Carmelite QuotesSt. John of the Cross Novena 2020, Day 2: Pity
SCRIPTURE
What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
READING
The shepherd says: I pity the one
who draws herself back from my love,
and does not seek the joy of my presence,
though my heart is an open wound with love for her.
Stanzas applied spiritually to Christ and the soul
Poetry 7, Stanza 4
PRAYER
O seraphic St. John of the Cross,
the ardent love which burned always in your heart
led you to see all things only in God
and to seek only His glory.
It was to increase this love
and thus unite yourself more closely to God
that you led such a penitential life.
I beg you, inflame my heart with a love like yours,
so that I may have the courage to mortify myself
and give myself generously to the practice of virtue.
Thus may I truly love God
with all the fervor of which I am capable.
Amen.
Let’s continue in prayer…
- Day 1 — The path
- Day 2 — Pity
- Day 3 — Strive
- Day 4 — Virtues
- Day 5 — Nothing Is Good
- Day 6 — Instruction
- Day 7 — Spiritual Marriage
- Day 8 — Union
- Day 9 — Forgotten
Written at the Greek-Catholic Monastery of the Annunciation in Nazareth
Image kindly provided by the Carmel of Haifa
(All rights reserved)
Novena prayer courtesy of the Discalced Carmelite nuns, Carmel of St. Teresa of Jesus, Little Rock, Arkansas
All scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America as accessed from the Bible Gateway website.
John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Joseph.
