| Novena Starts: | March 5 |
| Feastday: | March 14 |
| Birth: | 1892 |
| Death: | 1989 |
Patron saint of widows, mothers raising children alone, families in exile and refugees, wives praying for their husbands, and those who have lost everything
Servant of God Empress Zita Novena
Servant of God Zita of Bourbon-Parma (1892-1989) married the future Emperor Karl in 1911, was crowned Queen of Hungary in the middle of the First World War, and lost her throne two years later. At twenty-nine she was a widow on Madeira, penniless and pregnant with her eighth child. She raised all eight in exile across Spain, Belgium, Canada and the United States, wore black for the rest of her long life, and spent it working for her husband’s beatification. A Benedictine oblate, she died at ninety-six and was buried in Vienna with imperial honours. Her cause was opened in 2009. Pray this novena for her beatification, for widows and mothers, for families in exile, and for the favor you most need.
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Day 1
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O God, who in every age raise up holy men and women to serve You in the circumstances You have given them, we thank You for Your servant Zita, Empress and Queen, wife and mother, widow and exile.
You gave her in marriage to Blessed Karl, and together they helped each other on the road to Heaven. You permitted her to be crowned and then to lose her crown, to be honoured by nations and then to be driven from them, and in all of it she sought only Your holy will. When You took her husband from her at Madeira, leaving her in poverty with seven children and an eighth yet to be born, she did not despair but laid her grief at the foot of the Cross and raised her family in faith.
For sixty-seven years she wore mourning without bitterness, served the hungry and the refugee, prayed the Divine Office with the sons and daughters of Saint Benedict, and worked without ceasing that the holiness of her husband might be known. Teach us by her example to accept what we cannot change, to forgive those who have wronged us, and to trust You when every earthly support is taken away.
Comfort through her intercession all widows, all mothers raising children alone, all families driven from their homes, and all who have lost everything they once possessed. Strengthen husbands and wives to help one another to Heaven, as she and Karl did.
If it be according to Your will, glorify Your servant Zita, and grant through her intercession the favor we now humbly ask.
(mention request here…)
We ask that she may one day be raised to the honours of the altar, for the glory of Your Name and the good of Your Church. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Servant of God Zita, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“Mary forced the evil to truly reveal it self. In my life.”
Day 2
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O God, who in every age raise up holy men and women to serve You in the circumstances You have given them, we thank You for Your servant Zita, Empress and Queen, wife and mother, widow and exile.
You gave her in marriage to Blessed Karl, and together they helped each other on the road to Heaven. You permitted her to be crowned and then to lose her crown, to be honoured by nations and then to be driven from them, and in all of it she sought only Your holy will. When You took her husband from her at Madeira, leaving her in poverty with seven children and an eighth yet to be born, she did not despair but laid her grief at the foot of the Cross and raised her family in faith.
For sixty-seven years she wore mourning without bitterness, served the hungry and the refugee, prayed the Divine Office with the sons and daughters of Saint Benedict, and worked without ceasing that the holiness of her husband might be known. Teach us by her example to accept what we cannot change, to forgive those who have wronged us, and to trust You when every earthly support is taken away.
Comfort through her intercession all widows, all mothers raising children alone, all families driven from their homes, and all who have lost everything they once possessed. Strengthen husbands and wives to help one another to Heaven, as she and Karl did.
If it be according to Your will, glorify Your servant Zita, and grant through her intercession the favor we now humbly ask.
(mention request here…)
We ask that she may one day be raised to the honours of the altar, for the glory of Your Name and the good of Your Church. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Servant of God Zita, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“Mary forced the evil to truly reveal it self. In my life.”
Day 3
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O God, who in every age raise up holy men and women to serve You in the circumstances You have given them, we thank You for Your servant Zita, Empress and Queen, wife and mother, widow and exile.
You gave her in marriage to Blessed Karl, and together they helped each other on the road to Heaven. You permitted her to be crowned and then to lose her crown, to be honoured by nations and then to be driven from them, and in all of it she sought only Your holy will. When You took her husband from her at Madeira, leaving her in poverty with seven children and an eighth yet to be born, she did not despair but laid her grief at the foot of the Cross and raised her family in faith.
For sixty-seven years she wore mourning without bitterness, served the hungry and the refugee, prayed the Divine Office with the sons and daughters of Saint Benedict, and worked without ceasing that the holiness of her husband might be known. Teach us by her example to accept what we cannot change, to forgive those who have wronged us, and to trust You when every earthly support is taken away.
Comfort through her intercession all widows, all mothers raising children alone, all families driven from their homes, and all who have lost everything they once possessed. Strengthen husbands and wives to help one another to Heaven, as she and Karl did.
If it be according to Your will, glorify Your servant Zita, and grant through her intercession the favor we now humbly ask.
(mention request here…)
We ask that she may one day be raised to the honours of the altar, for the glory of Your Name and the good of Your Church. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Servant of God Zita, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“Mary forced the evil to truly reveal it self. In my life.”
Day 4
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O God, who in every age raise up holy men and women to serve You in the circumstances You have given them, we thank You for Your servant Zita, Empress and Queen, wife and mother, widow and exile.
You gave her in marriage to Blessed Karl, and together they helped each other on the road to Heaven. You permitted her to be crowned and then to lose her crown, to be honoured by nations and then to be driven from them, and in all of it she sought only Your holy will. When You took her husband from her at Madeira, leaving her in poverty with seven children and an eighth yet to be born, she did not despair but laid her grief at the foot of the Cross and raised her family in faith.
For sixty-seven years she wore mourning without bitterness, served the hungry and the refugee, prayed the Divine Office with the sons and daughters of Saint Benedict, and worked without ceasing that the holiness of her husband might be known. Teach us by her example to accept what we cannot change, to forgive those who have wronged us, and to trust You when every earthly support is taken away.
Comfort through her intercession all widows, all mothers raising children alone, all families driven from their homes, and all who have lost everything they once possessed. Strengthen husbands and wives to help one another to Heaven, as she and Karl did.
If it be according to Your will, glorify Your servant Zita, and grant through her intercession the favor we now humbly ask.
(mention request here…)
We ask that she may one day be raised to the honours of the altar, for the glory of Your Name and the good of Your Church. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Servant of God Zita, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“Mary forced the evil to truly reveal it self. In my life.”
Day 5
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O God, who in every age raise up holy men and women to serve You in the circumstances You have given them, we thank You for Your servant Zita, Empress and Queen, wife and mother, widow and exile.
You gave her in marriage to Blessed Karl, and together they helped each other on the road to Heaven. You permitted her to be crowned and then to lose her crown, to be honoured by nations and then to be driven from them, and in all of it she sought only Your holy will. When You took her husband from her at Madeira, leaving her in poverty with seven children and an eighth yet to be born, she did not despair but laid her grief at the foot of the Cross and raised her family in faith.
For sixty-seven years she wore mourning without bitterness, served the hungry and the refugee, prayed the Divine Office with the sons and daughters of Saint Benedict, and worked without ceasing that the holiness of her husband might be known. Teach us by her example to accept what we cannot change, to forgive those who have wronged us, and to trust You when every earthly support is taken away.
Comfort through her intercession all widows, all mothers raising children alone, all families driven from their homes, and all who have lost everything they once possessed. Strengthen husbands and wives to help one another to Heaven, as she and Karl did.
If it be according to Your will, glorify Your servant Zita, and grant through her intercession the favor we now humbly ask.
(mention request here…)
We ask that she may one day be raised to the honours of the altar, for the glory of Your Name and the good of Your Church. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Servant of God Zita, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“Mary forced the evil to truly reveal it self. In my life.”
Day 6
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O God, who in every age raise up holy men and women to serve You in the circumstances You have given them, we thank You for Your servant Zita, Empress and Queen, wife and mother, widow and exile.
You gave her in marriage to Blessed Karl, and together they helped each other on the road to Heaven. You permitted her to be crowned and then to lose her crown, to be honoured by nations and then to be driven from them, and in all of it she sought only Your holy will. When You took her husband from her at Madeira, leaving her in poverty with seven children and an eighth yet to be born, she did not despair but laid her grief at the foot of the Cross and raised her family in faith.
For sixty-seven years she wore mourning without bitterness, served the hungry and the refugee, prayed the Divine Office with the sons and daughters of Saint Benedict, and worked without ceasing that the holiness of her husband might be known. Teach us by her example to accept what we cannot change, to forgive those who have wronged us, and to trust You when every earthly support is taken away.
Comfort through her intercession all widows, all mothers raising children alone, all families driven from their homes, and all who have lost everything they once possessed. Strengthen husbands and wives to help one another to Heaven, as she and Karl did.
If it be according to Your will, glorify Your servant Zita, and grant through her intercession the favor we now humbly ask.
(mention request here…)
We ask that she may one day be raised to the honours of the altar, for the glory of Your Name and the good of Your Church. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Servant of God Zita, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“Mary forced the evil to truly reveal it self. In my life.”
Day 7
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O God, who in every age raise up holy men and women to serve You in the circumstances You have given them, we thank You for Your servant Zita, Empress and Queen, wife and mother, widow and exile.
You gave her in marriage to Blessed Karl, and together they helped each other on the road to Heaven. You permitted her to be crowned and then to lose her crown, to be honoured by nations and then to be driven from them, and in all of it she sought only Your holy will. When You took her husband from her at Madeira, leaving her in poverty with seven children and an eighth yet to be born, she did not despair but laid her grief at the foot of the Cross and raised her family in faith.
For sixty-seven years she wore mourning without bitterness, served the hungry and the refugee, prayed the Divine Office with the sons and daughters of Saint Benedict, and worked without ceasing that the holiness of her husband might be known. Teach us by her example to accept what we cannot change, to forgive those who have wronged us, and to trust You when every earthly support is taken away.
Comfort through her intercession all widows, all mothers raising children alone, all families driven from their homes, and all who have lost everything they once possessed. Strengthen husbands and wives to help one another to Heaven, as she and Karl did.
If it be according to Your will, glorify Your servant Zita, and grant through her intercession the favor we now humbly ask.
(mention request here…)
We ask that she may one day be raised to the honours of the altar, for the glory of Your Name and the good of Your Church. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Servant of God Zita, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“Mary forced the evil to truly reveal it self. In my life.”
Day 8
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O God, who in every age raise up holy men and women to serve You in the circumstances You have given them, we thank You for Your servant Zita, Empress and Queen, wife and mother, widow and exile.
You gave her in marriage to Blessed Karl, and together they helped each other on the road to Heaven. You permitted her to be crowned and then to lose her crown, to be honoured by nations and then to be driven from them, and in all of it she sought only Your holy will. When You took her husband from her at Madeira, leaving her in poverty with seven children and an eighth yet to be born, she did not despair but laid her grief at the foot of the Cross and raised her family in faith.
For sixty-seven years she wore mourning without bitterness, served the hungry and the refugee, prayed the Divine Office with the sons and daughters of Saint Benedict, and worked without ceasing that the holiness of her husband might be known. Teach us by her example to accept what we cannot change, to forgive those who have wronged us, and to trust You when every earthly support is taken away.
Comfort through her intercession all widows, all mothers raising children alone, all families driven from their homes, and all who have lost everything they once possessed. Strengthen husbands and wives to help one another to Heaven, as she and Karl did.
If it be according to Your will, glorify Your servant Zita, and grant through her intercession the favor we now humbly ask.
(mention request here…)
We ask that she may one day be raised to the honours of the altar, for the glory of Your Name and the good of Your Church. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Servant of God Zita, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“Mary forced the evil to truly reveal it self. In my life.”
Day 9
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O God, who in every age raise up holy men and women to serve You in the circumstances You have given them, we thank You for Your servant Zita, Empress and Queen, wife and mother, widow and exile.
You gave her in marriage to Blessed Karl, and together they helped each other on the road to Heaven. You permitted her to be crowned and then to lose her crown, to be honoured by nations and then to be driven from them, and in all of it she sought only Your holy will. When You took her husband from her at Madeira, leaving her in poverty with seven children and an eighth yet to be born, she did not despair but laid her grief at the foot of the Cross and raised her family in faith.
For sixty-seven years she wore mourning without bitterness, served the hungry and the refugee, prayed the Divine Office with the sons and daughters of Saint Benedict, and worked without ceasing that the holiness of her husband might be known. Teach us by her example to accept what we cannot change, to forgive those who have wronged us, and to trust You when every earthly support is taken away.
Comfort through her intercession all widows, all mothers raising children alone, all families driven from their homes, and all who have lost everything they once possessed. Strengthen husbands and wives to help one another to Heaven, as she and Karl did.
If it be according to Your will, glorify Your servant Zita, and grant through her intercession the favor we now humbly ask.
(mention request here…)
We ask that she may one day be raised to the honours of the altar, for the glory of Your Name and the good of Your Church. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Servant of God Zita, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“Mary forced the evil to truly reveal it self. In my life.”
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