A novena is usually prayed for nine consecutive days. The word “Novena” originated from the Latin word “novem” which means nine. It is usually done to pray for a special or urgent prayer intention or in preparation for a great feast day.

However, a novena can also be spread over nine weeks, with each day of the Novena being said on any day depending on when the day of a particular saint or devotion falls. For example, Wednesday is the day traditionally associated with devotions to St. Joseph so a weekly novena in his honor is usually done on a Wednesday.

Novenas can also be done over nine months and this is usually on the First Friday of each month. There is likewise a novena done for nine consecutive hours only and an example is the novena to the Infant Jesus of Prague.

There are also novenas which are not restricted to 9 hours, days, weeks or months. Some are 30-day novenas like the 30-day novena to St. Joseph.

The praying of a novena apparently was derived from the Holy Scriptures. In Acts 1:14, Jesus asked His disciples to pray together in the upper room and so they prayed for nine consecutive days, ending in Pentecost or the Descent of the Holy Spirit.

It is not hard to pray a novena. The instructions are simple. There are lots of novena cards or prayer booklets and many novenas can also be found online. Some novena prayers are so simple and all you have to do is pray a short prayer and at the end state your prayer intention.

Some novenas are long and contain various prayers. Usually, there is an opening prayer and different prayers each day or week. Some also incorporate the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary and Glory Be, Act of Contrition and other traditional Catholic prayers.

Because of its simplicity, anyone who wants to can say a novena. The popular novenas are those of the Mother of Perpetual Help and the Sacred Heart. A lot of prayers are said to have been granted after or during the praying of the aforementioned novenas. But remember that whatever novena you’re praying, pray it from the heart. God looks inside our hearts and answers prayers in His own time, in His own way.