Prayer Vigil For Unborn Life
5.45pm-6.15pm Saturday evening, 1st Sunday of Advent, 27th Nov 2010
There will be a half-hour of prayer immediately after the Then, on the beads of the short chain:
evening Mass. one Our Father, three Hail Marys and a Glory be
Our Bishop has encouraged us to respond to the Holy to the Father.
Father’s “unprecedented request” for Catholics
throughout the world to join him in observing a “Vigil for
All Nascent Human Life”. The purpose of this prayer vigil
is “is to ‘thank the Lord for his total self-giving to the world Then, the 5 decades of the Rosary:
and for his Incarnation which gave every human life its Each group of ten beads is called a Decade.
real worth and dignity,’ and to ‘invoke the Lord’s Each decade begins with an Our Father, has ten
protection over every human being called into Hail Marys and ends with a Glory Be. The beads are
existence’.” used to count the prayers.
While reciting each decade you should think
about a particular ‘mystery’ from the life of Jesus or
Opening Hymn while the Blessed Sacrament is Mary. There are four groups of mysteries: the Joyful,
incensed Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious.
Soul of my Saviour sanctify my breast,
Body of Christ, be thou my saving guest, After each decade we’ll sing the Lourdes refrain:
Blood of my Saviour, bathe me in thy tide, Ave, ave, ave Maria. Ave, ave, ave Maria
wash me with waters gushing from thy side.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy
Strength and protection may thy passion name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on
be, earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily
O blessèd Jesus, hear and answer me; bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
deep in thy wounds, Lord, hide and shelter
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
me,
Amen
so shall I never, never part from thee.
Hail Mary, full of grace the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women and blessed is
Guard and defend me from the foe malign, the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother
in death's dread moments make me only of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour
thine; of our death. Amen.
call me and bid me come to thee on high Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to
where I may praise thee with thy saints for the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now
ay. and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
O my Jesus forgive us our sins, save us from
the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven,
especially those who most have need of Thy
Prayer (said by priest)
mercy. Amen.
Rosary At the end of the five decades we pray:
The introductory prayers: While holding the Hail Holy Queen, mother of mercy; hail, our life,
crucifix we say: our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor
The Apostles Creed: I believe in God, the Father banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our
almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.
Jesus Christ his only son our Lord. He was conceived Turn then, most gracious advocate, thy eyes of mercy
by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin towards us; and after this our exile, show unto us the
Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O Clement, O loving,
died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. O sweet virgin Mary.
One the third day he rose again. he ascended into V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. R. That we may be made worthy of the
He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I promises of Christ.
believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the Let us pray. O God, whose only begotten Son, by
communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the his life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us
resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. the rewards of eternal life; grant, we beseech thee,
Amen. that meditating on these Mysteries of the most holy
Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may both Response: spare us, O Lord.
imitate what they contain and obtain what they Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
promise, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
graciously hear us, O Lord
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
LITANY FOR LIFE Let us pray,
Please join in the responses in bold print Almighty and ever-living God, You have created all
Lord, have mercy - Response: Lord, have mercy things through Your Son Jesus Christ. He hallowed life in
the womb by His incarnation in the womb of the Virgin
Christ, have mercy - Christ, have mercy
Mary. May all who acknowledge You promote the
Lord, have mercy - Lord, have mercy
sacredness of life and always serve You faithfully,
Christ hear us - Christ, graciously hear us through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
God the Father, Creator of the world,
Response: Have mercy on us Prayer (said by priest)
God the Son, through whom all things were made,
God the Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life,
Lord Jesus, the Beginning and the End, Hymn:
Lord Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, Tantum ergo sacramentum
Lord Jesus, Eternal Word of Life, Veneremur cernui;
Lord Jesus, living in the womb of the Virgin Mary, Et antiquum documentum
Lord Jesus, Lover of the poor and weak, Novo cedat ritui;
Praestet fides supplementum
For the gift of new life, Response: We thank you, Sensuum defectui.
Lord
Genitori genitoque
For those who cherish and support life,
Laus et jubilatio,
For all those in healthcare,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque,
For mothers who welcome new life, Sit et benedictio;
For those who support new mothers, Procedenti ab utroque
For fathers who accept their responsibilities, Compar sit laudatio.Amen.
For those who help provide alternatives to
abortion,
For those who promote adoption, Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament.
Reverently bow your heads while the
For parents fearful of their responsibilities, congregation is blessed by Our Lord in the
Response: Aid them, Lord Blessed Sacrament.
For mothers with unplanned pregnancies,
For weak and sick unborn children,
For doctors caring for life in the womb, Divine Praises (repeat each line after the priest)
For unborn children under threat,
While the Blessed Sacrament is reposed into the
For every sin against life, Response: Forgive us,
tabernacle we will sing the following refrain three times:
Lord
O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament
For experimentation on human embryos,
For profiteering in human experimentation, Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be
For the sin of abortion, every moment Thine
For mothers and fathers pressured to have
abortions,
For all doctors & nurses who perform abortions,
Final hymn to Our Lady:
For the silence of Your people,
As I kneel before you, As I bow my head in
For our own complicity in failing to defend life,
prayer,
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Take this day, make it yours and fill me with
your love. Mother of Christ, Mother of mine, present them
to my Lord.
Refrain:
Ave Maria, Gratia plena, Dominus tecum, As I kneel before you, And I see your smiling
Benedicta tu. face,
Ev'ry thought, ev'ry word, Is lost in your
All I have I give you, Every dream and wish are embrace.
yours,
(The ‘Litany for Life’ above is adapted and shortened from the “Litany in Response to Abortion” by Fr
Frank Pavone, http://www.priestsforlife.org/prayers/litanyinresponsetoabortion.html accessed 20/11/2010)
