ADVENT NOVENA TO THE CHILD JESUS – Day 1 – Knights of the Precious Blood

The 16th of December: Day 1

OPENING PRAYER Most gracious GOD of infinite charity, You gave your only begotten Son as an unparalleled sign of your love for man. By this love He was made Flesh within a Virgin Mother’s Womb and was born in a manger for our salvation. Let our prayer come before you as a song of thanksgiving, uttered on behalf of every mortal man, for this wonder of your grace. Loving FATHER, there is nothing with which we can repay you, other than the poverty, humility, and other virtues of your Incarnate Son; I pray that for the sake of his divine merits, of every hardship that surrounded his birth, and of every tear that He shed at the manger, You may bring our hearts to such deep humility, such zealous love, and such perfect disregard for every worldly thing, that the newborn CHRIST may find in them his cradle and abide there forever. Amen.

Glory to the FATHER… (three times)

PRAYER TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN O Blessed Virgin MARY, spotless mirror of virtue and humility whom the GOD of Heaven and Earth elected for a mother, I pray that you may prepare my soul, and that of everyone who at this time might pray this novena, for the spiritual birth of your beloved Son. O Dearest of Mothers! Let me know something of that profound contemplation and devout tenderness with which you awaited Him, that I may be made less unworthy to see, love, and adore Him for all eternity. Amen.

(Pray the Hail MARY three times)

PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH Dearest Saint Joseph, husband of MARY and adoptive father of JESUS CHRIST, I praise GOD for electing you to such an exalted task and adorning you with every grace befitting so high a ministry. I pray that through the love with which you cared for the Infant CHRIST, you may embrace my heart with a fervent desire to behold and receive Him in the Blessed Sacrament, until in His Divine Essence I may one day gaze upon Him and rejoice with Him in Heaven. Amen.
Our FATHER, Hail MARY, Glory Be……

Meditation for the Day In the beginning, the Word rested within the bosom of the FATHER in the highest Heaven, being at once the cause and the model of all Creation. Within the depths of that unfathomable eternity, the Child of Bethlehem existed before time itself, awaiting the moment in which he was to descend and take visible possession of his earthy palace—a cattle shed on the outskirts of David’s City. It is within that infinity that we must look for his origins that had no beginning, that we must commence the genealogy of the Eternal, which has no ancestors, and contemplate the life of infinite bliss that he possessed within the Godhead. The life of the Word in the bosom of his FATHER was perfection itself, and yet—O sublime mystery! —He sought a new abode, a created dwelling place. Nothing that could have added to his infinite bliss was lacking within his eternal mansion, but in his boundless mercy He nevertheless desired the redemption of the human race, which without Him could never come to fruition. In the sin of Adam mankind had rejected GOD’s friendship, and the guilt of that infinite offense could not be remitted save by the infinite merits of GOD Himself. In disobeying, Adam’s race had turned away from Goodness itself, meriting an eternal punishment. For man to be saved, it was therefore necessary that GOD, without leaving Heaven, should take on human flesh on Earth, so that through the Word’s obedience to the will of the Father, He should atone for our former disobedience, ingratitude, and rebellion. It was necessary, in consequence of his love, that He should take on the form, the weaknesses, and the limitations of man; that He should subject himself to physical growth in order to give man growth in the Spirit; that He should suffer in order to teach man how to die to his passions and pride. Hence, the Eternal Word, alight with a desire for man’s salvation, willed to make Himself also a man, and thus redeem the guilty.

PRAYER TO THE CHRIST CHILD Remember, O beloved Infant JESUS, the words you spoke unto Venerable Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament as a promise of comfort to all the suffering and afflicted: “Everything that you would ask, ask it through the merits of my infancy, and nothing shall be denied you.” We thus come full of trust in you, O CHRIST—you who are Truth Incarnate—to offer up our every sadness.

Help us to lead a holy life, that we may receive the gift of a blessed eternity. Grant us, through the merits of your incarnation and infancy, the grace that we now request of You.

(Pause for a moment to silently make your prayer to GOD.)

We give ourselves to You, O Omnipotent Child, certain that our hope shall not be frustrated, and that by virtue of your divine promise, You will hear and answer our supplication. Amen.

JUBILATIONS

O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel.

O infinite wisdom of the Sacred Godhead, to an infant’s limits You humble your powers! O Child Uncreated, come to teach the blinded the prudence that fashions wise men from the humble!