Novena Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Dear Brothers in Sisters in Christ,

As stated in the presentation screened before this weekend's masses and in the bulletin, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be celebrated on June 11. For the nine days prior to that, you are encouraged to pray the Novena Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

You may pray it at any time of the day, wherever you are.

If you wish to have this prayer in .PDF format so that you may print it out, drop an email request to davinarul@gmail.com and we will do our best to respond within a day of receiving your mail. Thank you and God Bless.

Novena Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Lord Jesus,
The needs of your people open your heart in love to each of us.
You care for us when we are lost,
sympathise with us in loneliness and comfort us in mourning;
You are closest to us when we are at our weakest.
You love us most when we love ourselves least;
You forgive us most when we forgive ourselves least;
You call us to spread Your love in whatever way we can.

Lord Jesus,
Your heart is moved with compassion when we are suffering,
when we need Your help and when we pray for each other.
I ask You to listen to my prayer during this novena,
and grant what I ask… (make your request silently).
If what I ask is not for my own good or the good of others grant me always what is best,
that I may build up Your Kingdom of love in our world.

Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

1,000th Hour reached!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The 1,000th Hour in our Silent Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament project arrived at 10am today, May 6th 2010, and the Santa Maria della Strada Chapel was packed with parishioners to commemorate the culmination of this significant undertaking.

Parish Priest Father Simon Yong, Assistant Parish Priest Father Albert Tan (pictured) and members of the Golden Jubilee team were among those who gathered in the chapel for the 1,000th hour.

Later, Father Simon told the congregation that the Church of St Francis Xavier was moving towards a more permanent and perpetual format of Silent Adoration, now that this "project-based" initiative had been well received.

(The 1,000 Hours project was held in conjunction with the Year For Priests as initiated last year by Pope Benedict XVI.)

Suggestions have also been received from parishioners over the past two weeks on how they feel the church could continue to hold silent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. These will be reviewed and considered in our effort to reach the "critical mass" - as Father Simon put it - necessary to have the perpetual adoration.

Once again, the Spirituality Sub-Committee would like to thank everyone, especially those who pledged their respective hour for adoration, and those who contributed towards the organising of the project.

God Bless.