Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes begins today

Vt_cc_our_lady_of_lourdes_full_shotNovena to Our Lady of Lourdes

Prayer

Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest your shining with life, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child, St. Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception." A thousand times we congratulate you upon your Immaculate Conception. And now, O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted, you know our wants, our troubles, our sufferings deign to cast upon us a look of mercy. By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors, and already many have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and physical. We come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain for us, O loving Mother, the granting of our request. (here make your request) Through gratitude for your favors, we will endeavor to imitate your virtues, that we may one day share your glory. Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of Christ, you had influence with your divine son while upon earth. You have the same influence now in Heaven. Pray for us; obtain for us from your Divine Son our special requests if it be the Divine Will. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY ONE

O Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, virgin and mother, queen of heaven, chosen from all eternity to be the Mother of the Eternal Word and in virtue of this title preserved from original sin, we kneel before you as did little Bernadette at Lourdes and pray with childlike trust in you that as we contemplate your glorious appearance at Lourdes, you will look with mercy on our present petition and secure for us a favorable answer to the request for which we are making this novena.
(make your request)

O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY TWO

Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest yourself shining with light, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child Saint Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception!" O Mary Immaculate, inflame our hearts with one ray of the burning love of your pure heart Let them be consumed with love for Jesus and for you, in order that we may merit one day to enjoy your glorious eternity. O dispenser of His graces here below, take into your keeping and present to your Divine Son the petition for which we are making this novena.
(make your request)

O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY THREE

"You are all fair, O Mary, and there is in you no stain of original sin." O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. O brilliant star of sanctity, as on that lovely day, upon a rough rock in Lourdes you spoke to the child Bernadette and a fountain broke from the plain earth and miracles happened and the great shrine of Lourdes began, so now I beseech you to hear our fervent prayer and do, we beseech you, grant us the petition we now so earnestly seek.
(make your request)

O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY FOUR

Vt_cc_our_lady_of_lourdes_status__2 O Immaculate Queen of Heaven, we your wayward, erring children, join our unworthy prayers of praise and thanksgiving to those of the angels and saints and your own-the One, Holy, and Undivided Trinity may be glorified in heaven and on earth. Our Lady of Lourdes, as you looked down with love and mercy upon Bernadette as she prayed her rosary in the grotto, look down now, we beseech you, with love and mercy upon us. From the abundance of graces granted you by your Divine Son, sweet Mother of God, give to each of us all that your motherly heart sees we need and at this moment look with special favor on the grace we seek in this novena.
(make your request)

O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY FIVE

O Mary Immaculate, Mother of God and our mother, from the heights of your dignity look down mercifully upon us while we, full of confidence in your unbounded goodness and confident that your Divine Son will look favorably upon any request you make of Him in our behalf, we beseech you to come to our aid and secure for us the favor we seek in this novena.
(make your request)

O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY SIX

O glorious Mother of God, so powerful under your special title of Our Lady of Lourdes, to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the gracious Heart of Jesus all the helps and graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare and for the special favor we so earnestly seek in this novena.
(make your request)

O Lady of Bernadette, with the stars of heaven in your hair and the roses of earth at your feet, look with compassion upon us today as you did so long ago on Bernadette in the Grotto of Lourdes.
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY SEVEN

O Almighty God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary did prepare a worthy dwelling place for your Son, we humbly beseech you that as we contemplate the apparition of Our Lady in the Grotto of Lourdes, we may be blessed with health of mind and body. O most gracious Mother Mary, beloved Mother of Our Lord and Redeemer, look with favor upon us as you did that day on Bernadette and intercede with him for us that the favor we now so earnestly seek may be granted to us.
(make your request)

O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY EIGHT

O Immaculate Mother of God, from heaven itself you came to appear to the little Bernadette in the rough Grotto of Lourdes! And as Bernadette knelt at your feet and the miraculous spring burst forth and as multitudes have knelt ever since before your shrine, O Mother of God, we kneel before you today to ask that in your mercy you plead with your Divine Son to grant the special favor we seek in this novena.
(make your request)

O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY NINE

O glorious Mother of God, to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the benign Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly for the grace of a happy death. O Mother of our Divine Lord, as we conclude this novena for the special favor we seek at this time.
(make your request)

We feel animated with confidence that your prayers in our behalf will be graciously heard. O Mother of My Lord, through the love you bear to Jesus Christ and for the glory of His Name, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions. O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

Nicky's Train of Thought

Nicky was obviously envious as we made Stephen's birthday breakfast this morning. I reminded him that we were celebrating Stephen being born and he was to be especially grateful that God put Stephen here to be his best friend before Nicky was born. He agreed that was "pretty good." Then,

"But he wins everything we play. He beats me every single time. Except when Paddy's the ref and then Paddy cheats for me and I win. But cheaters never win (HT: Dan Bean) and that's why I hate the Patriots. And I hope that Eli beats their pants off because Peyton probably always beat him when they were little. And they probably always acted like in that Sportscenter commercial. Except I know Eli won the Double Stuff Racing League. And I could probably win that. Can we buy Oreos today?"

Sure. Why not?

If You're Looking for the Message Board...

For all the people Googling and trying to find the 4Real Message Board forums, the address is http://4real.thenetsmith.com. No www. I don't know why. I just listen to my dear and faithful friend The Netsmith and do what he tells me. He says no "www." And if you're looking for 4reallearning.com, it isn't there any more. If there's a particular article you want, email me and I'll put it up here or send it to you. For the booklist, go here or here (check the sidebar for each year). A major revision of the booklist is underway--pray I finish before my children are grown;-)

Edited to add: The message board is down this morning. Check back later:-)

Happy Ninth Birthday, Stephen!

Always_serious_stephen It was a constant, fervent prayer for all of late January, "Please God, just let this baby stay put until Mike gets home." Super Bowl Sunday was fairly mellow. We made it to halftime and then I urged everyone off to bed (those were the days). I fell fast asleep. And awoke at 3AM to an unmistakable "Pop!" Sure enough, my waters had broken. There was no holding this baby back. I called the hotel. At first, the clerk wasn't going to put me through. When I explained the situation, the creeping edge of hysteria in my voice persuaded him. Mike tried to tell me that this couldn't possibly be happening. Again, the creeping edge of hysteria. He'd take the first flight  and be to the hospital before 11. Could I hold on until then? Oh sure, no problem. My first labor was 5 hours. The second was 2 hours. The last two were 3 hours each, but 15 minutes from ruptured membranes. Eight hours should be no problem. I pictured myself sitting up in bed, happily nursing our newborn when he arrived.
My friend Lynn came to stay with the children. My friend Barbara came to get me. My friend Leah met us at the hospital. Mike's sister came to take pictures and to narrate the birth over the phone to Mike should that be necessary. Heretofore, I was a relaxed childbirther. Mike and I had a routine, a rhythm. Driving to the hospital with Barbara, I was pretty sure that we could find that rhythm and get this baby born quickly and safely.
My doctor was out of town. We were greeted by a strange doctor who made a snide comment about it being a birth and not a slumber party when he saw the four of us walk in together. The nurse began her incessant questioning. When was the last time I ate? "Halftime," I replied. The nurse didn't even crack a smile. Oh, good grief,if I have to have a Super Bowl baby, can't we laugh about it a little? No.Time to discuss my entire cancer history. I realized that usually Mike handled this and that it was making me crazy. Barbara and Leah tried to field the questions and they tried to stop the needle-wielders, too. But the tension was ramping up. And I wasn't contracting at all. We started walking. And walking. And walking. At some point my mother-in-law called. The plane had landed and Mike was fighting rush hour traffic and to get to me--not the airport close to the hospital ,but the one we call "National Airport"--DC rush hour on a Monday morning. I envisioned a scene from a sitcom-meets-Bruce-Willis-movie. I smiled briefly.
The doctor spoke with a heavy accent. I am hard of hearing. I understood almost nothing he said. I did pick up on the word "pitocin." Walk more. Walk faster. I could not relax for anything. My sister-in-law suggested that I just sit and save my energy and wait until Mike arrived. I heard the word "pitocin" echoing in the air. No sitting. No way. I was stubborn and determined to have my typical quick labor.
And then I was tired. I got into the bed for the mandatory 20 minute monitoring. I turned away from my labor support people towards the curtain around the door. Tears gathered in my eyes. This wasn't what I pictured. Why couldn't I get it together and do this? And then I saw his sneakers beneath the curtain.I will never forget how happy I was to see those shoes.  He was with me.
From that moment on, I had a typical 3 hour labor.
Mike cut the umbilical cord.
And the baby? We call him "Super."

Paradise Lost

"In the end, it was not the evil things on the Internet, not even thearguments and negativity, but rather the good things that bogged me down. So many, many good things. Pictures of decorated houses, libraries, recipes, book suggestions (this alone has been enough to almost drown me), crafts, knitting, aprons, sewing, frugality, weather, poetry, audio files, friends, homeschooling suggestions, music and the ideas, the wonderful, wonderful ideas."  Read the whole post here.