08/27/2026
The word novena refers to nine of something. Traditionally it's a nine-day prayer, but it can also be a prayer of nine hours, or nine weeks or simply nine repetitions.
Novenas take their inspiration from Scripture. After Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, the apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary spent nine days in prayer in the upper room: "All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers" (Acts 1:14). Then, at the end of their "novena," on the feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon them, filling them with supernatural gifts.
Whether they are prayers of thanksgiving or petition, novenas by their very form remind us of our dependence on Christ, and allow us to ask -- in a manner united to the first foundations of our Church -- for the Holy Spirit to come to assist us.
One of the best ways to pray a novena is to pray with the whole Church. Around the liturgical calendar, various feasts have traditional novenas assigned to them. In particular, there's a Pentecost Novena, a Christmas Novena, a Novena of the Immaculate Conception and the Divine Mercy Novena, which is prayed beginning on Good Friday.
