Novenas

[BeluvdLily]

Can anyone explain more to me about Novenas?

I know that they are basically a prayer that is said for nine days (usually) and for a specific purpose but coming from a Protestant background, I can’t quite get a handle on this.

In some ways it seems to me like trying to force something to happen. I’m sure I just don’t know the meaning behind it but would really like to have it explained. I have some serious needs right now and would love to do a Novena but feel a bit funny about it. Any help would be appreciated.

Amie

 

[Matt16_18]

BeluvdLily:

Can anyone explain more to me about Novenas?

I know that they are basically a prayer that is said for nine days (usually) and for a specific purpose but coming from a Protestant background, I can’t quite get a handle on this.

Novena: from novem, nine.[Jesus] presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak;for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.”
Acts 1:3-5Nine days after Jesus gave this instruction to the disciples, the annointing of the Holy Spirit fell upon them in the upper room on the feast of Pentecost (Pentecost is **fifty days ** after Passover). For nine days the disciples had been praying in the upper room for the power of the Holy Spirit to be released on earth, and it is this nine days of intense prayer that is the basis of the tradition of the novena.

 

[Sir_Knight]

No fixed rules need be laid down, generally speaking, for the making of a novena beyond that of persevering in prayer through the space of nine days – following the example of the Apostles who prayed for nine days for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Novena can also be done for 18 days – 9 days of prayer of petition followed by 9 days of prayer of thanksgiving even if the request hasn’t been answered yet. There is also a 54-day novena – three 9-day Novena’s in prayer of petition followed by three 9-day Novena’s in prayer of thansgiving.

There are numerous Novena’s out there (Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, to St. Jude, St. Therese, etc.). The efficacy of any novena depends in great measure on the piety and devotion of the individual. The following suggestions will increase the fervor of your novena:

1. *] Participate, if possible , in the public novena services, since there is added efficacy in the union of the faithful at prayer.
   
   *] If you are Catholic, receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion during your novena.
   
   *] Promise an act of public gratitude, should your petition be granted; have holy Mass celebrated in thanksgiving; make your favor public for the encouragement of others; spread devotion to the Novena
   
   *] While making your request, be sure to honestly leave yourself open to God’s will.
   … Hope this helps.