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Novena, which comes from the Latin word novem (nine), is a prayer for nine consecutive days. The novena to the Holy Spirit is the oldest of all novenas that began when Jesus Himself directed His apostles to go back to Jerusalem to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost.
We need the power of the Holy Spirit to be faithful to our call to build our family as a domestic church as in a new Pentecost. This Novena to the Holy Spirit is presented specifically to enter into that prayer for a new Pentecost. We implore God for this grace for ourselves, our family, and for the Church.
The Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, which is a meditation on Jesus’ Holy Spirit-empowered public ministry, will be our guide.
How to use this novena
Prayerfully read the prescribed daily Scripture, reflection, and prayer, followed by praying one “Our Father,” one “Hail Mary,” one “Glory Be”, and conclude with the Prayer to the Holy Spirit:
“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.”
Day 1 Baptism of Jesus at the Jordan
Luke 3:21-22 …Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Reflect: Jesus received the Holy Spirit at His baptism. Jesus’ identity was revealed through a voice from above declaring “… you are my beloved Son. On you my favor rests.” The Spirit not only appeared, but the Spirit came to rest upon Jesus (John 1:32). Likewise, the Spirit rests on or dwells in us. See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God. So we are. (1 John 3:2).
Pray: Holy Spirit, I received you in Baptism, and now I ask you to awaken me to your presence and power in my life. Please release the love of God the Father into my heart, so that I can understand who I am as a child of God. Make me poor in spirit every day so as to fully trust Abba, my Father.
Day 2 The Spirit Led Jesus into the Desert
Luke 4:1-13 Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”
Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me.” Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.’”
Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and: ‘With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’” When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.
Reflect: The Spirit led and Jesus willingly followed. Destroying arrogance and obstinacy, the love of the Father inflames our hearts to respond in humility and docility. In the desert Jesus faced down three major temptations. He refused to base His identity on what He did (change stones into bread), on possessions (power, position, riches), or on the opinions others (while performing stunts like floating safely off of a tower). Instead, Jesus fully accepted His identity as the Son of God, and He refused to be influenced by Satan’s lies.
Pray: Holy Spirit, please give me the courage to repent of my sins and to be reconciled to God. Help me to reject temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Strengthen me to resist all temptations to relinquish my true identity (and dignity) as a child of God for a false identity that is truly empty. Quiet me in prayer everyday that I may hear your leading and quicken me with the desire to follow You.
Day 3 The Spirit Anoints Jesus for Ministry
Luke 4:14-22 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Reflect: Returning from the desert, Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah. “…the spirit of the Lord is upon me, therefore he has anointed me…glad tidings to the poor…liberty to captives…sight to the blind…release to prisoners…a year of favor from the Lord.” The Holy Spirit anoints us priest, prophet, and king to announce the good news of God’s mercy to others.
Pray: Holy Spirit, teach me to accept your anointing and your grace of mercy. Instill in me a keen awareness of the sufferings of others. Empower me to be a minister of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. With Your charisms, mold me to be an instrument of freedom, spiritual and physical, to those who are trapped.
Day 4 Wedding Feast at Cana
John 2:1-11 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” [And] Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.
Reflect: In response to Mary, Jesus performed His first miraculous sign at a wedding feast. He turned water into wine. Wine symbolizes joy, “ …the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess 1:6). When we, earthen vessels that we are, permit the Holy Spirit to fill us with God’s love, we come to know genuine joy. The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). From this wellspring of joy, the martyrs and saints drew their strength. It is from this wellspring of joy that we too may draw strength to live out our vocations.
Pray: Holy Spirit, please fill me with the joy of knowing You, loving You and serving You. Help me to live out faithfully the vocation You have chosen for me and support others in their vocation. Prepare me everyday to accept the will of God.
Day 5 Proclamation of the Kingdom of God
Mark 16:15-20 He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents [with their hands], and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
Reflect: Pope Paul VI wrote that the number one mission of the Church is evangelization. The Church exists to proclaim that salvation comes through Jesus Christ because every creature is enslaved by sin. No evangelization and no conversion take place without the action of the Holy Spirit. It is by the Holy Spirit that we can say, “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor. 12:3). Jesus is our Hope, and we are sent to bring that Hope to others and to demonstrate the love of God.
Pray: Holy Spirit, please equip me for the mission of evangelization. Increase my faith in the risen Christ so that I can share this blessed Hope with others. Give me courage to risk ridicule and rejection in order to witness the truth of the Gospel in word and deed. Inspire me every day with new ways to bring Christ to others.
Day 6 Transfiguration
Matt. 17:1-8 After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone.
Reflect: Jesus revealed His glory in dazzling light to Peter, James, and John on Mount Tabor. At the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple years earlier, Simeon declared that baby Jesus was “…a revealing light…” (Luke 2:32). Simeon was allowed with spiritual eyes to see the promised Messiah. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the spiritual reality of who Jesus is and who we are. Through the Holy Spirit we can worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).
Pray: Holy Spirit, open my eyes to see and know Jesus as he truly is. Move me into a total commitment to Christ. Teach me to love and adore the one True God. Loosen my tongue to praise Him always. Fill me with the light of Christ, and empower me to share Christ’s light with others.
Day 7 Institution of the Eucharist
Mark 14:22-24 While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.
Reflect: In total self-giving, Jesus offered His body as a sacrifice for our sins. In total self-giving Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist as a means to share His body and His blood as a sacrament of unity for the Church. It was the power of the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, and it is the power of the Holy Spirit that transforms the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus. The Eucharist is truly our holy communion with Jesus and His Church.
Pray: Holy Spirit, thank you for transforming bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus. Please show me how to be completely united to the Church. Please overcome divisions among Christians, and enable us to be united in a bond of fraternal love to be the visible Body of Christ.
Day 8 Promise of the Advocate
John 14:15-21 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
John 16:7-11 But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
Reflect: In the Last Supper discourse, Jesus promised the Apostles that a Paraclete or Advocate would be sent to them. The Paraclete is helper, comforter, consoler, and teacher. The Holy Spirit guides us to all truth so that we may not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of our minds (Rom 12:2) as to grow in Christ.
Pray: Holy Spirit, please convict me of the lies I believe. Sanctify me to think, speak, and live in truth. Provide me with the grace to call upon You every day as my advocate, helper, comforter, consoler, and teacher.
Day 9 Receive Power from the Holy Spirit
Acts 1:4-9 While meeting with them, Jesus enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.” When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
Reflect: Jesus’ final words to the Apostles before His Ascension were “…you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses…” What is this power? It is the power to love. It includes charisms or special graces from the Spirit. The graces are provided to help us grow in personal holiness, to unite us as the body of Christ, and to equip us to be His witnesses. We are to be witnesses locally (at home, in our neighborhood, at work, in our parish) and to the ends of the earth.
Pray: Holy Spirit, please clothe me with your power. Please release all charisms that you desire me to experience. Purify me with the power of your love. I ask you to help me grow in holiness, to be united with the Church, and to be your witness in my words and in my actions. Descend on me and on the whole Church as in a New Pentecost!
Come, Holy Spirit, Come!
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.
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