Novenas

Among the devotional practices that have enjoyed great popularity over the years, and still do, we must mention NOVENAS. Let me share a few thoughts with you today on the significance of novenas in Catholic piety.

Origin of Novenas

The first novena on record goes back to the days of the Apostles. Before ascending to heaven Jesus told his Apostles not to leave Jerusalem but to wait there for the coming of the Holy Spirit. So they did. During that time, we read in the Book of Acts that "they devoted themselves to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. And on the ninth day the Holy Spirit came down upon them. Later on, Christians developed the practice of praying for nine days to obtain special favors of God.

What Is a Novena?

The word novena simply means "nine". Something you do nine times. It can apply to praying for nine consecutive days, nine consecutive weeks, or nine consecutive months, like the Nine First Fridays.

But why nine? There is no reason to stop special prayers at nine, other than the need to stop some place. Six times could have served just as well, but the custom among Catholics set the number at nine most likely in memory of the first novena Christians observed as they prayed fervently and disposed themselves to receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Let no one think there is something almost magical about the number nine. To me a novena means simply to pray with perseverance. This is something Jesus exhorts us to do. Remember the parable of the man who receives an unexpected visitor in the middle of the night? He wants to serve him something to eat but he has no bread. So he goes to his neighbor, knocks at the door and asks him for a loaf of bread. He is not welcome! "It's the middle of the night, the children and I are all in bed. Leave me alone." But the man keeps knocking and the neighbor, weary, gives in. And Jesus says, "I tell you, even if he does not get up and take care of the man because of friendship, he will do so because of his persistence and give him all he needs. So, I say to you: ask and you shall receive." (Lk 11:5-8) Don't give up because God does not answer immediately.

The important thing about novenas is that we pray with great faith and perseverance. That's what novenas are about. Because there is nothing special about the number nine, let us not get upset if, through no fault of ours, we break our novena, as people say. Some ask me: "Do I have to start all over again?" By no means. Just continue your novena. An interruption will not cause you to lose the value of your novena. To think so would be to reduce novenas to a kind of magical ritual, a superstition. There is no magical value in the number nine, still less in the fact that you pray for nine days, nine weeks or nine months without interruption. The real value consists in praying with faith and perseverance, and the special effort the sacrifice required to finish a novena may be a sign of your faith.

Kinds of Novenas

Novena of prayers to a special Saint. I don't happen to think that the saints in heaven are specialists, like doctors on earth. I rather think that the closer they are to God because of their holiness, the more power they have to obtain any favor at all we need. It is we on earth who create specialists. For example, we pray to St. Lucy for the cure of eyes, to St. Peregrine for the cure of cancer, to St. Gerard Majella for a happy childbirth, to St. Anne, who was mother and grandmother, for family needs as well as the cure of almost any illness; and to St. Jude for help in difficult and hopeless cases. If I have witnessed or read of special favors obtained by someone who prayed to this or that saint, that inspires in me confidence in that saint. Because of that confidence I am likely to pray with greater faith and fervor, and that is the reason why praying to this or that saint can make a difference. Any saint I have confidence in can be a powerful intercessor for me.

Another way of making novenas: a public novena in church or a private novena. Of course, we can make a private novena at home, or even at church by ourself. Praying with others has a special value, according to Jesus who said, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them." (Mt 18:20)

Novena Devotions here at Saint Anne's

The first mention of a novena to St. Anne goes back to Father Briscoe, the second pastor of St. Anne. We read in his book of announcements for July 19, 1885: "Tomorrow evening and every evening this week, we shall have novena services in honor of Good St. Anne. There will be Benediction and a reading at 7:30."

Later, when the Dominican Fathers take charge of the parish, the annual novena for the feast of St. Anne will have greater solemnity and will be preached. In the thirties, the solemn novena for the feast of St. Anne will attract such crowds that there will be a novena preached in French in the upper church for the parishioners, and another in English at the Shrine for the so-called pilgrims, people coming from outside the city and the state. Both the upper Church and the lower would fill to capacity every day.

From the early days of the Dominicans, there were devotions to St. Anne every Sunday. In the good season, the Fathers welcomed the pilgrims who came from out of the city. They conducted a prayer service, preached, gave Benediction and finally offered the relic of St. Anne to the veneration of the faithful. These were not "novena" services at first.

The 31st of July 1928, Fr. Marchildon, Director of the Shrine, introduced perpetual novenas to St. Anne on Tuesday afternoon. They have been going on ever since, with a later addition of a second service. I still remember during the Great Depression, seeing the Shrine filled to capacity, with people standing in the aisles, in the sanctuary and even on the platform of the altar. People were desperate for employment and did they come and pray!

In 1930, Fr. Marchildon added to the Sunday afternoon devotions at the Shrine a solemn procession with the statue of St. Anne, which proved to be very popular. As the statue was carried around the Shrine, the St. Anne Shrine choir that Fr. Marchildon had managed to set up, sang hymns to Good St. Anne.

Finally, in January of 1960, we introduced perpetual novenas to St. Jude at the Shrine, every Thursday.

Conclusion. Novenas did much good to inspire devotion to the faithful and make them pray. People took to them. They were truly "Popular Devotions."

Devotions Novena Index