Autumn Rain
A Novena with Mary
Day 2 – Judah
Coming into God’s Presence
Before praying, we become aware of God’s presence in everyday life.
No matter what the day has been up to this point—busy, slow, sad, joyful, hard, easy—God has been there with us. Have we been aware of Him? We take a moment to see how God has been present though the ups and downs of the day. And He will continue to be with us the rest of our day. Take this moment to see God’s presence in the places we might have missed Him, to become aware of Him now, and to determine to live with this awareness during the rest of the day.
We pause in silence to reflect on God’s plan for salvation.
Invocations
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Mary, the miracles you witnessed strengthened your faith
// Teach us to be holy in our everyday lives
Mary, you fulfilled your vocation as a mother
// Teach us to be holy in our everyday lives
Mary, you carried out household tasks with God in your womb
// Teach us to be holy in our everyday lives
Jesus, You took Your place in Mary’s womb for nine months
// Teach us to be holy in our everyday lives
Jesus, You became a member of a human family
// Teach us to be holy in our everyday lives
Jesus, You became one of us so that we could imitate You
// Teach us to be holy in our everyday lives
Optional Study: Sanctity in Everyday Life
For people who want to delve deeper in their knowlege of and love for Our Lady.
Sacred Scripture – The Visitation
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (1:39-45)
During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.“
The Gospel of the Lord // Praise to You Lord Jesus Christ
Reading Options
Pope Francis, Angelus Address, 15 Aug 2021
The Lord is with You! The poet Dante calls the Virgin Mary, “humbler and loftier than any creature” (Paradise, XXXIII, 2). It is beautiful to think that the humblest and loftiest creature in history, the first to win heaven with her entire being, in soul and body, lived out her life for the most part within the domestic walls, in the ordinary, in humility. The days of the Full of Grace were not all that striking. They followed one another, often exactly the same, in silence: externally, nothing extraordinary. But God’s gaze was always upon her, admiring her humility, her availability, the beauty of her heart never stained by sin.
Bl. Columba Marmion, Christ in His Mysteries, ch. 9, sec. 1
Wherever Jesus is found, we shall see her: He is her Son as much as He is the Son of God. However, if Jesus everywhere remains the Son of Mary, it is above all in the mysteries of His Childhood and Hidden Life that He is revealed under this aspect; if Mary everywhere occupies a unique place, it is in these mysteries that her position as His mother is most actively manifested outwardly and her divine Maternity shines forth most brightly. This incomparable dignity is the source of all the other privileges of the Virgin.
Interior Dialogue: Conversation Starters
We take time for a peaceful moment to converse with God.
Lord Jesus, You blessed Mary with special gifts, but also called her to live her mission in simple everyday ways. What talents have You given me that help my faith to grow? How can I put these gifts to use in my everyday life?
Pause for personal prayer
Lord Jesus, You are with me every day, in joy and sorrow and in the mundane tasks of my life. How can I grow to recognize You in the routine aspects of my life? Where can I live my ordinary responsibilities with more faith and love?
Pause for personal prayer
Lord Jesus, am I aware of my role in passing on the Faith to others? Do I strive to live the Gospel in the simplicity of my daily life? Where can I allow You to guide my daily work?
Pause for personal prayer
Intercessions
The Blessed Virgin was blessed by God in singular ways, but she was called to carry out her mission in her everyday life as a mother and spouse. We reflect on her example, as we pray
// Lord, help us to live holiness in simple ways
That parents would accept the importance of their role in passing on the faith to their children. Let us pray
// Lord, help us to live holiness in simple ways
That spouses would rely on the strength given them in the sacrament of matrimony, and find holiness in the simplicity of daily sacrificial love. Let us pray
// Lord, help us to live holiness in simple ways
That employers and employees alike would allow God’s direction to guide their everyday labors. Let us pray
// Lord, help us to live holiness in simple ways
Let us pause to ask God to show us where we can grow.
Silently add your own personal petitions.
Let us pray
// Lord, help us to live holiness in simple ways
A Traditional Prayer: From the Angelus
12th Century, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, France
Hail, Star of the sea! Blessed Mother of God,
// yet ever a virgin! O happy gate of heaven!
Thou that didst receive the Ave from Gabriel’s lips
// confirm us in peace, and so let Eva be changed into an Ave of blessing for us.
Loose the sinner’s chains, bring light to the blind,
// drive from us our evils, and ask all good things for us.
Show thyself a mother, and offer our prayers to him,
// who would be born of thee, when born for us.
O incomparable Virgin, and meekest of the meek,
// obtain us the forgiveness of our sins, and make us meek and chaste.
Obtain us purity of life, and a safe pilgrimage;
// that we may be united with thee in the blissful vision of Jesus.
Praise be to God the Father and to the Lord Jesus,
// and to the Holy Ghost: to the Three one self-same praise.
Amen.
Closing Prayer
Let us pray,
Lord Jesus, You gave us the supreme example of humility by lowering yourself to become man, thereby elevating our ordinary lives to have eternal value in everything we do.
Help us imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary, who lived her Faith and love in heroic everyday ways, as spouse and mother.
We ask this through Christ our Lord // Amen
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
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Optional Study
Theme – Sanctity in Everyday Life
When Mary says yes she allows the Lord into every part of her life, both the big and small things. There is nothing that she holds back. For years Mary lived a life of quiet holiness, raising and taking care of the Son of God by cooking food, changing diapers, playing games, and giving baths. She mostly lived out her “yes” to God in simple, everyday ways that the world would never see. Almost none of her life is documented. In fact, she responds to the extraordinary miracle of the Annunciation by doing something completely ordinary—she visits her cousin Elizabeth, and shares the news with her family. It’s there among the everyday love and joy of family that we hear Elizabeth announce something astonishing: Mary is “Mother of my Lord”.
Doctrine – Mother of God
In becoming human and being born like all of us, God doesn’t just make Mary His mother, He perfectly unifies the human and divine. This was the entire point of calling Mary the “Mother of God”. It was not a way for the early Church to honor Mary, but to recognise that Jesus is both fully divine and fully human. She is not just mother of “part” of Jesus, who is half God and half man. She is mother of a person, who is fully God and fully man. Because of the Incarnation the extraordinary becomes ordinary and the ordinary becomes extraordinary! God enters into everyday life in an entirely new way. Now that God becomes human, all of life is a chance for holiness—the simplest, most overlooked moments are changed into an invitation to do God’s will and transform the world. This means that our lives are a constant stream of opportunities to find God’s presence in the everyday. He is present in the depth of our soul, because He was first present in Mary’s womb.
Personal Takeaway
We still might think holiness is just for others. “My life is too boring. God doesn’t call someone like me to radical love. He only calls special people, bishops, or popes.” No, the truth is that He calls all of us to great holiness—especially in our everyday lives. He pours out His autumn rain on each one of us! He wants us to live out our day with heroic virtue; He invites us to clean the dishes and fulfill even our boring duties with perfect selflessness; He asks us to embrace every moment of life as an invitation to love God and neighbor. As St. Zelie Martin says, “It is necessary that the heroic becomes daily and that the daily becomes heroic.” Nothing and no one is too small to escape the downpour of His grace, not even a young, unknown Jewish girl—not even each one of us.