Our Mother of Perpetual Help

icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help

The following devotions are prayed at St. Michael’s Parish during the Tuesday evening Holy Hour in honor of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

Behold at thy feet, O Mother of Perpetual Help, a wretched sinner who has recourse to thee, and confides in thee. O Mother of Mercy! have pity on me. I hear thee called by all, the Refuge and the Hope of sinners; be then, my refuge and my hope. Assist me, for the love of Jesus Christ; stretch forth thy hand to a miserable fallen creature, who recommends himself to thee, and who devotes himself to thy service forever. I bless and thank Almighty God, Who in His mercy has given me this confidence in thee, which I hold to be a pledge of my eternal salvation. It is true, dearest Mother, that in the past I have miserably fallen into sin, because I had not recourse to thee. I know, that with thy help, I shall conquer. I know, too, that thou wilt assist me, if I recommend myself to thee; but I fear, dear Mother, that in time of danger, I may neglect to call on thee, and thus lose my soul. This grace then, I ask of thee, and this I beg, with all the fervor of my soul, that in all the attacks of Hell, I may ever have recourse to thee. O Mary! help me; O Mother of Perpetual Help, never suffer me to lose my God.

O Mother of Perpetual Help! grant that I may ever invoke thy most powerful name, which is the safeguard of the living and the salvation of the dying. O purest Mary! O sweetest Mary! Let thy name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, O Blessed Lady, to help me whenever I call on thee; for in all my temptations, in all my needs, I shall never cease to call on thee, ever repeating thy Sacred Name: Mary! Mary! O what consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter thy sacred name, or even only think of thee! I thank the Lord for having given thee, for my good, so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering thy name; let my love for thee prompt me ever to hail thee, Mother of Perpetual Help!

O Mother of Perpetual Help! Thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which God grants to us miserable sinners; and for this end He has made thee so powerful, so rich and so bountiful, in order that thou mayest help us in our misery. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee; come to my aid, dearest Mother, for I recommend myself to thee. In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I entrust my soul. Count me among thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou protect me, dear Mother, I fear no thing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them, nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all Hell together; nor even from Jesus, my Judge, because by one prayer from thee, He will be appeased. But one thing I fear, that in the hour of temptation, I may through negligence fail to have recourse to thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help. 

Prayer of St. Alphonsus

Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin and my Mother, Mary, to thee, who art the Mother of my Lord, the Queen of the world, the Advocate, the Hope, and the Refuge of sinners, I have recourse today, I who am the most miserable of all. I render thee my most humble homage, O Great Queen, and I thank thee for all the graces thou hast obtained for me until now, and in particular for having saved me from Hell which I have so often deserved. I love thee, O most Amiable Lady; and, for the love which I bear thee, I promise to serve thee always and to do all in my power to make others also love thee. I place in thee all my hopes and I confide my salvation to thy care. Accept me for thy servant and receive me under thy mantle, O Mother of Mercy. And, since thou art so powerful with God, deliver me from all temptations, or, rather, obtain for me the strength to triumph over them until death. Of thee, I ask a perfect love for Jesus Christ; through thee I hope to die a good death. O my Mother, by the love which thou bearest to God, I beseech thee to help me at all times but especially at the last moment of my life. Leave me not, I beseech thee, until thou seest me safe in Heaven, blessing thee and singing thy mercies for all eternity. Amen; so I hope; so may it be.