A Novena for Twins

So it's that time again! Last year, I posted a novena for those praying for twins.... but there was a twist. It's really a novena to the Twin Hearts. And even if you didn't get a chance to join along with me last year - you should consider giving it a try this year. I'm posting a new take on the novena this year, but feel free to use the version from last year if you prefer it. The novena starts today... and it's simple to follow along with... so will you pray with me?

The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a movable feast on the liturgical calendar, which means that it depends on the date of Easter Sunday each year. The only constant is that it is always celebrated 19 days after Pentecost Sunday. That means for 2015, we'll celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 12th. The Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is celebrated on the Saturday after the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. So for 2015, we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on June 13th. (Sidenote: If you happen to find this novena at some other point in the year than the lead up to the Feast Days discussed above - no need to wait - go ahead and start praying it! This is a novena that can be prayed any time of the year!)

It would be difficult to meditate on the Sacred Heart of Jesus without also thinking about the woman who conceived hope for all of mankind, through the power of the Holy Spirit. It took an Immaculate Heart to do that. And that's just what God gave the Blessed Virgin Mary! So because of this beautiful Divine reality that we understand through Jesus and Mary - Jesus through Mary - meditating on the Twin Hearts seems meant for those with a special devotion to twins. Doesn't it? You will literally be praying two novenas concurrently... but starting with Christ. It's a beautiful double helix of a prayer...with the humanity of Jesus and Mary being intertwined with the divinity of the Triune God.

The truth about praying for twins is that it's not always going to manifest in birthing newborn twins biologically. A girl can hope though. This girl certainly does. While talking about herself in the third person I might add! More importantly - a prayer for twins is a sign of being open to God's will. Let it be done unto me doubly! Let me be the exhausted handmaid of the Lord! Step back for a moment and think about that. When we pray to both Hearts, we're asking Mary to understand our longing in a special way... but we're also asking Jesus for mercy. We're asking for Mary to pray for us and for Jesus to heal and soothe our hearts. So it seems a perfect pairing for those who have a special call on their hearts for twins to pray to these Two and to ask for intercession for the longing in our hearts. Join me in praying this year, and maybe next year, there will have been answers revealed in your life that will make this particular novena seem obviously fruitful. Don't mind me while I daydream about the answer being actual, tangible, crying newborn twins. I'll just be over here in crazy-town dreaming my big dreams..... conceiving hope however I can. :) 

Send me a message if you are praying with me and I'll include you in my novena! Also, don't forget to pray for our Adopt-a-Blogger this month (because every infertile girl could use a set of twins, amirite?!)  ;) And if twins aren't on your heart - pray for the intentions of the twin hearts involved in your marriage. And if you aren't married yet, pray for the twin heart that hasn't been sacramentally joined to yours yet. 

It takes about 10 minutes per night and here's the plan:

The first day, you will pray one decade of a rosary and then say the prayer to the Twin Hearts. This prayer will be prayed each of the 10 days of this novena, with the addition of your intentions at the end of it. Be specific. Ask God what's on your heart. Give Him your pain. Once you've finished with your intentions, you will begin to pray the Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This prayer will be prayed for 9 days. On the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on 6/12, you will end the Sacred Heart novena with the first decade of a Divine Mercy Chaplet.

On the second day of prayer, you incorporate the second novena. You begin the same, but you end it differently: Pray your decade of the rosary, then praying the prayer to the Twin Hearts, then add your intentions, then pray the Sacred Heart Novena, and then you will begin the second novena. Do this by praying another decade of the rosary, then pray the Novena Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

On the last day of praying (the 10th day), You are praying a decade of the rosary, the prayer to the Twin Hearts, then adding your intentions, then praying the Novena Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and then you will end with the Regina Coeli (which can be found about half way down the page on that link). 

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If you prefer to have a hard copy of the instructions, here's a free printable of this novena. Hover over the top right corner and click on the right button to "pop out". From there, you can download, print, or save it. Feel free to post this wherever you tweet, post photos, share, or like things! 

Seven Quick Takes (#8)

Another giant week...I can hardly believe time is flying through this Lenten season as fast as it is. Here were some noteable updates from our week. I know, I know. We've been posting all week...and there's still more to share!!

                                          

FCP Training - UPDATED: We have exactly 2 weeks until I start my training. And guys? GUYS!! We'll be going into this fully funded!!!!!!!!! We're grateful for all the help...and by grateful, we mean that our jaws are on the floor and our hearts have swelled with the outpouring of love you've shown us. We started this venture on Fat Tuesday and we can't believe how fast you (and God) have answered our big YES to this new adventure. Each day that passes fills me with more excitement. That excitement is only grounded by the gravity of the work and studying that is ahead of me. This didn't happen without your generous support and your giant hearts. I'll be taking your intentions with me to EP1, which is very fittingly being held in a church called the Prince of Peace. Each night, I will offer up my training for all of the selfless people who have made this opportunity possible. Your silent witness and support of me, my DH, and this blog have filled me with faith, hope, and love. I will never, ever forget how this career began.

What Infertile Women Eat - I'm so infertile, I broke a crockpot this week. Y'all, that takes some skill. My bone broth days are on hold for a while because of this. Sigh. That's ok, I'll live. But only because the crockpot didn't kill me or burn the house down! I'll never forget the sound it made when it exploded. In fact, if I might whine for a second here about something more important on the food front: why are these Paleo AIP reintroductions so flipping hard?? Nightshades are 100% out right now. Like, no two ways about it. That makes me so cranky. Potatoes. Tomatoes. Peppers. Eggplants. Cashews. The inhumanity of it....is truly cruel. Alright, alright, enough with the melodrama. Back to how hardcore I am for breaking my crockpot by cooking too much! Most of what I ate this week was super boring and involved chicken and rice. In soup form. In non-soup form. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Prayer Request Update - My father-in-law was released from the hospital today and allowed to go back home. Thank you to everyone for the outpouring of love and prayers you sent his way. They've made for wonderful conversations between us about the saints and shrines around the world. I should also mention that my father-in-law isn't necessarily better, but the public health hospital says it's time for his GP to manage things on an out-patient basis. Today was a rough day for DH. He literally spent the entire day being yelled at by a cranky father on food strike who was trying to convince him to do things that specifically go against his doctors' orders. We know that behavior changes are part of major illnesses. DH needed a lot of love and support tonight and he could use your prayers too. 75 year-olds don't like to be told what to do (and I don't blame them). This adjustment and role reversal are going to take time to figure out. And if today was any indication, it's going to be as graceful as a bull in a china shop. 

Blog Dedication - We'll be posting more about this soon, but we wanted you to know that we are dedicating this blog to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

We ask that this website may make a humble contribution to all who read it with glory given only to God (and none for ourselves). We seek this in what we write, draw, ask, discuss, and reflect here... including the humor that we poke at our own difficulties. May the Two Hearts lift our hearts and those of our readers in every way as they peruse the words we place here.

O, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, You to Whom we owe everything, please bless all that we share here and guide us in our faith to grow closer to You.

If you would like to pray a novena to the Two Hearts, you can read more about that here. We pray for twins all the time and the Two Hearts Novena is a special way that we pray about our own hopes for parenthood, whatever form that might take in God's Plan. If you have prayed the novena, we'd love to hear about your experience.










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Your messages to us - We heard from a lot of you sharing your prayer intentions with us this week. We've kept you all in prayer. If you asked us to pray for you, we're saying an Our Father and a Hail Mary for you nightly in Irish. Keep using our contact form and asking! We love hearing from our readers and we are very happy to pray for you and your intentions! <3

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Twin Novena

The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary occur close to each other in tradition on the calendar.

Here is a twin novena to pray to the Two Hearts. 

We pray for the intentions of twins, but also to approach the twin hearts of the Son and His Mother with our deepest and most fervent intentions for our marriage.

If you would like to follow along with me, here is the plan (it takes about 10-15 minutes per night):

Tonight you will pray one decade of a rosary and say this prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus with your intentions: http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/heart/sh_novena.htm (you will pray this for 9 days, starting today 6/19.)

Tomorrow, you will continue to pray the decade of the rosary and the prayer for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and your intentions. You will then pray another decade of the rosary and a prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with those intentions: http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/heart/Im_novena.htm

On the last day of the novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, you finish with praying the first decade of a Divine Mercy Chaplet (which can be found here: http://www.praydivinemercy.com/ ). Once you've finished that, you continue with your regular decade and prayer and intentions for Mary.

On the last day of the novena to the Sacred Heart of Mary, you will finish with the Regina Coeli (which can be found here about half way down: http://www.marypages.com/PrayerstoMary.htm ) 

You will finish with this prayer to the Twin Hearts: http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/heart/offering.htm

I hope you'll join me in praying this twin novena to the two precious and Sacred Hearts of our Blessed Mother and Her Son.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments and I'm happy to help!