‘…the child leaped in her womb’

Please pray for unborn life!

By 6 weeks, unborn babies have beating hearts.

By 10 weeks, they have arms, legs, fingers and toes. They can kick and jump.

By 15 weeks, they have fully formed noses and lips, eyelids and eyebrows. They can feel pain.

The unborn deserve our protection. Their lives matter.

“One of the most beautiful moments in history was that when pregnancy met pregnancy – when child bearers became the first heralds of the King of Kings.”

~ Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!'”

~Luke 1, 39-42

It’s Not Too Late to Join the Christmas Novena

Pray the above prayer 15 times a day from November 30 (St. Andrew’s Feast Day) through December 24 (Christmas Eve) and be prepared to receive great graces!

The Christmas Novena, also known as the St. Andrew Novena, is a well-known Catholic Advent prayer, and it is said that many graces flow to those who participate in this novena throughout the Advent season!

To participate in this novena, say the above prayer 15 times a day from November 30 through December 24.

Because the prayer is longer than 9 days, and not quite 27, it’s technically not a novena or a set of novenas, but because it is prayed “novena style,” that is, repeatedly for a set amount of days, it’s referred to as a novena.

The prayer can be said at anytime during the day, but if you have a regular time the whole family is together, like for the Rosary, morning/night prayers, or at meals, it might be a good idea to say the novena at a set, regular time.

In this Advent season of preparing for Christ’s coming, the St. Andrew Christmas Novena is a loving way to prepare ourselves and our families.

St. Andrew holds the honor of being the first apostle to be called by Christ to follow Him. Through this novena, St. Andrew likewise calls us to patiently await Christ’s birthday and to follow Him more closely each day of our lives.

This novena is a bit different in that it does not invoke the intervention or aid of the saint himself, but is adoring, glorifying the hour of Christ’s birth and seeking aid from God Himself!

Source: http://www.finerfeminity.com