What is a novena and can I pray it?

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What exactly is a novena? I’ve seen a lot of these prayers come up from time to time when I’m looking up good prayers (I’m brand new to the Catholic faith). And I see that it says a priest says something then the group says something would it be ok for me to do these prayers on my own? An example of a novena I have seen is the miraculous medal novena I have a miraculous medal and want to pray some prayers that are connected to it but have only found the novena one.
 
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“Novia” is Spanish for girlfriend/fiancee.

Surely you mean a “novena.” It’s a set of prayers said for nine days (hence the name, which is Latin for “nine”) for some particular intention.

-Fr ACEGC
 
Thanks the sad thing is I’m in one of my school’s highest Spanish classes:joy:😂.
 
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So my other question would be would I be allowed to pray the novena on my own?
 
Would the fact that I’m not a full Catholic affect anything.(I’m starting RCIA after Easter!) And do I have to be in a state of Grace in order to do it?
 
You absolutely may do one on your own. There are special novenas for special times of the year but afaik there’s no problem saying them “off season”. For example, if you’ve just fallen in love with the concept of Divine Mercy you don’t have to wait until Good Friday to make that novena.
Here’s a trusted site:
https://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/prayers/novena.htm
 
State of grace comes into play with indulgences, I believe, but it’s never a bad time to pray…and novenas are just prayers that last nine days. Others more knowledgeable than I can confirm. @Tis_Bearself
 
Startingcatholic said:
Would the fact that I’m not a full Catholic affect anything.(I’m starting RCIA after Easter!)
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No. Anyone can pray to God. You do not have to be a “full Catholic” to get your prayers heard by God. Go ahead and pray.
And do I have to be in a state of Grace in order to do it?
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No. Anyone can pray to God. You do not have to be in a state of grace to get your prayers heard by God. Go ahead and pray.
 
A novena is a grouping of prayers, said daily. Anyone can do novenas! The Divine Mercy chaplet is an excellent prayer and it has a novena you can say, it’s really quite nice, I say it daily. Especially since you are growing in your faith and discovering it, it would be a great thing to pray some novenas!

Fr. Mike Schmitz has a video on praying during a state of mortal sin/outside of a state of grace and if this praying is effective. It’s really a good video, not too long, I’ve watched it a few times and have really found it very informative and relevant:

 
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