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JUBILEE YEAR for the CENTENNIAL of BLESSED
ROMERO, 2016 — 2017
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The following
is a statement from the Archbishop Romero U.S. Centennial Commission, an
independent ‘ad hoc’ working group
created to promote the celebration of the Oscar Romero (1917-2017) Centennial
in the United States. [PDF version.]
As
we mark another anniversary of the March 24, 1980 assassination—and
martyrdom—of Archbishop Oscar A. Romero of El Salvador, we are gladdened by
news from the Vatican that his canonization may be drawing near.
2017
is also the Oscar Romero Centennial Year because it marks 100 years since his
birth on August 15, 1917 and it provides, therefore, great occasion to
commemorate the life of this great American saint. In the words of Cardinal Angelo Amato, the
Prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Romero “belongs to the
holiness of the American Church”—meaning that he belongs to all the
Americas. “Blessed Oscar Romero belongs
to this mighty wind of holiness that blows on the American continent, the land
of love and faithfulness to the good news of the Gospel.”
Lord
Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury has called Romero, “A saint for
the whole people of God” and a sign of our “ecumenical future.”
Therefore,
we call to the whole Church and particularly to the churches in America, to reflect,
pray and to honor his legacy in this Romero Centennial Year.
- We applaud efforts already underway and salute the 30th Annual, Centennial Edition of the “Romero Days” Conference to be held at the University of Notre Dame’s Kellogg Institute March 24-28, 2017. The “Romero Days” conference will provide the academic and intellectual keel for the spiritual reflections that we feel need to follow in the course of the year.
- We call upon Catholics and all whose spirituality includes praying for the intercession of saints to pray the Romero Novena (see below), created by the Church in El Salvador to highlight the deep spirituality that underlay Archbishop Romero’s bold and prophetic denunciations. We propose that the faithful pray the Novena starting on August 6, the Feast of the Transfiguration (El Salvador’s patronal feast), running up through August 15, the Romero Centennial.
- Finally, we call on the Church to commemorate Archbishop Romero in a special manner on All Saints’ Day 2017 with special remembrances and liturgies to honor his memory and close out the Centennial reflections and celebrations.
-THE
ARCHBISHOP OSCAR ROMERO U.S. CENTENNIAL COMMISSION-
Dr. Duane Arnold
The
Project
Indiana
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José Artiga
Executive
Director
SHARE
Foundation
San
Francisco, CA
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Carlos X. Colorado
Attorney
Long
Beach, CA
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Bro. Octavio Duran, OFM
Director
of Media and Editor of The Anthonian Magazine
New
Jersey
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María Hilda de González
ESNE TV/radio “El
Sembrador” Ministries
Los Angeles, CA
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Fr. Robert Pelton, CSC
Notre
Dame University
Indiana
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Yasmín Romero-Latín
Chairperson
Advisory
Neighborhood Comm.
Govt.
of the Dist. of Columbia
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Cinnamon Sarver
Sacred
Heart Elementary School
Washington,
D.C.
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Bob Waldrop
Oscar
Romero Catholic Worker House
Oklahoma
City
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Scott Wright
Columban
Center for Advocacy and Outreach
Washington,
D.C.
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~~~
NOVENA OF THE MARTYR
BLESSED OSCAR ROMERO
ARCHBISHOP OF SAN SALVADOR
ACT OF LOVE TO GOD
I believe faithfully and truly in the Mystery of the Holy
Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three distinct persons and one true God,
in whom I firmly trust to obtain the perfection of the pain of having offended
His Most Holy Majesty, through the merits of My Lord Jesus Christ, those of His
Blessed Mother and those of my glorious advocate Blessed Oscar Romero; I
entreat the Lord to always preserve in me this living faith, to grant me the
forgiveness of my sins, provide for my needs, and for what I ask in this Novena,
if it is for His honor and for the good of my soul. If not, may I live
obediently in His holy will as it best behooves me. Amen.
PREPARATORY PRAYER FOR EACH DAY
Glorious Blessed Oscar Romero, we turn to you, confident
of your intercession. We are drawn to you with a special devotion and we know
that our supplications will be more pleasing to God our Lord, if you, who are
so beloved of Him, present them to Him. Your charity, an admirable reflection
of God’s own, compels you to succor all misery, to console all sorrow and to gratify
all desires and needs, if it is to be of benefit to our souls. Look, then, upon
our miseries and sorrows, our labors and needs, our good desires, and help us
to assure ourselves more and more of our eternal salvation with the practice of
good works and the imitation of your virtues. And, in particular, we ask you to
obtain for us from God the special grace that, by this devout Novena, we
confidently hope to receive. Amen.
FINAL PRAYER FOR EACH DAY
God the Father of all men and women, who has given us in
your Martyr Bishop Oscar Romero, a faithful and zealous Pastor, fervent lover
of your Church and in her in a special way, the poor and the needy, grant that
we may know how to live according to the Gospel. Through Jesus Christ, our
Lord. Amen.
FIRST
DAY
Begin with the preparatory prayer for each day.
By the generosity with which your Bishop Oscar Romero
responded to God’s call, recognizing the will of God with living faith always
and in everything, I entreat you, in addition to the particular grace of this
Novena, to grant me to be always faithful to your commands with a readiness and
generosity similar to his, so that the faith received at Baptism will continuously
grow and mature in my soul. Amen.
Petition ... Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory. Conclude
with the final prayer for each day.
SECOND
DAY
Begin with the preparatory prayer for each day.
O Lord, who always hears the supplications of your saints;
today we address you through the Glorious Martyr Oscar Romero to petition with
faith and confidence for all the needs of Our Mother Church, that she may ever
hold fast in the fulfillment of your will. Also, Lord, we pray for the sick who
should invoke in faith the name of your Glorious Martyr Oscar Romero.
Petition ... Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory. Conclude
with the final prayer for each day.
THIRD
DAY
Begin with the preparatory prayer for each day.
By the unyielding hope that your Martyr Bishop Oscar Romero
persevered in throughout his life, trusting fully in your paternal providence,
I humbly implore you, in addition to the particular grace of this Novena, to grant
me never to lose heart before the adversities of life, but rather, animated by
the hope of Heaven, to live always confident of your merciful love. Amen.
Petition ... Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory.
Finish with the final sentence for every day.
FOURTH
DAY
Begin with the preparatory prayer for each day.
By the burning charity that your Martyr Bishop Oscar
Romero felt toward the poorest of the poor, I beseech you grant me the
particular grace of this Novena, and that my heart may be inflamed, more and
more every day, by the divine love that burns in you, and in which you long to
see all men and women consumed and purified. Amen.
Petition ... Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory. Conclude
with the final prayer for each day.
FIFTH
DAY
Begin with the preparatory prayer for each day.
By that inextinguishable zeal that consumed the soul of
your Martyr Bishop Oscar Romero in favor of the spiritual and temporal good of his
beloved flock, to the point of sacrificing his life for them, I humbly pray
that in addition to the particular grace of this Novena, you grant that I be
more concerned for my spiritual welfare and the salvation of others. Amen.
Petition ... Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory. Conclude
with the final prayer for each day.
SIXTH
DAY
Begin with the preparatory prayer for each day.
By the love of work that characterized your Martyr Bishop
Oscar Romero in all his occupations, however ordinary and tedious they might be,
I humbly beg you, Lord, that besides the particular grace of this Novena, that
you grant me a great spirit of faith, to see in the use of the present moment
the most effective means of seeking the glory of God, the salvation of souls
and my own sanctification. Amen.
Petition ... Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory. Conclude
with the final prayer for each day.
SEVENTH
DAY
Begin with the preparatory prayer for each day.
By the admirable constancy and strength with which your Martyr
Bishop Oscar Romero bore, first vicariously through the others and then in his
own body, the horrible contempt of his own kind, in addition to the suffering
of isolation and impotence to arrest the evil around him, I beg you humbly that
in addition to the particular grace of this Novena, you may grant me to accept
with my eyes fixed on you, my God, all the sorrows and difficulties of life. Amen.
Petition ... Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory. Conclude
with the final prayer for each day.
EIGHTH
DAY
Begin with the preparatory prayer for each day.
By that pious devotion that your Martyr Bishop Oscar
Romero always professed to the Blessed Virgin, I ardently beseech you that
besides the particular grace of this Novena, you may grant me to conduct myself,
always and in everything, as your loving son, in order to merit one day the joy
of being presented by Her before your court, to enjoy your company forever in
Heaven. Amen.
Petition ... Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory. Conclude
with the final prayer for each day.
NINTH
DAY
Begin with the preparatory prayer for each day.
By that fervent love that your Martyr Bishop Oscar Romero
professed for the Holy Eucharist, as the nourishment of his soul in his Masses
and Communions, and as the solace of his spirit in his fervent adorations
before the Sacred Tabernacle, I beg you, in addition to the special grace of this
Novena, grant met hat may I grow more and more devoted to the Blessed
Sacrament, and to prepare my heart every day to better receive it as to gain
the maximum profit. Amen.
Petition ... Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory. Conclude
with the final prayer for each day.
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