Ninth Perpetua of the 54-day Rosary
The double cycle of request and thanksgiving born from the miracle of Pompeya. History of Fortuna Agrelli and complete instructions
The origin: Pompeya, 1884, and Fortuna Agrelli
In 1884, in Naples, a 16-year-old girl named Fortuna Agrelli lay in bed, evicted by doctors. He suffered a severe form of joint rheumatism that had left it paralyzed and caused frequent seizures. Several doctors had certified that healing was impossible. His father, desperate, went to the sanctuary of Ntra. Mrs. del Rosario de Pompeya - founded just a year earlier by Blessed Bartolo Longo - and asked that a ninth rosary be started for her daughter.
The ninth began on February 16, 1884. On March 3, the last day of the first ninth, Fortuna saw the Virgin Mary standing on an altar, surrounded by Dominican saints, with the Child Jesus in her arms. The Virgin spoke to her: "Whoever I may give thanks to her through this ninth, let her do it to me for three days of request and another three days of thanksgiving." Fortuna was completely cured that same day. Father Radente, his spiritual director, reduced for practical reasons the three novies to nine days each, resulting in the structure of 27 days of petition and 27 days of thanksgiving that we know today.
Blessed Bartolo Longo (1841-1926), founder of the Pompey shrine, was the great promoter of this devotion. Old converted satanist, dedicated his whole life to spreading the rosary as a remedy to the evils of society. The 54-day ninth was one of his most precious spiritual jewels. He was beatified by John Paul II in 1980.
Structure of the ninth of 54 days
The novena if composes 54 continuous days divided into two equal parts:
- Days 1 to 27: The three groups of mysteries of the rosary (joyful, painful, glorious, or in the updated version also the light) are prayed with a spirit of supplication.
- Days 28 to 54: Novens of thanksgiving - the same mysteries are prayed, but in an attitude of early thanks, as if the grace requested had already been granted.
Each of the first 27 days is devoted to the mysteries of the rosary in turns: joyful (days 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25), painful (days 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26) and glorious (days 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27). If the light ones are included, they can also alternate with the painful or joyful ones.
Prayer to start each day
Days 1 to 9 - First ninth of request (Godful, Delicious and Glorious Mysteries)
During the first nine days each group of mysteries with the heart is considered to be directed to the need that motivated the ninth. The complete rosary is prayed with the meditations of each mystery.
The joyful mysteries - meditation for the ninth
La Anunciación: Mary receives the angel's message and says "yes" to God without reservation. In the ninth petition, we ask Mary to teach our soul to pronounce also that full and confident "yes," especially when the way ahead is uncertain or painful.
La Visitación: Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth with the Son of God in her bosom. It teaches us that the best way to help the neighbor is to bring him to Christ. In our ninth, we ask for grace to be God's presence for those around us.
The Birth: God becomes small, poor, vulnerable. The contemplation of the manger of Bethlehem frees us from pride and teaches us that God's great works often go through what the world despises.
The Presentation: Mary and Joseph offer the Child in the Temple. Simeon prophesies the sword that will pass through Mary's soul. The total offering - even when it hurts - is the way of those who trust God.
The Lost and Found Child: Three days of distressed search and, in the end, meeting in the Temple. The ninth tells us that God is never lost: it is we who sometimes stop looking for him.
The painful mysteries - meditation for the ninth
The Agony in the Garden: Jesus sweats blood before the weight of the sins of the world. It teaches us to present to God our deepest fears without hiding them, with the same filial trust: "Father, do not my will be done but yours."
La Flagelación: The body of Christ is wounded by our sins. In the ninth, we see this mystery as a symbol of the pain caused by evil in the world and ask for grace to repair with our penance.
Coronation of thorns: The royalty of Christ is mocked. In the history of Fortuna Agrelli, the humiliation of disease and medical impotence found their response in the One who was crowned with thorns: the one who suffered the most is the one who can understand the most.
The Way to Calvary: Jesus falls, he gets up, walks. Mary looks at it from the crowd. In our ninth, we ask for strength for our own daily calseveral.
La Crucifixión: "Conjunta is." From the Cross, Jesus gives his Mother to all the beloved disciples. In the ninth of 54 days, this mystery is the center of everything: if Christ died for us, what grace can his Mother deny us?
The glorious mysteries - meditation for the ninth
The Resurrection: The empty grave as a promise fulfilled. In the ninth petition, this mystery encourages us to wait against all hope: he who raised his Son can also renew our situation.
La Ascensión: Christ goes up to the Father and promises us the Spirit. His visible absence is prelude to his deepest inner presence. We ask that the Holy Spirit guide us during the ninth.
Pentecost: Mary in the Upper Room, praying with the disciples. The ninth of 54 days is, in a way, a long room: a time of intense prayer in communion with Mary.
La Asunción: Mary's unblemished body is glorified. She who is in heaven with body and soul is the closest intercessor to the Son. We ask for our ninth to go up to the sky of your hands.
La Coronación: Mary is crowned Queen of heaven and earth. The one who crowns his Mother cannot ignore the pleas she has before him. This mystery is the theological foundation of all the trust that holds the ninth of 54 days.
Days 10 to 18 - Second ninth of request
The same cycle of mysteries is repeated with the same initial prayer. Constancy is the virtue most pleasing to God in prayer, and the second ninth is proof that our request is born of a true need and not of a passing impulse.
Days 19 to 27 - Third ninth of request
At the end of the third cycle of petition, the soul may feel exhausted or impatient. It is precisely at that moment that the ninth of 54 days unfolds all its spiritual effectiveness: who comes to the 27th will have learned to pray with perseverance. Grace is already on its way, although it is not always visible yet.
Days 28 to 54 - The three novies of thanksgiving
The second half of the ninth of 54 days is of early Thanksgiving. This is the most bold and distinctive element of this devotion: thanks are given to God and Mary for the grace requested before they have yet to receive it. This gesture is not naive: it is faith in a pure state, which already possesses in hope what is not yet seen with the eyes.
The prayers are the same as in the days of request, but the spirit is changed: instead of "I beg you to grant me," it is said "I thank you for the grace you have heard." Grace can come during the second part of the ninth, at the end of the 54 days, or later; but who has given thanks in advance has exercised a faith of a quality especially pleasing to God.
How to organize the ninth in family or group
The 54-day ninth can be prayed in a particularly fruitful manner. It is enough for each member of the group to know the common intention and commit to pray their daily rosary for the 54 days. It is not necessary to meet physically every day; spiritual communion is sufficient.
For parish groups or religious communities, it is common to designate a weekly "day of union" in which everyone meets to pray together the rosary of that day and to share briefly how the ninth is going. This maintains the cohesion of the group and the fervor of prayer. In the Jesuit and Dominican popular missions of the 19th century, this ninth century was praying in the squares of the peoples, with the whole community gathered at night.
Blessed Bartolo Longo recommended that before the beginning of the ninth, each member of the group should confess and communicate, so that prayer could be offered from a state of grace. During the 54 days, confession is recommended at least once again, as a sign that the ninth is not just an external exercise, but a sustained interior conversion.