What a Novena is and how to pray it

The Doctrine of the Catholic Church contemplates that the Saints and the Virgin Mary "do not cease to intercede for us before the Father" and that "their fraternal care is of great help for our sickness" (Lumen gentium 49).

Novenas help us in our prayer when they are properly evaluated in the context of sound doctrine.

History of the novena

During the Middle Ages, Spain and France introduced the "novena of preparation" for Christmas. for remembering the nine months of Our Lady's pregnancy. In Spain, the Council of Toledo in 656 transferred the feast of the Annunciation to December 18 (within the ninth).

For this reason the novena took on a sense of anticipation and preparation for a feast.. The best models of preparation are Jesus and Mary, preparing for the birth. We prepare ourselves in this world for eternal life.

From the novena of preparation, the custom arose, beginning in France and Belgium, of making novenas to the Virgin and the saints for various intentions.

In the seventeenth century the Church formally granted the first indulgence to a novena in honor of St. Francis Xavier, awarded by Pope Alexander VII.

Today, the Church considers that the structure of the nine repetitions refers to the nine days between the Ascension and Pentecost. In the Bible, this period is for the disciples and the mother of Jesus, a period of waiting that they live in prayer. "They all persevered in prayer with one mind." Acts 1: 14 at the end of which they received the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we too can to live the novena as a time of prayer in expectation of a grace.

What is a novena?

The novena, from Latin "novem", nine.

As explained in the Doctrine of the Catholic Church, the novena is a series of nines. The succession of nines can refer to consecutive days (e.g., nine days preceding a liturgical feast) or to nine specific days of the week or month (e.g., nine first Fridays).

Some novenas have a long tradition associated with devotion to a saint or to entrust a particular intention or grace to God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), the Virgin Mary, angels and saints.

The novena has a spiritual meaning. It is directly related to the act of devotion that is demonstrated by praying it. Like all prayers, these are a way of praising God. Mary encouraged the apostles to pray for nine days to receive the Holy Spirit. That act of the mother of Jesus teaches the faithful the importance of constancy of faith.

How to pray a novena?

The novena is a privileged way of praying because allows us to take time for prayer, bringing quality to our engagement. In fact, when our prayer is accompanied by a deep desire to open our hearts to God in order to experience his real presence and place ourselves in his hands, the Lord can act and humbly make us understand his will.

There is no need to wait for a specific date to begin a novena: the best moment is undoubtedly when we feel the need or the desire to do it.. Every major prayer intention we have and every major discernment we have to make is a potential opportunity to begin a novena. The key is consistency.

The contents of each novena are different, but most of them offer at least one daily meditation, often written from a Bible passage or spiritual book, and a prayeroften addressed to God through the intercession of a saint.

It is also good to present our prayer by placing ourselves in the presence of the Lord with the sign of the cross and a word. And conclude it, for example, by reciting the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

When to make a novena?

There are many and varied reasons to pray a novena. In addition to those that we can do at any time of the year according to the events that affect our life, the tradition proposes to pray a novena before the feast of a saint or a great Christian feast. In this case, the novena begins 8 days before, so that the last day falls on the date of the feast.

Among the most common annual novenas we can mention, for example, the novena to St. Joseph, the novena to the Immaculate Conception, the novena of fasting to live Lent and the novena to the Holy Spirit to prepare for Pentecost.

Objectives

• Novenas of preparation: They are those that are prayed in preparation for a feast day of the Church, or prior to a sacrament or other spiritual reason. Their purpose is to prepare the soul for this important day. They are recited for the good of the deceased and to console family and friends. With the approach of a great Christian feast day, this is an excellent way to prepare our heart to rejoice completely!
• Novenas of anticipation:  There are several types, the most popular being the mourning novenas, which are prayed before or after a funeral to pray for the good of the deceased or to ask for comfort for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
• Novenas of petition:  These are petitions that we need to bring to the ears of God, for this requires confidence that these will be heard. We can also make a novena to pray for others: a loved one, priestly vocations, or even the souls in purgatory.
• Novenas of indulgence: are those that are prayed for the remission of sins. They are prayed as an act of penance for sins committed. These novenas are prayed in conjunction with the sacrament of confession and attendance to the
• Discernment Novena: "Give your servant an attentive heart so that he may know (...) how to discern between good and evil." 1 Kings 3: 9. Doing the will of God is only possible by entrusting to him, through prayer, our need for discernment. Therefore, we must ask God to inhabit our intelligence and our intuitions, to guide our reasoning and to give us "the ability to understand, (...) the lucidity to interpret" events with wisdom (St. Thomas Aquinas). Patience and detachment are essential graces for making decisions in accordance with God's will. Let us not hesitate to accompany our big and small discernment with novenas of prayers, which give the Lord time and space to speak to our heart and to our intelligence.

Remember

Be assured that the Lord answers all our prayers.

"When you ask me for something on my behalf, I will do it." John 14:14

The fruits of a novena sometimes take very concrete forms and sometimes they are not visible, but in any case the novena has an impact on us "everything contributes to the good of those who love God". Romans 8:28

Holy Family Novena of Pope Francis

The pope recommends a simple and effective way to offer a novena to the Holy Family by fervently praying the same prayer for nine consecutive days.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph

in you we contemplate

the splendor of true love,

to you, with confidence, we turn.

Holy Family of Nazareth,

also make our families

place of communion and cenacle of prayer,

authentic schools of the Gospel

and small domestic churches.

Holy Family of Nazareth,

that there will never again be episodes in families

of violence, closed-mindedness and division;

that whoever has been injured or scandalized

be soon comforted and healed.

Holy Family of Nazareth,

that the forthcoming Synod of Bishops

to raise everyone's awareness

of the sacred and inviolable character of the family,

of its beauty in God's plan.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

hear ye, receive our supplication, Amen!"

Discover more prayers for the family.