am she whom you greet every evening, and when you say “Turn then our Advocate,” I prostrate myself before my Son for the preservation of this Order.’ St Dominic then inquired who her companions might be, where unto she made answer: ‘One of them is Cecilia and the other Catherine.’ Upon this St Dominic made further inquiry touching the brother whom she had passed by, and why she had neither sprinkled nor blest him with the rest: at this she answered: ‘Simply because he was unworthy of it.’ Then she resumed sprinkling and blessing the remaining friars, and went away.”

Let us pray.
O God, you gave the law to Moses on the summit of Mount Sinai, and through your holy angels, wonderfully put in that same place the body of the blessed Catherine, your virgin and martyr; grant, we beseech you, that by her merits and intercession, we may reach that mountain which is Christ. Through Christ our Lord.

 

"The greater the charity of the Saints in their heavenly home,
 the more they intercede for those who are still on their journey

 and the more they can help them by their prayers;
 the more they are united with God, the more effective those prayers are.
 This is in accordance with Divine order, which makes higher things react upon lower things,
 like the brightness of the sun filling the atmosphere."
St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P.

"Hail, holy throne of God, divine sanctuary, house of glory, jewel most fair, chosen treasure house, and mercy seat for the whole world, heaven showing forth the glory of God. Purest Virgin, worthy of all praise, sanctuary dedicated to God and raised above all human condition, virgin soil, unplowed field, flourishing vine, fountain pouring out waters, virgin bearing a child, mother without knowing man, hidden treasure of innocence, ornament of sanctity, by your most acceptable prayers, strong with the authority of motherhood, to our Lord and God, Creator of all, your Son who was born of you without a father, steer the ship of the Church and bring it to a quiet harbour"
 (Homily by St. Germanus on the Presentation of the Mother of God).