We are broken human beings. Our nature, wounded by Original Sin, has left a fragility in us that can only be strengthened, steeled, and fortified by Christ and the Blood He shed for us.
“We are so fragile,” a Catholic sociology professor once said, during a class I took. “We’re like alabaster jars.”
Wounds vary. Degree, gravity, duration.
Wounds that are not healed or addressed are transmitted. It’s one of the greatest tragedies in life, for families in particular.
We should recall that no man is an island, entire of itself. Our lives are involved with one another, through innumerable interactions they are linked together. No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone. The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse.
Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi
Some of our wounds are interior: mental or spiritual or emotional. Some are physical: illness or handicaps.
Sometimes we have physical sufferings that are so difficult they have left us interiorly wounded.
Some interior sufferings are so great they harm our physical health.
We can bring all of these wounds to prayer. God is the Divine Physician, Who will grant us the graces of healing that we need.
Here are three novenas for healing. One is for physical healing, one is for healing from addiction, and one is for healing from mental sufferings.
You can pray them for the traditional nine days (the word “novena” comes from a Latin word that means “nine”) or you can make them “perpetual” and pray them daily.
May God grant you the healing you desire through His superabundant grace.
Novena for Physical Healing to Our Lady of Lourdes
O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, health of the sick, refuge of sinners, comforter of the afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings: look with mercy on me. By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors: and already many sufferers have obtained the cure for their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal.
We come, therefore, with complete confidence to implore your maternal intercession. We pray, in particular, for all those who are in need of physical healing.
[Silently remember all who are in need of physical healing and those who have entrusted themselves to this novena]
Intercede, O Mother Most Holy, for all who wait and hope for the healing of their bodies.
Intercede, O Mother of Consolation, for all who are to receive the healing of acceptance and the grace of the final journey. Intercede, O Mother of Hope for all who await the healing promised in the Lord’s resurrection.
Novena for Healing from Addiction to St. Maximilian Kolbe
O St. Maximilian Kolbe, faithful follower of St. Francis, inflamed by the love of God you dedicated your life to the practice of virtue and to works of the apostolate. Look down with favor upon us who devoutly confide in your intercession. Having consecrated yourself to the Immaculate Virgin Mary, you inspired countless souls to a holy life and various forms of the apostolate in order to do good to others and to spread the kingdom of God. Obtain for us the grace by our lives and labors to draw many souls to Christ.
In your close conformity to our Divine Savior you reached such an intense degree of love that you offered your life to save a fellow prisoner. Implore God that we, inflamed by such ardent charity, may through our living faith and our apostolic works witness Christ to others, and thus merit to join you in the blessed vision of God
Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe, your life of love and labor for souls was sacrificed amid the horrors of a concentration camp and hastened to its end by an injection of a deadly drug.
Look with compassion upon all those who are now entrapped in addictions to drugs, alcohol, and other harmful behaviors and whom we now recommend to your powerful intercession:
[Silently remember all who are in need of healing from addictions and those who have entrusted themselves to the novena]
Dear St. Maximilian, Priest of God, intercede with Christ for mercy for all who are trapped in the bonds of any addiction. Devout servant of the Immaculate Mother of God, beg Her to crush with her heel the demons of addiction that afflicts our brothers and sisters. Obtain for us the grace never to withhold our love and understanding, not to fail in persevering prayer that the enslaving bonds of addiction may be broken and that full health and freedom may be restored to all for whom we pray.
Novena for Mental Healing to St. Dymphna
Good Saint Dymphna, great wonder-worker in every affliction of mind and body, we humbly implore your powerful intercession with Jesus through Mary, the Health of the Sick. O dear martyr of purity, patroness of those who suffer with nervous and mental afflictions, beloved child of Jesus and Mary, intercede for all who suffer from depression, mental illness, neurological disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease, especially those whom we entrust to your intercession:
[Silently remember all who are in need of healing from these afflictions, and those who have entrusted themselves to this novena]
We turn to you, dear virgin and martyr, confident of your power with God and of your willingness to take our cause into your hands. We firmly hope that through your kind intercession He will restore lost serenity and peace of mind. May He speak to our hearts and reassure us: “My peace I give you. Let not your heart be troubled nor let it be afraid.”
Pray for us, dear St. Dymphna, that all those suffering emotional turmoil may again know serenity and personal peace.
Gratitude for Answers to Prayer
How have the saints—and Our Lady, in particular—helped you by their intercession?
Are there certain devotions and novenas that have impacted your life?
Sharing such stories and experiences can be a source of encouragement to those who are suffering and in need of hope.
If you are willing to share, we’d be happy to hear from you in the comments below.
May all answered prayer redound to God’s glory.
