Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

As Thomas and Natalie prepare for their pilgrimage to Lourdes, please join us in praying this Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes for his full recovery. Please pray also for all the other pilgrims who will also make their pilgrimage! (And for their safe travels!)

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF LOURDES

Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest your shining with life, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child, St. Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception." A thousand times we congratulate you upon your Immaculate Conception. And now, O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted, you know our wants, our troubles, our sufferings deign to cast upon us a look of mercy.

By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors, and already many have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and physical. We come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain for us, O loving Mother, the granting of our request.

(state your request - for Thomas Peter's full recovery!)

Through gratitude for your favors, we will endeavor to imitate your virtues, that we may one day share your glory. Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of Christ, you had influence with your divine son while upon earth. You have the same influence now in Heaven. Pray for us; obtain for us from your Divine Son our special requests if it be the Divine Will. Amen.

Follow with a daily prayer: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. 

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

Novena originally posted by EWTN.
Icon written by Br. Claude Lane, OSB, of Mount Angel Abbey, OR.
Learn more about Lourdes.

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A Frustrating Setback

We've had a bumpy week.  Last Tuesday Thom woke up with a fever and was fatigued, but otherwise was feeling fine.  His temperature went down in the course of the day and we hoped he was improving.

The next morning, I got him out of bed and was putting his slippers on and all of a sudden he became like a stone.  I looked up at his face and his eyes were crossing, his speech was slurring, and he was disoriented.  I knew his blood pressure was plummeting.  I put his legs up, took his blood pressure and it was dangerously low.  I called 911.  His BP came up a bit, he could refocus and was alert once more.  I began packing up necessities while we waited for the EMS.  He still had a fever of 103, high heart rate, and low blood pressure.  We were taken to the ER where we stayed for several hours while they ran multiple tests.

The test results showed he had a serious urinary tract infection and was very dehydrated.  They said the infection had escalated and he was going into sepsis, which means the infection was spreading to other parts of his body.  He was immediately put on a course of IV antibiotics and fluids.  He was admitted later that day and began responding to the treatment.  His fever, heart rate, and blood pressure stabilized and within 24 hours his appetite started coming back.

We stayed in the hospital for two more days while Thom continued to receive IV antibiotics and they monitored his vitals.  By Sunday afternoon he was ready to be discharged but the infection left him very weak.  For the first few days home he had to use his sliding board again to do transfers.  He managed to fit in two days of therapy, but was frustrated to see how much strength he had lost.

Now, a week later, he is beginning to feel more like himself and is determined to make up for lost time.  He is scheduled for two separate days of training in the Lokomat this week and a third day of general therapy.

He is eager to be back to full strength as April is an exciting month for us: we will be celebrating our first anniversary, Easter, and gearing up for our trip to Lourdes at the end of the month.

PRAY + SUPPORT + SHARE

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