Mother Mary, Meek and Mild

This little children's song to Our Lady can be sung to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."


Mother Mary, meek and mild,

Our Lord Jesus was your Child.

Teach me, Mother, how to pray,

Help me be like Him each day.

Mother Mary, meek and mild,

Our Lord Jesus was your Child.

--Paula McEneany

 Novena to St. Joseph 

It is this novena which the Sisters of Loretto in New Mexico prayed before receiving an amazing answer to prayer. Read the story of their miraculous staircase: http://www.transporter.com/fatherpeffley/Doctrine/staircase.html  

This novena, though especially for the feast on Mar. 19, seems very fitting for the feast of St. Joseph the Worker (May 1) in light of the answer to their prayer.

O glorious St. Joseph * faithful follower of Jesus Christ * to you do we raise our hearts and hands * to implore your powerful intercession * in obtaining from the benign Heart of Jesus * all the helps and graces necessary * for our spiritual and temporal welfare * particularly the grace of a happy death * and the special favor we now implore (name it). *

O Guardian of the Word Incarnate * we feel animated with confidence * that your prayers on our behalf * will be graciously heard before the throne of God. *

(The following versicle is to be said seven times in honor of the seven joys and sorrows of St. Joseph.)

V. O glorious St. Joseph, through the love you bear to Jesus Christ, and for the glory of His name,

R. Hear our prayers and obtain our petitions.

O glorious St. Joseph * spouse of the Immaculate Virgin * obtain for me a pure, humble, and charitable mind * and perfect resignation to the Divine Will. * Be my guide, father, and model through life * that I may merit to die as thou didst * in the arms of Jesus and Mary.

 Mother Teresa's Prayer for Families

Heavenly Father, you have given us a model of life in the Holy Family of Nazareth. Help us, O loving Father, to make our family another Nazareth where love, peace, and joy reign. May it be deeply contemplative, intensely eucharistic, and vibrant with joy. Help us to stay together in joy and sorrow through family prayer. Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our family, especially in their distressing disguises. May the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus make our hearts meek and humble like his, and help us to carry out our family duties in a holy way. May we love one another as God loves each one of us, more and more each day, and forgive each other's faults as you forgive our sins. Help us, O loving Father, to take whatever you give and to give whatever you take with a big smile. Immaculate Heart of Mary, cause of our joy, pray for us. St Joseph, pray for us. Holy Guardian Angels, be always with us, guide and protect us. Amen

© 2009 Queen of Families Apostolate

Queen of Families Apostolate

 Prayer of Pope John Paul II for the Synod on the Family (1980)

Lord God, from You every family in Heaven and on earth takes its name. Father, You are Love and Life. Through Your Son, Jesus Christ, born of woman, and through the Holy Spirit, fountain of divine charity, grant that every family on earth may become for each successive generation a true shrine of life and love. Grant that Your grace may guide the thoughts and actions of husbands and wives for the good of their families and of all the families in the world. Grant that the young may find in the family solid support for their human dignity and for their growth in truth and love. Grant that love, strengthened by the grace of the sacrament of marriage, may prove mightier than all the weaknesses and trials through which our families sometimes pass. Through the intercession of the Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that the Church may fruitfully carry out her worldwide mission in the family and through the family. We ask this of You, who are Life, Truth, and Love, with the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

From L’Osservatore Romano, English Edition, 25 August 1980, p. 19.