Novena to St JosemarΓa EscrivΓ‘ For work
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa
Day 1
Work as a path to holiness
St JosemarΓa says:
We have come to call attention once again to the example of Jesus, who spent thirty years in Nazareth, working as a carpenter. In his hands, a professional occupation, similar to that carried out by millions of people all over the world, was turned into a divine task. It became a part of our Redemption, a way to salvation.1
Your ordinary contact with God takes place where your fellow men, your yearnings, your work and your affections are. There you have your daily encounter with Christ. It is in the midst of the most material things of the earth that we must sanctify ourselves, serving God and all mankind. 2
1 Conversations with Monsignor JosemarΓa EscrivΓ‘, 55
2 Homily, Passionately Loving the World, in Conversations with Monsignor JosemarΓa EscrivΓ‘, 113
Intention A : To find a job
May our Lord God guide me in the effort to seek work and bless me, enabling me to obtain honest, dignified and steady employment; and then help me to see my job as a path to holiness and a service to others, where God my Father awaits me at every moment, asking me, in each situation, to imitate Jesus when he worked as a carpenter in Nazareth.
or Intention B : To do a good job
May our Lord God help me see my job as a path to holiness and a service to others, where God my Father awaits me at every moment, asking me, in each situation, to imitate Jesus when he worked as a carpenter in Nazareth.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 2
Work done for love of God
St JosemarΓa says:
The dignity of work is founded on Love. Man’s great privilege is to be able to love, transcending from what is fleeting and ephemeral.1
Do everything for Love. –That way there are no little things: everything is big. –Perseverance in little things, for Love, is heroism.2
Let me stress this point: it is in the simplicity of your ordinary work, in the monotonous details of each day, that you have to find the secret, which is hidden from so many, of something great and new: Love.3
1 Christ is Passing By, 48 2 The Way, 813 3 Furrow, 489
Intention A: To find a job
May our Lord God grant me the grace to get a job quickly, which will provide security for my family. At the same time, may he help me to understand that what gives value to any honest work is the love with which I do it: love for God, in the first place, to whom I can offer up my work; and love for my neighbour, whom I wish to serve and be useful to.
or Intention B: To do a good job
May our Lord God help me to understand that what gives value to any honest work is the love with which I do it: love for God, in the first place, to whom I can offer up my work; and love for my neighbour, whom I wish to serve and be useful to.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 3
Working with order and constancy
St JosemarΓa says:
How short indeed is the time of our passing through this world! For the true Christian these words ring deep down in his heart as a reproach to his lack of generosity, and as a constant invitation to be loyal. Brief indeed is our time for loving, for giving, for making atonement. It would be very wrong, therefore, for us to waste it, or to cast this treasure irresponsibly overboard. We mustn’t squander this period of the world’s history that God has entrusted to each one of us.1
When you bring order into your life your time will multiply and, as a result, you will be able to give greater glory to God, by working more in his service.2
Persevere in the exact fulfillment of the obligations of the moment. That work – humble, monotonous, small – is prayer expressed in action that prepares you to receive the grace of the other work – great and wide and deep – of which you dream.3
1 Friends of God, 39 2 The Way, 80 3 The Way, 825
Intention A: To find a job
May I get a stable and suitable job, with the help of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. And when, through God’s goodness, I am working, may I learn to use my time as the treasure it is, and make the effort to improve in the virtue of order, so as to work more punctually, intensely and constantly, without disorder or delays. May I achieve this by following a well-structured plan, which allows for me to spend the appropriate amount of time on each of my duties: spiritual life, family life, professional life and social relations, in a balanced way.
or Intention B: To do a good job
With the help of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, may I learn to use my time as the treasure it is, and make the effort to improve in the virtue of order, so as to work more punctually, intensely and constantly, without disorder or delays. May I achieve this by following a well-structured plan, which allows for me to spend the appropriate amount of time on each of my duties: spiritual life, family life, professional life and social relations, in a balanced way.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 4
Well-finished work
St JosemarΓa says :
It is no good offering to God something that is less perfect than our poor human limitations permit. The work that we offer must be without blemish and it must be done as carefully as possible, even in its smallest details, for God will not accept shoddy workmanship. ‘Thou shalt not offer anything that is faulty,’ Holy Scripture warns us (Lev 22:20), ‘because it would not be worthy of him.’ For that reason, the work of each one of us, the activities that take up our time and energy, must be an offering worthy of our Creator. It must be operatio Dei, a work of God that is done for God: in short, a task that is complete and faultless.1
The important thing is that we should love the Mass and make it the centre of our day. If we attend Mass well, surely we are likely to think about our Lord during the rest of the day, wanting to be always in his presence, ready to work as he worked and love as he loved.2
1 Friends of God, 55 2 Christ is Passing By, 154
Intention A : To find a job
With our Lady’s help, may I not take long to resolve the problem of my unemployment. And when I start my new job, may God help me to work well, with the greatest possible perfection. May I never work carelessly, but be convinced that work done badly cannot be sanctified, because it lacks love, and love alone enables any human action to be pleasing to God.
or Intention B: To do a good job
May God help me to work well, with the greatest possible perfection. May I never work carelessly, but be convinced that work done badly cannot be sanctified, because it lacks love, and love alone enables any human action to be pleasing to God.
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DAY 5
All honest work is dignified
St JosemarΓa says:
It is time for us Christians to shout from the rooftops that work is a gift from God and that it makes no sense to classify men differently, according to their occupation, as if some jobs were nobler than others. Work, all work, bears witness to the dignity of man, to his dominion over creation.1
Before God, no occupation is in itself great or small. Everything gains the value of the Love with which it is done.2
You really do need to make an effort and put your shoulder to the wheel... For all that, you should put your professional interests in their place: they are only means to an end; they can never be regarded – in any way – as if they were the basic thing.3
1 Christ is Passing By, 47 2 Furrow, 487 3 Furrow, 502
Intention A: To find a job
May God grant me the joy of getting a job, at which I can be useful and develop my abilities. And if, for the moment, the job were to be below my level of competence and my legitimate aspirations, may I not belittle it. Rather, while seeking something more appropriate, may I carry it out in a fully responsible way, giving it the same value as Jesus gave his work at Nazareth.
or Intention B: To do a good job
If my present job is below my level of competence and my legitimate aspirations, may I not belittle it. Rather, while seeking something more appropriate, may I carry it out in a fully responsible way, giving it the same value as Jesus gave his work at Nazareth.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 5
All honest work is dignified
St JosemarΓa says:
It is time for us Christians to shout from the rooftops that work is a gift from God and that it makes no sense to classify men differently, according to their occupation, as if some jobs were nobler than others. Work, all work, bears witness to the dignity of man, to his dominion over creation.1
Before God, no occupation is in itself great or small. Everything gains the value of the Love with which it is done.2
You really do need to make an effort and put your shoulder to the wheel... For all that, you should put your professional interests in their place: they are only means to an end; they can never be regarded – in any way – as if they were the basic thing.3
1 Christ is Passing By, 47 2 Furrow, 487 3 Furrow, 502
Intention A: To find a job
May God grant me the joy of getting a job, at which I can be useful and develop my abilities. And if, for the moment, the job were to be below my level of competence and my legitimate aspirations, may I not belittle it. Rather, while seeking something more appropriate, may I carry it out in a fully responsible way, giving it the same value as Jesus gave his work at
Nazareth.
or Intention B: To do a good job
If my present job is below my level of competence and my legitimate aspirations, may I not belittle it. Rather, while seeking something more appropriate, may I carry it out in a fully responsible way, giving it the same value as Jesus gave his work at Nazareth.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 6
Work done in company with God and with rectitude of intention
St JosemarΓa says:
I beg you, don’t ever lose the supernatural point of view. Correct your intention as the course of a ship is corrected on the high seas: by looking at the star, by looking at Mary. Then you will always be sure of reaching harbour.1
As a Christian, you should always carry your Crucifix with you. And place it on your work table. And kiss it before you go to rest and when you awake. 2
Place on your desk, in your room, in your wallet... a picture of Our Lady, and look at it when you begin your work, while you are doing it, and when you finish it. She will obtain for you – I assure you! – the strength to turn your task into a loving dialogue with God.3
1 The Forge, 745 2 The Way, 302 3 Furrow, 487
Intention A: To find a job
May God grant me an honest and dignified job, and open the eyes of my soul to understand that he is always at my side. So as not to lose sight of this marvelous reality, may I make the effort to stay in God’s presence during my work, using as a discreet “reminder” a small crucifix, or a small picture of Our Lady or of some saint to whom I have devotion, positioned where I can see it often, without attracting unnecessary attention.
or Intention B: To do a good job
May God open the eyes of my soul to understand that he is always at my side. So as not to lose sight of this marvelous reality, may I make the effort to stay in God’s presence during my work, using as a discreet “reminder” a small crucifix, or a small picture of Our Lady or of some saint to whom I have devotion, positioned where I can see it often, without attracting unnecessary attention.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 7
Maturing in virtue through work
St JosemarΓa says:
Everything in which we poor human beings intervene – even sanctity – is a tissue of small trifles, which – depending on the purity of our intention – can form a tapestry of splendid heroism or of meanness, of virtues or of sins.1
A complete range of virtues is called into play when we set about our work with the purpose of sanctifying it: fortitude, to persevere in our work despite the difficulties that naturally arise and to ensure that we never let ourselves be overwhelmed by anxiety; temperance, in order to spend ourselves unsparingly and to overcome our love of comfort and our selfishness; justice, so as to fulfill our duties towards God, society, our family and our fellow workers; prudence, to know in each case what course to take, and then to set about it without hesitation. . . And all this, I emphasize, is for the sake of Love.2
All professional work demands previous training and a constant effort to improve one’s formation and to adapt it to the new circumstances that may arise.3
1 The Way, 826 2 Friends of God, 72 3 Conversations, 90
Intention A: To find a job
With our Lady’s help, may I find the job I am looking for. And when I devote myself fully to this new work, may God help me to develop the Christian virtues and to mature spiritually through the work I do. May I seek to be patient and understanding, both towards my managers and towards my colleagues and subordinates. May I be simple and humble, avoiding vanity and exhibitionism. In a word, may I do everything with purity of heart.
or Intention B: To do a good job
May God help me to develop the Christian virtues and to mature spiritually through the work I do. May I seek to be patient and understanding, both towards my managers and towards my colleagues and subordinates. May I be simple and humble, avoiding vanity and exhibitionism. In a word, may I do everything with purity of heart.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 8
Work as service, a help for others
St JosemarΓa says:
Consider too that, by doing your daily work well and responsibly, not only will you be supporting yourselves financially, you will also be contributing in a very direct way to the development of society, you will be relieving the burdens of others and maintaining countless welfare projects, both local and international, on behalf of less privileged individuals and countries.1
When you have finished your work, do your brother’s, helping him, for love of Christ, so tactfully and so naturally that not even the person you’re helping realizes that you are doing more than in justice you ought. –This indeed is virtue befitting a son of God!2
1 Friends of God, 120 2 The Way, 440
Intention A: To find a job
May God our Lord grant me the job which I ask him for with so much faith. And may he infuse in my soul the desire to make of my work, not a self-centered activity geared to my own interests, but a service that is open and useful to many, done in the certainty that this ideal of service to others will give a new, higher and more joyful meaning to my life.
or Intention B: To do a good job
May God infuse in my soul the desire to make of my work, not a self centered activity geared to my own interests, but a service that is open and useful to many, done in the certainty that this ideal of service to others will give a new, higher and more joyful meaning to my life.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 9
Apostolate through work
St JosemarΓa says:
Professional work is also apostolate, an opportunity to give ourselves to others, to reveal Christ to them and lead them to God the Father.1
Just live your ordinary life; work where you are, trying to fulfill the duties of your state in life, finishing off the tasks in your professional work or job properly, improving, getting better each day. Be loyal; be understanding with others and demanding on yourself. Be mortified and cheerful. This will be your apostolate. Then, though you won’t see why, because you’re very aware of your own wretchedness, you will find that people come to you.
Then you can talk to them, quite simply and naturally — on your way home from work, for instance, or in a family gathering, on a bus, walking down the street, anywhere. You will chat about the sort of longings that everyone feels deep down in their soul, even though some people may not want to pay attention to them: they will come to understand them better, when they begin to look for God in earnest.2
1 Christ is Passing By, 49 2 Friends of God, 273
Intention A: To find a job
May God, through our Lady’s mediation, make me find a good job in which I can grow professionally and give the best of myself. And may he make me see in the area of my work, a wide field for the apostolic mission that God entrusts to all the baptized, using the opportunities he offers me to help my colleagues, friends and clients discover the marvels of the Christian faith.
or Intention B: To do a good job
May God help me see in the area of my work, a wide field for the apostolic mission that God entrusts to all the baptized, using the opportunities he offers me to help my colleagues, friends and clients discover the marvels of the Christian faith.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
______________________________________________________
Day 1
God loves us
St JosemarΓa says:
It’s necessary to become convinced that God is close beside us all the time. – We live as though the Lord were far away, in the starlit heavens, and we don’t consider that he is also always by our side.
And he is here like a loving Father – he loves each one of us more than all the mothers in the world can love their children – helping us, inspiring us, blessing... and forgiving... We need to be imbued, to be saturated with the knowledge that the Lord, who is close beside us and in heaven, is our Father and very much our Father. (The Way, 267)
When it feels as if the Lord has given up on you, don’t give way to sadness. Seek him with greater determination! He who is Love does not leave you on your own. (The Forge, 250)
If troubles come, you can be sure they are a proof of the Fatherly love God has for you. (The Forge, 815) –A Child. –A Sick Person. –As you write these words, don’t you feel tempted to put them with a capital letter? It’s because, for a soul in love, children and sick people are He. (The Way, 419)
Intention A:
May God our Lord grant me the grace to see with the clear light of faith that he is always at my side, like a loving father who will never abandon me. May he make me understand that he is Love, and that he desires my good more than anyone in the world. May he help me to have complete trust in the divine Doctor, Jesus Christ, who can give health to my body, if that is his holy Will, and peace to my soul.
Intention B:
May God grant his son/daughter... the grace to accept suffering, full of faith and confidence and with the complete certainty that he is always by their side, helping them with great fatherly affection. And if it is his holy Will, may he grant them a cure and total recovery.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 2
Jesus is our Friend
St JosemarΓa says:
Jesus is your friend. –The Friend. –With a heart of flesh, like yours. –With eyes, which look so lovingly, which wept for Lazarus... –And as much as he loves Lazarus, he loves you. (The Way, 422)
You seek the company of friends who, with their conversation and affection, with their friendship, make the exile of this world more bearable for you..., although friends sometimes let one down. –I don’t think it’s wrong to do that. But... how is it that you don’t frequent daily with greater intensity the company, the conversation of the Great Friend, who never lets one down? (The Way, 88)
By now they have fastened Jesus to the wooden cross. The executioners have ruthlessly carried out the sentence. Our Lord, with infinite meekness, has let them have their way. It was not necessary for him to undergo so much torment. He could have avoided those trials, those humiliations, that ill-usage, that iniquitous judgement, and the shame of the gallows, and the nails and the lance... But he wanted to suffer all this for you and for me. And we, are we not going to respond? (The Way of the Cross, Station 11, 1)
Intention A:
May Most Holy Mary and St Joseph obtain for me the grace to feel the tenderness, consolation and joy of Christ’s friendship, remembering that he has told us, “I have called you friends”. May his friendship make it easier for me to accept and offer to God my sufferings, for as long as he decides, thinking of how lovingly Jesus chose to suffered his Passion, for love of me.
Intention B:
May God, through the intercession of Our Lady and St Joseph, grant... the grace to feel the tenderness, consolation and joy of Christ’s friendship, making it easier to accept and offer their sufferings to God, thinking of the love with which Jesus suffered for us. May they not doubt that Jesus will grant them health if that is best for their soul.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 3
God hears the prayers of the sick
St JosemarΓa says:
After the prayer of the Priest and of consecrated virgins, the prayer most pleasing to God is that of children and that of the sick. (The Way, 98)
Jesus speaks: “Amen I say to you: ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.” Pray. In what human venture can you have greater guarantees of success? (The Way, 96)
To pray is the way to keep all the evils we suffer in check. (The Forge, 76)
We must have complete faith in the one who saves us, in this divine Doctor who was sent with the express purpose of curing us, and the more serious or hopeless our illness is the stronger our faith has to be. (Friends of God, 193)
Repeat with a firm hope: Lord, see how ill I am; Lord, you who died on the Cross for love of me, come and heal me. Be full of confidence, I insist. Keep on calling out to his most loving Heart. As he cured the lepers we read about in the Gospel, he will cure you. (The Forge, 213)
Intention A:
Through the grace of the Holy Spirit may my faith in prayer increase each day, in the certainty that God always listens to the humble and patient prayers of his children. May he always grant me the graces most suited for my sanctification and salvation. And in asking Jesus to cure me, may I not lack the faith that he will do so if it is for my good.
Intention B:
May the Holy Spirit help... to have great faith in prayer, and find peace and security in it, knowing for certain that Our Lord promised to listen and pay attention to our prayers, always willing to give us whatever is best for us. May we not lose heart in asking, with the support of the Virgin Mary, for a cure for this sick person, if this is the best thing for him/her.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 4
God helps us to be cheerful
The cheerfulness you should have is not the kind we might call physiological, that of a healthy animal, but a different, supernatural, one, which comes from the abandonment of everything and the abandonment of yourself into the loving arms of our Father-God. (The Way, 659)
Cheerfulness is a necessary consequence of our divine filiation, of knowing that our Father God loves us with a love of predilection, that he welcomes us, helps us and forgives us. Remember this and never forget it: even if it should seem at times that everything is collapsing, nothing is collapsing at all, because God doesn’t lose battles. (The Forge, 332)
True love demands getting out of oneself, giving oneself. Genuine love brings joy in its wake, a joy that has its roots in the shape of the Cross. (The Forge, 28)
I want you to be happy on earth. –But you won’t be if you don’t lose that fear of suffering. For, as long as we are “wayfarers”, it is precisely in suffering that our happiness lies. (The Way, 217)
Intention A:
May God grant me the grace to experience the wonder of Christian joy, which Jesus gives to us as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, whenever we embrace the pain, illnesses and unpleasantness of this life, with total abandonment in the arms of God our Father. May he help me to understand that happiness is born of love, and that love becomes authentic, like gold in the furnace, through trials and the Cross.
Intention B:
May God grant his son/daughter... the gift of Christian joy which the Holy Spirit gives to those souls who abandon themselves like children into the arms of God their Father. May the experience of that joy help them understand that there is no greater happiness than to love a great deal, imitating the total Love with which Jesus Christ embraced the Cross for us.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 5
God blesses those who accept his Will
St JosemarΓa says:
A wholehearted acceptance of the Will of God necessarily brings joy and peace: happiness in the Cross. –It’s then one sees that Christ’s yoke is sweet and that his burden is not heavy. (The Way, 758)
Jesus suffers to fulfil the Will of the Father... And you, who also wish to fulfil the most Holy Will of God, following in the footsteps of the Master, can you complain if you meet suffering as a travelling companion? (The Way, 213)
Are you suffering a great tribulation? –Are things going against you? Say, very slowly, as if savouring it, this strong and manly prayer: “May the most just and most lovable Will of God be done, be fulfilled, be praised and eternally exalted above all things. Amen. Amen.” I assure you that you will find peace. (The Way, 691)
Intention A :
Helped by the Blessed Virgin Mary, may I learn how to accept the Will of God with love, saying with Mary, “Be it done”, full of faith and love. And may I never forget that the Will of God — even when I don’t understand it — is always a caress from Heaven, and is for my true good.
Therefore, the most perfect prayer I can say is, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
Intention B :
May Our Lady help her son/daughter... to accept the holy Will of God with great faith and love. And, as the first fruit of that acceptance, may he/she also find peace, and experience the truth of Jesus’ words: “My yoke is gentle, and my burden is light”.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 6
Jesus teaches us to turn suffering into an act of love
When you are ill, offer up your sufferings with love, and they will turn into incense rising up in God’s honour, and making you holy. (The Forge, 791)
The way of Love is called Sacrifice. (The Forge, 768)
With you, Jesus, how pleasurable is suffering and how luminous is darkness! (The Way, 229)
–See how lovingly he embraces the Cross. –Learn from him. –Jesus carries the Cross for you: you... carry it for Jesus. But don’t drag the Cross... Carry it squarely on your shoulder, becauseyour Cross, if you carry it like that, will not be just any Cross: it will be... the Holy Cross.
Don’t carry your Cross with resignation: resignation is not a generous word. Love the Cross. When you really love it, your Cross will be... a Cross, without a Cross. (Holy Rosary, 4th Sorrowful Mystery)
Intention A:
May God Our Lord teach me to see pain, sickness and illness, not as a punishment but as a way of sharing in the Cross of Christ, so that I may get to love the Cross, as he loved it. May I learn to embrace it, and offer it to God without any denial or complaint. May I not stop praying to God with faith, for the grace of my cure, always united to his Will.
Intention B:
May God Our Lord help... understand that pain and suffering are not a punishment but a way of sharing in the Cross of Christ, and of embracing it with the same love with which he carried that Cross to Calvary. May we also never stop praying with faith and humility that God may cure... of his/her illness.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 7
God helps us to give joy to others
St JosemarΓa says:
Don’t forget that sometimes one needs to have smiling faces around. (Furrow, 57)
Carefully avoid anything that can hurt other people’s hearts. (Furrow, 807)
You must make up your mind to follow the way of self-surrender: the Cross on your shoulders, with a smile on your lips, and a light in your soul. (The Way of the Cross, Station 2, 3)
All the things that are now worrying you can be solved by making an effort to smile for love of God. (Furrow, 89)
You should make sure that wherever you are there is that good humour – that cheerfulness – which is born of an interior life. (The Forge, 151)
Intention A :
While I am ill, may God Our Lord make my heart capable of overlooking my sufferings and turning my attention affectionately to the needs and concerns of others. May he grant me good humour and pleasantness, and make me attentive to others, spreading optimism to all those who accompany me and help me: relatives, friends, carers, priests who visit, etc.
Intention B :
May God Our Lord help... during their illness to face up to their sufferings with courage, so that rising above them, they will be a continuous source of light and joy for others through their example of generosity and self-denial, with a radiant smile, good humour, ardent faith and burning love.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 8
Jesus invites us to work with Him
Remember this at the moment of sorrow or expiation: the Cross is the symbol of the redeeming Christ. It has ceased to be the symbol of evil, becoming instead the sign of victory. (The Forge, 782)
Therefore, if God wills that we be struck down by some affliction, take it as a sign that he considers us mature enough to be associated even more closely with his redeeming Cross. (Friends of God, 124)
If you realise that those sufferings – physical or moral – mean purification and merit, bless them. (The Way, 219)
Is it not true that as soon as you cease to be afraid of the Cross, of what people call the cross, when you set your will to accept the Will of God, then you find happiness, and all your worries, all your sufferings, physical or moral, pass away? (The Way of the Cross, Station 2)
Intention A :
May God help me to be grateful for the cross that he sends me, and to see it for what it is: an act of God’s confidence in me. Let me understand that Our Lord, in trusting me with his Cross through this illness, is giving me a great opportunity to purify and sanctify my soul, making me his collaborator in the salvation of the world. May I therefore regard pain as a treasure that I can offer up for the spiritual good of my family and friends, for the Church, sinners who have turned away from God, for those who suffer and for so many other people.
Intention B :
May Jesus help... to discover that the cross, the suffering resulting from illness, can become a divine and holy treasure, when one knows how to unite it to the redeeming sacrifice of Christ with faith and love, both for the purification and maturing of the soul, and for the salvation of many relatives, friends and sinners who have turned away from God, for those who suffer and for so many other people.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 9
Mary, our Mother, is by our side
My Mother! Mothers on earth look with greater love on the weakest of their children, the one with the worst health, or who is least intelligent, or is a poor cripple… ––Sweet Lady! I know that you are more of a Mother than all other mothers put together. –And, since I am your son… And, since I am weak, and ill… and crippled… and ugly... (The Forge, 234)
If I were a leper my mother would hug me. She would kiss my wounds without fear or hesitation. –Well then, what would the Blessed Virgin Mary do? When we feel we are like lepers, all full of sores, we have to cry out: Mother! And the protection of our Mother will be like a kiss upon our wounds, which obtains our cure. (The Forge, 190)
Have recourse to the Blessed Virgin every day with complete confidence. Your soul and your life will feel comforted at once. –She will let you partake of the treasures she keeps in her heart, for “never has it been known that anyone who sought her protection was left unaided.” (Furrow, 768)
Intention A :
May God grant me an even greater devotion to Our Lady, my most Holy Mother, and give me absolute confidence in her intercession, and in her maternal care. May he also make me understand that to obtain the graces that I ask him for — from the sanctification of suffering to the cure of my illness and full recovery — the gentle and sure way is to have recourse to the mediation of Mary, especially through the devotions she most appreciates, such as saying the Holy Rosary every day.
Intention B :
May Our Lord help... take refuge in the arms of Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, with complete and filial devotion and confidence. May they feel Mary’s maternal support and proximity, and never forget to turn to her intercession for the sanctification of suffering, a cure for their illness and a speedy recovery. May they keep up the holy custom of saying the Rosary every day.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
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Day 1
Marriage, a divine vocation
St JosemarΓa says:
For a Christian, marriage is … a real supernatural calling, a great sacrament, in Christ and in the Church, as St Paul says. … It is a sacred sign, an action of Jesus that invades the soul of those who get married and invites them to follow him, by transforming their whole married life into a divine journey on earth. (Christ is Passing By, 23)
It is important for married people to acquire a clear sense of the dignity of their vocation. They must know that they have been called by God not only to human love but also to a divine love, through their human love.
It is important for them to realise that they have been chosen from all eternity to cooperate with the creative power of God by having and then bringing up children. Our Lord asks them to make their home and their entire family life a testimony of all the Christian virtues. (Conversations with Monsignor EscrivΓ‘, 93).
Love which leads to marriage and family, can also be a marvellous divine way, a vocation … What I have told you about doing things perfectly, about putting love into the little duties of each day, about discovering that “divine something” contained in these details, finds a special place in that vital sphere in which human love is enclosed. (Conversations with Monsignor EscrivΓ‘, 121)
Intention A: for family life
May God Our Lord make us understand the greatness of Christian marriage; may we also understand it as a divine vocation – a personal, loving call from God – with a mission which is entrusted to us in this world: to build a Christian family that is holy and stable and, in the words of Pope John Paul II, the “first and vital cell of society” and of the Church.
Intention B: for family life in difficulties
May God Our Lord make us have before our eyes the example of the Holy Family of Nazareth, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, who, filled with Faith and Love and forgetful of themselves, lived entirely for God and for each other in simple, joyful and generous self-giving and a spirit of service.
Prayer to Saint JosemarΓa (Scroll up)
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...
Day 2
Marriage, a way to holiness
St JosemarΓa says:
Marriage is to help married people sanctify themselves and others. For this reason they receive a special grace in the sacrament which Jesus Christ instituted. Those who are called to the married state will, with the grace of God, find within their state everything they need to be holy.(Conversations with Monsignor EscrivΓ‘, 91)
Husband and wife are called to sanctify their married life and to sanctify themselves in that union. It would be a serious mistake if their spiritual life were to develop with their backs turned to, or at the fringes of, their home. Family life, conjugal relations, the care and education of children, the effort to provide for the needs of the family as well as for its security and development, the relationships with other persons who make up the community, all these are among the ordinary human situations that Christian couples are called upon to sanctify. (Christ is Passing By, 23)
Sanctify the home one day after another, to create with love a true family atmosphere. Many Christian virtues are necessary in order to sanctify each day of one’s life. First, the theological virtues [faith, hope and charity], and then all the others: prudence, loyalty, sincerity, humility, industriousness, cheerfulness... (Christ is Passing By, 23)
Intention A: for family life
May we come to understand that we can sanctify ourselves by fulfilling our conjugal and family duties (towards our spouse, parents, sons and daughters) with love and our eyes set on God, knowing that, step by step, we can reach the heights of the Christian ideal of holiness and that, day after day, we can grow in identifying ourselves with Jesus Christ by imitating His love and practising the other Christian virtues.
Intention B: for family life in difficulties
May God Our Lord help us to create a true family environment, to strive so as to live the virtues that can help us “to be a family”: self-denying tenderness, humility, self-forgetfulness, understanding, generosity in giving and forgiving, and, in general, everything that helps overcome selfishness and enables love to triumph.
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Day 3
Christian love
St JosemarΓa says:
Sometimes we speak of love as if it were an impulse to self-satisfaction or a mere means to selfish fulfilment of one’s own personality. But that’s not love. True love means going out of oneself, giving oneself. Love brings joy, but a joy whose roots are in the shape of a cross. As long as we are on earth and have not yet arrived at the fullness of the future life, we can never have true love without sacrifice and pain. (Christ is Passing By, 4)
Each of us has his own character, his personal taste, his moods… and his defects. But we all have likeable aspects in our personality as well, and for this reason, and many others, everyone can be loved. It is possible to live happily together when everyone tries to correct his own defects and makes an effort to overlook the faults of others… On the other hand, if husband and wife dramatise their little differences and reproach each other for their defects and mistakes, they put an end to peace and run the risk of killing their love. (Conversations with Monsignor EscrivΓ‘, 108)
You will only be good if you know how to see the good points and the virtues of others. That is why when you have to correct, you should do so with charity, at the opportune moment, without humiliating... And being ready yourself to learn and to improve in the very faults you are correcting. (The Forge, 455)
Intention A: for family life
May God Our Lord free us from egoism and from considering marriage as a way to fulfil our selfish ambitions, such as “the right to be happy”.
May we see this as deceitful, turning marriage into a means of pursuing satisfaction, pleasure and personal dreams, instead of realising what it really is: a vocation of love, of the sort of true love which – as Jesus teaches – finds greater joy in giving than in receiving.
Intention B: for family life in difficulties
May we have the strength to check our temper, our moods, our defects (however small), our love of comfort, and all shortcomings that hinder social interaction. At the same time, we pray that we may be understanding and patient with the faults of others, and not give those faults undue importance, or make a drama out of minor problems.
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Day 4
The love of each day
St JosemarΓa says:
[Christian couples] mustn’t forget that the secret of married happiness lies in everyday things, not in daydreams. It lies in finding the hidden joy of coming home in the evening, in affectionate relations with their children, in the everyday work in which the whole family cooperates; in good humour in the face of difficulties that should be met with a sporting spirit. (Conversations with Monsignor EscrivΓ‘, 91)
If a marriage is to preserve its initial charm and beauty, both husband and wife should try to renew their love day after day and that is done through sacrifice, with smiles and also with ingenuity. Is it surprising that a husband who arrives home tired from work begins to lose patience when his wife keeps on and on about everything she thinks has gone wrong during the day? (Conversations with Monsignor EscrivΓ‘, 107)
[Wives,] your duty is, and will always be, to take as good care of your appearance as you did before you were married – and it is a duty of justice, because you belong to your husband. And husbands should not forget that they belong to their wives, and that as long as they live they have the obligation to show the same affection as a young man who has just fallen in love. (Christ is Passing By, 26)
Intention A: for family life
May we receive the grace not to let ourselves be overtaken by tiredness and routine in the way we act, consider and communicate with one other; in the caring manner with which we greet others; in the joy we express when we get home, in the politeness with which we ask for things (“please”) and say thank you; in the considerateness with which we let our spouse know when we will be away, or late, and for how long, and in the care with which we look after material things.
Intention B: for family life in difficulties
May we, spouses, with the help of God Our Lord, make an effort always to treat one another “as we did when we were engaged” (as St JosemarΓa used to say). May we think about the everyday joys we can give to each other and to the children in countless details. May we never fail to pay attention to personal matters (physical appearance, personal care for one another, and the tendency to isolate oneself when tired). May we flee, as if running from the devil himself, from being rude, unsocial or verbally offensive.
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Day 5
Bright and cheerful homes
St JosemarΓa says:
Every Christian home should be a haven of peace and serenity. In spite of the small frustrations of daily life, an atmosphere of profound and sincere affection should reign there together with a deep-rooted calm, which is the result of authentic faith that is put into practice. (Christ is Passing By, 22) Charity will fill all, and will lead to sharing joys and possible sorrows, to learning how to smile and forget about themselves in order to pay attention to others; to listen to each other and to their children; … to do lovingly all the small acts of service that make up their daily life together. (Christ is Passing By, 23)
What really makes a person unhappy and even destroys a whole society is the frenzied search for well-being and the attempt to eliminate, at all costs, all difficulties and hardships … Each situation brings its own grace.
Each one is a special call from God, a new opportunity to work and to give the divine testimony of Charity. (Conversations with Monsignor EscrivΓ‘, 97)
Sometimes one needs to have smiling faces around. (Furrow, 57)
A sincere resolution: to make the way lovable for others and easy, since life brings enough bitterness with it already. (Furrow, 63)
Intention A: for family life
May we learn to cover with a smile, for love of God and others, our tiredness or our impatience with their shortcomings or small annoying mistakes.
May we never look victimised or sad, like people who feel misunderstood, ill-treated, ignored, or unappreciated.
Intention B: for family life in difficulties
May we succeed in giving an optimistic tone to our conversations; may we avoid being pessimistic about events or people. Let us not make a drama out of financial or other hardships, but may we pray together and make the effort to overcome them, so that faith in the love of God and the virtue of hope may be the serene environment for all our family life.
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Day 6
With God’s help, overcome the crises and difficulties of married life
St JosemarΓa says:
Anyone who thinks that love ends when the worries and difficulties that life brings with it begin, has a poor idea of marriage, which is a sacrament and an ideal and a vocation. It is precisely then that love grows strong. Torrents of worries and difficulties are incapable of drowning true love because people who sacrifice themselves generously together are brought closer by their sacrifice. (Conversations with Monsignor EscrivΓ‘, 91)
We should all learn to keep quiet, to wait and say things in a positive, optimistic way. When her husband loses his temper, the moment has arrived for his wife to be especially patient until he calms down, and vice versa. If there is true love and a real desire to deepen it, it will very rarely happen that the two give in to bad temper at the same time. (Conversations with Monsignor EscrivΓ‘, 108)
We are never a hundred per cent right. In fact one can say that in matters like these, which are usually so debatable, the surer we are of being completely right, the more doubtful it is that we really are. Following this line of reasoning makes it easier to correct oneself later on and if necessary to beg pardon, which is the best way of ending a quarrel. In this way peace and love are regained. (Conversations with Monsignor EscrivΓ‘, 108)
Intention A: for family life
May we be able to avoid with all our heart, negative criticism and offensive words concerning relatives (in-laws, cousins, etc) and, in general, may we avoid all attitudes, omissions and words, that may harm the self-esteem of others thereby leaving open wounds which are difficult to heal.
Intention B: for family life in difficulties
[If a separation has unfortunately taken place, already] May the spouse who has suffered injustice (betrayal, unforgiveness, or misunderstanding), see clearly that he/she needs to come closer to God than ever before, strengthened with divine grace and the spiritual guidance of a good confessor. May he/she understand that God is asking him/ her for two main things: – first, to pray, so as to overcome resentment against the spouse who caused the separation, and never to abandon hope in the miracle of reconciliation; – second, to reject any bitterness, but dedicate himself/herself with renewed determination to the children, the apostolate and works of charity. And may the spouse who caused the separation realise that God is asking him/her for the humility to repent, to ask for forgiveness, and to put right, as far as possible, the harm that has been done.
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