Novena for Grace

We have come together to worship the Lord our God and to honor the memory of His great missionary, St. Francis Xavier. Through his powerful intercession, let us pray for ourselves, for the missionary efforts of the church, and for all the People of God.

For missions and missionaries throughout the world:
that through the proclamation of the Good News of salvation, all people may come to know the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear our prayer.

For the Church:
that renewed by the Holy Spirit, she may show forth to the world the mystery of the Lord and be an instrument of redemption for all.

Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear our prayer.

For Christian unity:
that the Spirit of Christ, dwelling in all who believe, may bring us to that fullness of unity which Jesus desires -- one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear our prayer.

For the unrepentant:
that moved by God's loving mercy revealed in Jesus,
they may repent their sins and open their hearts
to the divine life of grace.

Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear our prayer.

For ourselves:
that we may be ever faithful to our baptismal commitment to Christ, and bring Christ's word and Christ's love to the world in which we live.

Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear our prayer.

Together:
Lord God, our Father, we honor the memory of the Apostle of the Indies and Japan, St. Francis Xavier. The remembrance of the favors with which You blessed him during life and of his glory after death fills us with joy; and we unite with him in offering to You our sincere tribute of thanksgiving and of grace.

We ask You to grant us, through his powerful intercession, the inestimable blessings of living and dying in the state of grace. We also ask You to grant us the favors we seek in this novena.

(Pause)

But if what we ask is not for the glory of God and the good of our souls, grant us, we pray, what is more conducive to both. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

St. Francis Xavier evangelized the Indies and Japan during ten years of extraordinary missionary activity beginning in 1542. A second St. Paul, he was canonized on March 12, 1622, and named Patron of All Foreign Missionaries by Pope Pius in 1904.