Novena for the Feast of the Rosary

1. By that truly divine compassion which thou didst shew to all Christendom when, to deliver it from the most scandalous disorders and fatal heresies, and from the most imminent chastisements of divine vengeance, thou didst disarm the uplifted arm of thy Divine Son, and appearing to thy blessed servant St. Dominic, gave him the wonderful gift of thy holy Rosary, that he might teach the use of it to the whole world, setting it forth as the most effectual means to extripate heresies, to promote holiness, to merit the Divine Mercy, and to defend holy Church: intercede for us all, O dear mother Mary, that we may constantly practise with a true spirit of fervour, so holy, so salutary a devotion Queen of the most Holy Rosary, pray for us. Hail Mary, &c.

2. By the unspeakable excellence of those divine prayers which compose thy Rosary, by means of which we address to the throne of the Divine Mercy the fittest, best ordered, most important, most effectual petitions, and by those great mysteries which raise our minds to contemplate thy joys, thy sorrows, thy glories and those of thine only Son, compendiously celebrating the principal facts of the great work of universal redemption in which thou hadst so large a part: intercede for us all, dear mother Mary, that we may be ever thankful for those divine favours imparted to us in the fulness of time by Jesus and by thee, and ever model our lives after His most holy example, who is in very deed the way, the truth, and the life, and after thine also, who art the mirror of all justice, the most excellent vessel of devotion, the most perfect model of all Christian virtues. Queen of the most Holy Rosary, pray for us. Hail Mary, &c.

3. By those glorious triumphs obtained in all ages by thy holy Rosary, reclaiming heretics, defeating armies, humbling rebels, illuminating infidels, converting sinners, inflaming the lukewarm, perfecting the just, restoring peace to families, tranquillity to states, joy to the Church; by those infinite miracles wrought by the recital and use of the Rosary, stopping torrents, dispersing hail storms, appeasing tempests, extinguishing fires, delivering the possessed, healing the infirm, and raising the dead; by that most lively zeal shewn by princes and prelates to introduce, to maintain, to propagate so excellent a devotion even by the most costly sacrifice of their substance, finally, by those divine treasures of privileges and indulgences which the holy Vicars of Christ have distributed largely upon those who have placed themselves under the banner of this celestial institution; intercede for us all, O dear mother Mary, that we may always so practise the devotion of the holy Rosary as to reap all the benefits for which it was instituted, and to acquire all the indulgences conceded to its use by the Sovereign Pontiffs. Queen of the most Holy Rosary, pray for us. Hail Mary, &c. Glory be to the Father, &c.

Gentle star of Ocean!
Portal of the sky,
Ever virgin mother
Of the Lord most High

Oh by Gabriel’s Ave
Utter’d long ago,
Eva’s name reversing,
’Stablish peace below.

Break the captive’s fetters;
Light on darkness pour;
All our ills expelling
Every bliss implore.

Shew thyself a Mother;
Offer Him our sighs,
Who for us incarnate
Did not thee despise.

Virgin of all virgins!
To thy shelter take us;
Gentlest of the gentle!
Chaste and gentle make us.

Still as on we journey,
Help our weak endeavour;
Till with thee and Jesus
We rejoice for ever,

Through the highest heaven,
To the Almighty Three,
Father, Son, and Spirit,
One same glory be.

Ave Maris Stella.