Enmity with the Serpent

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you. You are all beautiful, O Mary, and the stain of original sin is not in you. You are the glory of Jerusalem, the joy of Israel, the honor of our people. As we begin these days of prayer, let your spotless heart draw us toward the grace that filled you from the first moment of your life. Immaculate Virgin, full of grace, pray for us. Amen.

Let us pause in silence, and bring to mind the intention you are praying for.

In the app, your own saved intention rests here during the silence. The narration stays the same for everyone.

I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.

At the gate of paradise God promised a Woman wholly opposed to the serpent - a heart in which evil would never find a foothold. For Mary to crush the enemy's head, she had to be free of him from the start. Her Immaculate Conception is the first sign that God's mercy runs deeper than our fall.

Immaculate Mary, set by God against all that is evil, you never once belonged to sin. Stand between me and the enemy of my soul, and win for me the grace to hate sin as you do. Lead me toward the freedom God intended for me from the beginning. Amen.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly to you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

Immaculate Mother, conceived without sin, you were filled with grace so that nothing in you would ever turn from God. Take the intention I have carried through these days and present it to your Son with your spotless hands. Win for me the grace to begin again, to leave my sins behind, and to walk in the freedom of the children of God. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you. Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.