Novena For Raphael Louigene, the Third of Nine Nights
/Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
Click to listen to the music:
In our sorrow and distress, dear Lord, preserve our clear vision
so that we see you deeply present, blessing us in every moment, of agony and ecstasy.
Where else can we turn, O Lord?
You alone have the words of eternal life.
Song for meditation:
Psalm 139 for Raphael
O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, [1] you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to [2] me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.
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Jesus said, "Behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of this world" (Matt 28:20)
Eternal rest grant unto Raphael, O Lord
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul, and the souls of all those who have gone before us with our love,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Lord grant to the family and friends of Raphael Louigene
the blessings of your healing power,
restore them to strength of body and mind,
may your will for them be filled with grace and light.
Give them the consolation of knowing that Raphael is with them at every turn.
Praise and highest glory be Yours, now and forever.
Amen.
