Feb 08 2009
Nine Days of Prayer with Our Lady of Lourdes – 8th Day
8th Day - Pentecost
O Mary, Our Mother
we come to this place
where you who are sinless
appeared full of grace.
Ave, Ave, Ave Maria!
Make the sign of the cross.
- In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
And of the Holy Spirit.
- Amen
Acts 2: 1-4
When Pentecost day came around, they had all met together, when suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a violent wind which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and there appeared to them tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak different languages as the Spirit gave them power to express themselves.
The Holy Spirit descends on the Apostles. It is the birth of the Church. Mary is present. Perhaps she is not in the centre as depicted in the mosaic of the Rosary Basilica. She is there nonetheless, and She whom Jesus gave as Mother to his beloved disciple does not abandon the Church throughout its difficult growth over the centuries.
A mother does not like to see her children in dispute. The Holy Spirit enabled the Apostles to proclaim the “wonders of God” in different languages on Pentecost day – different languages, but the same word. We shall offer this decade of the Rosary for the unity of Christians.
Recite the Our Father.
Recite one decade of the Rosary thinking about the Mystery being contemplated.
Hail Mary, full of grace;
the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus,
conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Holy Mary, mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now, and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit who is now and shall be evermore Amen!
Concluding prayer:
Lord
You prepared Mary to be the Mother of your Son.
By her Immaculate Conception,
You protected her from sin, from all the wounds of sin.
This is why She had the strength to say “yes” in faith,
from the Annunciation to the Cross.
What you realized in Mary, Lord, is admirable.
We give you thanks.
In Lourdes, Lord, you prepared Bernadette
to be a witness to the apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
In the transparency of her heart,
in her humility and courage,
she thwarted all the tricks of the evil one,
What you realized in Bernadette, Lord, is admirable.
We give you thanks.
In these days before our pilgrimage Lord,
Prepare us to receive the grace of the Jubilee.
That we may be ready to receive Your word,
of which Mary is the echo;
Ready to be reconciled with You
And with our neighbors, close or distant;
Ready to experience this Church event
in fraternal communion, prayer and service.
May Mary guide us to the Grotto of Massabielle,
so that, on our return, we too may say with her
“The Lord has done great things for us”.