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ASCENSION THURSDAY

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ascends20Ascension Day is the celebration of Christ ascending into heaven after His death, burial and resurrection.

Also known as Ascension Thursday, it occurs on the Thursday 40 days after Easter. The Feast of Ascension is now, by and large, celebrated in the Western Church on the following Sunday.

The first great Novena (meaning nine) of Prayer occurred in the upper room in Jerusalem, when the disciples returned to the city after witnessing the Ascension. Jesus had instructed  them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised. 

On the Mount of Olives, just before He ascended, He told them, 'you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth'. 

And so they gathered, as many as 120 people, around Mary, His mother, and prayed for nine days.

The Novena to the Holy Spirit, for those who  practice it, commences tomorrow, Friday, and ends on  Saturday, the vigil of Pentecost.

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A Novena to the Holy Spirit

holyspiritimage

from Fri 14th - Sat 22nd May (2021)

Prayer
for the
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
(St. Alphonsus Liguori)

O Holy Spirit, Divine Consoler, I adore You as my true God,
with God the Father and God the Son.
I adore You and unite myself to the adoration
You receive from the angels and saints.  
                                                                      
I give You my heart and I offer my ardent thanksgiving for all the grace which You never cease to bestow on me. 

O Giver of all supernatural gifts, who filled the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with such immense favours, I beg You to visit me with Your grace and Your love and to grant me the gift of holy fear, so that it may act on me as a check to prevent me from falling back into my past sins, for which I beg pardon.

Grant me the gift of piety, so that I may serve You for the future with increased fervour, follow with more promptness Your holy inspirations, and observe your divine precepts with greater fidelity.

Grant me the gift of knowledge, so that I may know the things of God and, enlightened by Your holy teaching, may walk, without deviation, in the path of eternal salvation.

Grant me the gift of fortitude, so that I may overcome courageously all the assaults of the devil, and all the dangers of this world which threaten the salvation of my soul.

Grant me the gift of counsel, so that I may choose what is more conducive to my spiritual advancement and may discover the wiles and snares of the tempter.

Grant me the gift of understanding, so that I may comprehend the divine mysteries and, by contemplation of heavenly things, detach my thoughts and affections from the vain things of this miserable world.

Grant me the gift of wisdom, so that I may rightly direct all my actions, referring them to God as my last end; so that, having loved Him and served Him in this life, I may have the happiness of possessing Him eternally in the next.  Amen.

The Glorious Mysteries
Litany of The Holy Spirit

At the end of each decade of the Rosary, say :

Come, O Holy Spirit. 
Come by means of the powerful
intercession
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Your well-beloved spouse.  

FINAL PRAYER

Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and enkindle in us
the fire of Your love.

V. Send forth Your Spirit, and we shall be created

R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray.

O God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of Your faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.