DAY 12 (September 19) MARY AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS OF JESUS
33 DAYS PREPARATORY PRAYER FOR THE RE-CONSECRATION OF NIGERIA TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY.
DAY 12
(September 19)
MARY AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS OF JESUS
V. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
V. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful.
R. And enkindle in them the fire of your love.
V. Send forth your spirit and they shall be created.
R. And you shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray: Oh God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation, through Chris our Lord. Amen.
HYMN TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
1. O come to the throne of grace,
O come to the heart most pure!
To Mary, our hope of life,
In whom salvation is sure.
O Lady of Fatima, hail!
Immaculate Mother of grace;
O, pray for us, help us today,
Thou hope of the human race!
2. Immaculate Heart! we kneel
To consecrate all to thee:
The present, its pain and joy—–
The future, all it may be.
O Lady of Fatima, hail!
Immaculate Mother of grace;
O, pray for us, help us today,
Thou hope of the human race!
OPENING PRAYER.
Father, as your Son was raised on the cross, his mother Mary stood by him sharing his sufferings. May your Church be united with Christ in his suffering and death and so come to share in his rising to new life, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
ROSARY
SCRIPTURE READING: John 19:25-27
Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus, his Mother, and his Mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore had seen his mother, and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his Mother: “Woman, behold thy son!” After that, he saith to the disciple, “Behold thy Mother!” And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.
The Gospel of the Lord.
REFLECTION:
Seeing the above reading again after we have reflected on it just four days ago, I began to wonder what else God wants to teach us from it. We shall come across the reading in about eight days to come. Observe what normally happens whenever Mary is with Jesus – miracle (cf. John 2:3ff). So seeing her standing at the foot of the Cross tells us to expect more miracles. Indeed, it came; the miracle of sharing his mother with us. She has not left the presence of Jesus. That means that if we believe and listen to her as she talks to us (cf. John 2:5), we are sure that the miracles we desire in our shall not fail to come our way. And may her presence at the cross and her sharing in pains of Christ help to alleviate our own pains through the same Christ our Lord.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER:
a. For our families.
b. For the Church.
c. For Nigeria.
PRE-CONSECRATION PRAYER OF NIGERIA TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
Lord God, we thank you for the gift of our country Nigeria. You made it a fertile ground for the work of missionaries, guided by the power of the Holy Spirit. Your Word is now firmly established in our land such that we have not only become missionaries to ourselves but also to other nations.
As your Son Jesus Christ reposed in the arms of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so have we reposed Nigeria in her arms by making her our Patron Saint. As a nation, we are going through turbulent moments, with hunger, pain, killing, kidnapping and many other atrocities being committed against each other. We believe that never was it known that anyone who fled to her protection, implored her help or sought her intercession was left unaided. And so we come before her again, sinful and sorrowful, and desiring to re-consecrate Nigeria to her Immaculate Heart. May she intercede on our behalf to stabilize our ship of state.
We present ourselves as a nation, renouncing our past faults and offences. We resolve to imitate the exemplary life of our Mother Mary. Help us to renew and rectify the vows of our Baptism; rejecting Satan and all his works and empty promises. Obtain for us the grace for a perfect consecration of our nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We seek her continual intercession and maternal protection.
May this this re-consecration bring forth peace, unity and tranquility to the nation and foster communion and service so as to radiate the joy of the Gospel for the common good of our country.
We make our prayer through your son, our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen
Our Lady Queen of Nigeria, Pray for us.
Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for us.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Lord, fill our hearts with your love, and as you revealed to us by an angel, the coming of your Son, so lead us through his suffering and death, to the glory of his resurrection, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
