NOVENA TO ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA (1491-1556) – JULY 26, 2020

NOVENA TO ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA (1491-1556) – JULY 26, 2020

We celebrate the Feast of the Founder of the Society of Jesus (also known as the Jesuits), St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) on July 31, 2020. Today is the fifth day of a nine day Novena to this great saint to ask him to intercede for us.

You may make any petition you want or pray for a grace that you are seeking.

Every day, I will put up a new reflection on his life.

OPENING PRAYER: Lord, teach us to be generous. Teach us to love you and serve you as you deserve. To give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour and not to look for reward, save that of knowing that we do your most holy will.

IN SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE MOST IN NEED: One of the most painful experiences of this year was the COVID-19 pandemic. While every one of us was affected in some way or other, the poor were affected the most. They were tossed to and fro not only by the pandemic but even by those in power. To be sure, we are all in the same storm of the pandemic, but we are in different boats. Will we make place for the poor in our sturdy and safe boats?

PRAYER: God of the poor and marginalised, Mary and Joseph were refugees themselves when they sought a place to bring their child into the world. Jesus was a ‘migrant’ who had “nowhere to lay his head.” We pray for those in authority all over the world that they be given the grace to open their hearts and minds to the reality of displacement and be generous with accommodating as many as possible. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

CLOSING PRAYER: Take Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my entire will. You have given them to me, to you I return them. Give me only your love and your grace that is enough for me