The Curé d'Ars Prayer Group

For the bishop and priests of the Raleigh, NC Diocese.

Devotions

Private prayer is like straw scattered here and there: If you set it on fire it makes a lot of little flames. But gather these straws into a bundle and light them, and you get a mighty fire, rising like a column into the sky; public prayer is like that.

-- Saint John Vianney

St. John Vianney offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at Saint Philomena's Altar Novena to Saint Philomena

O Glorious Virgin and Martyr, beloved child of God, Saint Philomena! I rejoice in thy glory, and give God thanks that He has bestowed on thee such power; for the glory of His name, for the edification of His Church, and to honor thy merits in life, and thy sufferings and martyrdom in death. Looking up to thee in heaven, I rejoice to see thee so exalted, so powerful, so pure, so generous. I congratulate thee on being so faithful to the precepts and counsels of Jesus Christ, while on earth, and on being so generously rewarded by Him in heaven. Moved by thine example to the practice of solid virtue, filled with hope at the view of the rewards bestowed upon thee, I resolve to imitate thee in the avoidance of all evil, and in the fulfillment of God’s holy will. Assist me, O Glorious little saint, by thy powerful intercession, and obtain especially for me perfect purity - invincible fortitude in all trials, temptations, and sufferings – generosity which refuses nothing to God - and love stronger than death for the one true Faith – a ready and willing obedience to the Holy Roman Catholic Church and to our sovereign Pontiff, the Father of all the faithful, the Shepherd of shepherds and of their flocks, the Vicar of Jesus Christ throughout the universe.

Beside these favors which I have now asked through thy powerful intercession, O Blessed Philomena! I also ask for these additional favors and graces, which I have the fullest confidence of obtaining through thy powerful intercession: (Mention your request)

Surely that God, who is so good, and for Whom thou hast given up thy life - God who is so good, and Who has bestowed so many gifts and favors upon and through thee - God who is so good as to have died for me, and to give Himself to me in Holy Communion - God who is so good as to have revealed the burning love of His Sacred Heart for me, surely He will never be deaf to thy prayers, nor to my supplications, and even to His own desire to help the afflicted. Full of confidence, I place all my trust in Him and in thee, O Blessed Philomena. Amen.

Written by Saint John Vianney

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