Miraculous Novena of Grace: March 4 - 12

"I asked for the grace of doing good after my death and now I'm sure to be answered, because one obtains through this novena all one desires."  - St. Therese to her sister, Marie of the Sacred Heart

Thirty years and nine months after St. Therese prayed the miraculous Novena of Grace to St. Francis Xavier, the pope who had beatified and canonized her, Pope Pius XI, named her co-patron of the missions on a par with St. Francis Xavier himself. Many have asked since then (it was December 14, 1927, so for 99 years people have been asking): Why?!

St. Therese says that for simple souls there can be no complicated ways. Ever in search of that elusive simplicity, I will ask her intercession now to explain what could get complicated, but needn't.

Simply speaking: That novena she had prayed to St. Francis Xavier was truly miraculous. She followed it up by asking St. Joseph on his feast a week later (March 19) to support that request to Saint Francis Xavier. How wonderful! We know St. Joseph is the man closest to Christ, and yet she asked humble Joseph to go to St. Francis Xavier and plead on her behalf that he answer her prayer, that he (St. FX) beg the Trinity to let her do good after her death.

It worked!

I recently helped publicize the book A Shower of Roses in order to make known Therese's awesome intercessory skills, but it didn't occur to me until today that we could go to the source and ask St. Francis Xavier (and then St. Joseph in support of our prayer) for all the miracles we need. 

Today I opened an email from a friend who sent me the history of this novena. Hooray for authentic Catholic history! Let's ask Dr. Warren Carroll to pray for us too! 

Here is what I've just discovered:

"The Miraculous Novena of Grace in honor of Francis Xavier is one of the oldest and most beloved novenas in the Catholic Church. It is traditionally prayed from March 4–12, ending on March 12, the anniversary of his canonization in 1622.
In Naples, Italy, in December of 1633, Father Marcello Mastrilli, S.J. was at the point of death. Then St. Francis Xavier appeared to him and, bidding him to renew a vow he had made to labor in Japan, said: 
 “All those who implore my help daily for nine consecutive days, from the 4th to the 12th of March included, and worthily receive the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist on one of the nine days, will experience my protection and may hope with entire assurance to obtain from God any grace they ask for the good of their souls and the glory of God.”
Then, Father Mastrilli arose, instantly cured!
In gratitude, Father Mastrilli promoted a special nine-day prayer to St. Francis Xavier. Numerous favors and miracles were reported, and devotion quickly spread throughout Europe and missionary territories."

Then in the online Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux, I just found this further encouragement:


"This Novena is called “of Grace”, because it was like a proverb that one infallibly obtained the grace one asked for. "One cannot - wrote a pious author in 1701 - recount in detail all the graces which were obtained during this novena wherever it was practiced... Experience has shown that there is no need, spiritual or temporal, in which one cannot and one should not even hope for prompt assistance when one has recourse to this great Saint, especially when making the novena in his honor. "

This Novena can be done at any time of the year, but preferably from March 4 to 12 (anniversary of the Canonization of the Apostle of India), or from November 25 to December 3, to prepare for the feast of the Holy.

And here are the prayers they offer. The first is his "collect," that is, the liturgical prayer said at his Mass and in his Divine Office:


Collect of Saint Francis Xavier

O God, who, through the preaching and miracles of Blessed Francis, willed to unite to your Church the nations of the Indies, be favorable to us, and grant us to imitate the examples of the virtues practiced by him whose glories we venerate. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord . . . Amen.


Prayer to recite every day of the Novena

O most lovable and charitable Saint, Saint Francis Xavier, I respectfully adore with you the Divine Majesty, and because I rejoice sovereignly in the singular gifts of grace which He has granted you in this life and in those of glory after death, I give Him very great thanks, and I beg you with all my heart to grant me, through your effective intercession, the principal grace to lead a holy life and to die holy.
Moreover, I ask you to obtain for me... (here one expresses the grace, either spiritual or temporal, that one solicits).
But if what I beg of you with entreaty is not for the glory of God and for the greater good of my soul, obtain for me, I pray you, what is most useful to one and all. Amen. Our Father, Ave, Gloria.

+  +  +

If you've been involved in any of our Miss Marcel's Novenas before, you know our Calvin-ball rules (inspired by Calvin and Hobbes, not our separated brother) - Just by reading this post, your intentions are included! Join any time! Forget days and rely on the goodness of Heaven (and hopefully us here) to remember you in our prayers! And most of all, toss in every intention you can think of. If you're like me, one miracle isn't going to be enough for ten minutes - I've got about a dozen I can think of straight off that are Big Fish that I'm hoping to catch - not people, but miracles for people I love, and there's no time like the present for a Miraculous Novena!

Also, I tend to like short prayers, so feel free to go with the one that came with my informative email alerting me to the novena and its history. It's short, it's sweet, and there's a chance we can manage it every day for 9 days. I thought this was The Prayer, but it turns out it was just a humble addition by the original author of that email. I like it!

"May St. Francis Xavier, whose heart was ablaze with divine love, intercede for us before the throne of God."

And if we want to get fancy, we can add the prayers above.

Meanwhile, the email (which was forwarded to me) came from a big organization that was offering to include your intentions at 3 Holy Masses. What an offer! I'm going to do my best to match it by getting 3 priests to offer Masses for all of our intentions. I will keep you posted!

And let's not forget the closing bit of prayer that little Therese found so helpful: 
St. Joseph, pray for us!

Little Flower, in this hour, show your power too, and with St. Joseph, support our prayer to St. Francis X. Give him a big hug for us too!

In case you missed it, here's a link to a wonderful sermon of St. Francis Xavier by another heroic Jesuit, Fr. Thomas Aquinas McGovern, S.J.

Draw me; we will run!