March Saints (Part 3/3)

As it says in Grant 21, regarding Prayer in Honor of the Saints

1. §1  A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who on the memorial of any saint listed in the calendar recite in that saint’s honor the prayer taken from the Missal or another one approved by legitimate authority.

In this Grant any saint listed in the calendar is applicable to open up the opportunity of this partial indulgence to the faithful, not just those saints mentioned in the Missal. HOWEVER! The Missal is especially mentioned, which is great because this book lists at least one saint for almost every day.

(If you would like to gain this indulgence, but there isn’t a prayer in the Missal for that saint, there are a few prayers below that I believe should work as “approved” prayers. Just plug in that saint’s name and pray on their memorial/feast date.)

Here is the list of *most of the saints/prayers mentioned in the Last 10 days (21-31) of the Missal for the Month of March. Below are the Prayers for:

• March 23 - Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo, Bishop

• March 25 - THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD

March 23 - Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo, Bishop

O God, who gave increase to your Church

through the apostolic labors and zeal for truth

of the Bishop Saint Turibius,

grant that the people consecrated to you

may always receive new growth in faith and holiness.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,

for ever and ever.

March 25 - THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD

O God, who willed that your Word

should take on the reality of human flesh

in the womb of the Virgin Mary,

grant, we pray,

that we, who confess our Redeemer to be God and man,

may merit to become partakers even in his divine nature.

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

As promised, here is some instruction and prayers that should be good to use when praying with a saint who has no special Missal prayer. Firstly, there is a short invocation that can be used with anyone, especially any saint. You have likely heard of this, but it is stated as such:

• “(name of person) pray for us/me”

This is such a basic and long standing prayer, and it is used repeatedly in the lives of the faithful when asking for intercession (from the living or departed). But, going further so to give our prayers a little more substance and potential for meditation, remember that there are other approved prayers from the Church that this short invocation often follows on other occasions as well. Those most basic prayers are as follows:

• Our Father

• Hail Mary

• Glory Be

• Apostles Creed

• Nicene Creed

Any one of these prayers, followed by the ‘Pray of us’ invocation should suffice for this indulgence. Then, just to further the thought, if for any reason one is looking for a prayer more geared towards the intercession of the saints, here provided are two (2) prayers recited within the context of the Mass. The first is the Penitential Act prayer, the second is the “Collect” prayer taken from All Saints Day.

Penitential Act

I confess to almighty God,

and to you, my brothers and sisters,

that I have greatly sinned

through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words,

in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do;

through my fault, through my fault

through my most grievous fault

therefore I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin,

all the angels and saints,

and you, my brothers and sisters,

to pray for me to the Lord our God.

*(name of person) pray for us

Collect - All Saints Day

Almighty ever-living God,

by whose gift we venerate in one celebration

the merits of all the Saints,

bestow on us, we pray,

through the prayers of so many intercessors,

an abundance of the reconciliation with you

for which we earnestly long.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

*(name of person) pray for us