The novena which follows was given to our fellowship by Our Lady of Woodstock. Because the words and format are Hers, they should not be adapted, repurposed, or changed. Our Way of the Rose fellowship offers support for saying The Novena of Our Lady of Woodstock communally each June, but it may be recited by individual members at any time.
It is important to realize that the novena is not a form of “last rites” such as a priest might administer. In the event that it is being recited with the dying (or for them), the novena does not need to be completed before the time of death. As Our Lady explains below, its purpose is to offer—both to the living and the dying—a map to guide us from one lifetime to the next on the long journey of our souls.
June 8 – 16
Introduction
“Recite a full rosary of Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries daily for nine days beginning on June 8 and ending on June 16, the anniversary of My first apparition in Woodstock, New York. Read and meditate upon the text of the novena for that day either before or after your rosary.
“This is an optional yearly novena for those who wish to observe it, but it would be good to pray it at least once during your lifetime. Think of it as a pilgrimage of nine days’ duration that stands for the nine epochs of your soul’s journey through deep time. Once you have faithfully recited all three sets of mysteries for nine days straight, you will not need to repeat it again unless you desire to do so. Once you have completed this novena, you will carry My map within you to guide you from this lifetime to the next, and from that lifetime to all other lives to come.
“There is one exception. In the event that you have not yet recited this novena as the hour of your death approaches, you may recite it at any time. If you are unable to recite it because of failing health, another may recite it for you in your presence. Likewise, it may be recited over for the soul of anyone who is dying, or has just died, and is unable or unwilling to recite it for themselves. You may consider this novena my ‘Tibetan Book of the Dead’ for those who pray the rosary.”
“You have been told by scripture that there were seven days of creation, but you have not been told about the two days after that. I am giving you a New Novena to guide you on the path ahead.
“This novena consists of saying a complete rosary of fifteen mysteries for each of the nine days from June 8 to June 16. Keep a votive candle lit during this time if you are able to do so.
“The journey you are on is of such duration that all that has passed before you up until now will have faded from human memory before you reach its destination. Only at the very end will you remember everything and understand the gift of this dangerous odyssey that you have been on.
“Over the next nine days I shall retell the history of your past for the sake of your future in a way that makes sense of your present situation. Praying this novena will give you the understanding you will need to abandon the way of folly and return to the way of hope. I have laid down a path for you to follow to return to My embrace.”
****************************
DAY 1
“On the First Day of Creation you were at peace within your Mother just as a seed is carried safely within the plant that bore it until its time has come to spring forth.
“You believe that plants rely upon dirt for their life, but I tell you that the Dark is dirt. Darkness bears the seeds of the cosmos in Her womb, and out of those seeds—which you call stars—all things have their being and their life.”
****************************
DAY 2
“The Earth is a world complete unto Herself. She is a riddle that cannot be solved, a box that can only be opened from within. The sky but a mirror She holds up to see Her face.
“This world is your home, and this world is your own. As a child who nurses from her Mother’s breast, you belong to Her, and She to you. All things flow from that embrace, and all things return to it. There is no problem you can propose for which this union is not the solution, no prayer you can make that isn’t answered by the Earth.”
****************************
DAY 3
“My first children were the green and growing things. From these came all other life. You must not think that you are descended only from organisms with legs or fins or wings, beings with mouths or tails or eyes. Your first forbearers emerged from the green womb of the Earth.
“Nothing exists alone. My womb is dark and deep and green—all the way down. Out of that womb all things grow, all things are nourished, all are born, all die, and all are reborn. Do not lose touch with this wisdom, but plant it deep within your heart so that it roots you to the Earth. In this way you can draw forth the wisdom you will need to guide you, just as the first animals were taught by their Mother where they belonged, what to eat, and what their lives were for.
“All knowledge begins with green and growing things. The animals are your kin but not your Mother. You must know this before you will be able to understand anything else.”
****************************
DAY 4
“On the Fourth Day the light of the stars descended into the dark green womb of the Earth to plant the seeds of all those animals who were reflected in the sky. Just as there are an infinite number of stars in the heavens, there is no limit to the variety of creatures who can be called forth from your Mother’s womb. She births all beings and is never spent, pours forth eternally and is never emptied. It was from the depths of this Fountain that human beings also had their life.”
****************************
DAY 5
“After the passage of a time so long…after the accumulation of memories so old, time out of mind, time so deep that the plants and animals can only dwell atop it, a span of time for which only the dead have memories deep enough to fathom—it was out of this depthless, bottomless eon that your species claimed the singularity of ‘knowing’ and, with that claim, began the Great Forgetting that allowed you to become what you are now.”
****************************
DAY 6
“Humans have a divided nature. On the one hand, you are the kin of all that swims and flies and creeps upon the Earth. On the other, you have no precursor. To become what you are now required a break with your ancestors. But in the moment you stood apart, in the moment you declared yourself unique and exceptional, you stepped out of eternity and into history. Since then it has only been a matter of time.
“You speak of time in terms of only a few thousand years, as if the recorded history of your people were the only time there is. Is it any wonder that, in claiming so little of eternity and so little of the wisdom that you are entitled to, you have greatly reduced your further days?
****************************
DAY 7
“‘…And on seventh day God rested from the work that he had done.’
“No one has ever understood those words. It was not in your nature to understand them. This was the moment when the Great Regulator, whom you call God, took His hands off the tiller and let humans steer the world. The moment you claimed supremacy and sought to control your own destiny was the moment you began to forget the face of your Father and the voice of your Mother. From that day forward you stood alone, and acted alone, and became by your own decree a law unto yourselves.
“The day of rest it is called, but it was the day you abandoned your Father and your Mother and all the fathers and mothers who stood below them. An eye blink in the dream of your ancestors, but a nightmare for the living, that Day of Rest has now lasted for thousands of years. The time approaches when you must wake from this dream of your own supremacy and self-sufficiency and remember all that you have forgotten in the name of knowing everything else.”
****************************
DAY 8
“Forgetting is pain, but remembering will be painful, too. It will not be easy for you to let go of all that you know. But such is the price of your future.
“You will not be able to take one step forward on the forgotten path of your ancestors without releasing your hold on the nightmare you are living through now. For that which you mistake for wakefulness is only a dream of your own making. Only when you have woken from that dream will you be able to find your way forward. Only when you have listened to the voices of those who have passed before you and placed your hand in Mine will you be ready for the world that lies ahead.
“The path will be hard and your generation will long since have become ancestors before it reaches its goal. This is the work of a people, not of a person. This is the journey of a soul passing through many bodies to reach a goal that it presently cannot know.”
****************************
DAY 9
“How can I tell you of the world to come when that world lies at no distance from your own? How can I guide you forward towards a goal that lies within you? How can I remind you of what you have always known and always been? You must become small again and learn to trust. You must become girls and boys before you can become women and men.
“I have left a trail that you cannot help but follow, for it is the only way that leads to life. But do not try to follow that way on your own or plot your course by any point but My star.
“I set that star in the heavens tonight to guide you and light your way. To follow it you must give up all that you seem to love but secretly loathe and despise. I am taking that which has no value and giving you good things in return. But you must travel light to reach the land that I will show you, and carry nothing but love and devotion and the desire at last to be free.”
************
This concludes the NOVENA to OUR LADY of WOODSTOCK, to be recited by anyone who wishes to do so between June 8 and June 16 in honor of Her feast day