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Novena to St. Peter of Alcantara

Day 6

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 to St. Peter of Alcantara

Opening prayer:

O God, who adorned St. Peter of Alcantara with the spirit of penance and the gift of deep prayer, grant us through his intercession to seek You above all things. Teach us to die to ourselves that we may live more fully in You. Amen.

Read the meditation and offer the intention of the day.

Day 6: Contemplation and silence

Peter spent long hours in solitude, absorbed in the love of God, sometimes rapt in ecstasy. Withdrawing from the noise of the world, he found in silence the place where the soul meets its Maker face to face. His contemplative life reminds us that activity without recollection grows hollow, and that the deepest fruitfulness is born in stillness before God. He invites us to guard a quiet space in our days for the Lord alone.

O Saint Peter of Alcantara, who tasted God in silence and solitude, teach me to quiet my restless heart. Amid the noise of each day, help me find a still place where I may rest in the Lord and listen for His voice. Amen.

Today's intention:

For the grace to seek silence and recollection amid our daily noise.

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:

Glorious St. Peter of Alcantara, lover of poverty and silence, you found God in the cell of your own heart. Obtain for us a spirit of holy detachment, perseverance in prayer, and the courage to seek nothing but the will of God. 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.

About this prayer

A nine-day novena to St. Peter of Alcantara, Franciscan reformer, mystic, and penitent, who guided St. Teresa of Ávila in the ways of prayer.

History

St. Peter of Alcantara (1499–1562) was born in Extremadura, Spain, and entered the Franciscans as a young man. He launched a strict reform of the Order, leading his friars in extreme poverty, fasting, and contemplation. As confessor and friend of St. Teresa of Ávila, he encouraged her Carmelite reform and confirmed her interior life; the Church remembers him as a master of prayer and a man who treated his body with heroic severity for the love of God.

How to pray it

Pray once each day for nine consecutive days. Begin with the Sign of the Cross and the opening prayer, prayerfully read the meditation and offer the day's intention, then conclude with an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be, and the closing prayer.

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