# Novena to Our Lady, Help of Christians: Day Eight
*2015-05-21*

> Bill Young leads the eighth day of the novena to Our Lady, Help of Christians, reflecting on the maternal care of Mary and the intercession of St. Gregory VII.

## Opening Prayer and Intentions

Good morning. This is Bill Young and welcome to the Prayer N Lunch podcast. Today we are continuing with our novena to Our Lady, Help of Christians. We are observing the eighth day of our novena, and we also ask for the intercession of St. Gregory VII on his feast day.

Glorious Lady, more brilliant than the sun, at your breast you nourished the God who created thee. O Mary, the Church's spiritual pillar and Help of Christians, I beseech you to keep me firm in the Divine Faith, and safeguard in me the freedom and dignity of God's children. For my part, I promise you never to stain my soul with sin, nor be a part of any society condemned by the Holy See. I promise you to obey the perennial teachings of the Church, since I want to live and die within the bosom of the Catholic religion, the only one in which I can expect with certainty my eternal salvation.

## Traditional Devotions

We continue our prayer with the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be. We also turn to the Hail Holy Queen: Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

## The Mother of the Church

In the Gospel of John (19:25-27), we read that Mary, the mother of Jesus, stood by the cross along with his mother's sister, Mary, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold your son,' and to the disciple, 'Behold your mother.' From that hour, the disciple took her into his home.

We can never forget the words of the dying Jesus. Before dying, He entrusted His mother to His disciples so that the faithful might have such a mother's presence in their last agony.

## Closing Petition

O Mary, powerful Virgin, your great and luscious defense of the Church, you wonderful Help of Christians, you are terrible to those aligned for the battle; you alone destroyed the heresies of the world. In our sorrows, conflicts, and necessities, defend us from the enemy. And at the hour of our death, may we be welcomed [unclear].

*Through the intercession of Mary, Help of Christians, we find a spiritual mother who supports us in our struggles and accompanies us in our final hour.*