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To help prepare yourself this Advent, join us in praying a novena asking for the love and mercy of the Lord Jesus

Advent is a time where we prepare ourselves for the second coming of the Lord Jesus, by celebrating His birth.

While it should be a time of prayer and meditation, it can be a distracting time of year. With lots of events and social obligations, keeping us all busy.

To help focus our hearts and minds on the true purpose of this Season, the Archdiocese is encouraging people to pray a novena from the 16 December until Christmas Eve.

Each day, a prayer will be posted across the Archdiocese’s social media accounts and you are all encouraged to take part. By clicking the link below, you can access the prayers which will be posted each morning on YouTube. 

Novena

Let Advent be a time where we sing praise and give thanks to the Lord Jesus, while asking for his mercy and forgiveness too. Let us too turn to His Mother and ask for her intercession.

The full text of the novena can be found below.

Novena

Day 1

O great Son of God,
You became man to make Yourself loved by men,
But where is the love we give You in return?
You have given Your lifeblood to save our souls,
Yet we remain so unappreciative.
Instead of repaying You with love,
We spurn You with ingratitude.

And I, Lord—I, more than others—
Have ill-treated You.
But Your passion is my hope.
For the sake of that love which led You
To take on human nature and die for me on the Cross,
Forgive me all the offences I have committed against You.

I love You, O Word Incarnate.
I love You, O infinite goodness.
Out of love for You, I wish I could die of grief
For the offences I have caused You.

Give me, O Jesus, Your love.
Let me no longer live in ungrateful forgetfulness
Of the love You bear for me.
I wish to love You always.
Grant that I may persevere in this holy desire.

O Mary, Mother of God and my mother,
Pray for me, that Your Son
May give me the grace to love Him always, unto death.

Amen

Day 2

O dearest infant,
Tell me, what did you come on earth to do?
Tell me, who are you seeking?
Yes, I already know—
You came to die for me,
In order to save me from hell.
You came to seek me, the lost sheep,
So that, instead of fleeing from you anymore,
I may rest in your loving arms.

Ah, my Jesus,
My treasure, my life, my love, and my all.
Whom will I love if not you?
Where can I find a father, a friend, a spouse
More loving and lovable than you?
I love you, my dear God.
I love you, my only good.
I regret the many years
When I have not loved you,
But rather spurned and offended you.

Forgive me, O my beloved Redeemer,
For I am sorry and regret it with all my heart.
Pardon me and give me the grace
Never more to withdraw from you,
But constantly to love you
In all the years that still lie before me in this life.

My love, I give myself entirely to you.
Accept me and do not reject me,
As I deserve.

O Mary, you are my advocate.
By your prayers, you obtain whatever you will from your Son.
Pray to Him to forgive me
And to grant me holy perseverance until death.

Amen

Day 3

O dear Infant Jesus,
How could I be so ungrateful
And offend You so often?
If only I realized how much You suffered for me.
These tears You shed,
This poverty You embraced for love of me,
Make me hope for the pardon
Of all the offences I have committed against You.

My Jesus, I am sorry
For having so often turned my back on You.
But now, I love You above all else,
My God and my all.
From now on, You, O my God,
Shall be my only treasure and my only good.

With Saint Ignatius of Loyola, I say to You:
"Give me the grace to love Thee; that is enough for me."
I long for nothing else, I want nothing else.
You alone are enough for me,
My Jesus, my life, my love.

O Mary, my mother,
Obtain for me the grace
That I may always love Jesus
And always be loved by Him.

Amen

Day 4

O dearest Saviour,
You have embraced so many outrages for love of me,
Yet I have not been able to bear even one word of insult
Without being filled with resentful thoughts.
I, who have so often deserved to be trodden underfoot by the demons in hell,
Am ashamed to appear before You—
Sinful and proud as I am.
Yet do not drive me from Your presence, O Lord,
Even though that is what I deserve.

You have said that You will not spurn
A contrite and humbled heart.
I am sorry for the offenses I have committed against You.
Forgive me, O Jesus,
I will not offend You again.

For love of me, You have borne so many injuries;
For love of You, I will bear all the injuries that are done to me.
I love You, Jesus, who was despised for love of me.
I love You above every other good.
Give me the grace to love You always
And to bear every insult for love of You.

O Mary, recommend me to Your Son,
Pray to Jesus for me.

Amen

Day 5

O Jesus,
My sweet love,
I too have kept you suffering.
Tell me, then, what I must do in order to win your forgiveness.
I am ready to do all you ask of me.
I am sorry, O sovereign God, for all the offences I have committed against you.
I love you more than myself,
Or at least I feel a great desire to love you.
Since it is you who have given me this desire,
Also give me the strength to love you exceedingly.

It is only right that I, who have offended you so much,
Should love you deeply.
Always remind me of the love you have for me,
So that my soul may ever burn with love for you
And long to please you alone.

O God of love,
I, who was once a slave of hell,
Now give myself entirely to you.
Graciously accept me
And bind me to you with the bonds of your love.

My Jesus,
From this day and forever,
In loving you will I live,
And in loving you will I die.

O Mary, my mother and my hope,
Help me to love your dear God and mine.
This is the only favour I ask of you,
And through you, I hope to receive it.

Amen

Day 6

O my dear Redeemer,
Where should I be now
If you did not bear with me so patiently
And hadn’t called me from life
While I was in the state of sin?
Since you have waited for me till now,
Forgive me quickly, O my Jesus,
Before death finds me still guilty
Of so many offences that I have committed against you.

I am so sorry for having vilely despised you,
My sovereign good,
That I could die of grief.
But you cannot abandon a soul that seeks you.
If I have forsaken you before,
I now seek you and love you.

Yes, my God, I love you above all else.
I love you more than myself.
Help me, Lord, to love you always
During the rest of my life.
Nothing else do I seek of you but this.
I beg of you,
And this I hope to receive from you.

Mary, my hope,
Do pray for me.
If you pray for me,
I am sure of grace.

Amen

Day 7

Dear infant Jesus,
Crying so bitterly,
While you have reason to weep,
In seeing yourself persecuted by men
Whom you love so much.

I, too, O God,
Have once persecuted you by my sins.
But you know that now
I love you more than myself,
And that nothing pains me more than the thought
That I have so often spurned you,
My sovereign good.

Forgive me, O Jesus,
And let me hold you with me in my heart
For the rest of the journey
That I have still to make through life.
So that together with you,
I may enter into eternity.

So often have I driven you from my soul by my sins,
But now I love you above all things,
And I regret above all misfortunes
That I have offended you.

I wish to leave you no more,
My beloved Lord.
Give me the strength to resist temptations.
Never permit me to be separated from you again.
Let me rather die
Than ever again lose your good grace.

O Mary, my hope,
Make me always live in God's love
And then die in loving Him.

Amen

Day 8

Jesus, my Saviour,

when I consider how for love of me

you spent 30 years of your life hidden and unknown in a poor workshop,

how can I desire the pleasures and honours and riches of the world?

Gladly do I renounce all these things

since I wish to be your companion on this earth,

poor as you were, mortified and humble as you were,

so that I may hope to be able one day to enjoy your companionship in Heaven.

What are all the treasures and kingdoms of this world?

You, O Jesus, are my only treasure, my only good.

I keenly regret the many times in the past

when I spurned your friendship in order  to satisfy my foolish whims.

I am sorry for them with all my heart.

For the future, I would rather lose my life a thousand times

than lose your grace by sin.

I wish never to offend you again but always to love you.

Help me to remain faithful to you until death.

O Mary, you are the refuge of sinners, you are my hope.

Amen

Day 9

O adorable Infant Jesus,

I should not have the boldness to cast myself at your feet

if I did not know that you invite me to draw near to you.

It is I, who by my sins

have made you shed so many tears

in the stable of Bethlehem.

But since you came on earth to pardon repentant sinners,

forgive me also now that I am heartily sorry for having spurned you,

my Saviour and my God,

who are so good and who has loved me so much

In this night in which you bestow great graces on so many souls.

Grant your heavenly consolation to this poor soul of mine also.

All that I ask of you is the grace to love you always

from this day forward with all my heart.

Set me all on fire with your holy love.

I love you, O my God,

who became a babe for love of me.

Never let me cease from loving you evermore.

O Mary, mother of Jesus and my mother,

you can obtain everything from your Son by your prayers.

This is the only favour I ask of you:

pray to Jesus for me.

Amen

 

Christmas morning prayer

Hail and blessed be the hour

and moment at which the Son of God

was born of a most pure Virgin

at a stable at midnight in Bethlehem in the piercing cold.

At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech thee,

to hear my prayers and grant my desires

through Jesus Christ and

His Most Blessed Mother.

Amen