To be said each day of the novena
Act of Repentence
I believe in Thee, O my God. Strengthen, O Lord, my faith. I hope in Thee, O my God. Affirm, O Lord, my hope. I love Thee, O my God; increase, O Lord, my love. I repent of having offended Thee. O my God, help me to have contrition, so that with the help of Thy grace and the powerful patronage of Holy Mary of Good Success, I may never sin again. O Lord, have pity and mercy on me. Amen.
Opening Prayer
O most Excellent and Immaculate Queen of Heaven, Holy Mary of Good Success, most favored Daughter of the Eternal Father, most beloved Mother of the Divine Son, most cherished Spouse of the Holy Spirit, sublime Throne of the Divine Majesty, August Temple of the Holy Trinity, in whom the Three Divine Persons have placed the treasures of Their Power, Wisdom and Love!
Remember, Virgin Mary of Good Success, whom God hath made so great so that thou canst give succor to miserable sinners; remember that thou hast often promised to show thyself a merciful Mother to those who have recourse to thee. I come to thee then, Mother most merciful, and I beg thee, for thy love of the Most High, that thou should obtain for me from God the Father a lively Faith that never loses sight of the eternal truths; from the Son, a firm Hope that always aspires to reach that glory that He won for me with His Blood; and from the Holy Ghost, a charity so inflamed that I will always live loving the Supreme Goodness and thee, Most Holy Virgin, until through thy intervention I will love and enjoy thee eternally in glory. Amen.
We salute thee Mary, as the Favored Daughter of God the Father.
Hail Mary…
We salute thee Mary, as the Chosen Mother of the Divine Son.
Hail Mary…
We salute thee Mary, as the Singular Spouse of the Holy Ghost.
Hail Mary… Glory be to the Father…
Act of Thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin to be said each day of the novena
O Virgin blessed among all women! We lack the words to give thee thanks for the innumerable blessings that we have received from thy hand. The day of thy birth can be called the day of thanksgiving, happiness, and consolation. Thou art the honor of mankind, the joy of Paradise, the beloved gift of God, and the well-being of our country. What merit do we have, Blessed Virgin of Good Success, to deserve to have thee as our Mother? May God be forever blessed Who hath desired it so! Blessed also art thou, Virgin Mary, because despite our ingratitude, thou dost show us thy propitious favor.
Thus art thou, most clement Mother, our consolation on earth, our refuge, our help, and our protection in both our public and private needs. Safeguard us from war, pestilence, hunger, storms, earthquakes, and all the calamities that we merit by our guilt. Pray for the Holy Church and for her visible head. Hear the supplications of those who invoke thee. Be thou our Advocate, our Mother, for as thus do we place our confidence in thee. To thee do we have recourse, and through thy intercession we hope to achieve from thy Son pardon for our sins and perseverance in grace until death. Amen.
Here, each one raising up his heart to God, should ask, through the intercession of Blessed Mary of Good Success, that grace or favor which he desires to receive.
Praises to the Holy Virgin to be said each day of the novena
O Virgin Mary, our Mother preeminent above all on earth.
Response: Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.
Above all others, thou wert attentive to the Word of the Father, Who doth great things in thy honor.
Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.
Thou art the most worthy temple of the Most Holy Trinity.
Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.
In thee is that same purity the Angels enjoy.
Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.
The Christian world proclaims that thou dost reign on the right side of the King of Kings.
Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.
O Mother of Grace, our Hope! Port of the shipwrecked and star of the sea,
Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.
Gate of Heaven, health of the sick, light in the darkness.
Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.
Through thee, we will find ourselves before God in the court of the Saints, where He lives and reigns forever.
Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.
Guide our steps and help us, O sweet Mary, in our last hours.
Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.
Receive this praise from our tender lips, which cannot express thy singular grandeur.
Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.
Antiphon: Holy Mary, save the miserable, help the weak, intercede for the afflicted, plead for the people, intercede for the clergy, petition for the faithful. Permit all those who celebrate thy holy memory to experience thy favor and assistance.
V. Pray for us, O Virgin of Good Success!
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Final Prayer
We ask thee, our Lord and God, that Thou grant us health of soul and body through the intercession of the glorious Virgin Mary. Through her merits and those of her sovereign Child Jesus, we hope to be freed from the present evils and to attain eternal happiness. Amen.
FOR EACH DAY
Day One
Consider how great and incomparable are the wonders of the omnipotent God Who manifests the treasures of His mercy for those He redeemed. Therefore, if we admire the excesses of His goodness in the many benefits with which He has enriched us, how much more should we marvel at and be filled with gratitude for the greatest blessing of His Right Hand, that most excellent and privileged creature, Mary Most Holy, whom He gave us for our consolation, especially to those who serve and love Him with all their hearts under the diverse titles and invocations that honor her. Through these devotions, we receive great favors by means of her succor and protection.
This has been the experience of true devotees of the Mother of God, and especially of those who have recourse to her by means of the marvelous Statue of Good Success, which was placed in the Church of the Royal Hospital in the City of Madrid. It was miraculous from its very beginning by virtue of the remarkable and unexpected way that this Treasure was found in the wilderness. As God said to the Prophet Isaiah, He would seek out those who had not come seeking Him, and would put aside those who had not considered His goodness or believed in His largesse. Thus also did the Most High make His Will clear that His Holy Mother is to be honored and venerated under the title of Good Success.
Prayer O Lord of infinite goodness, by the miraculous making of this image of Mary Most Holy, Thou hast given us a powerful intercessor to whom we might have recourse with total confidence in her amiable protection in our necessity. Grant us the assistance that we are asking with fervor and confidence so that we might know, honor, and serve the Blessed Virgin, and so that by her intercession, we may achieve on this earth our sanctification and afterwards, be happy with her in Heaven. Amen
Day Two
Consider how the providence of the Most High desired to so favor mankind by manifesting the hidden treasure of the precious statue of Holy Mary under the title of Good Success. After the death of Brother Bernandine de Obregón, founder of the Brotherhood of the Friars Minors for the Service of the Sick (the Order of St. Francis of Paola), Gabriel de Fontaned was elected to replace him. Accompanied by Guillermo Rigosa, he travelled to Rome to ask the Supreme Pontiff for his official approval of the Institute and the habit with the purple cross that distinguishes the order.
As they were passing through the town of Traigueras (under the jurisdiction of Tortosa in the Principate of Cataluna), they were caught in a terrifying hailstorm with lightning and thunder so strong that their hearts were filled with terror. They begged God to provide them with a shelter where they could take refuge so that they might prepare to die in peace, for the unrelenting rigor of the storm had persuaded them that they would not survive it.
However, God in His Divine Mercy so disposed that this search for shelter should be a presage of a good fortune. In a burst of lightning, they were able to discern a turnoff in the path. Following it, they could see the contours of a cave set in the hill above them. Even from the distance, they could see a bright light illuminating its interior and smell a sweet and heavenly aroma, more intense than anything on earth. Their souls were inundated with a great happiness as well as a sentiment of reverent admiration. At the same time, they felt an interior impulse to know the cause of such wonders.
Prayer
O God, admirable in all Thy works! May Thou always convert the most hazardous occurrences of life into proofs of Thy mercies, and in the most desperate storms may Thou show us the preludes to Thy prodigies in our favor, just as Thou didst with the Minorite brothers by means of that terrifying storm. Grant to us, through the intercession of the Queen of Good Success, the virtue of patience, to suffer with a resigned spirit the trials sent us by Thy Divine Will, because at any moment Thou canst change them to consolations in this life and afterwards grant us Thy eternal reward in Heaven, where we will always sing Thy praise and the praise of Holy Mary. Amen.
Day Three
Consider how the travellers, impelled by grace and attracted by curiosity to examine such astounding wonders, set out for the site offering them refuge. Taking off their shoes, they climbed the hill with great difficulty, helping each other over large boulders and sharp cliffs. When they reached the cave, which they were able to see in the flashes of lightening, how great was their astonished joy and admiration! For they saw that this cave had been delicately carved by nature as a large temple. It protected a beautiful Statue of the Holy Virgin holding the Christ Child in her left arm and carrying a sceptre in her right hand. A precious crown rested on her forehead. Her dress, like that of the Infant, was simple but elegant, and both were made in the same material and style.
The site, adorned with various types of flowers that carpeted the floor and climbed on the walls, filled the air with an exquisite fragrance for the Queen of Heaven. Set in the rock was a lamp so expertly crafted that it gave off the illumination of many lights. Such beauty and delight to honor such an admirable Lady! Such surprise and admiration for the overwhelmed travellers! The ecstatic pair contemplated this little piece of Heaven and calmed their overwrought hearts in the presence of their Mother, who after the terrible storm had come to them so unexpectedly, radiant with beauty and tender of countenance, to provide them with refuge and consolation at that desperate and difficult juncture.
So also my soul is calmed before the image of Mary. When the burdens of life and its imminent dangers bring us close to despair, let us go to her with tranquillity and confidence, thanking God Who in His Omnipotence permitted this portentous statue to be miraculously found in that hidden place for the honor of the Immaculate Virgin so that all might venerate Her under that precious title of Good Success.
Prayer : O God of Mercy, Who never leaves desolate one who faithfully and fervently serves Thee amid the misfortunes and dangers of life, and Who leads us to find our Mother and advocate as a refuge in our adversities, grant us a tender and fervent heart to search for Mary and find her, always loving and protective, so that we might serve her and merit, through her intercession, to lead a good and Christian life and afterwards be with her forever in Heaven. Amen.
Day four
Consider the indescribable joy of the good Minorite brothers on contemplating these prodigies. The Statue of our beloved Mother shone before them like a resplendent star, and they reverently prostrated themselves before her to praise and thank her for a gift so unique and an event so extraordinary. Their thoughts and sentiments were raised to heavenly considerations, and they believed themselves to be favoured by something supernatural. For everything they saw and felt within those walls of such inaccessible rock so far from any other houses seemed made by more than human hands. They repeated their prayers of thanksgiving with fervour.
Then, asking light and grace from Heaven to know what they should do, they decided to try to discover the origin of that sanctuary and Statue by seeking the pious persons or community who were caring so prodigiously for this cult. Even though it seemed impossible to them that such magnificence was the work of men in a place so retired and inaccessible, prudence and piety cautioned them to first make a careful investigation about the matter. They inquired at the hamlets nearest the cave, which were more than three leagues in distance, but found no one who could give them even the least information about the Statue. Not even the persons they questioned who were 80 and 100 years old had ever heard about the statue or any such devotion in those outlying woods or any other place near the region.
Consider, then, the astonishment and holy joy of the Brothers, now the owners of the extraordinary finding, as they humbled themselves again before the Holy Statue, offering her their warmest thanks with embraces and warm emotion, choosing her as their special patron and mediatrix under the very significant title of Mother of Good Success. The heart is moved by sentiments of pious gratitude and admiration for such a prodigious favor as this that was granted to the Holy Brothers.
Let us unite with them in their tender embraces of Mary, loving her and lavishing her with generous resolutions, because we also have mercifully found her on the dangerous pathway of life amidst the horror of the storm of our passions.
Prayer
O God of infinite love! Thou hast given us in our Mother a precious shelter and consolation, placing her in the pathway of our hazardous lives so that she might be a shield to defend us in persecutions and dangers as Our Mother of Good Success. Thankful for Thy goodness, may we correspond with the practice of virtue and a tender and constant devotion to Mary Most Holy, so that through her intercession we might find Heaven. Amen.
Day five
Consider how the holy travellers, now convinced that their precious discovery belonged to them, placed the Statue in a basket, and with this so amiable and powerful companion they continued easily and happily on their trip to Rome, where they were received by His Holiness Paul V, a very chaste and pious man. They informed him of how they had found the Statue of the Virgin. Seeing her so precious and radiating with a supernatural presence, he prostrated himself before her, and hung his precious gold and enamel pectoral around her neck, granting graces and indulgences to all who venerated her.
He charged the fortunate religious who had found the image in such a marvellous way to honour the statue and zealously spread devotion to her in all corners. They saw in this, and even in the name of Our Lady of Good Success that the Pope gave her, all the signs that this was a supernatural discovery. This prodigious gift soon became an inexhaustible source of graces and wonders, which were experienced by the inhabitants of the city of Valencia where the religious brothers took her. Later the Statue was transferred with solemn splendour to the magnificent Church of Madrid, the capitol of Spain, where the venerated Statue continues to work wonders, her cult extending throughout Europe and even to the farthest regions of our America.
Animate yourself, my soul, in the presence of Mary, that this encounter might carry you through the most difficult junctures of life, with her sweet and smiling visage offering consolation. See, then, the Holy Father of the faithful prostrate in her presence, offering you this most priceless treasure and charging you to be devout and faithful in the service of Mary. Be content with the state in which God has placed you because you have Mary, who serves you as companion and protectress. Praise her, bless her, and present her with the pectoral of your love, placing at her feet your dominant passion, offering your efforts to overcome yourself with determination and constancy in order to obtain the exceptional favors that so many pious people have received from this Holy Statue of Good Success.
Prayer : O Sovereign God! Thou hast given us Thy highest counsel, the Most Holy Virgin of Good Success, as a companion to accompany us in our pilgrimage, so that she might serve us as guide, guard, and protectress in its conflicts. We go, then, to her, filled with confidence and finding the way easily on the journey to the dwelling of our Eternal Father, where all that we desire will be granted. Enflame our hearts with love for the Most Holy Virgin of Good Success so we might offer them to this Holy Mother with the gift of gratitude, a firm and constant love, and the conquering of our passions by means of the great graces received from Thy merciful Hands. Thus might we always have her favor in this life and her sweet assistance at death so that we might merit eternal salvation. Amen.
Day Six
Consider how the city of Quito and its oldest Convent, the Convent of the Conceptionists, also experienced the special favor of the glorious Mother of Good Success, who appeared prodigiously to Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres, a Spaniard and one of the Founding Mothers of this Convent, in the year 1610, after the Convent had already been founded for 33 years. This fortunate and pious sister was praying alone with tender devotion, imploring the help of Mary under the title of Good Success for the needs of her own soul, for her sisters in the cloister, and for all mankind. In the fervor of her pleas, made with such profound faith and confidence, she raised her eager eyes to Heaven, calling on her Mother to come and save her and grant what she humbly asked with sincere interest for the good of her convent and for all the Catholic Church.
Suddenly a refulgent light flooded the church, and the good sister fell into ecstasy. Her mind was overcome by a sudden astonishment and her heart was moved by an inexplicable joy. Her faith grew and her devotion increased as the light diffused before her astonished and dazzled gaze. A singular joy entered her heart, and she redoubled her pleas in an ecstasy of unlimited confidence.
Thus is the soul invited to leave the mean Earth and look to Heaven with the eyes of a lively and penetrating faith. Heaven opens a path for it to the light of divine clarity and inundates it with the splendors of divinity. “The just live by faith.” So indeed do the just make their Heaven here on the lowly Earth, attracting by their faith the light that does nothing to diminish the morning stars.
Let us also strengthen our faith in the revealed mysteries. Following the example of true religious souls, let us see with the eyes of the intelligence all the actions of our lives, leaving aside all thoughts of this lowly material life and focusing our understanding with efforts of faith on the ways of Divine Providence. It is principally by prayer that we leave this earth and think instead on matters of Heaven, where the Omnipotent God and Mary, His Daughter, Mother, and Spouse, dwell, awaiting our humble entreaties as pilgrims who, prostrate at their feet, implore the graces that we need.
Prayer
O, inaccessible Light of Supernatural Truth that illuminates our being with its Celestial Splendour and leads us to Thee, having for guide and protection Thy predilect creature Mary Most Holy, illuminate our minds with the light of a firm and living faith. It was such a faith that moved Our Mother of Good Success to appear before the eyes of that blessed Conceptionist religious Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres. Because we are anxious to enjoy supernatural goods, help us to be less concerned about the things of this earth. With the protection of Holy Mary and a constant and sure faith in the revealed mysteries, help us to live contemplating the brilliance of our final end and anticipating the joy of seeing Thee and Mary Most Holy for all eternity. Amen.
Day Seven
Consider how the fortunate religious, in the fervor of her pleas and illuminated by that bright light that inundated her, fixed her eyes upon the source of that brilliance, finding before her a Lady of extraordinary beauty and kindness of face. As the light dissolved, she saw that the Lady was carrying in her left arm a Child, bright and shining like a morning star, full of grace and goodness, His features tender and kind. In her right hand she held a beautiful scepter of shining gold and precious stones, and around her forehead was a magnificent crown with dazzling stones. She wore a garment similar to that of the Statue (in Spain) of Mary of Good Success, whose miraculous discovery was recounted earlier and to whom the pious Conceptionist sister had been praying when she received the favor of this vision.
The good religious was at the same time transported with joy and confused to be thus visited by her Celestial Mother. Her soul was filled with a joy and gratitude without limit, and her heart flooded by holy sentiments. As thoughts of lively faith and valiant love and confidence overwhelmed her being, she asked, “Who art thou? And what dost thou desire?”
Then, o marvel of goodness! In a sweet and suave voice, the Lady responded: “I am Mary of Good Success whom you invoked with such tender affection. Your prayer has pleased me very much. Your faith has brought me here. Your love has invited me to visit you.
Ponder, o my soul, the singular privilege of this blessed sister, who merited by her faith, devotion, and fervor in prayer to attract the presence of Mary Most Holy and to thus contemplate her so lovely, so pure, and so beautiful, to be dazzled by her splendors, to enjoy her intimacies, and to hear her most amiable voice. Ah! Fortunate creature! How great was your love for your Celestial Mother! How strong your inclination to humble yourself and praise her! How ardent your desire to be with her! How continuous, attentive, and devout your prayers!
This goodness of Mary should thus encourage us to invoke her with deep faith under the title of Good Success and to pray always with attention and confidence, considering that only a living faith and vigilant attention in prayer will make us deserve to be heard and favored by the Holy Virgin, not with privileged visions, but with other gifts of grace that will help us triumph over our passions and the enemies of religion.
Prayer: O God of goodness, Who dost deign to reward the faith and zealous sentiments of piety of Thy chosen souls with visits of Mary Most Holy, hear also our prayers that the presence of this Statue of Good Success might illuminate our faith and increase our confidence that she will benignly hear our prayers. Grant us an ever increasing faith in Thy paternal goodness; make us ever more confident that we will receive what we ask for. Make us also ever more fervent in our prayers, so that supported by the great valor of our powerful Patroness, we might be freed from the dangers that threaten us, serve Thee better, and win the honor of being in Thy company and that of Mary Most Holy in Heaven for all eternity. Amen.
Day eight
Consider that the Holy Virgin, on appearing to the sister, did not desire to favor her alone with a single transitory grace, for God does not bestow His special gifts except with the providential plan of increasing the piety, stimulating the moral progress, and improving the religious discipline of all the members of a community, a country, or the whole Church. For this reason, Mary Most Holy of Good Success told the Conceptionist sister, “It is the Will of God that I command you to have a statue made that will represent this apparition in all its details, so that it might be placed directly above the Abbess’ chair in the choir where all the religious pray, so that they might consider this memorable Statue as their principal Abbess.” Thus, would this Statue stimulate perpetual gratitude, special attentiveness in prayer, perfect obedience, a firm faith, a confident hope, and an ardent love for Mary Most Holy who thus offered herself to preside over and govern this Convent.
Ah, if we had a living faith! With what veneration and respect would we place ourselves before that Statue! How keenly we would recall her apparition so full of goodness and her promises and favors! How confident would we be in our supplications, how attentive in our prayers, how fervent in our devotions, how spontaneous in our obedience, how regular in our observance of the Commandments and the duties of our state of life!
Enliven, o my soul, your faith and if you are lacking in it, ask God and Mary of Good Success to grant it to you. Thus, by taking advantage of the special gift and singular privilege of having Mary of Good Success as our intercessor, we may not be responsible for a disdain or lack of appreciation for the gift that Providence has given us to increase our piety and encourage us in the practice of the virtues of faith, confidence, charity, obedience and the fulfilment of all our duties and obligations.
Prayer
O God, loving guardian of pious persons, families and Communities, Who in Thy Providence dost guard and protect them because of their attention to prayer and fulfilment of their duties of life, hear now our prayers. Be attentive to our cries, enflame the light of our faith in Thy powerful protection so that we do not fear our enemies. For if Thou assist us, nothing can harm us. Grant us an unlimited confidence in Mary Most Holy of Good Success and the grace of obedience to and observance of our Rule [or to the fulfilment of the duties of our particular state of life], so that we might be worthy of a Mother so holy and a Protectress so powerful. May we always be Thy grateful and docile subjects, so that one day we may sing with glory Thy praises in Heaven, Thou Who hast favored Mary as Daughter, Mother and Spouse of the Most Holy Trinity, the one God Who lives forever and ever. Amen.
Day nine
Consider how the humble sister felt on hearing the command of Holy Mary, to have a statue made of the same size and appearance as the apparition. She excused herself saying that it would be impossible, that no sculptor could reproduce such rare beauty or render with precision its proper proportions. The beautiful Lady, with a most amiable forbearance, replied to her, “Do not fear for this reason. Take off the cord around your waist and measure my height.”
Since, from a natural fear, the religious did not dare to touch Mary with her hands, the Heavenly Queen herself took the end of the cord and held it to her head, while the sister touched it to her feet to measure the exact height of the marvellous vision. Then Holy Mary said: “Here, as I told you, you have the height for the statue that you should order to be made, and the rest of the measurements should be in proportion to it. Place the statue in the place I have indicated with a crosier and the keys of the cloister in my right hand, for I desire to be Advocate and Protectress of this Convent.” Having said this, the vision disappeared.
The heart of the sister who had just received such a signal favor and so pleasing a mission was penetrated, filled with gratitude and warm sentiments for Mary Most Holy! O my soul, search in your heart for those sentiments, and be dissolved in gratitude for Mary of Good Success, our Advocate and Protectress. Let me venerate her Image with the most tender gratitude and the vehement desire of corresponding to such singular benefits by leading a life that is holy, obedient, and observant of all the duties of my state of life.
Then the holy sister who had been favoured with this vision made efforts to find an accomplished sculptor to begin the work on this statue that Mary herself had ordered to be made. Thus, this statue, full of sweetness and majesty, will last until the end of time. Venerated in the upper choir of this Convent, the religious there always have recourse to her in their most grave conflicts. So also has she been the refuge of all people who come to her in their necessities, and through her intercession many portentous favors and special graces have been obtained.
The measurements given by Mary symbolize the measure of her humility, obedience, and love of God and neighbor, which she gives to us so that we might strive to reproduce them. Imitate her, and you will carry an image of the Virgin Most Holy in your heart. Strive like that holy sister to make the moral image of your Virgin Mother in your customs and sentiments, in your bearing and way of acting, in your fidelity to your daily duties and prayers, in your meekness and candor, in your purity and detachment from earthly things, thus aspiring only to heavenly goods.
Prayer
Oh God! Tender Father of Thy creatures Who in every manner demonstrates Thy paternal care and guidance for us, principally by giving us Mary Most Holy as our advocate, protectress, and model ideal of virtue, infuse our hearts with a constant desire to imitate our Mother and Queen, modelling our thoughts, desires, and actions after those of Mary Most Holy so that we might be like Her in all that our fragile nature permits. Assisted by Thy Divine Grace, may we conquer our passions and receive the choicest graces that our Mother grants to her children who confidently come to her as Advocate in their pressing needs. May we find her ready to assist us in the last difficult moment of life, and afterward enjoy the pleasure of her company in Heaven forever and ever. Amen
