The Power of Prayer in Your Search for Love
UCatholic

To be always full of hope and never discouraged-even when you're lonely and wondering when it will be your turn to find love-is a great witness to the world but admittedly one that isn't always easy to keep up. But it's a guidepost for those days when you just don't feel like putting a smile on your face.

Prayer is the key to linking your yearning heart to the will of God and being able to tap into that hope that keeps you motivated and moving forward. I'd like to share with you one woman's personal account of how prayer, particularly a novena to St. Anne, the mother of Mary and Grandmother of Our Lord, led her directly to her future husband.

Here's how it happened for Annie Piekarczyk (now Deddens) in her own words:

I’m not always very patient, but I am diligent. About three years ago, I started praying to Saint Anne. I never knew too much about her, but a few girls I used to live with joked about asking Saint Anne to, “send me a man as fast as you can!” It was quick, catchy and it caught on.

At the time, I knew of another girl who also prayed to her and, who shortly thereafter, met her future boyfriend (and now husband). So I thought I would try it and see how things worked out—and let me tell you, it definitely worked out!

I prayed the novena to St. Anne a couple of times-and all the while, I had been growing in patience and learned to trust more in God’s timing and His will for my life-not just for my heart.

I knew that I wanted to grow a relationship and build a career centered around my faith-rather than a faith that somehow worked itself around a relationship and a career. And I wanted to marry someone who shared those same values and the same faith-so that’s what I was praying for. It was maybe about a week after I finished the novena that I met John-Paul. I was working as a reporter at the time, and I actually ended up contacting him as a source for a pro-life campaign I was covering. We met for the interview-probably one of the longest interviews I’ve ever done (he’s not a big talker-but he was talking a lot!). Afterwards, I turned off my recorder, was ready to go-but he surprised me and said, “So, tell me about yourself.” The tables had been turned! I had been a reporter for a while-always the one asking questions, so this definitely made him stand out to me.

A couple months later, we began dating-we dated for about a year and a half before we got engaged. During that time, I continued to pray through St. Anne’s intercession-her novena, among others, and those prayers changed my life. I’m not sure I would have met John-Paul if I hadn’t prayed to St. Anne and if I hadn’t covered that pro-life campaign three years ago. Pray More Novenas wouldn’t even exist if I hadn’t met him or if I had never learned about a novena-but that’s another story.

What a beautiful story of romantic love that began with love for the will of God and acceptance of His timing. Not only did the habit of prayer lead them to find each other, but it also became the signature of their life as a couple.

The St. Anne Novena (Pray This For 9 Days)
"O glorious St. Ann, you are filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer! Heavily burdened with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present intention which I recommend to you in your special care. Please recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and place it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Continue to intercede for me until my request is granted. But, above all, obtain for me the grace one day to see my God face to face, and with you and Mary and all the saints to praise and bless Him for all eternity. Amen."
Recite the prayer for the proper day.

St. Anne Novena, Day One
Great Saint Anne, engrave indelibly on my heart and in my mind the words that have reclaimed and sanctified so many sinners:
“What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world if he lose his own soul?” May this be the principal fruit of these prayers by which I will strive to honor you during this novena.
At your feet renew my resolution to invoke you daily, not only for the success of my temporal affairs and to be preserved from sickness and suffering, but above all, that I may be preserved from all sin, that I may gain eternal salvation and that I will receive the special grace of…
(State your intention here.)

O most powerful Saint Anne, do not let me lose my soul, but obtain for me the grace of heaven, there with you, your blessed spouse, and your glorious daughter, to sing the praise of the Most Holy and Adorable Trinity forever and ever.
Amen.

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

St. Anne Novena, Day Two
Glorious Saint Anne, how can you be otherwise than overflowing with tenderness toward sinners like me, since you are the grandmother of Him who shed His blood for us, and the mother of her whom the saints call advocate of sinners? To you, therefore, I address my prayers with confidence.
Vouchsafe to commend me to Jesus and Mary so that, at your request, I may be granted remission of my sins, perseverance, the love of God, charity for all mankind, and the special grace of…
(State your intention here.)

…for which I stand in need at the present time. O most powerful protectress, let me not lose my soul, but pray for me that through the merits of Jesus Christ and the intercession of Mary, I may have the great happiness of seeing them, of loving and praising them with you through all eternity.
Amen.

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

St. Anne Novena, Day three
Beloved of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, mother of the Queen of Heaven, take us and all who are dear to us under your special care. Obtain for us the virtues you instilled in the heart of her who was destined to become Mother of God, and the graces with which you were endowed. O model of Christian womanhood, pray that we may imitate your example in our homes and families, listen to our petitions,
(State your intention here.)

Guardian of the infancy and childhood of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, obtain the graces necessary for all who enter the marriage state, that imitating your virtues they may sanctify their homes and lead the souls entrusted to their care to eternal glory. Amen.

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

St. Anne Novena, Day Four
Glorious Saint Anne, I kneel in confidence at your feet, for you also have tasted the bitterness and sorrow of life. My need, the cause of my request, is…
(State your intention here.)

Good Saint Anne, you who did suffer much during the twenty years that preceded your glorious maternity, I beseech you, by all your sufferings and humiliations, to grant my prayer.
I pray to you, through your love for your glorious spouse Saint Joachim, through your love for your immaculate child, through the joy you did feel at the moment of her happy birth, not to refuse me. Bless me, bless my family and all who are dear to me, so that some day we may all be with you in the glory of heaven, for all eternity.
Amen.

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

St. Anne Novena, Day Five
Great Saint Anne, how far I am from resembling you. I so easily give way to impatience and discouragement; and so easily give up praying when God does not at once answer my request. Prayer is the key to all heavenly treasures and I cannot pray, because my weak faith and lack of confidence fail me at the slightest delay. O my powerful protectress, come to my aid, listen to my petition…
(State your intention here.)

Make my confidence and fervor, supported by the promise of Jesus Christ, increase as the trial to which God in His goodness subjects me is prolonged, that I may obtain like you more than I can venture to ask for. In the future I will remember that I am made for heaven and not for earth; for eternity and not for time; that consequently I must ask, above all, the salvation of my soul which is assured to all who pray properly and who persevere in prayer.
Amen.

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

St. Anne Novena, Day Six
Glorious Saint Anne, mother of the Mother of God, I beg your powerful intercession for the freedom from my sins and the assistance I need in my troubles…
(State your intention here.)

What can I not hope for if you deign to take me under your protection? The Most High has been pleased to grant the prayers of sinners, whenever you have been charitable enough to be their advocate.
Therefore, I beg you to help me in all spiritual and temporal dangers; to guide me in the true path of Christian perfection, and finally to obtain for me the grace of a happy death, so that I may contemplate your beloved Jesus and daughter Mary in your loving companionship throughout all eternity.
Amen.

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

St. Anne Novena, Day Seven
O Good Saint Anne, so justly called the mother of the infirm, the cure for those who suffer from disease, look kindly upon the sick for whom I pray.
Alleviate their sufferings; cause them to sanctify their sufferings by patience and complete submission to the Divine Will; finally deign to obtain health for them and with it the firm resolution to honor Jesus, Mary, and yourself by the faithful performance of duties.
But, merciful Saint Anne, I ask you above all for the salvation of my soul, rather than bodily health, for I am convinced that this fleeting life is given us solely to assure us a better one. I cannot obtain that better life without the help of God\’s graces. I earnestly beg them of you for the sick and for myself, especially the petition for which I am making in this novena…
(State your intention here.)

…through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the intercession of His Immaculate Mother, and through your efficacious and powerful mediation, I pray.
Amen.

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

St. Anne Novena, Day Eight
Remember, O Saint Anne, you whose name signifies grace and mercy, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, and sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto you, good, and kind mother; I take refuge at your feet, burdened with the weight of my sins. O holy mother of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, despise not my petition…
(State your intention here.)
…but hear me and grant my prayer.
Amen.

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

St. Anne Novena, Day Nine
Most holy mother of the Virgin Mary, glorious Saint Anne, I, a miserable sinner, confiding in your kindness, choose you today as my special advocate. I offer all my interests to your care and maternal solicitude. O my very good mother and advocate, deign to accept me and to adopt me as your child.
O glorious Saint Anne, I beg you, by the passion of my most loving Jesus, the Son of Mary, your most holy daughter, to assist me in all the necessities both of my body and my soul. Venerable Mother, I beg you to obtain for me the favor I seek in this novena…
(State your intention here.)

…and the grace of leading a life perfectly conformable in all things to the Divine Will. I place my soul in your hands and in those of your kind daughter. I ask for your favor in order that, appearing under your patronage before the Supreme Judge, He may find me worthy of enjoying His Divine Presence in your holy companionship in Heaven.
Amen.

Pray for us, Saint Anne!
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

St. Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary
Saint Anne was born in Bethlehem and eventually married Saint Joachim, a shepherd from Nazareth, in Galilee.

Her name, Anne, actually derives from the Hebrew name Hannah meaning grace. There is not a lot of literature about the life of St. Anne, but what we do know about her comes from apocryphal literature, history and legend.

The story goes that St. Anne was married to St. Joachim for many years (some stories report as many as twenty years) without being able to have children. After much ridicule and sorrow because they could not conceive, both separately pleaded to God to take away their sterility, promising that they would dedicate their child to the service of God.
Their prayers were heard.

An angel soon appeared before both of them, declaring that St. Anne would conceive and give birth to a child who would be blessed by the entire world. That child was named Mary, and today, she is our blessed Virgin Mother. After their daughter’s birth, St. Anne and St. Joachim dedicated Mary to God at the temple of Jerusalem, where she spent a lot of her childhood.

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