July 11 is the Feast Day of St. Benedict. The faithful are encouraged to offer a novena prayer to this great saint, the Patron of Monastic Life.
Daily Prayer
Glorious St. Benedict who taught us the way to perfection by the practice of mortification, humility, obedience, prayer, silence, and detachment from the world, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present needs under your special protection (here make your request). Recommend it to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus. Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. Above all, obtain for me the grace to meet God face to face with you, Mary, and all the angels and saints to praise Him through all eternity. O most powerful St. Benedict, do not let me lose my soul, but obtain for me the grace of winning my way to heaven and there worship and enjoy the most holy and adorable Trinity forever and ever. Amen.
FIRST DAY
You spent your early days in the university studying to be someone in the world, but all these you left behind, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to seek solitude in the mountains of Subiaco, Italy. You lived in a cave and survived by eating root crops and other food available in those mountains. You searched for God and God also found you. Inspire us, dear saint, to understand that God is within us and we can only encounter him in the silence of our hearts. Make us aware that the noise within us keeps us away from God—the noise of our ambition, love for money, and honor. Wherever we are, we can silence this noise. Help us, dear saint, to obtain silence within us. Amen.
(3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be
St. Benedict, pray for us.
SECOND DAY
You attracted followers to whom you gave a rule known for its moderation. You, St. Benedict, became a father to many monasteries and monks through this rule where you emphasized that the monastery is for people who want to change their bad habits into good. Make us aware of our bad habits and inspire us not to be comfortable with them. Our bad habits, dear saint, will keep us away from Jesus and ingrain in us the power of sin. O dear St. Benedict, help us that we may work for the transformation of our bad habits. Amen.
(3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be
St. Benedict, pray for us.
THIRD DAY
O dear St. Benedict, because of your work as a father in the monasteries, certain evil people wanted to poison you. You did not want to compromise the monastic ideals of silence and mortification; yet to their amazement, you drunk their poison and nothing happened to you. Jesus protected you. We live in a world today that is heavily poisoned by pollution and degradation of our forests and seas. Make us sensitive to the presence of these poisons and give us the wisdom not to be blinded by progress and easy money. Inspire us to contribute our part in making our world a better place to live in. Amen.
(3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be
St. Benedict, pray for us.
FOURTH DAY
O dear St. Benedict, you understood prayer as basking in God’s presence, experiencing his loving hands in our day-to-day struggle. While you worked in the fields, your heart sang hymns to your creator and you offered him a constant prayer of thanksgiving. May we imitate you in your unending prayer to the Most High. Wherever we go and whatever we do, may we remember Jesus and offer him our thanksgiving. Amen.
(3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be
St. Benedict, pray for us.
FIFTH DAY
O dear St. Benedict, despite your material poverty, you were always mindful of the poor and the needy. From the little produce of your monastery, you happily shared something for the poor who knocked daily at your door. Through you, the hungry had always their fill. May we learn from your charity and open our doors to those unprivileged. Inspire us to understand that our faith’s best expression is the help we extend to the needy. Amen.
(3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be
St. Benedict, pray for us.
SIXTH DAY
O dear St. Benedict, you showed us that if we want to be close to God, we must be able to discipline ourselves. You taught your disciples how to mortify their senses, control their passions and thoughts so that Jesus can live in their hearts and minds. You emphasized that sanctification begins in our minds when we are able to distinguish the impure thoughts that lead us to sin. We ask your help, St. Benedict, that we may always be able to stop these deadly thoughts from influencing us, that we may not entertain them. Lead us to purification of mind and heart. Amen.
(3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be
St. Benedict, pray for us.
SEVENTH DAY
O dear St. Benedict, you taught your followers to welcome visitors as if they were Christ in his person. Your rule of hospitality enabled you to treat with respect strangers and offer for them the warmth of your welcome. Teach us to be welcoming in our homes, to treat our guests with respect, and enable them to feel the warmth of Christ’s embrace. Teach us to develop a listening ear that our guests and visitors may easily feel that we are authentically interested in their welfare and well-being. Make our homes a place where the sorrowful may encounter relief of their sufferings. Amen.
(3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be
St. Benedict, pray for us.
EIGHT DAY
O dear St. Benedict, for you the highest kind of prayer is when you kneel in silence and, uttering just one word, you come into contact with Jesus himself. You established monasteries that they may become the birthplace of contemplatives, people who in silence utter your name and experience your presence in their hearts. Teach us this kind of prayer, when your presence becomes everything. Enable us to be contemplatives, who put our utter trust in Jesus and who really believe that God’s Kingdom is already in our midst. Amen.
(3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be
St. Benedict, pray for us.
NINTH DAY
O dear St. Benedict, you taught your followers to stand always in awe and wonder at creation. Help us that we may not lose this sense of wonder, and that in everything we do, we may always give thanks to God. Let not the tragedies and sorrows of this life make us pessimistic and dry. Allow us to discover that all problems are challenges and that the future is always bright and promising despite the sad things we see around us. Give us the energy to work hard so that God’s will may be implanted in our homes and society. Amen.
(3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be
St. Benedict, pray for us.
Litany to St. Benedict
Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on 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.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.
Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for us.
Holy Father, Saint Benedict, pray for us.
Father most reverend, pray for us.
Father most renowned, pray for us.
Father most compassionate, pray for us.
Man of great fortitude, pray for us.
Man of venerable life, pray for us.
Man of the most holy conversation, pray for us.
True servant of God, pray for us.
Light of devotion, pray for us.
Light of prayer, pray for us.
Light of contemplation, pray for us.
Star of the world, pray for us.
Best master of an austere life, pray for us.
Leader of the holy warfare, pray for us.
Leader and chief of monks, pray for us.
Master of those who die to the world, pray for us.
Protector of those who cry to thee, pray for us.
Wonderful worker of miracles, pray for us.
Revealer of the secrets of the human heart, pray for us.
Master of spiritual discipline, pray for us.
Companion of the patriarchs, pray for us.
Equal of the prophets, pray for us.
Follower of the Apostles, pray for us.
Teacher of Martyrs, pray for us.
Father of many pontiffs, pray for us.
Gem of abbots, pray for us.
Glory of Confessors, pray for us.
Imitator of anchorites, pray for us.
Associate of virgins, pray for us.
Colleague of all the Saints, pray for us.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, o Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, o Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
V. Intercede for us, O holy father Saint Benedict,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray: O God, Who hast called us from the vanity of the world, and Who dost incite us to the reward of a heavenly vocation under the guidance of our holy patriarch and founder, Saint Benedict, inspire and purify our hearts and pour forth on us Thy grace, whereby we may persevere in Thee. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
Prayer To St. Benedict
O glorious St. Benedict, sublime model of all virtues, pure vessel of God's grace! Behold me, humbly kneeling at thy feet. I implore thy loving heart to pray for me before the throne of God. To thee I have recourse in all the dangers which daily surround me. Shield me against my enemies. Inspire me to imitate thee in all things. May thy blessing be with me always, so that I may shun whatever God forbids and avoid the occasions of sin.
Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces of which I stand so much in need, in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life. Thy heart was always so full of love, compassion, and mercy towards those who were afflicted or troubled in any way. Thou didst never dismiss without consolation and assistance any one who had recourse to thee. I therefore invoke thy powerful intercession, in the confident hope that thou wilt hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I so earnestly implore (mention your petition), if it be for the greater glory of God and the welfare of my soul. Help me, o great St. Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to be ever submissive to His holy will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven. Amen.
