Saint Anne ~ Patron Saint of Mothers

I feel like I am at a crossroads of sorts with my mothering, so I have decided to start a novena to St. Anne, the patron saint of mothers. She is the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Grandmother of Jesus. St. Anne is such an inspiring woman, and she raised such an incredible daughter - the mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ. WOW!

So, one week from today, on Wednesday, November 30, I will begin a Novena to St. Anne. For those not familiar with a Novena, it is a prayer that you say once a day for 9 days. The last day of this Novena will be Thursday, December 8, 2011- The Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

There are so many things that I am trying to deal with right now, and I think that the first way to tackle this is with a Novena, as they always help me. Without fail, every time I begin one, by day #9, the issues at hand are resolved or improving, every time!

If you would like to join me with this Novena, I would love it. Let me know what your prayer intentions are and I will add them to mine. My specific requests are:

• Trusting in His will with Hannah and not stressing.
• Finding a way to deal with Little Robert's sass and back talk as I feel that I am always scolding him.
• Allowing Wesley to 'Grow Up' and peacefully realizing that he, at least for now, is our last child.
• Feeling more confident in my mothering.
• And a very important personal intention that weighs heavily on my heart.

Again, please leave leave a comment if you would like me to add your prayer requests to mine!

 

**Recite this prayer first every day**

Glorious St. Anne,

filled with compassion for those who invoke you,

with love for those who suffer,

heavily laden with the weight of my troubles,

I knee at your feet and humbly beg you

to take my present need under your special protection...

(State your intention here.)

Vouchsafe to recommend it to your daughter,
the Blessed Virgin Mary,
and lay it before the throne of Jesus.
Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted.
Above all, obtain for me the grace to one day meet God face to face,
and with you and Mary and all the angels
and saints praising Him through all eternity.

Amen

**Next, recite the prayer that relates to the day that you are at**
 

• DAY ONE

Great Saint Anne,

engrave indelibly on my heart

and in my mind the words that have reclaimed

and sanctified so many sinners:

"What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world

if he lose his own soul?"

May this be the principle fruit of these prayers

by which I will strive to honor you during this novena.

At your feet renew my resolution to invoke you daily,

not only for the success of my temporal affairs

and to be preserved from sickness and suffering,

but above all, that I may be preserved from all sin,

that I may succeed in working out my eternal salvation

and that I will receive the special grace of...

(State your intention here.)

O most powerful Saint Anne,
do not let me lose my soul,
but obtain for me the grace of winning my way to heaven,
there with you, you blessed spouse,
and your glorious daughter,
to sing the praise of the most holy
and adorable Trinity forever and ever.

Amen.

Recite the...

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be to the Father...

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

• DAY TWO

Glorious Saint Anne,

how can you be otherwise than overflowing

with tenderness toward sinners like myself,

since you are the grandmother of Him who shed His blood for them,

and the mother of her whom the saints call advocate of sinners?

To you, therefore, I address my prayers with confidence.

Vouchsafe to commend me to Jesus and Mary so that,

at your request, I may be granted remission of my sins,

perseverance, the love of God, charity for all mankind,

and the special grace of...

(State your intention here.)

which I stand in need at the present time.
O most powerful protectress,
let me not lose my soul,
but obtain for me that through the merits of Jesus Christ
and the intercession of Mary,
I may have happiness of seeing them,
of loving and praising them with your through all eternity. Amen.

Recite the...

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be to the Father...

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

• DAY THREE

Beloved of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

mother of the Queen of Heaven,

take us and all who are dear to us under your special care.

Obtain for us the virtues you instilled in the heart of her

who was destined to become Mother of God,

and the graces with which you were endowed.

Sublime model of Christian womanhood,

pray that we may imitate your example in our homes and families,

listen to our petitions,

(State your intention here.)

Guardian of the infancy
and childhood of the most Blessed Virgin Mary,
obtain the graces necessary for all who enter the marriage state,
that imitating your virtues they may sanctify their homes
and lead the souls entrusted to their care to eternal glory. Amen.

Recite the...

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be to the Father...

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

• DAY FOUR

Glorious Saint Anne,

I kneel in confidence at your feet,

for you also have tasted the bitterness and sorrow of life.

My necessities, the cause of my tears, are...

(State your intention here.)

Good Saint Anne,
you who did suffer much during the twenty years
that preceded your glorious maternity,
I beseech you, by all your sufferings and humiliations,
to grant my prayer.
I pray to you,
through you love for your glorious spouse Saint Joachim,
through your love for your immaculate child,
through the joy you did feel at the moment of her happy birth,
not to refuse me.
Bless me, bless my family and all who are dear to me,
so that some day we may all be with you in the glory of heaven,
for all eternity.

Amen.

Recite the...

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be to the Father...

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

• DAY FIVE

Great Saint Anne,

how far I am from resembling you.

I so easily give way to impatience and discouragement;

and so easily give up praying

when God does not at once answer my request.

Prayer is the key to all heavenly treasures and I cannot pray,

because my weak faith and lack of confidence

fail me at the slightest delay of divine mercy.

O my powerful protectress,

come to my aid,

listen to my petition...

(State your intention here.)

make my confidence and fervor,
supported by the promise of Jesus Christ,
redouble in proportion as the trial
to which God in His goodness subjects me is prolonged,
that I may obtain like you more than I can venture to ask for.
In the future I will remember
that I am made for heaven and not for earth;
for eternity and not for time;
that consequently I must ask, above all,
the salvation of my soul
which is assured to all who pray properly
and who persevere in Pray.

Amen.

Recite the...

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be to the Father...

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

• DAY SIX

Glorious Saint Anne,

mother of the Mother of God,

I beg you to obtain through your powerful intercession

the pardon of my sins and the assistance I need in my troubles...

(State your intention here.)

What can I not hope for
if you deign to take me under your protection?
The Most High has been please to grant the prayers of sinners,
whenever you have been charitable enough to be their advocate.

Kneeling at your feet,
I beg you to help me in all spiritual and temporal dangers;
to guide me in the true path of Christian perfection,
and finally to obtain for me
the grace of ending my life with the death of the just,
so that I may contemplate face to face your beloved Jesus
and daughter Mary in your loving companionship throughout eternity.

Amen.

Recite the...

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be to the Father...

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

• DAY SEVEN

O Good Saint Anne,

so justly called the mother of the infirm,

the cure for those who suffer from disease,

look kindly upon the sick for whom I pray;

alleviate their sufferings;

cause them to sanctify their sufferings by patience

and complete submission to the divine will;

finally deign to obtain health for them

and with it the firm resolution to honor Jesus, Mary,

and yourself by the faithful performance of duties.

But, merciful Saint Anne,

I ask you above all for the salvation of my soul,

rather than bodily health,

for I am convinced that this fleeting life is given us

solely to assure us a better one.

Now, we cannot obtain that better life

without the help of God�s graces.

I earnestly beg them of you for the sick and for myself,

especially the petition for which I am making in this novena...

(State your intention here.)

through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through the intercession of His Immaculate Mother,
and through the efficacious and powerful mediation.
O glorious Saint Anne,

Amen.

Recite the...

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be to the Father...

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

• DAY EIGHT

Remember, O Saint Anne,

you whose name signifies grace and mercy,

that never was it known

that anyone who fled to your protection,

implored your help,

and sought your intercession was left unaided.

Inspired with this confidence,

I fly unto you, good, and kind mother;

I take refuge at your feet,

burdened with the weight of my sins.

O holy mother of the Immaculate Virgin Mary,

despise not my petition...

(State your intention here.)

but hear me and grant my prayer.

Amen.

Recite the...

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be to the Father...

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

• DAY NINE

Most holy mother of the Virgin Mary,

glorious Saint Anne, I, a miserable sinner,

confiding in your kindness,

choose you today as my special advocate.

I offer and consecrate my person

and all my interests to your care and maternal solicitude.

I hope To serve you and honor you all my life

for the love of your most holy daughter

and to do all in my power to spread devotion to you.

O my very good mother and advocate,
deign to accept me as your servant,
and to adopt me as you child.
O glorious Saint Anne, I beg you,
by the passion of my most loving Jesus,
the Son of Mary, your most holy daughter,
to assist me in all the necessities
both of my body and my soul.
Venerable Mother,
I beg you to obtain for me the favor I seek in this novena...

(State your intention here.)

and the grace of leading a life perfectly conformable
in all things to the divine will.
I place my soul in your hands
and in those of your kind daughter.
I confide it to you,
above all at the moment
when it will be to separate itself from my body in order that,
appearing under your patronage before the Supreme Judge,
He may find it worthy of enjoying His Divine Presence
in your holy companionship in Heaven.

Amen.

Recite the...

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be to the Father...

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

4 Tips for Effective Mothering from Blessed Zelie Martin

Posted by Meg Matenaer on October 12th, 2011 in Columnists

1. Desire your kids' holiness more than anything else in the world, and
keep after them like shine on glass rosary beads. (a.k.a. Monica-style):
Blessed Zelie knew, much like St. Monica, that nothing else works for the
formation and conversion of children quite like the prayers of their
doggedly determined mother. So clear from Celine Martin's account of
Zelie's life in The Mother of the Little Flower, TAN Books, is that her
mother's one desire for this world was her children's holiness. She
wasted no time; she prayed for her precious children from the moment she
knew she was pregnant. Celine writes, "Her union with God and the fervor
of her prayers, during her months of pregnancy, were so great that she was
astonished not to see these pious dispositions manifesting themselves in
her children from the dawn of their intelligence." In fact, just before
Zelie's oldest Marie was four and her sister Pauline was not quite two,
Zelie's sister wrote to their brother, "Zelie is already distressed that
her children show no signs of piety." (This has been most consoling to me
as a mother of a four-year-old.)

Despite this apparent set-back in holiness in Zelie's mind, she persevered
in prayer and with great care and patience taught her children the faith
and "gradually and methodically" got her children to "overcome"
themselves.

In the Beatification Process for St. Therese, her sisters Marie and
Pauline said, "We were never spoiled. Mother watched very carefully over
the souls of her children; even the slightest fault was pointed out to be
corrected. It was a kind and loving education, but always vigilant and
careful."

2.Teach your children to pray and pray with them. Celine writes,
"Mother took an active part in our education. I recollect how she always
made us say our morning and evening prayers, and taught us the following
formula for the offering of the day: My God, I give You my heart; please
accept it that no creature, but You alone, my good Jesus, may possess it."

3. Teach your children the value of sacrifice. Zelie used to tell her
daughter whose sisters were begging for her things, "Give it away, my
little girl, and you'll have another pearl in your crown!" This type of
training can transform a household. Much like fasting for adults, nothing
drives home the reality of our faith for little people than choosing to
give up a most favorite stuffed bunny to a little brother who doesn't
deserve nor appreciate the gesture in exchange for heavenly glory. I am
often surprised by how happy the child is who gives away his toy after he
had fought so hard to keep it. And even if it's done with clenched teeth
and someone hissing something about getting a pearl, it's still in the
family vocabulary.

Zelie also encouraged her children to keep track of their sacrifices.
Celine writes, "She accustomed us to obey through love, to please the dear
Jesus, to make small sacrifices for Him. We had a kind of `rosary' to
count these acts (`a rosary of acts'); it was composed of movable beads
which one could slide on a string."

Feeling insignificant in the world? A fun exercise is keeping track of
your own loving sacrifices as a mom on any given day. Out of curiosity, I
counted one morning and stopped when I hit 25 by 7 a.m. How powerful our
work must be to Our Lord.

4. Talk about heaven with your children and make it clear that getting
there is your family's number one priority. Zelie wrote of her daughter
Leonie, "She hears so much talk about the next life, that she often refers
to it, herself, also."

Our family still has a long way to go in this regard, but the little guys
at the moment are at least excited to see those big crowns we've been
talking about and ride down the slides (in the hugest waterpark ever) with
Mary and their patron saints. I need to remember in the thick of a crummy
afternoon that imagining with the children what heaven will be like's a
good game-changer. For myself, picturing melting into Jesus's arms and
snuggling with Mary's mantle while everyone else is safe and eternally
blissfully happy at the waterpark should be enough to see me through to
dinnertime.

With Zelie's prayers and the help of the Holy Spirit, some day our kids
could write about us: "My parents always seemed to me to be saints. We
were filled with respect and admiration for them. I sometimes asked
myself if it were possible to find their equals on earth. Around me I
could see nothing like them."

At our house at the moment, this is at least good for a laugh. But St.
Luke reminds us, "With God, nothing is impossible."

Copyright 2011 Meg Matenaer

{I received this in an e-mail today and knew that it was too good NOT to share. I hope that you are able to get as much out of it as I was.

I tell my kiddos daily that we to be Little Mary's and Little Mario's everyday. That God is always watching us and just like we do not want to make our earthly mommy and daddy sad, we even more, do not want to make our Heavenly Father sad.

This was a wonderful reminder of ways to help them even more and that I do not need to worry about every little detail. That the saints had moms and, like us, they *had* to make mistakes, right?! I am sure that the Blessed Mother made a small, minute mistake here or there. And that is okay. But we need to persevere, learn from it, and move on. . .

May the Angels and Saints and all that have gone before us, guide us and protect us as we lead our children to Jesus and as they lead us down the unknown road of parenting. May we all walk hand in hand throughout life, learning from our mistakes and understanding that we are not perfect.}

A Prayer for Students by St. Thomas Aquinas

Creator of all things, true source of light and wisdom, origin of all being,
graciously let a ray of your light penetrate the darkness of my understanding.

Take from me the double darkness in which I have been born,
an obscurity of sin and ignorance.

Give me a keen understanding, a retentive memory,
and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally.

Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations
and the ability to express myself with thoroughness and charm.

Point out the beginning, direct the progress, and help in the completion.
I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.


**St. Thomas Aquinas is the Patron Saints of Catholic Schools. He was an incredible author and teacher. May all of us strive to have the wisdom and knowledge when teaching that he had.