Lord, you tell us that we must increase our desires because your mercy takes them as fulfilled, that we have a power over you that would astonish us if we knew it that we have a power over you that would astonish us if we knew it, that you give more than we ask for we ask. Then our souls become magnanimous and we want to ask You for EVERYTHING.
All that is necessary to lead the religious to the highest holiness.
All the fervor so that they may conquer souls for You.
All the light to lead them to union with God.
All the tenderness to console those who suffer.
All the fire of contemplation that is needed to flood the whole earth with graces.
Lord, give everything also to those who are called!
Strength to overcome obstacles.
Light in the face of doubts.
Certainty in the face of your call.
Readiness to follow you.
Peace to rejoice in you.
Humility to imitate you.
All the fire of your Heart to give souls all the love of the Cross that gives life.
All, Lord, all, and a fervent love for Mary!
Saint John Paul II
Baron Wilhelm Emmanuel Ketteler (1811-1877)
We all owe what we are and our vocation, to the prayers and sacrifices of others. In the case of the well-known Bishop Ketteler, an excellent figure of the German episcopate of the 19th century and one of the leading figures among the founders of Catholic sociology, the benefactress was a convert nun, the last and poorest nun in her convent.
In 1869 a bishop of a German diocese and a guest of his, Bishop Ketteler of Münster, met together. During the conversation, the diocesan bishop emphasized the many charitable works of his guest. But Bishop Ketteler explained to his host: “Everything that I have achieved with God's help, I owe to the prayer and sacrifice of a person I do not know. I can only say that someone offered his life to God in sacrifice for me and to this I owe the fact that I am a priest”. And he continued: “At first I did not feel destined for the priesthood. I had taken my qualifying exams to become a lawyer and I was aiming to make a career as soon as possible to obtain an important place in the world and to have honors, consideration and money. But an extraordinary event prevented me from doing so and turned my life in another direction.
One afternoon, while I was alone in my room, I indulged in my ambitious dreams and plans for the future. I don't know what happened to me, whether I was awake or asleep: was what I saw reality or was it a dream? One thing I do know: I saw what was later to be the cause of the transformation of my life. With clear clarity, Christ was above me in a cloud of light and He was showing me His Sacred Heart. In front of Him was a sister kneeling and raising her hands in imploration. From the mouth of Jesus I heard the following words: 'She prays unceasingly for you. I could see clearly the figure of the praying person; his physiognomy was so strongly impressed on me that I still have it today. She looked to me like a simple converse. Her dress was poor and ordinary, her hands reddened and calloused from hard work. Whatever it was, a dream or not, for me it was extraordinary because I was deeply impressed; from that moment I decided to consecrate myself completely to God in priestly service.
I withdrew to a monastery for the spiritual exercises and discussed all this with my confessor. I began my theological studies at the age of thirty. All the rest you already know. If now you think that something good happened through me, you should know whose merit it really is: that nun who prayed for me, perhaps without knowing me. I am convinced that someone prayed for me and still prays for me in secret, and that without that prayer I could not reach the goal that God has destined for me”. “Do you know who it is who prays for you and where?” asked the diocesan bishop. “No, I can only daily ask God to bless you, if you are still alive, and to repay a thousand times what you did for me.”
The Sister in the Stable
The next day Bishop Ketteler went to visit a convent of nuns in a nearby town and celebrated Holy Mass for them in the chapel. Near the end of the distribution of Holy Communion, as he reached the last row, his gaze fell on a Sister in the stable.
row, his gaze fell on a nun. His face paled, he remained motionless, then recovered and gave Communion to the nun who had not noticed anything and was devoutly kneeling. Then he serenely concluded the liturgy.
At breakfast the diocesan bishop of the previous day also arrived at the convent. Bishop Ketteler asked the mother superior to introduce him to all the nuns, who arrived in a short time. The two bishops approached and Ketteler greeted them, observing them, but clearly did not seem to find what he was looking for. In a low voice he addressed the mother superior: “Are these all the nuns?”. She, looking at the group, answered: “Excellency, I sent for all of them, but one of them is missing! “Why didn't she come?” The mother replied, “She takes care of the stable, and she does it in such an exemplary way that in her zeal she sometimes forgets the other things.” “I wish to meet this nun,” said the bishop. After a short time, the nun arrived. He paled again and after having addressed a few words to all the religious, he asked to remain only with her.
“Do you know me?” he asked. “Excellency, I have never seen you!”. “But you prayed and offered good works for me?”, Ketteler wanted to know. “I am not aware of it, because I did not know of Your Grace's existence.” The bishop remained a few moments motionless and silent, then continued with other questions. “What are the devotions that you love most and that you practice most often?”. “The veneration of the Sacred Heart,” answered the nun. “You seem to have the heaviest work in the convent!” she continued. “Oh no, Your Grace! I certainly cannot be unaware that it sometimes repulses me.” “Then what do you do when you are burdened with temptation?” “I took the habit of facing for love of God, with joy and zeal, all the tasks that cost me much and then I offer them for a soul of the world. It will be the good God who will choose to whom to give His grace, I do not want to know. I also offer the hour of adoration in the evening, from twenty to twenty-one o'clock, for this intention.” “How did the idea of offering all this for a soul come to you?”. “It is a custom I already had when I was still living in the world. At school the parish priest taught us that one should pray for others as one does for one's own relatives. Moreover, he added: 'It would be necessary to pray a lot for those who are in danger of being lost for eternity. But since God alone knows who has the greatest need, the best thing would be to offer prayers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, trusting in His wisdom and omniscience'. So I did, and I always thought that God finds the right soul”.
Birthday and conversion day
“How old are you?” asked Ketteler. “Thirty-three years, Excellency.” The bishop, perturbed, interrupted himself for a moment, then asked: “When were you born?”. The nun referred to the day of her birth. The bishop then made an exclamation: it was precisely the day of her conversion! He had seen her exactly like that, in front of him as she was at that moment. “You don't know if your prayers and sacrifices were successful?”. “No, Your Grace.” “And you don't want to know?” “The good Lord knows that when you good thing is done, this is enough,” was the simple reply. The bishop was very impressed: “For the love of God, then continue with this work!”.
The nun knelt down in front of him and asked for his blessing. The bishop solemnly raised his hands and with deep emotion said: “With my episcopal powers, I bless your soul, your hands and the work you do, I bless your prayers and your sacrifices, your self-control and your obedience. I bless her especially for her last hour and I pray God to assist her with his consolation.” “Amen,” the nun replied serenely and walked away.
A teaching for a lifetime
The bishop was deeply disturbed, he went to the window to look outside, trying to regain his equilibrium. Later, he said goodbye to the Mother Superior and returned to the house of his friend and brother. To him she confided: “Now I have found the one to whom I owe my vocation. She is the last and the poorest convert in the convent. I can never thank God enough for his mercy, because that nun has been praying for me for almost twenty years. But God in advance had accepted her prayer and had also foreseen that the day of her birth would coincide with the day of my conversion; then God accepted the prayers and good works of that nun. What a teaching and admonition for me! If one day I should be tempted to boast about my successes and my works before men, I should keep in mind that everything comes to me from the grace of prayer and the sacrifice of a poor servant in the stable of a convent. And if an insignificant work seems to me of little value, I must reflect that what that handmaid, in humble obedience to God, does and offers in sacrifice with self-control has such value before God that her works have created a bishop for the Church”.
Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
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 Spirit, have mercy on us
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us
Heart of Jesus, meek and humble of heart, grant all your spouses a profound humility.
Heart of Jesus, poor and weary for souls, grant all your spouses your spirit of zeal.
Heart of Jesus, full of patience and mercy for sinners, grant all your spouses a spirit of compassion.
Heart of Jesus, victim for the sins of the world, grant all your spouses a spirit of sacrifice.
Heart of Jesus, lover of the little ones and the poor, grant all your spouses a spirit of charity.
Heart of Jesus, of infinite patience, grant all your spouses your sweetness.
Heart of Jesus, wounded by the lance, grant all your spouses the grace to enter through this wound into your Heart
Heart of Jesus, full of tenderness for sinners, grant all your spouses a maternal spirit.
Heart of Jesus, victim of coldness in the Eucharist, grant all your spouses fire to console you.
Heart of Jesus, lover of beggars, grant all your spouses the power to see you in them.
Heart of Jesus, of infinite sweetness, grant all your spouses to be your reflection.
Heart of Jesus, wounded by our complaints, grant all your spouses the courage to give you all that you ask of them.
Heart of Jesus, full of graces for children, grant all your spouses to be channels of these graces.
Heart of Jesus, victim of abuse in the Eucharist, grant to all your spouses zeal to defend you.
Heart of Jesus, lover of the sick, grant all your spouses to care for them in their agony.
Heart of Jesus, of infinite beauty, grant all your spouses to fall totally in love with you.
Heart of Jesus, wounded by our lies, grant all your spouses love for the Truth.
Heart of Jesus, full of graces for priests, grant all your spouses may recognize them as other Christs.
Heart of Jesus, victim of those who disfigure your words, grant all your spouses light to see their snares.
Heart of Jesus, lover of families, grant all your spouses to help them in their mission.
Heart of Jesus, of infinite goodness, grant all your spouses to make it known to the world.
Heart of Jesus, wounded by our selfishness, grant all your spouses to give themselves with total generosity.
Heart of Jesus, full of graces for the elderly, grant all your spouses words that comfort them.
Heart of Jesus, victim of the insults of the world, grant all your spouses courage to defend you.
Heart of Jesus, patient with atheists, grant all your spouses the courage to conquer them with your charity.
Heart of Jesus, of infinite meekness, grant all your spouses be a refuge for the troubled ones.
Heart of Jesus, wounded by materialism, grant all your spouses love for austerities.
Heart of Jesus, persecuted in your faithful, grant all your spouses constancy in helping them.
Heart of Jesus, victim of the negligence of the religious, grant all your spouses a burning desire to make reparation for them.
Heart of Jesus, lover of the erring, grant all your spouses raise their prayers to intercede for them.
Heart of Jesus, of infinite mercy, grant all your spouses be mirrors of it.
Heart of Jesus, wounded by lack of modesty, grant all your spouses be the image of your Mother.
Heart of Jesus, abandoned in your Tabernacles, grant all your spouses keep you long company
Heart of Jesus, victim in Eucharistic sacrileges, grant all your spouses ardor to make reparation for them.
Heart of Jesus, lover of those who suffer, grant all your spouses balm to soothe them.
Heart of Jesus, ever attentive to our laments, grant all your spouses ears to hear us.
Heart of Jesus, wounded by the lack of mercy, grant all your spouses an endearing devotion.
Heart of Jesus, wounded by wars, grant all your spouses courage not to abandon your children.
Heart of Jesus, victim of sinners, grant all your spouses teach the eternal harm done by sin.
Heart of Jesus, lover of all souls, grant all your spouses ardor to lead them to Mary Most Holy.
Heart of Jesus, grieved by ideologies, grant all your spouses light to enlighten their intelligence.
Heart of Jesus, absent in the schools, grant all your spouses the impetus to lead you to them.
Heart of Jesus, lover of all your spouses, unite to them and satisfy them so that their surrender may be total.
Mary, Mother of the spouses of the Heart of Jesus, engrave strongly your image, so that your Son may be enraptured by their souls.
Heart of Jesus, protect your spouses and be their guardian against the snares of the Devil.
Amen