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A nine days' private or public devotion in the Catholic Church
to obtain special graces. The octave has more of the festal
character; to the novena belongs that of hopeful mourning, of
yearning, of prayer. "The number nine in Holy Writ is
indicative of suffering and grief" (St. Jerome, in Ezech.,
vii, 24; -- P.L., XXV, 238, cf. XXV, 1473). The novena is
permitted and even recommended by ecclesiastical authority,
but still has no proper and fully set place in the liturgy of
the Church. It has, however, more and more been prized and
utilized by the faithful. Four kinds of novenas can be
distinguished: novenas of mourning, of preparation, of prayer,
and the indulgenced novenas, though this distinction is not
exclusive. |
St. Joseph Novena |
Novena to Find
Employment | |
