ROME. "We praise the one Triune God for the gift given to us in the person and magisterium of John Paul II. We pray for the strength to carry out the mission and message he entrusted to us and we invoke the Holy Spirit, asking that the next successor of Peter will again be a blessing for the Church and world., writes Father Heinrich Walter, President of the General Presidium of the Schoenstatt Work , in the tribute to John Paul II.

Within the Schoenstatt Family gathered in Rome - among them several members of the General Presidium - for the funeral of John Paul II, the inspiration surged for a novena of prayer for the conclave which will begin on the 18th of April - Covenant Day -, so that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the 117 Cardinals in charge of choosing the new Pope, and in a special way for the one of them who will be chosen as the new Pope.

Father Heirich Walter, from Rome, in the name of the Presidium, wants to extend this invitation to all the International Schoenstatt Family. It is recommended that the Sequence to the Holy Spirit (Come Holy Spirit...) or the 6:00 p.m. Vespers from the Schoenstatt Office: "The sun make ready for the night and invites us to enter the Cenacle." ( Heavenwards p. 54), will be prayed, .asking our Mother Thrice Admirable that the Conclave of Cardinals, the new Pope as well as the whole Church will "always walk by heaven’s light."

The novena will begin on Sunday the 10th of April and will end on the 18th of April, the first day of the Conclave, accompanied by the prayer of the Schoenstatt Family renewing, as on each 18th of the month, its Covenant of Love in love of the Church.

Sequence to the Holy Spirit

Come, O Holy Spirit, come!
From Thy bright and blissful Home
Rays of healing light impart.

Come Thou Father of the poor,
Source of gifts that will endure
Light of ev'ry human heart.

Thou of all consolers best,
Of the soul most kindly Guest,
Quick'ning courage dost bestow.

In hard labor Thou art rest,
In the heat refreshest best,
Solace givest in our woe.

O most blessed Light divine,
Let Thy radiance in us shine,
And our inmost being fill.

Nothing good by man is thought,
Nothing right by him is wrought,
When he spurns Thy gracious Will.

Cleanse our souls from sinful stain,
Lave our dryness with Thy rain,
Heal our wounds and mend our way.

Bend the stubborn heart and will,
Melt the frozen, warm the chill,
Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful who in Thee,
Trust with childlike piety,
Deign Thy sevenfold gift to send.

Give them virtue's rich increase,
Saving grace to die in peace,
Give them joys that never end.

Amen. Alleluia.

Vespers (Hour of the Cenacle)

The sun make ready for the night
and invites us to enter the Cenacle.

There you implored the Spirit for the Church
who freed her from the scourge of half-heartedness,
guided her to the teaching of Christ
and enkindled in her the spirit of the apostles and the martyrs.

That is how you want to work in our shrine:

Strengthening our week eyes of faith
so that we might see life as God sees it
and always walk by heaven’s light.

In this light of faith let me see
how the Father’s love wished to accompany me today.
Let the loyalty to our mission be my thanksgiving
for the boundless gifts he has showered on me in love.

Glory be joyfully given to the Father
through Christ with Mary, highly praised,
in the Holy Spirit full of splendor
from the universe now and in all eternity.
Amen.