Question:
Answer:
A novena is a nine-prayer petition for a particular intention we may have. We make the novena to God or to one of the saints in heaven to intercede on our behalf with God.
A novena can be an informal one we do on our own, provided it’s consistent with Church doctrine, or it can follow the prescriptions of one that the Church has formally approved.
One of the most popular novenas is the novena connected with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, which can be prayed all year round but is especially recommended beginning Good Friday and leading up to Divine Mercy Sunday, also known as the Second Sunday of Easter. Novenas gets their origin from the nine-day period when the apostles, Blessed Mother and other disciples gathered to pray between Christ’s Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.