ADVENT NOVENA TO THE CHILD JESUS – Day 8 – Knights of the Precious Blood

The 23rd of December: Day 8

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 MARY and Joseph have arrived in Bethlehem seeking lodging in the inns and houses of the town. They are unable to find any, however, either because they are full or because of their own poverty. Still, nothing can shake the inner peace of those whose gaze is fixed upon GOD.

If Joseph was perhaps troubled and saddened out of concern for MARY and her unborn Child, as they were rejected time and again, he also smiled in holy tranquillity as he gazed upon his most chaste wife. The sad noise of every door that was shut before them was at a same time sweet music to his ears.

This was what unborn CHRIST had come to seek. He had taken human form in His desire for these humiliations. O, Divine Child of Bethlehem, these days, which so many have spent in revelry and relaxation, your parents spent in toil and mortification! The spirit that ruled in Bethlehem is the spirit of a world that has forgotten GOD. How many times have we not let this same spirit rule within us?

It is the eve of the Nativity and the sun sets behind the roofs of Bethlehem. Its last rays touch the rocky hills around the town, turning them golden. Rough men rush to and from, passing by Our Lord without care or notice in the streets of that remote town. They shut their doors when they see his mother at the threshold.

The vault of the heavens grows purple over the hills and knolls where shepherds watch their flocks. One by one, the stars begin to shimmer. A few more hours, and the Eternal Word will be present among men.

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!