St Anne s Shrine, Chapel Hill, Mayobridge, Newry, Co Down The Shrine is open 7 days of the week from 8-00am until 10-00pm Visit on: www.mayobridgeparish.com My Novena to Saint Anne by Eugene Lefebvre, C.Ss.R Saint Anne s feast day is on July 26th, so the Saint Anne Novena is traditionally started on July 17th but you can pray it anytime. Devotion to Saint Anne began early in the history of the Catholic Church. As she was favoured by God to become the mother of the holy Virgin Mary, she is often invoked as the Patron of Mothers as well as for relationships, among other things.
DAY 1 THAT I MAY KNOW GOD S PLAN FOR ME Dearest Saint Anne, help me believe in the Lord s plan for me. There is nothing in my life that is not allowed by an infinitely wise and loving Father. In the light of God s wisdom and love, even in riddles of suffering and of death, help me find a solution. Let me discover God s plan for me as it unveils itself through the creation of the universe and mankind, through the incarnation of the Father s only begotten Son and the redemption of sinful people, through Christ s resurrection which is a pledge for my own eternal resurrection. Teach me, Saint Anne, that the only way to carry out the Lord s plan is to fulfil His will as it manifests itself through all the circumstances of every one of my days. If I carry out the Father s designs in everything I do in all the joys and hardships of life, then my earthly existence will lead me in Christ s footsteps, since all He did on earth was to fulfil His Father s will. DAY 2 FOR FORGIVENESS OF SIN Dearest Saint Anne, help me understand that there is only one element in the world as well as within me that is essentially evil. That element is sin. Everything else in both the universe and mankind was assumed by Christ when He became a man. He adopted everything there is in the human nature and made it possible for all these elements to be changed by grace and used for endless glory. He came to abolish sin, erase it and replace it by grace and virtue. Teach me the malice of sin, dear Saint Anne, by reminding me that it is in a spirit of atonement that the Son of God chose to suffer and die. It is the thought of mankind s sins that tortured Christ in His agony and drew blood from all the pores of His body. Dying with Christ to this world, with all its wickedness, hatreds and impurities, I shall rise with the risen Christ to a life where there will be sin no more, where mankind, cleansed of all his sins, will enter into the Lord s dazzling light and enjoy His eternal presence. DAY 3 FOR PEACE OF MIND Tell me, dearest Saint Anne, that the best way to find peace of mind is to allow the Lord to live in my mind and heart. The enemies of peace of mind are my past and future. The memory of my past behaviour may linger on long after it should have been forgotten. My imagination builds up a foreboding future for me.
Dear Saint Anne, remind me that all evil of my past should not upset me: Let the dead past bury its dead! Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow (Isa 1:18). Dearest Saint Anne, in the midst of the constant turmoil which surrounds us and brought to effervescence by the media, that thrive on dramatizing the worst in society, let us find comfort in the conviction that, as long as we keep our faith and hope in the Lord s power, wisdom, love and peace, it will keep Him alive in our hearts. The power that has conquered the world is this faith of ours (John 5:4). DAY 4 FOR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES Dearest Saint Anne, I wish to entrust, to your care, all the people I love; my friends and relatives. In a way, since my love should go out to all mankind, it is for all men and women that I am praying. But my prayers grow more urgent and fervent when I think of those who are most dear to me. My first request on their behalf, dear Saint Anne, is for happiness. Happiness is indeed the sum of all the best things in the world. The loving Lord, who wishes all men and women to be happy, made happiness possible even through sickness and poverty. The most heart warming call to happiness came from Christ Himself when He proclaimed the doctrine of His beatitudes; Happy are the poor, the pure, the persecuted (see MT 5) Dearest Saint Anne, obtain for all people my friends and relatives especially all the good things of this world that they bring happiness. But first of all obtain for them the grace to be happy, truly happy, even when the world collapses around them and it seems there is no one remaining at their side except the Father and His amazing love. DAY 5 FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN NEED Dearest Saint Anne, teach me that the one thing the world stands most in need of is God Himself; faith and trust in him, the One who made us and loves us. Obtain for all people the Lord s grace on Earth and His glory in heaven. Remind me, dear Saint Anne, that I am also expected to provide for the human and material needs of my neighbours. If they need bread, let me hasten to feed them. If they are without suitable clothes or lodging, let me hasten to clothe and shelter them. If they are penniless, let me give them money. If they are lonely, let me give them friendship. If feel forsaken, ignored or rejected, let me bring the warmth of my interest. The ways I can help my neighbours are as diversified as are my neighbours needs. Dearest Saint Anne, keep reminding me, whenever I help my neighbours in need, that it is the Lord I am helping; Whatever you do for the least of my children, you do it for me.
DAY 6 FOR PEACE IN THE FAMILY Dearest Saint Anne, I come to beg you to restore peace in my home. A family where all are at peace with one another, is happy. If there is no peace at home, if there is dissension and arguments between husband and wife, children and parents, life becomes unbearable. Teach me, dear Saint Anne, that the price everyone has to pay for peace and understanding is selflessness. There can be no cooperation if no one is willing to sacrifice some of their judgements, feelings or whims. Whenever there is disagreement, peace can only be restored when everyone is willing to go half way towards reconciliation. Dearest Saint Anne, grant us the gift of peace promised to men and women of good will. Give husbands, wives, and their children the will to make sacrifices needed for peace at home. One of the most beautiful sights on Earth is a peaceful and loving home. Help us to make this possible. DAY 7 A PRAYER OF A WORKER Dearest Saint Anne, tell me that work must be something noble and beautiful since you yourself worked throughout your earthly life, and since Christ, your grandson, chose to be born of a working family; He was the Son of Joseph the carpenter. Teach me how to discover through work a service I can bring to my neighbours by helping them enjoy the blessings of this world. Without mankind s work, nature would have remained a wilderness. It is work that provides us with all the necessities and conveniences of existence. It is work that gives us the houses we live in, the food we eat, and the clothing we wear. Dearest Saint Anne, teach me how to love my work, my job, even if it is monotonous, because it is God s will that I should work and fulfil my obligations to the best of my ability. Even if my work seems common and, remind me that Christ s work in Nazareth was also common and ordinary. Help me bring into all the work I do, Christ s own spirit, which is a spirit of love for the Lord and for my neighbour. DAY 8 FOR MY COUNTRY Dearest Saint Anne, I wish to pray for my country and all my fellow countrymen. Help us to love our country and understand what made it great and beautiful. Help us to find the reasons we have to hope and the means for victory over the foes, both from within and from without, that threaten what is best in our land. We thank You, Lord, for the lands and rivers in our country, for its plains and mountains, its fields and forests.
We thank You for the wisdom of our constitution, for the freedom it guarantees to all of us. We thank You for our Churches that keep Your grace available to all. We thank You for our institutions of knowledge, for our universities and colleges, for our technicians, engineers and workers who have dug inexhaustible treasures out of our land and seas. Dearest Saint Anne, may our people become more than ever united in God, in a common faith in Him and in a common effort to build a world of Christian unity. DAY 9 FOR A HAPPY DEATH Dearest Saint Anne, teach me that a happy death is one of the Lord s most precious graces. It is the Father s loving welcome to His children who exchange this earthly life of trials for eternal happiness. A happy death can make up for all the afflictions and frustrations of this world, since it is a life where there will be no more pain or grief. Tell me, Saint Anne, that a happy death is promised by the Lord to all men and women of good will, to all those who, with sincerity and deliberation, look upon the fulfilment of their Father s will as their main responsibility on Earth. They are those who, through constant effort and prayer, never fail to fulfil God s will; or failing to do so, repent and start anew. Dearest Saint Anne, help me to walk on Earth in Christ s footsteps, in the light of His examples and teachings, loving the Father and my neighbour the way Christ loved them. Only then will my death be a happy one.