Here in Canada, we celebrate the feast of the Canadian Martyrs on September 26th, so the novena to them begins today. Our Dominion could certainly use their intercession, so I urge readers to join in praying to these holy men who brought the Faith to this land, and gave their lives in witness to the Truth. Providential, that the novena begins on this feast (in Poland) of Saint Stanislaus Kostka, a Jesuit novice and scholastic who died at the age of 17, just as he was beginning his vocation. But he had already come a long way, and, as the young saint prayed and hoped, Our Lady took him to heaven early in the morning of the Solemnity of her Assumption, in 1568. His universal feast is on November 13th, and we will have more to say of him then.
We will also say more of the Martyrs on their feast, but feel free to peruse our previous post, as we pilgrimage together spiritually through the novena, and here it be:
Novena Prayer to the Canadian Martyrs
Holy Martyrs and patrons,
protect this land which you have blessed
by the shedding of your blood.
Renew in these days our Catholic faith
which you helped to establish in this new land.
Bring all our fellow citizens
to a knowledge and love of the truth.
Make us zealous in the profession of our faith
so that we may continue and perfect the work
which you have begun with so much labour and suffering.
Pray for our homes, our schools,
our missions, for vocations,
for the conversion of sinners,
the return of those who have wandered from the fold,
and the perseverance of all the faithful.
And foster a deeper and increasing unity among all Christians.
Amen.
PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH
(Patron of the Martyrs and of Canada)
O God,
who in your special Providence
deigned to choose blessed Joseph
to be the spouse of your holy Mother,
grant, we beseech you,
that we may deserve to have him
as our intercessor in heaven
whom we venerate on earth as our protector;
You who live and reign world without end.
Amen.
PRAYER TO OUR LADY
Glorious Queen of Martyrs,
to whom the early missionaries of this country
were so devoted and from whom they received so many favours,
graciously listen to my petition.
Ask your Divine Son to remember all they did for His glory.
Remind Him that they preached the Gospel
and made His Holy Name known to thousands
who had never heard of Him,
and then for Him had their apostolic labors
crowned by shedding their blood.
Exercise your motherly influence as you did at Cana,
and implore Him to grant me what I ask in this novena,
if it be according to His holy will.
Amen.
NOVENA PRAYER
O God,
who by the preaching and the blood of your blessed Martyrs,
John and Isaac and their companions,
consecrated the first fruits of the faith
in the vast regions of North America,
graciously grant that by their intercession
the flourishing harvest of Christians
may be everywhere and always increased.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
PRAYER OF PETITION
O God,
who inflamed the hearts of your blessed Martyrs
with an admirable zeal for the salvation of souls,
grant me, I beseech you,
my petitions and all the requests recommended here today,
so that the favours obtained through their intercession
may make manifest before men
the power and the glory of your name.
Amen.
St. John de Brébeuf,
pray for us.
St. Isaac Jogues,
pray for us.
St. Gabriel Lalemant,
pray for us.
St. Anthony Daniel,
pray for us
St. Charles Garnier,
pray for us.
St. Noël Chabanel,
pray for us.
St. René Goupil,
pray for us.
St. John de la Lande,
pray for us.
Holy Mary, Queen of Martyrs, pray for us.