Father Xavier D’Arodes – Vice rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes
Novena “Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us”
How it works
- To participate in this chain of prayer for the world which has its source in the Grotto of Lourdes, you simply need to join in the Rosary at the Grotto for 9 days, at 3.00 p.m. from 17th to 25th March 2020.
- By registering your email address using the online form on the Sanctuary website, you’ll receive a message every day which will allows you to join in the prayer of the day, either directly with the Grotto of Lourdes, or at another time that suits you via the on-demand video.
You can have an intention taken to the Grotto every day as well as having a candle lit. - This 9-day prayer is a “novena” which ends on 25th March, the Feast of the Annunciation, and the day of the 16th apparition of the Virgin Mary at the Grotto. That day, she declared to Bernadette “I am the Immaculate Conception”. To invoke the Immaculate Conception is to ask Mary for her protection: “Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us”.
“Let us ask Mary to overcome our fear. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.” Sanctuary of Lourdes and Coronavirus – Message from the rector, Mgr. Olivier Ribadeau Dumas.
“As the Coronavirus epidemic spreads around the world, I pray for those who are in doubt, in difficulty. Yesterday I, like all of you, heard the statement by the Ministry of Solidarity and Health asking that there should not be gatherings of more than 1000 people in our country. In daily contact with the Prefecture of Tarbes, we are working out how this measure will apply to the Sanctuary of Lourdes. Let’s not make hasty decisions. We are all responsible here. As rector, I am acting responsibly to allow pilgrims to be welcomed into our Sanctuary in complete safety and serenity.”
Mgr. Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, rector of the Sanctuaire Notre-Dame de Lourdes, 8th March 2020.
Archbishop Antoine Hérouard, Apostolic Delegate for the Sanctuary of Lourdes, addresses the bishops coming to Lourdes:
Excellency, Dear Brothers,
The Coronavirus epidemic is expanding rapidly across the world, first in Asia and then in Europe before, in all probability, other regions of the world, too. It causes death, but also worry and anxiety. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is a very special place of prayer for and with the sick. It is in this spirit and also so that we may live through this episode with the greatest possible composure and in the Hope of Christ victorious over death, that the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is suggesting a novena of prayer, from 17th to 25th March 2020. The rosary will be prayed every day in 4 languages (French, English, Italian, Spanish) following the attached text. You are invited, if you wish and can, to join in the broadcasts of this prayer from Lourdes or to offer it yourself in your diocese, in particular in the various parishes, churches or chapels dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. I remain, Excellency, dear Brothers, yours in Christ.
Let’s pray the rosary!
Say the Creed
the Our Father
3 Hail Marys
Glory be to the Father
First mystery (depending on the day)
God Our Father, among all your creatures, you created Mary, the perfect being, “The Immaculate Conception”. Here in Lourdes, she spoke that name and Bernadette repeated it. The Immaculate Conception is a cry of hope: evil, sin and death are no longer victorious. Mary, the precursor of the word, the dawn of salvation!
Our Lady of Lourdes, our refuge, we pray to you.
Our Father; 10 Hail Marys; Glory be to the Father
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Second mystery (depending on the day)
Lord Jesus, you gave us Mary as Mother. She shared your Passion and your Resurrection. Here in Lourdes, she showed herself to Bernadette, saddened by our sins but radiant with your light. Through her, we entrust to you our joys, our sorrows, our hopes, those of the sick, caregivers and researchers, those of all men and women.
Our Lady of Lourdes, our sister and our mother, our confidant and our support in our trials, we pray to you.
Our Father; 10 Hail Marys; Glory be to the Father
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Third mystery (depending on the day)
Holy Spirit, you are Spirit of love and unity. Here in Lourdes, through Bernadette, Mary asked for a chapel to be built and for people to come in procession. Inspire the Church that Christ built on the faith of Peter: gather it in unity and help all its members, nourished on the bread of life, to face this international health emergency confident in faith.
Our Lady of Lourdes, you who are filled with the Holy Spirit, model of Christians and maternal face of the Church, we pray to you.
Our Father; 10 Hail Marys; Glory be to the Father
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Fourth mystery (depending on the day)
For all the graces received, for all the conversions, all the forgiveness, all the healings, for the vocations and the promises that you have confirmed or that you have brought to birth here, for the joy of the service that you help us to experience, and for the strength and the hope that you place in our hearts in these troubled times.
Our Lady of Lourdes, help of Christians, we thank you.
Our Father; 10 Hail Marys; Glory be to the Father
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Fifth mystery (depending on the day)
With all our brothers and sisters in humanity, with peoples in search of peace and justice, with young people who are finding their way, you who appeared as a young girl to Bernadette, with the victims of disease, of handicap, of failure, with those who have reason to despair and those who mourn a loved one. And for those who have been taken from us by this disease.
Our Lady of Lourdes, we pray to you!
Our Father; 10 Hail Marys; Glory be to the Father
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
CONCLUSION
The “Prayer of a poor beggar to Jesus” by Saint Bernadette Soubirous
“O Jesus, give me, I pray you,
the bread of humility,
the bread of obedience,
the bread of charity,
the bread of strength to break my will and melt it to yours,
the bread of inner mortification,
the bread of detachment from creatures,
the bread of patience to bear the pain that my heart suffers.
O Jesus, you want me crucified, fiat,
the bread of strength to suffering well,
the bread of seeing only you alone in everything and always,
Jesus, Mary, the Cross, I do not want other friends than these.”
OR
Prayer of Saint Bernard: “Look to the star, call upon Mary.”
Following her, you will not stray;
invoking her, you will not despair;
thinking of her, you will not wander;
upheld by her, you will not fall;
shielded by her, you will not fear;
guided by her, you will not grow weary;
favoured by her, you will reach your goal.
Mary is that noble star whose rays light up the whole world, whose splendour shines in the heavens and penetrates the underworld.
She lights up the world and reignites souls. She kindles virtues and consumes vices.
She shines by her merits and enlightens by her example. O you who see yourself tossed about in the midst of storms,
do not look away from the radiance of this star if you do not want to sink.
If squalls of temptations arise, or you fall upon the rocks of tribulation, look to the star, call upon Mary.
If you are tossed by the waves of pride or ambition, detraction or envy, look to the star, call upon Mary.
If anger or avarice or the desires of the flesh dash against the ship of your soul, turn your eyes towards Mary.
If, troubled by the enormity of your crimes, ashamed of your guilty conscience, terrified by dread of the judgment, you begin to sink into the gulf of sadness or the abyss of despair, think of Mary.
In dangers, in anguish, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary.
Let her be ever on your lips, ever in your heart; and the better to obtain the help of her prayers, imitate the example of her life.
Our Lady of Lourdes, watch over us! Our Lady of Lourdes, protect us!
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!
Saint Bernadette, pray for us!
1 av. Monseigneur Théas
