Perpetual Help..

Today is Ash Wednesday.

Today, i have also rediscovered how beautiful the prayer contained in the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. I wondered when was this prayer created because it seems pretty current. I don't think this was written in the 1900's because drugs don't seem to be a problem back then.

Anyway, let me just put it here so you will know what i mean:

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Mother of Perpetual Help look on us your children.
We are proud to be your children and happy to call you our mother.
We are not all we ought to be so we come to you our mother.
You are always ready to accept us as we are,
to encourage us to do better inspite of temptations and weakness.

As we look at your picture we remember your life on earth.
You had many crosses and trials but you knew how to face them.
You had faith and trust in God.
You relied on his loving fatherly goodness.
Help us to be like you.
We too have our trials and troubles.
We are often worried and confused.
Give us courage.
Strengthen our faith.
Help us make one more effort when we are inclined to despair.

As you stood at the foot of the cross,
you found it hard to see how God could allow His Son to suffer such agony.
Yet you never lost faith.
Help us to learn from your example to face our trials
with confidence and trust in God.
Sometimes loving mother, we are so worried about our own problems
we forget about God and needs of others.
We want to be like you.
You forgot about yourself and your own problems
when you saw others in need.
Help us to remember that the troubles and sorrows of others
are sometimes greater than our own.

So Mother Mary, while we pray with you for our own special intentions
we include those all of your children in need:
the sick and the dying,
the lonely and the broken hearted,
the poor and the oppressed
in a word, all who need your perpetual help. Amen

LTANY OF PETITIONS

Our Mother of Perpetual Help, your children call on you.
Mother ever help us.

That you may ever be our inspiration..
That we may have courage to face up to all our difficulties..
That we may see meaning in the joys and sorrows of life..
That our trust in God may help others too..

When faced with difficult decisions..
When asked to make a sacrifice for the sake of others..
When put to shame in front of others..
When hurt and tempted to take revenge..

In times of sickness in the home..
In worried about our financial difficulties..
In misunderstanding with those we love..
In helping young people to become self-reliant..
That many may respond to God's call to the priesthood
or religious life..
In choosing our entertainment and recreation..

That parents may learn to adapt to their growing children..
That students may show appreciation to those who
sacrifice for their education..
That teachers may always be inspired in forming
their students to become better christians..
That we may not resort to drugs or drinks as an escape from life..
That we may always be honest in the
struggle to earn our livelihood..
That we may not be driven by greed for power and wealth..
That we may always take pride in doing our work well..
That worjers maybe justly rewarded for their labor..
That we and lending agencies, in the guise of helping others
may not destroy people by collecting unjust high interest rates..
That we may never interfere with justice by bribery or perjury..
That we may rise above personal considerations when
called on to serve the community9or to vote)..
That we may never lose sight of the the beauty of our country
and the goodness of our people..
That we may do everything in our power to bring about justice,
peace and progress in our land..
That we may never be so pround as to think we can do
without God or religion..
When seriously ill and we realize that death is near..
When our loved ones are called home to their heavenly Father..
When we pray that our dear departed may share in the full joy
of Christ's resurrection..

**taken from the revised version 1998 Mother of Perpetual Help Novena
Redemptorist,Cebu Province