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.
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 Schäffer 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 Schäffer 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 Schäffer 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.
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