Novenas

A novena is nine days of prayer, usually the same prayers said each day for one intention, and often timed to end on a feast. The name comes from the Latin novem, nine. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia described it as a private or public devotion made to obtain particular graces, recommended by Church authority but without a fixed place in the liturgy. ¹

The model Christians have always pointed to is the nine days between the Ascension and Pentecost, when the apostles "were persevering with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren" (Acts 1:14). ² The Vatican’s Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (2001) traces the Pentecost novena to reflection on those days. ³ It also notes that feasts of Our Lady are often prepared with a triduum or a novena, and says these are true preparations for a feast, especially when they bring people to confession and Communion. ⁴

A novena is a popular devotion, not part of the liturgy, and nobody is obliged to make one. The Catechism says devotions of this kind extend the liturgical life of the Church but do not replace it, and should lead people toward the liturgy rather than away from it. ⁵ In practice a novena is simple: settle on what you are asking for, say the same prayers on nine days in a row, and, where the novena belongs to a feast, finish on the eve of the feast or on the day itself.

Nine days of prayer do not oblige God to grant a request, and no Church teaching says they do. The Catechism treats petition as a creature turning back to its Father, and when a prayer seems to go unanswered it asks what image of God lies behind it, reminding the reader that the Father knows what we need before we ask. ⁶ Several of the prayers below say the same thing in their own words, asking for a favor only if it is for the glory of God and the good of the soul.