9-Month Novena to Pray for the Church
Cardinal Burke launches a novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe
I invite you to join me in adding our prayers to the 9-Month Novena that Cardinal Burke has invited Catholics to participate in - starting today and ending on December 12 (the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe).
He following can be found on the website of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe (where you can sign up for email reminders and notifications of monthly video messages from Cardinal Burke):
“My friend,
Our Lord has not called us to fear. No matter the darkness of our age, men and women of faith are not without the truth and love of Christ, nor the faithful care of His mother.
It was during an age much like our own when Our Lady first appeared to Saint Juan Diego some 500 years ago. Then, too, the world wrestled with famine and disease, and war in the Holy Land threatened to reduce that beautiful and tortured region to chaos. Then, too, poisonous confusion from within the Church corroded the faith of Christians the world over.
And then, too, we saw the forces of sin retreat before the presence of Our Lady. Through Saint Juan Diego’s humble and courageous cooperation with grace, Our Lady claimed the New World for Christ, drawing nearly nine million new souls into the Church by the time of Saint Juan Diego’s death in 1548. It is this same maternal care and protection that we seek today—a care and protection that she will grant us, should we earnestly ask for it.
To this end, I am calling on all Catholics, especially those in the Americas, to join me in praying a nine-month novena seeking Our Lady’s intercession beginning on March 12.
This immense spiritual undertaking will culminate in a consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12, her Feast Day. Those who take up this great spiritual cause can expect short video reflections from me each month to help guide you, in addition to regular written reflections and prayers.
The conversion of our hearts unfailingly transforms our world: let us never lose trust in Our Lady’s care for us, and let us never lose faith in the truth and love of Christ.
The darkness of sin seems so great. But Our Lord has not called us to fear! Evil cannot approach the power of God’s grace. Sin cannot prevent Our Lord’s healing mercy from reaching those who repent and seek it. And nothing can diminish the care and protection of Our Lady for us, which remain as strong today as they were 500 years ago.
Yours in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and in the Purest Heart of Saint Joseph,
Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke”
Please consider praying the rosary daily and join Cardinal Burke’s intentions for the Church through the powerful intercession of Our Lady. Our communal prayer is so powerful. Our Lord is already so near to us, may we draw near to Him and His Blessed Mother over these next nine months!
La Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, ruega por nosotros! Amen!
Click HERE to learn more and sign up!