- Tue Jun 15, 2004 12:47 am
#186
The official 23rd Anniversary Novena -- This is what the parish of Medjugorje will be praying for the Anniversary of Our Lady's apparitions
A Gift for Our Lady
A Novena to the Queen of Peace
15 - 23 June 2004
What To Offer To Our Lady For The 23rd Anniversary Of Her Apparitions.
What could we offer to Our Lady for the anniversary of Her apparitions? This is the question many pilgrims ask, and we answer with another question: Wouldn't the dearest gift be if we would really start to live Her messages?
The main theme of Our Lady's messages is the call to peace and reconciliation, but She underlines very often that we can obtain them only through prayer. This is why She calls us unceasingly to pray, to renew prayer until it becomes a joy for us, to pray with the heart!
We have composed a simple novena with the deep desire to offer something special to Our Lady for this Anniversary, something that unites all Her children in the whole world, something that helps us to live Her messages.
Why a Novena?
The idea for the Novena comes from the New Testament, when Mary and the Apostles, 40 days after the Resurrection of Jesus, remained in prayer for nine consecutive days. They prayed with one heart and persevered in prayer, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, that was promised them, and that filled them 'when the time of Pentecost was fulfilled' (Ac 2,1). Since then, Novenas have become a frequent practice in the tradition of the Church. Also in Medjugorje, Our Lady calls us: "Dear children, offer novenas, making sacrifices wherein you feel the most bound." (July 25, 1993)
How To Pray This Novena?
One special intention is devoted to each day. We pray for this intention, meditating on the texts that are proposed, through the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. The first text is a passage from the Gospel, the second - a message of Our Lady from one of the previous anniversaries, and the third - a passage from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. These have been chosen to give a threefold insight into the prayer intention: A Gospel, a Marian (through the messages of Medjugorje) and an Ecclesiastical insight, to help the person who is leading the prayer and introducing the Mysteries. The passages from the Catechism on prayer show us the richness, the depth and the immensity of the experience of Christian prayer, of which Our Lady reminds us here in Medjugorje. The concluding prayer unites all the intentions of prayer regarding the intention for the day.
Together Towards Something New.
We believe that this unity in prayer will bring a new experience of the love of God, which has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. This experience is always a new beginning, a passage to a new level of existence. Real wars, wars of our doubt and our incredulity can be stopped, and even natural laws can be changed through prayer. We sincerely hope that our common prayer, united in the Heart of Mary for the victory of Her Immaculate Heart, will obtain a conversion in our hearts and in our lives and bring forth the most pleasing and dearest gift to Our Lady. To read the complete Novena go to:
http://www.medjugorje.org/anniversarynovena.htm
A Gift for Our Lady
A Novena to the Queen of Peace
15 - 23 June 2004
What To Offer To Our Lady For The 23rd Anniversary Of Her Apparitions.
What could we offer to Our Lady for the anniversary of Her apparitions? This is the question many pilgrims ask, and we answer with another question: Wouldn't the dearest gift be if we would really start to live Her messages?
The main theme of Our Lady's messages is the call to peace and reconciliation, but She underlines very often that we can obtain them only through prayer. This is why She calls us unceasingly to pray, to renew prayer until it becomes a joy for us, to pray with the heart!
We have composed a simple novena with the deep desire to offer something special to Our Lady for this Anniversary, something that unites all Her children in the whole world, something that helps us to live Her messages.
Why a Novena?
The idea for the Novena comes from the New Testament, when Mary and the Apostles, 40 days after the Resurrection of Jesus, remained in prayer for nine consecutive days. They prayed with one heart and persevered in prayer, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, that was promised them, and that filled them 'when the time of Pentecost was fulfilled' (Ac 2,1). Since then, Novenas have become a frequent practice in the tradition of the Church. Also in Medjugorje, Our Lady calls us: "Dear children, offer novenas, making sacrifices wherein you feel the most bound." (July 25, 1993)
How To Pray This Novena?
One special intention is devoted to each day. We pray for this intention, meditating on the texts that are proposed, through the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. The first text is a passage from the Gospel, the second - a message of Our Lady from one of the previous anniversaries, and the third - a passage from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. These have been chosen to give a threefold insight into the prayer intention: A Gospel, a Marian (through the messages of Medjugorje) and an Ecclesiastical insight, to help the person who is leading the prayer and introducing the Mysteries. The passages from the Catechism on prayer show us the richness, the depth and the immensity of the experience of Christian prayer, of which Our Lady reminds us here in Medjugorje. The concluding prayer unites all the intentions of prayer regarding the intention for the day.
Together Towards Something New.
We believe that this unity in prayer will bring a new experience of the love of God, which has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. This experience is always a new beginning, a passage to a new level of existence. Real wars, wars of our doubt and our incredulity can be stopped, and even natural laws can be changed through prayer. We sincerely hope that our common prayer, united in the Heart of Mary for the victory of Her Immaculate Heart, will obtain a conversion in our hearts and in our lives and bring forth the most pleasing and dearest gift to Our Lady. To read the complete Novena go to:
http://www.medjugorje.org/anniversarynovena.htm