PREPARATORY PRAYER
Almighty and eternal God!
With lively faith and reverently worshiping
Thy divine Majesty,
I prostrate myself before Thee
and invoke with filial trust
Thy supreme bounty and mercy.
Illumine the darkness of my intellect
with a ray of Thy heavenly light
and inflame my heart with the fire of Thy divine love,
that I may contemplate the great virtues
and merits of the saint
in whose honor I make this novena,
and following his example imitate,
like him, the life of Thy divine Son.
Moreover, I beseech Thee to grant graciously,
through the merits and intercession of this powerful Helper,
the petition which through him I humbly place before Thee,
devoutly saving, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Vouchsafe graciously to hear it,
if it redounds to Thy greater glory
and to the salvation of my soul.
Amen.
PRAYER IN HONOUR OF ST. ERASMUS
O God,
grant us through the intercession
of Thy dauntless bishop and martyr Erasmus,
who so valiantly confessed the Faith,
that we may learn the doctrine of this faith,
practice its precepts,
and thereby be made worthy
to attain its promises.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
INVOCATION OF ST. ERASMUS
Holy martyr Erasmus,
who didst willingly
and bravely bear the trials
and sufferings of life,
and by thy charity
didst console many fellow-sufferers;
I implore thee to remember me in my needs
and to intercede for me with God.
Staunch confessor of the Faith,
victorious vanquisher of all tortures,
pray Jesus for me
and ask Him to grant me
the grace to live and die
in the Faith through which
thou didst obtain the crown of glory.
Amen.
Prayer
My LORD and my God!
I offer up to Thee
my petition in union
with the bitter passion
and death of Jesus Christ,
Thy Son,
together with the merits
of His immaculate and blessed Mother,
Mary ever virgin,
and of all the saints,
particularly with those
of the holy Helper
in whose honor I make this novena.
Look down upon me,
merciful Lord!
Grant me Thy grace and Thy love,
and graciously hear my prayer.
Amen.