Please join our community around the world in praying this novena for your family and all families. We do this for the nine days leading up to Venerable Patrick Peyton's anniversary of birth on January 9 in gratitude for his memory and timeless message to all families, "The Family That Prays Together Stays Together."
Sorrowful Mysteries
On Fridays, we pray with the Sorrowful Mysteries. As you begin, pray the Daily Opening Prayer, read today's opening meditation, and then proceed to the reflections and prayers for each mystery. Read one mystery and reflection at each Our Father and spend a few quiet moments reflecting on it.
Today's prayers and meditations are included below. You can also access a PDF version of the full text of the novena in our Prayer Resources Library:
Opening Prayer
O Jesus, as Mary stood at the foot of the Cross, You entrusted Her to us as our Mother.
The Holy Spirit inspired Mary’s faithful servant, Father Patrick Peyton, to proclaim throughout the world the power and promise of family prayer. He believed and testified that “The Family That Prays Together Stays Together.”
Through Mary and Father Peyton’s intercession, we ask this favor for our family ____________________. Lord Jesus, we beseech You to help our praying of the Rosary unite our family in love and joy. Amen.
Meditation
As we pray the Sorrowful Mysteries, we are invited to learn from Mary how to walk with Jesus on the way to Calvary. We are asked to reflect: why did Jesus continue in His agony, even when His most intimate friends abandoned Him? How did He suffer without giving in to the temptation to give up? The answer: Jesus was able to continue because of the strength of His love. He longed to communicate this love to His disciples, and therefore His sufferings were even greater when they denied that they knew Him. Mary's example teaches us how to make our hearts and our families places where Jesus' love is recognized, received, and shared.
The First Sorrowful Mystery: The Agony in the Garden
"Abba, Father, all things are possible to You; remove this chalice from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will." (Mark 14:36)
Blessed Mother, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus shows us the meaning of true love. He teaches us that love is not a feeling, but a choice to do what is best for the beloved, especially when it is painful. Fill us with gratitude to Jesus for His love for us.
The Second Sorrowful Mystery: The Scourging at the Pillar
Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas; and having scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified. (Mark 15:15)
Blessed Mother, what was it like for You to see Your Son, wounded and racked with pain? His flesh, torn open, was Your flesh. Grant parents of children who are suffering or who do not follow Jesus a spirit of perseverance in prayer.
The Third Sorrowful Mystery: The Crowning with Thorns
They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe upon Him, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on His head ... And kneeling before Him they mocked Him. (Matthew 27:28-29)
Blessed Mother, the soldiers who crowned Jesus with thorns did not know that He was indeed a king. But You knew His true identity: that He is the God-Man. Pray that our family might invite Jesus to be king and center of our lives, and have the courage to acknowledge Him before others.
The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: The Carrying of the Cross
So they took Jesus, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. (John 19:17)
Blessed Mother, the journey to Calvary was long and difficult, both for You and for Jesus. Like You, may we accompany each other as a family, not only in moments of joy, but also in moments of trial. Please walk with us as we learn to be Jesus' disciples.
The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: The Crucifixion
When Jesus saw His Mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing near, He said to His Mother, "Woman, behold your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" (John 19:26-27)
Blessed Mother, the Crucifixion has been compared to a wedding, because on the Cross Jesus offers Himself totally and unreservedly for His bride, the Church. You stand beneath the Cross as a representative of the Church. Obtain for spouses the wisdom to understand the sacrifice involved in faithful love and to embrace it with joy.
Prayer for the Beatification of Venerable Patrick Peyton
Dear Jesus, Father Peyton devoted his priestly life to strengthening the families of the world by calling them to pray together every day, especially the Rosary. His message is as important for us now as it was during his life on earth. We beg You, therefore, to hasten the day of his beatification so that Your faithful people everywhere will remember his message that The Family That Prays Together Stays Together, will imitate him in his devotion to Your Mother and ours, and will be inspired by his holy life to draw ever closer to You with childlike confidence and love. Amen.
Thank you for praying with us!