Saint John of God

1495 – 1550

Feast Day: March 8

A Portuguese mercenary who fought in several wars, sold slaves, and lived hard, John was known to “think with his heart” by acting impulsively. At the age of 40, while a bookdealer in Granada, he heard a sermon that changed his life. The thought of all the wrongs he committed in his life drove him to madness. Incarcerated in a filthy hospital, he suffered the mistreatment of the insane first hand.  As he recovered his sanity, he began helping the nursing staff. Upon his release, he devoted the rest of his life to the sick and destitute. He founded the Order of the Brother Hospitallers and opened a hospital, funding it by befgging in the streets. When his hospital was burning down, he ran in and carried each patient out one by one. He is frewquently depicted carrying a hospital patient. Because of this he is also considered a patron of firefighters.

While recovering from an illness, he leapt into a river in anunsuccessful attempt at rescuing a drowning boy. He died on his 55th birthday from an overexhausted heart.

Patron of: those suffeering with Heart Ailments, the Dying, the Sick, Hospitals,, Booksellers, Firefighters, Nurses, Printers.

Invoked against: alcoholism

NOVENA PRAYER TO SAINT JOHN OF GOD FOR A CURESaint John of God, heavenly Patron of the Sick, I come to you in prayer to seek your help in my present sickness. Through the love which Jesus had for you in choosing you for the sublime vocation of serving the sick, and through the tender affection with which the Blessed Virgin Mary placed upon your head a crown of thorns as a symbol of the sufferings you would undergo in the service of the sick to attain to your crown of glory, I beg you to intercede for me to Jesus and Mary that They may grant me a cure, if this should be according to the Will of God.

How patiently you bore the sufferings of your own disease! Teach me to carry with cheerful resignation the cross that God has given me. Let me never complain or lose courage. Help me to understand that suffering is a very important means of sanctifying my soul, of atoning for my many sins, and of reaping a plentiful harvest of merit for Heaven. I trust in your great love for the sick and in the power of your intercession to help them. Help me, good St. John, and beg the God whose name you bear to touch me as He touched the sick while on earth, that through His almighty power health may return to my body. And as you derived strength in your own sufferings from the crucifix, so may I be able to say what you did to Jesus Crucified: “Lord, Thy thorns are my roses and Thy sufferings my paradise.”

Good Saint John, lover of those who suffer and special Patron of the Sick, I confidently place before you my earnest petition.

(Mention your request.)

I beg you to recommend my request to Mary, the Mother of Sorrows and Health of the Sick, that both Mary and you may present it to Jesus, the Divine Physician.

Saint John of God, patron of the Sick and beloved of Jesus and Mary, pray to Them for me and obtain my request. (Three times.)

In honor of Saint John of God:

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.

Saint John of God, Patron of the Sick, pray for us.

 

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

   Saint Blaise

One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers

D. 316     Feast Day: February 3

An Armenian bishop known for his healing powers, Blaise took refuge in a forest during a time of persecution. When many animals stayed by his side, angry hunters reported him to the authorities. While in prison, he healed a boy choking on a fishbone by praying in his cell. Condemned to death, he then promised to protect all who brought a candle to church on his feast fay. He is commemorated on his feast during the “Blessing of the Throats.”

Other Patronages:  Croatia, sick cattle, wild animals, builders, carders, laryngologists, mattress makers, swineherds, wind musicians, wool workers

Invoked against: Goiter, Throat Disease

(Above excerpt from the book, “Patron Saints: A Feast of Holy Cards” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua. Image from the collection of Father Eugene Carrella.)

Novena to St. Blaise to Cure Disorders of the Throat

O God, deliver us through the intercession of Thy holy bishop and martyr Blaise, from all evil of soul and body, especially from all ills of the throat; and grant us the grace to make a good confession in the confident hope of obtaining Thy pardon, and ever to praise with worthy lips Thy most holy name. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

St. Blaise, gracious benefactor of mankind and faithful servant of God, who for the love of our Saviour didst suffer so many tortures with patience and resignation; I invoke thy powerful intercession. (Your intention here.)Preserve me from all evils of soul and body. Because of thy great merits God endowed thee with the special grace to help those that suffer from ills of the throat; relieve and preserve me from them, so that I may always be able to fulfil my duties, and with the aid of God’s grace perform good works. I invoke thy help as special physician of souls, that I may confess my sins sincerely in the holy sacrament of Penance and obtain their forgiveness. I recommend to thy merciful intercession also those who unfortunately concealed a sin in confession. Obtain for them the grace to accuse themselves sincerely and contritely of the sin they concealed, of the sacrilegious confessions and communions they made, and of all the sins they committed since then, so that they may receive pardon, the grace of God, and the remission of the eternal punishment. Amen.

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.

Novena to Saint Agatha  Feast Day: February 5

Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes  Feast Day: February 11

Saint Lucy

285 – 304

Clarity and light are the primary attributes of Saint Lucy. Often her name is invoked as a protection against temptation, since she is thought to enhance judgment and aid in discernment. The name Lucy means “light” and light is the nature of grace. Just as light shines in a direct, straight line, Saint Lucy’s belief in God never wavered. Light is also immaculate, no matter how filthy the place it shines in. Her affiliation with light also extends to vision. Thus, Saint Lucy is the patron saint of the blind: we also call on her to help those with eye troubles.

Born in Siracusa, Sicily, into a noble family, Saint Lucy was secretly a Christian, having been impressed early on by the stories of Saint Agatha’s martyrdom in nearby Catania. Lucy’s mother suffered from long-term health problems, and Lucy took her to Saint Agatha’s tomb to be healed. When her mother’s health was instantly restored, she also became a Christian. Although her family had arranged for her to marry, Lucy begged to be allowed to break the engagement, as she had promised her virginity to the Lord. She wanted her dowry to be distributed to the poor and to live a life devoted to prayer and chastity. This enraged Lucy’s betrothed, and he denounced her to the local authorities as a Christian and an enemy of the emperor. This being the time of the persecutions of Diocletian, the punishment for Christian beliefs was torture, then death. Lucy refused to sacrifice to the Roman idols when commanded by the local officials, saying, “The sacrifice that is pleasing to God is to visit the poor and help them in their need.” Paschasius, the Roman consul, ordered her to be put in a house of prostitution. When the soldiers came to carry Lucy away, they could not move her. A thousand soldiers and a thousand oxen were brought in and still she could not be budged. Magicians and wizards chanting incantations had no effect. Paschasius, at wits’ end, ordered a fire to be built around Lucy and boiling oil to be poured on her head. Still unfazed, Lucy said, “Ihave prayed for this prolongation of my martyrdom in order to free believers from the fear of suffering and to give unbelievers time to insult me.” At this point, a friend of the consul’s plunged a dagger into her throat and ended her earthly life. A church was raised at the site of her death a few years later. Saint Lucy is one of the oldest and most adored saints in the world.

There are two different stories as to why Saint Lucy is always shown holding her eyes on a dish. One is that they were torn from her head     under torture and were then miraculously restored. The other is that a persistent suitor asked for her hand  in marriage, citing her beautiful eyes as the reason she won his heart. Lucy, intent on keeping her virginity, ripped out her own eyes and sent them to him. Here again they were miraculously restored the next day. Saint Lucy is   also always depicted with the palms of martyrdom. Her remains are partially uncorrupt and were moved to a church in Venice. Because she died from having her throat cut, she is also invoked for throat ailments and hemorrhages.

Feast Day: December 13

Patron of: Blindness

Invoked for: Clarity

Invoked against: Eye Troubles, Throat Ailments, Hemorrhages

Saint Lucy Novena

By your steadfast faith, O glorious Saint Lucy, you firmly declared to the ruler that no one could take from you the Holy Spirit, who dwelt in your heart as in his temple. Obtain for me from God that I may always live in a holy and salutary fear of losing his grace and that I may flee everything that might cause so grievous a loss.

(Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory Be.)

By the great love which your immaculate spouse had for you, O glorious Saint Lucy, when by an unheard of miracle he rendered you immovable in spite of the attempts of your enemies to drag you into a place of shame and sin, I ask you to obtain for me the grace  never to consent to the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and to fight constantly against their assaults by the continuous mortification of all my senses.

(Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory Be.)

By the same ardent love you had for Jesus, O glorious Saint Lucy, after consecrating yourself to him by an irrevocable vow, you refused profitable offers of marriage. After distributing all your goods to aid the poor, you sacrificed your life by the blade that pierced your neck. Obtain for me the grace to be filled with holy charity, that I may be ready to renounce worldly goods and endure all evil rather than become, even in the least degree, unfaithful to Jesus.

(Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory Be.)

The purpose of this novena is to ward off temptation and to maintain clarity in confusing situations.

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

Excerpted from the book: “Novena: The Power of Prayer” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua.

Artwork: detail of altar piece by Francesco del Cossa (1473-1474)

 More on Saint Lucy

Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Conception

Saint Barbara

Third to Fourth Century

Saint Barbara was a beautiful young girl brutally murdered by her father. Because she was avenged by God, she is invoked at times of injustice, when a fiery response is warranted or protection against violence is needed. Just as the heavenly retribution against her father was simple and direct, so is this novena to Saint Barbara. Though some doubt that she ever existed, Saint Barbara is one of the greatest saints of the Eastern Orthodox  Catholic Church, and her statue guards countless homes and businesses. She is the saint who in spirit is most like Michael the Archangel, assuring us   of universal protection and justice.

 Born in the city of Nicomedia, near the Persian border, her parents were wealthy and influential people who doted on their only child. It was, however, a time of considerable social upheaval. To protect his daughter from the rabble around them, Dioscurus, her father, committed her to live in a tower. From there she observed the world, entertained her friends, and was tutored by great teachers. She had much time for contemplation, and ultimately she concluded that worshipping a pantheon of gods was absurd and developed an interest in the Christian religion. While her father was away, she sent to Alexandria for the famous teacher Origen to give her further religious instruction. From him she learned about the Holy Trinity, and she was converted to Christianity. Meanwhile, her father was constructing a new bathhouse on the grounds near the tower as a present to Barbara. While visiting the site Barbara ordered the workmen to build a third window, thereby creating a symbolic trinity. She also removed any pagan statues and images in the structure, replacing them with a simple cross in the wall. When her father returned from his trip, he demanded to know who had changed the bathhouse design. Barbara admitted that she had had the offending third window installed, and declared, “Grace comes to us through three channels, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Dioscurus, infuriated to discover that his daughter was now a Christian, had her dragged off to the authorities   and denounced her. Saint Barbara was then tortured for refusing to sacrifice to the pagan gods. Her own father asked to be her executioner and took out his sword and beheaded her. As he was leaving the site of her death, Dioscurus was struck by lightning and reduced to ashes. This is why Saint Barbara is invoked in the time of lightning storms, artillery bombardments, and explosions.

 Saint Barbara is also invoked against sudden death and is said to bring holy communion to the faithful at the time of death. Because of her work on the bathhouse, and her affiliation with the tower in which she lived, she is also the patroness of architects. In art she is shown with her tower, holding the palms of martyrdom and the sword that beheaded her. There is a church in Cairo Egypt, that houses  her remains and is named after her. Saint Barbara was a very popular saint in France during the Middle Ages. Besides being greatly honored in Greece and Egypt, she has enjoyed a great resurgence in popularity in the Caribbean and in South America.

 Feast Day: December 4

 Patron of:  Artillerymen, Architects

 Invoked against: Lightning strikes, Sudden Death

Novena to Saint Barbara

O Saint Barbara, I offer this prayer to you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. With a sword bearing your illustrious name, Saint Barbara, I make a sign of the cross over my heart. I pray that your spirit by my faith, that your protection and justice be my guide, and from all my heart I beg that you grant this petition. (Mention your request). I hope to obtain this help through your grace. Amen.

 Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

 (Excerpted from the book, “Novena: The Power of Prayer” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPaqua).

Saint Martin de Porres

1579-1639

 Universal healing and harmony are the themes of Saint Martin de Porres’s life. He was so in tune with the rhythms of nature and the universe that he was able to heal any sickness, read minds, and converse with animals. To Saint Martin, physical health was essential for spiritual growth; thus, he should be called on whenever wholeness in health or personal relationships are required. Multi-racial himself, he is the patron of racial harmony and invoked whenever racial tensions arise.

 Saint Martin was born in Lima, Peru, just thirty-five years after the conquest of Pizarro. His father was a Spanish nobleman and his mother was a free black woman. Since people of mixed race were reviled, Saint Martin might have been just another social outcast in that country’s history. Instead, he became one of Peru’s national idols.  When Martin was twelve he was apprenticed to a barber. In those times, besides being a haircutter, a barber was also a surgeon, doctor and pharmacist. By the time he was eighteen years old, Martin’s reputation as a healer was well established. Rather than pursue his profession, martin kept giving all of his money to the poor. His was a desire to serve God in a state of total childlike humility. He entered the local Dominican monastery as tertiary, the lowest possible level; there he swept the floors and dreamed of being martyred in some foreign mission.  Instead, his undeniable talent as a healer became obvious, and he was put in charge of the infirmary. Tirelessly working, he tended to African slaves, the native population, and the Spanish nobility with the same all-consuming intensity.  His power to heal any sickness was legendary, and he was so intuitive that his patients swore tha the could read their minds. Stories of his wondrous abilities spread and became more and more elaborate: he was seen walking through a locked door; he was seen in two places at one time; and some said that the could fly from one place to another.

 Because of Saint Martin’s attunement to nature and its elements, animals flocked to him. He even set up a makeshift hospital to tend sick dogs and cats. Another story has it that he made a pact with the local rats and mice that he would feed them every day if they promised to stay out of the monastery. Each noon he opened the doors of the monastery and fed the poor. No matter how many hungry people were waiting, he never ran out of food.

 Saint Martin’s holiness and miraculous cures made him famous in his own lifetime. Bishops and learned men routinely consulted him to resolve theological problems. This fame undoubtedly, was the most difficult aspect of his life, since humility and prayer were the most important things to him. Because of his earlier profession, Saint Martin de Porres is also the patron of hairdressers and barbers. In art he is often shown holding a lily for purity and a broom for humility, while standing with small animals at his feet to reflect his closeness to nature. Saint Martin de Porres died of quartan fever in 1639 when he was sixty years old. Immediately upon his burial, miraculous healings were reported all around his tomb site.

Feast Day: November 3, 2010

Patron Saint of: Racial Harmony, the Poor, Barbers, Hairdressers

Novena to Saint Martin de Porres

Saint Martin de Porres, your concern and charity embraced not only your needy brethren, but also the animals of the field. You are a splendid example of charity; we thank and praise you. From above, hear the requests of your needy brethren.

(Mention your request).

By modeling our lives after yours, and imitating your virtues, may we live content knowing that God has looked favorably upon us. Because this is so, we can accept our burdens with strength and courage in order to follow in the footsteps of our Lord and the Blessed Mother. May we reach the Kingdom of Heaven through the intercession of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

(Excerpted from the book: “Novena: The Power of Prayer” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua.)

SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI

1182-1226

Ardent love for everything in the universe so consumed Saint Francis of Assisi that he refused to have a full tonsure shaved into his head so that bugs and vermin, his “more simple brethren”, might still have a home in his hair. He called all animals brother and sister and exhorted every creature to honor its creator. It is said that birds became quiet when he preached and that when he walked through their flocks, they never moved unless he asked it of them. A great poet, Saint Francis himself wrote the first part of this novena. Because of the mystical way he experienced the world, in full possession of and living in divine light, he is invoked to change our view of the world and fill our lives with grace.

 He was born Giovanni Bernadone in the town of Assisi in the year 1182. His father was a wealthy cloth merchant and an upstanding member of the local upper classes. Everyone called him Francesco instead of Giovanni because his mother was Provence and he was given to exclaiming in French. Francis lived a pleasure-filled life as a young man, and it was assumed he would inherit his father’s business and social position. When war broke out with neighboring Perugia, Francis went to fight, viewing it all as a great adventure. He was taken prisoner, however, and eventually returned to his family extremely ill. As he recovered, his old way of life seemed to bore him. It was in the neglected Church of San Damiano that he heard the crucifix speak to him: “go and repair my house, which you see is falling down.” He took these instructions literally, enraging his father. Ultimately, h renounced his inheritance, throwing his clothes into the street. The bishop of Assisi provided Francis with his new garments, the brown robe of a monk.

Living alone, Francis rebuilt San Damiano, sometimes begging for the money for supplies. He was eventually joined by a few other young men of his status, and in 1209 he wrote his first holy rule. He embraced poverty and was intent on living as the original apostles of Christ did, traveling, preaching and begging for alms. When he prayed, the bright light in his raptures caused him to cry, but he could not bear to stop. His followers, worried that he would ruin his eyesight, attempted to intervene, but he replied, “We are the same as the flies, attracted to light.” In 1224, while praying alone on the secluded mountain of La Verna, Francis became the first saint to know the suffering of the crucified Christ by receiving the stigmata. These wounds stayed with him for the remaining two years of his life.

Saint Francis of Assisi is one of the greatest saints of the Catholic Church and is the founder of the Franciscan friars. Yet, so true was his embrace of humility that he himself was never ordained a priest, only a deacon. He lived out his life in the order he founded as a humble member with no official status. He was canonized a saint in 1228. Because of his extensive travels in his native country and his love for its natural beauty, Saint Francis is the Patron Saint of Italy.

 Feast Day: October 4

 Patronage: Italy, Animals, Ecologists, Nature

 Prayer by Saint Francis of Assisi with novena

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O divine master,

Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console,

To be understood as to understand,

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

In pardoning that we are pardoned, and in

Dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen

Saint Francis of Assisi, reflection of Christ

Through your life of poverty and humility,

grant us through your intercession the

graces we so much need for soul and body.

Especially during this novena, we ask for

(mention your request).

We also ask your blessings on all those whom we love.

Amen

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

 (Excerpted from the book: “Novena: The Power of Prayer” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua).

More on Saint Francis of Assisi

Saint Therese of Lisieux

1873-1897

 Also known as Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus and Saint Theresa the Little Flower, Saint Therese’s story offers proof that one need not live a dramatic existence for holiness to be recognized. Cloistered in a Carmelite convent twelve miles from her home, her life was short and she died at the age of twenty four. Pope Pius X called Theresa of Lisieux “The greatest saint of modern times.” Novenas of Saint Therese of Lisieux are particularly effective for dissolving bitter feelings of resentment. Her belief in God was so ardent and loving that a childlike grace and joy extend to all who invoke her. She offers the simplicity, clarity, and innate wisdom of a kindly child. Saint Therese of Lisieux is prayed to by millions every day and her statue stands in thousands of churches. How could this unknown middle-class girl attain such international renown in so short a period of time?

 The youngest of five daughters, Therese Martin was born at Alencon in France. Her mother died when she was four and her father moved the family to Lisieux, where his late wife’s brother and sister-in-law lived. She was a beautiful and pampered child. The household was an extremely devout one, and when her tow older sisters entered the local Carmelite convent, Therese yearned to follow them.

 Upon entering the Carmelite order at the unusually young age of fifteen, Therese Martin declared her intention: “I want to be a saint.” Her life in the order, devoted to prayer, was unremarkable, and she spent her days doing low-level chores and following the regimen of prayer. It was her dream to go to Hanoi as a missionary nun, but this desire was never realized. In 1895 she was instructed to write the story of her childhood by her mother superior. This is a common practice in cloistered convents and monasteries. A year later she became seriously ill with tuberculosis and was bedridden. She finished her book The Story of a Soul, a few weeks before her death. This account of her life presents a very human, moody, middle-class girl with an ardent love for God. Writing with the knowledge that her own death is imminent, she promises that she “wants to spend her time in heaven doing good upon the earth.”

 Published in 1898 with a first printing of two thousand copies, The Story of a Soul became a spectacular success and is one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century, selling millions of copies in twenty eight languages. After the book’s publication, countless miracles were attributed to the heavenly intercession of Therese, and a devout following of this unknown nun sprang up in all parts of the world. Because of this international influence, Saint Therese of Lisieux is patroness of missionaries.

 Her book also presented her cultivating a childlike, loving spirituality, thus making her very sympathetic to the needs and concerns of children. Roses are her symbol and she is always depicted with them. In her book she promises to “let fall from heaven a shower of roses”.  A heavenly sign that novena requests to Saint Therese will be granted is the sight or smell of roses. Saint Therese of Lisiuex was canonized on May 17, 1925, and declared to be the second patron saint of France.

Feast Day: October 1

 Patron Saint of: France, Missionaries, Florists, Concerns of Children

Novena to Saint Therese

Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, during your short life on earth

You became a mirror of angelic purity, of love strong as death,

and of wholehearted abandonment to God. Now that you rejoice

in the reward of your virtue, turn your eyes of mercy upon me,

for I put all my confidence in you.

Obtain for me the need to keep my heart and mind pure and clean

Like your own, and to abhor sincerely whatever may in any way

Tarnish the glorious virtue of purity, so dear to our Lord.

Most gracious Little Rose Queen, remember your promises of

Never letting any request made to you go unanswered, of sending

Down a shower of roses, and of coming down to earth to do good.

Full of confidence in your power with the Sacred Heart, I implore

Your intercession on my behalf and beg of you to obtain the request

I so ardently desire.

(Mention your request.)

Holy little Therese, remember your promise to do good upon the

Earth and shower down your roses on those who invoke you.

Obtain for me from God the graces I hope for from his infinite

Goodness. Let me feel the powers of your prayers in every need.

Give me consolation in all the bitterness of this life, and

especially at the hour of death, that I may be worthy to share

eternal happiness with you in heaven. Amen.

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

(Excerpted from the book: “Novena the Power of Prayer”.)

More on Saint Therese

Dining With the Saints in Honor of Saint Therese

Novena to Saint Raphael

Novena to Saint Gabriel

More on Saint Michael

Saint Michael the Archangel

Justice in action and fierce protection are requested when we call on Saint Michael the Archangel. Devotions to him predate Christianity. Three major religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – consider him to be the greatest and most powerful of all angels. He is cited in the Book of Revelation as the angel who defeated Lucifer in his uprising against God. Lucifer, God’s most beautiful and favored angel, insisted he was equal or superior to God. He led a band of angels in a revolt against God and his omnipotence. Michael was the standard bearer against them. He defeated Lucifer and his allies and cast them out of heaven. He then took the name Mi-cha-el, meaning “Who is like God?”

 The ancient Jewish people referred to Michael as “the Viceroy of Heaven” and considered him the protector of Israel. In the New Testament he is cited as the angel that will come at the end of the world to slay the Antichrist on Mount Olivet. Saint Michael was one of the three voices directing Saint Joan of Arc in her campaign to unite France. He is said to take an active role in the world and its protection and is called upon when a group, city, or nation is in danger. Also, it is Michael who meets the soul upon its earthly death and guides it to its afterlife. He is frequently shown with a pair of scales to weigh sins and virtues. This is probably why he is the patron saint of grocers.

 From the earliest Christian times, the cults of devotion to Saint Michael were very popular, particularly in the East, where he was invoked to protect against illnesses. A church was dedicated to him in Constantinople to protect the health of the citizens in the fourth century. As his popularity spread, devotions to Saint Michael supplanted those to many of the pagan gods. In Germany, on the banks of the Rhine, he replaced Wotan, and in Roman Gaul he replaced Mercury. Statues depicting an angel with a battle helmet and sword began to appear in such far-flung places as India and Persia. On May 8, 492, he was sighted in a cave on the summit of Mount Gargano in southern Italy, causing it to become one of the first Christian pilgrimage sites. One hundred years later, as a plague raged in Rome, Pope Gregory I saw Michael sheathing a bloody sword over Emperor Hadrian’s tomb. He took this to mean that the city was now under Michael’s protection, and soon thereafter the plague ended. A church dedicated to Saint Michael was built over the tomb. It is now know as Castel Sant’Angelo (Castle of the Holy Angel). The most famous shrine to Michael is Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy. This Benedictine abbey was found in the tenth century to commemorate an earlier apparition.

 Michael is usually shown holding a banner and a pair of scales and brandishing a sword with his foot on the neck of the devil, who is frequently represented by a dragon. Besides being the patron saint of grocers, Saint Michael is invoked to protect soldiers and policemen as well as to guard against illnesses. Because of the famous visions of Michael, there are local feast days to him on May 8 in Gargano and October 16 in Mont-Saint-Michel. His official feast day, the Feast of the Archangel, is September 29, which he shares with the archangels Gabriel and Raphael.

 Feast Day: September 29

 Patron Saint of: Grocers, Soldiers, Policemen

 Invoked for: Protection against illness

 Novena to Michael the Archangel

 Saint Michael the Archangel, loyal champion of God and his people, I turn to you with confidence and seek your powerful intercession. For the love of God, who made you so glorious in grace and power, and for the love of the Mother of Jesus, the Queen of the Angels, be pleased to hear my prayer. You know the value of my soul in the eyes of God. May no stain of evil ever disfigures its beauty. Help me to conquer the evil spirit who tempts me. I desire to imitate your loyalty to God and Holy Mother Church and your great love for God and men. And since you are God’s messenger for the care of his people, I entrust to you this special request.

(Mention your request.)

Saint Michael, since you are, by the will of the Creator, the powerful intercessor of Christians, I have great confidence in your prayers. I earnestly trust that if it is God’s holy will, my petition will be granted.

Pray for me, Saint Michael, and also for those I love. Protect us in all dangers of body and soul. Help us in our daily needs. Through your powerful intercession, may we live a holy life, die a happy death, and reach heaven, where we may praise and love God with you forever. Amen.

 (Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory Be.)

 Say this novena nine times in arrow for nine days in a row.

Excerpted from the book: “Novena: The Power of Prayer” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua