February 27th - St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Leander

[Stone]

Novena of Petition Through the Intercession of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

Let us adore and give thanks to God the Father everlasting, Who, of the great love He bore us, was pleased to send His only-begotten Son into the world to suffer and die on the gibbet of the Cross; and let us beseech Him, for the sake of His passion and death and by the intercession of Saint Gabriel, that most loving follower of our crucified Lord, to grant us the favor for which We pray [here mention your request].

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.


Let us adore and give thanks to God the eternal Son, Who, becoming man and dying for us upon the Cross, left us Mary most holy to be our Mother; and let us beseech Him, by the merits of this sorrowful Virgin Mother and by the intercession of Saint Gabriel, who was her most devoted servant, to grant us the favor for which we pray [here mention your request].

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.


Let us adore and give thanks to God the eternal Spirit, Who of His infinite goodness communicates Himself to our souls to make them holy; and let us beseech Him, by the merit of the same divine goodness and by the intercession of Saint Gabriel, who in a special manner shared therein and corresponded thereto, to grant us the favor for which we pray [here mention your request].

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.


V. Pray for us, Saint Gabriel,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.


Let us pray.

O God, Who didst teach blessed Gabriel to have the sorrows of Thy most dear Mother in perpetual remembrance, and through her didst glorify him with the fame of holiness and miracles; grant unto us, by his intercession and example, so to share the sorrows of Thy Mother that we may be saved by her maternal protection: Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

(Indulgence of 300 days)

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Prayer for all Virtues

Shortly after entering the Passionists Saint Gabriel composed this prayer. He was to die but six years later (in 1862), at the age of twenty-four.

Behold me at Thy feet, O Lord, begging for pity and for mercy. What wilt Thou lose in granting me a great love for Thee, deep humility, great purity of heart and mind and body, fraternal charity, intense sorrow for having offended Thee, and the grace to offend Thee no more? What wilt Thou lose, O my God, by enabling me to receive worthily Thy Son in Holy Communion, by assisting me to act through love of Thee in all my thoughts, works, penances, and prayers, by granting me the grace of loving Thy Holy Mother most tenderfully and trustfully, the grace of persevering and of dying a good and holy death?

I am Thy beggar, covered with sores and rags, asking for alms; oh, look upon my misery! Behold my proud head, my cold and stony heart; behold my mind filled with worldly thoughts, my will inclined only to evil, my body rebellious to every good work. Help me, O my God; help me to conquer myself! This I ask through Thine infinite mercy. To obtain it, I offer Thee the merits of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. I have no merits of my own; I am destitute, but His wounds will be my plea. Had I shed my blood for love of Thee, like Thy Son, wouldst Thou not grant me this favor? How much more oughtest Thou to hear me now, since He shed His blood for me?

Thou hast promised in Thy Gospel that whatsoever I request that is good for my soul, Thou wilt grant: "Ask, and you shall receive." Now, as Thou canst not withdraw Thy word, I beseech Thee through Thy infinite goodness, through the heart of Thy Son wounded with love for me, through the infinite charity of Thy Eternal Spirit, through the love Thou bearest to Thy most holy daughter, Mary, and for the honor of the whole heavenly court, into which I ask Thee one day to admit me. Amen.