DAY 6: OUR LADY OF FATIMA.

33 DAYS PREPARATORY PRAYER FOR THE RE-CONSECRATION OF NIGERIA TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY.

DAY 6
(September 13)
OUR LADY OF FATIMA

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
O God, who chose the Mother of your Son to be our Mother also, grant us that persevering in penance and prayer for salvation of the world, we may further more effectively each day the reign of Christ. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.

ROSARY:

SCRIPTURE READING: Isaiah 61:9-11
Thus says the Lord: The descendants of my people shall be known among the nations, and their offspring in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them as a race the Lord has blessed. I rejoiced heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice. Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth springs up, so will the Lord God make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.
The Word of the Lord

REFLECTION:
When the people of Israel came back to their homeland from exile, they were left devastated at the level damage that has been done to their once pride-of-place nation. They were losing hope of ever rising again when the prophet Isaiah came with the prophecies in Isa 56 – 66. That was to reassure them that if they trust in the Lord God, he will restore their pride and glory again. Remember that it was their distrust and separation from God that earned them the destruction in the first place. The message of our Lady to the three shepherd-kids at Fatima serve the same purpose. That message had been summarised into three – repentance, prayer and penance. She preached the conversion of the world to avert the wrath of her divine Son. Hence, the organisers of the centenary anniversary chose as the theme for the celebration, John 2:5, “Do whatever he tells you.” The primary role of Mary in the Church is to get all the children of the Church to do what Jesus wants. She believes that in doing so, we shall share in the glory of her son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. May God help us to heed that call. Amen.

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
O Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, you were pleased to appear to the children of Fatima and reveal a glorious message. We implore you, inspire in our hearts a fervent love for the recitation of the Rosary. By meditating on the mysteries of the redemption that are recalled therein, may we obtain the graces and virtues that we ask, through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.