June is the month of my birth - 36 years ago. Yep, that is my age. And yes, I don't look my age. This month, I've decided to write about praying novena's. According to the EWTN website:
A novena is a nine-day period of private or public prayer to obtain special graces, to implore special favors, or to make special petitions. (Novena is derived from the Latin "novem", meaning nine.) As the definition suggests, the novena has always had more of a sense of urgency and neediness.
In February, my church had a church-wide novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, the patron of the parish. It was a amazing experience joining in so many fellow parishioner's lifting up special intentions for healing. Everyone was encouraged to write their petition on a slip of paper and place in a glass bowl at the front of the church. Each day of the novena, a few cards were pulled out by the priest and those specific intentions were read aloud. At the conclusion of each service, the entire congregation gathered said a prayer corporately. Overall, It was a time of prayer, confession and reflection that seemed to end all too soon.
In the spirit of learning to celebrate my faith, I decided to pray a novena to St. Anne, my patron saint, with the final day culminating on the 24th, my birthday. In a way it was difficult to decide on the focus or intention for the novena. After much reflection, I decided to pray for a spouse and children for those things are one of the desires of my heart. And considering St. Anne's story (coming next month!), those request make sense. They are larger requests and I'm not expecting an answer right away but it was still important for me to acknowledge these desires that I tend to dismiss. I found a this little booklet at my local catholic bookstore to help my prayers. In addition, there are some great online resources like this one from EWTN or this one from prayerbook.com.
I invite you to join me in the final day of my novena by reciting the following prayer:
Glorious St. Anne, filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubls, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present affair which I recommend to you under your special protection.
Promis to recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue.
Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted:
a spouse who loves God and the blessing of children.
Above all, obtain for me the grace of one day beholding my God face to face, and with You and Mary and all the saints praising and blessing Him through all eternity. Amen.
Good St. Anne, mother of her who is our life, our sweetness and our hope, pray to her for us and obtain our request. (Three times).
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Journey into Catholicism
Jan - Epiphany
Feb - Love
March - Lent
April - Easter
May -Pentecost
June - Birthday Bliss
July - Saint Day
August - Sunshine / Ordinary Time
September - Anticipation of Waiting
October - Tears
November - Winter
December - Advent / Christmas
Feb - Love
March - Lent
April - Easter
May -Pentecost
June - Birthday Bliss
July - Saint Day
August - Sunshine / Ordinary Time
September - Anticipation of Waiting
October - Tears
November - Winter
December - Advent / Christmas
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