Emilie and the Epidemics – Novena for the eradication and cure from COVID-19
In recent days, we have been called not only by the mass media but also by various religious, civil and administrative authorities to take preventive measures and gestures of solidarity in order to fight the pandemic that is raging worldwide. There is an urgency and a cause for reflection.
As Sisters of Providence, we can easily refer to the years 1832, 1834, 1851, when the cholera epidemics worried the Montreal population. Also in the year 1847, Irish immigrants, fleeing from famine in their country, landed in Quebec City and Montreal carrying the typhus epidemic.
In those days, Mother Émilie Gamelin, the “great woman of Montreal”, either as a committed lay person or as a religious and superior of the Sisters of Providence, devoted herself with her sisters to care for the sick, to assist the dying, and to take charge of hundreds of orphans.
In this current pandemic period, let us beg her to intercede before our Provident God to intervene and eradicate the scourge of the coronavirus, which is spreading to all the countries of our common home, the earth.
As a tool to assist us, we suggest availing ourselves of the Novena to Blessed Émilie Gamelin, and that we continue to pray with it until the pandemic is arrested. Could the God of all Kindness be deaf to this trustful prayer of God’s beloved ones? Didn’t Emilie Tavernier-Gamelin once say: “With faith, you get everything from God”?
Sister Yvette Demers, SP
Novena to Obtain a Favour through
the Intercession of the Blessed Emilie Gamelin
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1st day: Provident God, you whom Emilie came to know early in her life, open our eyes to the light of your presence and, following her example, may the poor always have a place in our lives. Allow us to obtain the favour we are soliciting by her intercession… if it is your holy Will. (Final Prayer)
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2nd day: Provident God, you whom Emilie learned to discover in daily events: the joys, sufferings, grief and loneliness, let us learn, following her example, how to meet you and understand your love towards us, whatever happens. Allow us to obtain the favour we are soliciting by her intercession… if it is you holy Will. (Final Prayer)
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3rd day: Provident God, you whom Emilie learned to serve in complete loyalty in the duties of Christian and family life and in a heroic acceptance of the trials inherent in the human condition, let us learn to accept in faith, following her example, whatever makes up our lives. Allow us to obtain the favour we are soliciting by her intercession… if it is your holy Will. (Final Prayer)
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4th day: Provident God, you whom Emilie discovered in the poor and marginalized and whom she wanted to serve in being providence to them, following her example, let us always be available to help others with their problems. Allow us to obtain the favour we are soliciting by her intercession… if it is your holy Will. (Final Prayer)
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5th day: Provident God, you whom Emilie loved, prayed to and praised as the author of all gifts, following her example, help us to love, to pray and to praise you. May all our requests find in you the accomplishment of your greatest glory. Allow us to obtain the favour we are soliciting by her intercession… if it is your holy Will. (Final Prayer)
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6th day: Provident God, you whom Emilie wanted to serve and love in the holy state of marriage and of religious life, following her example, allow us to live intensely our lives as baptized persons wherever we find ourselves. Allow us to obtain the favour we are soliciting by her intercession… if it is your holy Will. (Final Prayer)
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7th day: Provident God, you whom Emilie recognized in the orphan, in the young unemployed person, in the couple experiencing problems, in the loneliness of the sick, in the poor without shelter, in the elderly without friends, let us comfort and give our time to serve you through them, following her example. Allow us to obtain the favour we are soliciting by her intercession… if it is your holy Will. (Final Prayer)
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8th day: Provident God, you whom Emilie wanted to love more every day, and also wanted to love in words and in act, in the person of all her brothers and sisters, following her example, let us learn how to forget all that causes pain and to forgive in complete serenity. Allow us to obtain the favour we are soliciting by her intercession… if it is your holy Will. (Final Prayer)
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9th day: Provident God, you whom Emilie was happy to know, to love and to serve on earth, following her example, let us walk with you, in this life, to find and glorify you eternally. Allow us to obtain the favour we are soliciting by her intercession… if it is your holy Will. (Final Prayer)
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