What Is A Novena Prayer? Definition and How To Pray A Catholic Novena
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All Catholics have asked themselves this question before: "what is a novena?" We Catholics sure do love our novenas! So much so, that they work their way into all things Catholic culture, from our most serious moments, such as funerals, to our lighter moments, including jokes such as this one...
Man walks into a confessional and kneels down: “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It’s been twenty years since my last confession. I work at a lumber yard and well, every day for the last twenty years... I stole a piece of lumber.”
Priest: “That is very serious, my son. I am going to have to give you a big penance... Son, do you know how to make a novena?”
Man thinks for a second: “No Father, but if you’ve got the plans, I’ve got the lumber.”
What is a Novena Prayer? Our Definition:
Like the man in the story, you might be asking, what is a novena in the Catholic Church? And how do you make one?
A novena is not made of wood or any material thing. It is made of prayers. A simple novena definition would be: prayers said over a continuous length of days for a special intention.
If you're also wondering, what does the word "novena" mean, the word "novena" comes from the Latin word for nine. Traditionally, there are nine days of prayer in a Catholic novena. Why nine days specifically? The Bible has the answer. Crack open the Acts of the Apostles. It begins when Our Lord ascended into Heaven. After the disciples watched him depart and were caught staring at the sky by an angel who asked the world’s most obvious question: “Why are you looking up?” they all gathered in the upper room to pray.
“All these were persevering with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren." (Act 1:14) They remained there together until finally, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came. He filled them with grace and hope and courage. They were literally on fire—so much so that that very day they converted 3,000 souls to Christianity. Ever since then, this great feast is celebrated as the birthday of the Church.
That, my friends, was the first novena. There are nine days between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday. This has served as a model for all future novenas. At the heart of it is persevering trust. You bring your trials and struggles to God, petition Him with all your heart, and wait for the Holy Spirit. When you receive the answer to your prayers, you thank God. You should celebrate! To see just how it’s done, take a look at the novenario.
Is Novenario the Same as Novena?
If you are at all familiar with Mexican culture, you might have heard of the novenario. This is a type of novena said specifically for the dead. Family and friends gather to pray the rosary at the home of the deceased. This practice of having nine days of the rosary after death is a way of asking God to release the soul from the punishment due to sin. "It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins." (Maccabees 12:46)
The novenario then culminates in a big feast in which family and friends celebrate the life of their beloved departed and the hope of his resurrection. The message is: we are fallen, we struggle, and we suffer, but we hope in God.
What is a Novena of Masses?
If you've heard this term before after a loved one has passed away, you may be wondering, what is a Novena Mass? Another form of the novenario is a Novena of Masses said for nine days after death. This is simply Mass every day, said for the soul of the deceased. You can also get a Novena of Masses for the living to celebrate a special occasion, such as a wedding or a baptism, or even to give to your friends for Christmas.
How to Pray a Novena
Novenas don’t have to be complicated. You just need to form your specific intention—that is, decide what it is you are praying for. Then you choose what prayers to say. This can be saying the rosary, reciting a specific prayer, going to daily Mass, or even just saying one Hail Mary or praying for the intercession of a favorite saint. You can even make up the prayer yourself.
Then you choose which length of time and commit to it. Nine days is the usual, however, novenas have evolved into related lengths of time, such as nine hours or nine months. Some people start a novena and just keep saying it for the rest of their lives. They quit counting and it just becomes part of them. Depending on the particular saint or devotion, you will discover there are a variety of ways for novenas to be said.
Catholic Novena Examples (A List of Popular Novenas of the Catholic Church):
There are hundreds (if not thousands) of Catholic Novenas to choose from. But, here's a good list to get you started:
The Divine Mercy Novena
This is a devotion many people pray daily and perpetually but it also has its own set novena period. It begins annually on Good Friday and ends on the Sunday following Easter, a.k.a. Divine Mercy Sunday. You recite the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for nine days, with a different intention each day. Among the intentions are souls who are away from God, souls of little children, and souls of lukewarm believers. You pray at 3 PM each day, in memory of the hour in which Our Lord died. This devotion was given to St. Faustina by Our Lord beginning in 1931. Now, in a time when much sin abounds, there is much mercy.
“Where sin abounded, grace did more abound." (Romans 5:20)
The Miraculous Medal Novena
This is another stunning example of a perpetual novena. It began in 1930 and is still going to this day. The testimonials associated with this novena will make you a believer. A friend of mine once prayed this novena, along with the rosary, over a period of nine months for her husband to quit drinking, become a good father, and come into the Church. At the end of her nine months, she received all three of her petitions.
The 54 Day Rosary Novena
This is a novena marathon for people who like long distances. You may wonder: Why 54? It is really six novenas strung together—three coming and three going. During the first three, you ask confidently for what you need. During the second three, you thank God even more confidently for granting what you wish—even if you are not aware that you received it yet! The message is: your Father in heaven is a rich and doting dad. “Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours." (Mark 11:24)
9 Days of Rosary After Death
Nowhere is it more important to believe that God will grant you what you ask for than in praying for the dead. You can even help a departed soul get out of Purgatory. There are several novenas for the dead that take you through nine days and often have a plenary indulgence attached.
What is a plenary indulgence? Suppose you are sincerely sorry for robbing a bank—you still have to return the money and you still owe jail time, right? It is a little like that with sin. Even if you are forgiven, you still need to do some reparation. If you don’t pay the debt in this life, you may do it in Purgatory.
A plenary indulgence means someone else has paid for you—all of it. The Church is a community where believers imitate Jesus, who paid the ultimate debt of sin so we would not be lost. He gets us involved, not because He needs us—He is God—but because He wants us to bear each other’s burdens.
Novenas for Relationships and Love
If you're a single Catholic looking to find your future spouse, then a Novena for love might be a good choice for your next 9 days of prayer. See below for a few of our favorite ones...
Virgin Mary Novenas
Jesus has given us not only His Father for our father but His mother for our mother. Our current pontiff, Pope Francis, has a devotion to her as Our Lady Undoer of Knots. So many people are facing lives tangled by sin. Sin damages relationships. Loved ones become estranged. Marriages fail. Children repeat the bad patterns they grew up with it. The cycle of poverty continues and worsens. It seems that there is no undoing such a tangled mess. Then, you see the image of Our Lady patiently working out the knots in a tangled ribbon, just as your mother did when you were little, and you know there is hope. Because of this, the novena to Our Lady Undoer of Knots is an ideal novena for any relationship faced with struggles.
St. Raphael Novena
Catholics take hope in countless novenas to saints who experienced every issue you can name, including all things related to marriage and family life.
But what about dating? That's when the St. Raphael Novena is your best bet. Though there are many saints you could invoke, including the great St. Joseph who had the perfect wife, St. Raphael comes down to us as the favorite matchmaker. He was an angel sent by God to get two specific people together—a young man named Tobias and a young woman named Sara. Both of them had a lot of problems before they met. Their case seemed impossible—cursed, people said. Yet God wanted to bless Tobias and Sara. He wanted their marriage to take place so he sent Raphael to guide them to each other.
Conclusion:
At the basis of every novena is persevering trust. That’s all God asks of you. Leave the rest to Him.
My mom and dad were from a small town in Maine where everybody knew everybody else. They lived about a street and a half away from each other and my dad’s cousin was my mom’s best friend. When my mom realized she wanted to be married, she prayed a novena to find a husband. Then one day, my dad saw mom’s mother at daily Mass and decided to be a gentleman and walk her home. “Look who is here,” said Grandma to mom when they got to the door. Mom’s first thought was, “Not him! I already know him!”
Perhaps Mom was looking for someone a little more exotic or mysterious. She did used to have pictures of movie stars hanging on her wall. I have always loved this story because at that very first thought, Mom knew that he was the answer to her prayer. That’s the thing with novenas. They work both ways. You ask for what you think you need and God gives you what you really need.
Mom and Pop were happily married for forty years.
Novenas are part of your heritage as a Catholic.
What is it that you need? Tell God your prayer request. Stop worrying and start praying.
Novena FAQs:
How Long is a Novena?
Traditionally, a novena lasts for nine days. However, novenas have evolved into related lengths of time, such as nine hours or nine months. Some people start a novena and just keep saying it for the rest of their lives. They quit counting and it just becomes part of them.
Why Are Novenas 9 Days?
This is because there are nine days between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday. It was during this time frame that the very first novena took place. This has served as a model for all future novenas. At the heart of it is persevering trust for nine days in a row.
What is a Novena for the Dead?
It is nine consecutive days of Masses or rosaries for the soul of the departed. This practice of having nine days of the rosary after death is a way of asking God to release the soul from the punishment due to sin, and started in Mexico.
Why 9 Days of Prayer for the Dead?
Friends and family pray for nine days following a death for the release of the departed's soul from Purgatory. Even if they are forgiven, they still may need to do some reparation. If the debt wasn't paid for in this life, it may be done in Purgatory.
What is Novena in English?
The word novena simply means nine. It comes from the Latin word for the number nine. Traditionally, it is a nine-day period of prayer for a Catholic novena. However, not all novenas are nine days and there are many that are longer or shorter depending on the devotion.
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