Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe
Nine days of prayer with Santa María de Guadalupe, Mother of the true God and Empress of the Americas, who left his portrait in the tima of San Juan Diego. His party is held 12 December; the ninth is traditionally prayed of 3-11 Decemberbut it can be done at any time.
How you pray every day: On your knees in front of Mary Most Holy, made the sign of the Cross → the act of contrition → make the request you want → pray four Salves in memory of the four apparitions → the prayer for each day → end with a Father, un Avemaria y un Gloria.
Act of Contrition for Every Day
My Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, my Creator and Redeemer: because You are who You are, and because I love You above all things, I am heartily sorry for having offended You. I resolve to amend my life and to confess my sins in due time, and I offer all that I do in satisfaction for my sins, and I trust in Your infinite goodness and mercy that You will forgive me and grant me the grace never to sin again. I hope for this through the intercession of my Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe. Amen.
Make your request · Pray four Hail Marys in memory of the four apparitions · Then, the prayer of the day
The nine days
Day one
O Most Holy Lady of Guadalupe! That crown with which you adorn your sacred brow proclaims that you are Queen of the Universe. You are, Lady, for as Daughter, as Mother, and as Spouse of the Most High, you have absolute power and a most just right over all creatures.
This being so, I too am yours; I too belong to You by a thousand titles; but I am not content with being yours by such high jurisdiction that you have over all; I want to be yours by another title, that is, by the choice of my will.
Behold, here prostrate before the throne of Your Majesty, I choose You as my Queen and my Lady, and for this reason I wish to double the dominion and power You have over me; I wish to depend on You and I wish that the designs that Divine Providence has for me pass through Your hands.
Dispose of me as you please; I want all the events and circumstances of my life to be under your control. I trust in your kindness that all will work out for the good of my soul and the honor and glory of that Lord who is so pleased with all the world. Amen.
End with an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be.
Second day
Oh Most Holy Virgin of Guadalupe! How well it is known that you are our Advocate in the tribunal of God, for those most beautiful hands that never cease to benefit us are joined before your breast in the gesture of one who supplicates and prays, showing us that from the throne of glory as Queen of Angels and men you also do the office of advocate, praying and procuring in our favor.
With what feelings of recognition and gratitude can I repay such kindness, since there is not enough in my whole heart to repay it?
I turn to You so that You may enrich me with the precious gifts of ardent and fervent charity, of profound humility, and of prompt obedience to the Lord.
Strengthen your supplications, multiply your prayers, and do not cease to ask the Almighty to make me His own and grant me the grace to come and thank You in glory for the happy success of your intercession. Amen.
End with an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be.
Third day
Oh Most Holy Virgin Mary of Guadalupe! What can I believe when I see you surrounded by the rays of the sun, but that you are intimately united to the Sun of Divinity, that there is nothing in your house that is not light, that is not grace, and that is not holiness!
What else can I believe but that you are immersed in the ocean of divine perfections and attributes, and that God always holds you in His heart! May such high happiness be for your good, Lady.
Meanwhile, overwhelmed with joy, I stand before the throne of your sovereignty, beseeching you to send one of your burning rays into my heart: illuminate my understanding with its light; ignite my will with its light; finally convince me that I live in delusion whenever I do not spend loving you and my God; finally convince me that I miserably deceive myself when I love anything other than my God and when I do not love you as God. Amen.
End with an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be.
Fourth day
Oh Most Holy Mary of Guadalupe! If an angel of heaven considers it such a great honor to be at your feet, and in proof of his joy opens his arms and spreads his wings to form a pedestal for your Majesty, what should I do to show my veneration for your person, not just my head or arms, but my heart and soul, so that by sanctifying it with your divine feet it may become a throne worthy of your sovereignty?
Deign, Lady, to accept this gift; do not despise it as unworthy of your sovereignty, for the merit it lacks due to my misery and poverty I compensate with goodwill and desire.
Enter and examine my heart, and you will see that it is moved by no other wings but those of the desire to be yours and the fear of offending your most divine Son. Make your throne in my heart, and it will no longer be debased by giving entrance to guilt and becoming a slave to the devil. Let only Jesus and Mary dwell within it. Amen.
End with an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be.
Fifth day
O Most Holy Virgin Mary of Guadalupe! What other garment could befit one who is a heaven in her beauty, but one filled with stars? With what could such celestial beauty be adorned, but with the brilliance of virtues as radiant and resplendent as yours?
Blessed a thousand times be the hand of that God who knew how to unite in your extraordinary beauty such exalted purity, and such brilliant and rich splendor with such gentle humility. I remain, Lady, absorbed by such gracious beauty, and I wish that my eyes would always be fixed upon You so that my heart may not be drawn to any affection other than Your love.
I will not be able to achieve this desire unless those resplendent stars with which you are adorned inspire in me a burning and fervent charity, so that I may love my God with all my heart and with all my strength, and after my God, you, as an object worthy of our love. Amen.
End with an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be.
Sixth day
Oh Most Holy Virgin Mary of Guadalupe! How fittingly that carpet which the moon forms at your sacred feet speaks of your sovereignty! You trod with invincible foot the vanities of the world, and remaining superior to all creation, you never suffered the waning of the slightest imperfection: rather, from your first instant, you were full of grace.
Wretched me, Lady, for not knowing how to maintain the purposes I make, I have no stability in virtue and am only constant in my vicious habits.
Have pity on me, loving and tender Mother; for I am like the moon in my fickleness. May I be like the moon at your feet, that is, ever steadfast in your devotion and love, so as not to suffer the waning of guilt. Grant that I may always be at your feet in love and devotion, and I will no longer fear the waning of sin, but will strive to dedicate myself fully to my duties, detesting with all my heart everything that offends my God. Amen.
End with an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be.
Seventh day
Oh Most Holy Virgin Mary of Guadalupe! I see nothing, nothing in this most beautiful portrait that does not lead me to know the high perfections with which the Lord endowed your most innocent soul.
That coarse and despicable canvas; that poor but happy cloak on which your singular beauty is imprinted, clearly reveals the profound humility that served as the head and foundation of your amazing holiness.
You did not disdain to take Juan Diego's poor tilma, so that your face, which is the delight of angels, the wonder of humankind, and the admiration of the entire universe, might be imprinted upon it. How then can I not hope that the misery and poverty of my soul will not hinder you from imprinting your most gracious image upon it?
I offer you the fabric of my heart. Take it, Lady, in your hands and never let it go, for my desire is that it be used for nothing other than loving you and loving God. Amen.
End with an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be.
Eighth day
Oh Most Holy Virgin of Guadalupe! How mysterious and how accurate was the hand of the Supreme Artificer, embroidering your dress with that border of the finest gold that serves as its trim.
She was undoubtedly alluding to that exquisite gold of charity and love of God with which your actions were enriched. And who doubts, Lady, that your burning charity and love of God was always accompanied by love of neighbor, and that, despite your triumph in the heavenly homeland, you have not forgotten us?
Open the bosom of your compassion to him who is so wretched; give your hand to him who, fallen, calls upon you to rise; bring you the glory of having found in me a misery more fitting than all others to your compassion and mercy. Amen.
End with an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be.
Ninth day
Oh Most Holy Virgin of Guadalupe! What could be impossible for You, when, multiplying the miracles, neither the roughness nor the coarseness of the tilma hinders You from forming such a beautiful portrait of Yourself, nor has the voracity of time in more than four centuries been able to destroy or erase it?
What a powerful reason this is to encourage my confidence and beseech you that, opening the bosom of your mercies, remembering the ample power that the Divine Omnipotence of the Lord gave you to favor mortals, you deign to imprint on my soul the image of the Most High that my sins have erased!
Let not the coarseness of my wicked ways hinder your mercy; deign only to look upon me, and with this I will encourage my hopes; for I cannot believe that if you look upon me, your heart will not be moved with compassion for my wretchedness. My only hope, after Jesus, is you, Holy Virgin Mary. Amen.
End with an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be.