The Saint Next Door

    Novenas

    A novena is nine consecutive days of prayer for one intention, following the nine days the apostles and Mary spent in prayer between the Ascension and Pentecost. Here is how to pray a novena, and the novena prayers kept on this site.

    Where novenas come from

    The word comes from novem, Latin for nine. The pattern is given in the Acts of the Apostles: after the Ascension the apostles returned to Jerusalem and “devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with Mary the mother of Jesus” until the Spirit came at Pentecost. Nine days of waiting, one room, one intention. Every novena since is a small imitation of those nine days.

    In the early centuries Roman families kept nine days of mourning after a death, and Christians took that custom up as nine days of Masses and prayer for the person who had died — the novendiale, still kept for popes today. From the Middle Ages onwards novenas were attached to the great feasts, prayed in the nine days before Christmas, Pentecost, the Sacred Heart or a patron’s feast day, and later to particular saints whose intercession had been asked in a moment of crisis.

    What a novena is not is a formula that obliges God. Nine days of prayer changes the person praying: it turns a passing worry into something you carry before God deliberately, day after day, long enough to be honest about it. Whatever answer comes, nobody finishes a novena the same as they began it.

    How to pray a novena

    1. 1. Choose one intention

      A novena is nine days of prayer for a single, named intention — a healing, a decision, a person, a conversion. Naming it plainly keeps the nine days focused.

    2. 2. Choose the prayer and the patron

      Pray with the saint whose life touches your intention, or with Our Lady under one of her titles. The patron saints index can help you find the right intercessor.

    3. 3. Pray it nine days running

      Same prayer, same time of day if you can. Many people begin nine days before a feast day so the novena ends on the feast itself.

    4. 4. Finish it, whatever happens

      Novenas are not a technique for getting an answer. Pray the ninth day even when nothing seems to have changed, and leave the outcome with God.

    Novena prayers

    Pray these once a day for nine days, adding your own intention.

    Novena prayers are being added. In the meantime, the Catholic prayers library has prayers you can use for each of the nine days.

    Well-known novenas and when they are prayed

    Most novenas are tied to a feast or a season. These are the ones you are most likely to be invited to join.

    Novena of Grace to St Francis Xavier

    4 – 12 March

    Nine days that grew out of the recovery of Fr. Marcello Mastrilli, SJ, after a vision of St Francis Xavier in the seventeenth century. It ends on 12 March, the anniversary of Xavier’s canonisation, and has been prayed in Dublin without a break since 1832.

    Divine Mercy Novena

    Good Friday to the Saturday after Easter

    Prayed in the nine days before Divine Mercy Sunday, each day for a different group of people — sinners, priests and religious, the devout, the lost, the separated, the little children, the merciful, the souls in purgatory, and the lukewarm.

    Novena to the Holy Spirit

    Ascension to Pentecost

    The original novena: the nine days the apostles and Mary spent together in prayer in the upper room between the Ascension and Pentecost. Every other novena is modelled on those nine days.

    Novena to the Sacred Heart

    Nine days before the feast of the Sacred Heart

    Prayed in the nine days leading to the feast in June, often with the promises given to St Margaret Mary Alacoque, and frequently made for a family member who has drifted from the faith.

    Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help

    Any time; often Wednesdays

    One of the most widely prayed Marian novenas, kept weekly in many parishes rather than over nine consecutive days — a reminder that the nine can be nine weeks as well as nine days.

    Novena for the Dead

    After a death, or through November

    Nine days of prayer and Mass for someone who has died — the traditional novendiale, still prayed for popes and kept in many families after a funeral.

    The Novena of Grace is transcribed day by day on this site — start with the introduction to the Novena of Grace.

    Questions people ask about novenas

    What does the word novena mean?

    It comes from novem, the Latin for nine. A novena is nine days of prayer for one intention, taking its pattern from the nine days the apostles and Mary spent in prayer between the Ascension and Pentecost.

    What happens if I miss a day?

    Nothing is broken and no grace is withdrawn. A novena is not a spell that fails on a technicality. Pick the prayer up the next day and finish the nine, or begin the nine days again if you would rather keep them unbroken.

    Do I have to pray it at the same time each day?

    No, but it helps. Attaching the prayer to something you already do every day — the commute, the first coffee, the last few minutes before bed — is the single most reliable way of actually reaching day nine.

    Can I pray a novena for someone else, or with other people?

    Yes to both. Novenas are commonly prayed for another person’s healing, conversion or decision, and families, parishes and whole religious orders pray them together for a shared intention.

    Can I make more than one novena at once?

    You can, but one intention prayed with attention is worth more than three prayed distractedly. If several things weigh on you, name them under one heading and bring that to the nine days.

    What do I do on the ninth day?

    Pray it, thank God, and let the intention go. Many people end a novena by going to Mass or confession, or by praying the last day on the feast of the saint they have been praying with.

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