Novenas

The word novena comes from the Latin for nine. The pattern goes back to the first days of the Church. After the Ascension, the apostles returned to Jerusalem and devoted themselves to prayer together with Mary, the mother of Jesus (Acts 1:14), until the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. The Church has seen in those days of waiting the model for every novena.

A novena is not a formula that obliges God to answer. It is a way of praying with perseverance, which Jesus himself commends, and of preparing the heart to receive what God wishes to give.

How to pray a novena

• Choose your intention and name it plainly before God.
• Choose the novena: to the Holy Spirit, to the Sacred Heart, or asking the intercession of a saint.
• Pray once a day for nine consecutive days, at a time you can keep.
• Join it, if you can, to Mass, Confession, or an act of charity.
• If you miss a day, simply continue. Perseverance matters more than perfection.
• End by giving thanks, whatever the outcome, and leave the answer to God.

Novenas through the year

Many novenas are prayed in the nine days before a feast.

• Saint Joseph: the nine days before his solemnity on March 19.
• Divine Mercy: from Good Friday to the Saturday before Divine Mercy Sunday.
• The Holy Spirit: from the day after the Ascension to the vigil of Pentecost, the original novena.
• The Sacred Heart of Jesus: the nine days before the solemnity, which falls on a Friday in the weeks after Pentecost.
• Saint Michael and the Archangels: the nine days before September 29.
• The Immaculate Conception: November 29 to December 7.
• Christmas: December 16 to 24.

What you will find here

For now this page is an introduction. We will add individual novenas, with a prayer for each of the nine days, as they are written and reviewed. In the meantime, the prayers below can be prayed for nine days as a simple novena of your own.