In her and through her, this love continues to be revealed in the history of the Church NOVENA OF MARIA BAMBINA

and of humanity.
Mary, Mother of Jesus,
Mother of us all,
Your name is blessing,
Your heart is mercy never ending,
Your lips utter praise to God
and words of tenderness to our hearts.
Be with us and bless us
today and always.

a moment of silence

all Mary, Mother of Mercy,

********
obtain for us, from the Father, the gift of evangelical littleness
Here below you will find - for each day of the Novena - readings replacing
and put us on the way towards eternity.
the scripture reading and the short responsory of Vespers:
Maria Bambina give YOUR PROTECTION to the whole world.
to each biblical reading there is a deepening passage and a choral prayer
in place of the responsory.

Introduction (for the first day)

With the words that saint John Paul II addressed to us on 23 October 1982, this
evening, we wish to start the Novena to Maria Bambina by presenting to God the
Father the "blessed Institute" and the whole world in the hope that "the poverty
we are facing today may purify and nourish our faith and so that faith may be the
flame of our charity service.

You ought to know, and always keep, your deepest roots: the Will of God
the Father, the grace of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. They are the
Three Blessed Persons of the Trinity, abiding and at work in the pure heart
of the Mother of God from the first instant of her conception. Be you, too, like
the Child Mary, the blessed abode, the welcoming temple of this Infinite
Mystery, so that all humankind, so disheartened and dejected, may find in
her heart: comfort, light and rest.

Beginning of the evening prayer: Vespers

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 th th
FIRST DAY 30 August EIGHT DAY 6 September

Mary: WOMAN OF OUR LAND Mary: WOMAN OF RESTFUL EXPECTATION

Then they took the body of Jesus, folding linen about it with the spices, as is the way of the
Have no fear, O land; be glad with great joy; for the Lord has done great things. Be glad,
Jews when they put the dead to rest. Now there was a garden near the cross, and in the
then, you children of Zion, and have joy in the Lord your God: for he gives you food in full
garden a new place for the dead in which no man had ever been put. So they put Jesus
measure, making the rain come down for you, the early and the late rain as at the first. And
there, because it was the Jews' day of getting ready for the Passover, and the place was
you will be certain that I am in Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and there is no
near. (John 19:40-42)
other. (Joel: 2: 21,23,27)
On Holy Saturday Mary believed and had full trust. The Holy Spirit, present in her from
Mary is the soil on which Holy Moses was told to take off his shoes... the soil where the beginning, kept up her faithful spirit in that dark moment of her Sons apparent
the blessing of the Lord has its resting place ... the soil that bore the blessed fruit of defeat. We pray that she may teach us how to believe when all is dark around us and
her womb, Jesus, as the Holy Scripture says (Lk 1:42). (cf. by Teodoro Studita) God himself seems to be silent. (Thought taken from the Pastoral Letter of Cardinal CM Martini
2000-2001).
a moment of silence
a moment of silence
all Mary, Gods our land,
intercede for each one of us all Maria, woman of restful expectation,
the gift of authentic smallness, free us from our fears and our sufficiencies
so that with a humble heart we may be deeply available help us to welcome in amazement and abandonment God's plan for us.
to the will of the Father. Maria Bambina, give PERSEVERANCE IN LOVE to the world.
Maria Bambina, give PEACE to the world.

th
SECOND DAY 31 August
st NINTH DAY 7 September

Mary: WOMAN WITH GODS SMILE Mary: MOTHER OF MERCY MOTHER OF THE REDEEMER

And the love of God was made clear to us when he sent his only Son into the world so that
And the angel came in to her and said, Peace be with you, to whom special grace has been
we might have life through him. And this is love, not that we had love for God, but that he
given; the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at his words, and said to herself,
had love for us, and sent his Son to be an offering for our sins. (1John 4:9-10).
What may be the purpose of these words?. (Luke 1: 28-29)
Mary is also the one who obtained mercy in a particular and exceptional way, as no
Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. What joy could surpass this, O Virgin Mother?
other person has. At the same time, still in an exceptional way, she made possible
What grace can excel that which God has granted to you alone? What could be
with the sacrifice of her heart her own sharing in revealing God's mercyMary, then,
imagined more dazzling or more delightful? Before the miracle we witness in you, all
is the one who has the deepest knowledge of the mystery of God's mercy. She knows
else pales; all else is inferior when compared with the grace you have been given.
its price, she knows how great it is. In this sense, we call her the Mother of mercy: our
The Lord is with you. Who would dare challenge you? You are Gods mother
Lady of mercy, or Mother of divine mercy.
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to say, Father, you have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to little
ones (Mt 11,25). (Homily of Pope John Paul II, 8 September 1991).
a moment of silence
all Mary, woman of the end of day,
make us watchful and industrious in every season of life
trusting in the expectation of the fulfillment.
Maria Bambina, give to the world the READINESS TO LISTEN.
th
SEVENTH DAY 5 September
Mary: WOMAN OF REACHING OUT TO ALL
Now by the side of the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister Mary, the
wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. So when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple
who was dear to him, he said to his mother, Mother, there is your son!. (Gv 19, 25-27)
Only after doing so did Jesus know that all was now finished (Jn 19:28). At the foot of
the cross, at the supreme hour of the new creation, Christ led us to Mary. He brought
us to her because he did not want us to journey without a mother, and our people read
in this maternal image all the mysteries of the Gospel. Mary, who brought him into
the world with great faith, also accompanies the rest of her offspring, those who keep the
commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus (Rev 12:17). She is the woman
whose heart was pierced by a sword and who understands all our pain. As mother of
all, she is a sign of hope for peoples suffering the birth pangs of justice. She is the
missionary who draws near to us and accompanies us throughout life, opening our
hearts to faith by her maternal love. As a true mother, she walks at our side, she
shares our struggles and she constantly surrounds us with Gods love. (Evangelii
gaudium, no 285.286)
a moment of silence
all Mary, woman for all men,
nourish in us the grace of being followers of the Redeemer,
courageous and strong in living
the commandment of love up to the point of "giving our own blood."
Maria Bambina, give the POWER OF FORGIVENESS to the world.
6 3
On your account joy has not only graced men, but is also granted to the powers of
heaven. Truly, you are blessed among women. For you have changed Eves curse into a
blessing; Truly, you are blessed among women. Through you the Fathers blessing has
shone forth on mankind. (by St Sofronio)
a moment of silence
all Mary, woman with Gods smile,
nourish in us the joy of belonging to the Lord
and teach us to cherish inner silence.
Maria Bambina, give REAL JOY to the world.
st
THIRD DAY 1 September
Mary: WOMAN OF OUR DAYS
And Mary said to the angel, How may this be, because I have had no knowledge of a man?
And the angel in answer said to her, the Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the
Most High will come to rest on you, and so that which will come to birth will be named holy,
Son of God. And Mary said: I am the servant of the Lord; may it be to me as you say.
And the angel went away. (Luke 1: 34.38)
Faced with the prospect of what is depicted to her, Mary does not hold on to her
present, to what she is already, but she surrenders herself wholly to the future initiative
of God; she entrusts herself completely to his Word. And it is in that perspective
wherein is found the second typical trait of the Gospel child in Mary that Mary
depicts for us as a basic feature that is typical of herself: she does not confine herself
to pronouncing her yes, but she fits into her permanent persona! setting: Mary is "the
handmaid" of the Lord, always and entirely for him alone, like a slave girl, eager to
know and carry on whatever her Lord may desire of her
Mary is the handmaid ("the doule") par excellence: her whole life, her own personality,
also the psychological one - her desires, her hopes and her wishes, her dreams and
her world - all is gathered into an openness to God without reservations of any kind.
The Gospel ideal of the child that entrusts himself entirely to God could not find a
clearer expression than this. (cf. p U. Vanni - Maria Bambina. Historical Background and
Theological Reflections, p 78-79)
a moment of silence
all Mary, woman of our days,
revive in us the courage not to shirk from
the fatigue of the present time and the gift of our total self giving.
Maria Bambina, give to the persecuted Christians the POWER OF FAITH.
nd
FOURTH DAY 2 September
Mary: WOMAN WAITING UPON GOD
On the third day two people were going to be married at Cana in Galilee. The mother of
Jesus was there: And Jesus with his disciples came as guests. When they had not enough
wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. Jesus said to her, Woman, this
is not your business; my time is still to come. His mother said to the servants, Whatever he
says to you, do it. (John 2:1-5)
The openness to the Father which Mary has observed in the twelve year old Jesus
and which she must have noted and appreciated on a thousand other occasions
enables her to grow in that same attitude, towards Jesus. This is what we see
happening in the sign of Cana. Mary spoke to Jesus of that unpleasant fact
however, deeply respectful of Jesus own time and space, she is ever ready to wait
upon him even when she does not know how Jesus will behave. "Do whatever he may
tell you" (In. 2, 5). By the side of Jesus there is Mary as a model of openness to God
as well as to Jesus. God asked so much of her: a life of poverty, of obscurity, of
hardship, a life that culminates in the suffering of Calvary... Jesus requires of her to
stand by and- watch, yet always apart But God and Jesus, who asked so much of
her, have given her over and above her longings. She seems to have a foretaste of
this when she declares: "Henceforth all generations will call me blessed, for He who is
mighty has done great things for me". (cf. p U. Vanni - Maria Bambina. Historical Background
and Theological Reflections, p 81-83)
a moment of silence
all Mary, ever waiting upon God,
revive in us the primacy of God in our Life
and the impetus of charity.
Maria Bambina, give HOPE to the world.
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FIFTH DAY 3rd September
Mary: WOMAN OF THE DESERTS SILENCE
Therefore, behold, I will bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to. (Hosea 2: 14)
From the abyssal depths of creation, from the abyssal depths of time and of the history
of man, which is a history full of misery and guilt, appear the clear and pure glance of
a tender child leading us to contemplate God who calls her. The whole history of the
universe, the creation of man himself, everything is in view of this interview, of this
relationship established between a creature and the Creator, between Mary and her
God. It is true that God had created everything for man, but only in Mary the human
person actually responds. This is what the mystery of the birth of Mary teaches us: the
more a person is holy, the more he conceals himself in the secret of God, the more he
sinks into silence, in this silence that welcomes us and preserves us for eternity, in this
silence that saves us, because it is the silence of an eternal and infinite love. (Divo
Basotti, NSdU special issue 1984, p 47)
a moment of silence
all Mary, woman of the deserts silence,
teach us to accept all that happens,
as the place where we for listening in depth to God
and to develop a relationship with him who will really change our poor heart.
Maria Bambina, give the to the world the joy to DWELL IN THE BREATH OF GOD.
th
SIXTH DAY 4 September
Mary: WOMAN OF THE END OF DAY
a certain woman among the people said in a loud voice, Happy is the body which
gave you birth, and the breasts from which you took milk. But he said, More happy
are they who give hearing to the word of God and keep it. (Luke 11: 27-28)
Mary lived the Mystery of God in faith ... She is therefore blessed because she always
believed. Every day she believed amidst all the trials and hardships of the hidden life
at Nazareth. She believed under the Cross, lovingly joining her Son in his complete
sacrifice .. And so, Mary is the first among the little ones of whom Jesus was one day