Novena for the Annunciation

Day 4

10 min

Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

Novena for the Annunciation

Opening prayer:

O Word of God, who at the angel's message became flesh in the most pure womb of the Virgin Mary, come and be born anew in my heart. As you found in her a willing dwelling, prepare in me a place to receive you. Amen.

Read the meditation and offer the intention of the day.

Day 4: 'How can this be?'

Mary asked, 'How can this be, since I know not man?' — not in doubt as Zechariah had doubted, but in a faith that seeks to understand. Her question sprang not from disbelief but from the desire to know God's will exactly, that she might fulfill it perfectly. She held within her heart, it seems, a resolve of virginity, and asked only how heaven's plan and her own would be joined, ready to obey once she understood.

O Mary, whose question sprang from faith and not from doubt, obtain for me a like trust, that I may believe even what I cannot understand, and seek to know God's will only that I may obey it with my whole heart. Amen.

Today's intention:

For a faith that trusts even what it cannot understand.

Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be.

Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Pater noster, qui es in cælis,

sanctificétur nomen tuum.

Advéniat regnum tuum.

Fiat volúntas tua, sicut in cælo et in terra.

Panem nostrum quotidiánum da nobis hódie,

et dimítte nobis débita nostra,

sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris.

Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem,

sed líbera nos a malo.

Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Ave María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum.

Benedícta tu in muliéribus,

et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Sancta María, Mater Dei,

ora pro nobis peccatóribus,

nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.

Amen.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper,

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Closing prayer:

Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into my heart, that as I have known the Incarnation of your Son by the message of an angel, so by His Passion and Cross I may be brought to the glory of His resurrection. Through Mary's fiat, grant the grace I ask in this novena. Amen.

Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.