A man goes to a Benedictine and asks him if he will pray a novena for his prayer intention. The Benedictine says that he will pray a novena for his intention, and the man says, “Pray that God may give me a Lamborghini.” The Benedictine, out of curiosity, asks him, “Why do you need a Lamborghini?” The man, reluctant to answer, says, “Forget it!” Then, he goes to a Franciscan and asks him if he will pray a novena for him to have a Lamborghini. The Franciscan agrees to pray the novena, but asks the man, “What is a Lamborghini?” The man says, “Forget it!” and goes to a Jesuit and asks him if he will pray a novena for him to have a Lamborghini. The Jesuit says, “Sure, I will pray for you to have a Lamborghini, but what is a novena?”

Novena is derived from the Latin word novem, meaning nine. It is a sequence of prayers, prayed over nine consecutive days, to obtain special graces, favours, or petitions from God, invoking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary or a saint. The significance of the nine days of prayer is associated with the first Pentecost. Jesus instructs His apostles to pray and wait for the Holy Spirit. After the ascension of Jesus, the apostles, along with Mother Mary, gathered in the upper room, and prayed for the Holy Spirit. They prayed for nine days. 1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability (2 Acts 1: 1-4, NRSV).

Although, nine consecutive days of prayer is the most common way of praying the novena, the significance lies in praying nine times consecutively. The prayer can be recited every nine hours, nine days, nine weeks praying the prayer on one specific day of the week, or nine months where the prayer is recited one specific day of the month. A novena is one means of persevering in prayer, for some urgent petition, or to grow in holiness and virtue.

A novena is a very powerful means of prayer because you direct your petition to God, through the blessed Virgin Mary, or through a saint, or even to God directly, through the Divine Mercy Novena, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Novena, or the Holy Spirit Novena.

Novenas are a special powerhouse of graces, abundant graces. It is because you approach God’s throne, through a special merit of a saint, or the Blessed Virgin Mary, or through the merits of Jesus Christ. The Church has provided us saints for all kinds of petitions. There are special saints for every specific virtue, graces, occupation and needs.

Your prayer intention must always be according to the will of God. If you ask for something that is not according to God’s will, He will not grant you your request, but instead, He will bless you with something that is good for you in return. God knows what is best for you.

Novena prayers helps us to make friends in heavenly places, the precious saints. Have you tried becoming friends with saints and angels? They pray for you even when you do not ask them to pray. However, if you invoke them, you will discover the delight of their intercessions. The saints help us in our earthly life. If you have any favourite saints, you can invoke them in your prayers. God has a purpose for you in this life and Heaven, has special saints assigned to you to accomplish God’s purpose. As you grow in holiness and prayer, through novenas, discover the friendship of the saints. The novena prayer is one of the ways of drawing closer to our eternal destiny with the intercession of saints and the angels.

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