December 15, 2018
Christmas Novena Day One
Dear Family of Mary!
Today we begin the Christmas Novena with the Parish of St. James! Our team will climb with the parishioners each day, praying the Rosary and preparing for Jesus’ Birth. The climb is at 2:00 pm each day. Then at 3:00 pm Mary TV will pray the Hour of Mercy, including our novena prayers. www.marytv.tv
Here are our prayers for today:
Christmas Novena Day 1
The Gift of Faith
“Dear children! I call you today and encourage you to prayer for peace. Especially today I call you, carrying the newborn Jesus in my arms for you, to unite with Him through prayer and to become a sign to this peaceless world. Encourage each other, little children, to prayer and love. May your faith be an encouragement to others to believe and to love more. I bless you all and call you to be closer to my heart and to the heart of little Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (December 25, 2001)
Our Lady desires that our faith will be an encouragement to others! Our faith can be contagious! Think of how the shepherds’ faith grew when they saw the angels singing and praising God on Christmas night, and then found the New Born Baby Jesus in the stable! They must have left, changed forever! A King, born in a stable? A Child, so poor and small who would rule the world one day!
May we allow little Jesus to increase our faith this Christmas too! Let us pray:
May the Virgin Mary help us to open the doors of our hearts to Christ, Redeemer of man and of history; may she teach us to be humble, because God looks upon the lowly; may she enable us to grow in understanding the value of prayer, of inner silence, of listening to God’s Word; may she spur us to seek God’s will deeply and sincerely, even when this upsets our plans; may she encourage us while we wait for the Lord, sharing our time and energies with those in need.
Mother of God, Virgin of expectation, grant that the God-who-comes will find us ready to receive the abundance of his mercy.
May Mary Most Holy, “Woman of the Eucharist” and Virgin of Advent, prepare us all to joyfully welcome Christ’s coming and to celebrate worthily his sacramental presence in the mystery of the Eucharist. (St. John Paul II)
Now let us pray the 7-7-7 prayer, or the Rosary as we have time!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2018
