SERAPHIM PRAYER BOOK
NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
EIGHTH DAY
Bend the stubborn heart
and will;
Melt the frozen warm
the chill;
Guide the steps that go
astray!
THE
GIFT OF WISDOM
Embodying all the other virtues, Wisdom
is the most perfect of the gifts. Of wisdom it is written “all good things came
to me with her, and innumerable riches through her hands.” It is the gift of Wisdom
that strengthens our faith, fortifies hope, perfects charity, and promotes the
practice of virtue in the highest degree. Wisdom enlightens the mind to discern
and relish things divine, in the appreciation of which earthly joys lose their savor, whilst the Cross of Christ yields a divine sweetness
according to the words of the saviour; “Take up thy cross and follow me, for my
yoke is sweet and my burden light.”
Prayer
Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, and reveal to
my soul the mysteries of heavenly things, their exceeding greatness, power and
beauty. Teach me to love them above and beyond all the passing joys and
satisfaction of earth. Help me to attain them and posses them forever. Amen.
Our Father and Hail Mary
ONCE.
Glory be to the
Father SEVEN TIMES.
Act of Consecration, Prayer
for the Seven Gifts.
ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
On
my knees | before the great multitude of heavenly witness | I offer myself,
soul and body | to Thee, Eternal Spirit of God. | I adore the brightness of Thy
purity | the unerring keenness of Thy justice | and the might of Thy love. |
Thou art the strength | and Light of my soul. | In Thee I live and move and am.
| I desire never to grieve Thee | by unfaithfulness to grace | and I pray with
my heart | to be kept from the smallest sin against Thee. |Mercifully guard my
every thought | and grant that I may always watch for Thy light | and listen to
Thy voice | and follow Thy gracious inspirations. | I cling to Thee | and give
myself to Thee | and ask Thee | by Thy compassion | to watch over me in my
weakness | Holding the pierced feet of Jesus | and looking at His Five Wounds |
and trusting in His Precious Blood | and adoring his opened Side and stricken
Heart | I implore Thee | Adorable Spirit | Helper of my infirmity, | so to keep
me in Thy grace | that I may never sin against Thee. | Give me grace | O Holy
Spirit | Spirit of the Father and the Son | to say to Thee always and
everywhere | “Speak Lord |for Thy servant heareth.”
Amen.
(To be recited daily during the
Novena)
PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
O Lord, Jesus Christ | Who,
before ascending into heaven | didst promise to send the Holy Spirit | to
finish Thy work | in the souls of Thy Apostles and Disciples | deign to grant the
same Holy Spirit to me | that He may perfect in my soul | to the work of Thy
grace and Thy love. | Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom | that I may despise the
perishable things of this world | and aspire only after the things | that are
eternal | the Spirit of Understanding | to enlighten my mind | with the light
of Thy divine truth | the Spirit of Counsel | that I may ever choose | the
surest way of pleasing God | and gaining heaven | the Spirit of Fortitude |
that I may bear my cross with Thee | and that I may overcome with courage | all
the obstacles that oppose my salvation | the Spirit of Knowledge | that I may
know God and know myself | and grow perfect in the science of the Saints | the
Spirit of Piety | that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable | the
Spirit of Fear | that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and
may dread in any way to displease Him. | Mark me, dear Lord | with the sign of
Thy true disciples | and animate me in all things with Thy Spirit. Amen.
(To be recited daily during the
Novena)