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Email a FriendPosted by Mary W on Monday, Mar 30, 2009 9:20 AM (EDT):
Thanks for this article, Arwen. I didn’t know there was a novena for ‘impossible’ causes. I certainly have a couple of those causes, too!
Big Prayers, Big Results
Novena power
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Faith on Monday, March 30, 2009 9:00 AM
This year, for the first time ever, my husband and I are saying the Novena for Impossible Requests.
I’d never heard of this novena before, but happened to catch a link Danielle posted on her Twitter page last Wednesday. It was the beginning day of the nine-month novena, which I thought was serendipitous, so I asked my husband if he wanted to pray it with me. He was game. We came up with three “impossible” prayer intentions and we’ve been praying it every night since.
I am a big fan of novenas.
The one dearest to my heart is the St. Andrew Novena, prayed during Advent, which Rebecca posted about last year. That novena has made a big difference in my life.
A few years back, when my husband and I had been trying to conceive for a while with no success, a friend told me about the novena. She knew it as the Christmas Novena, and she had heard that it had never been known to fail.
I figured I had nothing to lose, so I gave it a try that Advent. I was blessed by simply praying it, but six weeks later I was blessed even more! I don’t think it can have been a coincidence that our daughter was conceived just a month after the novena ended. I’ve loved the Christmas Novena ever since.
This past Advent I suggested to some friends of mine that they pray the novena themselves. They’d been trying to conceive for more than three years with no success. They prayed it and I prayed it with them.
On January 14th, they called to tell us that they’re expecting. That is what I call quick work.
I have big hopes for this “Impossible” Novena we’re saying. I’m also going to keep recommending the Christmas Novena to everyone I know.
Have you had any miraculous novena experiences?
Links for this article:
“Impossible” Novena
St. Andrew Novena aka Christmas Novena
Comments
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Posted by Mary T on Monday, Mar 30, 2009 9:28 AM (EDT):
Well, I attribute finding my husband, Joseph, to a 30-day Novena to St. Joseph….and I suppose some would say it a coincidence, but he has just completed a novena to Mary…for…yup…a spouse as well.
Here we are, about to celebrate our 20th anniversary as Mary & Joseph.
Posted by Laura on Monday, Mar 30, 2009 11:09 AM (EDT):
I am very intrigued by this! I grew up saying novenas periodically at school but, to me, they always felt superstitious. I am a big believer in the power of prayer though…. I guess I feel uncomfortable with the idea that if I pray a certain way or with a certain frequency, I’ll get what I want. Like I feel that I’m trying to be in control instead of God. Anyone else struggle with this and go on to successfully pray novenas?
Posted by Therese on Monday, Mar 30, 2009 6:15 PM (EDT):
My Mom use to say a novena to St. Therese…which is how I got my name. It is the novena I pray more than any other. A few years ago, when I was first diagnosed with cancer, my oldest son (who was 16 at the time) was so scared and worried about me. He asked me how to pray the novena to St. Therese and I told him. As the tradition goes, one is shown a sign of a rose near the end of the novena. My son began the novena in mid-December. We live in Ca in the high desert. It is not as cold as back east, but we do have freezing temperatures and snow. On the fifth day of the novena, my son went out in the morning, and there on the rose bush was a single pink rose bud…even though the temp had gone into the teens that night. Two days later, I had a bone marrow biopsy that showed I was in remission.
Posted by Gerardine on Monday, Mar 30, 2009 11:15 PM (EDT):
I have the same question as Laura. For myself, sometimes I wonder if I’m trying to force God’s hand with a novena. I used to pray them lots as a teenager, but that was all I really prayed. As an adult I have been blessed to have a consistent and what I would consider solid, prayer life (thanks be to God!). I do have an impossible cause though…........
I prayed a novena to St. Gerard for a friend who was overdue with a really challenging pregnancy. On the last evening of the novena, she went into labor and gave birth to a healthy baby boy, who turns 1 tomorrow.
My husband and I also prayed a novena to St. Joseph while we had our house on the market, and we got a full price offer days after the novena ended.
Novenas, when prayed faithfully and with trust in God’s ultimate providence, are beautiful gifts from God and his saints!
Posted by Sarah Reinhard on Wednesday, Apr 1, 2009 6:51 AM (EDT):
I can’t wait to try these novenas, Arwen. I am a big fan of novenas as well. Last fall, through the intercession of St. Joseph and a “homemade” novena (we said it for nine days but it was just three sets of an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and O My Jesus, followed by a heartfelt plea to St. Joseph), my husband got a new job. It was a miracle, from the way it came about during the novena to the way it all just…worked out.
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