Novena to Obtain A Favor Through the Intercession of Blessed Elisabeth Turgeon
“Apostle of Youth”
1840-1881
Blessed Elisabeth Turgeon, a marvellous woman, tender and caring.
1st Day
Elisabeth Turgeon grew up with her family in the parish of Beaumont, Quebec, where prayer played an important role in their lives. She felt the power and liberation of her God, Creator and Savior through the experience of prayer. In one of her writings we read:
The eyes of the Lord see the whole world and they inspire strength to those who confide in Him with a perfect heart.
(Sentences of Mother Elisabeth)
PRAYER
God of tenderness and compassion, You have filled Elisabeth Turgeon with zeal for Your glory and the salvation of the world. You have called her to found a Religious Congregation dedicated to the Christian education of youth. In sickness, poverty, hardships of all kinds, she went to You with profound faith and filial confidence. Grant, through her intercession, the favor we seek.
(State your request……………………………….)
Our Lady, Queen of the Rosary, Pray for us.
2nd Day
Elisabeth was a student in Laval Normal School, Quebec, and was a boarder in the Monastery of the Ursuline Sisters for two years as she studied to become a teacher. She furthered her knowledge of religion and deepened her faith. Though she was not strong in health she trusted in God who grants strength to the weak, convinced that:
The Lord is the support of those who trust in Him. (Sentences…)
PRAYER
God of tenderness and compassion, You have filled Elisabeth Turgeon with zeal for Your glory and the salvation of the world. You have called her to found a Religious Congregation dedicated to the Christian education of youth. In sickness, poverty, hardships of all kinds, she went to You with profound faith and filial confidence. Grant, through her intercession, the favor we seek.
(State your request……………………………….)
Our Lady, Queen of the Rosary, Pray for us.
3rd Day
As a lay teacher in the parishes of Saint- Romuald, Saint-Roch in Québec City and Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Elisabeth prayed with her students and taught them how to pray. When she joined the Sisters of the Little Schools, it was to dedicate herself to the Lord through vows of religion, but also to continue to teach children and to form them to piety.
The reason we have grouped together is our common desire to give children a good Christian education and to lead them to heaven.
(Particular Guidelines for the Sisters, 1880)
PRAYER
God of tenderness and compassion, You have filled Elisabeth Turgeon with zeal for Your glory and the salvation of the world. You have called her to found a Religious Congregation dedicated to the Christian education of youth. In sickness, poverty, hardships of all kinds, she went to You with profound faith and filial confidence. Grant, through her intercession, the favor we seek.
(State your request……………………………….)
Our Lady, Queen of the Rosary, Pray for us.
4th Day
Elisabeth was confided the task of forming the novices. She wrote to those aspiring to enter the novitiate and invited them to pray to know their vocation and obtain the grace to follow the plan that God had for them.
Invoke Mary and her powerful help will guide you in the way that should lead you to her Divine Son. (Letter, July 31, 1880)
PRAYER
God of tenderness and compassion, You have filled Elisabeth Turgeon with zeal for Your glory and the salvation of the world. You have called her to found a Religious Congregation dedicated to the Christian education of youth. In sickness, poverty, hardships of all kinds, she went to You with profound faith and filial confidence. Grant, through her intercession, the favor we seek.
(State your request……………………………….)
Our Lady, Queen of the Rosary, Pray for us.
5th Day
Sister Elisabeth was mandated by the Episcopal Authority (Bishop Langevin) to assume the leadership of the community. She accepted the task humbly, but wanted the Virgin Mary, in whom she had great confidence, to be the First Superior of the Institute. So that her Sisters not forget it, she embroidered the following prayer on a canvas:
O Mary, tender Mother,
defend in battle the little family of which you are Mother and First Superior. (Archives R.S.R.)
PRAYER
God of tenderness and compassion, You have filled Elisabeth Turgeon with zeal for Your glory and the salvation of the world. You have called her to found a Religious Congregation dedicated to the Christian education of youth. In sickness, poverty, hardships of all kinds, she went to You with profound faith and filial confidence. Grant, through her intercession, the favor we seek.
(State your request……………………………….)
Our Lady, Queen of the Rosary, Pray for us.
6th Day
Mother Elisabeth wanted the teachers that she was missioned to form, filled with goodness and caring for the children who would be entrusted to their care. She felt that in order to lead children deliciously to God through the way of love, it would be necessary for Mary to come to her teachers’ aid. That explains the following recommendation:
Invoke Mary under the title of
“Divine Shepherdess” so as to place our students under her Motherly protection and let us try to inspire them with a tender devotion to this good Mother. (Particular Guidelines for the Sisters, 1880)
PRAYER
God of tenderness and compassion, You have filled Elisabeth Turgeon with zeal for Your glory and the salvation of the world. You have called her to found a Religious Congregation dedicated to the Christian education of youth. In sickness, poverty, hardships of all kinds, she went to You with profound faith and filial confidence. Grant, through her intercession, the favor we seek.
(State your request……………………………….)
Our Lady, Queen of the Rosary, Pray for us.
7th Day
The work that the Sisters in the parishes had to do was very difficult and demanded great sacrifice. Mother Mary Elisabeth did her utmost to help and encourage them. She suggested that they pray.
Pray and pray still more persistently, entrust yourselves to the maternal goodness of Mary who so powerfully assists those who come to her for help. (Letter, October 26, 1880)
PRAYER
God of tenderness and compassion, You have filled Elisabeth Turgeon with zeal for Your glory and the salvation of the world. You have called her to found a Religious Congregation dedicated to the Christian education of youth. In sickness, poverty, hardships of all kinds, she went to You with profound faith and filial confidence. Grant, through her intercession, the favor we seek.
(State your request……………………………….)
Our Lady, Queen of the Rosary, Pray for us.
8th Day
When faced with a trial that implicated the whole community, the Foundress, deeply affected but filled with hope, asked the Sisters to pray and wished them resignation to the will of God. She added:
[…] pray that what is to be done will be for the greater glory of God and the good of souls. (Letter, October 18, 1880)
PRAYER
God of tenderness and compassion, You have filled Elisabeth Turgeon with zeal for Your glory and the salvation of the world. You have called her to found a Religious Congregation dedicated to the Christian education of youth. In sickness, poverty, hardships of all kinds, she went to You with profound faith and filial confidence. Grant, through her intercession, the favor we seek.
(State your request……………………………….)
Our Lady, Queen of the Rosary, Pray for us.
9th Day
Humbly, Mother Mary Elisabeth, friend of the poor and the little ones, depended relentlessly on her God. With total confidence and perseverance, she knocked at the door of heaven. If she knew how to petition the Lord, she also knew how to praise Him, to bless His name and give thanks for the favors that she had received, even for the trials and crosses that He asked her to bear.
May the Lord be blest; our wishes have been granted.
Blessed be God and let us thank Him for the trials that He sends us. We have our crosses…. But may God be blest.
(Various letters, 1875-1881)
PRAYER
God of tenderness and compassion, You have filled Elisabeth Turgeon with zeal for Your glory and the salvation of the world. You have called her to found a Religious Congregation dedicated to the Christian education of youth. In sickness, poverty, hardships of all kinds, she went to You with profound faith and filial confidence. Grant, through her intercession, the favor we seek.
(State your request……………………………….)
Our Lady, Queen of the Rosary, Pray for us.