Prayer novena: why, how and when to make one?

The ninth (from the Latin novem), as proposed by the Catholic Church, consists of pray for nine consecutive days, generally to entrust an intention to God or ask for a particular grace. Is traditional way of prayervery popular and encouraged by the Church since the Middle Ages, generally resorts to the intercession of the Virgin Mary or a saint.

Why make a novena?

Why pray nine days?

Today, the nine days of a novena are generally considered to refer to the nine days between 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 spirit” (Acts 1: 14) at the end of which they received the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we can also live the novena as a time of prayer waiting for a grace.

Is the novena the most effective way to pray?

The novena is in itself no more effective than any other form of prayer. What makes prayer “effective”, so to speak, is above all the quality of our presence and our commitment. In fact, when our prayer is accompanied by a deep desire to open our hearts to God to experience his real presence and place ourselves in his hands, then the Lord can act and make our desires conform to his will. . Our prayer then becomes “effective” to the extent that it allows for what it is made for: drawing us closer to the Lord and making us discover the true joy that can only come from Him.

The novena, on the other hand, is a privileged way of praying because it allows us to take time for prayer: to put a difficult situation at the feet of the Lord, entrust with devotion a particular intentionprepare our hearts to receive his graces, welcome the Holy Spirit to help us discern…

Why ask for the intercession of a saint?

The faith of the Catholic Church is that the saints “they do not stop interceding for us before the Father” and that “Your brotherly care is of great help to our disease” (Lumen gentium 49). Our sufferings, our trials and our limits can be borne by the saints: from heaven they intercede for us before the Father and collaborate with Him in favor of our lives. Let us remember this word pronounced by Saint Therese of Lisieux and inscribed on the cross of her tomb: “I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth.” So many miracles are attributed to him after his death! Santo Domingo, on his deathbed, wanted to reassure his brothers: “Don’t cry, I will be more useful after my death and I will help you more effectively than when I was alive.”

We understand better, then, why the intercession of saints is often requested in Catholic prayers. Although, traditionally, the novenas are directed in a particular way: the novena to Santa Rita is, for example, very popular, since the Saint is known for her “efficiency”. Santa Rita is at the same time the patron saint of desperate cases, of couples and of healings. With such responsibilities, it’s no wonder she’s in such high demand!

The fruits of a novena

As with any prayer the fruits of the novena they are sometimes the expected ones, or sometimes they can be others. Instead, we are sure that the Lord answers all the prayers addressed in the name of Jesus, this has been reminded us several times in the Gospel: “When they ask me for something in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:14).

The fruits of a novena sometimes take very concrete forms: from the result of a complicated situation to a true miracle, testimonials abound! In some cases, the fruits are not visible, but the novena has an effect on us anyway: for example, we can feel great peace, find the strength to go through a trial, clarify ourselves, find a taste for prayer, etc. Finally, sometimes we can finish a novena and think that our prayer has not been answered, or that the Lord has ignored it. In these situations, only the act of faith that consists in continuing to believe that “everything contributes to the good of those who love God” (Romans 8:28) allows us not to despair. The Lord will surely give us the grace, a few months or sometimes years later, to understand what his plan was at that moment in our lives.

How to make a novena?

When to start a novena?

There is no need to wait for a specific date to start a novena: the best time is undoubtedly when we feel the need or desire to do it. Every important prayer intention we have and every great discernment we need to do is a potential opportunity to start a novena.

On the other hand, in addition to the novenas that we can do at any time of the year depending on the events that affect our lives, tradition proposes praying 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 festivity. Between the most common annual novenas we can cite, for example, the novena to Saint Joseph, the novena to the Immaculate Conception and the novena to the Holy Spirit to prepare for Pentecost.

Development of the ninth

Before starting a novena, we can choose the start date of the novena, as well as the time of day and the place where we will pray it. These small decisions help us to act now be faithful to our ninth. We can also plan to light a novena candle from the first day, which will stay lit for nine days. Likewise, it is important to choose support for our novena. The easiest way is to pray with an existing novena – there are many on the Internet and in prayer books. In they offer many novenas throughout the year, and all can be renewed whenever they want. Do, for example:

The content of each ninth is different, but most of them offer at least one daily meditation, often written from a passage in the Bible or a spiritual book, and a prayer, often addressed to God through the intercession of a saint. It is also good to introduce your prayer by placing yourself in the presence of the Lord, for example, by making the sign of the cross and a word, and concluding it, for example, by reciting an Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory Be.

Live the novena wholeheartedly

Using the existing content to make a novena is, of course, only the means that allows us to live an authentic time of prayer. In fact, the only objective of the novena is to open our hearts to the Lord in order to receive the graces that he wants to give us. The most important thing is not to stick to the proposed content at all costs, but to make it live in us. Therefore, we can freely get out of the framework of the novenaif we so wish, since prayer is above all “an intimate encounter with God” (Clement of Alexandria, Father of the Church) and that Jesus himself asks us “do not use vain repetitions, like the Gentiles, who think that for their talk they will be heard…” (Matthew 6:7). To make our prayer more alive during the novena, let us not hesitate to choose moments of silence, of spontaneous prayer. We can also adapt the content to our sensitivity: Do we like psalms? Do we want to reread a particular chapter of the Bible? Do we know a prayer that moves us? Let us not hesitate to integrate these elements into our prayer time, even if it means eliminating others that do not feed us so much.

novena with rosary

Some of us especially like to pray the Rosary, but the Rosario and the novena are not incompatible. The very popular novena to Mary Untie Knots, which consists of entrusting a particular intention or difficulty to Mary’s prayers, is based on the meditation of the Rosary. We can also use the Rosary to pray any other novena: for example, it is common to conclude each prayer of the day of a novena with ten Hail Marys.

When to make a novena?

As we said before, the opportunities to make novenas are multiple and unique to each one. In particular, we may decide to start a novena to entrust a special intention, to discern and choose through prayer, to prepare for a big event, or even to spontaneously honor a saint.

Novena for a special intention

In our life, we all go through difficulties. But the strength we Christians have is knowing that Christ, being that he himself suffered, supports us in each of these trials: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). If Jesus himself invites us to deposit our burdens on him because they are too heavy, why should we do without his help? And if we go through it, the following difficulties can be entrusted to God during a novena:

• tests in our emotional life: a separation, single status and the desire to meet someone, achieve the union of your partner, difficulty getting pregnant…

• tests in our professional life: finding a job, a conflictive relationship with a colleague, passing an exam, getting a home…

• spiritual tests: being healed of a spiritual wound, being freed from an addiction, going through mourning, rediscovering a taste for prayer, receiving a grace of peace or joy

• physical tests: get the cure for oneself or a close person, receive strength to cross the disease

We can also make a novena to pray for others: a loved one, and also the priests, or even the souls in purgatory!

Novena to discern

“Give your servant an attentive heart so that he knows (…) discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9). Doing God’s will is only possible by entrusting to him, through prayer, our need to discern. Therefore, we must ask God to inhabit our intelligence and intuitions, to guide our reasoning and to give us “the ability to understand, (…) the lucidity to interpret” events with wisdom (Saint Thomas Aquinas). Patience and detachment are essential graces to make decisions according to the will of God.

Let us not hesitate to accompany our great and small discernment with novenas of prayers, which give the Lord time and space to speak to our hearts and our intelligence. We could also make a novena before making the decision to get married or to decide between two plans for our summer vacations, for example.

Novenas to prepare for an event

The liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church is dense and each celebration is an opportunity to rejoice and anchor our faith in our daily lives. The holidays mark the passing year and are occasions to remind us that the Lord is present and that he accompanies us throughout the days, weeks, months and years. However, the events that give us the most joy are often those that we have been waiting for and…