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Oh Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name,
the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying.
Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips.
Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you.
In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you,
ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary.
What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul
when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you!
I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet,
so powerful, so lovely a name.
But I will not be content with merely uttering your name.
Let my love for you prompt me ever
to hail you Mother of Perpetual Help.
Mother of Perpetual Help,
pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you.
(Then say three Hail Marys).
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See at Your feet,
O Mother of Perpetual Help,
a poor sinner who has recourse to You
and confides in You.
O Mother of Mercy,
have pity on me!
I hear You called the refuge
and the hope of sinners;
be my refuge and my hope.
Help me, for the love of Jesus Christ;
stretch forth Your hand to a poor fallen creature
who recommends himself (herself) to You,
and who devotes himself (herself) to Your service forever.
I bless and thank Almighty God,
who in His mercy had given me this confidence in You,
which I hold to be a pledge of my eternal salvation.
Mary, tender Mother, help me.
Mother of Perpetual Help,
never allow me to lose my God.
Amen
Recite the following prayers 3 times each
Say three Our Father's
Say three Hail Mary's
Say three Glory Be's
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Behold, O Mother of Perpetual Help, at thy feet a wretched sinner,
who has recourse to thee and trusts in thee.
O Mother of mercy, have pity on me;
I hear all men call thee the refuge
and hope of sinners: be therefore my refuge and my hope.
Help me for the love of Jesus Christ:
hold out thy hand to a fallen wretch,
who commends himself to thee and dedicates himself to be
thy servant forever. I praise and thank God, who of His great mercy
hath given me this confidence in thee,
a sure pledge of my eternal salvation.
Alas, it is only too true that in the past
I have fallen miserably, because I did not come to thee. I know
that with thy help I shall conquer; I know that thou wilt help me,
if I commend myself to thee; but I am fearful
lest in the occasions of sin I shall forget to call
upon thee and so I shall be lost. This grace,
then, do I ask of thee; for this I implore thee,
as much as I can and know how to do; namely,
that in the assaults of hell I may ever run to thy protection and
may say to thee: Mary, help me; Mother of Perpetual Help,
permit me not to lose my God.
Say one Hail Mary
O Mother of Perpetual Help, grant me ever to be able to call
upon thy powerful name, since thy name is
the help of the living and the salvation of the dying.
Ah, Mary most pure, Mary most sweet,
grant that thy name from this day forth may be
to me the very breath of life.
Dear Lady, delay not to come to my assistance whenever I call
upon thee; for in all the temptations that
assail me, in all the necessities that befall me, I will never leave
off calling upon thee, ever repeating: Mary, Mary.
What comfort, what sweetness, what confidence, what tenderness
fills my soul at the sound of thy name,
at the very thought of thee!
I give thanks to our Lord, who for my sake hath given thee
a name so sweet, so lovable, so mighty.
But I am not content merely to speak thy name;
I would utter it for very love of thee;
it is my desire that love should ever remind me
to name thee, Mother of Perpetual Help.
Say one Hail Mary
O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of every grace
that God grants us in our misery;
it is for this cause that He hath made thee so powerful,
so rich, so kind, that thou mightest assist us in our miseries.
Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners,
if they but come unto thee; come once more to my assistance,
for I commend myself to thee. In thy hands I place my eternal salvation;
to thee I entrust my soul. Enroll me among thy most faithful servants;
take me under thy protection and it is enough for me: yes,
for if thou protect me, I shall fear nothing;
not my sins, for thou wilt obtain for me their pardon
and remission; not the evil spirits, for thou art mightier
than all the powers of hell; not even Jesus, my Judge, for He is appeased by a single prayer from thee.
I fear only that through my own negligence I may forget
to recommend myself to thee and so I shall be lost.
My dear Lady, obtain for me the forgiveness of my sins,
love for Jesus, final perseverance and the grace to have recourse to thee
at all times, O Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me.
Say one Hail Mary
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First placed in the Church of San Matteo
in Rome in 1499, the picture was thought to be
lost at one point after Napoleon?s armies sacked that church in 1798.
Fortunately, however, it was in the care
of the Augustinian fathers until Pope Pius IX ordered that the
icon be given to the Redemptorist order
at the Church of St. Alphonsus in Rome
in 1866 for public viewing once again. Since then it has been
copied and venerated in churches and homes all over the world.
Note in this picture how Jesus,
while safely cradled in his mother?s arms,
looks anxiously at St. Gabriel the Archangel,
who holds the cross and nails for His Crucifixion.
(St. Michael the Archangel, at left, holds the lance,
spear, and the vessel of vinegar and gall for
our Lord's Passion as well.) The Blessed Mother looks
at us solemnly, perhaps as if in contemplation of
her beloved Son?s future Passion and death for our salvation!
Remember that when we pray this novena to
our Lady of Perpetual Help, that we are not
choosing to worship her over her Divine Son.
She is "our Mother on the order of grace,?
according to a Vatican II document,
and all the graces Mary gives us come directly from our Lord.
She is always ready to intercede with Him on our behalf,
but never for anything contrary to His wishes.
As long as we approach her as we do Him, with sincerely
humble and contrite hearts, we can count
on her aid and guidance. Mary?s last spoken words in the
Gospels concerned her Son when she said at the
wedding feast at Cana ?Do whatever he tells You? (John 2:5).
If we persevere in our intentions
to do Christ?s will for us, we are doing hers as well.
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