Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament
There can be no better way of praying for the protection of the Holy Father, and for the re-conversion of Our Lady’s Dowry, than to pray before the Blessed Sacrament.
One of the great things about the internet is that it allows us to pray before the Blessed Sacrament at any time of the day, wherever we have access to the web through on-line Eucharistic Adoration via a live stream:
Adoration Chapel, St Martin de Tours Cathedral, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
http://64.247.253.34:8000/view/index.shtml
Prayer for the Protection of the Holy Father
V. May the Lord protect the Pope.
R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and bless him upon earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
Let us pray.
O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Your faithful people, look mercifully upon Your servant, the Pope, whom You have chosen as shepherd to preside over Your Church. Grant him, we beseech You, that by his word and example, he may edify Your people, so that together with the flock committed to him, he may attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Invocation of the Holy Spirit
Let us invoke the Holy Spirit: He is the artisan of God’s works. May His gifts shape us! Just as the Church travels the same journey with all humanity, so too may we answer the call to exercise the Spirit’s gifts amidst the ups and downs of our daily life.
Empowered by the Spirit, and drawing upon faith’s rich vision, we are called to help build a world in which God’s gift of life is welcomed, respected and cherished – not rejected, feared as a threat and destroyed.
A new age in which hope liberates us from the shallowness, apathy and self-absorption which deaden our souls and poison our relationships.
A new age in which love is not greedy or self-seeking, but pure, faithful and genuinely free, open to others, respectful of their dignity, seeking their good, radiating joy and beauty.
The Lord is asking us to be prophets of this new age, messengers of his faith, hope and love, drawing people to the Father and building a future of hope for all humanity. Amen.
(Adapted from Pope Benedict’s homily, World Youth Day, Sydney, 20 July 2008).
First Day. The Virtue of Faith
Faith tells us that God has given his Son for our sakes and gives us the victorious certainty that it is really true: God is love! It thus transforms our impatience and our doubts into the sure hope that God holds the world in his hands and that, as the dramatic imagery of the end of the Book of Revelation points out, in spite of all darkness he ultimately triumphs in glory. (Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est).
Act of Faith
- My God, I believe in you and all that your Church teaches, because you have said it and your word is true. Amen
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Invocation of the Holy Spirit
Second Day. The Virtue of Hope
Christian hope is rooted in a solid faith and the word of God. It is the anchor of salvation that aids us in overcoming those difficulties that appear insurmountable, and allows us to peer at the light of joy even beyond the darkness and pain. (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily for Funeral of Cardinal Monduzzi).
Act of Hope
- My God, I hope in you, for grace and for glory, because of your promises, your mercy and your power. Amen.
- Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Invocation of the Holy Spirit
Third Day. The Virtue of Love
Indeed, God is visible in a number of ways. In the love-story recounted by the Bible, he comes towards us, he seeks to win our hearts, all the way to the Last Supper, to the piercing of his heart on the Cross, to his appearances after the Resurrection and to the great deeds by which, through the activity of the Apostles, he guided the nascent Church along its path. Nor has the Lord been absent from subsequent Church history: he encounters us ever anew, in the men and women who reflect his presence, in his word, in the sacraments, and especially in the Eucharist. In the Church’s Liturgy, in her prayer, in the living community of believers, we experience the love of God, we perceive his presence and we thus learn to recognise that presence in our daily lives. He has loved us first and he continues to do so; we too, then, can respond with love. God does not demand of us a feeling which we ourselves are incapable of producing. He loves us, he makes us see and experience his love, and since he has “loved us first”, love can also blossom as a response within us. (Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est).
Act of Love
- My God, because you are so good, I love you with all my heart, and for your sake, I love my neighbour as myself. Amen.
- Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Invocation of the Holy Spirit
Fourth Day. The Virtue of Faith
An “adult faith” is not a faith that follows the trends of fashion and the latest novelty; a mature adult faith is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ. It is this friendship that opens us up to all that is good and gives us a criterion by which to distinguish the true from the false, and deceit from truth. We must develop this adult faith; we must guide the flock of Christ to this faith. And it is this faith – only faith – that creates unity and is fulfilled in love. (Homily of His Eminence Cardinal Ratzinger during the Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff).
Act of Faith
- My God, I believe in you and all that your Church teaches, because you have said it and your word is true. Amen.
- Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Invocation of the Holy Spirit
Fifth Day. The Virtue of Hope
God is the foundation of hope: not any god, but the God who has a human face and who has loved us to the end, each one of us and humanity in its entirety. His Kingdom is not an imaginary hereafter, situated in a future that will never arrive; his Kingdom is present wherever he is loved and wherever his love reaches us. His love alone gives us the possibility of soberly persevering day by day, without ceasing to be spurred on by hope, in a world which by its very nature is imperfect. His love is at the same time our guarantee of the existence of what we only vaguely sense and which nevertheless, in our deepest self, we await: a life that is “truly” life. (Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi).
Act of Hope
- My God, I hope in you, for grace and for glory, because of your promises, your mercy and your power. Amen.
- Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Invocation of the Holy Spirit
Sixth Day. The Virtue of Love
But what does it mean to love Christ? It means trusting him even in times of trial, following him faithfully even on the Via Crucis , in the hope that soon the morning of the Resurrection will come. Entrusting ourselves to Christ, we lose nothing, we gain everything. In his hands our life acquires its true meaning. Love for Christ expresses itself in the will to harmonise our own life with the thoughts and sentiments of his Heart. (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily during apostolic visit to Poland, 2006).
Act of Love
- My God, because you are so good, I love you with all my heart, and for your sake, I love my neighbour as myself. Amen.
- Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Invocation of the Holy Spirit
Seventh Day. The Virtue of Faith
To the extent that we nourish ourselves on Christ and are in love with him, we feel within us the incentive to bring others to him: indeed, we cannot keep the joy of the faith to ourselves; we must pass it on. This need becomes even stronger and more pressing in the context of that strange forgetfulness of God which is spreading in vast areas of the world today… in our humble service as witnesses and missionaries of the living God, we must be everywhere messengers of that hope which is born from the certitude of the faith: we will thus help our brethren and our fellow citizens to rediscover the meaning and joy of their own lives. (Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome).
Act of Faith
- My God, I believe in you and all that your Church teaches, because you have said it and your word is true. Amen.
- Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Invocation of the Holy Spirit
Eighth day. The Virtue of Hope
It is never too late to touch the heart of another, nor is it ever in vain. In this way we further clarify an important element of the Christian concept of hope. Our hope is always essentially also hope for others; only thus is it truly hope for me too. As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking: how can I save myself? We should also ask: what can I do in order that others may be saved and that for them too the star of hope may rise? Then I will have done my utmost for my own personal salvation as well. (Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi).
Act of Hope
- My God, I hope in you, for grace and for glory, because of your promises, your mercy and your power. Amen.
- Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Invocation of the Holy Spirit
Ninth Day. The Virtue of Love
Love of neighbour is thus shown to be possible in the way proclaimed by the Bible, by Jesus. It consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even know. This can only take place on the basis of an intimate encounter with God, an encounter which has become a communion of will, even affecting my feelings. Then I learn to look on this other person not simply with my eyes and my feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ. His friend is my friend. Going beyond exterior appearances, I perceive in others an interior desire for a sign of love, of concern… Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave. (Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est).
Act of Love
- My God, because you are so good, I love you with all my heart, and for your sake, I love my neighbour as myself. Amen.
- Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Invocation of the Holy Spirit
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Prayer for England
O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon England, Thy Dowry, and upon us all who greatly hope and trust in Thee. By Thee it was that Jesus, our Saviour and our Hope was given unto the world, and He has given Thee to us that we might hope still more. Please for us Thy children, whom Thou didst receive and accept at the foot of the Cross, O Sorrowful Mother. Intercede for our separated brethren, that with us, in the One, True Fold, they may be united to the Chief Shepherd, the Vicar of Thy Son. Pray for us all dear Mother, that by Faith fruitful in good works, we may all deserve to see and praise God, together with Thee in our heavenly home. Amen.