NV-Novena for Fathers

A NOVENA FOR YOUR OWN FATHER
Can be prayed leading up to Father's Day or starting on Father's Day
or any other time (because Fathers are not just loved on Father's Day!)

What is a Novena?
A novena is a traditional devotion consisting of specific prayers recited on nine successive days. Besides being a form of praise, a novena is frequently offered for a particular intention. The first novena took place in the Cenacle, during the nine days preceding Pentecost, or the coming of the Holy Ghost. As a regular popular custom, this practice began in 12th century Christianity and continues to be beneficial today as a way of praying for healing, protection or other blessings for ourselves or others.

What is this Novena About?
This particular novena is prayed to God in thanksgiving for your own father whom God's Providence has allocated to you and also in intercession for your father, whether he be still living or is already deceased. Our fathers, even though they are far from being perfect, are nevertheless God's chosen custodians over us. There are so many things that they have done for us all throughout our lives, not least when we were infants and totally oblivious to the care that our fathers gave to us. Let us pray this novena in gratitude while also begging God to reward our fathers―especially by "giving birth" to them into Heaven at the completion of their life here on Earth. If our fathers have already passed away, they may well be languishing in the fires of Purgatory and are in dire need of our prayers―let us then alleviate their sufferings in Purgatory, just as they alleviated us of many sufferings here on Earth!

Who can or should make this novena? Everyone! For you are either a father, or you have a father, or both―that is to say, you are a father and you also have a father! There can be no exceptions to this. If you are a father, then you need God’s help with fathering: “Without Me―you can do nothing!” (John 15:5). If you have a father, then your father needs help with fathering and God will grant that help by His grace―which you can obtain through prayer. “If any of you want wisdom [lack wisdom], let him ask of God, Who gives to all men abundantly―without finding fault―and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).

Scripture is filled with people we can learn much from. When it comes to the challenging vocation of fatherhood, several fathers in the Bible show what is wise to do and also what is not wise to do. The most important father figure in the Bible is God the Father—the ultimate role model for all human fathers. His love, kindness, patience, wisdom, and protectiveness are impossible standards to live up to. Fortunately, He is also forgiving and understanding, answering fathers’ prayers, and giving them wise guidance so they can be the father that their family wants and needs them to be.

How to Pray This Novena
This novena is based on our ultimate goal, which is to reach God in Heaven. Each day of the novena is divided into the following parts: (1) a quote from Holy Scripture, or a quote from Our Lady, or a quote from a Saint; (2) and example on fatherhood from God the Father; (3) an example of fatherhood from one of the persons of the Old Testament or New Testament; (4) a passage on fatherhood from a pope, saint or a theologian; (5) an examination of fatherhood from the point of view of the father and the point of view of the child (6) a Meditation; (7) a Prayer; (8) after mentioning your intention, pray the Our Father and the Hail Mary; (9) a Closing Prayer.

LITANY TO GOD THE FATHER
ON BEHALF OF OUR OWN FATHERS

Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, have mercy on us!
Lord, have mercy on us! Christ, hear us!
Christ, graciously hear us!
God the Father of Heaven,
have mercy on us!
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us!
God the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us!
Holy Trinity One God,
have mercy on us!

Father, First Person of the Most Blessed Trinity,
have mercy on us!
Father of the Only-begotten Son,
have mercy on us!
Father and Son, from Whom proceeds the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us!
Father of the Immaculate Virgin Mary,
have mercy on us!
Father of her most chaste Spouse,
have mercy on us!
Our Father in Heaven,
have mercy on us!

Father eternal,
hallowed be Thy Name!
Father, infinite majesty,
hallowed be Thy Name!
Father, infinite holiness,
hallowed be Thy Name!
Father, infinite goodness,
hallowed be Thy Name!
Father, infinite happiness,
hallowed be Thy Name!
Father, all-powerful,
hallowed be Thy Name!
Father, all-knowing,
hallowed be Thy Name!
Father, present everywhere,
hallowed be Thy Name!
Father, all-just,
hallowed be Thy Name!
Father, all merciful,
hallowed be Thy Name!

Father, creating Heaven and Earth,
Thy kingdom come!
Father, promising a Savior,
Thy kingdom come!
Father, revealed by the Son,
Thy kingdom come!
Father, willing the passion of Jesus,
Thy kingdom come!
Father, accepting the Sacrifice of Calvary,
Thy kingdom come!
Father, reconciled with mankind,
Thy kingdom come!
Father, sending the Paraclete,
Thy kingdom come!
Father, in the Name of Jesus,
Thy kingdom come!
Father of Nations,
Thy kingdom come!

Father of Love,
cherish us!
Father of Beauty,
protect us!
Father of Wisdom,
direct us!
Father of Divine Providence,
watch over us!

Father of the poor,
Thy Will be done!
Father of orphans,
Thy Will be done!
Father of widows,
Thy Will be done!
Father of the exiled,
Thy Will be done!
Father of the persecuted,
Thy Will be done!
Father of the afflicted,
Thy Will be done!
Father of the infirm,
Thy Will be done!
Father of the aged,
Thy Will be done!

Father, we adore Thee!
Father, we love Thee!
Father, we thank Thee!
Father, we bless Thee!

In joy and in sorrow,
may we bless Thee!
In sickness and in health,
may we bless Thee!
In prosperity and in adversity,
may we bless Thee!
In consolation and in desolation,
may we bless Thee!
In life and in death,
may we bless Thee!
In time and in eternity,
may we bless Thee!

Father, hear us!
Father, graciously hear us!

Lamb of God, well-beloved Son of the Father,
Spare us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, commanding us to be perfect as the Father,
Graciously hear us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, Our Mediator with the Father,
Have mercy on us!

Let Us Pray.
Our Father Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name; Thy kingdom come; Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.

FIRST DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted for each day)
Theme: A Father Reflects the Authority and Love of God

Holy Scripture

“One God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in us all” (Ephesians 4:6).

“Glorify your Father Who is in Heaven!” (Matthew 5:16).

“Adore the Father!” (John 4:21).

“I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ from Whom all fatherhood in Heaven and Earth is named” (Ephesians 3:14-15).

“Every house is built by some man―but He that created all things is God” (Hebrews 3:4).

“Thou hast created all things and for Thy will they were, and have been created” (Apocalypse 4:11).

“All souls are mine―as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine!” (Ezechiel 18:4).

“Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us?” (Malachias 2:10).

“Thou art my Father, my God!” (Psalm 88:27).

“Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer, from everlasting is Thy Name!” (Isaias 63:16).

“O Lord, Thou art our Father, and we are clay! And Thou art our Maker, and we all are the works of Thy hands!” (Isaias 64:8).

“Be the children of your Father Who is in Heaven!” (Matthew 5:45).

“And call none your father upon Earth―for only one is your Father, Who is in Heaven” (Matthew 23:9).

“Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect!” (Matthew 5:48).

Example of God the Father
God is the greatest example of fatherhood we have. Who or what is God? “God is charity” (1 John 4:8) and “God is holy” (Psalm 98:9). We say: “Like father, like son!” ― and that is also what God expects of us, His children. “Be the children of your Father Who is in Heaven!” (Matthew 5:45). Love should be the family spirit, the family trait, the family characteristic: “If God hath so loved us; then we also ought to love one another!” (1 John 4:11). In the Old Testament, God the Father Himself says: “I am the Lord your God! Be holy because I am holy! … You shall be holy, because I am holy!” (Leviticus 11:44-46). All of this sounds like a “tall order”―but Heaven is only for those reach perfection―that is why Our Lord tells us: “Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

Examples of Fathers from Holy Scripture
1. Adam - the First Man

Adam and Eve were the first man and woman to ever live. Adam lived to be 930 years old. Adam was the first man to ever be created by God, and to live on this Earth. He was also the first father―to Cain and Abel and many other children thereafter―and husband to Eve. Adam represents the first human who was created in the image of God. He was God’s first masterpiece.

As the first man and first human father, Adam had no example to follow except for God’s―which is greatest example of fatherhood that a man could have. Regrettably, he strayed from God’s example and ended up plunging the world into sin. Adam has much to teach today’s fathers about the consequences of our actions and the absolute necessity of obeying God.

Though Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they still had a great understanding of God’s promise of a redeemer. Adam passed this knowledge on to his children. Adam diligently taught his children. It is obvious in the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis chapter 4 that the boys knew enough about God’s promise that Abel consciously chose to acknowledge God’s plan while Cain rejected it.

Ultimately, Adam also had to deal with the first loss of a child―Abel―due to the tragedy of his son Cain murdering his other son, Abel. Through the terrible sinful and murderous actions of Cain, it shows us how important it is to follow and obey God.

Lessons to Learn From Adam
(1) God is looking for fathers who freely choose to obey him and submit to his love.
(2) Fathers with integrity live in the knowledge that nothing is hidden from God’s sight.
(3) Instead of blaming others―as Adam and Eve did when confronted by God―godly fathers take responsibility for their own failures and shortcomings.

Reading
First, to be a good father he should first be a good “Son of God the Father”. The Father of the family represents and reflects the image of God the Father. If a father has an identity crisis in the spiritual realm—that is to say, he does not understand his intimate relationship to God the Father—then he will not be able to transmit to his children and family an authentic vision of God the Father. However, if the earthly father has encountered God the Father in an intimate, personal, filial, and convincing way then he will be able to transmit this fatherhood to those whom God will place under his care.

Second, after placing primary emphasis on his relationship with God the Father, a true father should love his wife. The love and friendship that he has with his wife should be indispensable. This love should not stagnate, or worse yet, fizzle out. On the contrary this human love blessed supernaturally by the sacrament of Holy Matrimony should blossom, grow, and flourish until the moment of death. All too many marriages lose their vibrancy; the love grows cold to the point that both live in the same house as if they were strangers to each other. Obviously the children will suffer the consequences! How can spouses maintain the flame enkindled and burning bright? As in any activity, sport, or profession, the relationship between spouses demands work, and hard work—blood, sweat and tears. First of all both should cultivate an ever deeper relationship with God. How? Prayer―both individual and family, calling to mind the words of the Rosary priest Father Patrick Peyton, “The family that prays together stays together”; the Sacramental life (frequent Confession and Holy Communion); devotion to Mary manifested by the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary and reading about Mary—of these are part and parcel of growing in a mutual relationship with God. This, of course, will foster unity between themselves as husband and wife.

Third, the father should love his children and see them as a precious treasure that God has given to him with the primary purpose of bringing these little ones to their ultimate destiny which is heaven.   A child is a gift given to father and mother but with the primary purpose of the parents being ladders by which the children can climb to heaven. An authentic father first should provide for the spiritual need of the child. He should teach his child to pray as soon as possible. Little children are like sponges. The nature of a sponge is to absorb; it can absorb dirty water or clean water. Likewise a child can absorb the dirt of the modern world or, through the help of a good father, absorb that which is pure, noble and uplifting.

The father should be the teacher to the child especially in prayer.   He should be always mindful of the immortal saying of Father Patrick Peyton: “The family that prays together stays together.” With respect to the art of prayer, the father should exercise three different aspects of prayer:
(1) He should be a man of prayer and not be afraid to manifest it publicly. There is a saying that praises prayer as such: “The man is greatest when he is found on his knees!”   Why? Because he recognizes that true greatness comes from the Father of all good gifts, God Himself.
(2) He should pray with the family—the blessing of the meal, the family Rosary and the active participation in holy Mass which is of course the greatest of all prayers.
(3) Finally, a true father should be like Moses who elevated his arms so that the Jews could win the battle against their enemies. A father should pray frequently and fervently for his family for their protection from all evils—physical, moral, spiritual—and for his family’s sanctification and salvation.

An authentic Christian father should have his eyes fixed on heaven at all times and stay aware of the world and the dangers that menace the flock (his wife and children) entrusted to him. The greatest desire of the father for his family should be the salvation of their immortal souls. Jesus said, “What would it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul in the process? What can we offer in exchange for our immortal soul?”

Meditation
Every father―like all other persons―is creature made by God. A father is not and cannot be independent of God. A father―in a certain sense―is a “co-father” to God. For God created the soul of each and every child that the earthly father begets, whereas the earthly father merely created the body that would house the soul.

A father who does not have God living in his soul by sanctifying grace, is to his family a “living, walking, talking corpse of a father” who can do little or nothing for the salvation of his family. We all know the saying: “You cannot give what you have not got!” A father who does not have God in his life, who is not ruled and guided by God and His principles, severely cripples his chances of leading his family to God and Heaven. That is what fatherhood is chiefly about―attaining Heaven and salvation and avoiding Hell and damnation. All the rest is merely secondary―as Our Lord says: “For what shall it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and suffers the loss of his soul?” (Mark 8:36). A father might well put bread on the table, maintain the health of this children, give his children a successful education, see them in good jobs―but all of this (which might last for 60 or 70 years of the child’s life) is insignificant with eternity, where a billion, or trillion, or a zillion years is not even a drop of water in the ocean of eternity!

Just as a baby, infant or young child cannot be independent of its father (and mother), likewise the father cannot be independent of God. “Every house is built by some man―but He that created all things is God” (Hebrews 3:4). All things belong God because He is maker of all things: “My hand made all these things and all these things were made, saith the Lord” (Isaias 66:2). “I made the Earth and I created man upon it! My hand stretched forth the Heavens!” (Isaias 45:12). “Thou hast created all things and for Thy will they were, and have been created” (Apocalypse 4:11). “All souls are mine―as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine!” (Ezechiel 18:4).

An earthly father merely shares in the Fatherhood of God―and his share is a very tiny share indeed. Every father―like all other persons―is creature made by God. A father is not and cannot be independent of God. A father―in a certain sense―is a “co-father” to God. For God created the soul of each and every child that all the earthly fathers of the world have ever begotten, whereas the earthly father merely created the body of only a handful of children that would house the soul that God would create for them. In this sense, an earthly father is the father of a few children, whereas God is the Father of billions of children.

Being a “co-father” to God means being a subsidiary to God, an assistant to God, a subordinate of God, a tool of God. An earthly father is not his own property―he belongs to God; he should reflect God; he should operate according to the principles of God; he should fulfill the will of God in the domain of his own little “drop-of-water-in-the-ocean” family. He is merely a shepherd or teacher employed and appointed by God to shepherd and teach a little portion of God’s massive flock of souls. He is merely a pilot for God, who is meant to fly the plane and passengers that God’s airline has given him to the destination where God wants that plane with its passengers to be flown―which is from Earth to Heaven. The father is merely sergeant commanding a handful of soldiers in the immense army of God. He is meant to be a temple of God and is meant to build a temple of God out of his family:

“Know you not, that you are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? … “Or know you not, that your members are the Temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God; and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 3:16-19). “And what agreement hath the Temple of God with idols? For you are the Temple of the living God; as God saith: ‘I will dwell in them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people!’” (2 Corinthians 6:16). “But if any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the Temple of God is holy―which you are!” [or are supposed to be). (1 Corinthians 3:17).

By the time Jesus came into the world, the Temple of God had become worldly. “And Jesus went into the Temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the chairs of them that sold doves, and He said to them: ‘It is written, “My house shall be called the house of prayer”―but you have made it a den of thieves!’” (Matthew 21:12-13).

Prayer for the Father
O Heavenly Father, I thank Thee for fatherhood and earthly fathers, created to be fathers in Thy own image and likeness. They have been entrusted with the responsibility of teaching the Faith, reflecting Thy charity, showing Thy mercy, protecting their families and guiding them along the road to eternal life in Heaven. I thank Thee for my own father whom―despite his failings―Thy Divine Providence has chosen to be my teacher and guide, provider and protector, example and light. I thank Thee, also, for providing us with fatherly shepherds―our priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood is so vital to the Faith of Thy flock.

Though they were all created in Thy image and likeness―they have, like all men since Adam, failed to a greater and lesser degree in their fatherly duties. “Who can say: ‘My heart is clean, I am pure from sin!’?” (Proverbs 20:9) … Who dare say: “I am clean, and without sin! I am unspotted, and there is no iniquity in me!” (Job 33:9) … “There is no just man upon Earth that doth good and sins not!” (Ecclesiastes 7:21) … “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God!” (Romans 3:23).

Grant them the grace to see, acknowledge and confess their mistakes, failings, negligences and sins. Grant me the grace to judge them kindly, remembering Thy words: “Why seest thou the splinter that is in thy brother’s eye; and seest not the plank that is in thy own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother: ‘Let me cast the splinter out of thy eye!’ ― and behold there is a plank in thy own eye? Thou hypocrite! Cast out first the plank in thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the splinter out of thy brother’s eye!” (Matthew 7:3-5).

Help us all―father and child alike―by Thy divine grace, to rise from our falls; to overcome our lukewarmness; to remove our bitterness; to cease our criticisms; to avoid animosity and flee from fault-finding. Enkindle in our hearts the spirit of love; the balm of forgiveness; the peace of reconciliation; and the grace of perseverance. Amen.

Prayer for a Deceased Father
O Lord our God, receive my supplications, prayers and mortifications for the repose of the soul of my father, for whom I make this novena. O merciful Lord, I pray that by the motherly love bestowed upon Thee by Thy most holy Mother, as she followed Thee on the way of sorrow to Mount Calvary, forgive my father any debt for refusing to carry Thy cross throughout his life. By the ignominy of being stripped of Thy clothes upon Calvary, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of immodesty or impurity that my father may have committed in his life. By the excruciating pain of being nailed to the cross, mercifully forgive any debt for sinful attachments that my father may have had to the world, to persons, to places or things. By the humiliation of being raised up on the cross like a criminal, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of pride and refusal of humiliations that my father may have committed. By Thy terrible thirst on the cross, mercifully forgive my father any debt for having thirsted for sinful pleasures and things during his life. By Thy torments on the cross at feeling abandoned by Thy Father, forgive my father any debt for having abandoned Thee during his life. By Thy words to the Good Thief ― “This day thou shall be with Me in Paradise!” ― kindly show my father the joys of Paradise. By Thy gruesome death, kindly show my father the joys of eternal life! Amen.

[Mention Intention]

Pray:
Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Heavenly Father, grant to all fathers the grace to reflect Thy charity and holiness; Thy authority and justice; Thy compassion and mercy; Thy patience and understanding! We ask this of Thee through the Sacred Hearts of Jesus Thy Son and Mary Thy daughter, Amen.

LITANY TO GOD THE FATHER
ON BEHALF OF OUR OWN FATHERS

SECOND DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted for each day)
Theme: A Father Must Build a House of Holiness

Holy Scripture

“Seek the Lord your God and build a sanctuary to the Lord God” (1 Paralipomenon 22:19).

“Build a temple to the Lord” (Zacharias 6:13).

“Know you not, that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? … “Or know you not, that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God; and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 3:16-19).

“And the Lord said: ‘Whereas thou hast thought in thy heart to build a house to My Name, thou hast done well in having this thing in thy mind!’” (3 Kings 8:18).

“Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it” (Psalm 126:1).

“The Lord will build thee a house” (1 Paralipomenon 17:10).

“We will build a house to the Lord our God” (1 Esdras 4:3).

“He began to build a house to the Lord” (3 Kings 6:1).

Example of God the Father
Holiness is more than just an attribute of God – God is Holy. God’s holiness is the summation of what He is, and He has described Himself as holy. He is the absolute standard of all moral perfection. His actions are marked by the presence of all goodness and by the absence of all evil, and can never be otherwise. Everything God is and does is holy. It is impossible to select aspects of His deity that are more holy than others, because He is superbly perfect in every thought and action because His very essence is holiness. We cannot begin to comprehend or grasp all that there is about the nature of God. God’s actions are always consistent with His own perfection. He is the standard of holiness in all of His acts. To everyone He says: “For I am the Lord your God―be holy because I am holy. Defile not your souls by anything upon the Earth! … You shall be holy, because I am holy!” (Leviticus 11:44-46).

Once, as an experiment, the great scientist Isaac Newton stared at the image of the sun reflected in a mirror. The brightness burned into his retina, and he suffered temporary blindness. Even after he hid for three days behind closed doors, still the bright spot would not fade from his vision.

We see something similar with Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai and the skin of his face shone so brightly that everyone was afraid to come near him: “And Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights―he neither ate bread nor drank water. And when Moses came down from the Mount Sinai, he knew not that his face was shining from the conversation of the Lord. And Aaron and the children of Israel seeing the face of Moses shining, were afraid to come near” (Exodus 34:28-30).

Light is synonymous with holiness, just as darkness is synonymous with sinfulness. Our Lord―Who is God of course―calls Himself and is called by Scripture: “the light of the world.” “Jesus spoke to them, saying: ‘I am the light of the world! He that follows Me, walks not in darkness, but shall have the light of life!’” (John 8:12). Scripture adds: “He was the true light, which enlightens every man that cometh into this world … The light shined in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5-9) … “The light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than the light―for their works were evil. For every one that does evil hates the light, and comes not to the light, so that his works may not be reproved. But he that does truth, comes to the light, so that his works may be made manifest―because they are done in God” (John 3:19-21).

We are told: “You are the light of the world! … So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Who is in Heaven!” (Matthew 5:14-16). “I send thee to open their eyes, so that they may be converted from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God!” (Acts 26:17-18). “You are the children of light and children of the day! We are not of the night, nor of darkness!” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). “What fellowship has light with darkness? And what concord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has the faithful with the unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God! … Wherefore, go out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord!” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17).

Examples of Fathers from Holy Scripture
2. Noe - Saved by His Holiness and His Holy Ark (House)

If we think we live in tough times, wicked times, unprecedented times, then let us turn our minds to Noe lived in equally wicked times. If you think these challenging times make it hard to live right and raise your family to do the same, Noe must have thought it, too. Yet, he did it. The Bible tells us that Noe was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, who walked faithfully with God. He demonstrated faithfulness with obedience in action―regardless of how ludicrous and stupid it might have seemed to the people around him. He was told to build an ark so big that no local waters would be suitable for such a gigantic boat (in modern terms, it stood seven stories high and was the length of 1½ football fields). Noe embarked on the gargantuan task of building the ark. He obeyed God to a tee and did everything just as God commanded him. You could say that Noe’s Ark was a forerunner or symbol of the Ark of the Covenant, which would later be kept in God’s Temple in Jerusalem.

“God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the Earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times, it repented Him that He had made man on the Earth. And He said: ‘I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the Earth!’ … The rain fell upon the Earth forty days and forty nights … And the flood was forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and lifted up the ark on high from the Earth … And the waters prevailed beyond measure upon the Earth: and all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered … And the waters prevailed upon the Earth a hundred and fifty days” (Genesis 6:5 to 7:24). Noe and his family spent just over 1 year in isolation in the Ark ― for it took almost a year for all the flood waters to recede.

Lessons to Learn From Noe
(1) Do not worry about what other think of you in your obedience to God in making your home an Ark of Holiness.
(2) Do not question the commands of God or doubt the power of God. With God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).
(3) Do not expect quick results and do not expect to be exempt from making strenuous efforts in building your Ark of Holiness or House of Holiness or Temple of Holiness.

Reading
Holiness. It’s such a big word – especially to beings that are not holy. To be holy is to be set apart: “What fellowship has light with darkness? And what concord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has the faithful with the unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God! … Wherefore, go out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord!” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17). We are not born holy. We are born corrupted by Original Sin and without the grace of God. We are not holy by birth―we have to become holy by hard work, prayer and the grace of God. In fact, we are called to be holy as He is. If we are going to be holy as He is, we must takes measures that will draw down God’s grace on ourselves and our homes. Here are just some of the many things that we can do:

● Begin praying as a family and reading from Scripture daily, certainly before meals, but also first thing in the morning or before bed. Find a time that works for your family. Use the liturgy of the Church as a model for prayer, and try to include heartfelt, spontaneous, “off-the-cuff”, unstructured prayer as well.
● Pray a Family Rosary every day―don’t just “say” it, but “pray” it be giving some time to think/talk about each mystery.
● Have a crucifix in a prominent place in the home, and in every bedroom.
● Have statues and pictures of Our Lady and some saints displayed in your rooms.
● Make the Sacraments a regular celebration―take the whole family to Confession and Mass, even on some weekdays!
● Begin family traditions based on the seasons celebrated in the liturgical calendar.
● Make your vacation a holy pilgrimage by visiting the shrines and saints of our land and the world.
● Make worshiping and adoring God a priority. Never miss Mass, even while traveling.
● Teach charity to your children, through word and example.
● Demonstrate love for your spouse, your children, your neighbors, and the world. Remind their children that they are loved by God and have been given gifts to serve others. We even have to love and pray for our enemies!
● Talk freely about the presence of God in the joys and sorrows of your life.
● Welcome into your home and support priests, brothers, sisters, deacons, and other ministers in the Church.
● Participate in the lay ministries and activities of your parish community.
● Allow your children to often see you in private prayer. Encourage your children to pray daily on their own, to listen for God’s call, and if heard, to respond.

Meditation
If God did not love us, His holiness would only strike terror into our hearts. Wherever His holiness is, there is love. Unless you build you temple to the Lord, the house of the Lord, with the cement of charity, the building bricks will not stick together and the building will fall sooner or later. As Scripture says: “Above all things have charity, which is the bond of perfection” (Colossians 3:14) … “For if I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity―then I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all Faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity―then I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity―then it profits me nothing!” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). There can be no holiness without charity―and the degree of our charity controls the degree of our holiness.

Charity is not an easy virtue to practice―it is not harsh, it is not permissive, it is not ruled by human respect, it does not put human beings above God. Our charity must be first of all shown towards God by a sincere, total and perpetual love of God: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. This is the greatest and the first commandment! And the second is like to it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these!” (Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:30-31).
Scripture then gives us a “tip-of-the-iceberg” insight into some of aspects or manifestations of charity: “Charity is patient, is kind. Charity envies not; deals not perversely; is not puffed up; is not ambitious; seeks not her own; is not provoked to anger; thinks no evil; rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices with the truth. Charity bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things; endures all things. Charity never falls away―whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed ... Now there remain Faith, Hope, and Charity, these three―but the greatest of these is Charity” (1 Corinthians 13:4-13).

Just as “God is charity” (1 John 4:8), so too must the father of the family show charity. Children often copy their parents―so if there is little charity seen in the father of the family (who represents God), then the children will be less likely to practice charity and will be less likely to think of God as being charity itself. Charity―like all virtues―must come from the top; it must be practiced by the father and this will encourage charity in the mother and children. There can be no such thing as uncharitable holiness! The fuel for holiness, the engine room of holiness, the driving force of holiness, the soul of holiness is charity.

Prayer for the Father
O Heavenly Father, I thank Thee for fatherhood and earthly fathers, created to be fathers in Thy own image and likeness. They have been entrusted with the responsibility of teaching the Faith, reflecting Thy charity, showing Thy mercy, protecting their families and guiding them along the road to eternal life in Heaven. I thank Thee for my own father whom―despite his failings―Thy Divine Providence has chosen to be my teacher and guide, provider and protector, example and light. I thank Thee, also, for providing us with fatherly shepherds―our priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood is so vital to the Faith of Thy flock.

Though they were all created in Thy image and likeness―they have, like all men since Adam, failed to a greater and lesser degree in their fatherly duties. “Who can say: ‘My heart is clean, I am pure from sin!’?” (Proverbs 20:9) … Who dare say: “I am clean, and without sin! I am unspotted, and there is no iniquity in me!” (Job 33:9) … “There is no just man upon Earth that doth good and sins not!” (Ecclesiastes 7:21) … “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God!” (Romans 3:23).

Grant them the grace to see, acknowledge and confess their mistakes, failings, negligences and sins. Grant me the grace to judge them kindly, remembering Thy words: “Why seest thou the splinter that is in thy brother’s eye; and seest not the plank that is in thy own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother: ‘Let me cast the splinter out of thy eye!’ ― and behold there is a plank in thy own eye? Thou hypocrite! Cast out first the plank in thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the splinter out of thy brother’s eye!” (Matthew 7:3-5).

Help us all―father and child alike―by Thy divine grace, to rise from our falls; to overcome our lukewarmness; to remove our bitterness; to cease our criticisms; to avoid animosity and flee from fault-finding. Enkindle in our hearts the spirit of love; the balm of forgiveness; the peace of reconciliation; and the grace of perseverance. Amen.

Prayer for a Deceased Father
O Lord our God, receive my supplications, prayers and mortifications for the repose of the soul of my father, for whom I make this novena. O merciful Lord, I pray that by the motherly love bestowed upon Thee by Thy most holy Mother, as she followed Thee on the way of sorrow to Mount Calvary, forgive my father any debt for refusing to carry Thy cross throughout his life. By the ignominy of being stripped of Thy clothes upon Calvary, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of immodesty or impurity that my father may have committed in his life. By the excruciating pain of being nailed to the cross, mercifully forgive any debt for sinful attachments that my father may have had to the world, to persons, to places or things. By the humiliation of being raised up on the cross like a criminal, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of pride and refusal of humiliations that my father may have committed. By Thy terrible thirst on the cross, mercifully forgive my father any debt for having thirsted for sinful pleasures and things during his life. By Thy torments on the cross at feeling abandoned by Thy Father, forgive my father any debt for having abandoned Thee during his life. By Thy words to the Good Thief ― “This day thou shall be with Me in Paradise!” ― kindly show my father the joys of Paradise. By Thy gruesome death, kindly show my father the joys of eternal life! Amen.

[Mention Intention]

Pray:
Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Heavenly Father, grant to all fathers the grace to reflect Thy charity and holiness; Thy authority and justice; Thy compassion and mercy; Thy patience and understanding! We ask this of Thee through the Sacred Hearts of Jesus Thy Son and Mary Thy daughter, Amen.

LITANY TO GOD THE FATHER
ON BEHALF OF OUR OWN FATHERS

THIRD DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted for each day)
Theme: A Father Must be a Man of Great Faith

Holy Scripture

“The Son of man, when He comes, shall He find, think you, Faith on Earth?” (Luke 18:8).

“Without Faith it is impossible to please God! For he that comes to God, must believe that He exists and is a rewarder to them that seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

“Though you see Him not, you believe!” (1 Peter 1:8).

“I have prayed for thee, that thy Faith fail not! And thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren!” (Luke 22:32).

“Giving Faith to all” (Acts 17:31).

“And He said to them: ‘Where is your Faith?’” (Luke 8:25).

“Why are you fearful, O ye of little Faith?” (Matthew 8:26).

“Why are you fearful? Have you no Faith yet?” (Mark 4:40).

“Fear not, only believe!” (Mark 5:36).

“And the Apostles said to the Lord: ‘Increase our Faith!’” (Luke 17:5).

“The father of the boy crying out, with tears said: ‘I do believe, Lord! Help my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:23).

Example of God the Father
God has no Faith! Is that a blasphemous statement? No! Why not? To answer that we need to look at what Faith is and what it is not. Scripture tell us that “Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, but the evidence of those things appears not” (Hebrews 11:1)―in other words, Faith is all about believing things that are unseen. Since God sees all things, knows all things, understands all things and can do all things―then obviously He has no need of Faith. For us, Faith is an act of the intellect assenting to a truth which is beyond the grasp and understanding of the intellect, e.g. the mystery of the Holy Trinity. St. Augustine says: “What is faith but belief in that which thou seest not?” St. Thomas Aquinas says that what we hold by Faith, we believe. Believing does not mean merely knowing; nor does it necessarily mean understanding. Faith is the unhesitant assent of the mind or intellect to truths proposed for belief upon the authority of God, who is truth itself. Without Faith there can be no salvation: “He that believes and is baptized”, said Christ, “shall be saved, but he that believes not shall be condemned” (Mark 16:16); and St. Paul sums up this solemn declaration by saying: “Without Faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).

Church leaders, educators, child psychologists and other experts persistently say, and have said, that the first and most important teachers of the young are parents, reinforced by the parish and by the educational institutions attended by the children. Parents know this. The Code of Canon Law states that parents are under a grave obligation to see to the religious and moral education of their children. The father cannot shirk his duty in matters of Faith! Bishops, priests and teachers can help, but they only can, and should, help. The ultimate responsibility belongs to parents when it comes to causing the young to think that religion is important. Children soak up all that is around them. If the parents in general―and the father in particular―neglects to make his home and house a place where religion is clearly visible and lived daily in a way that shows the children that the Faith is the most important aspect of the home, and instead allows the home to degenerate into some kind of secular, materialistic, non-religious paradise―then children will not soak up anything religious and will be gravely lacking in matters of Faith. “Without Faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).

Examples of Fathers from Holy Scripture
3. Abraham - A Man of Great Faith

Faith is all about believing in things unseen: “Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, but the evidence of those things appears not” (Hebrews 11:1). Numerous Biblical commentators and theologians hold up Abraham to be our model of Faith. God told him things and commanded him to do things for which there was no evidence that it would all work out well. “The Lord said to Abram [whose name God later changed from Abram to Abraham]: ‘Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father’s house, and come into the land which I shall show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed! … So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran” (Genesis 12:1-4). Abram’s Faith in God was tested with this promise, to see if he would take God at His word, no matter what his reasoning told him. “By Faith―he that is called Abraham [Abram]―obeyed to go out into a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).

A further test of Abraham’s Faith was when God promised that a child would be born to the childless Sara and Abraham. Abraham and his wife Sara were long past child-bearing years and they had no children. “And God said to Abraham: ‘Sara thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for a perpetual covenant, and with his seed after him!’ … Abraham fell upon his face and laughed, saying in his heart: ‘Shall a son, thinkest thou, be born to him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sara that is ninety years old bring forth a son?’ … Which when Sara heard, she laughed behind the door of the tent. For they were both old and far advanced in years, and it had ceased to be with Sara after the manner of women. And she laughed secretly, saying: ‘Now that I am grown old and my lord is an old man, shall I give myself to pleasure?’ And the Lord said to Abraham: ‘Why did Sara laugh, saying: “Shall I who am an old woman bear a child indeed?” Is there anything hard for God? I will return to thee at this same time, and Sara shall have a son!’” (Genesis 17:17-19; 18:10-14).

Abraham was already an old man when God brought him outside and said to Him: “‘I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any man be able to number the dust of the Earth, he shall be able to number thy seed also! … Look up to heaven and count the stars, if you can! So shall thy seed be!’ Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice” (Genesis 13:16; 15:5-6). Abraham eventually believed God’s promise, even though naturally speaking, it was impossible. Abraham did not waver in his Faith, and God kept his promise: “In the promise also of God he staggered not by distrust; but was strengthened in Faith, giving glory to God” (Romans 4:20). Sara eventually conceived and gave birth to a baby boy, and they named their son Isaac, as God instructed them.

And then the unthinkable happens! The greatest test of Abraham’s Faith! God asks him to kill and sacrifice that “only-begotten” son Isaac as a burnt offering upon on some distant mountain! “After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him: ‘Abraham! Abraham! Take thy only begotten son Isaac―whom thou lovest―and go into the land of Moriah. There thou shalt offer him as a holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will show thee!’ So Abraham, rising up in the night, went on his way to the place which God had commanded him” (Genesis 22:1-3): The shock for Abraham is not simply the loss of a beloved son, but being asked to sacrifice that son, the very son through which God has promised to bless all nations. Yet Abraham, full of Faith and trust in God, obeys this excruciating demand.

Here, we meet the intensity of Abraham’s faith in its fullest. He is faced with two seemingly irreconcilable things: God has promised to bless all nations through Isaac, but he is told to kill and sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering! His reaction is not to give up one belief for the other, but to hold on to both beliefs, in the face of seeming absurdity, because he completely trusts the God who is responsible for both. Our Lady would face a similar dilemma at her Annunciation―she had vowed her virginity to God, but now God is telling her through the Archangel Gabriel that she is going to be a mother! Our Lady, similarly, does not give up or reject one or the other ― virginity and motherhood ― she simply doesn’t know how it is going to happen, but she has Faith and trust in God, that somehow both things will happen―she will get to keep her virginity and she will also give birth to a child!

This radical intense act of Faith in God is captured in three verses in the Book of Hebrews: “By Faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered Isaac. And he that had received the promises, offered up his only begotten son … accounting that God is able to raise up back to life even from the dead” (Hebrews 11:17-19). He doesn’t know how God will restore Isaac to him, but he is ready to believe that he will both (a) kill and sacrifice Isaac, and also (b) have descendants through Isaac. This act of faith is literally paradoxical―seemingly absurd or self-contradictory. Or to put it another way, Abraham knows that (a) and (b) can’t both come true apart from divine intervention. He doesn’t know what that intervention will look like (a miraculous raising from the dead, for example, or―as happened―divine intervention to stop the sacrifice, but he acts with the full trust that God is faithful to His promises and will intervene as needed to bring their fulfillment about.

Reading
Faith is the foundation of all virtue, for by it God makes Himself known to men. As St. Paul says, “Now Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that are not seen. . . . And without Faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:1, 6). It is this supernatural faith that the Canaanite woman proved, when she persevered in begging Jesus to cure her daughter. Having tested her, He said, “O woman, great is thy Faith! Let it be done to thee as thou wilt!” (Matthew 15:28).

Faith is the virtue by which we firmly believe all the truths that God has revealed, on the word of God revealing them―Who can neither deceive nor be deceived. Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that are not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). “Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed!” (John 20:29).

We must not cease praying for increase of Faith, for it is necessary for salvation and it can grow weak if it not nurtured and grown. “He that believes not shall be condemned!” (Matthew 16:16). “Without Faith, it is impossible to please God!” (Hebrews 11:6).

Our Faith must be firm and complete―that is to say, both certain and encompassing all the Faith. If we are doubtful on any matters of Faith, considering opposite viewpoints as possibly true, then we deny God’s authority. If we accept some truths, and deny others, then that is denying God’s authority and credibility altogether.

To reject any article of the Faith is to reject the Faith itself. This is like pulling one stone out of an arch; it is like putting one hole in the hull of a ship. The whole arch tumbles down; the whole ship sinks. A man who has the Faith, accepts God’s word. Now, God’s word has set up the Church as man’s infallible teacher and guide. If a man, therefore, rejects one article of the Faith, and says that he believes all the other articles, he believes these by his own choice and opinion, not by Faith. Rejecting one article of the Faith, he rejects the whole authority of the Church, and he rejects the authority of God which has set up and authorized the Church to teach truth.

Meditation
At times, the truth can seem to be of little or no consolation to us. There are times when we suffer interiorly despite the fact that we know what we are feeling is not true. For example, we may KNOW that God is with us and loves us, but we may not feel that or experience that at one time or another. We may KNOW that God is in control of our lives, but we may FEEL like in our life He is nowhere to be found. This apparent contradiction between what we KNOW and what we FEEL or experience can be hard to reconcile interiorly.

But it is a grace to experience this apparent contradiction. It’s a grace because when we do not FEEL the presence of God or, even worse, if we FEEL like we have been rejected by God, we are given, in that moment, an incredible opportunity for holiness. Why? Because FAITH IS NOT ABOUT FEELING, it’s about KNOWING. It’s about KNOWING THE TRUTH in all things, BELIEVING THAT TRUTH and LIVING IN ACCORD WITH THAT TRUTH despite what we may FEEL or experience interiorly. Though this can be hard to understand, it’s a truth we must believe and embrace if we are to grow in perfection and holiness.

Reflect upon the truths of our Faith that appear to be in contradiction to what you feel. Which will you rely upon? That which comes through Faith? Or that which directs your feelings? The best way to transform your misleading feelings is to make a profound act of Faith in all that God has spoken and revealed. Make that act of Faith and let God, in His time, redirect all that you interiorly feel and experience. Trust Him! Trust Him like Abraham trusted Him!

Prayer for the Father
O Heavenly Father, I thank Thee for fatherhood and earthly fathers, created to be fathers in Thy own image and likeness. They have been entrusted with the responsibility of teaching the Faith, reflecting Thy charity, showing Thy mercy, protecting their families and guiding them along the road to eternal life in Heaven. I thank Thee for my own father whom―despite his failings―Thy Divine Providence has chosen to be my teacher and guide, provider and protector, example and light. I thank Thee, also, for providing us with fatherly shepherds―our priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood is so vital to the Faith of Thy flock.

Though they were all created in Thy image and likeness―they have, like all men since Adam, failed to a greater and lesser degree in their fatherly duties. “Who can say: ‘My heart is clean, I am pure from sin!’?” (Proverbs 20:9) … Who dare say: “I am clean, and without sin! I am unspotted, and there is no iniquity in me!” (Job 33:9) … “There is no just man upon Earth that doth good and sins not!” (Ecclesiastes 7:21) … “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God!” (Romans 3:23).

Grant them the grace to see, acknowledge and confess their mistakes, failings, negligences and sins. Grant me the grace to judge them kindly, remembering Thy words: “Why seest thou the splinter that is in thy brother’s eye; and seest not the plank that is in thy own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother: ‘Let me cast the splinter out of thy eye!’ ― and behold there is a plank in thy own eye? Thou hypocrite! Cast out first the plank in thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the splinter out of thy brother’s eye!” (Matthew 7:3-5).

Help us all―father and child alike―by Thy divine grace, to rise from our falls; to overcome our lukewarmness; to remove our bitterness; to cease our criticisms; to avoid animosity and flee from fault-finding. Enkindle in our hearts the spirit of love; the balm of forgiveness; the peace of reconciliation; and the grace of perseverance. Amen.

Prayer for a Deceased Father
O Lord our God, receive my supplications, prayers and mortifications for the repose of the soul of my father, for whom I make this novena. O merciful Lord, I pray that by the motherly love bestowed upon Thee by Thy most holy Mother, as she followed Thee on the way of sorrow to Mount Calvary, forgive my father any debt for refusing to carry Thy cross throughout his life. By the ignominy of being stripped of Thy clothes upon Calvary, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of immodesty or impurity that my father may have committed in his life. By the excruciating pain of being nailed to the cross, mercifully forgive any debt for sinful attachments that my father may have had to the world, to persons, to places or things. By the humiliation of being raised up on the cross like a criminal, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of pride and refusal of humiliations that my father may have committed. By Thy terrible thirst on the cross, mercifully forgive my father any debt for having thirsted for sinful pleasures and things during his life. By Thy torments on the cross at feeling abandoned by Thy Father, forgive my father any debt for having abandoned Thee during his life. By Thy words to the Good Thief ― “This day thou shall be with Me in Paradise!” ― kindly show my father the joys of Paradise. By Thy gruesome death, kindly show my father the joys of eternal life! Amen.

[Mention Intention]

Pray:
Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Heavenly Father, grant to all fathers the grace to reflect Thy charity and holiness; Thy authority and justice; Thy compassion and mercy; Thy patience and understanding! We ask this of Thee through the Sacred Hearts of Jesus Thy Son and Mary Thy daughter, Amen.

LITANY TO GOD THE FATHER
ON BEHALF OF OUR OWN FATHERS

FOURTH DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted for each day)
Theme: A Father Must be a Man of Patience and Humility

Holy Scripture

● “God is patient” Ecclesiasticus 18:9).
● “The Lord is patient and full of mercy” (Numbers 14:18).
“He that is patient, is governed with much wisdom―but he that is impatient, exalts his folly!” (Proverbs 14:29).
● “A passionate man stirs up strife; but he that is patient appeases those that are stirred up.” (Proverbs 15:18).
● “Be patient towards all men” (1 Thessalonians 5:14).
● “Charity is patient” (1 Corinthians 13:4).
● “The patient man is better than the valiant man; and he that rules his spirit is better than he that conquers cities” (Proverbs 16:32).
● “Wait on God with patience and endure!” (Ecclesiasticus 2:3).
● “Be patient in tribulation” (Romans 12:12).
● “A patient man shall suffer for a time, and afterwards joy shall be restored to him” (Ecclesiasticus 1:29).
● “The most High is a patient rewarder” (Ecclesiasticus 5:4).
● “Bring forth fruit in patience!” Luke 8:15).
● “Woe to them that have lost patience!” (Ecclesiasticus 2:16).

● “Learn of Me, because I am meek, and humble of heart!” (Matthew 11:29).
● “God resists the proud, but to the humble He gives grace” (1 Peter 5:5).
● “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:4).
● “Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled―and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted!” (Matthew 23:12).
● “Let us humble our souls before Him, and continue in a humble spirit in His service!” (Judith 8:16).
● “The prayer of the humble and the meek hath always pleased thee!” (Judith 9:16).
● “The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things, and thou shalt find grace before God!” (Ecclesiasticus 3:20).
● “God is honored by the humble” (Ecclesiasticus 3:21).
● “With all humility, support one another in charity” (Ephesians 4:2).
● “In humility let each esteem others better than themselves” (Philippians 2:3).

Example of God the Father
God is patient. We are not. We are in the school of patience. We are learning patience. God is patience. We are developing patience―God is displaying His. The patience of God does not refer to being stuck in traffic jams, or having to stand in interminably long lines! When we speak of the patience of God, we are not talking about enduring hard times―we are talking about being long-suffering toward people. “Be not ignorant―one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord delays not His promise [to punish sinners], as some imagine, but deals patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance” (2 Peter 3:8-9).

Clearly, the patience of God toward us is absolutely staggering! Satan went to Hell for one single sin. There are also other souls in Hell for having committed less sins that we have committed! Why are we not there? Patience! The patience of God―that is the reason why we are not in Hell. Sin is greatest evil in the world: “Sin is the only evil upon Earth” … “Mortal sin is a great evil, the greatest evil in the world, a greater evil than disease, poverty, or war, because it separates us from God … Venial sin is second only in evil consequences to mortal sin” (The Catechism Explained, by Spirago-Clarke; also the Catechism, My Catholic Faith, by Bishop Morrow, STD). How many “greatest evils” in the world have we committed in our lives? Yet we are still walking this Earth instead of burning in Hell! “The Lord is patient and full of mercy, taking away iniquity and wickedness” (Numbers 14:18). Clearly, the patience of God toward us is absolutely staggering!

Look at the sickening tidal wave of sin that hits Heaven daily! Our Lady said to Blessed Elena Aiello, back in 1956: “People are offending God too much! If I were to show you all the sins committed on a single day, you would surely die of grief! These are grave times! The world is in total turmoil―because it is in a worse condition than at the time of the deluge! [The Deluge was the Great Flood in Noe’s time] All is hanging on a slender thread! When that thread shall snap, Divine Justice shall pounce upon the world and execute its dreadful, purging designs! All the nations shall be punished because sins, like a muddy river, are now covering all the Earth!” You would have thought that God would have punished this world a thousand times or more by now! Clearly, the patience of God toward us is absolutely staggering!

Examples of Fathers from Holy Scripture
4. Job

Job was a good man, “simple and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil” (Job 1:1). God had blessed Job with “seven sons and three daughters. And his possession was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred asses, and an exceedingly great family. This man was great among all the people of the East” (Job 1:2-3). Nevertheless, not everyone in his family was like Job. His children―being children of a very wealthy father―seem to have been somewhat worldly: “His sons went, and made a feast by houses everyone on his own day. And sending invites, they called their three sisters to eat and drink with them.” (Job 1:4). Like a good godly father, Job sought to appease God for any potential sins that might have been committed in their regular worldly feasting: “And when the days of their feasting were gone about, Job sent to them, and sanctified them. And, rising up early, offered holocausts for every one of them. For he said: ‘Lest perhaps my sons have sinned, and have offended God in their hearts!’ So did Job all days” (Job 1:5).

Job was holy in God’s eyes―as God Himself said to Satan: “Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on all the Earth―a simple and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil?” (Job 1:8). Yet holiness does not exempt anyone from suffering “for whom the Lord loves, He chastises; and He scourges every son whom He receives” (Hebrews 12:6) … “When you come to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare your soul for temptation!” (Ecclesiasticus 2:1). That is exactly what happened to holy Job―he was “chastised” and “scourged” by God allowing Satan to hit Job with one calamity after another―as a test of his holiness―to see if Job would humbly and patiently bear those trials, or whether he would rebel against with a “I-do-not-deserve-this!” kind of attitude.

Thus we read: “Now upon a certain day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, there came a messenger to Job, and said: ‘The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them, and the Sabeans rushed in and took all away, and slew the servants with the sword―and I alone have escaped to tell thee!’ And while he was yet speaking, another came, and said: ‘The fire of God fell from Heaven, and striking the sheep and the servants, hath consumed them―and I alone have escaped to tell thee!’ And while he also was yet speaking, there came another, and said: ‘The Chaldeans made three troops, and have fallen upon the camels, and taken them, moreover they have slain the servants with the sword―and I alone have escaped to tell thee!’ He was yet speaking, and behold another came in, and said: ‘Thy sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their elder brother! And a violent wind came on all of a sudden from the side of the desert, and shook the four corners of the house, and it fell upon thy children and they are dead―and I alone have escaped to tell thee!’” (Job 1:13-19).

We can well imagine the horrendous emotions that must have shaken Job upon hearing all this terrible news! Yet as
St. Thomas Aquinas, in his commentary on the Book of Job, writes: “Job would recover his composure and prepare himself in patience to sustain what followed.” Suppressing his emotions, “Job rose up, and tore his garments, and having shaved his head fell down upon the ground and worshipped, and said: ‘Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there! The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away! As it has pleased the Lord so is it done! Blessed be the Name of the Lord!’ In all these things Job sinned not by his lips, nor did he speak any foolish thing against God” (Job 1:20-22).

Satan―disappointed that he had not succeeded in turning Job against God―petitioned God to allow him to strike Job with regard to his physical health, being sure that this would make Job rebel against God: “Satan said: ‘Skin for skin, and all that a man has he will give for his life! Just put forth Thy hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and then Thou shalt see that he will curse Thee to Thy face!’ And the Lord said to Satan: ‘Behold he is in thy hand, but you must preserve his life!’ So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with a very grievous ulcer, from the sole of the foot even to the top of his head. And Job took a potsherd [a broken piece of ceramic earthenware] and scraped the corrupt matter, sitting on a dunghill. And his wife said to him: ‘Do you still continue in your simplicity? Bless God and die!’ And Job said to her: ‘You have spoken like one of the foolish women! If we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil things?’ In all these things Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:4-10).

We all love a “happy ending” to stories ― and that is what Job experienced after his horrendous suffering: “The Lord also was turned at the penance of Job, when he prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. And the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses [which was twice as much as he had before the calamities struck him]. And he had seven sons, and three daughters―and there were not found in all the Earth women so beautiful as the daughters of Job. And Job lived after these things, a hundred and forty years, and he saw his children, and his children's children, unto the fourth generation, and he died an old man, and full of days” (Job 42:10-16). Patience pays off in the end! Which brings to mind the Scriptural verses: “Wait on God with patience and endure, so that thy life may be increased in the latter end” (Ecclesiasticus 2:3). “A patient man shall suffer for a time, and afterwards joy shall be restored to him!” (Ecclesiasticus 1:29).

Reading
The perfection of the Christian soul consists in that complete and exquisite charity whereby we love God above all things, and our neighbor as ourselves, for the love of God. This love, this charity that perfects the soul, is the sublimest gift that we can receive from God in this our exile, because God Himself is charity, and the life of God is charity. By charity God lives in us and we in Him. The grace of patience is given with the grace of charity, as well to protect it as to bring it to perfection. True patience for the love of God’s therefore the highest test and most evident proof of the presence of a noble degree of charity, because it can only be obtained even with the help of grace. Patience is mostly concerned in overcoming the restlessness of nature, in enduring adversities, in resisting temptations, and in subduing or keeping away impatience, anger or sadness.

Nevertheless, so intimate is the connection between patience and humility, that neither of these virtues can make much progress without the other; nor can charity advance towards its perfection without their aid. To the spiritual man patience is more essential than food, for food strengthens the body, and preserves it from weakness, but patience fortifies the soul, and without it no virtue can be firm and solid. But as we are bound to take more care of the soul than of the body, it is evident that we ought to be more solicitous for patience than for food. Food is not more essential to strength of body than patience is to strength of soul. All the Christian virtues live by the light of Faith, all look to Hope, all obtain their life from the Love of God. They are founded in humility, sustained by fortitude, strengthened and protected by patience. A soul given to impatience loses strength from every virtue and weakens her hold on all that is good.

Meditation
“Patience is necessary for you!” (Hebrews 10:36). Patience and humility are two virtues that help each other. To be patient we need to be humble―and to be humble we need to be patient. Similarly, impatience and pride go hand in hand. Impatience is obviously opposed to patience, and pride is opposed to humility. Pride is an excessive love of self, an excessive self-esteem, an exaggerated sense of self-importance―we almost make ourselves to be gods without actually admitting to it. When things go against this “self-appointed-god” then that “self-appointed-god” becomes angry and impatient. The true God―the God in Heaven―does not act in this way. He shows humility and patience when things do not go His way. Just look at Christ during His Passion! He accepts all the mistreatment and torture with humility and patience―even though, being God, He had it in His power to destroy them all effortlessly in the blink of an eye! He was not just “talking-the-talk” when He said:

“You have heard that it has been said: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth!’ But I say to you not to resist evil―but if one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other; and if a man will contend with thee in judgment and take away thy coat, then let go thy cloak also unto him. And whosoever will force thee one mile, go with him another two! Give to him that asks of thee and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not away. You have heard that it hath been said: ‘’Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy!’ But I say to you: Love your enemies! Do good to them that hate you! And pray for them that persecute and calumniate you―so that you may be the children of your Father Who is in Heaven, Who makes His sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and makes His rain fall upon the just and the unjust. For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? Do not even the publicans do this? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you that is more? Do not also the heathens do this? Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect!” (Matthew 5:38-48).

Prayer for the Father
O Heavenly Father, I thank Thee for fatherhood and earthly fathers, created to be fathers in Thy own image and likeness. They have been entrusted with the responsibility of teaching the Faith, reflecting Thy charity, showing Thy mercy, protecting their families and guiding them along the road to eternal life in Heaven. I thank Thee for my own father whom―despite his failings―Thy Divine Providence has chosen to be my teacher and guide, provider and protector, example and light. I thank Thee, also, for providing us with fatherly shepherds―our priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood is so vital to the Faith of Thy flock.

Though they were all created in Thy image and likeness―they have, like all men since Adam, failed to a greater and lesser degree in their fatherly duties. “Who can say: ‘My heart is clean, I am pure from sin!’?” (Proverbs 20:9) … Who dare say: “I am clean, and without sin! I am unspotted, and there is no iniquity in me!” (Job 33:9) … “There is no just man upon Earth that doth good and sins not!” (Ecclesiastes 7:21) … “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God!” (Romans 3:23).

Grant them the grace to see, acknowledge and confess their mistakes, failings, negligences and sins. Grant me the grace to judge them kindly, remembering Thy words: “Why seest thou the splinter that is in thy brother’s eye; and seest not the plank that is in thy own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother: ‘Let me cast the splinter out of thy eye!’ ― and behold there is a plank in thy own eye? Thou hypocrite! Cast out first the plank in thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the splinter out of thy brother’s eye!” (Matthew 7:3-5).

Help us all―father and child alike―by Thy divine grace, to rise from our falls; to overcome our lukewarmness; to remove our bitterness; to cease our criticisms; to avoid animosity and flee from fault-finding. Enkindle in our hearts the spirit of love; the balm of forgiveness; the peace of reconciliation; and the grace of perseverance. Amen.

Prayer for a Deceased Father
O Lord our God, receive my supplications, prayers and mortifications for the repose of the soul of my father, for whom I make this novena. O merciful Lord, I pray that by the motherly love bestowed upon Thee by Thy most holy Mother, as she followed Thee on the way of sorrow to Mount Calvary, forgive my father any debt for refusing to carry Thy cross throughout his life. By the ignominy of being stripped of Thy clothes upon Calvary, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of immodesty or impurity that my father may have committed in his life. By the excruciating pain of being nailed to the cross, mercifully forgive any debt for sinful attachments that my father may have had to the world, to persons, to places or things. By the humiliation of being raised up on the cross like a criminal, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of pride and refusal of humiliations that my father may have committed. By Thy terrible thirst on the cross, mercifully forgive my father any debt for having thirsted for sinful pleasures and things during his life. By Thy torments on the cross at feeling abandoned by Thy Father, forgive my father any debt for having abandoned Thee during his life. By Thy words to the Good Thief ― “This day thou shall be with Me in Paradise!” ― kindly show my father the joys of Paradise. By Thy gruesome death, kindly show my father the joys of eternal life! Amen.

[Mention Intention]

Pray:
Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Heavenly Father, grant to all fathers the grace to reflect Thy charity and holiness; Thy authority and justice; Thy compassion and mercy; Thy patience and understanding! We ask this of Thee through the Sacred Hearts of Jesus Thy Son and Mary Thy daughter, Amen.

LITANY TO GOD THE FATHER
ON BEHALF OF OUR OWN FATHERS

FIFTH DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted for each day)
Theme: A Father Must be a Man Who is a Leader

Holy Scripture

“The Lord thy God, He Himself is thy leader!” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

“I am the Lord thy God that teaches thee and governs thee in the way that thou must walk” (Isaias 48:17).

“I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3).

“Without Me―you can do nothing!” (John 15:5).

“You have not chosen Me―but I have chosen you and have appointed you” (John 15:16).

“In this is My Father glorified; that you become My disciples” (John 15:8).

“Jesus spoke to them, saying: ‘All power is given to Me in Heaven and on Earth! Therefore go teach ye all nations … teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you!’” (Matthew 28:18-20) … “He that hears you, hears me; and he that despises you, despises Me; and he that despises Me, despises Him that sent Me!” (Luke 10:16).

“Jesus called them to him, and said: ‘You know that the princes of the Gentiles lord it over them; and they that are the greater, exercise power upon them. It shall not be so among you―but whosoever will be the greater among you, let him be your minister; and he that will be first among you, shall be your servant. Even as the Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister!’” (Matthew 20:25-28).

“And there was also a strife amongst the Apostles, which of them should seem to be the greater. And Jesus said to them: ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and they that have power over them, are called beneficent. But you, not so―but he that is the greater among you, let him become as the younger; and he that is the leader, become as he that serveth. For which is greater―he that sits at table, or he that serves? Is it not he that sits at table? But I am in the midst of you, as he that serves!’” (Luke 22:24-27).

“Jesus called the Twelve, and said to them: ‘If any man desire to be first, then he shall be the last of all, and the minister of all!” (Mark 9:34).

“They that are last shall be first; and they that are first shall be last” (Luke 13:30).

Example of God the Father
Have you ever thought about the leadership style of God? Have you ever considered how God leads people who lead others? Whether one is a king, president, parent, or leader of a group of people, God wants to help you lead. God wants to lead you as you lead others. God leads by His strength. God doesn’t lead His people by weakness. God’s children don’t serve a weak God. They serve an awesome powerful God. A great leader prays. As a leader prays, God answers the petitions. He wants to give help when we ask for help. “Ask, and it shall be given you! Seek, and you shall find! Knock, and it shall be opened to you! For every one that asks, receives; and he that seeks, finds; and to him that knocks, it shall be opened. And which of you, if he ask his father for some bread, will he give him a stone? Or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from Heaven give the good things to them that ask Him?” (Luke 11:12).

There are times when life seems so unfair towards us. There are people who act against our leadership style and methods. They may decide to hate us because of changes we make. No matter how we may feel, we can trust that God will enforce His justice against our enemies. When they oppose what God plans for us as leaders, God will act against them. God will act to protect the leaders He leads and loves. God will resist those are out to destroy God’s work in us as leaders. He repels those who devise wickedness. God actively works against them and their plans. We can trust that God will protect us. “The Lord God, Who is your leader, He Himself will fight for you!” (Deuteronomy 1:30). “Do manfully and be of good heart! Fear not, nor be ye dismayed at their sight! For the Lord thy God He Himself is thy leader, and He will not leave thee nor forsake thee!” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

Examples of Fathers from Holy Scripture
5. Moses

Moses goes from being a “basket case” to being arguably the greatest leader of the Chosen People. Don’t give up! Moses was once a basket case, too! We all know of little baby Moses laying in the basket that his mother made for him and into which she placed him and left him floating on Egypt’s Nile River. She did it to save his life―because the Pharao of Egypt had issued an order that Hebrew all baby boys be killed. The book of Exodus tells us that Pharao’s daughter, along with her servants, came to bathe in the Nile and found Moses floating in his basket on the water. Or as one person joked―she came to the bank [money bank] of the Nile and drew out a little prophet [profit]. God used a basket case to become the leader of his nation.

Saved by the basket from the Egyptian slaughter, Pharao’s daughter took this “basket case” home and adopted him as her son. Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s palace with all comfort and luxury. Thus, it’s easy to assume he was arrogant, insensitive, or apathetic. Even though he grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, but, unlike most rich people, he also had compassion. Growing up, Moses witnessed the struggles of his fellow Hebrews as slaves. Seeing one of them being beaten, he killed the Egyptian master. Feeling guilty, he fled to Madian. There, God spoke to him through a burning bush in the desert. He commissioned him to be the leader of the Israelites. Moses still felt like a basket case when God told Moses to go to Pharao and say on behalf of God: “Let my people go!” Moses made excuses, pointing out his speech impediment. Moses was very hesitant to carry on with God’s mission for him. Partially it was a sign of humility―since Moses knew his limitations. Despite his flaws, Moses proved to be a good leader.

Nevertheless, Moses was chosen by God to become a Hebrew prophet whom God used to free the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. Moses was by no means perfect, but his close relationship with God allowed him to act as an as intermediary between the people and God, so as to guide a rebellious nation of slaves into relationship with God, and find their identity and purpose as the Chosen People of God.

Reading
Jesus not only talked many times about how to be a leader, but He lived His life here on earth exactly in accordance with what He taught us about servant leadership. God made us and designed us in His image (Genesis 1:26), and He has provided us with Holy Scripture to instruct us how He wants us to live our lives—every minute of every day―which includes how we are to live while we are at work.

In Matthew 20:25-28, Jesus described the difference between the typical leadership model we see today and ‘servant leadership’. The brothers James and John―two of the three favorite disciples of Our Lord (Peter is the third) get their mother to ask Jesus if they could sit on His right and on His left when Jesus ascends to His throne in the Kingdom. Jesus knows immediately that James and John are asking the question, not their mother, and Jesus responds directly to James and John, not to their mother.

James and John were asking for Jesus to place them into a position of power and authority with Jesus in His kingdom, and their arrogance infuriated the other ten disciples. Their question led Jesus to teach them about how He expects leaders to conduct themselves (in the same manner Jesus lived His life here on earth as a leader): “Jesus called them [His disciples] to him, and said: ‘You know that the princes of the Gentiles lord it over them [the people under the ruler's authority], and they that are the greater, exercise power upon them. (Matthew 20:25).

Jesus is saying the Gentiles have great men as their leaders, who exercise their power and authority over the people they lead. But Jesus contrasts the Gentile model (and the typical leadership model we see today) with how God designed leadership and the proper organizational structure. He says: “It shall not be so among you―but whosoever will be the greater among you, let him be your minister; and he that will be first among you, shall be your servant. Just as the Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister!’” (Matthew 20:25-28).

Jesus, who is God, is telling us how to be a leader. He says that whoever wishes to become a great leader must be a servant. In fact, Jesus takes it even further than just being a servant—He says if you really want to be a great leader, you must be a slave. And to emphasize the point, Jesus says that He, as God and King, came to serve, not to be served. So, this is where Jesus is saying the leadership model God wants us to use, and the model Jesus used, is the servant leadership model. Even as King and Lord, Jesus modeled servant leadership. Jesus was humble and put the needs of others first, and served others with humility.

Meditation
The following extracts from The Imitation of Christ can serve as our food for meditation:

“He who follows Me, walks not in darkness,” says the Lord. Vanity of vanities and all is vanity, except to love God and serve Him alone. This is the greatest wisdom ― to seek the Kingdom of Heaven through contempt of the world. It is vanity, therefore, to seek and trust in riches that perish. It is vanity also to court honor and to be puffed up with pride. It is vanity to be concerned with the present only and not to make provision for things to come. It is vanity to love what passes quickly and not to look ahead where eternal joy abides.

Every man naturally desires knowledge―but what good is knowledge without fear of God? Indeed a humble rustic who serves God is better than a proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars. He who knows himself well becomes mean in his own eyes and is not happy when praised by men. If I knew all things in the world and had not charity, what would it profit me before God Who will judge me by my deeds? Shun too great a desire for knowledge, for in it there is much fretting and delusion. Intellectuals like to appear learned and to be called wise. Yet there are many things the knowledge of which does little or no good to the soul, and he who concerns himself about other things than those which lead to salvation is very unwise.

The more you know and the better you understand, the more severely will you be judged, unless your life is also the more holy. Do not be proud, therefore, because of your learning or skill. Rather, fear because of the talent given you. If you think you know many things and understand them well enough, realize at the same time that there is much you do not know. Hence, do not affect wisdom, but admit your ignorance. Why prefer yourself to anyone else when many are more learned, more cultured than you?

If you wish to learn and appreciate something worthwhile, then love to be unknown and considered as nothing. Truly to know and despise self is the best and most perfect counsel. To think of oneself as nothing, and always to think well and highly of others is the best and most perfect wisdom. Wherefore, if you see another sin openly or commit a serious crime, do not consider yourself better, for you do not know how long you can remain in good estate. All men are frail, but you must admit that none is more frail than yourself.

We have eyes and do not see. Our opinions, our senses often deceive us and we discern very little. What good is much discussion of involved and obscure matters when our ignorance of them will not be held against us on Judgment Day? Neglect of things which are profitable and necessary and undue concern with those which are irrelevant and harmful, are great folly. On the day of judgment, surely, we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done; not how well we have spoken but how well we have lived.

Tell me―where now are all the masters and teachers whom you knew so well in life and who were famous for their learning? Others have already taken their places and I know not whether they ever think of their predecessors. During life they seemed to be something; now they are seldom remembered. How quickly the glory of the world passes away! If only their lives had kept pace with their learning, then their study and reading would have been worthwhile. How many there are who perish because of vain worldly knowledge and too little care for serving God. They became vain in their own conceits because they chose to be great rather than humble.

Do not give in to every impulse and suggestion but consider things carefully and patiently in the light of God's will. For very often, sad to say, we are so weak that we believe and speak evil of others rather than good. Perfect men, however, do not readily believe every talebearer, because they know that human frailty is prone to evil and is likely to appear in speech. Take counsel with a wise and conscientious man. Seek the advice of your betters in preference to following your own inclinations.

Do not be ashamed to serve others for the love of Jesus Christ and to seem poor in this world. Do not be self-sufficient but place your trust in God. Do what lies in your power and God will aid your good will. Put no trust in your own learning nor in the cunning of any man, but rather in the grace of God Who helps the humble and humbles the proud. If you have wealth, do not glory in it, nor in friends because they are powerful, but in God Who gives all things and Who desires above all to give Himself. Do not boast of personal stature or of physical beauty, qualities which are marred and destroyed by a little sickness. Do not take pride in your talent or ability, lest you displease God to Whom belongs all the natural gifts that you have. Do not think yourself better than others lest, perhaps, you be accounted worse before God Who knows what is in man. Do not take pride in your good deeds, for God's judgments differ from those of men and what pleases them often displeases Him. If there is good in you, see more good in others, so that you may remain humble. It does no harm to esteem yourself less than anyone else, but it is very harmful to think yourself better than even one. The humble live in continuous peace, while in the hearts of the proud are envy and frequent anger.

It is a very great thing to obey, to live under a superior and not to be one's own master, for it is much safer to be subject than it is to command. Many live in obedience more from necessity than from love. Such become discontented and dejected on the slightest pretext; they will never gain peace of mind unless they subject themselves wholeheartedly for the love of God. Go where you may, you will find no rest except in humble obedience to the rule of authority. Dreams of happiness expected from change and different places have deceived many. Everyone, it is true, wishes to do as he pleases and is attracted to those who agree with him. But if God be among us, we must at times give up our opinions for the blessings of peace.

Prayer for the Father
O Heavenly Father, I thank Thee for fatherhood and earthly fathers, created to be fathers in Thy own image and likeness. They have been entrusted with the responsibility of teaching the Faith, reflecting Thy charity, showing Thy mercy, protecting their families and guiding them along the road to eternal life in Heaven. I thank Thee for my own father whom―despite his failings―Thy Divine Providence has chosen to be my teacher and guide, provider and protector, example and light. I thank Thee, also, for providing us with fatherly shepherds―our priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood is so vital to the Faith of Thy flock.

Though they were all created in Thy image and likeness―they have, like all men since Adam, failed to a greater and lesser degree in their fatherly duties. “Who can say: ‘My heart is clean, I am pure from sin!’?” (Proverbs 20:9) … Who dare say: “I am clean, and without sin! I am unspotted, and there is no iniquity in me!” (Job 33:9) … “There is no just man upon Earth that doth good and sins not!” (Ecclesiastes 7:21) … “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God!” (Romans 3:23).

Grant them the grace to see, acknowledge and confess their mistakes, failings, negligences and sins. Grant me the grace to judge them kindly, remembering Thy words: “Why seest thou the splinter that is in thy brother’s eye; and seest not the plank that is in thy own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother: ‘Let me cast the splinter out of thy eye!’ ― and behold there is a plank in thy own eye? Thou hypocrite! Cast out first the plank in thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the splinter out of thy brother’s eye!” (Matthew 7:3-5).

Help us all―father and child alike―by Thy divine grace, to rise from our falls; to overcome our lukewarmness; to remove our bitterness; to cease our criticisms; to avoid animosity and flee from fault-finding. Enkindle in our hearts the spirit of love; the balm of forgiveness; the peace of reconciliation; and the grace of perseverance. Amen.

Prayer for a Deceased Father
O Lord our God, receive my supplications, prayers and mortifications for the repose of the soul of my father, for whom I make this novena. O merciful Lord, I pray that by the motherly love bestowed upon Thee by Thy most holy Mother, as she followed Thee on the way of sorrow to Mount Calvary, forgive my father any debt for refusing to carry Thy cross throughout his life. By the ignominy of being stripped of Thy clothes upon Calvary, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of immodesty or impurity that my father may have committed in his life. By the excruciating pain of being nailed to the cross, mercifully forgive any debt for sinful attachments that my father may have had to the world, to persons, to places or things. By the humiliation of being raised up on the cross like a criminal, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of pride and refusal of humiliations that my father may have committed. By Thy terrible thirst on the cross, mercifully forgive my father any debt for having thirsted for sinful pleasures and things during his life. By Thy torments on the cross at feeling abandoned by Thy Father, forgive my father any debt for having abandoned Thee during his life. By Thy words to the Good Thief ― “This day thou shall be with Me in Paradise!” ― kindly show my father the joys of Paradise. By Thy gruesome death, kindly show my father the joys of eternal life! Amen.

[Mention Intention]

Pray:
Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Heavenly Father, grant to all fathers the grace to reflect Thy charity and holiness; Thy authority and justice; Thy compassion and mercy; Thy patience and understanding! We ask this of Thee through the Sacred Hearts of Jesus Thy Son and Mary Thy daughter, Amen.

LITANY TO GOD THE FATHER
ON BEHALF OF OUR OWN FATHERS

SIXTH DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted for each day)
Theme: A Father Must be Man Who is Trusting and Obedient to God

Holy Scripture

“Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not upon thy own prudence” (Proverbs 3:5).

“Delight in the Lord, commit thy way to the Lord and trust in Him and He will give thee the requests of thy heart” (Psalm 36:4-5).

“The Lord is my helper and my protector! In Him hath my heart confided, and I have been helped” (Psalm 27:7).

“Take courage, and be strong! Fear not and be not dismayed―because the Lord thy God is with thee in all things whatsoever thou shalt go to!” (Josue 1:9).

“You shall call upon Me and you shall pray to Me, and I will hear you! You shall seek Me and shall find Me when you shall seek Me with all your heart! And I will be found by you and I will bring you from your captivity, and I will gather you out from all the places to which I have driven you out, and I will bring you back from the place to which I caused you to be carried away captive!” (Jeremias 29:12-14).

“It is good to confide in the Lord, rather than to have confidence in man! It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in princes!” (Psalm 117:8-9).

“We ought to obey God, rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

“Let every soul be subject to higher powers―for there is no power but from God, and those that are, are ordained of God. Therefore he that resists the power, resists the ordinance of God. And they that resist, purchase to themselves damnation” (Romans 13:1-2).

“If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

“He that has My commandments, and keeps them; he it is that loves Me. And he that loves Me, shall be loved of My Father: and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21).

“If any one loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him” (John 14:23).

“He that loves Me not, keeps not My words” (John 14:24).

“You are My friends, if you do the things that I command you” (John 15:14).

“If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love; as I also have kept My Father’s commandments, and do abide in His love” (John 15:10).

Example of God the Father
Faith requires complete trust in Him, even when we do not understand why He has allowed circumstances to unfold a certain way. We should never obey Him merely to manipulate our situation. God knows our hearts. When we are surrendered to Him, He sees our devotion and goes to work on our behalf. God calls us to trust Him, and Him alone, to meet our needs and to be our total source of supply. Furthermore, the Lord requires that we obey Him as part of our trusting Him. Therefore, tell Him: “Lord, I trust You completely to meet my needs in Your timing and according to Your methods! I want to lay down my selfish hopes, dreams, and desires! And I will continue to obey You, believing that You will take care of me!” You can count on God’s love, wisdom, power, and grace. He has never failed you. He is the God who cares, and He will provide what you need at just the right time. And when He does, it will be abundantly beyond all you imagined.

Examples of Fathers from Holy Scripture
6. Isaac, son of Abraham

Details of Isaac and his family are found in Genesis chapters 17 through 49. Isaac was the answer to Abraham’s prayers, who begged God for a child in his barren marriage to Sara. Isaac would be the only son to his father and mother―Abraham and Sara, who was barren until she eventually conceived Isaac. “God said to Abraham: ‘Sara thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish My covenant with him for a perpetual covenant, and with his seed after him’” (Genesis 17:19).

He was circumcised eight days after his birth and his early years were spent in Bersabee. The blessing that God had promised―the birth of Isaac―seemed to fall apart when God demanded Isaac’s death, to be taken by his father to Mount Moriah to be offered up as a human sacrifice: “Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision: and there thou shalt offer him for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will show thee!” (Genesis 22:2). Isaac, unknowingly and obediently, went along with the ‘almost’ sacrifice of himself when Abraham took him up to the mountains to sacrifice him to God.

Fortunately for Isaac he returned after his life had been miraculously spared: “They came to the place which God had shown him, where he built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it: and when he had bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood. And he put forth his hand and took the sword, to sacrifice his son. And behold an angel of the Lord from Heaven called to him, saying: ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ And he answered: ‘Here I am!’ And the Lord said to him: ‘Lay not thy hand upon the boy! Neither do thou anything to him! Now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for My sake!’ Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram, caught amongst the briers, sticking fast by his horns, which he took and offered for a holocaust instead of his son” (22:9-13).

He could have resented his father for offering him as a human sacrifice, yet Isaac was an obedient son of Abraham and an obedient servant of God. From that incident―where he was already tied up and placed upon an altar in preparation for being a burnt offering to God―Isaac learned the invaluable lesson of trusting God. For, as God would later say to His prophet Isaias: “My thoughts are not your thoughts! Nor your ways My ways! For as the Heavens are exalted above the Earth, so are My ways exalted above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts!” (Isaias 55:8-9).

In this incident we can see the close typology of Christ and Isaac―with Isaac prefiguring or foreshadowing Christ and His Passion:

(1) God says that Isaac will be Abraham’s “only begotten son” (Genesis 22:2).
(2) Abraham is to take Isaac to Mount Moriah―which would later become Jerusalem (Genesis 22:2).
(3) Isaac carried the wood, upon which he will be killed, up the mountain just like Jesus carried His own cross (Genesis 22:6).
(4) When Isaac asked Abraham: “Where is the sacrificial lamb?” Abraham replies prophetically that God will provide the lamb. Jesus is called the Lamb of God by John the Baptist and also 28 times in the book of the Apocalypse (Genesis 22:8).
(5) Isaac willingly cooperated in the will of his earthly father, and, by extension, his Heavenly Father, by allowing himself to be bound to the altar (Genesis 22:9).
(6) On the third day, Isaac was rescued from death. Although he didn’t die and come back to life like Jesus, it is still a symbolic sign of the time Jesus spent in the tomb (Genesis 22:4).

His mother Sara died aged 127, when Isaac was 36 years of age. A few years later, when Isaac was 40 years old, his father arranged his marriage to Rebecca, who lived in the land of Abraham’s kinfolk (Genesis 24). However, just as it was with Abraham’s wife Sara, Rebecca was also barren and could not conceive a child in almost 20 years. “When he was forty years old, took to wife Rebecca the daughter of Bathuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia. And Isaac besought the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord heard his prayer and made Rebecca to conceive [twins]. But the children struggled in her womb, and she said: ‘If it were to be so with me, what need was there to conceive?’ And she went to consult the Lord. And the Lord answering said: ‘Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be divided out of thy womb, and one people shall overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger!’ And when her time was come to be delivered, behold twins were found in her womb. He that came forth first was red, and hairy like a skin, and his name was called Esau. Immediately the other coming forth, held his brother’s foot in his hand, and therefore he was called Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when the children were born unto him. And when they were grown up, Esau became a skillful hunter, and a husbandman, but Jacob a plain man dwelt in tents. Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his hunting; and Rebecca loved Jacob” (Genesis 25:20-28).

Jacob and Esau were twins. Esau emerged first from the womb and then Jacob, but they were both born at the same time. Esau was only considered the eldest son because he was born a minute or two before Jacob. Then, one day when they grew older, Esau traded his birthright to Jacob for some stew, because he was hungry. This story has so many elements of family life in it―which many of us also experience in our own families. Isaac was partial to Esau because Esau was a good hunter and Isaac enjoyed eating the game he brought home to the family. Rebecca was partial to Jacob, because Jacob had more faith in God, and he liked being at home with his family. Esau did not care about his heritage, or birthright, but Jacob did. The technicality was, that Esau was Isaac’s firstborn and by all rights was his legitimate heir, but Esau did not possess the deep faith in God and love for his family that Jacob did. Esau was also married to a pagan wife who brought a lot of friction and discord to the family. Rebecca recognized that the “rule” in this case was wrong. Besides, Isaac in his old age seemed to have forgotten what God had told her when she was pregnant: “Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be divided out of thy womb, and one people shall overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger!” Yes, Rebecca and Jacob deceived Isaac in his old age, but they also fulfilled God’s plan which stated that “the elder shall serve the younger.” Love for God, and love for their family, became more important than the “rule” or tradition concerning the elder son’s inheritance.

The Bible doesn’t say anything more about Isaac’s relationship with his two sons until he is about to die. In Isaac's old age a bitter enmity developed between the two sons because of Jacob's duplicity (Genesis 25:19-28). Isaac, blind and feeble, wanted to bestow his blessing on Esau, but Jacob, assisted by Rebecca, received it instead. Mother and son successfully carried out a plan to deceive the elderly, blind Isaac into giving Jacob the birthright blessing. It was a masterful, successful plan, but Rebecca told Jacob to flee lest his brother kill him. Some commentators are of the opinion that Rebecca sinned by being the instigator of the deception that fooled her husband into giving the last blessing before death upon Jacob instead of the rightful heir, Esau. However, other commentators point out that God had already ruled and stated that, while the Esau the elder and Jacob the younger were still in Rebecca’s womb, that the elder would serve the younger. “When Rebecca had conceived of Isaac, when the children were not yet born, nor had done any good or evil, it was said to her: ‘The elder shall serve the younger! As it is written: “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated!”’” (Romans 9:10-13). Many years passed before the brothers were reconciled (Genesis 27:1-40). Isaac died at the age of one hundred eighty and was buried in Hebron (Genesis 35:28-29).

Lessons to Learn From Isaac’s―the Good and the Bad
● God loves to answer the prayers of fathers who love God.
● Trusting God in even the most dire and threatening situations―for God is ultimately in charge and in control.
● Favoritism is not wrong―for even God has favorites. Nevertheless, parents should not show favoritism based on humanistic or natural motives, but on spiritual and religious motives.

Reading
The following reading is taken from Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence.

Nothing happens in the universe without God willing and allowing it. This statement must be taken absolutely of everything―with the exception of sin. “Nothing occurs by chance in the whole course of our lives” is the unanimous teaching of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, “and God intervenes everywhere.”

“I am the Lord,” He tells us Himself by the mouth of the prophet Isaias, “and there is none else! I form light and create darkness! I make peace and create evil! I, the Lord, do all these things!” “It is I who bring both death and life, I who inflict wounds and heal them,” He said to Moses. “The Lord kills and makes alive,” it is written in the Canticle of Anna, the mother of Samuel, “He bringeth down to the tomb and He bringeth back again; the Lord makes poor and makes rich, He humbles and He exalts.” “Shall there be evil (disaster, affliction) in a city which the Lord hath not done?” 4 asks the prophet Amos. “Good things and evil, life and death, poverty and riches are from God,” Solomon proclaims.5 And so on in numerous other passages of Scripture.

Perhaps you will say that while this is true of certain necessary effects, like sickness, death, cold and heat, and other accidents due to natural causes which have no liberty of action―the same cannot be said in the case of things that result from the free will of man. For if―you will object―someone slanders me, robs me, strikes me, persecutes me―how can I attribute his conduct to the will of God Who, far from wishing me to be treated in such a manner, expressly forbids it? So the blame―you will conclude―can only be laid on the will of man, on his ignorance or malice. This is the defense behind which we try to shelter from God and excuse our lack of courage and submission.

It is quite useless for us to try and take advantage of this way of reasoning as an excuse for not surrendering to Providence. God Himself has refuted it and we must believe on His word, that, in events of this kind as in all others, nothing occurs except by His order and permission.

Meditation
There is something in us that is hesitant about trusting God. It is a little like the game that we play, where someone stands behind us, asks us close our eyes, stand straight keeping our feet together, and then tells us to fall backwards, reassuring that they will catch and will not let us hit the floor. Very few people have the necessary trust to be able to do that. It is a little like that with our trust in God―we fear He will not catch us! If we could only have the necessary trust, everything would change!

Everyone suffers. Everyone has crosses. We need to be able to say to God: “Whatever is going on in my life, whatever season I’m going through … I know You are good, I know that You love me and I know I can trust you. Because you are good, I know I can trust you!”

Just because you don’t understand the meaning of a difficult moment doesn’t mean that difficult moment doesn’t have meaning. It is a gift of the Lord to be able to see Him in all our difficult moments and to be able to say: “I trust you!” You don’t have to know where and how God is working in your life right now — you just have to know that God is good, God is just; God is merciful; God is love; God is truth.

God gives the cross to prove to us that He loves us: “For whom the Lord loves, He chastises; and He scourges every son whom He receives!” (Hebrews 12:6). The cross is the key! The cross is the proof! The cross is the answer! When we look at the cross that has just appeared in our lives, we can say: “I am definitively loved! — no matter what happens to me!”

We stop wrestling with God when we know we can totally trust him. That doesn’t mean not having questions, but it means the way in which you ask the questions ceases to be that of someone who is wondering: “Can I trust you?” There will be times when we don’t understand what God is doing. In those moments we can try to understand― the answer comes back to the heart. God is a loving Father. Unfortunately, most people don’t see him as a loving Father.

Prayer for the Father
O Heavenly Father, I thank Thee for fatherhood and earthly fathers, created to be fathers in Thy own image and likeness. They have been entrusted with the responsibility of teaching the Faith, reflecting Thy charity, showing Thy mercy, protecting their families and guiding them along the road to eternal life in Heaven. I thank Thee for my own father whom―despite his failings―Thy Divine Providence has chosen to be my teacher and guide, provider and protector, example and light. I thank Thee, also, for providing us with fatherly shepherds―our priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood is so vital to the Faith of Thy flock.

Though they were all created in Thy image and likeness―they have, like all men since Adam, failed to a greater and lesser degree in their fatherly duties. “Who can say: ‘My heart is clean, I am pure from sin!’?” (Proverbs 20:9) … Who dare say: “I am clean, and without sin! I am unspotted, and there is no iniquity in me!” (Job 33:9) … “There is no just man upon Earth that doth good and sins not!” (Ecclesiastes 7:21) … “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God!” (Romans 3:23).

Grant them the grace to see, acknowledge and confess their mistakes, failings, negligences and sins. Grant me the grace to judge them kindly, remembering Thy words: “Why seest thou the splinter that is in thy brother’s eye; and seest not the plank that is in thy own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother: ‘Let me cast the splinter out of thy eye!’ ― and behold there is a plank in thy own eye? Thou hypocrite! Cast out first the plank in thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the splinter out of thy brother’s eye!” (Matthew 7:3-5).

Help us all―father and child alike―by Thy divine grace, to rise from our falls; to overcome our lukewarmness; to remove our bitterness; to cease our criticisms; to avoid animosity and flee from fault-finding. Enkindle in our hearts the spirit of love; the balm of forgiveness; the peace of reconciliation; and the grace of perseverance. Amen.

Prayer for a Deceased Father
O Lord our God, receive my supplications, prayers and mortifications for the repose of the soul of my father, for whom I make this novena. O merciful Lord, I pray that by the motherly love bestowed upon Thee by Thy most holy Mother, as she followed Thee on the way of sorrow to Mount Calvary, forgive my father any debt for refusing to carry Thy cross throughout his life. By the ignominy of being stripped of Thy clothes upon Calvary, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of immodesty or impurity that my father may have committed in his life. By the excruciating pain of being nailed to the cross, mercifully forgive any debt for sinful attachments that my father may have had to the world, to persons, to places or things. By the humiliation of being raised up on the cross like a criminal, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of pride and refusal of humiliations that my father may have committed. By Thy terrible thirst on the cross, mercifully forgive my father any debt for having thirsted for sinful pleasures and things during his life. By Thy torments on the cross at feeling abandoned by Thy Father, forgive my father any debt for having abandoned Thee during his life. By Thy words to the Good Thief ― “This day thou shall be with Me in Paradise!” ― kindly show my father the joys of Paradise. By Thy gruesome death, kindly show my father the joys of eternal life! Amen.

[Mention Intention]

Pray:
Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Heavenly Father, grant to all fathers the grace to reflect Thy charity and holiness; Thy authority and justice; Thy compassion and mercy; Thy patience and understanding! We ask this of Thee through the Sacred Hearts of Jesus Thy Son and Mary Thy daughter, Amen.

LITANY TO GOD THE FATHER
ON BEHALF OF OUR OWN FATHERS

SEVENTH DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted for each day)
Theme: A Father Must Be a Man Who is Devoted to Our Lady

Holy Scripture

“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, His Mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen His Mother and the disciple [John] standing whom He loved, he said to His Mother: ‘Woman, behold thy son!’ After that, He said to the disciple: ‘Behold thy mother!’ And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own” (John 19:25-27).

Example of God the Father

It was only through Mary that God the Father gave His Only-Begotten to the world. God the Father communicated to Mary His fruitfulness, inasmuch as a mere creature was capable of it, in order that He might give her the power to produce His Son and all the members of His Mystical Body. God the Father made an assemblage of all the waters and He named it the sea (mare). He made an assemblage of all His graces and he called it Mary (Maria). This great God has a most rich treasury in which He has laid up all that He has of beauty and splendor, of rarity and preciousness―including even His own Son―and this immense treasury is none other than Mary, whom the saints have named the Treasure of the Lord, out of whose plenitude all men are made rich. Just as in the natural and corporal generation of children there are a father and a mother, so in the supernatural and spiritual generation there are a Father, who is God, and a Mother, who is Mary. All the true children of God, the predestinate, have God for their Father and Mary for their Mother. He who has not Mary for his Mother, has not God for his Father.

Words of Our Lady

The Blessed Virgin herself revealed to St. Bridget: “I am the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of Mercy; I am the joy of the just, and the gate of entrance for sinners to God; neither is there living on Earth a sinner who is so accursed that he is deprived of my compassion―for everyone, if he receives nothing else through my intercession, receives the grace of being less tempted by evil spirits than he otherwise would be. No one, therefore, who is not entirely accursed [by which is meant the final and irrevocable malediction pronounced against the damned], is so entirely cast-off by God, that he may not return and enjoy His mercy, if he invokes my aid. I am called by all the Mother of Mercy, and truly the mercy of God towards men has made me so merciful towards them.” And then Our Lady concluded by saying: “Therefore, he shall be miserable, and forever miserable in another life, who in this life, being able to do so, does not have recourse to me, who am so compassionate to all, and so earnestly desire to aid sinners.” (quoted by St. Alphonsus Liguori, Glories of Mary).

Reading (from True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort)

It was through the most holy Virgin Mary that Jesus came into the world, and it is also through her that He has to reign in the world. Mary is the excellent masterpiece of the Most High―Mary is the admirable Mother of the Son―Mary is the faithful spouse of the Holy Ghost. The Son of God became man for our salvation―but it was in Mary and by Mary. Jesus Christ gave more glory to God the Father by submission to His Mother, during those thirty years, than He would have given Him in converting the whole world, by the working of the most stupendous miracles. If, as is certain, the knowledge and the kingdom of Jesus Christ are to come into the world, they will be but a necessary consequence of the knowledge and the kingdom of the most holy Virgin Mary, who brought Him into the world for the first time, and will make His second Advent full of splendor.

St. Augustine―surpassing himself, and going beyond all I have yet said―affirms that all the predestinate, in order to be conformed to the image of the Son of God, are in this world hidden in the womb of the most holy Virgin, where they are guarded, nourished, brought up and made to grow by that good Mother, until she has brought them forth to glory after death, which is properly the day of their birth, as the Church calls the death of the just. The Most High has made Mary the sole treasurer of His treasures and the sole dispenser of His graces. Devotion to the Virgin Mary is necessary to all men simply for working out their salvation. When Mary has struck her roots in a soul, she produces there marvels of grace, which she alone can produce, because she alone is the fruitful Virgin who never has had, and never will have, her equal in purity and in fruitfulness. Mary has produced, together with the Holy Ghost, the greatest thing which has been or ever will be—a God Man; and she will consequently produce the greatest saints that there will be in the end of time. The formation and the education of the great saints who shall come at the end of the world are reserved for her.

Meditation
(From The Secret of Mary by St. Louis de Montfort)

Chosen soul, living image of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, God wants you to become holy like Him in this life, and glorious like Him in the next (Matthew 5:48).

It is certain that growth in the holiness of God is your vocation. All your thoughts, words, actions, everything you suffer or undertake, must lead you towards that end. Otherwise you are resisting God, in not doing the work for which He created you and for which He is even now keeping you in being. What a marvelous transformation is possible! Dust into light, uncleanness into purity, sinfulness into holiness, creature into Creator, man into God! A marvelous work, I repeat, so difficult in itself, and even impossible for a mere creature to bring about, for only God can accomplish it by giving His grace abundantly and in an extraordinary manner. The very creation of the universe is not as great an achievement as this.

Chosen soul, how will you bring this about? What steps will you take to reach the high level to which God is calling you? The means of holiness and salvation are known to everybody, since they are found in the Gospel; the masters of the spiritual life have explained them; the saints have practiced them and shown how essential they are for those who wish to be saved and attain perfection. These means are: sincere humility, unceasing prayer, complete self-denial, abandonment to divine Providence, and obedience to the will of God.

The grace and help of God are absolutely necessary for us to practice all these, but we are sure that grace will be given to all, though not in the same measure. I say “not in the same measure,” because God does not give His graces in equal measure to everyone (Romans 12:6), although in His infinite goodness He always gives sufficient grace to each. A person who corresponds to great graces performs great works, and one who corresponds to lesser graces performs lesser works. The value and high standard of our actions corresponds to the value and perfection of the grace given by God and responded to by the faithful soul. No one can contest these principles. It all comes to this, then. We must discover a simple means to obtain from God the grace needed to become holy. It is precisely this I wish to teach you. My contention is that you must first discover Mary if you would obtain this grace from God.

Prayer for the Father
O Heavenly Father, I thank Thee for fatherhood and earthly fathers, created to be fathers in Thy own image and likeness. They have been entrusted with the responsibility of teaching the Faith, reflecting Thy charity, showing Thy mercy, protecting their families and guiding them along the road to eternal life in Heaven. I thank Thee for my own father whom―despite his failings―Thy Divine Providence has chosen to be my teacher and guide, provider and protector, example and light. I thank Thee, also, for providing us with fatherly shepherds―our priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood is so vital to the Faith of Thy flock.

Though they were all created in Thy image and likeness―they have, like all men since Adam, failed to a greater and lesser degree in their fatherly duties. “Who can say: ‘My heart is clean, I am pure from sin!’?” (Proverbs 20:9) … Who dare say: “I am clean, and without sin! I am unspotted, and there is no iniquity in me!” (Job 33:9) … “There is no just man upon Earth that doth good and sins not!” (Ecclesiastes 7:21) … “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God!” (Romans 3:23).

Grant them the grace to see, acknowledge and confess their mistakes, failings, negligences and sins. Grant me the grace to judge them kindly, remembering Thy words: “Why seest thou the splinter that is in thy brother’s eye; and seest not the plank that is in thy own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother: ‘Let me cast the splinter out of thy eye!’ ― and behold there is a plank in thy own eye? Thou hypocrite! Cast out first the plank in thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the splinter out of thy brother’s eye!” (Matthew 7:3-5).

Help us all―father and child alike―by Thy divine grace, to rise from our falls; to overcome our lukewarmness; to remove our bitterness; to cease our criticisms; to avoid animosity and flee from fault-finding. Enkindle in our hearts the spirit of love; the balm of forgiveness; the peace of reconciliation; and the grace of perseverance. Amen.

Prayer for a Deceased Father
O Lord our God, receive my supplications, prayers and mortifications for the repose of the soul of my father, for whom I make this novena. O merciful Lord, I pray that by the motherly love bestowed upon Thee by Thy most holy Mother, as she followed Thee on the way of sorrow to Mount Calvary, forgive my father any debt for refusing to carry Thy cross throughout his life. By the ignominy of being stripped of Thy clothes upon Calvary, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of immodesty or impurity that my father may have committed in his life. By the excruciating pain of being nailed to the cross, mercifully forgive any debt for sinful attachments that my father may have had to the world, to persons, to places or things. By the humiliation of being raised up on the cross like a criminal, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of pride and refusal of humiliations that my father may have committed. By Thy terrible thirst on the cross, mercifully forgive my father any debt for having thirsted for sinful pleasures and things during his life. By Thy torments on the cross at feeling abandoned by Thy Father, forgive my father any debt for having abandoned Thee during his life. By Thy words to the Good Thief ― “This day thou shall be with Me in Paradise!” ― kindly show my father the joys of Paradise. By Thy gruesome death, kindly show my father the joys of eternal life! Amen.

[Mention Intention]

Pray:
Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Heavenly Father, grant to all fathers the grace to reflect Thy charity and holiness; Thy authority and justice; Thy compassion and mercy; Thy patience and understanding! We ask this of Thee through the Sacred Hearts of Jesus Thy Son and Mary Thy daughter, Amen.

LITANY TO GOD THE FATHER
ON BEHALF OF OUR OWN FATHERS

EIGHTH DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted for each day)
Theme: A Father Must Be a Man Who is Devoted to the Holy Mass

Holy Scripture

“Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the Flesh of the Son of man, and drink His Blood, you shall not have life in you! He that eats My flesh, and drinks My Blood, has everlasting life and I will raise him up in the last day! For My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed! He that eats My flesh, and drinks My Blood, abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:54-56).

To many Catholics for whom the sacred ritual of the Holy Mass has become only a routine, it comes as a startling revelation that the prayers and gestures of the Holy Sacrifice find their origin in the divine worship mandated by and offered to Almighty God in the Sacred Scriptures. Many a Bible reader will find great joy in this discovery.

Words of Popes and Saints

Pope Paul V (1605-1621): “The Mass is the most perfect form of prayer!”

St. Jerome (347-420), Doctor of the Church: “Without doubt, the Lord grants all favors which are asked of Him in Mass, provided they be fitting for us; and, which is a matter of great wonder, often times He also grants that also which is not demanded of Him, if we, on our part, put no obstacle in the way.”

St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Doctor of the Church: “He who devoutly hears Holy Mass will receive a great vigor to enable him to resist mortal sin, and there shall be pardoned to him all venial sins which he may have committed up to that hour.”

St. Leonard of Port Maurice (1676-1751): “The principal excellence of the most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass consists in being essentially identical with that which was offered on the Cross of Calvary―with this sole difference that the Sacrifice on the Cross was bloody, and made once for all; while the Sacrifice of the altar is an unbloody sacrifice, which can be repeated an infinite number of times ... I believe that were it not for the Holy Mass, as this moment the world would be in the abyss, unable to bear up under the mighty load of its iniquities. The Mass is the potent prop that holds the world on its base! … What graces, gifts and virtues the Holy Mass calls down ... repentance for sin ... victory over temptation ... holy inspirations which dispositions to shake off tepidity ... the grace of final perseverance, upon which depends our salvation ... temporal blessings, such as peace, abundance and health!”

St. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars, (1786-1859): “If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy! … There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us!”

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968): “It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass!”

Reading
(from The Hidden Treasure of the Holy Mass by St. Leonard of Port Maurice)

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the sun of Christianity, the soul of Faith, the centre of the Catholic religion. The sole sacrifice which we have in our holy religion, that is to say, Holy Mass, is a sacrifice, holy, perfect, in every point complete, with which each one of the faithful nobly honors God, protesting at one and the same time his own nothingness and the supreme dominion which God has over him. The principal excellence of the most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass consists in being essentially, and in the very highest degree, identical with that which was offered on the Cross of Calvary.

Therefore, in the Mass there is made not a mere representation, nor a simple commemoration of the Passion and Death of the Redeemer, but there is performed, in a certain true sense, the selfsame most holy act which was performed on Calvary. It may be said, with all truth, that in every Mass Our Redeemer returns mystically to die for us, without really dying. It seems to me impossible for a religious function to possess a prerogative more excellent than this of the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. If there were no sun to shine on the world, what would it be? All darkness, horror, barrenness, and misery supreme. And if there were not Holy Mass in the world? O unhappy race!

Meditation
(from The Hidden Treasure of the Holy Mass by St. Leonard of Port Maurice)

What say you, then? Will you ever dare, from this time forward, to be at Mass sitting, talking, looking here and there, perhaps even sleeping, or content yourselves with reciting some vocal prayers, without at all taking to heart the tremendous office of priest which you are exercising? Now, tell me whether, when you enter church to hear Mass, you thoroughly well consider that you are going up as it were to Calvary, to be present at the death of the Redeemer.

If so, would you go with behavior so unsubdued, with dress so flaunting? If Mary Magdalene had gone to Calvary, to the foot of the Cross, all dressed out, perfumed, and adorned, as when she associated with her lovers, what would have been said of her? What, then, shall be said of you who go to Holy Mass as if you were going to a ball? But what shall be said if you profane those functions of most dread sanctity with nods and becks, with tattle, with laughter, with the petty attentions of courtship, or with graver sacrileges of thought, word, or deed? Wickedness is hideous at any time, and in any place; but sins committed during the time of Mass, and before the altar, draw down after them the curse of God.

Prayer for the Father
O Heavenly Father, I thank Thee for fatherhood and earthly fathers, created to be fathers in Thy own image and likeness. They have been entrusted with the responsibility of teaching the Faith, reflecting Thy charity, showing Thy mercy, protecting their families and guiding them along the road to eternal life in Heaven. I thank Thee for my own father whom―despite his failings―Thy Divine Providence has chosen to be my teacher and guide, provider and protector, example and light. I thank Thee, also, for providing us with fatherly shepherds―our priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood is so vital to the Faith of Thy flock.

Though they were all created in Thy image and likeness―they have, like all men since Adam, failed to a greater and lesser degree in their fatherly duties. “Who can say: ‘My heart is clean, I am pure from sin!’?” (Proverbs 20:9) … Who dare say: “I am clean, and without sin! I am unspotted, and there is no iniquity in me!” (Job 33:9) … “There is no just man upon Earth that doth good and sins not!” (Ecclesiastes 7:21) … “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God!” (Romans 3:23).

Grant them the grace to see, acknowledge and confess their mistakes, failings, negligences and sins. Grant me the grace to judge them kindly, remembering Thy words: “Why seest thou the splinter that is in thy brother’s eye; and seest not the plank that is in thy own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother: ‘Let me cast the splinter out of thy eye!’ ― and behold there is a plank in thy own eye? Thou hypocrite! Cast out first the plank in thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the splinter out of thy brother’s eye!” (Matthew 7:3-5).

Help us all―father and child alike―by Thy divine grace, to rise from our falls; to overcome our lukewarmness; to remove our bitterness; to cease our criticisms; to avoid animosity and flee from fault-finding. Enkindle in our hearts the spirit of love; the balm of forgiveness; the peace of reconciliation; and the grace of perseverance. Amen.

Prayer for a Deceased Father
O Lord our God, receive my supplications, prayers and mortifications for the repose of the soul of my father, for whom I make this novena. O merciful Lord, I pray that by the motherly love bestowed upon Thee by Thy most holy Mother, as she followed Thee on the way of sorrow to Mount Calvary, forgive my father any debt for refusing to carry Thy cross throughout his life. By the ignominy of being stripped of Thy clothes upon Calvary, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of immodesty or impurity that my father may have committed in his life. By the excruciating pain of being nailed to the cross, mercifully forgive any debt for sinful attachments that my father may have had to the world, to persons, to places or things. By the humiliation of being raised up on the cross like a criminal, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of pride and refusal of humiliations that my father may have committed. By Thy terrible thirst on the cross, mercifully forgive my father any debt for having thirsted for sinful pleasures and things during his life. By Thy torments on the cross at feeling abandoned by Thy Father, forgive my father any debt for having abandoned Thee during his life. By Thy words to the Good Thief ― “This day thou shall be with Me in Paradise!” ― kindly show my father the joys of Paradise. By Thy gruesome death, kindly show my father the joys of eternal life! Amen.

[Mention Intention]

Pray:
Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Heavenly Father, grant to all fathers the grace to reflect Thy charity and holiness; Thy authority and justice; Thy compassion and mercy; Thy patience and understanding! We ask this of Thee through the Sacred Hearts of Jesus Thy Son and Mary Thy daughter, Amen.

LITANY TO GOD THE FATHER
ON BEHALF OF OUR OWN FATHERS

NINTH DAY OF THE NOVENA (new meditations posted for each day)
Theme: A Father Must be a Man Who Wants to Be a Saint

Holy Scripture

“All are called to be saints” (Romans 1:7).

“He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in His sight in charity” (Ephesians 1:4).

“We know that to them that love God, all things work together unto good, to such as, according to His purpose, are called to be saints” (Romans 8:28).

“Without holiness no man shall see God” (Hebrews 12:14).

The Words of God the Father

“I am the Almighty God! Walk before Me and be perfect!” (Genesis 17:1).

“You shall be holy men to Me!” (Exodus 22:31).

“Be a holy people of the Lord thy God!” (Deuteronomy 26:19).

“You shall be holy unto Me, because I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from other people, that you should be Mine!” (Leviticus 20:26).

“Sanctify yourselves, and be ye holy because I am the Lord your God!” (Leviticus 20:7).

“Let them therefore be holy, because I also am holy, the Lord, Who sanctify them!” (Leviticus 21:8).

The Words of the Saints

St. Alphonsus Liguori, in The Way of Salvation and of Perfection, writes: “One thing is necessary! The salvation of our souls. It is not necessary to be great, noble, or rich in this world, or to enjoy uninterrupted health; but it is necessary to save our souls. For this has God placed us here: not to acquire honors, riches, or pleasures, but to acquire by our good works that eternal kingdom which is prepared for those who, during this present life, fight against and overcome the enemies of their eternal salvation” (The Way of Salvation and of Perfection, Part 1, Meditation 17).

“Chosen soul, living image of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, God wants you to become holy like Him in this life, and glorious like Him in the next. It is certain that growth in the holiness of God is your vocation. All your thoughts, words, actions, everything you suffer or undertake, must lead you towards that end. Otherwise you are resisting God, in not doing the work for which He created you and for which He is even now keeping you in being.” (St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of Mary).

The Words of Popes and Theologians

“There are some who seem to think that it is sufficient to be saved and that it is not necessary to be a saint. It is clearly not necessary to be a saint who performs miracles, and whose sanctity is officially recognized by the Church. To be saved, we must take the way of salvation, which is identical with that of sanctity. There will be only saints in Heaven, whether they enter there immediately after death, or after purification in Purgatory. No one enters Heaven unless he has that sanctity which consists in perfect purity of soul. Every sin—though it should be only venial—must be effaced, and the punishment due to sin must be borne or remitted, in order that a soul may enjoy forever the vision of God, see Him as He sees Himself, and love Him as He loves Himself. Should a soul enter Heaven before the total remission of its sins, it could not remain there and it would cast itself into Purgatory to be purified.” (Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, The Three Ages of the Interior Life).

Reading

If personal holiness is thought of as being a name at the top of a list, it is understood wrong. If it is thought of as something that merits a feast in the Church’s calendar, it is understood wrong. If it is thought of as something to which is attached the power of working miracles, it is understood wrong. There is nothing “superior” — in the sense of being one up on everybody else — about it.

The way to think of sanctity is as something that, by being generous and faithful to grace, gives back to God the love He has given to the soul. So it is for God’s sake, more than for our own, that we should want to be saints. We work away at holiness not because we are ambitious, and want to be experts in a particular kind of lofty career, but because God wants us to be saints and is praised by our striving after sanctity.

Anyone can be holy, or rather act holy, so long as others are saying, “There’s a saint for you,” but sooner or later this sort of holiness wears off. Either the person sees the trap, becomes humble, and goes ahead toward real holiness, or keeping up the act becomes too much of a strain and there’s a swing toward worldliness and perhaps to a lasting unholiness. The whole secret of sanctity is that it is a thing of grace, and so cannot be switched on as a part to be played.

This means that however determined you are to be a saint, you will not become one if you rely on your own strength of mind. The only thing that can get you to sanctity is God’s grace. You will need all the strength of mind you have just to work together with God’s grace, but if you imagine that making good, strong resolutions will carry you the whole way, you are wrong. About the first thing to happen will be that God lets you break some of those good, strong resolutions before you get properly started. This will be to put you in your place, and show you that you can do nothing without Him.

Once you are decently humbled, knowing that left to yourself you cannot even carry out the things that you very much want to carry out, you are getting ready to be used. You are being softened up like a steak. When all the toughness and pride and glamorized ideas of holiness have been beaten out of you by the down-to-earth action of truth, then God has got something there on which He can work. Without false notions and fancy plans, you can now begin to fall in with the true notions of holiness and with the plan God has in mind for you.

It stands to reason. God is not going to reward anyone else’s work but His own. You cannot expect Him to recognize a holiness that He has done nothing to bring about. When you get right down to it, there is only one real goodness, one perfection, one sanctity, and that is God’s. When man invents a holiness of his own, God lets him look for it but does not help him find it, because a holiness of one’s own does not exist, and it is a waste of time searching for it. It is as if someone were to look for moonlight without the moon. Once you admit that all moonlight is bound to come from one particular place, and that it is a thing you cannot make yourself, you have learned something.

Another thing to notice right at the beginning about holiness is that there is no cut-and-dried pattern about it. It is what God wants out of you, and because you are not exactly the same as anyone else, the holiness that is to be yours will not be exactly like anyone else’s. The model of all holiness is Our Lord, and unless you grow to be like Him, you will never get anywhere in holiness, but this does not mean that all, who follow Him, will end up exactly alike. Our Lord appeals to us in His way, and we answer Him in our way.

Meditation

A thing that is not understood nearly enough is that by rights we all ought to be saints. Such was the original intention in God’s mind. Original Sin came along when our first parents sinned, they lost their God-given holiness and we are all born in a state of unholiness with Original Sin. But by becoming a member of Christ’s Mystical Body, a baptized Christian gets back to the state of being a possible saint.

Or you can look at it this way: if you have ever stood in front of a lot of distorting mirrors at a fair, you will remember what a relief it was to see yourself at the end of it in an ordinary one. You may not look as perfect as you would like to look, but at least you do not look as terrible as you did in the various distorted reflections. You have been made in the image and likeness of God―are you reflecting this holy image and likeness. God would say: “If you work at it, you can become like me in all things. I shall be with you at every step of the way, and will bring out this likeness for you. What you have to do is to trust me completely and not put any obstacles in the way. If you do this, I will take care of the rest.”

Does this sound too fanciful? Well, it is not exaggerated when you look at some of the things Scripture actually says. “This is the will of God―your sanctification” (1Thessalonians 4:3). “Be you therefore perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). These latter words are Christ’s, and He never said anything He did not mean. He was telling us, quite simply, to be saints. It is a wonderful thing to realize that you are, at this moment, a potential saint. The big question is this: “What are you going to do about it?” No, it is not enough just to know that―you also have to do something about that! “Faith without works is dead!” (James 2:20). It is not enough just to hear―we have to listen carefully, and then act. This is what St. James has to say about it: “For if a man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own face in a glass. He beheld himself and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was” (James 1:23-24).

At first sight St. James’s illustration seems exaggerated. How could a person study himself in a glass and then not remember what he looked like? But spiritually this is exactly what can happen. People can be shown what their souls are capable of, and what they can do for God if they once get themselves started, and then, because they do not follow up this knowledge with its opportunity and invitation, they can drop the whole thing and never give it another thought.

So you can see how important it is to know as much as possible about the call to sanctity. It is addressed to you personally by God, and you are expected to answer it. Now you are going to try to get out of it by saying, “Why me?” You are going to say that if He is calling you to be a saint, He must be calling everybody, and if so, why are there so few who answer Him? The next thing you will say is that since millions of people do not answer the call to sanctity, and yet manage to get along fairly well, why can you not take your place among the millions? Why do you have to be among the few? The millions may not get to Heaven quite so quickly as the few, but at least they will get there (it is to be hoped) in the end. Might it not be a good thing to stick with the millions? That is the way most people argue.

Unfortunately, Our Lord bursts that over-optimistic bubble: “Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat! How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leads to life―and few there are that find it!” (Matthew 7:13-14). “Not everyone that saith to Me: ‘Lord! Lord!’ shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven: but he that doth the will of My Father, Who is in Heaven, he shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord! Lord! Have not we prophesied in Thy Name, and cast out devils in Thy Name, and done many miracles in Thy Name?’ And then will I profess unto them: ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you that work iniquity!’ Everyone therefore that heareth these My words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock, and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock. And every one that heareth these My words, and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man that built his house upon the sand, and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof!” (Matthew 7:21-27).

The first point to have clearly in your mind is that God wants you to be holy, gives you the grace to be holy, and does not listen to your objections about not wanting to be holier than anyone else. How other people answer the call to holiness is not your business. Look for your own answer, and do not make guesses at what others are doing about theirs. And do not wait to respond to God’s grace. You must have heard how St. Augustine prayed, “Lord, make me good — but not yet” ― he was taking a great risk. You can go on saying “Not yet” for so long that you forget what it was that you prayed for. In the same way, you can go on saying, “I can’t bring myself to take it on,” for so long that you come in the end to believe it — and then, of course, you cease to feel the urge to take it on. So it has to be now; and your attitude has to be this: by God’s grace I can do all things in Him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).

The other point to remember is that becoming holy is not like graduating. From the outside it may look as though there are honors degrees and passing degrees, but in reality the whole thing depends on the degree of love. Granted that you are giving out Charity as generously as you can, you have passed the only test. How so? Because it means that you have got Charity, and Charity is God, and that is sanctity.

Prayer for the Father
O Heavenly Father, I thank Thee for fatherhood and earthly fathers, created to be fathers in Thy own image and likeness. They have been entrusted with the responsibility of teaching the Faith, reflecting Thy charity, showing Thy mercy, protecting their families and guiding them along the road to eternal life in Heaven. I thank Thee for my own father whom―despite his failings―Thy Divine Providence has chosen to be my teacher and guide, provider and protector, example and light. I thank Thee, also, for providing us with fatherly shepherds―our priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood is so vital to the Faith of Thy flock.

Though they were all created in Thy image and likeness―they have, like all men since Adam, failed to a greater and lesser degree in their fatherly duties. “Who can say: ‘My heart is clean, I am pure from sin!’?” (Proverbs 20:9) … Who dare say: “I am clean, and without sin! I am unspotted, and there is no iniquity in me!” (Job 33:9) … “There is no just man upon Earth that doth good and sins not!” (Ecclesiastes 7:21) … “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God!” (Romans 3:23).

Grant them the grace to see, acknowledge and confess their mistakes, failings, negligences and sins. Grant me the grace to judge them kindly, remembering Thy words: “Why seest thou the splinter that is in thy brother’s eye; and seest not the plank that is in thy own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother: ‘Let me cast the splinter out of thy eye!’ ― and behold there is a plank in thy own eye? Thou hypocrite! Cast out first the plank in thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the splinter out of thy brother’s eye!” (Matthew 7:3-5).

Help us all―father and child alike―by Thy divine grace, to rise from our falls; to overcome our lukewarmness; to remove our bitterness; to cease our criticisms; to avoid animosity and flee from fault-finding. Enkindle in our hearts the spirit of love; the balm of forgiveness; the peace of reconciliation; and the grace of perseverance. Amen.

Prayer for a Deceased Father
O Lord our God, receive my supplications, prayers and mortifications for the repose of the soul of my father, for whom I make this novena. O merciful Lord, I pray that by the motherly love bestowed upon Thee by Thy most holy Mother, as she followed Thee on the way of sorrow to Mount Calvary, forgive my father any debt for refusing to carry Thy cross throughout his life. By the ignominy of being stripped of Thy clothes upon Calvary, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of immodesty or impurity that my father may have committed in his life. By the excruciating pain of being nailed to the cross, mercifully forgive any debt for sinful attachments that my father may have had to the world, to persons, to places or things. By the humiliation of being raised up on the cross like a criminal, mercifully forgive any debt for sins of pride and refusal of humiliations that my father may have committed. By Thy terrible thirst on the cross, mercifully forgive my father any debt for having thirsted for sinful pleasures and things during his life. By Thy torments on the cross at feeling abandoned by Thy Father, forgive my father any debt for having abandoned Thee during his life. By Thy words to the Good Thief ― “This day thou shall be with Me in Paradise!” ― kindly show my father the joys of Paradise. By Thy gruesome death, kindly show my father the joys of eternal life! Amen.

[Mention Intention]

Pray:
Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Final Invocation:
O Heavenly Father, grant to all fathers the grace to reflect Thy charity and holiness; Thy authority and justice; Thy compassion and mercy; Thy patience and understanding! We ask this of Thee through the Sacred Hearts of Jesus Thy Son and Mary Thy daughter, Amen.

ACT OF CONSECRATION