THE NINE DAY NOVENA TO

SAINT ANNA SCHÄFFER OF MINDELSTETTEN

(September 26 – October 4)

A. INTRODUCTION

“I will help all who will call on me,” Saint Anna Schäffer herself
spoke these wonderful words. Only someone who possesses an
immense love for people and a firm trust in God can say such words.
Anna Schäffer possessed both. We can accept her offer and ask for
her intercession. God permits His faithful servant to help all those who
are in need or have some other request. She is permitted to be His
extended and helping hand.

We pray with Anna Schäffer:

“Each day should be lived with, for, and in Jesus. Lord, I give
myself to You completely. Keep me enclosed within your Heart! Heart
of Jesus, I join my sufferings with Your holy suffering which You bore
throughout your life! I thank you for each hour of Your terrible
suffering. Sacred Heart of Jesus, all my trust belongs to you! All the
happiness my heart is longing for, I find in You, O Most Sacred
Eucharist!”

“Holy Spirit, Divine Consoler, keep us from sadness and

despondency! Free all Christians from despair and from its disastrous
consequences. Mary, Mother of Grace, among us human beings you
are the Most Holy. That is why your motherly love for us poor sinners
is also the most encompassing. May Jesus increase, act and reign
within us!" Amen.
B. CHAPLET OF ST. ANNA SCHAFFER

1. On the Cross – Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,

and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by
the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius
Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into
heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

2. On the first bead – The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom
come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day
our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those
who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver
us from evil. Amen.

3. On the 24 beads –

St. Anna Schaeffer, in your infirmities you shared in the Passion of

Our Lord Jesus,
pray for us and those who are poor, the sick and the suffering.
Amen.

4. Concluding Prayer –
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in you. (3x)
C. PRAYER FOR THE DAY

DAY 1: LOVE FOR GOD

Saint Anna Schäffer was a shining example of true love for God.
She faithfully kept God's and the Church’s Commandments,
according to the Lord's own words: “Whoever holds to my
commandments and keeps them; it is he who loves me".

Anna Schäffer writes: “My only happiness, my joy and my bliss is

Jesus alone, whom I love and who lives within my soul."

Almighty God, I love You and praise Your goodness, which filled
the heart of St Anna Schäffer with such an immense love for you. May
her sacrifices and sufferings be fruitful also for me and grant me the
grace to love you above all, and out of this love to offer You sacrifices
and to patiently bear all my suffering. I ask you to help me in my
special needs … (mention your request).

Our Father … Hail Mary … Glory be …

Almighty, all loving and merciful God and Father, grant my prayer
for the sake of the merits of Your Beloved Son and His Holy Mother. I
love You and Your Holy Will and I trust in the intercession of Saint
Anna Schäffer. May Your Holy Will be blessed and praised in eternity.
Amen.
 DAY 2: LOVE OF NEIGHBOR

Even as a child, Anna was kind and helpful towards others. In her
youth, she had the desire to become a missionary sister in order to
help the people in distant countries. When later, due to her serious
illness, she became bedridden; she nevertheless found many
opportunities to help others in their sufferings of body and soul. She
was occupied in knitting for poor children. Towards everybody who
came near her sickbed she was friendly and amiable. Despite her own
misery she had kind words for everybody and promised to pray for
them.

Almighty God, I bless and praise Your goodness, which filled the
heart of Saint Anna Schäffer with such an exemplary love of neighbor.
May her sacrifices and sufferings become fruitful also for me, when I,
like her, do good unto my neighbors through the bodily and spiritual
works of mercy. I ask You to help me in my special needs … (mention
your request).

Our Father … Hail Mary … Glory be …

Almighty, all loving and merciful God and Father, grant my prayer
for the sake of the merits of Your Beloved Son and His Holy Mother. I
trust in the intercession of Saint Anna Schäffer. May Your Holy Will be
blessed and praised in eternity. Amen.
 DAY 3: LOVE OF THE CROSS

All her life, Saint Anna Schäffer was steeped in the love of God,
the love of neighbor and the love of the Cross. She writes: “Take up
your cross and follow me! These words by which the Divine Savior
invites me to follow Him, are the foundations for my heart upon which
is erected the Cross. Full of love and gratitude I will welcome it. With
love for the Cross and with gratitude, the last breath of my life shall be
exhaled...”

Almighty God, I bless and praise Your goodness, which filled the
heart of Saint Anna Schäffer with such an exemplary love for the
Cross. May her sacrifices and sufferings become fruitful also for me,
when I, like her, accept all pains and sufferings from the hands of God.
I ask you to help me in my special needs … (mention your request).

Our Father … Hail Mary … Glory be …

Almighty, all loving and merciful God and Father, grant my prayer
for the sake of the merits of your Beloved Son and His Holy Mother. I
trust in the intercession of Saint Anna Schäffer. May your Holy Will be
blessed and praised in eternity. Amen.
 DAY 4: PRAYER

Anna Schaff er prayed many hours day and night for all those
who recommended themselves to her, especially the sick and the
dying, for the conversion of sinners, for the poor and the needy, for
priests and missionaries, for the Church in general, and for the poor
souls in Purgatory.

Almighty God, I bless and praise Your goodness, which filled the
heart of Saint Anna Schäffer with such an exemplary zeal for prayer.
May her sacrifices and sufferings become fruitful also for me. Widen
my heart so that I will be able to pray for the intentions of others as
well. I ask you to help me in my special needs … (mention your
request).

Our Father … Hail Mary … Glory be …

Almighty, all loving and merciful God and Father grant my prayer
for the sake of the merits of Your Beloved Son and his Holy Mother. I
trust in the intercession of Saint Anna Schäffer. May your Holy Will be
blessed and praised in eternity. Amen.
 DAY 5: THE EUCHARIST

Even though Saint Anna was unable to attend Holy Mass due to
her illness, she nevertheless did not have to do without the Lord in the
Holy Eucharist, whom the parish priest brought her virtually each day.
The moments of Holy Communion were the happiest of each day,
moments when she even forgot her sufferings.

She writes: “By one single Holy Communion here on earth I have
already been amply rewarded for all my sacrifices and sufferings. Only
the Divine Savior in Holy Communion gives us strength and fortitude
in our poverty and weakness so that united with Him we may suffer
and endure close to His Divine Heart”.

Almighty God, I bless and praise Your goodness, which filled the
heart of Saint Anna with such an immense longing and love for the
Eucharistic Lord. May her sacrifices and sufferings become fruitful
also for me. Increasingly unite yourself with me in the Blessed
Sacrament, and make my life more and more similar to yours. I ask
you to help me in my special needs… (mention your request).

Our Father … Hail Mary … Glory be...

Almighty, all loving and merciful God and Father grant my prayer
for the sake of the merits of Your Beloved Son and His Holy Mother. I
trust in the intercession of Saint Anna Schäffer. May Your Holy Will be
blessed and praised in eternity. Amen.
 DAY 6: TRUST IN GOD

Saint Anna Schaffer possessed an unshakeable trust in God.

She already recognized in her youth her life's purpose: to love God
and to serve Him and her fellow human beings. Thus, within her grew
the desire to become a missionary sister and work for the Kingdom of
God. When, aged 18, both her feet were scalded, she was no longer
able to put her plan into effect, which was a hard test for her faith. For
two years she hoped to gain her health again. Then she
acknowledged that God's will was different. She was meant to walk
the way of the Cross, the way of suffering and expiation. And she said
her "yes" praying: “Lord your will be done, I trust in you”.

Almighty God, I bless and praise Your goodness, which filled the
heart of Saint Anna with such trust in You. May her sacrifices and
sufferings become fruitful also for me. Strengthen me, that trusting
boundlessly in Your love I may accept any ordeal from Your loving
hand. I ask you to help me in my special needs… (mention your
request).

Our Father … Hail Mary … Glory be.

Almighty, all loving and merciful God and Father grant my prayer
for the sake of the merits of Your Beloved Son and His holy Mother. I
trust in the intercession of Saint Anna Schäffer. May Your Holy Will be
blessed and praised in eternity. Amen.
 DAY 7: ABANDONMENT

Her deep trust in God enabled Saint Anna Schaffer to totally

abandon herself to the will of God, in all blows of fate she recognized
His loving guidance and submitted totally to His Will.

She writes: "How happy one is, when one is totally abandoned
with body and soul, with all one's being, with all one's will immersed
into the most Holy Heart of Jesus. You wanted me to be exactly where
I am. I am a tool in your hand, oh Lord, you decide and I will follow
You...”

Almighty God, I bless and praise Your goodness, which

empowered the heart of Saint Anna to such trust abandonment. May
her sacrifices and sufferings become fruitful also for me, by placing all
my own desires and thoughts into your holy will. I ask you to help me
in my special needs… (mention your request).

Our Father … Hail Mary … Glory be.

Almighty, all loving and merciful God and Father grant my prayer
for the sake of the merits of Your Beloved Son and His Holy Mother. I
trust in the intercession of Saint Anna Schäffer. May Your Holy Will be
blessed and praised in eternity. Amen.
 DAY 8: HUMILITY

Throughout her life Saint Anna acknowledged God as her Lord,

she venerated Him as the Most High and humbly submitted to His will.

She writes: “Teach us to say from the bottom of our hearts: I am

a handmaid of the Lord... Often my eyes are full of tears due to the
sacrileges committed against the beloved Savior. My God, in
exchange, accept my sufferings -- poor sinner that I am. Ever since
the Lord told it to me, I pray with outstretched arms, but only when I
am alone, or during the night.”

Almighty God, I bless and praise Your goodness, which filled the
heart of Saint Anna with such deep humility. May her sacrifices and
sufferings become fruitful also for me, as she did, and following her
example, I will be always ready to serve You in humility. I ask You to
help me in my special needs…(mention your request).

Our Father … Hail Mary … Glory be ...

Almighty, all loving and merciful God and Father grant my prayer
for the sake of the merits of Your Beloved Son and His Holy Mother. I
trust in the intercession of Saint Anna Schäffer. May Your Holy Will be
blessed and praised in eternity. Amen
 DAY 9: GRATITUDE

Saint Anna Schäffer was obliged to accept a great deal of outside

help, and thus she was grateful to everybody, especially to her mother
and her parish priest.

She writes: “I cannot thank my beloved mother enough for what

she has done for me. Surely God Himself will recompense her
doubly.” For her parish priest she prayed: “My beloved Savior, always
grant him health, give to me the sicknesses which perhaps you
destined for him. I will gladly become sick for his sake and suffer for
him because he so often brings me Holy Communion”.

Almighty God, I bless and praise Your goodness, which filled the
heart of Saint Anna with such immense gratitude. May her sacrifices
and sufferings become fruitful also for me, when - like her - I will be
grateful for all the good, but also for all the bad received from You and
my neighbor. I ask you to help me in my special needs… (mention
your request).

Our Father … Hail Mary … Glory be …

Almighty all loving merciful God and Father grant my prayer for
the sake of the merits of your Beloved Son and His Holy Mother. I
trust in the intercession of Saint Anna Schäffer. May Your Holy Will be
blessed and praised in eternity. Amen.

Another version:

Almighty and merciful God, you are our loving Father. Grant my prayer
through the merits of Your beloved Son and of His Holy Mother. I also
entrust my petitions to the intercession of Saint Anna Schäffer. May
your Holy Will be blessed and praised now and forever. Amen.

D. CONCLUDING

L: May the divine assistance remain always with us.

R: Amen.

L. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of
God, rest in peace.

R: Amen.

L: And may Almighty God bless us, the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit.

R: Amen.

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