For Catholics, a novena is nine-days of prayer for thanksgiving or intercession. A novena can be prayed at any time, but is most commonly prayed in the nine days leading up to the feast day of a saint or a solemnity on the Church calendar.
The Capuchins shared this new novena prayer in 2021 incorporating the spirituality of Blessed Solanus in his own words. We invite you to pray along with us during the Blessed Solanus Casey Novena, July 22-30, or at any time you feel called to pray following the example of Blessed Solanus. The prayer is meant to be prayed in a call-and-response fashion, but can be prayed individually simply by praying both parts of the prayer together. In prior years, the Litany of Loreto was prayed during the July 22-30 Novena of Blessed Solanus Casey leading up to the feast.
For information on Masses and events at the Solanus Casey Center during this year’s Blessed Solanus Casey Novena, visit our calendar.
Leader: Loving Creator God, you are holy, the source of all holiness.
All: We give you thanks for all the ways your holiness shines forth
in the humble life of our Capuchin Brother, Blessed Solanus Casey.
Help us to not simply admire him but to learn from him –
so we too may become like him,
open to all the graces God is giving to us on our earthly pilgrimage.
We pray in his own spirit, echoing his own words and experience.
Leader: We praise you, O God, for creating us, bringing us into our families and this beautiful but very fragile planet earth.
All: “Blessed be God in all his designs.”
Leader: We praise you, O God, for sending us your own Son Jesus, to give himself completely to us as our Savior and our Brother.
All: “Jesus Christ, the Lover of our souls!”
Leader: We praise you, O God, for gifting us with faith, for living in us and making us part of the Church, the Body of Christ on earth.
All: “How little we appreciate our incalculable privileges — the blessings of our holy faith.”
Leader: We praise you, O God, for sending your Spirit to guide us every step of the way on our journey of life.
All: “God is so good – oh, thank God a million times!”
Leader: We praise you, O God, for giving us your own Mother to be our Mother and Protector.
All: “Learn to know Mary that you may love heaven and heavenly things.”
Leader: We praise you, O God, for giving us experiences throughout our lives to let us know your presence and your call.
All: “How can we ever thank God enough for his merciful guidance?”
Leader: We praise you, O God, for constantly forgiving us when we pay no attention to your guidance and choose sinful paths instead.
All: “God’s merciful love is above all his works.”
Leader: We praise you, O God, for the gift of vocation: single life, marriage, religious life and priesthood.
All: “How sublime are our vocations!”
Leader: We praise you, O God, for the gift of the Eucharist, drawing us again and again into your own Sacrificial loving.
All: You give us “Your Body and Blood gushing through our veins.”
Leader: We praise you, O God, for the gift of our neighbors, especially those who, like Solanus’ parents, are Immigrants or refugees, all who are poor and sick and struggling to make ends meet.
All: “What a privilege it is to help one another!”
Leader: We praise you, O God, for the gift of sharing your cross with us through setbacks and hardships.
All: “Be faithful to God in the present moment or you will frustrate the designs of God.”
Leader: We praise you, O God, for the loving plan you have for each of us in our living and our dying.
All: “I give my soul to Jesus Christ!”
Leader: We praise you, O God, for your desire to have each of us with you and Blessed Solanus forever in heaven.
All: “We thank God ahead of time!”
Leader: Dear Lord, you are so good, so loving to us all.
All: Our Capuchin Brother Blessed Solanus
was filled with gratitude and appreciation for all your gifts
and invites us to do the same.
Help us to imitate his faith-filled example so that we and our weary world
will know the blessings of greater peace, greater hope and joy.
This we ask through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Prayer written by Fr. Dan Crosby, OFM Cap.
Prayer for the Canonization of Blessed Solanus Casey
O God, I adore You. I give myself to You.
May I be the person You want me to be,
and May Your will be done in my life today.
I thank You for the gifts You gave Father Solanus.
If it is Your Will, bless us with the Canonization of
Father Solanus so that others may imitate
and carry on his love for all the poor and
suffering of our world.
As he joyfully accepted Your divine plans,
I ask You, according to Your Will, to hear my prayer for… (your intention)
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
“Blessed be God in all His Designs.”
Imprimatur:
The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron Archbishop of Detroit
May 2017