The Holy Souls in Purgatory need our help! They can’t help themselves!
They are stuck in purgatory, waiting to enter Heaven. They are being purified of the temporal punishment due to their sins on earth which they didn’t ‘pay off’ before they died. Purgatory is indeed a mercy of the Lord. + Read More
St Therese the Little Flower,
please send us a rose from the Heavenly garden,
with a message of love.
Ask God to grant us the favour we implore
and help us to love him more and more
Amen
(Ask God for the gift or grace you desire)
Within nine days or sooner after someone should give you a rose which is St Therese saying she has heard your prayer!
One time I prayed this prayer someone gave me a bunch of roses AND a copy of St Therese’s autobiography-just in case I thought it was a coincidence! The person didn’t know I was saying the Novena or indeed about the Novena, they just said they felt called to give me flowers and their copy of St Therese’s Book!
Another powerful devotion used by St Therese devotees is to pray 24 Glory Be’s to the Holy Trinity for an intention and in St Teresa’s honour, this is powerful prayer of praise to the most Holy Trinity and one that St Therese loves to hear prayed in honour of her short but wonder working life on earth of 24 years. A Glory Be for every year of her life-how marvellous! You can order prayer beads for this on Amazon by the way and they are really useful.
In addition to the beautiful and moving Life offering prayer that Our Lady gave to Sr Natalia, a Hungarian nun in the 1950’s, as part of the messages called “The Victorious Queen of the World” (a very powerful and moving book about the times we are living in now) Mary also gave a beautiful and touching prayer Sr Natalia.
This prayer doesn’t just give sorrow for our OWN sins but also sorrow for the sins of world, the sins of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Mary told the three little children at Fatima when she showed them hell; “Many souls go to hell because there is no one to pray and makes sacrifices for them.” We should burn these words into our hearts and minds lest we forget them.
The following act of sorrow draws down many graces and mercy for sinners…
“O my Jesus, I love you over and above everything! For the love of you I am sorry for all my sins. O merciful love, I ask pardon for the sins of the world. United with the Immaculate Heart of our Heavenly Mother, I ask pardon for all my sins and for all the sins of my brothers and sisters that have been and will be committed until the end of the world.
My dear Jesus, united with your Holy Wounds I offer my life to the Eternal Father according to the intention of the Sorrowful Mother. Virgin Mary, Queen of the world, Mediatrix of humanity, our only refuge and hope, pray for us!” Amen
Many years ago, two Franciscan friars found themselves shipwrecked. By clinging to a plank of wood they kept their heads just above water as the storm continued.Both monks had a devotion to St Joseph, the spouse of Mary, and they sought his help from Heaven in their desperate plight calling out and praying to him.
After a little while the storm died down and the men saw a radiant shining figure just ahead of them standing on the water.
The figure greeted them and guided them miraculously to the shore so that when they got to land the two monks threw themselves at the feet of the stranger to thank him for helping them.
The stranger said to them: ‘I am Joseph, if you wish to do something pleasing to me, never let a day pass without saying the Our Father and the Hail Mary seven times in honour of the seven joys that consoled me whilst I was on earth in the company of Jesus and Mary.’
He then vanished leaving the monks in awe and wonder.
Since St Joseph himself has declared how pleasing these prayers are too him it is an excellent way of honouring him and also of gaining his help and protection.
Jesus is our one true mediator but Jesus wills that we share in his Ministry and who better than his beloved foster father, St Joseph and his Holy Mother Mary to intercede for us.St Jose ph more than any other Saint in Heaven (apart from Mary) has a special bond with Jesus’ Heart and access to the Divine ear so to speak!
It really is very powerful when used to implore Joseph’s aid. Remember as on earth as Jesus’ foster father so too it is in Heaven. There is no limit to St Joseph’s generosity and intercession and he is a great Patron Saint to have!
You can use these prayers for: marriage difficulties, exams, illness, house sales etc.
The Devotion of the Seven Sorrows and Seven Joys of St. Joseph
1. O chaste Spouse of Mary most holy, glorious St. Joseph, great was the trouble and anguish of thy heart when thou wert minded to put away privately thine inviolate Spouse, yet thy joy was unspeakable when the surpassing mystery of the Incarnation was made known to thee by the Angel!
By this sorrow and this joy, we beseech thee to comfort our souls, both now and in the sorrows of our final hour, with the joy of a good life and a holy death after the pattern of thine own, in the arms of Jesus and Mary.
Our Father, Hail Mary
2. O most blessed Patriarch, glorious St. Joseph, who was chosen to be the foster father of the Word made flesh, thy sorrow at seeing the Child Jesus born in such poverty was suddenly changed into heavenly exultation when thou didst hear the angelic hymn and beheld the glories of that resplendent night.
By this sorrow and this joy, we implore thee to obtain for us the grace to pass over from life’s pathway to hear the angelic songs of praise, and to rejoice in the shining splendor of celestial glory.
Our Father, Hail Mary
3. O glorious St. Joseph, thou faithfully obeyed the law of God, and thy heart was pierced at the sight of the Precious Blood that was shed by the Infant Savior during His Circumcision, but the Name of Jesus gave thee new life and filled thee with quiet joy.
By this sorrow and this joy, obtain for us the grace to be freed from all sin during life, and to die rejoicing, with the Holy Name of Jesus in our hearts and on our lips.
Our Father, Hail Mary
4. O most faithful Saint who shared the mysteries of our Redemption, glorious St. Joseph, the prophecy of Simeon regarding the sufferings of Jesus and Mary caused thee to shudder with mortal dread, but at the same time filled thee with a blessed joy for the salvation and glorious which, he foretold, would be attained by countless souls.
By this sorrow and this joy, obtain for us that we may be among the number of those, who through merits of Jesus and the intercession of Mary the Virgin Mother, are predestined to a glorious resurrection.
Our Father, Hail Mary
5. O most watchful Guardian of the Incarnate Son of God, glorious St. Joseph, what toil was thine in supporting and waiting upon the Son of the most high God, especially in the flight into Egypt! Yet at the same time, how thou didst rejoice to have always near you God Himself, and to see the idols of the Egyptians fall prostrate to the ground before Him.
By this sorrow and this joy, obtain for us the grace of keeping ourselves in safety from the infernal tyrant, especially by flight from dangerous occasions; may every idol of earthly affection fall from our hearts; may we be wholly employed in serving Jesus and Mary, and for them alone may we live and happily die.
Our Father, Hail Mary
6. O glorious St. Joseph, an angel on earth, thou didst marvel to see the King of Heaven obedient to thy commands, but thy consolation in bringing Jesus out of the land of Egypt was troubled by the fear of Archelaus; nevertheless, being assured by the Angel, thou dwelt in gladness at Nazareth with Jesus and Mary.
By this sorrow and this joy, obtain for us that our hearts may be delivered from harmful fears, so that we may rejoice in peace of conscience and may live in safety with Jesus and Mary and may, like thee, die in their company.
Our Father, Hail Mary
7. O glorious St. Joseph, pattern of all holiness, when thou didst lose, through no fault of thine own, the Child Jesus, thou sought Him sorrowing for the space of three days, until with great joy, thou didst find Him again in the Temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors.
By this sorrow and this joy, we supplicate thee, with our hearts upon our lips, to keep us from ever having the misfortune to lose Jesus through mortal sin; but if this supreme misfortune should befall us, grant that we may seek Him with unceasing sorrow until we find Him again, ready to show us His great mercy, especially at the hour of death; so that we may pass over to enjoy His presence in Heaven; and there in company with thee, may we sing the praises of His Divine mercy forever.
Our Father, Hail Mary
Patron saints help us in particular areas of our lives. For example, St Anthony is the saint you call on when you have lost something. Sts Rita and Jude are the saints of the impossible, St Therese is for healing, St Christopher is helps drivers and travellers. St Dymphna is for mental illness and anxiety and St Barbara oversees lightning and thunderstorms.
The list of our human ‘needs’ is as endless as the list of saints we pray to (though Jesus is our one mediator with the Father, the saints are our older brothers and sisters in Christ who ‘know the way’ and have ‘made’ it into Heaven and they want to help us get there too).
The saints in fact, are so full of God’s love in Heaven, (as they were, heroically, when they lived on earth) that they wish for nothing more than to help us and to share their merits and reward with us.
St Joseph, the loving foster father of Jesus, knows how hard life can be to earn a living everyday.He knows what it is to raise a family albeit that his foster son was Divine. However, Jesus still needed somewhere to live and bread on the table. So, because St Joseph denied nothing to the Christ child, Jesus reigning in Heaven will hardly deny St Joseph’s prayers now.
Saint Joseph was also blessed to be married to the holiest, most virtous, not to mention the most beautiful woman that ever existed. He was privileged to have a harmonious and chaste marriage and home life having the joys of a blessed marriage (though celibate as Mary and Joseph had both taken vows of celibacy before their marriage). Indeed many single people also have recourse to St Joseph to find a suitable spouse because a mistake in this area is usually a large one.
So, here’s a ‘miracle’ prayer that takes less than 12 minutes of your life-3 minutes for each of the 4 meditations .
PS I like to say “I praise you Jesus for Saint Joseph’s ….” at each of the four meditation points…
Teacher and catechist