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Q:
Do Novenas really work? I am not Catholic my husband is. I am Baptist. Can I pray a novena and receive the blessing?
Wilma
Dear Wilma:
A novena is a period of prayer usually lasting nine consecutive days, or one day each week for nine consecutive weeks.
Novena prayers are usually offered for particular intentions, in honour of a particular saint, or to highlight some mystery in the life of Jesus. Novenas are thought to have originated in the 17th century, and recall the period of time (9 days) between the Ascension of Our Lord and the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles at Pentecost, days during which the Apostles "devoted themselves to constant prayer." (Acts: 1-12, 14) The word novena is derived from the Latin novem, meaning nine.
Novenas are often published on small prayer cards, and the Internet is full of examples. There are even books published with whole collections of novenas. Some examples are: Novenas to St Anthony, St Jude, St Joseph, St Peregrine, St Therese of Lisieux, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Infant Jesus of Prague, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and Our Lady of Lourdes.
Here is the prayer used for the St Therese Novena.
O Little Therese of the Child Jesus, please pick for me a rose from the heavenly gardens and send it to me as a message of love. O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God to grant the favors I now place with confidence in your hands . .
(Mention specific requests)
St. Therese, help me to always believe as you did in God's great love for me, so that I might imitate your "Little Way" each day.
Amen.
There certainly would be no objection from a Catholic perspective, if you chose to pray a novena, even though some of our non-Catholic brothers and sisters might be uncomfortable with praying in this manner.
Like all prayer, however, novenas must be from the heart, always remembering that the will of God is paramount. A novena is an excellent way, as St Paul urges us, to "pray constantly" (1 Thess 5:17; Eph 5:20.), but it should not be regarded as some kind of magic formula to get what we want. The distribution of chain letters, for example, "guaranteeing" answers to prayers by the recitation and "passing on" of a particular novena, is nothing short of superstition, and should be avoided. The only guarantee we have that prayer will work lies in our intention - call it purity of heart or humility - to do and receive as God wills, not as we would have it. But once we do pray with this intention, we shall be blessed in ways we cannot even now imagine.
God bless,
Father Norbert