Novena questions

[Catholicmomma04]

I’m a new Catholic and I have been praying about three serious situations in my life. I feel the need to pray a Novena, but don’t completely understand what to do. I thought about praying a different Novena for each subject, but is that ok to do at the same time or should I pray them one at a time? These situations are pretty desperate (sp).

Also, how do I choose which Novena to pray? Thanks in Advance.

 

[Archus]

You could always try these:

Catholic Encyclopedia article on Novenas
A Treasure of 182 Catholic Novenas

Hmm, when it comes to ‘multiple novenas’, the idea is you spread out the novena over nine days, saying a single prayer each day. So as long as you are able to devote your time to saying three prayers a day instead of one, you should be fine. As for choice of novena, it would depend on the intention (i.e. your serious situations) and also ones that speak to you.

Prayer should be enjoyed and embraced. The novenas you pick should reflect what you love most about God and want out of Him. If you want, you can spread the three novenas throughout the day (one in the morning, one at midday and one in the evening), keeping the same novena for each time of day so you don’t get confused.

I can’t think of any dogma or doctrine that forbids the praying of multiple novenas, as they are a wonderful exercise rather than a necessary liturgy (such as Mass).

Hope that helps.

 

[the_phoenix]

Dear Catholicmomma04:

Two novenas that I’ve said are the Divine Mercy novena, and the novena to St. Joseph. Here are the links:

ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/novena.htm

ewtn.com/Devotionals/novena/joseph.htm

The Divine Mercy novena I prayed in preparation for Divine Mercy Sunday, which is a feast day that falls the Sunday after Easter. I didn’t ask for anything special, just wanted to pray for the groups of people mentioned in the novena. You are welcome to pray this novena any time of year.

I’ve prayed the St. Joseph novena twice now … I’m looking for a job. The novena is not a guarantee of a job, nor is it a guarantee that my prayer will be answered exactly as I wish … in fact, I’ve remained without a steady job for a long time and am still looking for one. However, praying the novena helps give me a sense of peace. Saying prayers for nine days straight can help you understand the importance of persevering in prayer, and can help you to trust in Divine Providence, that God will answer in His own good time, that we should seek to do His will, the way St. Joseph did.

Hope this helps. In any case, I’ll pray for you.

~~ the phoenix

 

[grandma_glor]

Praying For You
Grandma Glor

 

[brigid12]

I’m a new Catholic and I have been praying about three serious situations in my life. I feel the need to pray a Novena, but don’t completely understand what to do. I thought about praying a different Novena for each subject, but is that ok to do at the same time or should I pray them one at a time? These situations are pretty desperate (sp).

Also, how do I choose which Novena to pray? Thanks in Advance.

It’s fine to pray a different Novena for each subject, or for all three intentions in one Novena. Most Novena prayers that I’ve seen ask you to insert your intentions and not intention(). Besides, it’s not as if we can limit God with our prayers! The most important part is praying sincerely from your heart, the rest is a matter of God’s Will.

As far as how to choose which Novena to pray - I agree with Archus, completely.