Novenas for the Church Year

Since the seventh century Catholics the world over have used the novena as a means of deepening their spiritual life, expressing devotion to a saint, or as an avenue for petitioning the Lord for a particular grace. The novena (from the Latin novem, "nine," and noveni, "nine at a time") is a period of public or private prayer lasting nine days, symbolizing the time between Christ's Ascension and Pentecost, during which Mary an...