Novena in Honor of the Immaculate Conception

Leader: Almighty Father, we offer this Novena to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary. She occupies a place in the Church which is highest after Christ and yet very close to us, for you chose her to give to the world that very Life which renews all things, Jesus Christ Your Son and Our Lord.

And so we praise you, Mary, Virgin and mother. After the Savior himself, you alone are all holy, free from all stain of sin, gifted by God from the first instant of your conception with a unique holiness.

R. We praise and honor you.

Mary, free from all sin and led by the Holy Spirit, you embraced God's saving will with a full heart, and devoted yourself totally as a handmaid of the Lord to the fulfillment of His will in your life, and to the mystery of man's redemption.

R. We praise and honor you.

Mary, your privileged and grace-filled origin is the Father's final step in preparing humanity to receive its Redeemer in human form. Your fullness of grace is the Father's sign of His favor to the Church and also His promise to the Church of its perfection as the bridge of Christ, radiant in beauty. Your holiness in the beginning of your life is the foreshadowing of that all embracing holiness with which the Father will surround His people when His Son comes at the end of time to greet us.

R. We bless you among women.

ALL: Mary, we turn with confidence to you who are always ready to listen with a mother's affection and powerful assistance. Consoler of the Afflicted, Health of the Sick, Refuge of Sinners, grant us comfort in tribulation, relief in sickness, and liberating strength in out weakness.

You who are free from sin, lead us to combat sin. Obtain for us the victory of hope over anguish, of fellowship over alienation, of peace over anxiety, of joy and beauty over boredom and disgust, of eternal visions over temporal ones, of life over death. Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.
(Here mention your petitions)

Leader:
Let us pray.
God Our Father, we make these petitions through Mary. We pray most especially for the coming of Your Kingdom. May You, together with Your Son and Holy Spirit, be known, loved and glorified and Your law of love faithfully followed. We pray in faith through Jesus Christ, Your Son and Out Lord, in whom all fullness dwells, now and forever.

R: Amen

Imprimatur:
William W. Baum, S.T.D.
Archbishop of Washington
October 6, 1975