Preparatory Prayer
Eternal Father, source without source of all life and all love, who in the fullness of time gave us your only-begotten Son so that the world might have life through Him, grant us during these days to penetrate the ineffable mystery of His Sacred Heart.
Holy Spirit, subsistent Love of the Father and the Son, divine fire who searches the depths of God, open the eyes of our soul so that we may contemplate the unfathomable riches enclosed in the Heart of Jesus Christ. Lead us to that source from which grace, mercy, forgiveness, and life flow. Bring us not only to the knowledge, but to the intimacy of that blessed Heart; not only to its contemplation, but to its friendship; not only to its admiration, but to its love. Introduce us into the burning sanctuary of the Heart of Jesus, so that we may learn to live, to suffer, to hope, and to love with Him.
Amen.
Prayer to the Priestly Heart of Christ
Heart of my Jesus, as I conclude this novena I desire to contemplate You as Priest. Not as one among many, but as the one and eternal Priest of the New Covenant, in whom all the figures, all the sacrifices, and all the hopes of the ancient Law found their fulfillment. Before the temples of stone existed, before incense burned upon the altars of Jerusalem, even before Abraham raised his hand over Isaac on the mount of obedience, the perfect sacrifice that one day Your Heart would offer was already present in the designs of the Father.
Your whole life was priestly: the silence of Bethlehem, the hidden obedience of Nazareth, the days of preaching and weariness along the roads of Palestine, the solitude of Gethsemane. It was so, supremely and definitively, in the consummated offering upon the altar of the Cross.
For the priest is the one who unites what was separated. He builds a bridge between God and men. He carries the supplications of earth to heaven and brings down upon the earth the blessings of heaven. All this You accomplished in a way infinitely more perfect than any creature could ever have done.
Your priesthood did not consist merely in offering something: it consisted in offering Yourself. The altar was the Cross; the victim, Yourself; the fire of the sacrifice was love. And the temple where all took place was Your own Heart.
Therefore, when I contemplate the mystery of Your priesthood, I discover that the entire history of salvation can be summed up in a single reality: the obedient love of the Son to the Father for the redemption of the world.
There was nothing in You of personal seeking, ambition, or self-interest. Everything was directed to the glory of the Father and the salvation of men. Every word, every miracle, every step, and every suffering formed part of that great offering that grew silently until it reached its fullness on Calvary.
How far that divine logic is from the mentality with which we so often live. We seek to possess when You teach us to surrender, to assert ourselves when You teach us to serve, to keep when You teach us to give. Yet the more one contemplates Your priestly Heart, the more evident it becomes that true fullness does not consist in accumulating, but in offering.
Life attains all its fruitfulness when it ceases to revolve around itself. That is why I would like to learn from You the art of oblation. You do not ask for great heroic gestures. Most of the time the offering is made in small things: in duty fulfilled with fidelity, in a trial accepted serenely, in a prudent word that avoids wounding, in a prayer maintained when the soul passes through dryness, in patience exercised when no one sees it. Everything can become matter for sacrifice when united to Your sacrifice; everything can acquire eternal value when placed within Your Heart.
Today I also think of the priests who continue to make Your presence visible in the midst of the world. Every time they celebrate Holy Mass, every time they absolve sins, every time they proclaim the Gospel or accompany a dying person, they mysteriously prolong Your own priestly action. You know their joys and their struggles, the hidden generosity of so many who give their lives silently without expecting any recognition, the hours of weariness, the disappointments, the loneliness, and the trials that so often accompany priestly ministry. Keep them within Your Heart. Make them holy. Protect them from lukewarmness, discouragement, and mediocrity. May they never forget that before being administrators of Your mysteries they are called to be friends of Your Heart.
And grant Your Church abundant and holy vocations. May there not lack young people capable of hearing Your call and responding with generosity; may that gentle and demanding voice that invited the first disciples to leave everything and follow You continue to resound in the midst of a noisy world.
In contemplating Your eternal priesthood I discover a truth full of consolation: my salvation does not depend solely on my weakness or my efforts. There exists in heaven a Priest who continually intercedes for me. There exists a glorious Heart that presents before the Father my needs, my struggles, and my poor attempts at fidelity. As long as that Heart continues to beat with love for men—and it will beat eternally—there will always be hope, because there will always be mercy. There will always be a way back, because there will always be grace enough to begin again.
That is why today I place my life, my works, my joys, my sufferings, and my future within Your priestly Heart. There everything finds meaning. There everything is purified. There everything can be transformed into an offering pleasing to the Father.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in You!
Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Immaculate Heart of Mary, masterpiece of the Holy Spirit and purest reflection of the Heart of your Son, lead us to Jesus.
You who kept all His words in your heart, teach us to listen to Him. You who remained beside the Cross when many fled, teach us to remain faithful. You who knew as no one else the joys, the silences, the sufferings, and the secrets of the Heart of Christ, introduce us into His intimacy.
During this novena may we learn to love Him with something of your purity, to serve Him with something of your humility, to follow Him with something of your fidelity. And when our earthly pilgrimage ends, lead us to that open Heart which will forever be our homeland, our rest, and our beatitude.
Amen.