Day 4 - Wednesday, October 29
Fourth Day
Opening Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in us the fire of your love.
Reading
Deut 30:15-20
Moses said to the people:
“Today, I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom.
If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin on you today,
loving him, and walking in his ways,
and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees,
you will live and grow numerous,
and the LORD, your God,
will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.
If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen,
but are led astray and adore and serve other gods,
I tell you now that you will certainly perish;
you will not have a long life
on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter
and occupy.
I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:
I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse.
Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live, by loving the
LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.
For that will mean life for you,
a long life for you to live on the land which the LORD
swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob.”
Reflection
How do I defend the right to life especially of the unborn
and those near death? How am I tempted to turn away
from the commandments and not support the right to life
of all people? How can I overcome that temptation?
Prayer
God of life,
may we protect and defend the inviolable sanctity of
human life
from the moment of conception until natural death
with strong voices, gentle hands, and loving hearts.
Amen.
Novena Prayer
Immaculate Heart of Mary,
help us to conquer the menace of evil,
which so easily
takes root in the hearts of the people of today,
and whose immeasurable effects
already weigh down upon our modern world
and seem to block the paths toward the future.
From famine and war, deliver us.
From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from
every kind of war, deliver us.
From sins against human life from its very beginning,
deliver us.
From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the
children of God, deliver us.
From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both
national and international, deliver us.
From readiness to trample on the commandments of God,
deliver us.
From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of
God, deliver us.
From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us.
From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us.
Accept, O Mother of Christ,
this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual
human beings,
laden with the sufferings of whole societies.
Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit conquer all sin:
individual sin and the “sin of the world,”
sin in all its manifestations.
Let there be revealed once more in the history of the world
the infinite saving power of the redemption:
the power of merciful love.
May it put a stop to evil.
May it transform consciences.
May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope.
Amen.
UPDATE: Thanks to Dim Bulb over at The Divine Lamp, he points out that Father Corapi has suggested another Novena for this election season, the Novena to Our Lady of Victory. The full set of prayers to this novena is here, and is to be followed by the praying of the rosary. This novena began on Oct 27 and is to continue through to Election Day (Nov. 4). The more prayers this election season the better.
In addition, below is the text of the 2008 Election Day Prayer from the following link (hat-tip to Jeff at The Curt Jester):
Election Day Prayer
Almighty God, all things are in your hands: our nation, our communities, our families, our lives.
In this time of great decision, bless our country and its people. Prosper the efforts of the just and true, and thwart the purposes of the unjust and dishonest. Preserve our land from violence and turmoil, and keep our relationships decent and respectful.
Inspire voters, legislators, executives, and judges so our country may be a land where morality is furthered by law and authority; where life is protected, marriage is respected, and family is supported; where the innocent are spared, and the guilty are punished; where justice is tempered by mercy, and mercy fortified by justice.
Help us to keep the United States of America a land where the rule of law and respect for individual dignity are the legal foundation of a just order.
Amen.
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