Day 6 of the Thanksgiving Novena for St Anne

DAY 6 OF THE THANKSGIVING NOVENA TO ST ANNE

FOR PEACE IN THE FAMILY

Dearest Saint Anne, I come to beg you to restore peace in my home. A family where all are at peace with one another is happy. If there is dissension and arguments between husband and wife, children and parents, life becomes unbearable.

Teach me, dear Saint Anne, that the price everyone has to pay for peace and understanding is selfessness. There can be no cooperation if no one is willing to sacrifice some of their judgments, feelings or whims. Whenever there is disagreement, peace can only be restored when everyone is willing to go more than half way towards reconciliation.

Dearest Saint Anne, grant us the gift of peace promised to men and women of "good will". Give husbands, wives and their children the will to make the sacrifices needed for peace at home. One of the most beautiful sights on Earth is a peaceful and loving home. Help us make this possible. Amen.

Day 7 of the Novena

Day 5 of the Thanksgiving Novena to St Anne

DAY 5 OF THE THANKSGIVING NOVENA TO ST ANNE

FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN NEED

Dearest Saint Anne, teach me that the one thing the world stands most in need of is God Himself: faith and trust in Him, the One who made us and loves us. Obtain for all people the Lord's grace on Earth and His glory in Heaven.

Remind me that I am also expected to provide for the human and material needs of my neighbours. If they need bread, let me hasten to feed them. If they are without suitable clothes or lodging, let me hasten to clothe and shelter them. If they are penniless, let me give them money. If they are lonely, let me give them friendship. If they feel forsaken, ignored or rejected, let me bring them the warmth of my interest. The ways I can help my neighbours are as diversified as are my neighbours' needs.

Dearest Saint Anne, keep reminding me, whenever I help my neighbours in need, that it is the Lord that I am helping: "Whatever you do for the least of my children, you do it for me". Amen.

Day 6 of the Novena

A Beautiful Precious Blood Prayer for Priests

This is one of the most beautiful Precious Blood Prayers I know and it is for priests and vocations, pop over to Spirtual Motherhood for Priests to cut and paste and recite as often as you can for the Year of the Priest!

Day 4 of the Thanksgiving Novena to St Anne and much more!

Day 4 of the Thanksgiving Novena

FOR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES

Dearest Saint Anne, I wish to entrust, to your care, all the people I love: my friends and relatives. In a way, since my love should go out to all mankind, it is for all men and women that I am praying. But my prayers grow more urgent and fervent when I think of those who are the most dear to me. My first request on their behalf, dear Saint Anne, is for happiness. Happiness is indeed the sum of all the best things in the world.

The loving Lord, who wishes all men and women to be happy, made happiness possible even through sickness and poverty. The most heart warming call to happiness came from Christ Himself when He proclaimed the doctrine of His beatitudes: "Happy are the poor, the pure, the persecuted..." (see Mt 5).

Dearest Saint Anne, obtain for all people - my friends and relatives especially - all the good things of this world, that they may bring them happiness. But first of all, obtain for them the grace to be happy, truly happy, even when the world collapses around them and it seems there is no one remaining at their side except the Father and His amazing love. Amen.

Day 5 of the Novena

ST ANNE MEAL AND CAKE

Finally I've gotten the photos of our St Anne evening feast! We were blessed to have the company of my choir master that night, so it was a great time full of good food and companionship. Below are the Chicken and White Wine pasteries.

I made a Flowering Tree of Jesse image for each pastie top. They came up quite well!

Here they are all yummy and cooked! The images on each could be well seen. I served these with pear chutney!

Here's our feasting table, we had the red and green like Charlotte had suggested. The children had red creaming soda and the adults....lovely pink champagne!!! A lovely tossed salad and homemade chips fried in goose fat! We recited the meal prayer to St Anne, in this prayer it referred to St Anne as the "thy stem in beauty budded Ancient Jesse's mystical rod."

The night was finished off with tea and.....cake! It tasted as good as it looked!

Today I received a comment on one of my Tuesdays with St Anne postings. It was from a Michael Austin who offers St Anne chaplets (ones that he has made) free of charge. For anyone who would like a pair Email me and I'll pass on Michael's postal address.

The 7 girls who won chaplets have finally made their choices, which I am sharing below! It's been enjoyable time collecting their choices over the last few days!

Mary Van Erd all the way from Canada was our first winner and she chose:

"Merciful, Healing Pool of Bethseda" Chaplet

Our next lady was Gloria from Smoothing Stones and her choice was:

"Yves' Spring of Healing" Chaplet

Becky Y (via email) was our next lady and she was delighted that this particular chaplet was still available:

"Sancte Anne's Beautiful Field of Grace" Chaplet

Jen L one of the dear ladies from 4 Real decided upon:

"Gate to the House of Mercy" Chaplet

Next came Mary (via email) and her choice for her daughter who is soon to be confirmed was:

"Fragrant Myrrh of St Anne" Chaplet

My sweet friend, Meredith from Sweetness and Light as lady number 6 said that she was happy for me to chose and when there were 4 chaplets left I had earmarked in my mind what I hoped would still be left by the time I got to her....and it was! When I emailed Meredith she was overjoyed for this was her first choice! A bit of heavenly ESP going on there, I reckon! So here it is:

"Flowering Vine of Jesse" Chaplet

And finally but not least, Nancy from Be Not Afraid Not having a choice being lady number 7 but she will receive this sweet and feminine chaplet in honour of St Anne's resting place:

"Sancta Ana Antrum Antiquum" Chaplet

These chaplets will all be winging their way soon, over the Pacific ocean. I'll be praying to St Anthony and St Anne that they arrive safely to each lady!

Day 3 of the Thanksgiving Novena to St Anne

DAY 3 OF THE THANKSGIVING NOVENA TO ST ANNE

FOR PEACE OF MIND

Tell me, dearest Saint Anne, that the best way to find peace of mind is to allow the Lord to live in my mind and heart. The enemies of peace of mind are my past and future. The memory of my past behaviour may linger on long after it should have been forgotten. My imagination builds up a foreboding future for me.

Dear Saint Anne, remind me that all the evil of my past should not upset me: "Let the dead past bury its dead!" - "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." (Isa 1:18)

Dearest Saint Anne, in the midst of the constant turmoil which surrounds us and brought to effervescence by the media, that thrive on dramatizing the worst in society, let us find comfort in the conviction that, as long as we keep our faith and hope in the Lord's power, wisdom, love and peace, it will keep Him alive in our hearts.

"The power that has conquered the world is this faith of ours." (1 John 5:4) Amen.

Day 4 of the Novena

Spiritual Motherhood for Priests Blog just started

In this Jubilee Year of the Priest, motivated by the Congregation of Clergy's inspirational booklet, Adoration, Reparation and Spiritual Motherhood for Priests (ARSMP) Zeliemum (Chemai) and I have been stirred to take spiritual action to support the sanctification of our priests, to pray for priests and vocations in the Church and vocations from our own families and to strengthen the battle against the priesthood in this sacrilegious era. In order to further promote this devotion we have endeavoured to start a blog dedicated to Spiritual Motherhood for Priests.

We are hoping to connect with likeminded women, whether married, single or consecrated who, after reading Adoration, Reparation, Spiritual Motherhood for Priests will join us in putting together our merits at the disposition of Our Lord, collectively in prayer, adoration, thanksgiving, praise, petition and reparation. Our beloved Pope Benedict XVI says “the urgent call of the Lord stresses that prayer for vocations should be continuous and trusting, as to be raised to God incessantly and from every corner of the earth”.

The blessed 'fruit' of the prayers of the Mothers of Lu.

Through this devotion we may do great things as the woman from the Northern Italian village of Lu (pg 18 ARSMP) did from their humble and persevering prayers. These women offered one visits a month to the Blessed Sacrament, they united a prayer intention for vocations at Mass on the first Sunday of the month and the simple prayer mentioned at the bottom of this letter. Through these ordinary actions and offerings their prayers raised up 323 priests and religious for the Church, including one Blessed of the Church and an Archbishop.

We hope to unite together with other women throughout the world in committing together as many of the following spiritual actions:

* To pray for priests through Eucharistic Adoration, at least once a month.

* Through offering Mass and Holy Communion for priests on the 1st Thursday of the month to obtain the plenary indulgence for the Jubilee Year.

* If attending Mass on the first Thursday is not possible, to offer the prayer to Sacred Heart of Jesus for priests written by St Therese of Lisieux. (This can be found over at Spiritual Motherhood for Priests).

* Offering Mass and Holy Communion on the first Sunday of the month for vocations, particularly in our own families & offer the prayer of the Mothers of Lu.
* To recite as often as possible throughout the day, the prayer of Sister Consolata, victim for priests, "Jesus, Mary, I love you save souls!" remembering particularly the souls of priests.

The booklet Adoration, Reparation and Spiritual Motherhood for Priests

We will be sharing the stories from this booklet and many more stories within the Church to encourage each other in this prayerful activity and we would love women to share any faith filled stories of Spiritual Motherhood for Priests that they might come across, any discoveries on the Saints that lived Spiritual Motherhood, any pertinent prayers, any practical action on Spiritual Motherhood from their parish, or articles of interest. We can post up your stories onto the blog with personal acknowledgment or not.

If you are able to commit to the minimum of one hour in Eucharistic Adoration monthly to pray for priests and vocations, please email us (over at the blog) and we will add your chosen name or blog name to the sidebar list in an effort to sustain each other in this pledge. We can also email ladies a prayer sheet, that they can cut up into prayer cards to put in their prayer books etc.

The little villiage of Lu, in Northern Italy.

Our hope is to develop a virtual village of Lu through the new technology of the internet and to advance the awareness of Spiritual Motherhood for Priest in order to increase this devotion that we were blessed to become aware of from the Congregation for the Clergy. You may want to earkmark this site for future reading on Spiritual Motherhood and novenas, thoroughout the year to come.

God Bless and we look forward to praying with you.

The simple prayer of the Mothers of Lu.

"O God, grant that one of my children may become a priest or religious!
I myself want to live as a good Christian
and want to guide my children always to do what is right,
so that I may receive the grace, O God, to be allowed to give you a holy priest or religious! Amen."

Stained glass window at St Stephen's of St John Vianney, patron of parish priests

Please join with us in a novena to St John Vianney for priests, starting today 27th of July and finishing on the 4th of August, The Cure's feastday, this year marks the 150th anniversary of his death and is an especially indulgenced day which we will talk about very soon. The novena prayer for each day is over at Spiritual Motherhood for Priests in this posting.

Day 2 of the Thanksgiving Novena to St Anne

DAY 2 OF THE THANKSGIVING NOVENA TO ST ANNE

FOR FORGIVENESS OF SIN

Dearest Saint Anne, help me understand that there is only one element in the world - as well as within me - that is essentially evil. That element is sin.

Everything else in both the universe and mankind was assumed by Christ when He became a man. He adopted everything there is in the human nature and made it possible for all these elements to be changed by grace and used for endless glory. He came to abolish sin, erase it and replace it by grace and virtue.

Teach me the malice of sin, dear Saint Anne, by reminding me that it is in a spirit of atonement that they Son of God chose to suffer and die. It is the thought of mankind's sins that tortured Christ in His agony and drew blood from all the pores of His body.

Dying with Christ to this world, with all its wickedness, hatreds and impurities, I shall rise with the Risen Christ to a life where there will be sin no more, where mankind, cleansed of all his sins, will enter into the Lord's dazzling light and enjoy His eternal presence. Amen.

Day 3 of the Novena

Tomorrow I hope to share our St Anne feastday meal!

St Anne's Feast Day! and Day One of the Thanksgiving Novena

**EDITING TO ADD: AT THE END OF EACH DAILY NOVENA PRAYER IS THE LINK TO THE NEXT DAY'S NOVENA PRAYER, SO YOU CAN FOLLOW THE LINKS RIGHT THROUGH TO DAY NINE OF THIS NOVENA.

Thanksgiving Novena to St Anne

By Eugene Lefevre C. ss. R.

Day One

THAT I MAY KNOW GOD'S PLAN FOR ME

Dearest Saint Anne, help me believe in the Lord's plan for me. There is nothing in my life that is not allowed by an infinitely wise and loving Father. In the light of God's wisdom and love, even the riddles of suffering and of death, help me find a solution.

Let me discover God's plan for me as it unveils itself through the creation of the universe and mankind, through the incarnation of the Father's Only Begotten Son and the redemption of sinful people, through Christ's resurrection which is a pledge for my own eternal resurrection.

Teach me, Saint Anne, that the only way to carry out the Lord's plan is to fulfill His will as it manifests itself through all the circumstances of every one of my days. If I carry out the Father's designs in everything I do, in all the joys and hardships of life, then my earthly existence will lead me in Christ's footsteps, since all He did on earth was to fulfill His father's will. Amen.

Day 2 of the Novena

I hope and pray that St Anne's feast day is a blessed one for you all and your families. I have remembered the intentions of all the ladies who have joined with me in the first novena, at Holy Communion this morning. I hope you can join me again in a thanksgiving novena to St Anne!

And the winners of the 7 chaplets are.....

Day 9 of the Petitioning Novena of St Anne

DAILY PRAYER TO SAINT ANNE

O glorious St. Anne, you are filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer! Heavily burdened with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present intention which I recommend to you in your special care.

Please recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and place it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Continue to intercede for me until my request is granted. But, above all, obtain for me the grace one day to see my God face to face, and with you and Mary and all the saints to praise and bless Him for all eternity. Amen.

Our Father, . . . Hail Mary . . .

O Jesus, Holy Mary, St. Anne, help me now and at the hour of my death.
Good St. Anne, intercede for me.

NINTH DAY

Good St. Anne, I have reached the end of this novena in your honor. I have asked and ask again. Good mother, let not your kind ear grow weary of my prayers, though I repeat them so often.

Bounteous Lady, implore for me from divine Providence all the help I need through life. May your generous hand bestow on me the material means to satisfy my own needs and to alleviate the plight of the poor.

Good St. Anne, fortify me by the sacraments of the Church at the hour of my death. Admit me into the company of the blessed in the kingdom of heaven, where I may praise and thank the adorable Trinity, your grandson Christ Jesus, your glorious daughter Mary, and yourself, dear St. Anne, through endless ages.

Thank you for all the ladies who have sent on their prayer intentions to be placed at the feet of St Anne's Icon for her feastday. I will be passing these along to my friend tonight.

If you haven't yet entered the draw to win one of five gemstone, heirloom quality St Anne chaplets (which you can view in detail here) please email me or leave a comment in the comment box (with your blog link or email for contact.)

Tomorrow on the feast of St Anne, I will be drawing the winners of the seven St Anne chaplets and St Anne packs. For those ladies overseas it will be late on the eve of St Anne's feast (25th) I'm thinking at this stage of doing a little video of the drawing and loading up on tomorrow's feastday post. I will then contact the ladies, one by one, starting with the first lady chosen, who will then be asked to chose the chaplet of her choice. Then I will contact the next lady and let her know which ones are remaining and allow her to make her choice and so on until they have all been claimed. For those ladies who have not left email or blog addresses, please come by on the eve of St Anne to see if your name has been chosen, if so, please email me immediately.

Over at Catholic Cuisine I've posted about this cake I have made for the feast of St Anne!

Day 8 of the Petitioning Novena of St Anne, food for the feast!

DAILY PRAYER TO SAINT ANNE

O glorious St. Anne, you are filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer! Heavily burdened with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present intention which I recommend to you in your special care.

Please recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and place it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Continue to intercede for me until my request is granted. But, above all, obtain for me the grace one day to see my God face to face, and with you and Mary and all the saints to praise and bless Him for all eternity. Amen.

Our Father, . . . Hail Mary . . .

O Jesus, Holy Mary, St. Anne, help me now and at the hour of my death.
Good St. Anne, intercede for me.

EIGHTH DAY

Hail, St. Anne! I rejoice at your exalted glory. You gave birth to Mary, whose divine Son brought salvation to our lost world by conquering death and restoring life and hope to sinners. Pray to Him who, for love of us, clothed Himself with human flesh in the chaste womb of your daughter.

Glorious St. Anne, with your blessed daughter, deliver me from everything that is displeasing in the sight of God. Pray to your gentle and powerful Grandson that He may cleanse my soul in His precious blood, that He may send His Holy Spirit to enlighten and direct me in all that I do, always obedient to His holy inspirations.

Good mother, keep a watchful eye on me. Help me bear all my crosses. Give me the fullness of your bounty and sustain me with courage.

A dear friend is visiting this miraculous shrine in the States where the icon above exudes myrrh/oil. Here is my blog posting about it on Day One of the Novena. She has generously stated she is happy to take any personal prayer intentions and place them at the feet of St Anne's icon on the feast day of St Anne. If you would like to have any prayers intentions taken to the shrine, please email me them and I will gladly pass them on.

If you haven't yet entered the draw to win one of five gemstone, heirloom quality St Anne chaplets (which you can view in detail here) please email me or leave a comment in the comment box (with your blog link or email for contact.)

Our theme for our St Anne feasting this year will be the 'Flowering Vine/Rod of Jesse'.

This ancient symbol was discovered in the resting place of her body in Apt and quoting from the book, "St Anne, Grandmother of Our Saviour":

"St Anne's body was then placed in an opening in the wall excavated from a subterranean gallery known as the Antrum Antiquum, which had originally been a branch of the catacombs. It was reached by a short flight of steps and hedged in by the cathedral ramparts. This wall opening, which would now become an ossuary, would be sealed in and not marked in any way; but on that part of the passage ceiling which was directly beside it a design would be carved, intelligible only to the initiate.

This design is still visible, in exacly the same form wherein it was graven so many centuries ago. It consists of the flowering branch of a tree, interlaced with a vine bearing both foliage and grapes. To look at it is an experience so moving that, months after gazing at it, this chronicler finds it impossible even to write of it without profound emotion. For it reveals, unmistakably, that when the stone slab was carved, even as now, men and women were reverently reciting the litany which begins:

"St Anne, Grandmother of our Saviour, pray for us."

And continues:

"St Ane, Root of Jesse,St Anne, Fruitful Vine....pray for us."

The fruitful vine carved into the ceiling above St Anne's body in Apt.

Personally, we require no further confirmation of our belief that this became St Anne's last resting place. But to the doubting Thomas-or Thomasne, as the case may be - has only to look at the slab beside the one which shows the root of Jesse and the fruitful vine."

I had read in the "My Nameday, Come for Desert" that for decorations or symbols for St Anne a "flowering rod" can be used. Here is the beautiful family prayer to recite at the table:

Father: We all rejoice in the Lord. As we keep holiday in honour of blessed Anne. Of her whose feast fills angels with joy, And sets them praising the Son of God.

All: Amen

Father: Spotless Anna, Juda's glory, Through the Church from East to West, Every tongue proclaims they praises, Holy Mary's mother blessed.

All: From thy stem in beauty budded Ancient Jesse's mystical rod; Birth from thee received the Mother Of the almighty Son of God.

Father: Let us pray. O God, You were pleased to bestow Your grace upon Anne so that she might fitly become the mother of her who was to bear Your only-begotten Son; grant that we who keep her feast will be helped by her protection. Through Christ, our Lord.

All: Amen. Christ conquers, Christ reigns!

For our St Anne feast this year we will be having Chicken in White Wine pasteries, (for a French touch) with an image of the stump of Jesse, flowering on the top of each pastie.

For dessert I will be making a Chocolate Ripple Log Cake, in the shape of a stump with flowers and fruit coming from the twig on the stump.

Here was our food for last year's feastday.

A reminder again, of Charlotte's cooking, a wonderful St Anne Feast, inspired from the "My Nameday, Come for Dessert" book. This is a must see!!