To Obtain HER Patronage - A Daily Prayer

Boys blessing themselves & praying the rosary in Dowd Chapel at Boy's Town while attending the funeral of their mentor & custodian, famed Father Edward J. Flanagan - Omaha, Nebraska - 1941

TO OBTAIN HER PATRONAGE

O my most holy Mother, I see the graces which thou hast obtained for me; and I see the ingratitude of which I have been guilty towards thee. An ungrateful soul is no longer worthy of favors; but I will not on this account distrust thy mercy, which is greater than my ingratitude.

O my great advocate, pity me. Thou dispensest all the graces which God grants to us miserable creatures, and for this purpose he has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so benign. He has done so, that thou mightest succor us in our miseries.

Ah, Mother of mercy, leave me not in my poverty. Thou art the advocate of the most miserable and guilty criminals who have recourse to thee; defend me also, who recommend myself to thee. Say not that my cause is too difficult to be gained; for all causes, however desperate, when defended by thee are gained.

In thy hands, then, do I place my eternal salvation; to thee do I intrust my soul: it was lost; thou, then, by thy intercession hast to save it. I wish to be inscribed amongst thy most devoted servants; reject me not.

Thou seekest the miserable, to relieve them; abandon me not, who am a wretched sinner, and who have recourse to thee. Speak for me; thy Son does all that thou askest him. Take me under thy protection; that is all that I ask. Yes; for if thou protectest me, I fear nothing. I do not fear my sins; for thou wilt obtain me a remedy for the evil they have done me.

I do not fear the devils; for thou art more powerful than all hell. I do not even fear Jesus my Judge himself; for by a single prayer of thine he is appeased. I only fear that by my negligence I may cease to recommend myself to thee, and thus be lost. It is true that these graces are too great for me, who have not deserved them; but they are not too great for thee, who art so much loved by God. Hence he grants thee all that thou askest. Thou hast only to speak, and he denies thee nothing.

Pray, then, to Jesus for me; tell him that thou protectest me; and then he is sure to pity me. My Mother, in thee too I do trust; in this hope I shall live in peace and in it I wish to die.

Live Jesus our love, and Mary our hope!
Amen. Thus I hope thus may it be.

(St. Alphonsus Marie de Liguori - 18th century)

O Lady, may my heart never cease to love thee, and my tongue never cease to praise thee. (Dust Boy)