A novena is a prayer or set of prayers repeated on nine consecutive days for a particular intention.
Tagged: Prayer Remembrance Catholic
How It Is Practiced
The petitioner chooses or receives a set of prayers addressed to God, to Mary, or to a saint, and prays them once a day for nine days, keeping one intention in view — healing, guidance, grief, or thanksgiving. Novenas are often timed to end on the eve of a feast day, and printed or shared novenas give each day its own reading and petition. The practice is usually private or in small groups, at home or before a shrine.
Purpose and Meaning
The nine days recall the nine days the apostles and Mary spent in prayer between the Ascension and Pentecost. The novena trains perseverance: the petitioner returns to the same request day after day rather than treating prayer as a single transaction. It is characteristically a devotion of waiting, in which the one praying expects to be changed as much as the circumstances.
References
- Novena — Wikipedia Free / open access
Related Practices
- The Rosary — The Rosary is a meditative prayer that moves through the life of Christ and Mary on a circle of beads.
- First Fridays Devotion — The First Fridays devotion joins Mass and Communion on nine consecutive first Fridays to the promises of the Sacred Heart.
- The Angelus — The Angelus is a short prayer on the Incarnation, prayed at morning, noon, and evening at the sound of a bell.
Related Across the Site
- First Fridays Devotion Devotion — The First Fridays devotion joins Mass and Communion on nine consecutive first Fridays to the promises of the Sacred Heart.
- Pilgrimage (Catholic) Devotion — Catholic pilgrimage is a journey to a shrine undertaken as prayer, penance, thanksgiving, or petition.
- Stations of the Cross Devotion — The Stations of the Cross walk the worshipper through fourteen scenes of Christ's journey to the crucifixion.
- The Angelus Devotion — The Angelus is a short prayer on the Incarnation, prayed at morning, noon, and evening at the sound of a bell.
- Act of Contrition Prayer or Creed — A prayer of sorrow for sin, prayed in the Sacrament of Penance and in personal examination of conscience.
- Glory Be (Gloria Patri) Prayer or Creed — A short doxology praising the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, used across Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant worship.
- Hail Mary Prayer or Creed — A prayer to the Virgin Mary built from the angel's greeting in Luke 1, asking for her intercession.
- Prayers of the Rosary Prayer or Creed — The set of prayers prayed on the beads of the Rosary, including the Fatima Prayer and the Hail Holy Queen.