Novena of Grace (Day 1) Year A

Some people attend novenas as a matter of practice. Yearly, they find their way to St Jude or St Anne swearing by the efficacy of these novenas. But, some come as a matter of curiosity. I think in this intellectual parish, there is perhaps an enquiry about what it is and what it can do for us. So what is a novena and why are we doing this novena?

The word novena is derived from the Latin novem meaning nine. Thus, we enter a nine-day period of private or public prayer to obtain special graces, to implore special favours or make special petitions. There is a sense of urgency and neediness in novenas which explains St Jude for hopeless cases and St Anne for fecundity.

The origin of the novena is not easy to pinpoint. Nothing is indicated in the OT of a nine-day celebration. The closest we get to is perhaps at the Ascension. The Lord gives the apostles the Great Commission, and then tells them to return to Jerusalem and to await the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Acts tells us that they devoted themselves to constant prayer (Acts 1:12, 14). Nine days after the Ascension, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost. Perhaps, this "nine day period of prayer" of the apostles is a basis for the novena.

The ancient Romans on the other hand offered 9 days of prayer to avert evil or the wrath of the gods. They also do that when wonders have been predicted. Their burial customs too admit of a 9-day mourning period to be followed by a feast on the 9th day. It is possible that Christianity "baptised" this pagan practice. In fact, we witnessed this 9-day thing at the death of JPII.

During the Mediaeval period, 9 days signified the 9 months the Lord spent in the womb of our blessed Mother. At first, the novenas helped the faithful prepare for the festive yet solemn celebration of Christmas. Eventually, various novenas were composed to help the faithful prepare for a special feast or to invoke the aid of a saint for a particular reason: Miraculous Medal, Sacred Heart of Jesus, St. Joseph and St. Jude to name a few.

There was a time when people who normally skip masses would go for a novena religiously. But, with Vatican II, the primary focus of our spirituality and public worship has been shifted to the Holy Eucharist. The advent of the liturgical renewal and the increased participation of the congregation and the use of English at Mass may explain why novenas fell by the wayside for most Catholics except the diehards. Mass was in Latin whereas novenas were in the vernacular—that provided the laity with an outlet for the expression of popular devotion.

But, one of the practices which may have hurt the cause of novenas is superstition. Sometimes, one finds copies of a St. Jude novena which basically states that if a person goes to Church for nine days and leaves a copy of the novena to St. Jude, then the prayer will be granted — sort of like a spiritual chain letter. It is to treat God like a vending machine with very little to do with God’s will. Even though asking and petitioning form a part of the novena, the main thing about a novena is that it expresses our total dependence on God. Our consistent and faithful praying of a novena will enable us to be formed and shaped by it into the image of Jesus. Thus, novenas still hold a legitimate place in our Catholic spirituality.

Ours is called a novena of grace of St Francis Xavier for it originated in Naples, Italy after 1633, when a Jesuit, Matteo Mastrilli, was cured through the intercession of St Francis Xavier, who promised that those who made the nine days of prayer in preparation for the anniversary of his canonisation would receive many graces and favours. Thus, we have the name, Novena of Grace. It is not automatically that you’ve attended a novena and you receive what you ask for. Rather, a novena appeals to our desires and expectations.

Novenas are about desires and expectations. This is one area which we have in common with St Francis Xavier, under whose patronage we make this novena. He was a man of deep desires. He was tonsured when he was young, meaning that he became a cleric in a diocese, in his case, the diocese of Pamplona, capital of present day Navarre. Tonsure committed him to nothing but exempted him from any military service. Note his ambition as he took charge of the direction of his life. He knew that in order for him to climb the ladder of success in the clerical world he needed to increase his knowledge. That ambition brought him to the famous University of Paris.

So, suffice it to say that if you have come without desires or expectations, then be prepared to go away empty. If you came with the attitude that “If it works, then I have profited but if it doesn’t, then I have lost nothing”, then you would gain nothing. Come with great expectation and deep desires. Thus, as we enter this novena, let us trust that God is interested in what we desire. Ask for what you want for yourself or for your loved ones: a return to the practice of the faith, a relief from the allure of addiction, a cure for illness or a deliverance from a ghost past. Everything within the spectrum of human needs, expectations and desires can be the prayer of our petition. But, be prepared to have your expectations changed by God’s desire. The novena prayer gives us this hint that even as we ask of God what He can do for us we pray that our expectations always find their foundation in His will. “If what I ask for is not for the greater glory of God and the good of my soul, then give me what is conducive to both. Amen”. This marks us as different from the other popular novenas we are familiar with: St Anne’s or St Jude’s. Different not because we are better but different because we try to reflect what any novena or triduum is supposed to be. The greater are our expectations or desires, the greater will the opportunity be for us to be open to do the will of God. Novenas are not just about our desires or expectations. Novenas are really about the purification of our desires and expectations.

The first reading and the Gospel provide us with the wonderful imagery of water. We are invited to drink of the river of grace. Let us come with deep expectation. Let us be open to God’s will. Let us be surprised by His grace.