“I praise you as my constant helper, and call on you as my loving protector.”
Living
in a hostile world is not easy and often we will find ourselves crying
out to God like King David to come to our aid. We need his assistance,
but most of all his protection.
One prayer that expresses all of these sentiments is a prayer
attributed to Pope Clement XI in 1721. It is usually titled, “A
Universal Prayer for All Things Necessary to Salvation,” and perfectly
captures the heart which begs God for mercy, love and shelter in times
of strife. Below is an adapted version of Clement’s prayer highlighting
God’s fatherly protection over all of us who cry out to him.
Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith. I trust in you: strengthen my trust. I love you: let me love you more and more. I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow.
I worship you as my first beginning, I long for you as my last end, I praise you as my constant helper, and call on you as my loving protector.
Guide me by your wisdom, correct me with your justice, comfort me with your mercy, protect me with your power.
I offer you, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on you; My words: to have you for their theme; My actions: to reflect my love for you; My sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory.
I want to do what you ask of me: In the way you ask, for as long as you ask, because you ask it.
Lord, enlighten my understanding, strengthen my will, purify my heart, and make me holy. Help me to repent of my past sins and to resist temptation in the future. Help me to rise above my human weaknesses and to grow stronger as a Christian.
Make me prudent in planning, courageous in taking risks. Make me patient in suffering, unassuming in prosperity.
Put me on guard against my human weaknesses.Let me cherish your love for me, keep your law, and come at last to your salvation.
Teach me to realize that this world is passing, that my true future is the happiness of heaven, that life on earth is short, and the life to come eternal.
If I ever heard the word “novena” growing up, I don’t remember it.
Although I was a cradle Catholic, I didn’t learn what a novena was or
how to pray one until I was in my mid-twenties.
After I found out about novenas and the spiritual gifts they offer, I
tried to make up for lost time. My husband and I did a perpetual novena
to St. Joseph for years, beginning with our engagement, and to this day
it’s still our “go-to” novena. St. Joseph has never let us down. We’ve
also found powerful graces through other novenas, such as the St.
Peregrine novena, the St. Therese novena, and the Divine Mercy novena.
But sometimes there isn’t time to wait nine days for an intention.
Sometimes we need immediate and powerful grace to assist us in a
desperate situation. That’s when I’m grateful to have learned about
Mother Teresa’s Emergency Novena (also called the Flying Novena or
Express Novena).
Mother Teresa was flooded with prayer requests, and she had many
intentions that she wanted to send up quickly to Our Lady. Her solution?
Pray a novena of Memorares. Mother Teresa would pray nine Memorares in a
row — and then she immediately added a tenth in thanksgiving for graces
received.
I can’t remember where I first heard about the Emergency Novena, but
the graces I have received each time I’ve prayed it have been tangible
and immediate.
Not long ago, I went through a very difficult and intense period of
suffering in my personal life. There were times when I did not know how I
would make it through the next ten minutes with the level of suffering I
was enduring, let alone the next hour, day, or week.
Throughout this time, I prayed traditional novenas, Rosaries
(especially the Seven Sorrows Rosary), and many other prayers. But
during those instances of immediate and almost unbearable need, the Holy
Spirit reminded me to have recourse to the Emergency Novena. Nine
Memorares (with a tenth for thanksgiving).
With the first few Memorares, I began to breathe more easily. By the
end of the last ones, I felt increasing peace. What was even more
amazing, though, is that every single time I prayed the Emergency
Novena, my prayers were immediately answered. Every emergency was
resolved. Every prayer that came forth from the depth of my heart was
heard. Every cry of spiritual agony was answered.
I’ve long had a devotion to Mother Teresa, and so praying her
Emergency Novena is one more way for me to feel closer to this saint
whom I admire so much. Yet the strength of this prayer is not only that
it was invented by St. Teresa, but that it implores the help of the Lady
to whom Mother Teresa entrusted everything.
It is Mary who hears and answers us in our time of desperate need. It
is Our Lady of Sorrows who knows what our suffering hearts are
enduring, and it is Our Lady of Consolation who will come to our
assistance when we beg for the grace we need in critical moments.
If you find yourself in a bind, without nine days or even nine
minutes to wait for help, remember that you can have recourse to Mother
Teresa’s Emergency Novena. Below is the Memorare for those who need it.
And if your suffering is so intense and overwhelming that even the
Emergency Novena is too much for you to say, here is an even smaller
prayer from Mother Teresa: “Mary, Mother of Jesus, please be a mother to me now.” Perhaps saying this smaller prayer will give you the strength to do the Emergency Novena.
May Our Lady hear your petitions and intercede for you with immediate and overflowing grace.
St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!
Memorare
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.
“I
have made a pact with the Lord: when my soul has been purified in the
flames of purgatory and deemed worthy to be admitted to the presence of
God, I will take my place at the gate to paradise, but I shall not enter
until I have seen the last of my spiritual children enter.”
—St. Padre Pio, from a letter to his spiritual daughter, Antonietta Pompilio
With a promise like that, how could anyone
resist the desire to become Padre Pio’s spiritual child? And yet,
there’s even more encouragement from this dear father, for he also said:
“I
love my spiritual children as much as my own soul, and even more . . .
Once I take a soul on, I also take on his entire family as my spiritual
children . . . to my spiritual children, my prayers for you will never
be lacking.”
And finally,
“If one of my spiritual children ever goes astray, I shall leave my flock and seek him out.”
And yet, desire as we might to become St. Pio’s children, we might
wonder how exactly to forge this relationship. I know two very easy
ways, and I won’t delay in sharing them with you.
Just Ask
First, just ask. Here is a prayer that gets to the heart of the matter, and like a little sacrament, effects what it signifies:
Dear
Padre Pio, I recall your promise to the Lord, “I will stand at the
gates of heaven until I see all my spiritual children have entered.”
Encouraged by your gracious promise, I ask you to accept me as your
spiritual child.
A Triple Novena
You can’t get much more direct than that, but you may want to share
this treasure of the good Padre’s spiritual fatherhood. That brings us
to the second way to become his spiritual child, which is by
participating in an unfailing Triple Novena that began on September 6,
but in virtue of its three phases, allows for jumping in mid-stream. The
following prayer will suffice:
O Blessed Padre Pio, holy bearer of the wounds of Christ, accept us this day as your spiritual sons and daughters and keep us always on the Little Way by your intercession. And do thou, O our Spiritual Father, relieve our suffering and the suffering of those we love, and then stay there at the Gates of Heaven, as you promised, until all of your spiritual children have entered through, even and including us and all those we love.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
That’s it, you’re in! You are now, without question, a beloved child
of Padre Pio. And if you were hoping, also, to have your prayer
intentions answered, you’re in luck there too. By reading these Padre
Pio prayers, you are now officially part of the first annual unfailing
Triple Novena. Moreover, you’re in for the long haul even if you don’t
remember to say another single prayer for the duration. How can it be
this easy?
How Does It Work?
The best way to explain it is by telling you this is the Calvinball of novenas. Do you remember Calvinball? In it, Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes) plays a rowdy game with ever-changing rules that evolve to meet the needs of Calvin and his friend Hobbes.
This Triple Novena won’t knock anyone’s block off, but it will knock
your socks off, because one of its first rules is that anyone can join
throughout the course of its 26 days, and even learning about it is
enough to count one in. This is the Novena to end all Novenas, and like
St. Thérèse’s Little Way, it is easy, new, and guaranteed to quell
perfectionism at the get go. Here’s how it works:
Starting on September 6, a select group who stumbled upon my blog, Miss Marcel’s Musings,
began a triple novena after discovering that nine days (a single
novena) would end on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Furthermore, if we made it a double and began another novena the
following day (Our Lady of Sorrows), we would end on St. Padre Pio’s
feast day, September 23. But when it comes to prayer, the more the
merrier (especially regarding participants and intentions), and we saw
that by making it a triple novena and beginning again on September 23,
we would land smack on the Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, October 1.
The consequence? A triple novena!
Different Novenas
You probably already know that novenas come in all shapes and sizes. One
of the secrets of a great novena, though, besides some variation on the number
nine, is that the days (or minutes) it takes to say the prayers have an almost
miraculous relationship to one another.
Take, for instance, the 54 day Rosary novena. Did you know that if you
start it on August 15, Our Lady’s Assumption, you will end, 54 days later
(after three novenas of petition and three of gratitude) on October 7, Feast of
Our Lady of the Rosary?
Or take the mini-novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe
(a sneaky three-day novena, hence “mini”)— it begins on Juan Diego’s
feast, December 9, and ends in time for Our Lady of Guadalupe’s day on
December 12.
Then there is Mother Teresa’s emergency (or “flying”) novena of 9 Memorares said in a row with a tenth in thanksgiving. My friend Maura wrote about it here, and as she explains, you will discover in this quick novena a way not only to calm your fears, but also to get your prayers answered lickety-split.
Our triple novena is akin to Mother Teresa’s novena and the
mini-novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, because although (like the Rosary
Novena of 54 days) it is longer than most novenas, covering as it does
26 days (you can do the math later), it also answers the needs of our
hearts without demanding a long attention span.
Start Today
Are you reading this after September 6? You must be, unless you’re in
2020 already. This is an ideally suited novena series to cure
perfectionism, as well as to answer prayers and cover your needs—and I
do mean to include the needs of all those you love as well. It’s likely
you didn’t start praying this triple novena at the outset, but as I
mentioned already, joining it anywhere in the middle, you’ll still get
full pay, like the workers in Jesus’ parable.
This is our certainty. More importantly, we can count in everyone who
runs across the path of our novena. Those two lovely Jehovah’s
Witnesses who just rang my doorbell and shared with me 1 Peter 5? They
may not realize what happened, but they are even at this moment being
commended to Our Lady and the Saints!
Other Prayers
The only thing left to tell you, then, is the rest of the prayers this
Triple Novena employs. You already have your choice of Padre Pio prayers, but
here is what you may have missed in the first novena, and what’s coming up in
the third. First, An Old French Prayer
for Friends:
Blessed
Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, watch over them
with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry
their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if
they weaken; restore their hope if they lose heart, their health if they
be ill, truth if they err, and repentance if they fall. Amen.
And last, our prayer to St. Thérèse. For the short version, we
suggest that perennial favorite: “Little Flower, in this hour, show thy
power!” But if you like something a little more formal, you might try
this prayer from the Carmelites of Lisieux:
St.
Thérèse, you who promised to make fall a shower of roses, see what
confidence I put in you and receive my intentions. Ask the Lord to grant
my prayers and obtain for me the grace to always love Him and make Him
to be loved. Amen.
Interior of Basilica of St. Thérèse in Lisieux, taken by the author.
God knows all of our intentions, and what a gift that He has promised: “Ask, and you shall receive.”
If you feel so inclined, add your special requests in the comment
section below, but above all, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Not
only that, but Padre Pio promised to have your back (and the backs of
your loved ones) all the way to Heaven, so rejoice, little one, for your
Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom.
Arriving as a missionary in the U.S. at 25, as Bishop of Philadelphia he established many parishes, despite riots, as well as the first Catholic diocesan school system.
He was known for his deep humility and simplicity, traits that sometimes brought ridicule from others.
Felling
called to the priesthood, John Neumann was told that there were too
many priests in his hometown country of Bohemia! He then set sail for
the New World in hopes of being ordained and becoming a missionary in
the United States of America. He arrived in New York in 1836 with one
suit of clothes and a dollar in his pocket.
Neumann ended up being a trailblazer in America, establishing
parishes and establishing the first unified parochial school system. He
was known for his deep humility and simplicity, traits that sometimes
brought ridicule from others. Whatever other people thought about him,
Neumann had a deep spiritual life, always clinging to the cross of
Christ.
Here are five short prayers from his writings that highlight his deep
faith and teach us how to be honest with God in our own prayers.
While pondering last evening on my resolution,
separation from home appeared to me so bitter that I burst into tears.
My Jesus, if it be Thy will, increase my sufferings, but hear my
prayers! Let my resolve be put into execution.
Deprive me of everything, my God, but not of the desire to unite my will to your will in perfect resignation!
How much I love You, O my Jesus! I wish to love You with my whole
heart; yet I do not love You enough. My lack of devotion and my
negligence still haunt me. I have one desire, that of being near You in
the Blessed Sacrament. You are the sweet bridegroom of my soul. My
Jesus, my love, my all, gladly would I endure hunger, thirst, heat and
cold to remain always with You in the Blessed Sacrament.
O
my Jesus, I, a poor, ignorant young man, have become a shepherd in Thy
sheepfold … Grant that not one of those confided to me be lost … Teach
me to live, and, if needs be, to die for my people that they all may be
saved, that they all may love Thy dear Mother!
My Jesus, banish the demon of despair! My devotion has vanished,
my tears are dried up, thoughts of my angel and of my patron no longer
soothe my troubled soul! Even Thy remembrance, my Savior, and that of
Thy Blessed Mother, grow dim before my mental gaze. O Jesus, do not
forsake me! Help me! Help me! I am resolved not to omit a single one of
my devotions!
These US saints fought for the dignity of all people.
Each
year the feast of the Holy Innocents on December 28 reminds us of the
fragility of life and the need to protect it at every stage. Besides
treating everyone with dignity and fighting for legislation that
reflects that fundamental truth, another powerful way to protect life is
by invoking the intercession of the saints.
In particular, there are many saints who fought for the most
vulnerable in society during their lifetime and retain that special love
in heaven.
The USCCB
highlights three such saints from the United States and addresses them
in a nine-day novena that can be prayed at any time. Each saint was a
strong advocate for the forgotten of society and treated each person
with the dignity they deserved.
Below is an excerpt of the novena, while the rest can be prayed at the USCCB website.
Saint Elizabeth Seton
Saint Elizabeth Seton, you knew the beauty of all human life when you carried a child in your womb and when, as a young widow, a teacher, and founder of the Sisters of Charity, you sought to live the Gospel of Life. Inspire us, intercede for us, and be with us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
You know the sacrament of Holy Matrimony; Teach us to support all families with faith and truth.
You know the love of a good spouse; Intercede for all newly married couples.
You know the stirring of the child in your womb; Intercede for every unborn child.
You know the miracle of giving birth; Pray for mothers tempted by abortion.
Saint John Neumann
Saint John Neumann, as a loyal son, a faithful priest, and a tireless Bishop, you worked to support and defend life in all its wonder. Intercede for the Church you loved with all your heart that we may be faithful witnesses to the Gospel of Life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Faithful son of faithful parents; Teach us to honor our parents when they grow old.
Immigrant and stranger; Inspire us to welcome the rejected of the world.
Protector of the young; Inspire us to work for the safety of all children.
Saint Frances Cabrini
Saint Frances Cabrini, In every corner of hemisphere you sought out those whom everyone had forgotten. Mother of immigrants, friend of orphans, protector of the poor, intercede for us who seek to follow your example. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Mother of immigrants; Give us a love for the lives of all who are rejected or forgotten.
Mother of the oppressed; Inspire us to work for justice and the protection of all life.
Mother of the lost; Inspire us to seek out all whose lives are forgotten.
Rose was a devoted child who helped her parents when they were in difficulties.
St.
Rose of Lima felt God calling her to lead a life consecrated to him,
but her parents didn’t understand. They greatly desired that she would
marry and often ridiculed her for the choices she made.
Faced with her parents’ opposition, Rose stayed at home and devoted
herself to prayer and works of charity. She prayed for her parents,
hoping some day they would understand her calling to be a bride of Jesus
Christ.
Later on, her parents were in financial trouble, so she worked all
day and sewed all night. Even though her parents did not treat her well,
Rose respected them and helped them when they were in need.
Here is a prayer invoking St. Rose’s intercession in a particular way
for all mothers, especially those mothers who are in need of strength.
She helped her own parents when they needed her and remains a powerful
intercessor for those mothers who need extra graces from God.
St. Rose, devout Virgin, fragrant rose in the garden
of God, sweetly blooming amid the thorns of distressing tribulation and
severe mortification, white as snow in the immaculate innocence of your
heart, glowing in the love of God that consumed you.
Your devotedness to your parents was so great that you labored
night and day to relieve their poverty, and most tenderly cared for them
in their sickness.
Most
grateful, most humble daughter, have pity on me and my children. Teach
me, by conduct truly Christian, to deserve the warmhearted gratitude of
my children. Teach my children to appreciate my love and the numerous
sacrifices that I cheerfully make for their sake; teach them to repay
the same by filial love and obedience, and chiefly by fervent prayers
for me.
Bless me and my entire family. May our hearts be intimately
united even in adversity. Let us not place our happiness in temporal
prosperity, but rather in the hope of a future eternal blessedness.
Pray, likewise, O sainted patroness of America, for all Christian
mothers in particular, that Christian life and sentiments may
everywhere be awakened among them. May these sentiments spread far and
wide, uniting all families into the one great family of God, in which
Jesus Christ may live and rule with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Blessed Charles de Foucald invites us to say: Let only your will be done in me …
Father,
I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures –
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.
~
Charles de Foucauld was an heir to a great fortune, which he spent on women and fine food. He was sparked to faith by the example of Muslims, led to the desert to find Christ, and shot dead after failure followed failure.
The “Patron Saint of Joy” is a powerful intercessor for those who need more joy in their lives.
Living
in the midst of a world surrounded by violence, oppression, disease and
poverty is not always easy. In fact, it is often depressing.
This reality, as well as any number of circumstances in our own
personal lives, can easily put us in a foul mood, living in a constant
state of despair or anger.
Yet, God calls us to something more.
Pope Francis has said previously during a Mass at Santa Marta,
“The Christian ‘identity card is joy, the Gospel’s joy, the joy of
having been chosen by Jesus, saved by Jesus, regenerated by Jesus; the
joy of that hope that Jesus is waiting for us, the joy that – even with
the crosses and sufferings we bear in this life – is expressed in
another way, which is peace in the certainty that Jesus accompanies us,
is with us.”
The Holy Father charged Christians to help others find Jesus, “so
that they may rejoice in the Gospel and have this joy which is truly of
the Gospel. ”
When we find it difficult to be joyful, one heavenly person to turn
to is the “Patron Saint of Joy,” St. Philip Neri. He was known to have a
joyful heart and attracted many people through his jubilant example.
Here
is a short prayer to St. Philip Neri that can help a soul weighed down
by the anxieties of the world see the joy of the Gospel in a new way.
O holy St. Philip Neri, patron saint of joy, you who
trusted Scripture’s promise that the Lord is always at hand and that we
need not have anxiety about anything, in your compassion heal our
worries and sorrows and lift the burdens from our hearts. We come to you
as one whose heart swells with abundant love for God and all creation.
Hear us, we pray, especially in this need (make your request here). Keep
us safe through your loving intercession, and may the joy of the Holy
Spirit which filled your heart, St. Philip, transform our lives and
bring us peace. Amen
“I summon today all these powers between me and evil.”
One
of the most enduring prayers that has been attributed to the Apostle of
Ireland is known as the “Lorica of St. Patrick.” It is a powerful
prayer, full of beauty and strength, that is meant to be said as a
prayer of protection in the spiritual realm.
According to local tradition, St. Patrick composed the prayer in 433
before he was about to convert High King of Ireland Lóegaire mac Néill.
It is called a “lorica,” which literally means “deer leap” but is
usually translated as “breastplate,” and is a prayer of one who is going
into battle. In this case, it was a spiritual battle against the
paganism and evil spirits of the Emerald Isle.
While modern scholarship believes the prayer may have been composed
at a later date, the prayer retains its spiritual power and is a perfect
prayer for starting out one’s day.
I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through a belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness Of the Creator of creation.
I arise today Through the strength of Christ’s birth and His baptism, Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial, Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension, Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.
I arise today Through the strength of the love of cherubim, In obedience of angels, In service of archangels, In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward, In the prayers of patriarchs, In preachings of the apostles, In faiths of confessors, In innocence of virgins, In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today Through the strength of heaven; Light of the sun, Splendor of fire, Speed of lightning, Swiftness of the wind, Depth of the sea, Stability of the earth, Firmness of the rock.
I arise today Through God’s strength to pilot me; God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak for me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me, God’s hosts to save me From snares of the devil, From temptations of vices, From every one who desires me ill, Afar and anear, Alone or in a mulitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and evil, Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets, Against black laws of pagandom, Against false laws of heretics, Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of women and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul. Christ shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So that reward may come to me in abundance.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through a belief in the Threeness, Through a confession of the Oneness Of the Creator of creation.
The Lebanese saint has become widely known as a miraculous intercessor on countless occasions.
Throughout
history God has chosen certain individuals to work stunning miracles
that reveal his great power and love for all of humanity. Among them,
St. Charbel Makhlouf has proven time and time again to be a powerful
intercessor through whom God desires to reveal his healing touch.
He was a humble and holy hermit whose weaknesses became great strengths in the hand of God.
Charbel was born in 1828 in Lebanon and was raised in a poor shepherd
family. As he grew, Charbel was attracted to the hermit’s life of the
desert and eventually entered the Monastery of St. Maron in Annaya. He
was faithful to his duties in religious life and drew closer to God
every day. After many years Charbel felt God calling him again to become
a hermit and was granted permission to live the rest of his life at a
hermitage set on a hill near the monastery.
Charbel died on Christmas Eve at the age of 70, and when his body was
later exhumed it was found to be incorrupt. A holy oil was discovered
flowing from the tomb, which has since been the source of numerous
miracles.
For example, a blind woman from Arizona was healed in 2016 after venerating the relics of St. Charbel. The medical committee investigating the miracle admitted, “We have no medical explanation and therefore believe this to be a miraculous healing through the intercession of St. Charbel.”
In France, a baby boy was destined to die, so the family used some oil from St. Charbel’s tomb and prayed a novena to St. Charbel for a miraculous healing. According to the family, “The doctors told us that he would sleep more and more and eat less and less. Instead, he was becoming increasingly alert and continued to drink his bottles in small doses. At the end of September, Côme was evaluated again. To our joy and to the astonishment of the doctors, his condition had improved so much that it was determined he would live … The Blessed Virgin and St. Charbel protected him.”
There are many more miracles reported on this website dedicated to St. Charbel, proving that God enjoys working miracles through this humble Lebanese saint.
While we are never “guaranteed” a miracle when praying to God through
a saint, the process can often transform our hearts and help us be
prepared for whatever plan God has designed.
Here is the one novena (usually prayed for nine consecutive days) to St. Charbel that many turn to in their time of need.
Lord, infinitely Holy and Glorified in Your Saints, You have inspired Charbel, the saint monk, to lead the perfect life of a hermit. We thank You for granting him the blessing and the strength to detach himself from the world so that the heroism of the monastic virtues of poverty, obedience, and chastity, could triumph in his hermitage. We beseech You to grant us the grace of loving and serving You, following his example. Almighty God, Who has manifested the power of St. Charbel’s intercession through his countless miracles and favours, grant us …
