DAY 9: (September 16) THE SHEPHERDS’ VISIT TO THE CHILD JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH
33 DAYS PREPARATORY PRAYER FOR THE RE-CONSECRATION OF NIGERIA TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY.
DAY 9
(September 16)
THE SHEPHERDS’ VISIT TO THE CHILD JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH
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, you prepared the heart of the Virgin Mary to be a fitting home for your Holy Spirit. By her prayer, may we become a more worthy temple of your glory. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
ROSARY
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 2:15-21
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another: “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this event which the Lord has made known to us.” They went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger; once they saw, they understood what had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard of it were astonished at the report given them by the shepherds. Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, in accord with what had been told them. When the eighth day arrived for his circumcision, the name Jesus was given the child, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
The Gospel of the Lord.
REFLECTION:
There are two important things that we must learn from Mary and the shepherds we as we just read from the Gospel. Those things are their docility to the voice of God and their humility (Luke 2:15-21). Those dispositions enable God’s plan to take strong root in our lives. Remember that his plans for us are “plans for peace and not for disaster, plans to give [us] hope and a future” (Jer 29:11). What then shall we do? He told in 2 Chron 7:14 saying, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.” At this time of seeming hopelessness in Nigeria, with humility and docility to the will of God, we shall experience powerful divine transformation in our lives and in our country. Do not be left behind.
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
May the splendour of your majesty, O Lord, we pray, shed its light upon our hearts, that we may pass through the shadows of this world and reach the brightness of our eternal home. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
