Novena to St. Stanislaus Kostka

November 12th.

1. O glorious St. Stanislaus, who from your infancy wast so attached to purity, that you fainted away when you happened to hear an unchaste word! Obtain for us of the Lord the grace to hate at all times whatever might stain a virtue so lovely and so precious. Gloria.

2. O glorious St. Stanislaus, who knew well how to unite application to study, with the practice of piety, and became an object of general admiration, as much by your progress in learning, as by your continual union with God: obtain for us the grace to practise with perfection all the duties of our state, and to go on increasing in the holy fear of God, which is the source and beginning of true wisdom. Gloria.

3. O glorious St. Stanislaus, who, instead of complaining and lamenting over the insults, kicks, and blows, which you endured from your eldest brother, always answered him with charity and sweetness, and only responded to his cruelties by serving him in the lowest and most menial offices: obtain for us the grace to suffer injuries with resignation, and to return benefits for all the evil we may receive from our neighbours. Gloria.

4. O glorious St. Stanislaus, who, when visited and miraculously cured by the most holy Virgin, resolved, at any cost, to follow her injunction to enter the Society of Jesus; and who gave away your clothes to the poor, and set out from Vienna to Rome in the habit of a pilgrim, subsisting by alms: obtain for us from the Lord the grace always to prefer honesty to riches, and to correspond faithfully to divine inspirations at the price of every convenience and at any sacrifice. Gloria.

5. O glorious St. Stanislaus, who, in your long journey, wast miraculously concealed from the fury of your brother, whose horses were, by an invisible power, arrested in their course; and who, on entering into a Lutheran Church inadvertently, wast fed with the bread of heaven by the hands of angels, to your ineffable consolation: obtain for us of the Lord the grace to put our trust in God alone, and to expect from heaven all needful assistance in the difficulties of life. Gloria.

6. O glorious St. Stanislaus, who, after you had entered the Society of Jesus, became a model to all, in the observance of the rule, and in fervent piety, although the novitiate abounded with persons illustrious for their sanctity and learning: obtain for us all of the Lord the grace always to advance in virtue, that we may more and more co-operate in the salvation of others. Gloria.

7. O glorious St. Stanislaus, who always professed so tender a devotion to the holy Virgin Mary, that you never heard her praises without becoming inflamed with love, and never retired to rest without imploring, with your face on the earth, her maternal benediction: obtain from the Lord for us the grace to devote ourselves entirely to the service of our sweetest Mother Mary, and never to omit anything which is calculated to increase in ourselves, and to kindle in our neighbours, a like devotion and love. Gloria.

8. O glorious St. Stanislaus, who, exhausted with vigils, fasts, and penances the most austere, and still more by the fire of love which burned continually in your breast, desired to expire in penance and poverty on the bare ground; and met death with such serenity of mind and cheerfulness of face as melted the hearts of all around: obtain for us the grace continually to mortify our passions, and to lead a life as penitent and fervent as yours, that we may meet death with joy, and merit afterwards the blessed eternity of the elect. Gloria.

9. O glorious St. Stanislaus, who, by the baptismal innocence which you preserved till death, merited that your cold corpse should remain incorrupt, and send forth from your tomb an odour of Paradise; and who in the highest heaven prayed and obtained the conversion of your brother, who became the imitator of all your virtues, from being the persecutor of your sanctity: obtain for us of the Lord the grace to persevere in a state of justice, that we may attain, in the other world, that glory which will be the portion of the saints for all eternity. Gloria.