The Catacombs

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 Ghost,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God,
Have mercy on us.


Exalted model of all mothers,
Pray for us.*
Mother who didst suffer so much,*
Mother poor and without shelter,*
Mother who didst bear along forgotten roads the fruit of thy womb,*
Who didst find no other shelter for thy Son and thy God than a wild cave, and no other cradle than a manger,*
Who didst declare: "I am the Immaculate Conception,*
Who didst appear to an humble peasant girl in order to teach us humility,*
Who wast clad in a white robe to remind us of purity,*
Who didst wear a girdle of blue to remind us of Heaven,*
Who didst tread on a rose bush to remind us of the sufferings we must endure in order to merit Heaven,*
Who didst carry the Rosary to induce us to pray,*
Who hadst thy hands joined and thy eyes raised to Heaven to draw us to penance,*
Who art the Star of Hope,*
Who dost pray to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for us,*
Who dost give strength to the clergy,*
Who dost heal the sick,*
Who art the health of the weak,*
Refuge of sinners,*
Comforter of the afflicted,*

Our Lady of Lourdes, conceived without sin:
Pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world:
Spare its, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world:
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world:
Have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us,

V. Pray for us, Our Lady of Lourdes, Holy Mother of God:
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin didst prepare a worthy habitation for Thy Son: we humbly beseech Thee, that we who celebrate the feast of the Apparition of the same holy Virgin, may obtain health both of soul and body. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.





O Holy Mary, Mother of God, who to reanimate the faith of the world and draw men to thy divine Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, didst deign to appear at Lourdes; thou who, in order to render more manifest thy maternal tenderness, and to inspire our hearts with greater confidence, didst choose a simple little child as the confidant of thy mercy; thou who didst say: "I am the Immaculate Conception" to make us understand the priceless value of that innocence which is the pledge of the friendship of God; thou who by eighteen successive apparitions didst not cease by thy actions and words to urge men to prayer and penance, which alone can appease Heaven and ward off the blows of divine justice; thou who, by a moving appeal to the world, hast reunited before the miraculous grotto an innumerable multitude of thy children; behold us, Our Lady of Lourdes, prostrate at thy feet, and confident of obtaining blessings and graces from God by thy most powerful intercession. Those who love thee, O Mother of Jesus Christ, Mother of men, desire above everything to serve God faithfully in this world, so as to have the happiness of loving Him eternally in Heaven. Listen to the prayers which we this day address to thee; defend us against the enemies of our salvation, and against our own infirmities; together with the pardon of our sins, obtain for us perseverance in the determination never to fall away again. We implore thee also to take under thy protection our friends and benefactors, and of these in a very special manner those who have abandoned the practice of their christian duties. May they be converted and become thy faithful servants. Amen.