A Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

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On February 11, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous in a grotto in Lourdes, France. By July 16, five months later, Mary had appeared 18 times and had declared herself to be the Immaculate Conception. During one apparition, the Blessed Virgin told Bernadette to drink from a fountain of water, which suddenly appeared. For over a century and a half, pilgrims to Lourdes have been miraculously healed by contact with this fountain's waters.

This Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes can be prayed at any time, but it is especially appropriate in the days before February 11, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Many Catholics begin the novena on February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, to complete it on February 10, the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

How to Pray the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

Pope Benedict XVI at Lourdes

 

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Each day of the novena begins with the following Opening Prayer of the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, which you can also pray by itself for nine days for a shorter version of the novena. In it, we recall the many miracles that have been wrought at the Grotto of Lourdes since Our Lady appeared there in 1858, and we ask for her intercession for our own needs.

The Opening Prayer of the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes


Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest your shining with life, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child, St. Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception." A thousand times we congratulate you upon your Immaculate Conception. And now, O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted, you know our wants, our troubles, our sufferings; deign to cast upon us a look of mercy.
By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors, and already many have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and physical. We come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain for us, O loving Mother, the granting of our request.
[Mention your request here]
Through gratitude for your favors, we will endeavor to imitate your virtues, that we may one day share your glory.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of Christ, you had influence with your divine son while upon earth. You have the same influence now in Heaven. Pray for us; obtain for us from your Divine Son our special requests if it be the Divine Will. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

After praying the Opening Prayer, you can find the appropriate prayer for each day of the novena below.

Day 1: Mother of the Eternal Word

A postcard from the Basilica at Lourdes, France.

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On the first day of the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, we recall the favor that God has bestowed on the Blessed Virgin Mary by choosing her to be the mother of His Son, Jesus, and preserving her from the stain of original sin.

Begin by praying the Opening Prayer for the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes (above).

Prayer for the First Day


O Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, virgin and mother, queen of heaven, chosen from all eternity to be the Mother of the Eternal Word and in virtue of this title preserved from original sin, we kneel before you as did little Bernadette at Lourdes and pray with childlike trust in you that as we contemplate your glorious appearance at Lourdes, you will look with mercy on our present petition and secure for us a favorable answer to the request for which we are making this novena.
[Mention your request here]
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

Day 2: The Immaculate Conception

Religious March in Lourdes

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On the second day of the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, we commemorate the Blessed Virgin Mary's revelation of herself to Saint Bernadette as the Immaculate Conception and pray that our hearts may be consumed with love for Christ and His Blessed Mother.

Begin by praying the Opening Prayer for the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes (above).

Prayer for the Second Day


Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest yourself shining with light, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child Saint Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception!" O Mary Immaculate, inflame our hearts with one ray of the burning love of your pure heart. Let them be consumed with love for Jesus and for you, in order that we may merit one day to enjoy your glorious eternity. O dispenser of His graces here below, take into your keeping and present to your Divine Son the petition for which we are making this novena.
[Mention your request here]
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

Day 3: Conceived Without Sin

Pilgrims touching the Lourdes grotto, Lourdes, Hautes Pyrenees, France, Europe

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The prayer for the third day of the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes recalls the first miracle at the site where Saint Bernadette saw the Blessed Virgin Mary: the springing forth of a fountain whose waters continue to heal pilgrims to this day.

Begin by praying the Opening Prayer for the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes (above).

Prayer for the Third Day


"You are all fair, O Mary, and there is in you no stain of original sin." O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. O brilliant star of sanctity, as on that lovely day, upon a rough rock in Lourdes you spoke to the child Bernadette and a fountain broke from the plain earth and miracles happened and the great shrine of Lourdes began, so now I beseech you to hear our fervent prayer and do, we beseech you, grant us the petition we now so earnestly seek.
[Mention your request here]
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

Day 4: O Immaculate Queen of Heaven

Mosaic of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven. Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, Lourdes, France

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In the prayer for the fourth day of the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, we call upon Mary, the Queen of Heaven, to dispense to us the graces that we need.

Begin by praying the Opening Prayer for the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes (above).

Prayer for the Fourth Day


O Immaculate Queen of Heaven, we your wayward, erring children, join our unworthy prayers of praise and thanksgiving to those of the angels and saints and your own, that the One, Holy, and Undivided Trinity may be glorified in heaven and on earth. Our Lady of Lourdes, as you looked down with love and mercy upon Bernadette as she prayed her rosary in the grotto, look down now, we beseech you, with love and mercy upon us. From the abundance of graces granted you by your Divine Son, sweet Mother of God, give to each of us all that your motherly heart sees we need and at this moment look with special favor on the grace we seek in this novena.
[Mention your request here]
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

Day 5: O Mary Immaculate

Italian pilgrims at grotto

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On the fifth day of the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, we express our confidence in the mercy of Mary Immaculate and of her Divine Son's love for His Mother.

Begin by praying the Opening Prayer for the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes (above).

Prayer for the Fifth Day


O Mary Immaculate, Mother of God and our mother, from the heights of your dignity look down mercifully upon us while we, full of confidence in your unbounded goodness and confident that your Divine Son will look favorably upon any request you make of Him in our behalf, beseech you to come to our aid and secure for us the favor we seek in this novena.
[Mention your request here]
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

Day 6: O Lady of Bernadette

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, nave

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In the prayer for the sixth day of the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, we ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to look on us with compassion, as she once looked on Saint Bernadette.

Begin by praying the Opening Prayer for the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes (above).

Prayer for the Sixth Day


O glorious Mother of God, so powerful under your special title of Our Lady of Lourdes, to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the gracious Heart of Jesus all the helps and graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare and for the special favor we so earnestly seek in this novena.
[Mention your request here]
O Lady of Bernadette, with the stars of heaven in your hair and the roses of earth at your feet, look with compassion upon us today as you did so long ago on Bernadette in the Grotto of Lourdes.
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

Day 7: A Worthy Dwelling Place

Wheelchair-bound Christian pilgrims at Rosary Basilica.

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On the seventh day of the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, we ask God to protect and sustain us physically and spiritually.

Begin by praying the Opening Prayer for the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes (above).

Prayer for the Seventh Day


O Almighty God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary did prepare a worthy dwelling place for your Son, we humbly beseech you that as we contemplate the apparition of Our Lady in the Grotto of Lourdes, we may be blessed with health of mind and body. O most gracious Mother Mary, beloved Mother of Our Lord and Redeemer, look with favor upon us as you did that day on Bernadette and intercede with him for us that the favor we now so earnestly seek may be granted to us.
[Mention your request here]
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

Day 8: O Immaculate Mother of God

Pilgrim touching the Lourdes grotto, Lourdes, Hautes Pyrenees, France, Europe

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In the prayer for the eighth day of the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, we unite our prayers to those of Saint Bernadette and of all the pilgrims to Lourdes.

Begin by praying the Opening Prayer for the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes (above).

Prayer for the Eighth Day


O Immaculate Mother of God, from heaven itself you came to appear to the little Bernadette in the rough Grotto of Lourdes! And as Bernadette knelt at your feet and the miraculous spring burst forth and as multitudes have knelt ever since before your shrine, O Mother of God, we kneel before you today to ask that in your mercy you plead with your Divine Son to grant the special favor we seek in this novena.
[Mention your request here]
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

Day 9: O Mother of Our Divine Lord

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On the final day of the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, we pray for the grace of a happy death and express our confidence that our request in this novena will be granted.

Begin by praying the Opening Prayer for the Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes (above).

Prayer for the Ninth Day


O glorious Mother of God, to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the benign Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly for the grace of a happy death. O Mother of our Divine Lord, as we conclude this novena for the special favor we seek at this time . . .
[Mention your request here]
. . . we feel animated with confidence that your prayers in our behalf will be graciously heard. O Mother of My Lord, through the love you bear to Jesus Christ and for the glory of His Name, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions.
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
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ThoughtCo. "A Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes." Learn Religions, Aug. 27, 2020, learnreligions.com/our-lady-of-lourdes-novena-4046135. ThoughtCo. (2020, August 27). A Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes. Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/our-lady-of-lourdes-novena-4046135 ThoughtCo. "A Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes." Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/our-lady-of-lourdes-novena-4046135 (accessed March 28, 2024).