Devotions for Every Day of the Week
TUESDAY
A Prayer to our Guardian Angel

O Holy Angel, to whose care God, in his mercy, hath committed me, I return thee now my most sincere and humble thanks; I conjure thee, O amiable guide, to continue still thy care; to defend me against my enemies; to remove from me the occasions of sin; to obtain for me a constant docility to divine inspirations; to protect me, in particular, at the hour of my death; and then to conduct me to the mansions of eternal repose; where, in thy blessed society, I may praise our Creator forever. Amen.

~ The Key of Heaven or A Manual of Prayers, Dublin, 1839

Prayer Before Study or Work
From A Catholic Prayer Book

Direct, O Lord, we beseech Thee, all our actions by Thy holy inspirations, and carry them on by Thy gracious assistance, so that every prayer and work of ours may begin always from Thee, and by Thee be happily ended. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hail Mary. Glory be.*

V. Seat of wisdom,
R. Pray for us.
V. Saint N.**,
R. Pray for us.
V. Bless us, O Virgin Mary,
R. With thy Holy Child.

*When a prayer mentions the beginning words of another prayer (i.e. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be), pray that entire prayer.
**Any time a prayer mentions Saint N., you have the option to choose the saint(s) whose patronage you wish to implore.

Litany of St. Sebastian
Feast Day ~ January 20th

Lord, have mercy on us!
Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, have mercy on us!
Christ, have mercy on us!
Lord, have mercy on us!
Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ hear us!
Christ, graciously hear us!
God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us!
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us!
God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us!
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us!

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Litany of St. Sebastian

Holy Mary, Queen of Martyrs, pray for us.

Saint Sebastian, pray for us.
Invincible Martyr, pray for us.
Knight, noble by birth and fame, pray for us.
Glorious warrior and martyr of Christ, pray for us.
Patron and mirror of Christian soldiers, pray for us.
Despiser of the world, pray for us.
Conqueror of Satan, pray for us.
Comfort of the dying, pray for us.
Consoler of the afflicted, pray for us.
Announcer of the word of God, pray for us.
Protector and Patron of countries and cities, pray for us.
Saint Sebastian, perfect in virtue and wisdom, pray for us.

St. Sebastian, lover of God and men, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, mighty in word and work, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, who didst strengthen the Christians in torments and death, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, who didst fortify those wavering in their faith, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, who didst encourage the doubting to persevere to the end, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, who, in flamed with love of God, didst despise the pains inflicted by the tyrant, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, surrounded by celestial light, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, instructed by the holy Angels, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, giving speech to the dumb, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, who for defending the truth was wounded by arrows, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, who was put to death with clubs, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, who was crowned with eternal glory, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, great intercessor for us with God, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, endowed with power from God to avert pestilence and all contagious diseases, pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world: Spare us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world: Graciously hear us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world: Have mercy on us, O Lord!
Christ, hear us! Christ, graciously hear us!

Let us pray.
Mercifully look on our weakness, O almighty God. Since the weight of our own evil deeds bears us down, may the glorious intercession of Thy blessed martyr, Sebastian, be our protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who with Thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth as one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

PRAYER to MARY

O MOTHER of God, increase my faith.


~ St. Alphonsus' Prayer Book (1888)

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January 21st ~ FEAST of ST. AGNES, Virgin and Martyr

ALMIGHTY, eternal GOD, Who dost choose the weak things of the world to confound the strong, mercifully grant that we, who venerate the festival of blessed Agnes, Thy virgin and martyr, may experience the benefit of her patron all influence with Thee.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

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OMNÍPOTENS sempitérne Deus, qui infirma mundi éligis, ut fórtia quæque confúndas: concéde propítius; ut qui beátæ Agnétis Virginís et Mártyris tuæ solémnia cólimus, ejus apud te pátrocinia sentiámus.

Per Dóminum nostrum Jesus Christum fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

Collect, January 21, St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr

~ The New Roman Missal, 1937

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Devotions for Every Day of the Week
WEDNESDAY
A Prayer to St. Joseph

O FAITHFUL servant, whom God had charged with the care of his family; thou whom he had established the guardian and protector of the life of Jesus, the consoler and support of his mother, and his own faithful associate in the great affair of our redemption; thou who hadst the happiness to live with Jesus and Mary, and to expire in their arms; chaste spouse of the m other of God! thou model of pure, humble, and interior souls! be touched with the confidence we have in thee; and graciously accept these testimonies of our devotion.

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WEDNESDAY ~ A Prayer to St. Joseph

We return God thanks for the favours he hath bestowed on thee; and we beg, through thy intercession, that we may imitate thy virtues. Pray for us, then, O glorious Saint; and by the love thou always hadst for Jesus and for Mary, and which Jesus and Mary had also for thee, obtain always for us the incomparable advantage of living faithful to Jesus, and of dying in his love. Amen.

~ The Key of Heaven or A Manual of Prayers, Dublin, 1839

Il Cuor di Gesú è il tesoro di tutte le grazie; la nostra confidenza ne è la chiave.

The Heart of Jesus is the treasure of all graces; our trust is the key to it.


INVOCATION

O Lord, increase our faith. (Luke 17,5)


An indulgence of 500 days.
A plenary indulgence under the usual conditions, if the invocation is devoutly recited every day for a month.
(S. C. Ind., March 20, 1908; S. P. Ap., April 15, 1935).

~ The Raccolta (1943)

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Virtue of the MONTH
JANUARY — FAITH

St. Teresa says that all sins spring from want of faith. She was right, for it is impossible to live estranged from God if we keep constantly before our eyes the truths of our faith, the greatness of God, the love He bears us, the benefits He has bestowed on us, and especially the work of our Redemption, the Passion of Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Most Holy Sacrament. The same effect is produced by frequently meditating on death, judgment, hell, eternity. This is why we must frequently renew the spirit of faith in ourselves, by calling to mind the eternal maxims. The saints did this, and it was thus they won their heavenly crown.

~ St. Alphonsus' Prayer Book (1888)

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PRAYERS to OBTAIN the Virtue of the MONTH
JANUARY — FAITH

ACT of FAITH

MY GOD, I believe all that the holy Church teaches me to believe, because Thou, Who art infallible truth, hast revealed it. I believe that Thou art the Creator and Lord of heaven and earth, Who eternally rewardest the just in paradise and chastisest sinners in hell. I believe that Thou art one God in essence, but three in person, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: three in person, but one only God. I believe that God the Son, the second Person, in order to save us and redeem us from our sins, became man, and died upon the cross.

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ACT of FAITH

I believe that the most holy Virgin Mary was conceived without sin, that she is truly Mother of God, and that she was ever a virgin. I believe that Jesus Christ, the third day after His death, rose again by His own power, and, after forty days, ascended to heaven, where He is seated on the right hand of the Eternal Father, equal to Him in majesty and glory. I believe that, at the last day, Jesus Christ shall come to judge all men who shall then rise from their graves. I believe that the Roman Catholic Church is the only true Church, out of which there is no redemption. I believe in the communion of the saints; that is to say. that every one of the faithful who is in a state of grace participates in the merits of all the just. I believe that God remits the sins of those who offend Him, so soon as they repent of them. I believe in the seven sacraments by means of which the grace of Jesus Christ is communicated to us. I believe the Ten Commandments of the Decalogue. I believe, finally, all that the holy Church believes. I thank Thee, O my God, for having made me a Christian, and I protest that I desire to live and die in this holy faith. Amen.

~ St. Alphonsus' Prayer Book (1888)

INVOCATION

Vouchsafe, O Lord, this day (or this night) to keep us without sin. (Ambrosian Hymn)

Dignáre, Dómine, die isto (vel nocte isto) sine peccáto nos custodíre. (ex Hymno Ambrosiano)

The faithful, who devoutly recite the above invocation morning or evening, are granted:
An indulgence of 500 days. Plenary under the usual conditions, if recited daily for a month.

~ The Raccolta (1957)

Devotions for Every Day of the Week
THURSDAY
A Prayer before the blessed Sacrament

O SWEET and adorable Jesus, who, in the excess of thy love, art pleased to dwell with us in the sacrament of the Altar; I here acknowledge that thou art my Sovereign and my God; I adore thee with the most profound humility; I thank thee with all my heart, for the tenderness thou here showest me, in spite of the treatment thou receivest.

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THURSDAY ~ A Prayer before the blessed Sacrament

Pierced with the sincerest grief at the sight of my ingratitude, I come, O God of majesty, to make thee some poor amends, for all the sacrileges and impiety which were ever committed, or ever shall be committed, against this adorable sacrament. Why cannot I, O God, sufficiently testify my own regret, for having so often appeared before thee with indifference, and for having approached thee with so little fervour, and so little love. — Forget, O Lord, my iniquities, that thou mayest remember only thy own infinite mercies. Deign to accept the desire I have of honouring thee in the adorable Sacrament. Yes, I wish with all my heart to love thee, to bless, to praise, and adore thee here, as fervently as the saints and angels adore thee; and I conjure thee, by this sacred body, and by his most precious blood, that I may henceforth honour thee so fervently, and receive thee so worthily, that after this life I may praise thee for ever, with thy saints in heaven. Amen.

~ The Key of Heaven or A Manual of Prayers, Dublin, 1839

From the Psalms

Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies. (Psalm 58, 2)

Eripe me, Dómine, de inimicis meis. (Ps. LVIII,2)

An indulgence of 500 days. (S. P. Ap., Nov. 22, 1934).

~ The Raccolta (1943)

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JANUARY 23rd ~ DESPONSATION of the BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
or The Espousal of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph
DESPONSATIO BEATÆ MARIÆ VIRGINIS

This beautiful feast, first proposed in 1416, was formerly celebrated in the Latin Church, but never extended to the Universal Church. It was removed from the Church’s calendar in 1961, but is still celebrated, with permission, in a number of places.

Collect
Grant, o Lord, we beseech Thee, to thy servants, the gifts of thy heavenly grace: that as our redemption began in the delivery of the blessed Virgin, so in the solemnity of her espousal, we may have an increase of peace.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

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JANUARY 23rd ~ DESPONSATION of the BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Commemoration of St. Joseph
We beseech Thee, O Lord, that we may be helped by the merits of the Spouse of Thy most holy Mother, so that what we cannot obtain of ourselves, may be given to us through his intercession.

Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.


Collect and Commemoration of St. Joseph, January 23, The Desponsation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Born at Barcelona, Spain, in 1175, St. Raymond labored zealously for the redemption of slaves. By order of Gregory IX he wrote five books of Decretals which are now a valuable part of the Code of Canon Law. The same Pontiff made him his confessor and grand penitentiary. He died in 1275.

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JANUARY 23rd ~ FEAST of ST. RAYMOND PENNAFORT, Confessor

O God, Who didst choose Blessed Raymond to be eminent as a minister of the Sacrament of Penance and didst lead him miraculously through the waves of the sea, grant that by his intercession we may be able to bring forth worthy fruits of penance, and to reach the port of eternal salvation.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.


Collect, January 23, St. Raymund Pennafort

~ St. Joseph Daily Missal, 1950

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THE MOST HOLY NAME
At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. Phillipeans 2:10.

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PRAYER TO THE NAME OF JESUS

O GOOD Jesus, O most compassionate Jesus, O Jesus Son of God and of the Virgin Mary, full of mercy and of pity; O sweet Jesus, have mercy on me according to Thy great mercy. O most clement Jesus, I implore Thee by that precious Blood which Thou hast shed for sinners, that Thou wouldst wash away all my iniquities, and look down upon me, wretched and unworthy, humbly seeking Thy forgiveness and invoking this holy Name of Jesus. O Name of Jesus, name of sweetness! Name of Jesus, name most full of delight! Name of Jesus, name most lovely! For what is Jesus but Saviour?

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