Our solemn novena to Jesus, the Divine Master, begins today, so I am gathering intentions as we sing our daily prayers (put yours in the comments; add a note if you want them kept private). But this year I was inspired to do something more, something that would allow you to participate (in a less complex way!) in our devotion. That was, after all, one of Blessed James Alberione's great dreams: for people to come to know Jesus as their Way, Truth and Life; to become his disciples with their whole being (mind, will, heart, strength) and so to become evangelizers: living branches of the True Vine, bearing the fruit of life all over the world.
So I've taken some of Alberione's directives and formulated them into a new chaplet. I'll try later to get it into a printable fashion; for now you can use your phone or tablet to follow the prayers. It is meant to be prayed with the rosary beads, so you won't need anything special in terms of "holy hardware."
Begin with the Sign of the Cross.
At the first bead, pray: O Master, we know that you are truthful and teach the way of God in truth.
On the following beads, pray the Act of Faith, Act of Hope, Act of Love (see below)
There is a theme for each decade:
- Jesus, the Incarnate Word, reveals God to all people: “If you know me, you will know my Father also. ... Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:7a, 9b).
- Jesus our Way shows us how God wants people to live, and his grace makes it possible: “I have set you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15); “Follow me…” (Mk 1:17).
- Jesus is our life. Through faith, by grace, we live in him and he in us. “I am the Resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn 11:25-26).
- Jesus is Way, Truth and Life in the Church, his Mystical Body: “He who listens to you listens to me” (Lk 10:16); “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ” (1 Cor 12:12).
- Jesus intends to be Way, Truth and Life in the modern world through us: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mk 16:15).
On the "Our Father" beads, pray: Jesus Master, Way and Truth and Life, teach us your way of truth and holiness.
And on the "Hail Mary" beads, pray: Sanctify us in the truth. Your word is truth (cf. Jn 17:17).
At the medal:
V. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, says the Lord:
R. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Let us pray:
O Almighty and eternal God, who in your love have sent us your only Son as universal Teacher, grant that we may learn his divine doctrine in order to more easily understand the supernatural realities. Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Optional closing invocations to Jesus, the Divine Master:
Jesus Master, sanctify my mind and increase my faith.
Jesus, teaching in the Church, draw everyone to yourself.
Jesus Master, deliver me from error, empty thoughts, and spiritual blindness.
Jesus, Way between the Father and us, I offer you everything and expect everything from you.
Jesus, Way of sanctity, help me to imitate you faithfully.
Jesus Way, grant that I may respond wholeheartedly to the Father’s call to holiness.
Jesus Life, live in me, so that I may live in you.
Jesus Life, do not permit anything to separate me from you.
Jesus Life, grant that I may live eternally in the joy of your love.
Jesus Truth, may you shine in the world through me.
Jesus Way, may I faithfully mirror your example for others.
Jesus Life, may I be a channel of your grace and consolation to others.
Act of Faith:
O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe that your divine Son became Man and died for our sins, and that he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the holy Catholic Church teaches, because you have revealed them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.
Act of Hope
O my God, relying on your infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of your grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.
Act of Love
O my God, I love you above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because you are all good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you. I forgive all who have injured me, and I ask pardon of all whom I have injured.
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