IN PRAYER WITH BLESSED ALBERTO MARVELLI Rimini St. Augustine Church April 26, 2013

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1 IN PRAYER WITH BLESSED ALBERTO MARVELLI Rimini St. Augustine Church April 26, 2013 On the threshold of this month dedicated in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we the devotees of Blessed Alberto gathered together in prayer with our beloved patron, to ask for the constant intercession of Our Lady for our needs, the intentions of the Holy Father Francis I, of the whole Catholic Church and for the increase of the priestly and religious vocation in particular. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 1 - THE FIAT OF MARY A Reading from the holy Gospel according to St. Luke (1, 26-38) In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. But Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I have no relations with a man? And the angel said to her in reply, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old

2 age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God. Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. Then the angel departed from her. From the Writings of Alberto Marvelli Turn to Mary, because through her virginal blood formed the holy flesh and virgin blood of Jesus Christ. Through her virginal goodness and love, created virginal souls in this world and they become evangelizers and bearers of Christ in the failing world. Mary s fiat to the Father is like a magnet that gathers all the goodness and splendours, whom God created: through her fiat the Wisdom become flesh, by her fiat, her maternal and holy womb receives the seed that will give us all the Bread of Life, and Life itself, and with her fiat Jesus Christ gave us redemption through His passion in Gethsemane. May we learn to become obedient and holy children of God, to say our each other s fiat as to unveil the will of God, in our lives and to be sustained with His grace. May we reap and enjoy the beauty of His goodness». (Notebook of the spiritual exercices) Intercessory Prayers - Lord, help us to follow the holy and pious example of Alberto, help us to say our fiat with humility and become instruments of your salvation. We pray. Through the intercession of Alberto, Lord hear us. - Lord, we pray for our priests, grant your grace to accompany them in their priestly vocation. Make them humble servants committed and holy in their priestly ministries, as well of being witnesses and educators of the Catholic faith, in Christ Jesus we pray. Through the intercession of Alberto, Lord hear us. - Help us O Lord, by Your grace and mercy, grant us holy and priestly vocations, we beseech you to bless our seminarians and religious novices by Your grace, to be able to sustain them in their religious vocations. We pray. Through the intercession of Alberto, Lord hear us. Alberto leads the Rosary prayer

3 Prayer Lord, when you consider our venial and mortal sins, remember the purity of your mother! Lord, when you see our impurities, Gaze upon the radiant holiness and virginity of the holy woman who gave you life! Lord, when you stare upon our infidelities, Be mindful of the petitions of the Mother, who bore you in her womb! (From the Liturgy Ethiopian) Pause for silent and personal reflections 2 - THE MAGNIFICAT OF MARY A reading from the holy Gospel according to St. Luke (1, 46-56) And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever. Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home. From the Writings of Alberto Marvelli Contemplating and writing my letters from second floor, I behold the captivating beauty of the beach, deep blue sea with the flies in sailing, dinghies, and bathers enjoying the nature. As I see it now, everything s seems like before, I could still recall the days when you are here, and we are diving from the blowfly. Yeah, the sea looks the oddly same, but when I gaze upon the panoramic view of nature around me, I saw how things have much changed: the beach without beach huts some either burned or destroyed and some were

4 still used as refugee s shelter. The magnificent Turkish Villas were reduced to a pile of rubble; other beautiful houses were either utterly destroyed and or pillaged. Windows were left without frames, like an empty eye sockets of a dying man! The glorious magnificent gardens now unkempt, the bridges connecting villages and towns were blown; the bombed streets were left with holes and dust! What a grotesque big difference has become of our beloved Rimini! (from a Letter to Marilena) (Taken from the memoirs of Alberto, September 1944, when the Allied Forces passed the Gothic Line, leaving the city utterly destroyed. Out of these tragedies, his faith did not falter and moreover Mary s aid is proven with him). The Immaculate Virgin Mary is a masterpiece branch, a hidden masterpiece, a masterpiece of grace, a masterpiece of fullness. She is full of virtues and holiness, and we are weak and empty. She is filled with grace and love, and we are full of hatred and indifference. See and look up: If we gaze upon the sky, we cannot reject the Divine, that draws us to Mary, and for that, She will pour unto us divine graces, as the Mother of Grace, our Mediatrix of Grace. (from Spiritual Notebook) Prayer to Mary - Blessed Virgin Mary, you who glorified the One, who fills the hungry, succour each one of us to look up, like your servant Alberto aid us in becoming advocate of people s development, bearer of justice between nations, as to become servant of peace among all men. Hail Mary... - Blessed Virgin Mary, when you sung the Magnificat, you are aware of the contradicting foreseeable future around you. Like your servant Alberto, help us not to let our hopes be contradicted by unknown and foreseeable events, and grant us grace to have faith and hope as you have. Hail Mary... - Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of love and praise, enable us to look upon our daily lives as a prayer and work of Magnificat, to rejoice and praise with you all the small and big things, the joys and the pains the Lord has given in our midst. Hail Mary... - Blessed Virgin Mary, as we pray for each one us, for the universal Church, for the Diocese of Rimini, and for our Archdiocese of. You who became the Mother of Joy, we pray that same joy spring forth for all, instilling us with confidence, hope, and peace. Hail Mary... Pause for silent and personal reflections

5 3 - THEY HAVE NO WINE A Reading from the holy Gospel according to St. John (2, 1-11) On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. [And] Jesus said to her, Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servers, Do whatever he tells you. Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, Fill the jars with water. So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter. So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now. Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him. From the life of A. Marvelli My Mother, my Confidence is the invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary that Alberto prayed over and over again, running his fingers the rosary beads. His love for the Blessed Virgin Mary is a characteristic of his Marian spirituality and prayer life. Since, December 8, 1934, at the tender age of sixteen, Alberto wrote in his diary. This morning I consecrated my whole heart and being to Our Lady the Immaculate, he began his spiritual journey by placing it under the protection and mantle of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Innumerable pages of Alberto s diary closes with holy name of the Virgin Mary to whom he addressed, constantly invoking her aid in his spiritual discernment. (From "In prayer with Alberto" by Don F. Lanfranchi)

6 Intercessory Prayers - In the same confidence that Alberto had, we ask of you our heavenly Mother to watch and guide all your children on earth, placing under your hands the poor, the just, the abandoned, those who are deprived of justice, the victims and the refugees, the people living in the midst of wars and those who are in pain and anguish. - You, who are at Cana made your motherly concerns towards others, help us to look at you, and may you become our model in time of our trials and difficulties. Grant we pray, that we may hear your voice, and make us calm, patient, charitable, trusting and ever relying on Christ, the Savior whom you always trusted. - Blessed Virgin Mary, we pray for all the youth in the world. May they found benevolent peers in their studies, a good influence or spiritual model to listen to them and guide them to the ever constant love of the Father. Prayer to Mary Holy Mary, our strong yet tender Mother, our faithful companion to the sojourn of life. Whenever we contemplate all the great marvellous deeds the Father has ever done in your life. Life s sadness becomes joy, ever filling us with new life. Lead us to take the next step to be nearer to you. Grant us grace to desire you more, to be held by your hands and lead us away from these tiresome sinful weary path. Guide each pilgrims of faith to behold the Lord s face to see Him as an embodiment of human concern for those who are in dire need. Mary, lead us we pray so that we may quickly reach the gates of Heavenly City. Behold and captivate the same heavenly joy that you brought upon the threshold of Elizabeth. Amen. Personal intercessory Prayers

7 Prayer to ask for the intercession of Blessed Alberto Marvelli O God, Almighty Merciful Father, we thank you for giving us Alberto, as a sign of Your love for us. We contemplate the marvels that You have done in his life: the solid prayer life, the generous social and political commitment, a burning love for the poor. He constantly practices the heroic virtues of faith, hope, and charity. We ask You, Father, through the intercession of Your servant Alberto, grant us to imitate his virtues and become like him a witness of Your love in the world. Heal us and grant us all spiritual and material graces we are in need (state your intentions), so that we, like him, may unconditionally love and serve your Church and to work for peace and salvation of creation. May the countless answered prayers, be a constant reminded of your love and power, as we work for the canonization of Blessed Alberto Marvelli, and for evangelization on this Year of Faith. Amen * Translation by Ronald Que, in loving memory of Mrs. Teresita Que, a devotee and pious servant of Mary and Blessed Alberto. *** *** *** *** Centro documentazione "A. Marvelli" Via Cairoli, Rimini (Tel e Fax) infocentromarvelli@gmail.com skype: centromarvelli1 Alberto Marvelli Follow A. Marvelli on Facebook and Twitter (@centromarvelli)