Life. Boy can it be messy sometimes. And stressful. And beautiful. And glorious. And stressful.
There are few things more stressful than weddings, marriages, deaths, and building or buying a house. If you have experienced any of these things, you know what I mean, and likely, anyone reading this has experienced one if not all of them.
So, imagine you are getting married for the 2ndtime!
As a practicing Catholic, that means if your previous marriage ended in a divorce, you have to go through the dreaded yet “therapeutic” annulment process. I put therapeutic in parentheses because that is what well meaning, happily-married-to-their-first-spouse-Catholics like to say to make you feel better and to convince you to quit whining when you are ready to throw in the towel.
Side bar: Before I go on, I didn’t throw in the towel, nor did my fiancé. We are married! So, spoiler alert. . . happy ending after all!
However, it wasn’t so easy getting to the altar.
We had some trials for sure.
They all worked out fine…not because I did anything, or he did anything, but because we PRAYED. And so did many of our beloved family members and friends. “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” Hard advice from St. Paul, but worthy.
Long story short, my fiancé and I were preparing for a meeting with the priest of our local parish. For reasons I don’t want to bore you with, we were a bit nervous. I just knew the meeting would not go well, that we would need some other piece of paper proving the annulment happened, or something to that effect. My heart was racing….I could feel little beads of sweat running down my back as we waited to enter the priest’s office.
I kept telling my fiancé, “just keep your mouth shut. I’ll do the talking…or better yet, let’s both keep quiet and listen.”
Well, the meeting went far better than I had hoped! We literally danced out of the building hand in hand. This was really going to happen! We were going to be getting married!
Who do you call when you have fabulous news? As for me, I start with my sister usually. She immediately answered because I had her on big-time prayer alert. I gave her a quick update and she quickly started to brag.
“That was me! I prayed St. Mother Theresa’s Emergency Novena!”
What? Stop your rosary….there is an emergency novena? Why didn’t I know about this? Why haven’t I been praying this all along?
I did some research and low and behold, Mother Theresa, now Saint Mother Theresa, was known for constantly praying. I mean, always. Continuously. From everything I have read, it seems that the Lord rarely defied this precious little nun. I mean seriously, she was called the “benevolent dictator” for a reason. She usually got her way, especially when she prayed her Emergency Novena.
St. Mother Theresa’s Emergency Novena (also referred to as the “Flying Novena”) consists of 9 Memorares and a 10thone for thanksgiving.
As you know, a typical novena is a nine day prayer…but when you don’t have nine days, this works in a pinch.
And does it ever work!
This “Flying Novena” of St. Mother Theresa’s has been known to stop the rain, open the doors to the Vatican, calm all types of airplane turbulence, you name it, this prayer works.
So, when you feel the need for a miracle (let’s face it, getting to work on time is no small feat for me) throw up 10 Memorares to our Blessed Mother for her to place your intentions at the feet of her Son. You will not be disappointed.
St. Mother Theresa’s Emergency Novena (pray 9 times)–and a 10th for thanksgiving!
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, our Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O mother of the Word incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy, hear and answer them. Amen
For more on St. Mother Theresa’s Emergency Novena, take a gander at these articles:
http://catholicfoodie.com/mother-teresa-of-calcutta-and-the-express-novena
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/joseph-pronechen/mother-teresas-express-line-to-heaven-novena
https://aleteia.org/2016/06/30/need-help-right-away-make-the-mother-teresas-emergency-novena/
