Novena Mary, Mother of divine grace

Original nova of rezaelrosario.org.
The meditations and prayers of this page have been expressly prepared to accompany this devotion for nine days. They are not transcription or covert adaptation of other issues.

Mary, Mother of divine grace

"Mother of divine grace" (Mater divinae gratiae) is one of the invocation of the Letany of the Virgin. The Church thus calls Mary for two deeply united reasons: for she is "full of grace" (Luke 1: 28), filled by God as no other creature; and for she is the Mother of Jesus Christ, the author of grace, of whom all divine life comes to us. In addition, through her maternal intercession, Mary cooperates in that her Son's grace reaches men. Grace is the gift par excellence: the very life of God communicated to the soul. We do not worship her: we worship in her the fullness of the grace that God gave her and we come to her intercession, which leads us to Christ, the only source of grace. This novena is a confident plea to welcome and correspond to the grace of God.

At the beginning of this novena, it should be remembered, with truth and simplicity, that we do not worship the Virgin Mary: worship is due only to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We worship Mary as the Mother of the Lord and our Mother, and we come to her intercession, which never stops in her, but leads us to Christ, the source of all grace. How much we ask in these nine days to love Jesus more: "do what He tells you" (John 2.5).

Essential data of the advocation

• Invocation: Mary, Mother of divine grace (Mater divinae gratiae), of the Letany of the Virgin.
• Origin: "Mary," full of grace, "is the Mother of Christ, the author of grace, and cooperates by her intercession in that she reaches men.
• Feeling: Mary is the Mother of the author of grace and is full of her; by her intercession she reaches us the grace of her Son, the only source of divine life.
• Evangelical foundation: "Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1: 28); "of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace" (John 1: 16).
• For whom: for those who wish to receive, care and correspond to the grace of God, and for those who have lost it for sin.

How to prepare to pray the novena

The novena is a serene nine-day road. Before Mary, Mother of divine grace, we seek not a magic rite, but to prepare the heart to welcome and correspond to the grace of God. Choose a fixed place and one hour, turn off the noise and get ready with recollection. If possible, he accompanies prayer with an image of the Virgin, a candle on and the Holy Scripture open.

Pray without haste, letting the words burn deep. Each day it brings a concrete intention: for those who live in sin and need grace, for your family, for the sick and for the whole Church. Remember that asking for Mary's intercession is asking her, the first believer, to pray for us before her Son; therefore every plea ends in Christ, the source of grace. The devotion of the Mother of divine grace teaches us to value and care for the greatest treasure: the life of God in the soul.

If you can, join the novena, confession and communion, sacraments of grace. Thus devotion is not left in feeling, but is fruitful in Christian life: faith, hope and charity. Mary, Mother of divine grace, seeks not fans, but disciples of her Son.

Proposed order for each day

1. Sign of the cross and a brief silence to be put in the presence of God.
2. Initial prayer for every day.
3. Invocation to the Holy Spirit.
4. Reading of the historical memory of the day.
5. Meditation of the day.
6. A paused reading of the suggested Word of God.
7. Formulation of the specific purpose of the day.
8. Prayer of the day to Mary, Mother of divine grace.
9. A Godfather, an Avemaría and a Glory, and the final Hail.

Opening prayer for every day

God and our Father, the source of all grace, which you filled with the Virgin Mary and made her the Mother of the author of grace, look with goodness to those who welcome us to this advocation. Grant us, by his intercession, to welcome and correspond to your grace, to live and grow in it, and to advance in faith, hope and charity. May these nine days prepare us to value and care for the divine life in the soul. By Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Invocation to the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, and fill the heart of your faithful; light in us the fire of your love. You who filled the Virgin Mary with grace and covered with your shadow so that the Word might become flesh, pour out your grace in us, and make us docile to it. Guide our novena and make it, with Mary, always say "be done in me according to your word" (Luke 1: 38). Amen.

Day One - Mother of Divine Grace

Historical report

The Church calls Mary "Mother of divine grace" because she is "full of grace" and Mother of Jesus Christ, author of grace. The invocation passed to the Letany of the Virgin as a confession of the gift that God made to her and of the one that comes to us through her.

Meditation

Mary is Mother of divine grace in a double sense: for she gave the world to Christ, from whom all grace is held, and for she herself was filled with grace as no other creature. Grace is the life of God communicated to the soul, the greatest of gifts. In venerating the Mother of grace, we praise God who hung her and who, by her, wants to hang us too. To ask for his intercession is to ask for the grace of his Son, a treasure more precious than all goods.

Suggested word of God

"Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1: 28).

Purpose

Today I will value God's grace as my greatest treasure and ask to grow in it with an act of faith.

Prayer of the day

Mary, Mother of divine grace, full of grace, praise us from your Son the gift of his grace, life of God in the soul. Pray for us. Amen.

Second Day - Christ, source of grace

Historical report

St. John writes: "of its fullness we have all received grace over grace; for grace and truth have come to us through Jesus Christ" (John 1: 16-17). Christ is the source of all grace.

Meditation

The Church calls Mary "Mother of divine grace" without ever forgetting that the source of grace is Christ, and that Mary received it from Him and through Him transmits it. All grace springs from the death and resurrection of the Lord and comes to us through Him, especially in the sacraments. Mary, as a mother, cooperates with her intercession in which this grace reaches us, but does not produce it: she brings us to the source, which is her Son. To ask for his intercession is to ask that he lead us to Christ, from whose fullness we receive all.

Suggested word of God

"Of its fullness we have all received grace upon grace" (John 1: 16).

Purpose

Today I will come to the source of grace in prayer and, if I can, in the sacraments, with the hunger of God.

Prayer of the day

Mary, Mother of divine grace, take us to Christ, the source of which all grace is made. That of its fullness we receive life. Pray for us. Amen.

Third day - Full of grace

Historical report

The angel greeted Mary with a new name: "full of grace" (Luke 1: 28). Preserved of sin and filled with gifts, he was prepared by God to be worthy Mother of his Son.

Meditation

"Full of grace" means that in Mary there was no place for sin, but only for God. This fullness does not owe it to itself, but entirely to Christ, who redeemed it in the most perfect way. Contemplating the full of grace shows us how far the work of God can come into a docile creature, and it arouses the desire that grace also grow in us, displacing sin. Grace is not a reward to the perfect, but a gift that transforms those who open themselves to God. To ask for his intercession is to ask to let us be filled with God's grace.

Suggested word of God

"Rejoice, full of grace" (Luke 1: 28).

Purpose

Today I will make more room for God in my soul by removing something that would hinder his grace.

Prayer of the day

Mary, Mother of divine grace, full of grace, praise us to grow in us the life of God and to diminish sin. Pray for us. Amen.

Fourth Day - The grace, life of God in the soul

Historical report

Jesus promised that whoever loves him will be inhabited by God: "We will come to him and make abode in him" (John 14: 23). By grace, God himself lives in the soul of the baptized.

Meditation

The sanctifying grace is not a thing or a feeling: it is the same life of God communicated to the soul, which makes us his children and temples of the Spirit. It is an invisible but real treasure, more valuable than health, money or fame, because it unites us to God and opens up heaven. Serious sin destroys it; the sacraments give it and increase it. To take care of grace is to take care of the essential. Mary, full of grace, teaches us how to value her. To ask for his intercession is to ask to live always in God's grace.

Suggested word of God

"If any one loves me... my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make abode in him" (John 14: 23).

Purpose

Today I will take care of God's grace by avoiding sin and feeding it with prayer or sacraments.

Prayer of the day

Mary, Mother of divine grace, praise us to live always in God's grace, with his life in our soul. Pray for us. Amen.

Fifth Day - Mary with the sick

Historical report

In disease, when the forces of the body fail, God's grace holds the soul. To Mary, Mother of divine grace, the sick come seeking that inner strength and comfort.

Meditation

At the wedding of Cana, Mary warns the need and goes to her Son: "they have no wine." Thus he intercedes for the sick: he presents to Christ our shortcomings and refers us to Him, "do as He tells you." It is not she who heals, but her Son; but her intercession of Mother reaches out to the sick the grace that strengthens the soul: "My grace is enough for you, for my strength is shown in weakness," the Lord said to Paul. That grace holds on the cross, even if the health of the body does not come as we would like.

Suggested word of God

"My grace is enough for you, for my strength is shown in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12: 9).

Purpose

I will pray today for a concrete patient, asking for the grace that strengthens him, and I will make him, if I can, a gesture of closeness.

Prayer of the day

Mary, Mother of the divine grace and comfort of the afflicted, brings to your Son the cry of the sick and of those who care for them. Give them the grace they hold in weakness, and health if it is appropriate. May on the cross we recognize the love of Christ, true health. Amen.

Sixth Day - Corresponding to grace

Historical report

St. Paul begged "not to receive in vain the grace of God" (2 Corinthians 6: 1), and he recognized: "what I am, I am by the grace of God, and his grace in me has not been sterile" (1 Corinthians 15: 10).

Meditation

God gives grace, but he asks for our cooperation: to welcome it, to care for it and to make it fruitful in good works. You can receive grace "in vain" if you do not respond to it, if you waste the gift. To respond to grace is to be transformed by it: to pray, to avoid sin, to practice charity, to take advantage of the sacraments. Grace and freedom collaborate: God does not save man without man. Mary fully corresponded to the grace received. To ask for his intercession is to ask for a docile heart that does not receive in vain the grace of God.

Suggested word of God

"We urge you not to receive in vain the grace of God" (2 Corinthians 6: 1).

Purpose

Today I will make the grace fruitful with a concrete good work, corresponding to the gift received.

Prayer of the day

Mary, Mother of divine grace, who fully corresponded to grace, alcanzus did not receive it in vain, but made it fruitful. Pray for us. Amen.

Day 7 - Coronade Queen and Mother

Historical report

The Church will venerate Mary as Queen, crowned in heaven with her Son. The fullness of grace that he received on earth culminates in glory, first of all that grace works in those who are saved.

Meditation

Mary is Queen because she is Mother of the King, and her royalty is service, like that of her Son, who "did not come to be served, but to serve." His coronation is the fruit of grace brought to full: it is full of grace, glorified. And it is a promise to us: glory is the grace consumed. What we now receive as seed, in heaven will be fullness. To contemplate the Queen full of grace revives the desire to live in grace until it reaches glory. To honor Mary Queen is to trust that God's grace, if we care for her, will lead us to Him.

Suggested word of God

"Grace reigns to give eternal life through Jesus Christ" (Romans 5: 21).

Purpose

I will live today with the look on glory, caring for grace as the seed of eternal life.

Prayer of the day

Mary, Mother of divine grace and crowned Queen, in whom grace came to full, let us live in grace to glory. Intercede for us before Christ, King of the universe. Amen.

Day 8 - Grace at home

Historical report

In Nazareth, a home full of God's presence, "Jesus grew in wisdom, in height and in grace before God and men" (Luke 2: 52). The family is a place where the life of grace is born and grows.

Meditation

The Christian family is a channel of grace: it receives baptism, learns to pray, prepares children for the sacraments, lives faith. Parents are the first to transmit to their children, rather than material goods, the greatest treasure: the life of God and faith. A home where grace is taken care of - with prayer, sacraments, charity - is the seed of saints. Mary, Mother of divine grace and Mother of home, helps families to live from grace. To command the family is to ask that the life of God grow in every member of the household.

Suggested word of God

"He went down with them to Nazareth and continued under his authority... and Jesus grew in grace" (Luke 2,51-52).

Purpose

Today I will take care of grace in my home with a moment of prayer, the preparation of a sacrament or an example of faith.

Prayer of the day

Mary, Mother of divine grace and Mother of the Holy Family, make God's life grow in our homes. Alcanzus faith and fidelity to the sacraments; comfort those who live alone and bless our elders. May Christ grow up in every family. Amen.

Day 9 - Sent to life

Historical report

After the novena, the faithful return to their daily life in order to live in grace and make it fruitful. All Christian life is a growth in grace, "until the maturity of Christ."

Meditation

The novena is not the end, but the sending. Having considered Mary, Mother of divine grace, nine days, we are sent to live from God's grace and to make her grow: feeding her with prayer and the sacraments, keeping her from sin, making her fruitful in works of charity. The grace received is not to keep it, but to live from it and to spread it. Like Mary, full of grace, who brought Christ to others, we also, after the novena, return to life to live in grace and bring God to brothers.

Suggested word of God

"Grow up in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3: 18).

Purpose

I will live in grace today and make it fruitful with a work of charity, and I will come, if I can, to the Eucharist.

Prayer of the day

Mary, Mother of divine grace, send us renewed into the life of every day. May we, living from the grace of your Son, make it grow and bring it to others, to the fullness of glory. Pray for us now and always. Amen.

Closing prayer

Mary, Mother of divine grace, at the end of this novena we thank you for having accompanied us these nine days. You, full of grace and Mother of the author of grace, always entrust us to your Son Jesus Christ, the only Savior and Lord, the source of which the whole divine life holds. Do not allow our devotion to remain in a passing feeling; make life of faith, hope and charity. Alcanzans welcome, care and make grace fruitful; return lost grace to sinners, support with it the sick and make our homes channels of God's life. And when our way on earth is finished, show us, after this exile, Jesus, the blessed fruit of your womb. By Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Community requests

• By the Church and by the Pope, that they may faithfully dispense God's grace in the Word and the sacraments. Let us pray to the Lord.
• For those who have lost grace for sin, that they may recover it in conversion through the intercession of Mary. Let us pray to the Lord.
• By those who prepare themselves to the sacraments, that they may receive with faith the grace of God. Let us pray to the Lord.
• For the sick, that grace may strengthen them when the forces of the body fail. Let us pray to the Lord.
• For families, that their homes may be channels of the life of grace. Let us pray to the Lord.
• For our deceased, that the Mother of divine grace may present them before her Son and grace be consumed in them in glory. Let us pray to the Lord.

Novena prepared by the rezaelrosario.org team as original devotional material. The historical data are offered in accordance with the tradition and the Magisterium of the Church; devotion is addressed to God, and Mary is asked to intercession.