Blessed Margaret de Castello NOVENA - 4/5-4/12

Novena to Blessed Margaret de Castello
Memorial Day: April 13th

Margaret de Castello was born blind and disfigured. She was abandoned by her parents at the age of about six or seven at the parish church in Citta-di-Castello in Umbria Italy. She was found by local women who, despite Margaret’s infirmities, adopted her. She eventually became an adopted child of the village.

When Margaret grew older, the nun of a local convent offered her a home. At the prospect of living with the religious Margaret rejoiced. However, the village took her joy as a reproach to the community that raised her. She was once again sent out to the streets by persecution and lies.

Fortunately there were a few people left who helped her again and offered her shelter. At fifteen Margaret was given the habit of a tertiary from the Dominican fathers. From thereon, she lived a life entirely devoted to God.

Margaret started performing miraculous cures and acts. In her desire to show gratitude to the people who found and raised her in Citta-di-Castello she established a school for the children whose parents were working. Her school prospered having taught the children their duty to God, devotion to the Child Jesus and the Psalms, which despite her blindness, she learned at the convent. Margaret died at the age of thirty-three.

Novena to the Blessed Margaret of Castello

First Day:
O Blessed Margaret of Castello,
In embracing your life just as it was,
You gave us an example of resignation
To the Will of God.

In so accepting God’s Will,
You knew that you would grow in virtue,
Glorify God, save your own soul,
And help the souls of your neighbors.

Obtain for me the grace,
To recognize the will of God,
In all that may happen to me in my life,
And so resign myself to it.
Obtain for me also the special favor,
Which I now ask,
Through your intercession with God.

Let us pray…

O God by whose Will
The blessed virgin, Margaret,
Was blind from birth,
That the eyes of her mind
Being inwardly enlightened
She might think without ceasing
On You alone;
Be the light of our eyes,
That we may be able
To flee the shadows in this world,
And reach the home
Of never-ending light.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
Glorify your servant blessed Margaret,
By granting the favor
We so ardently desire.
This we ask in humble submission
To God’s Will,
For His Honor and Glory
And the salvation of souls.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…

Second Day:
O Blessed Margaret of Castello,
In reflecting so deeply
Upon the sufferings and death
Of our Crucified Lord,
You learned courage
And gained the grace
To bear your own afflictions.
Obtain for me
The grace and courage
That I so urgently need
So as to be able to bear
My infirmities and endure my afflictions
In union with our Suffering Savior.
Obtain for me also
The special favor which I now ask
Through your intercession with God.

Let us pray…

O God by whose Will
The blessed virgin, Margaret,
Was blind from birth,
That the eyes of her mind
Being inwardly enlightened
She might think without ceasing
On You alone;
Be the light of our eyes,
That we may be able
To flee the shadows in this world,
And reach the home
Of never-ending light.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
Glorify your servant blessed Margaret,
By granting the favor
We so ardently desire.
This we ask in humble submission
To God’s Will,
For His Honor and Glory
And the salvation of souls.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…

Third Day:
O Blessed Margaret of Castello,
Your love for Jesus
In the Blessed Sacrament
Was intense and enduring.
It was here
In intimacy with the Divine Presence
That you found spiritual strength
To accept suffering,
To be cheerful, patient and kindly
Towards others.
Obtain for me the grace
That I may draw from this same source,
As from an exhaustible font,
The strength whereby I may be
Kind and understanding
Of everyone despite whatever pain or discomfort
May come my way.
Obtain for your intercession with God.

Let us pray…

O God by whose Will
The blessed virgin, Margaret,
Was blind from birth,
That the eyes of her mind
Being inwardly enlightened
She might think without ceasing
On You alone;
Be the light of our eyes,
That we may be able
To flee the shadows in this world,
And reach the home
Of never-ending light.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
Glorify your servant blessed Margaret,
By granting the favor
We so ardently desire.
This we ask in humble submission
To God’s Will,
For His Honor and Glory
And the salvation of souls.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…

Fourth Day:
O Blessed Margaret of Castello,
You unceasingly turned to God in prayer
With confidence and trust
In His Fatherly love.
It was only through continual prayer
That you were enabled
To accept your misfortunes,
To be serene, patient, and at peace.
Obtain for me the grace
To persevere in my prayer,
Confident that God will give me
The help to carry whatever cross
Comes into my life.
Obtain for me also the special favor
Which I now ask
Through your intercession with God.

Let us pray…

O God by whose Will
The blessed virgin, Margaret,
Was blind from birth,
That the eyes of her mind
Being inwardly enlightened
She might think without ceasing
On You alone;
Be the light of our eyes,
That we may be able
To flee the shadows in this world,
And reach the home
Of never-ending light.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
Glorify your servant blessed Margaret,
By granting the favor
We so ardently desire.
This we ask in humble submission
To God’s Will,
For His Honor and Glory
And the salvation of souls.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…

Fifth Day:
O Blessed Margaret of Castello,
In imitation of the Child Jesus,
Who was subject to Mary and Joseph,
You obeyed your father and mother,
Overlooking their unnatural harshness.
Obtain for me
That same attitude of obedience
Toward all those
Who have legitimate authority over me,
Most especially toward
The Holy Roman Catholic Church.
Obtain for me also
The special favor which I now ask
Through your intercession with God.

Let us pray…

O God by whose Will
The blessed virgin, Margaret,
Was blind from birth,
That the eyes of her mind
Being inwardly enlightened
She might think without ceasing
On You alone;
Be the light of our eyes,
That we may be able
To flee the shadows in this world,
And reach the home
Of never-ending light.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
Glorify your servant blessed Margaret,
By granting the favor
We so ardently desire.
This we ask in humble submission
To God’s Will,
For His Honor and Glory
And the salvation of souls.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…

Sixth Day:
O Blessed Margaret of Castello,
Your miseries taught you
Better than any teacher
The weakness and frailty
Of human nature.
Obtain for me
The grace to recognize
My human limitations
And to acknowledge
My utter dependence upon God.
Acquire for me
That abandonment which leaves me
Completely at the mercy of God
To do with me whatsoever He wills.
Obtain for me also
The special favor which I now ask
Through your intercession with God.

Let us pray…

O God by whose Will
The blessed virgin, Margaret,
Was blind from birth,
That the eyes of her mind
Being inwardly enlightened
She might think without ceasing
On You alone;
Be the light of our eyes,
That we may be able
To flee the shadows in this world,
And reach the home
Of never-ending light.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
Glorify your servant blessed Margaret,
By granting the favor
We so ardently desire.
This we ask in humble submission
To God’s Will,
For His Honor and Glory
And the salvation of souls.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…

Seventh Day:
O blessed Margaret of Castello,
You could have so easily
Become discouraged and bitter;
But, instead, you fixed your eyes
On the suffering Christ
And there you learned from Him
The redemptive value of suffering -
How to offer your pains and aches,
In reparation for sin
And for the salvation of souls.
Obtain for me the grace
To learn how to endure
My sufferings with patience.
Obtain for me also
The special favor which I now ask
Through your intercession with God.

Let us pray…

O God by whose Will
The blessed virgin, Margaret,
Was blind from birth,
That the eyes of her mind
Being inwardly enlightened
She might think without ceasing
On You alone;
Be the light of our eyes,
That we may be able
To flee the shadows in this world,
And reach the home
Of never-ending light.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
Glorify your servant blessed Margaret,
By granting the favor
We so ardently desire.
This we ask in humble submission
To God’s Will,
For His Honor and Glory
And the salvation of souls.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…

Eigth Day:
O Blessed Margaret of Castello,
How it must have hurt
When your parents abandoned you!
Yet you learned from this
That all earthly love and affection,
Even for those who are closest,
Must be sanctified.
And so, despite everything,
You continued to love your parents –
But now you loved them in God.
Obtain for me the grace
That I might see
All my human loves and affections
In their proper perspective…
In God and for god. Obtain for me also
The special favor which I now ask
Through your intercession with God.

Let us pray…

O God by whose Will
The blessed virgin, Margaret,
Was blind from birth,
That the eyes of her mind
Being inwardly enlightened
She might think without ceasing
On You alone;
Be the light of our eyes,
That we may be able
To flee the shadows in this world,
And reach the home
Of never-ending light.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
Glorify your servant blessed Margaret,
By granting the favor
We so ardently desire.
This we ask in humble submission
To God’s Will,
For His Honor and Glory
And the salvation of souls.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…

Ninth Day:
O Blessed Margaret of Castello,
Through your suffering and misfortune,
You became sensitive
To the sufferings of others.
Your heart reached out
To everyone in trouble –
The sick, the hungry, the dying prisoners.
Obtain for me the grace
To recognize Jesus in everyone
With whom I come into contact,
Especially in the poor,
The wretched, the unwanted!
Obtain for me also
The special favor which I now ask
Through your intercession with God.

Let us pray…

O God by whose Will
The blessed virgin, Margaret,
Was blind from birth,
That the eyes of her mind
Being inwardly enlightened
She might think without ceasing
On You alone;
Be the light of our eyes,
That we may be able
To flee the shadows in this world,
And reach the home
Of never-ending light.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
Glorify your servant blessed Margaret,
By granting the favor
We so ardently desire.
This we ask in humble submission
To God’s Will,
For His Honor and Glory
And the salvation of souls.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…

Prayer
O my God, I thank you
For having given
Blessed Margaret of Castello
To the world as an example
Of the degree of holiness
That can be attained by anyone
Who truly loves you,
Regardless of physical abnormalities.
In today’s perverted culture,
Margaret would have, most likely,
Never been born;
Death through abortion
Being preferable to life,
Especially life
In an ugly distorted twisted body.
But Your ways are not the world’s ways…
And so it was Your Will
That Margaret would be born into the world
With just such a malformed body.
It is Your way that uses our weakness
To give testimony to Your power.
Margaret was born blind,
So as to see You more clearly;
A cripple, so as to lean on You completely;
Dwarfed in physical posture,
So as to become a giant in the spiritual order;
Hunch-backed,
So as to more perfectly resemble
The twisted, crucified body of Your Son.
Margaret’s whole life
Was an enactment of the words
Expressed by Paul:
“So I shall be very happy
To make my weaknesses my special boast
So that the power of Christ may stay over me
And that is why I am content
With my weaknesses,
And with insults, hardships,
Persecutions and the agonies
I go through for Christ’s sake.
For it is when I am weak that I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:10).

I beseech you, O God,
To grant through the intercession
Of Blessed Margaret of Castello,
That all the handicapped …
And who among us is not?…
All rejected, all unwanted of the world
May make their weaknesses
Their own special boast
So that your power may stay over them
Now and forever. Amen.

Blessed Margaret of Castello, pray for us.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…

~~~~~~~~~~~~

SHORT NOVENA PRAYER

O God, by Whose Will the blessed
virgin Margaret was blind from birth,
that the eyes of her mind being
inwardly enlightened she might think
without ceasing on You alone, be
the light of our eyes, that we may
be able to flee the shadows of this
world, and reach the home of never-
ending light. We ask this through
Christ, our Lord.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to
the Father.

Prayer for Canonization

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, glorify your
servant blessed Margaret, by grant-
ing the favor we so ardently desire.
This we ask in humble submission
to God's Will, for His honor and
glory and the salvation of souls.