"For my father and my mother have left me: but the Lord hath taken me up." --Psalm 26:10
Nine consecutive days of prayer asking
Blessed Margaret of
Castello's intercession with God for
our needs.
FIRST DAY
O Blessed Margaret of Castello, in embracing your life just as it was, you gave us an example of resignation to the Will of God. In so accepting God's Will, you knew that you would glorify God, grow in virtue, save your own soul, and help the souls of your neighbors. Obtain for me the grace to recognize the Will of God in all that may happen to me in my life, and so to resign myself to it. Obtain for me also the special favor which I now ask through your intercession with God.
Let us pray
O God, by whose Will the blessed virgin, Margaret, was blind from birth, that the eyes of her mind being imvardly enlightened, she might think without ceasing on thee alone, be the light of our eyes, that we may be able to flee the shadows of this world and reach the home of never ending light. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, glorify Thy servant
Blessed Margaret by granting the favor we so ardently desire. This
we ask in humble submission to God's Will, for His honor and glory and
the salvation of souls.
(Say one
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be to the Father after
each day's prayer)
SECOND DAY
O Blessed Margaret of Castello, in
reflecting so deeply upon the sufferings and death of our Crucified Lord,
you learned courage and gained the grace to bear your own afflictions.
Obtain for me the grace and courage that I so urgently need so as to be
able to bear my infirmities and endure my afflictions in union with our
Suffering Savior. Obtain for me also the special favor which I now ask
through you intercession with God.
Let us pray:
O God, etc.
THIRD DAY
O Blessed Margaret of Castello, your
love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was intense and enduring.
It was there, in intimacy with the Divine Presence, that you found the
spiritual strength to accept sufferings with cheerful serenity, patience,
and kindness toward others. Obtain for me the grace to draw from this same
Source, as from an inexhaustible font, the strength whereby I may be kind
and understanding of everyone, despite whatever pain or discomfort may
come my way. Obtain for me also the special favor which I now ask through
your intercession with God.
Let us pray:
O God, etc.
FOURTH DAY
O Blessed Margaret of Castello, you
unceasingly turned to God in prayer with confidence and trust in His fatherly
love. It was only through continual prayer that you were able to accept
your misfortunes, to be serene, patient, and at peace. Obtain for me the
grace to persevere in my prayer, confident that God will give me the help
to carry whatever cross comes into my life. Obtain for me also the special
favor which I now ask through your intercession with God.
Let us pray:
O God, etc.
FIFTH DAY
O Blessed Margaret of Castello, in
imitation of the Child Jesus, who was subject to Mary and Joseph, you obeyed
your father and mother, overlooking their unnatural harshness. Obtain for
me that same attitude of obedience toward all those who have legitimate
authority over me, most especially toward the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
Obtain for me also the special favor which I now ask through your intercession
with God.
Let us pray:
O God, etc.
SIXTH DAY
O Blessed Margaret of Castello, your
miseries taught you better than any teacher the weakness and frailty of
human nature. Obtain for me the grace to recognize my human limitations
and to acknowledge my utter dependence upon God. Acquire for me that abandonment
which leaves me completely at the mercy of God, to do with me whatsoever
He wills. Obtain for me also the special favor which I now ask through
your intercession with God.
Let us pray:
O God, etc.
SEVENTH DAY
O Blessed Margaret of Castello, you
could so easily have become discouraged and bitter, but instead you fixed
your eyes upon the Suffering Christ, and there you learned from Him the
redemptive value of suffering--how to offer your sufferings to God in reparation
for sin and for the salvation of souls. Obtain for me the grace to endure
and value the power of my sufferings in union with Christ on His Cross
for the needs of others and the world. Obtain for me also the special favor
which I now ask through your intercession with God.
Let us pray:
O God, etc.
EIGHTH DAY
O Blessed Margaret of Castello, how
it must have hurt when your parents rejected and abandoned you! Yet
you learned from this that all earthly love and affection, even for those
who are closest, must be sanctified. And so, despite everything, you continued
to love your parents--but now you loved them in God. Obtain for me the
grace that I may see all my human loves and affections in relation to and
for God. Obtain for me also the special favor which I now ask through your
intercession with God.
Let us pray:
O God, etc.
NINTH DAY
O Blessed Margaret of Castello, through
your suffering and misfortune, you became aware of and sensitive to the
sufferings of others. Your heart reached out to all those in trouble--the
sick, the hungry, the dying, and prisoners. Obtain for me tie grace to
recognize Jesus in everyone with whom I come into contact, especially in
the poor, the rejected, the unwanted! Obtain for me also the special favor
which I now ask through your intercession with God.
Let us pray:
O God, etc.
FINAL PRAYER
O my God, I thank Thee for having given Blessed Margaret of Castello to the world as an example of die degree of holiness that can be attained by anyone who truly loves Thee, regardless of his natural deficiencies, by cooperating with Thy grace.
In our times, Margaret, like so many others, would almost certainly have been destroyed by abortion or infanticide, her parents being more concerned with the circumstances of their lives than with the needs of her poor, frail, and twisted body.
But Thy ways are not the world's ways. And so it was Thy Will not only that Margaret should be born, but also that through the faith and goodness which her beautiful and loving heart magnified, Thy power and wisdom should be manifested to this egocentric and unbelieving world.
By Thy wisdom, Margaret's blindness allowed her to see, search, and love Thee more clearly. A cripple she leaned and depended upon Thee more completely. Dwarfed in physical stature, by Thy grace she became a giant in the spiritual life; deformed in face and body, she was united with the rejected and outcasts, and with Jesus on the Cross.
Her life dramatized the words of the Apostle Paul: "Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. For which cause I please myself in my infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ. For when I am weak, then am I powerful." (2 Cor. 12:9-10).
I beseech Thee, O God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to grant that, through the intercession of Blessed Margaret of Castello, all those handicapped in body and mind, all those whose sins have made spiritually halt, blind, and lame, all those rejected, all the unwanted of this world, may, by depending more fully upon Thy power and mercy through prayer, come to boast of their weaknesses in this life, and the sight of Thy glory in the next. Amen.
Blessed Margaret of Castello, pray
for us!
(3 Our Fathers and 3 Hail Marys)
Imprimi Potest:
V. Rev. E. R. Daley, O.P.
Prior Provincial
Imprimatur:
+E Thomas J. McDonough, D.D.
Archbishop of Louisville
December 5, 1980
Please report all favors received through
the intercession of Blessed Margaret of Castello to:
Coordinator of Blessed Margaret CauseReturn to Home page.
Priory of St. Dominic-St. Thomas
7200 West Division Street
River Forest, Illinois 60305or
Rev. Fr. Postulator General, O.P.
Convento Santa Sabina
Piazza Pietro d'Illiria, i (Aventino)
00153,Rome'
Italy
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