🕯️ Novena to Saint Peregrine for Cancer Patients
Saint Peregrine is the patron saint of cancer patients and those suffering from serious or incurable illnesses. Many Catholics turn to him in moments of physical, emotional, or spiritual pain, asking for his intercession.
This novena is traditionally prayed over nine consecutive days, asking for healing, peace, and trust in God’s will. You can pray it alone, with a loved one, or as part of a community.
May this prayer bring you comfort and hope in your journey of faith.
Opening prayers
Invocation to the Holy Spirit. Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle within them the fire of your divine love. Send forth your Spirit, and all things will be created. And the face of the earth will be renewed.
Prayer. O God, who has deigned to instruct the hearts of your faithful with the light of the Holy Spirit, we pray that by this same Spirit we may know how to act rightly, and rejoice in his heavenly consolation, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Preparatory Prayer. My Lord Jesus Christ, who desires that Saint Peregrine be invoked as the Patron of those who suffer from cancer and ulcers, and whom you promise to heal through his intercession. I thank you, Lord, for your compassion for suffering humanity and for granting us your mercy through the intercession of your servant Saint Peregrine. Grant that his prayers may help the many souls who suffer, afflicted in their bodies by the terrible evil of cancer or ulcers, and I especially commend to you (here the person or persons for whom this novena is being prayed are named) .
Graciously deign, O Lord, to hear the prayers of Saint Peregrine, as well as those of Your Most Holy Mother, Health of the Sick, on behalf of those we commend to the compassion and love of Your Most Sacred Heart. Grant them patience in their suffering and resignation to Your divine will. Give them the consolation they need, especially the healing they so long for, if it be Your holy will. Grant that we may all adore and imitate Your sacred sufferings with true love so that we may one day merit the eternal reward of being with You in glory, where You live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Pray the corresponding prayer for the day below:
Day 1
O glorious Saint Peregrine, perfect model of virtue, you who so promptly responded to the divine call, leaving behind the honors, comforts, and riches of this world when, prostrate before an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Cathedral of Forlì, you implored her powerful intercession and were called by her to be her servant. Obtain for me, I beseech you, that I may respond promptly to all divine inspirations, that, detached from all the goods and pleasures of this world, I may always be ready to fulfill her divine will. Amen. Conclude with the final prayers.
Day 2
O blessed Saint Peregrine, who, through your promptness and fervor in responding to the divine call, merited receiving an angel as a guide on your journey to Siena when you were going to pray for admission among the Servants of Mary; obtain for me, I beseech you, that I may be assisted by my good angel in all my labors and that I may be illuminated, guided, and directed by him on my journey to eternal life. Amen. Conclude with the final prayers.
Day 3
Which I accept into heaven, O glorious Saint Peregrine! It was the sacrifice you made of your soul and body to God, embracing evangelical poverty in the religious life, renouncing your own will and sensible pleasures. God deigned to show you how accepted this renunciation of yours had been when, upon receiving the sacred livery of the Servant of Mary, a ball of fire was miraculously seen above your head, an emblem of eminent sanctity with which you would shine in the Church of Jesus Christ. Obtain for me, I beg you, O great saint, a share in this holy fire, which may consume in me all earthly affections so that I may desire and seek only the love of my God. Amen. Conclude with the final prayers.
Day 4
O Saint Peregrine! Faithful Servant of Mary, how generously you persevered on the true path of virtue and holiness. Constant in prayer, rigid in fasting and abstinence, austere in mastering your body, you were a living example of penance for your brothers and sisters. Repenting once and for all of the sins of your youth, you hated sin, deserving to live always pure until the end of your days on earth. May I imitate you, O glorious saint! And sincerely repentant of my grave sins, obtain for me, through your intercession, mercy and forgiveness from my God, and the grace not to perish at the mercy of my base passions. That, constant in my resolutions, I may always serve my God, remaining faithful until death and deserving of the crown of eternal life. Amen. Conclude with the final prayers.
Day 5
Humble Saint Peregrine, great indeed were your merits, rigorously fulfilling the most servile duties toward your brothers. You would not have attained priestly dignity if you had not had to fulfill, by the vow of obedience, the orders of your superiors. Obtain for me, I beseech you, true humility of heart so that, free from the honors and pleasures of the world, my life may be hidden with Christ in God and thus be worthy of his grace and glory in Heaven. Amen. Conclude with the final prayers.
Day 6
O Saint Peregrine! Whose patience was so admirable that you endured, without ever murmuring, the contradictions and insults of men. Not content with your rigorous penances, you asked the Lord for greater sufferings, which you bore in silence: the sharp pain of an incurable ulcer given by God in response to your many prayers and petitions for suffering. How lovingly did our Creator reward your faith and long sufferings when, in a miracle never before heard of, he cured that cruel ulcer by touching it with his divine hand! Grant it to me, I beg you, that I too may practice patience and mortify my senses in atonement for my sins, and thus may share in those consolations which you already enjoy in eternal paradise. Amen. Conclude with the final prayers.
Day 7
O blessed apostle Saint Peregrine, full of zeal for the conversion of sinners and tireless preacher of the divine word, you who led so many souls to the path of penance, promoting the glory and honor of God throughout the world, and whom the Lord deigned to confirm with stupendous miracles. Obtain for me, I beseech you, that not content with working for my own salvation, I may also work for the sanctification of other souls through good example, constant prayer, sound counsel, and tireless apostolate. How happy I would be if I could spread the glory of God on earth and thus have my share with you and all the saints in eternal glory. Amen. Conclude with the final prayers.
Day 8
O God, who gave Saint Peregrine an angel as his companion, Mary Most Holy as his teacher, and Jesus as his physician for his terrible illness, grant, we pray, through the merits of Saint Peregrine, that we may ardently love here on earth our guardian angel, our Immaculate Mother, and our Divine Savior, so that in Heaven we may bless them for all eternity. We implore this through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Conclude with the final prayers.
Day 9
O Almighty God, graciously hear the prayers we offer to you in honor of Saint Peregrine, your loving servant and patron of those suffering from cancer, so that we, who cannot rely on our own merits, may receive your merciful help in our needs through the intercession of your Servant, whose life was so dedicated to you. We ask this grace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Conclude with the final prayers.
Final Prayers
Prayer to Our Sorrowful Mother. O my most beloved Mother Mary, Mother of Sorrows, look upon me, your son, prostrate in prayer at your feet. I have come to beg this special favor through the intercession of your faithful servant Saint Peregrine. (The request is made . )
O Sorrowful Mother, I beg you to present my petition to your Divine Son. If you intercede for me, he will not reject it. I know, my good Mother, that you desire that I accept God’s will in all things. Therefore, with the confidence of a son, I abandon myself to God’s holy will. If what I ask is not bestowed upon me, make me worthy of receiving that which will be of greatest benefit to my soul. Sweet Sorrowful Mother, I love you; I place all my trust in you, for your prayers before God are very powerful. For the greater glory of God, in the name of Christ and through the intercession of Saint Peregrine, whom you brought to holiness, hear me and grant me what I ask. Amen.
Prayer to Saint Peregrine . O Saint Peregrine, whom Holy Mother Church has declared Patron of those who suffer from cancer and ulcers, I come with great confidence that you may help me in my present illness (named) . See that, afflicted in body and soul, my courage is already beginning to decline, and impatience and sadness oppress me. Therefore, I beg you to intercede for me. Good Saint Peregrine, ask God to relieve me of this illness if it is His Holy Will. Plead with the Most Holy Virgin of Sorrows, whom you loved so tenderly and in union with whom you suffered the pains of cancer, so that she may help me with her powerful supplication and sweet consolation.
But if it is God’s will that I suffer this illness, grant me courage and strength to accept with resignation and patience all these trials from God’s loving hand. May these sufferings lead me to a better life and allow me to atone for my sins and the sins of the world.
Saint Peregrine, help me to imitate your suffering, to unite myself to Jesus Crucified and to his Sorrowful Mother, and to offer my sorrows and pains to God with all the love of my heart for his glory and the salvation of souls, especially my own. Amen.
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