Novena for the Immaculate Conception (Bonaventure Hammer, 1909)
Day 1 of 9
Day 1 — The Predestination of the Blessed Virgin Mary — Novena for the Immaculate Conception (Bonaventure Hammer, 1909), Day 1
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Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, The Immaculate Conception (c.1665), Museo del Prado, Madrid, public-domain painting. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inmaculada_Concepci%C3%B3n_(Murillo,_1665).jpg
Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening prayer
In thy conception, O Virgin Mary, thou wast immaculate; pray for us to the Father, whose Son Jesus, conceived in thy womb by the Holy Ghost, thou didst bring forth. (Common preparatory prayer from the 1909 source.)
Prayer for day 1
Behold, Virgin immaculate, at thy sacred feet I bow, while my heart overflows with joy in union with thine own, because from eternity thou wast the Mother-elect of the eternal Word, and was preserved stainless from the taint of Adam's sin. Forever praised, forever blessed be the Most Holy Trinity, who in thy conception poured out upon thy soul the riches of that matchless privilege. I humbly pray thee, most gracious Mother, obtain for me the grace to overcome the bitter results of original sin. Make me victorious over them, that I may never cease to love my God.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Traditional prayers
Our Father
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Hail Mary
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory Be
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen.
Closing prayer
O God, who through the immaculate conception of the Virgin didst prepare a worthy dwelling-place for Thy divine Son; grant that, as in view of Thy Son Thou didst preserve her from all taint, so Thou wouldst vouchsafe unto us that cleansed from all sin by her intercession we too may arrive at Thine eternal glory. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. Pray the Hail Mary and the Litany of Loreto, as directed in the original novena.
Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Source · Rev. Bonaventure Hammer, O.F.M., Mary, Help of Christians: Novenas in Preparation for the Principal Feasts of the Blessed Virgin (Benziger Brothers, 1909), part I, days 1–9: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/33671/33671-h/33671-h.htm . Verbatim nine distinct day prayers; the longer original meditation/practice and Litany of Loreto are referenced rather than reprinted; common opening and liturgical collect reproduced. Artwork: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.