The Great Novena of the Immaculate Conception

“Moreover, it was meet that the eternal Father should create her (Blessed Virgin Mary, added by SF) in his grace, since he destined her for the restorer of the lost world, and mediatrix of peace between man and God; and thus the holy Fathers name her, and especially St. John Damascene, who thus addresses her. Oh blessed Virgin, thou art born to procure the salvation of the whole world ! St. Bernard says that Mary was already prefigured in the ark of Noe; for as by the ark men were saved from the deluge, so by Mary we are saved from the ship wreck of sin; but with this difference, that by means of the ark few only were saved, but by means of Mary the whole human race has been redeemed. Hence it is that Mary is called by St. Athanasius: The new Eve, the mother of life: Nova Eva, mater vitae. A new Eve, because the first was the mother of death, but the most holy Virgin is the mother of life. St. Theophanes, Bishop of Nice, exclaims: Hail to thee, who hast taken away the sorrow of Eve. St. Basil calls her: the peacemaker between God and men. St. Ephrem: The peacemaker of the whole world.” ~St. Alphonsus Liguori 

Since November the thirtieth, the feast of St. Andrew, the Great Novena to the Immaculate Conception has been underway, for it was nine days until December 8th, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. It is not too late to join this prayer with other Catholics around the world. The following details this novena, and explains its history:

France knows what is called the “Great Novena of the Immaculate Conception,” which is held annually from November 30 to December 8. It was founded in 1936, and is practiced to this day without discontinuing. The original reason for this Novena was, according to the founders, the “extreme gravity of present events,” alluding to the combined threat of communism and fascism, Nazism in particular. the Novena asked for zealous prayer in favor of the social and Christian regeneration of France and for universal peace.

This call in homage of Pope Pius XI’s eightieth birthday was addressed not only to the Catholics of France. It received a positive answer from hundreds of thousands of faithful in many countries of the world. The participants in the “Great Novena of the Immaculate Conception” were asked to say every day at least one decade of the rosary, followed by three times the invocation: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.” Indulgences were granted to those who attended the Novena prayers in the/a church (three-hundred days each time) and received Holy Communion on one of the days of the Novena during or the octave. Even after sixty-six years of its existence, the basic prayer obligations remain the same, though from 1947 on, a special prayer to the Immaculate was added. This prayer reflects the special concerns and events of the time.

Source: University of Dayton

Novena Prayer to the Immaculate Conception

O Most Holy Virgin who wast pleasing to God and didst become His Mother.
Immaculate in thy body, in thy soul, in thy faith and in thy love,
we beseech thee to look graciously upon the wretched who implore thy powerful protection.

The wicked serpent, against whom the primal curse was hurled,
continues nonetheless to wage war and to lay snares for the unhappy children of Eve.

Ah, do thou, our blessed Mother, our Queen and Advocate,
who from the first instant of thy conception didst crush the head of our enemy,
receive the prayers that we unite single-heartedly to thine and conjure thee to offer at the throne of God,
that we may never fall into the snares that are laid for us,
in such wise that we may all come to the haven of salvation;
and in the midst of so many dangers may holy Church
and the fellowship of Christians everywhere sing once more the hymn of
Deliverance, Victory and Peace.

Amen. (source)