September 25, 2018 // Diocese
A novena of saints for a Church in crisis
By Meg Hunter-Kilmer
This novena is designed to begin on Thursday, Sept 27 and conclude on Friday, Oct 5. However, it can also be prayed, in part or in its entirety, on one’s own schedule.
Day 1: Mary, Mother of priests, Mother of Sinners, Mother of All Believers
At the crucifixion of Jesus, his mother’s heart was pierced by a sword, out of sorrow at His suffering and grief over her children, who caused His pain. Today we ask the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, who weeps for those who suffer and for those who sin.
Father, we come before you afraid and broken. We have sinned, our leaders have sinned, and so many have suffered. Forgive us, Lord. Heal those who have been abused. Bring conversion to the hearts of sinners. Comfort those who can see no truth, goodness or beauty in a Church that harbors such predators. Give us the grace to become saints in and through this crisis.
Lord, heal the survivors and protect the innocent.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.
Mary, Mother of Priests, pray for us.
Mary, Mother of Sinners, pray for us.
Mary, Mother of All Believers, pray for us.
Day 2: Blessed Laura Vicuña
Blessed Laura Vicuña suffered abuse at the hands of her mother’s lover for years. From her childhood, he pawed at her and tried to force drunken kisses on her. When she was uncomfortable spending the night under the same roof as him, knowing what he would try to do to her, she ran away. He beat her so badly that she died a week later of her wounds, forgiving both him and her mother.
Father, we pray for all victims of sexual abuse, especially those wounded by priests, bishops and other representatives of your Church. Bring them healing, Lord, in mind, body, soul, emotions and memories. Give them the grace to forgive and to be made new. Send your spirit of peace on all who wrestle with guilt over abuse suffered by those in their care. May all who suffer surrender fear and shame and find rest in you.
Lord, heal the survivors and protect the innocent.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Blessed Laura Vicuña, pray for us.
Day 3: St. John of the Cross
St. John of the Cross was, along with St. Teresa of Avila, the great reformer of the Carmelites in the 17th century, but his work made him enemies. A group of Carmelites who did not want to be reformed locked him in a tiny cell, nearly starved him to death and beat him so brutally that he was scarred for life. Still he saw Christ as his bridegroom and wrote some of the most beautiful spiritual poetry ever written.
Lord, there are so many in your Church who have been terribly wounded by those who claim to speak in your name. Bring comfort to their hearts and healing, Lord Jesus. Help them to know your love and to find safety in your arms once more.
Lord, heal the survivors and protect the innocent.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
St. John of the Cross, pray for us.
Day 4: St. Mary of Egypt and Blesed Anthony Neyrot
St. Mary of Egypt was a nymphomaniac and a rapist, herself likely a survivor of sexual abuse. She ran away from home at 12 and took up residence in the home of one of her father’s friends, where she was instructed in the art she would practice on young men, willing and unwilling, for the next 17 years. She was converted at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and retreated to the desert to do penance for the rest of her life.
Blessed Anthony Neyrot was an arrogant Dominican priest who became no more humble when sold into slavery to Islamic captors. When he was put in prison and made to fast on bread and water, though, he denied the faith, became a Muslim, married a Muslim woman, and began to translate the Quran into Latin. After an apparition from his mentor St. Antoninus, he repented, did public penance and was martyred for leaving Islam.
Jesus, we beg for the conversion of all wolves in shepherds’ clothing. Put the fear of hell into the hearts of every deacon, priest, bishop and lay minister who has harmed any of your people. Bring them to true repentance, Lord. Save their souls. We ask your mercy also, Lord, for all we have done to enable this sin, for our silence and complicity. Lord, have mercy.
Lord, heal the survivors and protect the innocent.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
St. Mary of Egypt, pray for us. Blessed Anthony Neyrot, pray for us.
Day 5: St. Raphael Kalinowski
St. Raphael Kalinowski was a brilliant young Pole who was disillusioned by the Church of his parents and fell away from the faith in his youth. After years of study, work as a railway engineer, and a career as a revolutionary, he eventually returned to the Church and became a Carmelite priest and a personal hero of St. John Paul II.
Lord, as this scandal rocks our Church we know that many thousands will turn away from your Body here on Earth. Give them, Father, the grace to return. Divine Physician, heal their broken hearts and restore their faith in your Church.
Lord, heal the survivors and protect the innocent.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
St. Raphael Kalinowski, pray for us.
Day 6: St. Catherine of Siena, St. Catherine of Genoa, and St. Charles Lwanga
St. Catherine of Siena was an uneducated laywoman who followed the call of the Holy Spirit to challenge the pope himself. He had left Rome for Avignon and St. Catherine rebuked him with respect and fearlessness, demanding that he sacrifice his comfort to obey the Lord.
St. Catherine of Genoa lived a few centuries later, during a time of profound corruption in the Church. Weak bishops had refused to make the necessary sacrifices to implement the reforms of the Fourth Lateran Council, but this St. Catherine brought about reform through calling individuals to holiness rather than appealing to the hierarchy. A married woman whose husband was violent and unfaithful, Catherine had spent some years pursuing the things of the world before being converted and bringing her husband to Christ. The Oratory of Divine Love movement, which spread throughout Italy and involves small groups of the faithful seeking personal holiness through prayer, study and service, can be traced to her.
St. Charles Lwanga was a Ugandan layman who risked his life to protect teenage boys from the sexual predation of the king. His resistance to the king’s depravity and refusal to allow him to abuse other young men led to his martyrdom alongside many other chaste Christians.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the countless laypeople who quietly pursue you in their daily lives. We pray that you would fill them with your Spirit to call your Church to greater holiness. Help us to fight for the protection of the innocent, whatever the cost. Give us the courage, wisdom, and humility to speak truth, demanding holiness from those who lead us while becoming saints ourselves.
Lord, heal the survivors and protect the innocent.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
St. Catherine of Siena, pray for us. St. Catherine of Genoa, pray for us. St. Charles Lwanga, pray for us.
Day 7: Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy, Blessed Oscar Romero and St. Francis de Sales
Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy was appointed bishop of an Irish diocese but discovered that his see had been usurped. In an attempt to serve his people he went from village to village and was rejected everywhere. He dressed as a peasant to avoid being captured by his enemies, never once giving up on his call to shepherd his people, even though it was so exhausting that it soon cost him his life.
Blessed Oscar Romero was a peaceful, bookish man, happy to fly under the radar in his native El Salvador, where the government was oppressing and murdering his people. He spent years as a bishop who refused to make waves until a priest friend of his was murdered. Looking on the corpse of this priest, he was changed. He began to fight injustice and to speak out against the abuse of the innocent. He knew that he was making enemies but refused to be silenced and was ultimately assassinated while celebrating Mass.
St. Francis de Sales was a wise and kind bishop who knew how to discipline his clergy when necessary. Once, having thrown a priest in jail, he appeared before the offending cleric in tears and spoke thus: “I conjure you, by the love and mercy of God, in which we all hope, to have pity on me, on the diocese, on the Church, and on the whole Order so much dishonored by the scandalous life you have hitherto led, which gives matter to our adversaries to blaspheme our holy Faith. I pray you to have pity on yourself, on your own soul, which you are sending to perdition for eternity; I exhort you in the name of Jesus Christ, on which you trample; by the goodness of the Saviour, Whom you crucify anew; and by that spirit of grace, whom you outrage!”
Lord, we are in desperate need of holy bishops. Give them wisdom and courage to speak and act against the evil within their ranks. Send your Spirit upon them, Lord, and empower them to root out this sin, to punish predators, and to repent for their own complicity, whatever the cost. We beg you to convict the hearts of bishops who ought to resign and to raise up men who are unconcerned with status and advancement but long only to serve the kingdom. Make decent men saints, Lord, and pastors in your image.
Lord, heal the survivors and protect the innocent.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy, pray for us. Blessed Oscar Romero, pray for us. St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.
Day 8: St. Gerard Majella and St. Vitalis of Gaza
St. Gerard Majella was a lay Redemptorist brother when he was falsely accused of impregnating a woman. He refused to defend himself, preferring to suffer in silence as Christ had, but was ultimately vindicated.
St. Vitalis of Gaza was a hermit who returned to the city after decades in the desert and began visiting a different prostitute each night. The faithful were scandalized until he was killed in the street and hundreds of reformed prostitutes came to his funeral. He had given his reputation and ultimately his life for their salvation, for the souls of victimized women.
We pray, Lord, for all decent priests. Lord Jesus, you have called men to ordained ministry to be priest and victim; give those men who suffer unjustly the grace to unite their sacrifice to yours and to offer their pain in reparation for the sins of their brother priests. May they weep for the survivors of these crimes and not for their own suffering. Strengthen them to remain faithful, however heavy the Cross.
Lord, heal the survivors and protect the innocent.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
St. Gerard Majella, pray for us. St. Vitalis of Gaza, pray for us.
Day 9: The Sacred Heart of Jesus
The risen Christ appeared to His followers with holes in His hands and feet and side, the scars of His horrific abuse glorified by His resurrection. When he appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, he showed her His Sacred Heart still crowned with thorns, bleeding from the wounds He suffered for us but aflame with love for both perpetrator and victim. On this first Friday, dedicated to the Sacred Heart, we beg the Lord to cleanse us with His precious blood.
Lord Jesus, in your resurrection you show us your power to turn suffering to glory. We ask that as you heal victims of abuse you would transform them into witnesses to your goodness. May the abundant grace poured out from your Sacred Heart purify your Church, leading predators to conversion and emboldening those who were complicit in their crimes to be transparent about their failings and to accept the consequences. May your Church become more perfectly the image of your love, lavished on all mankind for healing and conversion.
Lord, heal the survivors and protect the innocent.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Meg Hunter-Kilmer is a hobo missionary who has spent the last six years living out of her car and traveling the world to share the good news of God’s love. She blogs at www.piercedhands.com and at www.aleteia.org.
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