novena
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The novena (from Latin noveni “nine”) is a form of prayer that is predominantly used in the Catholic Church , in which certain prayers are performed on nine consecutive days, for intercession or to implore special graces from God. The prayer on the individual days of the novena can be the same or consist of a constant and a daily changing part.
Such novenas are z. B. to prepare a solemn festival ( Easter , Christmas , Pentecost ) or before an important personal decision or important life events (such as consecration , profession , virgin consecration , marriage ). A funeral vena is often held at the death of a cleric or consecrated person . There are also novenas to the Virgin Mary and the saints .
The originally Roman Catholic prayer practice is now also practiced in the Orthodox , Anglican and some Lutheran churches.
Pentecost Novena
The origin is probably in the Pentecost Novena , the nine-day prayer for the Holy Spirit , as practiced by the apostles and the disciples of Jesus with Mary after the Ascension of Jesus in the Upper Room. It goes back to the Pentecost report in Acts 1 : 13-14 EU , according to which the first Christians after the ascension of Christ lived in seclusion in prayer until the Holy Spirit came upon them on the day of Pentecost . The Pentecost belonged since the Baroque period as a religious exercise to customs of the Church. Pope Leo XIII. ordered on May 9, 1897 in his encyclical Divinum illud munus that a nine-day prayer should be held in all parish churches and other suitable churches and chapels. Through the basic order of the church year initiated by the Second Vatican Council (1969), the Pentecost novena was upgraded and is now part of the liturgy ; Since then, there have been separate texts for Holy Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours for the working days between Ascension Day and Pentecost .
See also
literature
- Klaus Peter Dannecker: Novena . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 7 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1998, Sp. 939-940 .
Web links
- Hans Hager SVD : What is a novena and how long has it existed? In: City of God . April 2004 .
Individual evidence
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^ Adolf Adam : Whitsun Novena . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 8 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1999, Sp. 190 . Basic order of the church year and the New Roman General Calendar, Chapter 1, Section 26: "The weekdays after Ascension up to and including the Saturday before Pentecost prepare for the descent of the Holy Spirit."