What is a Novena?
A novena is a public or private prayer that is prayed nine times – nine days, one day per week for nine weeks, at the beginning of the hour for nine hours, or so. The word novena comes from the Latin word meaning “nine.”
Typically, there are four types of novena:
- Mourning, as during the nine days following a death
- Preparation, as nine days of prayer before a major feast such as Christmas, Easter, or Pentecost
- Prayer, as for a particular intention
- Penance, as for forgiveness either before or after the Sacrament of Reconciliation
How to pray a Novena?
There is no particular formula for a novena; there are a variety of different formats for novena prayers. Sometimes a novena is simply the praying of a particular prayer nine times. Some novenas, particularly public prayers, include Scripture readings, reflections, litanies, or hymns. There is no wrong way to pray a novena.
There is much information on the Internet regarding novenas, and there are a number of available novena prayer books.
Download this file for an outline of a Novena to the Holy Spirit: http://tburnsfamilyfaith.typepad.com/NovenaHolySpirit.pdf
