can not sufficiently thank God for having given us in Mary
so powerful an advocate. St. Bernard aptly says: "The angel announces,
'thou hast found grace before God.' O supreme happiness! Mary shall
always find grace. And what else could we wish? If we seek grace, let us
seek it through Mary; for what she seeks, she finds. Never can she plead
ineffectually."

God, then, who in His infinite mercy has been pleased to provide for all
our needs, desires through Mary to console us, to comfort us, to remove
all distrust, to strengthen our hope. How consoling to him who calls
upon God in sore distress, or implores His pardon for sins committed, is
the thought that at the throne of divine Mercy he has in Mary an
advocate as mighty as she is gracious, who supplements his great
unworthiness by her sublime dignity, and who makes good the defects of
his prayer by her intercession! Therefore St. Bonaventure exclaims:
"Verily, great is Our Lord's mercy! That we, through fear of our divine
Judge, depart not forever from Him, He gave us His own Mother for our
advocate and mediatrix of grace."

I.

Novena in Honor of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

[Illustration: The Immaculate Conception]

INDULGENCES

TO ALL the faithful who by themselves or with others, in church or at
home, with at least contrite heart and devotion, shall make this novena:
(1) 300 days indulgence for each of the nine days; (2) a plenary
indulgence on one day of the novena or of the eight days following it.
(Pius IX, January 5, 1849.) Conditions: Confession, communion, and
prayer, according to the intentions of the Holy Father.

_Remark._--Whenever, in the following pages, an indulgence is said to be
granted "under the usual conditions," these conditions are the same as
above.

_Note._--The above indulgences may also be gained for making the novena
at any other time of the year, and are not attached to any prescribed
formula of prayer. The same applies to all other novenas in honor of the
Blessed Virgin.

FIRST DAY

Predestination of the Blessed Virgin Mary

PREPARATORY PRAYER

IN THY conception, O Virgin Mary, thou wast immaculate; pray for us to
the Father, whose Son Jesus, conceived in thy womb by the Holy Ghost,
thou didst bring forth.

Indulgence. 200 days, every time. (Pius VI, November 21, 1793.)

MEDITATION

HOLY Church, our Mother, purposely gathered into the season of Advent
everything which might contribute t